The Bessarabian society and the local press in 1914. The prediction of the up-coming catastrophe / Societatea basarabeană şi presa locală în vara anului 1914. Sentimentul apropiatei catastrofe

The Bessarabian press accounts from the summer of 1914 where marked initially by the visit of Tsar Nicholas II in this small part of the empire. The event raised interest with the population and it headlined the better half of June. The visit, amply detailed in the press, took place on June the 16th/ June 3rd and raised considerable interest among the residents of Chisinau. The festive tone of the events became cautious following the assassination of Archduke Franz-Ferdinand, and as the events unfolded in July, the tone of the accounts varied, in the first half of the month the internal problems were primary and the end of the month was marked by alarming accounts of the possibility of a European war. Following the start of the war the public’s full attention was focused on the war and the media’s accounts reflect that concern.