Scurta Istorie Romaneasca Bilingv

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Istoria Romanilor - Ion Calafeteanu
Romania este situata in centrul Europei, in partea de nord a Peninsulei

Balcanice, si teritoriul sau este marcat de Muntii Carpati, Dunare si
Marea Neagra. Avand un climat temperat si un mediu natural
diversificat, care este foarte favorabil vietii, teritoriul romanesc a fost
locuit inca din cele mai vechi timpuri. Cercetarile facute de arheologii
romani la Bugiulesti, Tinutul Valcei, a dus la descoperirea unor relicve
umane, datand de la inceputul Paleoliticului Inferior (aprox. 2 milioane
de ani inainte de Hristos). Aceste vestigii sunt dintre cele mai vechi din
Europa, scotand la iveala perioada in care omul, un humanoid, de fapt,
parcurgea, fizic si spiritual, etapele depasirii statutului sau de animal. O
populatie umana mai densa (Omul de Neanderthal), a trait aprox.
100.000 de ani in urma; dar, relativ stabila populatie, nu a fost
descoperita decat incepand cu Neoliticul (cu 6000-5000 ani inainte de
Hristos).
Ceramica de Cucuteni
La un moment dat, populatia de pe teritoriul actualei Romanii, a creat o

remarcabila cultura, a carei dovada se regaseste in policromia ceramicii
de Cucuteni (comparabile cu ceramica unor alte culturi europene
importante, la vremea aceea, din Bazinul Mediteranei de Rasarit si a
Orientului Mijlociu), precum si cultura statuetelor Hamangia
(Ganditorul de la Hamangia este cunoscut astazi in intreaga lume).
http://www.tradepc.co.nz/diasromnz/history/historyrom.htm 11/13/04
Ganditorul de la Hamangia (statueta neolitica)
La inceputul mileniului al doilea, cand Epoca Paleoliticului facea loc

Epocii de Bronz, triburile tracice de origine indo-europeana se stabileau
alaturi de populatia care deja traia in Bazinul Carpato-Balcanic. De pe
vremea tracilor, se poate vorbi de un fenomen neintrerupt de creare a
poporului roman.
In prima parte a primului mileniu dinainte de Hristos, in zona carpato-
dunareano-pontica - care era partea de nord a unei mari suprafete
locuite de triburile tracice - un grup al tracilor de nord s-a ndividualizat:
s-a creat un mozaic de triburi getice si dacice. Strabo - un geograf si
istoric renumit din epoca imparatului Augustus, ne informeaza ca 'dacii
aveau aceeasi limba ca si getii'. Initial, a fost acelasi popor, singura
diferenta dintre daci si geti fiind zona in care locuiau ei: dacii - in mare
parte, locuiau in muntii si pe platoul Transilvaniei; getii - in campiile
Dunarii.
In antichitate, grecii, care i-au intalnit primii pe geti - au folosit acest
nume pentru intreaga populatie de la nordul Dunarii, in timp ce
romanii, care i-au intalnit primii pe daci, au extins folosirea acestui
nume pentru toate celelalte triburi ce locuiau pe teritoriul de astazi al
Romaniei. Dupa cucerirea acestui teritoriu, romanii au creat aici
provincia Dacia.
Iata de ce, intregul teritoriu al Romaniei de azi este numit Dacia, in
toate sursele de informatie din perioada latina si a Evului Mediu.
Contactul daco-getilor cu lumea greaca a fost usor de facut, prin
intermediul coloniilor grecesti create pe teritoriul tarmului Marii Negre
al Romaniei de azi: Istros (Histria), fondat in sec. VII inainte de
Hristos, Callatis (Mangalia de azi), si Tomis (Constanta de azi);
ultimele doua create un secol mai tarziu. In istoria scrisa, populatia de
la nordul Dunarii (getica), a fost prima data mentionata de Herodot,
'parintele istoriei' (sec. IV inainte de Hristos). El ne-a vorbit despre
povestea campaniei regelui persan Darius I, impotriva scitilor din
stepele aflate la nord de Pontic (anul 513 inainte de Hristos). El a scris
ca getii erau cei mai mari luptatori dintre traci. Ei au fost singurii care
au rezistat regelui persan, pe drumul dintre Bosfor si Dunare.
Burebista (82 - pana in jur de 44 inainte de Hristos), care a reusit sa
uneasca triburile geto-dacice, pentru prima data, a creat un regat
puternic si intins, pe vremea cand suveranul dac i-a oferit sprijin lui
Pompei impotriva lui Cezar (anul 48 inainte de Hristos), si se intindea
de la Beskit, in nord, Bazinul Dunarii Mijlocii, in vest, raul Tiras
(Nistru) si tarmul Marii Negre, in est, pana la Muntii Balcani, in sud.
Cetatea dacica de la Sarmisegetuza
In primul secol inainte de Hristos, pe masura ce Imperiul roman se

