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Nationalism and orthodoxy: Nichifor Crainic and the political culture of the extreme right in 1930s Romania

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 November 2018

Roland Clark
Roland Clark*
Affiliation:
Department of History, University of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA
*
*Email: rdc17@pitt.edu
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Abstract

This article explores the interplay of religion, anti-Semitism, and personal rivalries in building the ultra-nationalist movement in 1930s Romania, using the career of Nichifor Crainic as a case study. As a theologian, Crainic created and taught a synthesis of nationalism and Romanian Orthodoxy which was broadly accepted by most ultra-nationalists in interwar Romania. As a journalist, Crainic directed several newspapers which spearheaded acrimonious attacks on democratic and ultra-nationalist politicians alike. As a politician, he joined and left both Corneliu Zelea Codreanu's Legion of the Archangel Michael and A.C. Cuza's National Christian Defense League before attempting to form his own Christian Workers’ Party. Crainic's writings ultimately earned him a place as a minister in two governments and membership of the Romanian Academy. His career reveals an ultra-nationalist movement rife with division and bickering but united around a vaguely defined ideology of religious nationalism, xenophobia, and anti-Semitism.

Keywords

Nichifor CrainicOrthodoxismnationalismRomaniafascism
Type
Articles
Information
Nationalities Papers , Volume 40 , Issue 1 , January 2012 , pp. 107 - 126
Copyright
Copyright © 2012 Association for the Study of Nationalities 

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