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Romanian Journal of Historical Studies Volume I – Issue 2 / 2018 https://romanianjournalofhistoricalstudies.wordpress.com

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CONFIGURATION OF THE LAND PROPERTY IN DOBROGEA (1878-1900) Cornelia-Elena Bobe 1

1 Ph.D. Student, Doctoral School of Humanities Sciences – "Ovidius" University of Constanta, Romania E-mail: [email protected] Online Published: December 31, 2018

Abstract

The year 1878 was a challenging moment for the Romanian nation, but at the same time it was a year during which, the authorities went forward with determined deeds on the path of surpassing the transition period that Dobrogea was facing, because the ideal of bringing it at the same developing stage as the rest of the country was deeply rooted in Romanians’ conscience. Establishing a relation between history and economy into an integrate vision allowed us to analyse the new status of Dobrogea, which continued to develop overcoming the difficulties that were coming after its union with Romania. Moreover, we succeeded in approaching the society and local and central authorities’ legal and economic preoccupations, following the main lines of the studied domain. Year by year, accomplishing the regulation programs for the land property brought visible improvements in the life of the population. The present study covers a period of 13 years, beginning with 1878, a reference moment in Romania’s history. My desire is to attentively observe the path of Dobrogea’s modernization which registered a series of important steps due to the efficient involvement of the Romanian state representatives, which led to the development of the province’s agriculture as the main economic force of the region and an instrument of absolute necessity to the welfare of any people. The existence of a large number of archival documents within the central and local institutions, well preserved in the deposits of Bucharest, Constanța and Tulcea, most of them unseen, made me begin a more profound analysis of the historical sources, in order to obtain a synthesis corroborated with multiple situations and aspects. Their investigation substantially filled in the information regarding the instauration of Romanian administration in November 1878, the regulation of the land property and its exploitation. Herewith, I consulted old press, document volumes and numerous researches already published.

Key words: Dobrogea, land property, legislation, landowners 1. Introduction The objective of the study is to organize chronologically and, at the same time, systematically the path

followed by Dobrogea at the end of the 19th century, bringing into discussion the legislative measures implemented here, the causes or effects of some specific problems or events and the importance of understanding the mechanisms which govern the economic development of this region.

After 1878 the central and local authorities proceeded to accomplish the regulation programs for Dobrogea’s landed property, bringing visible improvements in the life of the population.1 The complex of legislative measures (the Law for the organization of Dobrogea issued on the 9th of March 1880, the Law for the regulation of immovable property in Dobrogea issued on the 3rd of April 1882, the law issued on the 8th of January 1888 “for the assignment of land to under-officers with 12 continuous years in service and in this rank”; the Law issued on

1 “Memoriul delegatului Consiliului Generat al judeţului Constanţa asupra acelui judeţ prezentat MS. Regelui,” Gazeta Dobrogei, VI, no. 352, November 28, 1893, 2-3, apud Stoica Lascu, Mărturii de epocă privind istoria Dobrogei, vol. I (1878-1916), (Constanța: Muzeul de Istorie Națională și Arheologie, 1999), 188.

Romanian Journal of Historical Studies, Volume I – Issue 2 / 2018 Cornelia-Elena Bobe

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the 7th of April 1889 for the alienation of state’s goods and the buyback of long lease) represented the main element in the process of integration and progress.2 The delimitation of the state’s domains became possible following the division of private lots according to the titles which were verified and issued; hence, these could have been put up for sale in lots of 2 up to 1.000 hectares, with preference to the locals without any land, but the Ministry of Domains also took measures for providing land to the Romanians who came from other regions of the country.

The regime of landed property suffered successive changes through the Law for the regulation of immovable property in Dobrogea issued on the 3rd of April 1882, which intended to consolidate the right to own a property, to transform the mirie possession type (mirie is Romanian archaism that means tax or impost) into an absolute ownership of property and to buyback the tithe; to merge and make the cadastre for the locals’ and the state’s immovable property.3

Starting with the year 1886 the Romanian state proceeded to parcel and sell the lands at prices below the rest of the country and only those who came to stay permanently in Dobrogea could benefit from this measure.4

Within the evolution of the rural property, we observe the efforts of the authorities in order to insure the agriculturalists with a productive work. Therefore, the authorities required the following: the regulation and consolidation of the right to own a property, the creation of grazing grounds as joint property in order to encourage cattle breeding, the launch of a vast action of land assignment and colonization with Romanian elements, and, finally, keeping some land for afforestation works.5

This work is an ample study which is based on the research of specialty literature and new information provided by unedited archival sources. I plan to show the role played by Dobrogea in the ensemble of modern Romania’s economic development. I approached and analysed the situation of the province based on statistical data, in order to present the extended image of the indissoluble relation between the region and the Romanian state represented by local authorities, as the result of the interests for economic, political and national progress.

2. The evaluation of the economic perspectives in Dobrogea after 1878 The preparations for the army’s entrance in Dobrogea and the installation of the Romanian administration

started immediately after the completion of the Congress of Berlin. The government was especially preoccupied to be acquainted with the region’s situation, as the multitude of documents regarding Dobrogea’s land fund show.

In July 1878, the formation of two commissions (civil and military) was decided; both travelled on the right of the Danube so as to examine the material and moral state of the inhabitants and to collect information regarding the organization system during the Ottoman domination.6 In short time, the government had in its possession two ample reports with certain data about the population, material reserves, agricultural land as the essential element for development and prosperity, tax system and condition of the roads.