extindea si se creau provincii romane in Panonia, Dalmatia, Moesia si
Tracia, granita cu Dunarea se intindea pe aproape 1500 km si despartea
Imperiul Roman de lumea dacica.
In Dobrogea, care se afla sub conducerea romana, de sapte secole,
incepand cu domnia lui Augustus, poetul Publius Ovidius Naso si-a
petrecut ultimii ani ai vietii sale 'printre greci si geti', intrucat el a fost
exilat acolo, la Tomis (intre anii 8 si 17 e.n.), din ordinul aceluiasi
Cezar.
Dacia s-a aflat in apogeul puterii sale sub regele Decebal (87-106 e.n.).
Dupa o prima confruntare, pe timpul domniei lui Domitian, (87-89
e.n.), s-au impus cu necesitate doua razboaie pentru Imperiul Roman
(101-102 e.n. si 105-106 e.n.), pentru ca, in culmea gloriei sale,
imparatul Traian (98-117 e.n.), sa-l invinga pe Decebal si sa-i
transforme regatul intr-o provincie romana numita Dacia.
Regele Decebal Imparatul Traian

Columna lui Traian, inaltata la Roma, si mausoleul de la Adamclisi
(Dobrogea) povestesc despre aceasta inclestare militara, care a fost
urmata de o masiva si sistematica colonizare a noilor teritorii integrate
noului imperiu.
Columna lui Traian din Roma - certificatul de nastere a poporului roman
Mausoleul roman de la Adamclisi (secolul II e.n.)
Dacii, cu toate ca au suferit pierderi grele, au ramas, chiar si dupa ce a

fost instaurata noua conducere, principalul element din Dacia;
provincia a fost supusa unui proces de romanizare complex, elementul
sau de baza fiind impunerea si adoptarea definitiva a limbii latine.
Romanii sunt astazi singurii descendenti ai Imperiului Roman de
Rasarit; limba romana este una din marile mostenitoare ale limbii
latine, alaturi de Franta, Italia, Spania, Romania este o oaza de latinitate
in aceasta parte a Europei.
Locuitorii, fie ei descendenti ai Imperiului Roman sau a daco-

romanilor, si-au continuat existenta neintrerupta ca tarani sau ca
pastori, chiar dupa retragerea romana sub imparatul Aurelian, (270-
275), atat a armatei, cat si a administratiei romane, care s-a mutat la sud
de Dunare. Dar, stramosii romanilor au ramas timp de cateva secole in
sfera de influenta a Imperiului Roman, atat in politica, cat si in
economie, religie sau cultura; dupa despartirea in doua a Imperiului
Roman, in anul 395 e.n., ei au ramas in sfera de influenta a Imperiului

Bizantin.
Ei traiau mai mult in spiritul vechilor romani, care acum decazuse, si au
supravietuit imprejurarilor grele din timpul valurilor succesive ale
popoarelor migratoare.
La vremea cand simbioza etno-culturala dintre daci si romani a fost

