Dumitru Borţan, Asociaţiunea ASTRA, leagănul Băncii „Albina“
The ASTRA Association, cradle of the Albina Bank
The ASTRA Association is the oldest and highest cultural institution of the Transylvanian Romanians, the work of an exceptional generation of intellectuals and politicians entirely devoted to the Romanian people. They have realized that in the struggle for social, political and economic emancipation fire guns and enthusiasm are not sufficient, whereas the Romanians’ culturalization and their growth in material wealth may prove a more powerful weapon, rising their national dignity and pride in the relations with the foreign rule and with the privileged co-habiting nationalities. The victories and failures of the 1848 Revolution were moments of deep reflection and analysis for Romanian intellectuals in Transylvania, concerned by the future of Romanian society in the predictable socio-political structure of the Habsburg Empire.
Keywords: Romanian history, XIXth century, Transylvania, ASTRA Association, national and cultural emancipation, Albina Bank
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