Reprezentanţi consulari austrieci şi belgieni în oraşe din Ţara Românească (1849 – 1936)

Abstract

For the reference period, Austria and Belgium have registered an intense dynamic of consular representation in Bucharest and other important cities in the Romanian region, as an expression of a pronounced geopolitical and economic interest in the strategic opportunities offered by our space. The beginning of the sustained Austrian consular interest in the Romanian Country region is recorded in the archives of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Bucharest, starting in 1849, and a similar interest in Belgium is evident from 1870. The consular representation efforts complemented those of the foreign shipping companies that were active in Romanian ports from the third decade of the 19th century until the second decade of the 20th century. The two Western powers set up consular offices of various ranks (vice-consulates, consulates, consulates general and honorary consular offices) in Bucharest and five other important cities in the region of Wallachia (Brăila, Craiova, Giurgiu, Ploiești and Turnu-Severin). Three of the cities, which have benefited from Austrian and Belgian consular representation, are important ports on the Danube. In the Romanian cities, Austrian and Belgian consular representatives with a rich experience in the diplomatic field worked, some of them being members of the noble families of their countries of origin. We also note the policy of rotating consular representatives between the offices operating in Romanian cities, stating the principle of good knowledge of all their realities. In the geopolitical and military context of the outbreak of the First World War, Austria restricted its consular activity in the Romanian provincial towns, the Belgian consular presence being also recorded in the interwar period.