realizata, si s-a finalizat in sec. VI-VII, prin formarea poporului roman,
intre sec. II si IV, daco-romanii au adoptat crestinismul in forma sa
latina. Prin urmare, in sec. VI-VII, cand procesul de formare a
poporului roman a fost gata, natiunea a patruns in istorie ca o natiune
crestina. Iata de ce, spre deosebire de natiunile vecine, care au ca date
de crestinare (bulgarii - anul 865, sarbii - 874, polonii - 966, slavii de
est - 988, ungurii - 1000), romanii nu au o data fixa a crestinarii,
intrucat ei au fost prima natiune crestina din regiune. In sec. IV-XIII,
poporul roman a trebuit sa faca fata valurilor de popoare migratoare -
gotii, hunii, gepizii, avarii, slavii, pecinegii, cumanii, tatarii - care au
traversat teritoriul Romaniei. Triburile migratoare au controlat acest
spatiu, din punct de vedere militar si politic, intarziind dezvoltarea
economica si sociala a bastinasilor si formarea entitatilor statale locale.
Slavii, care s-au stabilit masiv in sec. VII la sud de Dunare, au despartit
in doua masa compacta a romanilor din zona carpato-danubiana: cei de
la nord (daco-romanii), au fost separati de cei de la sud, care s-au
deplasat spre vestul si sud-estul Peninsulei Balcanice (aromanii,
megleno-romanii si istro-romanii). Slavii s-au stabilit la nord de Dunare
si au fost asimilati incetul cu incetul de poporul roman si limba lor a
lasat urme in vocabularul si fonetica limbii romane. Peste limba romana
s-a suprapus asa-numita limba slavica (in acelasi mod cum s-a impus
idiomul germanic francilor).
Romanii apartinand religiei ortodoxe au adoptat astfel limba veche
slavona bisericeasca, ca o limba de cult si incepand cu sec. XI-XVII ca
o limba de curte si cultura. Limba slava n-a fost niciodata o limba vie,
vorbita de popor, pe teritoriul Romaniei; ea a jucat pentru romani, la un
momentdat, in Evul Mediu, acelasi rol pe care l-a jucat latina in vest; la
inceputul epocii moderne, ea a fost inlocuita pentru totdeauna in
biserica, la curte si in cultura de catre limba romana.
Datorita pozitiei lor, romanii de la sud de Dunare au fost pentru prima
data mentionati in sursele istorice (sec. X), sub numele de vlahi sau
blahi (valahi); acest nume aratand ca ei erau vorbitori ai unei limbi
romanice, si ca popoarele non-romanice din jurul lor recunosteau acest
fapt. Dupa anul 602, slavii stabiliti masiv la sud de Dunare au fondat un
tarat puternic bulgar, in sec. IX. Asta a facut o bresa intre romanii din
nordul Dunarii si cei aflati la sud de Dunare.
Pe masura ce au fost supusi la tot felul de presiuni si izolati de trunchiul
puternic romanesc de la nord de Dunare, numarul romanilor din sudul
Dunarii a scazut continuu, in timp ce fratii lor de la nordul Dunarii, cu
toate ca traiau in conditii extrem de dificile, si-au continuat evolutia lor
istorica, ca o natiune separata, cea mai indepartata la est descendenta a
Imperiului Roman.
Valahia, Moldova si Transilvania
Incepand cu sec. al X-lea, surse bizantine, slave si ungare, si mai tarziu

surse occidentale, mentioneaza existenta entitatilor statale ale
populatiei romanesti - cnezate si voievodate - la inceput in Transilvania
si Dobrogea, apoi in sec. XII-XIII, si in teritoriile de la estul si sudul
Carpatilor. O trasatura specifica a istoriei romanilor din Evul Mediu,
pana in epoca moderna, este aceea ca ei au trait in trei principate
vecine, dar autonome, - Valahia, Moldova si Transilvania.
Acest fenomen - care este, fara indoiala, unic in Europa medievala, este
extrem de complex. O serie de cauze tin de esenta societatii feudale,
dar sunt de asemenea si factori specifici. Printre ultimii, dorim sa
mentionam existenta imperiilor vecine puternice, care s-au opus
unificarii entitatilor statale romanesti si chiar au ocupat - pentru o
perioada mai scurta sau mai lunga - teritoriile romanesti. De exemplu,
la vest, romanii a trebuit sa faca fata politicii de cucerire dusa de
regatul ungar. In 895, triburile ungare care au venit din tinuturile
Volgai, conduse de Arpad, s-au stabilit in Panonia. Ei au fost opriti in
inaintarea lor spre vest de catre imparatul Otto I (995), astfel ca ungurii
s-au stabilit si si-au intors fata catre sud-est si est. Aici, ei s-au intalnit
cu romanii.
O cronica ungara descrie intalnirea dintre mesagerii trimisi de Arpad,

regele ungur, si voievodul Menumorut al Biharei, un oras in vestul
Transilvaniei. Ambasadorii unguri au pretins ca teritoriul sa le fie cedat
lor. Cronica a pastrat pentru noi raspunsul plin de demnitate dat de
Menumorut: 'Spuneti-i lui Arpad, ducele Ungariei, conducatorul vostru.
Bucurosi ii vom iesi in intampinare, ca de la prieten la prieten, pentru a-
i da lui tot ce are nevoie, pentru ca este strain, si unui strain ii lipsesc
multe. Dar pamantul pe care il pretinde, nu-l va avea niciodata de la noi
de bunavoie, cata vreme vom trai'.
In ciuda rezistentei cnezatelor si voievodatelor romanesti, ungurii au

reusit in sec. X-XII sa ocupe Transilvania si s-o incorporeze regatului
ungar (pana la inceputul secolului XVI, ca voievodat autonom). In
scopul de a consolida puterea lor in Transilvania, unde romanii au
continuat sa fie de-a lungul secolelor marea majoritate etnica, ca si in
scopul de a apara granita estica si sudica a voievodatului, coroana
ungara a recurs la colonizarea regiunilor de frontiera, cu sasi si secui, in
sec. XII-XIII.
Biserica din Densusi
In sec. XIV, odata cu declinul puterii imperiilor vecine (polonii,

