“To End the Degeneration of a Nation”: Debates on Eugenic Sterilization in Inter-war Romania

Among various programmes of biological engineering developed in the twentieth century eugenic sterilization is one of the most notorious. The reasons are numerous, ranging from its application under the Nazi regime to its post-1945 application in the Scandinavian countries, the recent sterilization of the Roma in the Czech Republic, and China’s birth planning policies. Yet it is only in the past two decades that our knowledge about sterilization policies and practices has improved—both in their historical context, and with respect to their practical implementation. After the First World War, the prospect of introducing coercive eugenic measures gained acceptance, especially in Northern and Western Europe. Within the economic