Very precise is the report issued on the 2nd of August 1878 by the lieutenant colonel Ioan Murgescu, the commander of the Romanian Flotilla Corpus7 sent to inspect Dobrogea’s harbours. Like many others, he had an intuition about the numerous development opportunities and outlined solutions for the modernization of the

2 Valentin Ciorbea, “Unirea Dobrogei cu România (1878). Reperele integrării și modernizării,” Memoriile Secției de științe istorice și arheologie, series IV, tom XXXVII, (Bucharest: Academiei Române, 2013), 128-129. 3 Toma Ionescu, “Asupra proprietății și colonizărilor din Dobrogea,” in Dobrogea. Cincizeci de ani de viaţă românească. 1878-1928, (Bucureşti: Cultura Naţională, 1928). Publicație tipărită cu prilejul semicentenarului anexării Dobrogei (Constanța: Ex Ponto, 2003), 265; Marian Vicol and Gheorghe Dumitraşcu, “Legea agrară din 1882 şi implicaţiile ei naţionale,” Analele Dobrogei, XIV, no. 1 (1997): 77. 4 Adrian Rădulescu and Ion Bitoleanu, Istoria Dobrogei, (Constanţa: Ex Ponto, 1998), 370. 5 C. Filipescu, Dobrogea agricolă (anexă la lucrarea jubiliară a Dobrogei), (București: Cultura Națională, 1928), 7. 6 Adrian Rădulescu and Ion Bitoleanu, Istoria Dobrogei, 345-346. 7 Valentin Ciorbea, “Unirea Dobrogei cu România (1878),” 122; idem, “The Port of Constanța: 125 years of Romanian Administration: 1878-2003,” in Valentin Ciorbea (coord.), Studii istorice dobrogene (Constanța: Ovidius University Press, 2003), 114.


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area.8 The result of the mission9 carried out by the military commission led by colonel Ștefan Fălcoianu, the chief

of the Major State of the Army,10 allowed the Romanian government to contradict the voices in the Parliament of Bucharest which condemned Romania taking-over Dobrogea.11 Moreover, he was named delegate to the European Commission and responsible with marking the border line between Dobrogea and Bulgaria.12 Ștefan Fălcoianu remarked the cultivable land and the winegrowing cultures in Sulina district, the rich villages and the terrain less suitable for agriculture located in Mahmudia district (Tulcea County) with an arid climate, where “despite all these, the inhabitants are involved in agriculture and manage to earn their living,”; he recommended fallowing the land and clearing the forests of Babadag and Isaccea in order to develop Tulcea district due to its fertile soil, giving as an example Malcoci village “surrounded by trees and gardens which produce vegetables for the satiety roundabout, as far as Tulcea and Mahmudia.” The soil was varied in Constanța County, and the main income came from grazing (Mangalia district). The colonel insistently pointed the matters which needed immediate legislative interventions (the “altogether tangled” rural property and the abuse over the peasants).13

3. The first measures on the modernization path Following the army’s crossing of the Danube, Ruler Carol who was accompanied by the prime minister,

functionaries and superior officers,14 read a Proclamation to the inhabitants of Dobrogea in which he planned legislative measures for approaching the agrarian problems. The event took place at Brăila15 on the 14th of November 1878,16 in the presence of a numerous and enthusiastic public. Through the Proclamation it was announced that the property is regulated according to the new constitution.17 The Ruler also pointed out the fact that the authorities were in charge with defending the population’s possessions and interests, researching and meeting its needs, contributing to their “good moral and material state.” In conclusion, for the year 1879, the population affected by the war benefitted from the existence of a legal frame favourable to its unbridled development,18 enjoying a relaxed financial politics,19 absolutely necessary in those difficult times. At the same time, urgent measures were announced for reestablish order and legality in the province.20

In this context, Ruler Carol chose to annul the tithe of any nature for the year 1879, by replacing it with a tax “righter and easier for the agriculturalists,” starting with the 1st of January 1880. The tax on immovable capital

8 A. Rădulescu and I. Bitoleanu, Istoria românilor dintre Dunăre şi Mare: Dobrogea, (Bucharest: Editura Științifică și Enciclopedică, 1979), 278; Niculae Niculae, Constantin Căzănișteanu, Maria Georgescu, Documente privind istoria militară a poporului român, iulie 1878-noiembrie 1882, vol. 2, (Bucharest: Editura Militară, 1974), 7. 9 Central Historical National Archives (C.H.N.A.), Fund: Fălcoianu familial (1836-1944), file no. 6 (1878-1879), 1-2. 10 Valentin Ciorbea, “Unirea Dobrogei cu România (1878),” 122; Gheorghe Dumitraşcu and Lavinia-Dacia Gheorghe, “Trei documente privind situaţia Dobrogei la 1878,” in Valentin Ciorbea (coord.), Dobrogea 1878-2008. Orizonturi deschise de mandatul european, (Constanţa: Ex Ponto, 2008), 234-250. 11 Ion Bulei and Paul Dominte, “Efectele preluării Dobrogei sub administrație românească asupra vieții politice și cotidiene,” Studii și articole de istorie, LXXIV (2009): 215; Gheorghe Dumitraşcu and Lavinia-Dacia Gheorghe, “Trei documente,” 232. 12 C.H.N.A., Fund: Fălcoianu familial (1836-1944), file no. 6 (1878-1879), 3-5, 7-10; C.H.N.A., Fund: Câmpineanu familial (1848, 1878-1919), file no. 53 (1878), 1-3 (telegram addresed to Mihail Kogălniceanu). 13 Gheorghe Dumitraşcu. Lavinia-Dacia Gheorghe, “Trei documente,” 235-249. 14 Adrian Rădulescu, Ion Bitoleanu, Istoria Dobrogei, 347. 15 Ibid, 348. 16 Stoica Lascu, “Reintegrarea Dobrogei în statul român acum 130 de ani,” Marea Noastră (April-June 2008): 3-4; Cuvântările Regelui Carol I. 1866-1914, vol. I, 1866-1886 (Bucharest: Fundaţia pentru literatură şi artă “Regele Carol”, 1939), 296. 17 Monitorul Oficial, no. 236 (1878): 7161-7162. 18 Stoica Lascu, “Elemente ale modernizării Dobrogei. 125 de ani de la reintegrarea Dobrogei la statul român,” Studii și articole de istorie, LXVIII (2003): 179. 19 G. D. Petrescu, “Răsboiul pentru independență și anexarea Dobrogei,” in Dobrogea. Cincizeci de ani de viaţă românească. 1878-1928, 345-346; Iosif Colcer and Viorel Măgureanu, File din istoria Dobrogei (Tulcea: Inspectoratul pentru Cultură al Județului Tulcea, 1998), 142-145. 20 Iosif Colcer and Viorel Măgureanu, File din istoria Dobrogei, 141-143.