ungurii, tatarii), s-au format o serie de state feudale, in sudul si estul
lantului muntos al Carpatilor: Valahia, sub Basarab I, in jurul anului
1360, si Moldova, sub Bogdan I, in jurul anului 1359. Regatele
Poloniei si Ungariei au incercat in sec. XIV si XV sa anexeze sau sa
subjuge cele doua principate, dar n-au reusit.
In cea de-a doua jumatate a sec. XIV, o noua amenintare se abatea

asupra teritoriilor romanesti: Imperiul otoman. Dupa ce au pus prima
data piciorul pe pamantul european, in 1354, turcii otomani au inceput
rapida lor expansiune pe continent, astfel ca stindardul verde al
Islamului flutura deja in sudul Dunarii, in 1396.
Scene din Cronica pictata de la Viena, reprezentand victoria romanilor la

Posada (1330)
impotriva armatei regelui Ungariei
Singure sau in alianta cu tarile crestine vecine, mai degraba in alianta

cu voievodatele vecine ale celorlalte doua principate romanesti,
voievozii Mircea cel Batran al Valahiei (1386-1418) si Vlad Tepes
(Dracula din legendele medievale - 1456-1462), precum si Stefan cel
Mare si Sfant (1457-1504), voievodul Moldovei si Iancu de Hunedoara,
voievodul Transilvaniei (1441-1456), au dus grele batalii de aparare
impotriva turcilor otomani, impiedicandu-le expansiunea spre centrul
Europei.
Mircea cel Batran,

domnitorul Tarii Romanesti (1386-1418)
Vlad Tepes, domnitorul Tarii Romanesti

(Dracula din legendele medievale, 1456-1462)
Stefan cel Mare si Sfant,

Domnitorul Moldovei (1457-1504)
Intreaga Peninsula Balcanica a devenit teritoriu turcesc.

Constantinopole a fost capturat de Mohamed al II-lea, in 1453, Soliman
Magnificul a capturat orasul Belgrad, in 1521, si Regatul ungar a
disparut in urma Bataliei de la Mohaci - 1526. Prin urmare, Valahia si
Moldova erau incercuite si a trebuit sa recunoasca suzeranitatea
Imperiului Otoman timp de peste trei secole.
Dupa ce Buda a fost capturata si Ungaria a devenit pasalac,
Transilvania a devenit principat autonom, in 1541, dar ea a recunoscut,
de asemenea, suzeranitatea Imperiului Otoman, ca si celelalte doua
teritorii romanesti. Spre deosebire de toate celelalte popoare din sud-
estul Europei, spre deosebire de unguri si poloni, romanii au fost
singurii care si-au mentinut entitatea statala in timpul Evului Mediu, ca
si propria politica, precum si structurile militare si administrative.
Tributul platit sultanului avea menirea sa garanteze pastrarea
autonomiei interne, dar in acelasi timp, si protectia impotriva altor
dusmani puternici. Valahia si Moldova, detinand propriul lor statut
autonom, au continuat, dupa caderea Imperiului Bizantin, sa cultive
traditiile culturale bizantine si au luat asupra lor, in acelasi timp,
pastrarea religiei ortodoxe rasaritene; pe teritoriul lor, invatati din toata
Peninsula Balcanica, la adapost de islamul intolerant, au putut continua
munca lor, fara nici un obstacol. Ei au pregatit renasterea culturala a
propriilor natiuni.
Orasul Soroca pe malul raului Nistru
Sfarsitul sec. XVI a fost dominat de personalitatea lui Mihai Viteazul.

El a devenit voievod al Tarii Romanesti in 1593 si s-a alaturat Ligii
Crestine - o coalitie antiotomana, initiata de papalitate si de Sfantul
Imperiu Roman. El a reusit, dupa grele batalii (Calugareni, Giurgiu) sa
redobandeasca chiar independenta tarii sale. In 1599-1600, pentru
prima data in istorie, el a unit toate teritoriile locuite de romani,
proclamandu-se 'Print al Tarii Romanesti, al Transilvaniei si al intregii
Moldove'. Situatia interna era foarte complicata, marile puteri vecine -
Imperiul Otoman, Polonia si Imperiul habsburgic - ii erau ostile si si-au
unit fortele pentru a-l infrange; astfel ca aceasta unire a fost de scurta
durata, intrucat Mihai Viteazul a fost asasinat in 1601. Unirea realizata
de domnitorul domnitor a devenit totusi un simbol pentru posteritate. In
sec. al XVII-lea, sub diferite forme, si cu succese trecatoare, si alti
printi au incercat sa relanseze ambitiosul program politic al lui Mihai
Viteazu, incercand sa formeze un front de uniune antiotomana din cele
trei principate si sa restaureze unitatea Daciei antice.
Mihai Viteazu (1593-1601), cel care a unit primul cele trei teritorii romanesti
Sfarsitul sec. XVII si inceputul sec. XVIII au adus schimbari, politice,

