The Beginnings of Romanian National Activism among the Balkan Vlachs during the Mid-Nineteenth Century: Nicolae Bălcescu, Ion Ghica and Ion Ionescu de la Brad.

After the failure of the 1848 revolution in the Romanian Principalities, some of the exiled revolutionaries take refuge in European Turkey. Here, they come into contact with Vlach communities. Taking note of some obvious linguistic and cultural similarities between Vlachs and Romanians, several of the former revolutionaries start making plans towards 'awakening' the Vlachs' supposed Romanian national consciousness. My analysis will focus on several letters exchanged among three Romanian former 1848 revolutionaries (namely, Nicolae Bălcescu, Ion Ghica and Ion Ionescu de la Brad) during their post-revolutionary exile. Based on these letters – which contain sparse allusions to future political action among the Vlachs –, I attempt to piece together the timid beginnings of a covert plan to initiate Romanian national propaganda in Vlach communities. It is my contention that such planning was followed by in situ prospections among the Vlachs, which were performed surreptitiously, in order to elude the vigilance of the Ottoman authorities. Moreover, I argue that this early planning and research laid the groundwork for the substantial Romanian propaganda activities which would come to fruition in the aftermath of the Moldavian-Wallachian union of 1859. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]