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in the cities (“emleac”), the tax of 3% on the work of craftsmen and agriculturalists (“temetuat”), the tax on the rent, taverns, cafes, grocery shops, inns, all of these were transformed into smaller taxes starting with the 1st of January, while the tax of excuse from army (“bedel”), the tax of 2½ % of selling cattle (“entizab”) and the tax on mills were entirely annulled.21 This measure was enacted for financially alleviating Dobrogea’s inhabitants; the decision was taken the same day that the army crossed the Danube.22

Alongside the launch of the two proclamations fundamental for Romania’s history, sits the instauration of the Decree no. 2533 from the 13th of November 1878 regarding the regulation of Dobrogea’s administrative organization, signed by Ruler Carol and the Ministry of Internal Affairs, C. A. Rosetti.23 The Decree determined the regions’ division into districts and small rural districts, the responsibilities of the prefects, district administrators and communal mayors, and afterwards it would be supplemented with other regulations.

Many opinions were directed towards the installation of order in the region, as “the essential base of progress,” the organization of various services (including the administrative service), and mainly, protecting local interests.24 Moreover, the preoccupation for Dobrogea’s territory is easy to understand, considering the main riches of the region with immediate productive potential (land, water, forests, delta, Constanța harbour, Cernavodă - Constanța railway),25 to which we can add the interest and the investments of English capital in this area.26

4. The material situation of the province after the Independence War Clarifying information about the situation of the province are found not only in the reports of the local

authorities’ representatives and Romania’s men of culture, but also at foreign travellers or merchants who arrived here. Their visions converge in the same direction: the sad image of the devastation after the war and the poverty state of the population who did not abandon the region.

A business trip allowed the Barron Daniel D’Hogguer to publish in February 1879 an evaluation in which he presents information about Dobrogea’s cities, referring to the resources of the region, and the social, economic and sanitary life of the population.27 He too confirmed the deplorable state of the province. About the forest nearby the small city of Măcin, the author points out that it was devastated, “as everywhere in Dobrogea.”28 The city of Sulina is described as being in a deep state of pauperism, with a minimum population.

In 1881 the prefect Remus Opreanu presented the first council of Constanța with an account on the situation of the county in 53 pages, after evaluating it on the 23rd of November 1878.29 The lack of public order was highly felt, and this aspect was reflected in the actions of thieve gangs, registered cases showing that inhabitants were asking for help to save their lives or animals, or because they did not have any food.30 21 Ibid, 144. 22 Constantin P. Rotaru, Reformele agrare din Dobrogea Veche (1878-1930). Teză pentru doctorat în ştiinţele economice (Iași: Universitatea din Iași, 1930), 29. 23 Virgil Coman (coord.), Dobrogea în Arhivele românești (1597-1989). Profesorului Stoica Lascu la 60 de ani (Bucharest: Editura Etnologică, 2013), 26-28. 24 “Dobrogia, devenită din nou parte din corpul României,” Pressa, XI, no. 225, October 11, 1878, 1, apud Stoica Lascu, Mărturii de epocă privind istoria Dobrogei, vol. I (1878-1916), 81. 25 C. Brătescu, “Pământul Dobrogei,” in Dobrogea. Cincizeci de ani de viaţă românească. 1878-1928, 5-9. 26 Valentin Ciorbea, “Unirea Dobrogei cu România (1878),” 118, 120. 27 Baronul Daniel D’Hogguer, Informațiuni asupra Dobrogei. Starea ei de astăzi. Resursele și viitorul ei, (Bucharest: Editura Librăriei Socec & C-ie, 1879), 16. 28 Ibid, p. 27. 29 Constantin P. Rotaru, Reformele agrare din Dobrogea Veche, 27; Gheorghe Dumitraşcu, “Aspecte ale situaţiei Dobrogei în perioada noiembrie 1878-mai 1883. Activitatea primului prefect de Constanţa, Remus N. Opreanu,” Anuarul Institutului de Istorie şi Arheologie «A. D. Xenopol», XVIII (1981), 294-295; Remus Opreanu, “Espunere generală a situațiunei județului Constanța. Dare de seamă făcută Consiliului Județian în diua de 18 ianuariu 1881, de către D. Prefect al Județului,” Farul Constanței, II, no. 36, January 18, 1881, 1-3; no. 37, January 25, 1881, 1-3; no. 38, February 1, 1881, 1-4; no. 39, February 8, 1881, 1-3; no. 40, February 15, 1881, 1-3; no. 41, February 22, 1881, 1-4, apud Stoica Lascu, Mărturii de epocă, 115-132. 30 Stoica Lascu, Mărturii de epocă, 116.


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We can observe the description of the conflict’s consequences on Dobrogea’s territory at the ethnographer Theodor Burada, a traveller on these lands, who talks in the year 1880 about “destroyed cities, whole villages totally deserted; one can hardly recognize that in those places people once lived.”31 According to the same witness, “the occupation of the inhabitants was rather sheepherding than agriculture, while the grass is lost because the lack of arms.”32

It appears that a part of Dobrogea’s villages never re-established. According to the existing data, in Constanța County, out of 356 nominal villages, the majority were abandoned during the fights. Out of 230 villages which resumed their existence, many had an average of about 10-20 inhabitants. In 1878 a researcher assessed that on Dobrogea’s map there were 290 villages and 14 cities but, in reality, only half could be identified as such, by being inhabited.33 Among the bigger habitations, only Tulcea had a settlement which would have deserved to be called a city.34

The report of the prefect of Silistra Nouă, completed immediately after the installation of Romanian authorities, confirms the same sad situation: “I was given to see entire villages, previously flourishing, nowadays presenting only the most miserable view. Where herds of 25.000 sheep and other 2.000-3.000 cattle were before, now there is not even a trace of them.”35

The brochure Progresele Dobrogei dela anexare până astăzi (1878-1906) presents the region at the end of the year 1878, after the Russian troops’ departure and Romanian army’s occupation. Dobrogea’s precarious state was discussed in many circumstances: “it was completely devoid of inhabitants; the majority of the inhabitants emigrated, taking refuge in the lands of the Ottoman Empire, where the winning troops had not entered; many villages were definitely ruined, the culture of the land was null, and the commerce had no importance whatsoever.”36

5. The agrarian reforms adopted for Dobrogea’s economic development The restoration of Romanian state’s authority over the largest part of Dobrogea, a province with an immense

economic potential due to its egress to the Black Sea and the mouths of the Danube37 involved a series of judicial reforms regarding the property.

