The 'Poporală' Paper, Libertatea, and the Shaping of the Antisemitic and Extreme Right Peasant Mind in Greater Romania (1919–1925)

Abstract:By analysing the discourse of the newspaper Libertatea, this article offers the first study dedicated to the role played by the 'poporală' press in promoting antisemitism and extreme right movements in the rural environment of interwar Romania. Between 1919 and 1925, Libertatea constructed a so-called Jewish problem specific to the Romanian context and promoted parties or political movements that promised to save Romania from a perceived Jewish threat. Special attention was paid to the antisemitic student movements and their leaders, Corneliu Zelea Codrenu and Ion I. Moța, and in this way, Libertatea contributed to the preparation for the later reception of the Legion of the 'Archangel Michael' and the messianic-political figure of C. Z. Codreanu in the Romanian countryside.