The Legal Status of the Romanian Peasant between 1866 and 1918

Abstract

Our paper presents, from both a historical and legal perspective, the status of the peasant class in the period following the forced abdication of Alexandru Ioan Cuza, namely 1866 and prior to the Great Union of 1918. These years were marked by a deeply unjust legal and social regime, inequitable and seriously discriminatory against peasants. Our analysis focuses on the relations between peasants and boyars, regulated by the Law on Agricultural Agreements (1866), an act that unfairly influenced the material and legal condition of the peasantry for more than half a century.