SMIC, vol. XXII, 2023, pp. 70-97.

https://doi.org/10.62616/smic.2023.22.04

The full text is available accessed CEEOL / Textul integral al studiului poate fi accesat prin CEEOL:
https://www.ceeol.com/search/article-detail?id=1226400

Cristian VASILE, Mihail Ralea – ministru al Muncii în guvernele dictaturii regale (martie 1938 – iulie 1940) / Mihail Ralea – Minister of Labor during the Royal Dictatorship (March 1938 – July 1940)

Abstract

Very few studies have dealt with Mihail Ralea’s activity as Minister of Labor. Scholars mostly focused on his involvement in the creation of the movement ”Muncă şi voe bună” [Work and Good Will]. Several authors who explored the history of the late interwar period referred to M. Ralea’s role as prominent member (even founder) of the National Renaissance Front, the only legal political party during King Carol II’s dictatorship. In contrast, the article examines M. Ralea’s activity by tying it to a variety of topics pertinent to labor politics: the definition of industrial work as a matter of national security; the search for social harmony in a state that invoked ”workers’ justice”, but relied on big industrialists and financiers close to the dictator king; the infiltration of the working class by the fascist Legionary Movement; corporatism; the evolution of the „Work and Good Will” movement; the establishment of the Guilds; and, the nationalist drift within the Ministry of Labor under Ralea, previously perceived as a center-left politician. I also examine the importance of M. Ralea’s main collaborator at the Ministry of Labor: Stavri C. Cunescu. The contribution relies on the following sources: Ralea’s and Cunescu’s files at the National Council for the Study of the Securitate Archives (CNSAS); material drafted by various informative-repressive bodies; relevant documents from the Ministry of Labor collection at the Central National Historical Archives; and, specialized publications from the late 1930s.

Keywords: Mihail Ralea, labor politics, working class, Carol II, corporatism.