Abstract: | The article focuses on the economic evolution of the city of Bacău, over a relatively large period of time – from the mid-19th century to the end of the interwar period. The demographic specificity of Bacău, an ethnic mosaic, dominated by the presence of the Romanian, Jewish and Armenian communities, allowed us to develop a unique segment of analysis of the urban economy in a research from an ethnic perspective. As we will illustrate in the article, the city’s economy used to have clear ethnic divisions, with surprising percentages of Jewish domination and a high degree of territorial “ghettoization” of the economic sectors. From the bibliographic point of view, the article is based on a consistent investigation of the demographic studies as well as the local archival sources, which have privileged the lists of voters, the lists with the economic operators highlighted by the Bacău City Hall, the Chamber of Commerce and Industry, etc. The article deals with a topic less addressed in the specialized literature – the modern and interwar economy of small and medium-sized urban centres in the central area of Moldova. Numerous archival sources cited within the paper are unique, which ensures a high degree of interest the article. |