Considering Dobrogea’s critical situation and until its definitive organization,38 the government decided it was necessary to enforce a distinct administrative regime,39 but without ignoring the features of the old system.40 The aim of the governmental politics of administrative integration of Dobrogea was bringing the province at the

31 Nicolae Iorga, Drepturile naționale și politice ale românilor în Dobrogea: Considerațiuni istorice (Constanța: Tipografia “Victoria, George I. Georgescu”, 1917), 88. 32 Constantin P. Rotaru, Reformele agrare din Dobrogea Veche, 24-25. 33 George Sofronie, Dobrogea, consideraţiuni istorice (Oradea: Tipografia Diecezană, 1928), 21; Adrian Rădulescu and Ion Bitoleanu, Istoria Dobrogei, 344. 34 Octav Văleanu and Ioan N. Ionescu, Dobrogea economică, politică, socială (Constanţa: Tipografia Comercială “Lucrătorii Asociați”, 1923), IV. 35 Vasile Mihordea, “Câteva date privitoare la situaţia ţărănimii în Dobrogea în 1878,” Studii. Revistă de istorie, X, 3 (1957): 204-205. 36Progresele Dobrogei dela anexare până astăzi (1878-1906). Tablou grafic întocmit din ordinul Domnului Ministru al Domeniilor I. N. Lahovari (Bucharest: Stab. de Arte Grafice Albert Baer Fabrica de Cartonage, 1907), 3. 37 Art. 46 of the Treaty of Berlin: “The islands forming the Danube Delta, as well as the Snake Island, the Sandjak of Tulcea, comprising the districts (cazac) of Chilia, Sulina, Mahmudia, Isaccea, Tulcea, Măcin, Babadag, Hârşova, Kiustenge, Medgidia will be united with Romania. The Principality also receives in addition the territory situated in the south of Dobrogea, as far as a line starting from Silistra and terminating south of Mangalia, on the Black Sea. The border line will be fixated by the European commission formed for the delimitation of Bulgaria.” Valentin Ciorbea, “Dobrogea în geopolitica României şi a Europei la sfârșitul secolului al XIX-lea și începutul secolului XX”, in Valentin Ciorbea (coord.), Dobrogea 1878-2008. Orizonturi deschise de mandatul european, 218. 38 Ioan N. Roman, Dobrogea şi drepturile politice ale locuitorilor ei (Constanţa: Tipografia “Ovidiu”, 1905), 23; Adrian Rădulescu and Ion Bitoleanu, Istoria Dobrogei, 353. 39Adrian Rădulescu and Ion Bitoleanu, Istoria Dobrogei, 352. 40 Andreea Atanasiu, “Dobrogea sub administrație otomană. Constanța și Tulcea - studiu de caz,” in Valentin Ciorbea (coord.), Dobrogea 1878-2008. Orizonturi deschise de mandatul european, 136.


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same level of development as the Romanian state. Mihail Kogălniceanu declared that in order to relaunch the region’s economy and for the gradual and structural integration of Dobrogea’s nationalities, there were not necessary “a whole lot of laws” but the steady approach of Dobrogea’s inhabitants to “our manners”, “by slowly illuminating the public spirit, without any social commotions.”41

During the regulatory period (November 1878 - March 1880),42 the population profoundly affected by the war received material support from the authorities, the budgets were drafted, the modality of tax perception changed, the Administration of state’s domains and forests was founded, the property inventory began, all these achievements creating a strong safety feeling and trust in the authorities among the population.43

Very significant for Dobrogea’s process of integration within the Romanian state was the promulgation of the law for the organization of Dobrogea, issued on the 9th of March 1880 and signed by Ruler Carol; because the Turkish laws which governed the property were known by only a few Romanians, the government decided through the Law for the organization of Dobrogea that: “until the definitive regulation of the property and the immovable possession in Dobrogea, this property and possession can be obtained, preserved, transmitted and lost according to the Ottoman laws in effect, until the 11th of April 1877.”44

So as to restore the social and economic life strongly affected by the war, it was decided to proceed to the administrative and territorial organization of the province, although with some restrictive provisions regarding the acquisition of rural immovable properties on the left of the Danube.45 Only the Romanians or the inhabitants who were in the province at the date of 11th of April 1877 and met the conditions of the Ottoman laws or those rightful by the Article no. 7 of the Romanian Constitution could benefit from the right of land ownership.46

On June 5th, 1880 the Parliament adopted a regulation regarding the verification of property and land possession titles in Dobrogea.47 Verification commissions were set up in all rural districts of Constanța and Tulcea, and the results of their activity were verified by the Central Commission from Bucharest, formed by delegates of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, The Administration of State’s Domains and Forests and Ministry of Justice. Each commission was composed of: the district’s administrator, a delegate of the Administration of State’s Domains and Forests, and the mayor of the village.48 These commissions carried out an inventory of all existent property titles, as well as a general situation for each village which contained the number of inhabitants present there before the 1877-1878 war, the number of emigrants and those considered missing.49 Moreover, the authorities proceeded to replacing the old documents with Romanian scripts.50 If the titles weren’t meeting the conditions required by the Ottoman laws, these would be rejected through “a reasoned decision, written in the central commission’s register, while the titles along with the copies of the decisions were returned to the district commission.”51

The central commission for the verification of land property titles in Dobrogea identified an area of 176.075

