Academician Theodorescu on Greater Union: It was the masterpiece of political thinking called January 1859

Historians from all over Romania and abroad attended on Wednesday a symposium called "The Greater Union - the culmination of a millenary history," organised by the National Defence College Foundation and the National Defence College at the Central University Library in Bucharest, an event that is part of the series of events dedicated to the Centennial of the December 1, 1918 Greater Union.

Academician Razvan Theodorescu spoke about "three country projects and two generations" that led to the Greater Union.

"It was the masterpiece of political thinking that was called January 1859. In my opinion, it is the smartest action taken by Romanians in all their history, namely the double election of Alexandru Ioan Cuza. The second project, which was the Independence of 1877, was largely conducted by the same people or others who accreted to those of 1859, which actually prolonged the 1848 revolutionary moment. Finally, there is the 1918 Union, which was certainly part of a general trend of unions in Europe, of the definitive formation of nations in the place of former empires, the fall of empires," said Theodorescu.

According to him, nationalism is a "healthy" doctrine — the doctrine of Titu Maiorescu, Mihai Eminescu, Nicolae Iorga, and Constantin Radulescu Motru.

"Romania must once and for all join the civilised peoples that do not stupidly and idiotically make fun of the word nationalism. (...) Nationalism is a healthy doctrine, it is the doctrine of Titu Maiorescu, of Eminescu, Iorga and Radulescu-Motru, and we have to talk about that all the time," he said.

According to him, there are no longer "statesmen" or "political people" in Romania.

"In Romania, we no longer have statesmen today. You can call me a subjective old man,...