Vol III, 2024

Abstract: By the end of the 1920s, numerous economic difficulties had contributed to the accumulation of tensions in many strata of the Romanian society. The overproduction crisis of 1927 and the dramatic fall in the prices of agricultural products on foreign markets were among the leading causes that significantly contributed to this reality. As the effects of the Great Depression were felt throughout the country, Cluj was by no means safe from the contagion of the global economic crisis. This contribution shews how in the first two years of the crisis, the credit institutions appeared to successfully cope with the challenges caused by the decline in the production value and, thus, the population’s income. However, as months passed, the credit institutions accumulated new burdens, which suddenly manifested shortly after the bankruptcy of one of Vienna’s largest banks, Creditanstalt, in May 1931. To this end, my article affords an ample space of unveiling the abrupt succession of events that led to the shaking of population’s confidence in the banking system as more and more banks went bankrupt. The summer and fall of 1931 became a nightmare for the Cluj bankers. Local press abunds in references to fraud trials and fraudulent bankruptcies involving politicians, local personalities, and even members of the old Cluj bourgeoisie and aristocracy. As I show below, not only that the intervention of the authorities came late, but was often flawed, inconsistent, and sometimes grounded by a political rather than an economic agenda. As banking legislation was still in its infancy, court proceedings were protracted and often ended in acquittals or lenient sentences. The bankruptcy of Marmorosch Blank Bank led to panic and the use of reactive measures by bankers and the authorities. Tensions increased even more, and the population’s trust in the banks of Cluj collapsed.

Keywords: banking history, Cluj, economic crisis, panic, interwar period, bankrupcy.