41 Official Journal of Romania, no. 24 (January 30/February 11, 1880), D.A.D., the session on January 29, 1880, 555-556; Augustin Z. N. Pop, Pe urmele lui Mihail Kogălniceanu (Bucharest: Sport-Turism, 1979), 260-264. 42 Sorin Mureșeanu, “Integrarea Dobrogei,” in Gh. Platon (coord.), Istoria românilor, vol. II, tom II - De la independență la Marea Unire (1878-1918), (Bucharest: Editura Enciclopedică, 2003), 41. 43 Valentin Ciorbea, “Unirea Dobrogei cu România (1878),” 124. 44 Constantin P. Rotaru, Reformele agrare din Dobrogea Veche, 26; Ioan N. Roman, Studiu asupra proprietăței rurale din Dobrogea (Constanța: Tipografia Ovidiu, 1907), 233. 45 Sorin Mureșeanu, “Integrarea Dobrogei”, 41. 46 The Article no. 7 of the Constitution of Romania (1866), modified in 1878, conditioned Romanian citizenship by the affiliation to the Christian church. 47 Constantin P. Rotaru, Reformele agrare din Dobrogea Veche, 28; Marin Stanciu, Dezvoltarea economică și social-politică a Dobrogei în perioada 1878-1918, rezumatul tezei de doctorat (București: Institutul de Istorie “Nicolae Iorga”, 1984), 13. 48 M. Vlădescu-Olt, Constituția Dobrogei (Bucharest: Tipografia “Dor. P. Cucu”, 1908), 9-18. 49 M. Ionescu-Dobrogianu, Dobrogia în pragul veacului XX. Geografia matematică, fisică, politică, economică şi militară (Bucharest: Atelierele Grafice I.V. Socecu, 1904), 908-909. 50 Toma Ionescu, “Asupra proprietății și colonizărilor din Dobrogea,” 265. 51 Constantin P. Rotaru, Reformele agrare din Dobrogea Veche, 34.


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hectares of land which belonged to a number of 23.263 families. Among these, 6.749 Romanian families owned 40.638 hectares, 5.237 Bulgarian families owned 39.797 hectares, and 8.904 Turkish and Tatar families owned 87.753 hectares of land.52

After the completion of the verification stage, the state acknowledged and took charge of its domains, delimited them and sold them as lots up to 100 hectares. In Tulcea County, the price for a hectare of land was 90 lei, payable in 20-30 years.53 A part of the villages which existed in 1882, like Casimcea, Rusa, Cadichioi, Acargea, Nalbant, Nargilar, Ciobanisa, Hasancea and others, disappeared probably at cause of the migration of all inhabitants; later, a few of these were repopulated.54

The regulation of Dobrogea’s landed property continued even after the completion of the verifying commissions’ activity. On the 3rd of April, 1882 the Parliament adopted the law for the regulation of immovable property in Dobrogea.55 According to the provisions of this law, it was created a system of rate payment of agrarian debts, while unclaimed lands entered the state’s possession.56

The result was that the Romanian state became the owner of most land in the province, which gave the possibility to make profit by selling it. The cultivable land in the state’s possession was parcelled and sold, according to the law from 1882, to the inhabitants of Dobrogea who did not own any land or just little land, including to those who came from the left of the Danube and who wanted to acquire land in Dobrogea. According to the statistical data, for a period of six years from the law’s enforcement, 262.268,8032 hectare were sold in lots of 3 up to 10 hectares, and 137.853,280 hectares were sold in lots of 10 to 100 hectares.57

Significant to this point are the assessment records of parcelling, the measurement and delimitation documents, and the plan drafts which allow us to observe the formation of the village settlement starting with the year 1883, in Tulcea and Constanța counties. Tulcea County Service of the National Archives holds more than 50 files put together by the Cadastre Office.58

We observe the presence of the term “donum” related to the calculated surfaces in all the documents mentioned above. This term represented a Turkish unit of measure, and its metric equivalent is of 919 meters and 3.024 mm.59

Based on an extraordinary precision, the land surveyors and topographers were making complex descriptions of the landforms, cardinal points and proximities (using a to z points), obtaining exact measurements in order to exploit each meter of land, making annexes and lists, calculi and plan drafts.

For Akadîn60 village (commune of Alibeikioi, Babadag district, Tulcea county), from the assessment record of settlement delimitation, completed on May 27th, 1883, we observe the following parcelling: 17 ha and 4.000 m2 for the settlement of the village (houses, gardens, lanes and cemetery) for 87 inhabitants (2.000 m2 / family); 6.000 m2 land for the school, mosque and church; 87 ha for the grazing ground, 87 ha rush beds (1 ha / house); 10 ha cultivable land for the school; 331 ha and 5.004 m2 cultivable land for 42 inhabitants and 2.758 ha for garden spaces. The total amount of land assigned by the record was of 533 ha and 7.762 m2.

52 Marin Stanciu, Dezvoltarea economică și social-politică a Dobrogei, p. 13; Constantin P. Rotaru, Reformele agrare din Dobrogea Veche, 47. 53 Constantin P. Rotaru, Reformele agrare din Dobrogea Veche, 48; Ioan N. Roman, “Proprietatea imobiliară rurală din Dobrogea”, in Dobrogea. Cincizeci de ani de viaţă românească. 1878-1928, 285-286. 54 Constantin P. Rotaru, Reformele agrare din Dobrogea Veche, 48. 55 Marin Stanciu, Dezvoltarea economică și social-politică a Dobrogei, 13. 56 Stoica Lascu, “Specificul vieţii politice dobrogene după 1878 în viziunea oamenilor de stat și începuturile activităţii partidelor la Constanţa,” in Colegiul Pedagogic Constantin Brătescu. Valori ale civilizaţiei româneşti în Dobrogea (Constanţa, 1994), 216. 57 Liviu P. Marcu, “Reforme agrare în Dobrogea la sfârşitul secolului al XIX-lea în context sud-est european”, in Adrian Rădulescu (coord.), Comunicări de istorie a Dobrogei, vol. II (Constanţa: Muzeul de Istorie Națională și Arheologie, 1983), 70. 58 Tulcea County Service of the National Archives (Tulcea C.S.N.A.), Fund: Oficiul de Cadastru al Judeţului Tulcea (1880-1956). 59 Ioan N. Roman, Studiu asupra proprietăței rurale din Dobrogea, 28-29. 60 Tulcea C.S.N.A., Fund: Oficiul de Cadastru al Judeţului Tulcea (1880-1956), file no. 1 (1883), 1-2. The name of the village comes from the Turkish name of the tributary of river Taița, Ac-cadîn (Marin Ionescu-Dobrogianu, Dobrogia în pragul veacului XX, 360-361).


