ABSTRACT
Modem Romania was formed in the wake of the Ottoman empire's retreat from mainland Europe. This chapter outlines the transformation of the agrarian question in Romania from the time of the Organic Statutes in 1830-1 to the beginning of the Second World War. It shows that the Romanian peasantry were not simply passive victims of their environment. The attitude of peasants towards national politics and the legal system has been shaped by what they have perceived to be threats to their livelihood. The chapter argues that, at both these levels, it is possible to detect a certain defensive attitude on the part of the peasants to what they considered to be their own territory. The focus is on the state's attempts to transform the conditions of agricultural production in the country. The next great solution to the Romanian land question, as in the 1830s and the 1860s, appeared as a result of war between the great powers.
