Journal of Humanities Culture and Social Sciences

4

Authors: Mihai Ghițulescu

Romanian history is not very rich in feminine characters. Surely, there are ladies and princesses of all time, but their role is rather decorative and their notoriety, quite low. Moreover, in the 20th century, negative myths were surrounding the women of those times (e.g., Elena Lupescu and Elena Ceaușescu). One character is nonetheless the exception: Queen Mary. Sometimes, lately, it seems that she is overrated. For example, a few years ago, almost all contributors of a feminist texts collection mentioned her as a model of socially and politically involved woman. This is true, but not really feminist! I will explain on request. Like any great character, the one called Maria is as complex as it is prone to simplifying reception. That's what the war diary reveals.

6

Authors: Liviu Marius Ilie

How did the news appear? How did it travel, from who to whom and what route did it take? How much did it cost? How was it used to manipulate people? These are just a few questions that the author Ovidiu Cristea addressed in his book suggestively entitled Puterea cuvintelor (The Power of Words), a book dedicated, as can be read in the subtitle, to the news about the war that circulated in the 15th and 16th centuries, on the territory of the Romanian countries and the Ottoman Empire and on the Italian territory, especially in Venice. Except for the introduction and the conclusions, the book has three extensive parts – the first part is dedicated to the information/news as a historical subject, the second part analyzes the way in which the mechanism of producing, distributing and receiving news functioned, highlighting its functional segments, and the third part contains several case studies that prove very useful for the better understanding of this subject.

14

Authors: Ariadna Anamaria Petri

President Obama's recent visit to Israel, the Palestinian Territories and Jordan attempted to jump-start the stalled peace negotiations and made a very bold point by first resolving the dispute between Turkey and Israel. Since the collapse of the Ottoman Empire, Turkey maintained a good relationship with both the Israelis and the Palestinians and is a strong candidate for the role of mediator in their protracted conflict. Some qualities that support her bid include a good economic, commercial and military relationship with Israel; historic, cultural and religious ties with the Palestinians; a supportive Sunni majority; a strong alliance with the US and NATO membership and willingness to act as a mediator to reinforce its position as a regional power.

15

Authors: Lucian Dindirică

After the 1944 coup d'état, setting of the communist government on the 6th of March 1945 and the pseudo-elections organized in 1946, the year 1947 represents the terminus of communism instauration epos in Romania. Throughout this period, the communist leaders were assisted, coordinated, controlled and manipulated from Moscow. They were dictated orders and “suggestions” from Kremlin, all executed without hesitation. The end of 1947 brought to Romania a complete change of regime both political and constitutional. More precisely, unconstitutional. The Constitution of 1923 was suppressed, the king had no longer any role, than the former king of Romania; historical parties were already history, the Parliament was now consisting of a single room and was called the House of Representatives, where the communists controlled any decision and the executive management of the state was exercised by a five-member Presidium, totally subservient to the new regime. Romania was no longer a kingdom, but a popular republic. Concerning the administrative – territorial division, the new constitution stipulates a new delimitation of local authorities’ competences and of the territories under their administration. The new constitution passed unanimously in the Grand National Assembly on September 24st 1952. This constitution brings substantial changes on administrative level as well. It was the turn of new realignment, after all the legislative and constitutional changes, organizations and reorganizations of recent years, copies of the Soviet model, put into practice without any sense.