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The measurement and delimitation document61 was issued on the 20th of June 1883, by the topographer within the Deposit of War, in the presence of the mayor of the commune and based on the assessment record issued in the month of May, the same year. To the categories of properties mentioned above, the following were added: 13 ha and 2.600 m2 of communal and vicinal roads on the cultivable land; 16 ha and 4.336 m2 of unproductive spaces (of the cultivable land); 920 m2 for two water mills. In conclusion, the village was added with 29 ha and 7.856 m2 of land.

Therefore, the village had a usable area of 563 ha and 5.618 m2, with the mention that the land which remained empty was the state’s property and was situated at the margins of the settlement.

Also based on the Law for the regulation of the immovable property in Dobrogea it was completed the delimitation of the settlement of Balabancea village (Măcin district, Tulcea county),62 following the authorization which was received from the Administration of State’s Domains and Forests. On the 3rd of July 1883, the commission issued an assessment record which contained the following data: 14 ha and 4.000 m2 for the settlement of the village (houses, gardens, lanes and cemetery) for 72 inhabitants (2.000 m2/family); 8.000 m2 land for the school, mosque and church; 105 ha and 6.000 m2 for the grazing ground, 75 ha rush beds (3/4 ha/house); 10 ha cultivable land for the school; 421 ha and 6.833 m2 cultivable land for 31 inhabitants and 1.839 ha for mills. The village was assigned a total of 637 ha and 6.672 m2 of land.

Separately, in the measurement and delimitation document,63 dated on the 13th of July 1883, the following information were added: 5.000 m2 for a mill, 16 ha and 8.673 m2 of communal and vicinal roads on the cultivable land; 55 ha of unproductive spaces (of the cultivable land); 3 ha and 6.000 m2 for the cemetery. Hence, 75 ha and 9.673 m2 of land were added up. From the analysed archival sources, it appears that Balabancea village held a total area of 713 ha and 6.343 m2, but, at the same time, presented a large area of unusable, rocky terrain (55 ha).

For the village of Endek-Karakioi (commune of Kiuciuc-Biulbiul, Medgidia district, Constanța county), from the assessment of record of settlement delimitation,64 issued on the 19th of August 1882 in the presence of the chief land surveyor within the Administration of State’s Domains and Forests, the chief of the Deposit of War and the mayor of the commune (Hagí Murza Ali), we learn that it was proceeded to the following division of the land: 13 ha for the settlement of the village (houses, gardens, lanes and cemetery) for 65 inhabitants (2.000 m2/family); 4.000 m2 land for the school and mosque; 65 ha for the grazing ground, 65 ha rush beds (1 ha/house); 10 ha cultivable land for the school; 815 ha and 6.971 m2 cultivable land for 41 inhabitants.65 All the land assigned to the village totalled 969 ha and 971 m2.

From Grigore Dănescu we find out that the area of the village was of 2.825 hectares, while the population was composed almost only from Tatars and Bulgarians who preferred cattle breeding rather than farming.66

The supplement of the assessment record, dated on the 30th of April 1883, mentioned 4 other inhabitants who were to receive 67,5687 hectares of land, the total area of the village settlement growing up to 1.036 ha and 6.658 m2.

The measurement and delimitation document prepared by the topographer, included: 11 ha and 6.000 m2 of communal and vicinal roads on the cultivable land; 8 ha and 4.000 m2 of unproductive spaces (of the cultivable land), therefore a total of 20 ha. In conclusion, the settlement of Endek-Karakioí totalled 1.091 hectares and

61 Tulcea C.S.N.A., Fund: Oficiul de Cadastru al Judeţului Tulcea (1880-1956), file no. 1 (1883), 3. 62 Tulcea C.S.N.A., Fund: Oficiul de Cadastru al Judeţului Tulcea (1880-1956), file no. 3 (1883), 1-2; Marin Ionescu-Dobrogianu, Dobrogia în pragul veacului XX, 382-383. 63 Tulcea C.S.N.A., Fund: Oficiul de Cadastru al Judeţului Tulcea (1880-1956), file no. 3 (1883), 3-4. 64 Constanța County Service of the National Archives (Constanța C.S.N.A.), Fund: Primăria comunei Valea Dacilor (1882-1889, 1933, 1936-1949), file no. 1 (1882), 1-2. 65 The assessment record issued on the 8th of July 1882 states that out of the 65 village inhabitants, only 41 benefitted from recognition of the property titles, 18 did not have any title, and the titles of 6 inhabitants were rejected, Ibid., 5. 66 Grigore Gr. Dănescu, Dicționarul geografic, statistic, economic și istoric al județului Constanța (Bucharest: Tipografia și Fonderia de litere Thoma Basilescu, 1897), 427-428.


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9.958 m2. For the village of Techirghiol from the commune with the same name (Constanța district, Constanța county),

the commission formed following the authorization of the Administration of State’s Domains and Forests, issued the assessment record67 dated on the 10th of July 1882 and proceeded to the following division: 25 ha for the village settlement (houses, gardens, lanes and cemetery) for 125 inhabitants (2.000 m2/family); 6.000 m2 land for the school and mosque; 125 ha and 2.758 m2 for the grazing ground, 125 ha land for forest plantation (1 ha/house); 10 ha cultivable land for the school; 10 ha cultivable land for the mosque; 1.353 ha and 2.108 m2 cultivable land for 80 inhabitants. The land assigned by the authorities totalled 1.649 ha and 866 m2.

The supplement to the above-mentioned assessment record, dated on the 1st of September 1883, mentions a list of 3 inhabitants who were assigned 337 hectares and 6.592 m2 cultivable land in the “Western part of the old meadow.” These were added with the roads in a percentage of 4 % of the total village area.

The measurement and delimitation document68 which completed the file of land valuation was issued on the 28th of July 1882 and contained, beside the measurements in the preceding assessment record, the following limits: 14 ha and 1.250 m2 of communal and vicinal roads on the cultivable land; 1 ha and 5.000 m2 of unproductive spaces and a vineyard, 3 ha and 4.000 m2 for a cemetery, therefore a total area of 18 ha and 250 m2.

Another assessment record stored in Constanţa County Service of the National Archives, dated on the 8th of June 1882, as a result of the completion of works carried out by the commission of Constanța district regarding the village of Techirghiol, allowed us to observe that out of the 126 initial inhabitants of the village, 80 owners had their titles recognized by the Romanian authorities, 41 did not possess any title, while the property titles of 4 inhabitants were rejected.69

The series of agrarian reforms, alongside their revisions, led to the phenomenon of layering within the rural land property. “A strong layer of small and medium landowners”70 was formed, and in 1896 they held 65 % of the properties share with an average of 7,7 hectares. The base of Dobrogea’s agriculture was represented by the households of 10 to 15 hectares.71

Another significant aspect of the agrarian reforms applied in Dobrogea, also from economic and geographical points of view, was the assignment of land to some categories of old military men (under-officers, rehired, fighters in the Independence War and officers in reserve);72 many of them came from Moldova, Muntenia, Ardeal and were veterans.73 As early as the 1878, Mihail Kogălniceanu prevalently accepted the requests of the Independence War veterans to settle down in Dobrogea.74

Ioan N. Roman saw in the law issued on January 8th, 1888 “for the assignment of Dobrogea’s land to under-officers with 12 continuous years of service in this rank” as the first measure for the formation of new Romanian villages in Dobrogea. They were entitled to receive 6 hectares as close as possible to their home place, while in Dobrogea they were to receive a lot of 20 hectares on the frontier line or 15 hectares in the interior of the province;75 they benefitted from temporary tax remissions and of a series of facilities and gratuities (the necessary materials for a house, barn, plough, two oxen and a cart).76

67 Constanța C.S.N.A., Fund: Primăria orașului Techirghiol (1882-1950), file no. 1 (1882-1912), 1-2. 68 Ibid, 3. 69 Ibid, 5. 70Progresele Dobrogei De la anexare până astăzi 1878-1906. Tablou întocmit din ordinul domnului ministru al Domeniilor I. N. Lahovari, p. 8. 71 Dumitru Șandru, Mocanii în Dobrogea (Bucharest: Institutul de Istorie Națională, 1946), 50. 72 Valentin Ciorbea, “Unirea Dobrogei cu România (1878)”, 128. 73 Iosif Colcer and Viorel Măgureanu, File din istoria Dobrogei, 121. 74 Marian Vicol and Gheorghe Dumitraşcu, “Legea agrară din 1882 şi implicaţiile ei naţionale”, 77. 75 Ioan N. Roman, Studiu asupra proprietăței rurale din Dobrogea, 139-140; Valentin Ciorbea, “Unirea Dobrogei cu România (1878),” 128; Toma Ionescu, “Asupra proprietății și colonizărilor din Dobrogea”, 271. 76 Ioan N. Roman, Studiu asupra proprietăței rurale din Dobrogea, 140.


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The law issued on the 8th of January 1888 was a land assignment (not selling) law and ruled that the lands given to the veterans cannot be estranged for a period of 30 years, “the landowners being due to settle at their lands and to cultivate them by themselves, without leasing them to other inhabitants.”77 Beginning with the year 1889, when it was observed that the landowner did not carry out its cultivation by complying with the law from 1882 and that the state’s purpose of making the most of its land was not fulfilled, the Administration of State’s Domains and Forests proceeded to the dispossession of all those who did not respect the law.78

In 1889, in the law for the alienation of state’s goods and the buyback of long lease, two articles referring to Dobrogea were adopted. The purpose of these provisions was the alignment of Dobrogea’s property regime to the legislation already existent in Romania, aiming to encourage the settlement in this region of Romanians from other Romanian provinces.

Despite all these efforts, the measures mentioned above were sometimes blocked by the same central authorities who turned back the Romanians who were coming to Dobrogea from Banat and Țara Oltului, or by the local authorities who refused to make available land lots to the colonists for building their houses.79

6. Conclusions At the base of Dobrogea’s new agrarian organization stood various elements, but the most important was

its land, here and there deserted and arid, but fertile in most parts. The authorities highlighted without any delay the region’s hospitality, practically changing not only its physiognomy, but also its substance.

The formation of the land property and the development of the agriculture as the main branch of Dobrogea’s economy, depended on the regulation of the rural immovable property, the authorities’ opening towards the groups of Romanians and minorities who chose Dobrogea to live and work and last, but not least, the soil and climate conditions: the region’s location between the Danube and the Black Sea, the low altitude (under 500 meters) and the extended pastures, the mild winters, the presence of the forests and the organized hydrographic network (Teliţa, Taiţa, Slava, Cerna etc)80 in the North, the aridity of Dobrogea’s landscape. Therefore, the geographical distribution of the cultivable terrains, fruit-growing lands, vineyards, pastures and meadows etc. was highly connected to the various component of the natural environment.

In the statistical information supplied by the Ministry of Agriculture, Commerce, Industry and Domains we observe spectacular growths when it comes to land assignment in Dobrogea: in 1880 there were 275 landowners with 11.588 hectares, after 10 years there were 65.458 landowners with 523.610 hectares, and in 1900 there were 71.682 inhabitants who owned 604.800 hectares of land.81

The present study aimed to analyse the complex measures initiated by the state’s decision factors, through which Dobrogea benefitted from the laws for the regulation of immovable property that facilitated not only the comeback of war refugee families, but also the settlement of other families coming from the rest of the country.82 Once settled in already inhabited villages or in abandoned ones, the new population gave a real impulse to the economic life. Based on the information obtained from the prefects Luca Ionescu and Scarlat C. Vârnav, the author Marin Ionescu - Dobrogianu set up a table about Dobrogea’s population, divided into counties and main nationalities, from which we can observe the constant growth of the inhabitants’ number: in 1880 there were 147.246 inhabitants, in 1885 - 173.452 inhabitants, in 1890 - 189.959 inhabitants, in 1895 - 224.551 inhabitants,

77 Ibid 78 Constantin P. Rotaru, Reformele agrare din Dobrogea Veche, 34; Marin Stanciu, Dezvoltarea economică și social-politică a Dobrogei, 14; “1643 români depositați (în Dobrogea)”, Constanța, 3, no. 112, March 26, 1895, 1. 79 Sorina Plopeanu, Emanuel Plopeanu, “Unele consideraţii privind legislaţia procesului de integrare a Dobrogei la România”, in Valentin Ciorbea (coord.), Dobrogea: 1878-2008; Orizonturi deschise de mandatul european, 215; “Cererile de pământ (în Dobrogea)”, Constanţa, 2, no. 3, February 28, 1893, 3. 80 Geografia României, vol. I. Geografia fizică (Bucharest: Ed. Academiei Republicii Socialiste România, 1983), 642. 81 Progresele Dobrogei De la anexare până astăzi 1878-1906. Tablou întocmit din ordinul domnului ministru al Domeniilor I. N. Lahovari, (Anexă). 82 “Relativ la stabiliri prin sate”, Constanța, 2, no. 25, August 1, 1893, 1.


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and in 1900 - 264.490 inhabitants (approximately 120.000 of these were Romanians).83 All new information obtained based on the unedited sources which I had access to, represent the beginning

of ample researches which will bring to light historical considerations regarding the possession of the territory between the Danube and the Black Sea and the progress of the Romanian society from all points of view, by pointing out the advantages of the multiple results following the union with the Romanian state.

Bibliography I. Archival Collections Central Historical National Archives (C.H.N.A.), Fund: Câmpineanu – familial (1848, 1878-1919); Central Historical National Archives (C.H.N.A.), Fund: Fălcoianu – familial (1836-1944); Constanţa County Service of the National Archives (Constanţa C.S.N.A.), Fund: Primăria comunei Valea

Dacilor (1882-1889, 1933, 1936-1949); Constanţa County Service of the National Archives (Constanţa C.S.N.A.), Fund: Primăria orașului Techirghiol

(1882-1950); Tulcea County Service of the National Archives (Tulcea C.S.N.A.), Fund: Oficiul de Cadastru al Judeţului Tulcea

(1880-1956); II. Books, Journal Articles Adrian Rădulescu (coord.), Comunicări de istorie a Dobrogei, vol. II. Constanţa: Muzeul de Istorie Națională

și Arheologie, 1983; Ciorbea, Valentin (coord.). Dobrogea 1878-2008. Orizonturi deschise de mandatul european. Constanţa: Ex

Ponto, 2008; Ciorbea, Valentin (coord.). Studii istorice dobrogene. Constanța: Ovidius University Press, 2003; Ciorbea, Valentin. “Unirea Dobrogei cu România (1878). Reperele integrării și modernizării”. Memoriile

Secției de științe istorice și arheologie, seria IV, tom XXXVII, (Bucharest: Editura Academiei Române, 2013): 117-140;

Colcer, I., V. Măgureanu. File din istoria Dobrogei. Tulcea: Inspectoratul pentru Cultură al Județului Tulcea, 1998;

Coman, Virgil (coord.). Dobrogea în Arhivele românești (1597-1989). Profesorului Stoica Lascu la 60 de ani. Bucharest: Ed. Etnologică, 2013;

Dănescu, Grigore. Dicţionarul geografic, statistic şi istoric al judeţului Constanța. Bucharest: Tipografia și fonderia de litere Thoma Basilescu, 1897;

Dobrogea. Cincizeci de ani de viaţă românească. 1878-1928. Bucharest: Cultura Naţională, 1928. Publicație tipărită cu prilejul semicentenarului anexării Dobrogei, Constanța: Ex Ponto, 2003;

Ionescu-Dobrogianu, M. Dobrogia în pragul veacului XX. Geografia matematică, fisică, politică, economică şi militară. Bucharest: Atelierele Grafice I.V. Socecu, 1904;

Lascu, Stoica. “Elemente ale modernizării Dobrogei. 125 de ani de la reintegrarea Dobrogei la statul român”. Studii și articole de istorie, LXVIII (Bucharest: Publistar, 2003): 169-184;

Lascu, Stoica. Mărturii de epocă privind istoria Dobrogei, vol. I (1878-1916). Constanța: Muzeul de Istorie Națională și Arheologie, 1999;

Progresele Dobrogei dela anexare până astăzi (1878-1906). Tablou grafic întocmit din ordinul Domnului Ministru al Domeniilor I. N. Lahovari. Bucharest: Stab. de Arte Grafice Albert Baer Fabrica de Cartonage, 1907;

Rădulescu, Adrian and Ion Bitoleanu. Istoria Dobrogei. Constanța: Ex Ponto, 1998; Roman, I. N. Studiu asupra proprietăței rurale din Dobrogea. Constanța: Tipografia “Ovidiu”, 1907; Roman, N. Ioan. Dobrogea şi drepturile politice ale locuitorilor ei. Constanţa: Tipografia “Ovidiu”, 1905;

83 M. Ionescu-Dobrogianu, Dobrogia în pragul veacului XX, 905; Robert Stănciugel and Liliana M. Bălașa, “Permanența și continuitatea românilor autohtoni în Dobrogea”, in Dobrogea în secolele VII-XIX (Bucharest: DC Promotions, 2005), 37; C. Brătescu, “Populația Dobrogei”, in Dobrogea. Cincizeci de ani de viaţă românească. 1878-1928, 233-235.


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Rotaru, C. Reformele agrare din Dobrogea veche (1878-1930). Iași: Universitatea din Iași, 1930; Vlădescu-Olt, M. Constituția Dobrogei. Bucharest: Tipografia “Dor. P. Cucu”, 1908.

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