atat in centrul, cat si in estul Europei. Imperiul Otoman a esuat in
tentativa sa de a captura Viena, in 1683 si, prin urmare, Imperiul
Habsburgic si-a inceput expansiunea catre sud-estul Europei. Tratatul
de pace austriaco-turcesc de la Karlowitz (1699) sanctiona anexarea
Transilvaniei si organizarea ei ca un principat autonom la Imperiul
Austriac (din 1765 a devenit mare principat, condus de un guvernator).
Polonia era divizata si Rusia, prin cuceriri succesive, a atins, sub Petru
cel Mare, (1696-1725) raul Nistru, devenind astfel vecinul de rasarit al
Moldovei. Ambitiosul vis al tarilor de a domina Stramtoarea Bosfor si
Constantinopolul situa Principatele Romanesti in calea expansiunii
rusesti.
Imperiul Otoman, in incercarea de a-si apara vechile pozitii, a introdus
in Moldova (1711) si Tara Romaneasca (1716) 'regimul fanariot', care a
durat pana in 1821, si sub care Sublima Poarta desemna in cele doua
principate domnitori greci, recrutati din Fanar, un cartier al
Istanbulului, care erau considerati drept credinciosi ai turcilor. Aceasta
a fost epoca in care controlul politic otoman si exploatarea economica a
luat proportii, la fel ca si coruptia; dar, s-au introdus, de asemenea, si

cateva reforme sociale - cum este abolirea serbiei -, ca si reforme
administrative, de modernizare, dupa modelul european, din perioada
iluminismului. Autonomia interna, desi limitata, a fost conservata la
baza, in cele doua principate, care au continuat sa fie entitati distincte
in Imperiul Otoman; aceasta situatie a fost recunoscuta in cateva tratate
internationale (de ex. in cel de la Cuciuc Kainargi) (1784).
Situate la granita celor trei mari imperii si ravnite de toate trei, Tara
Romaneasca si Moldova au devenit, timp de mai bine de 150 de ani, nu
numai teritorii de confruntare, dar chiar si de batalie, pe care armatele
imperiilor s-au intalnit.
Multi ani, Austria si Rusia au luptat impotriva Imperiului Otoman

(1710-1711, 1716-1718, 1735-1739, 1768-1774, 1787-1792, 1806-
1812, 1828-1829, 1853-1856): acele lupte au avut loc pe pamantul
Romniei si au fost insotite intotdeauna de ocupatie militara straina,
care, adeseori, s-a mentinut mult timp dupa ce razboiul propriu-zis s-a
terminat, astfel ca tarile romanesti au indurat nu numai devastarea si
pierderile irecuperabile, dar au trecut, de asemenea, si prin dislocari de
populatie si amputari de teritorii dureroase. De exemplu, Austria a
anexat Oltenia temporar (1718-1793), precum si Nordul Moldovei,
numit Bucovina (1775-1918).
Dupa razboiul ruso-turc din 1806-1812, Rusia a anexat partea de rasarit
a Moldovei, teritoriul dintre raurile Prut si Nistru, numit mai tarziu
Basarabia (1812-1918).
Renasterea nationala
In sec. XVIII si la inceputul sec. XIX au avut loc uriase transformari

economice si sociale, structurile feudale erau profund erodate,
incepusera sa apara primele intreprinderi de tip capitalist si, in acelasi
timp, produsele romanesti intrau, putin cite putin, in circuitul oriental.
Ideea nationala, ca pretutindeni in Europa, avea sa devina visul
inaltator al intelectualitatii si elementul de baza in planurile de viitor,
facute de politicieni.
Unirea unei parti a creierului din Transilvania cu biserica catolica
(greco-catolicii), realizata de casa de Habsburg intre anii 1699-1701, a
jucat un rol important in emanciparea romanilor transilvaneni. Lupta
lor pentru drepturi egale cu alte grupuri etnice (cu toate ca romanii
detineau peste 60% din populatia principatului, ei erau inca considerati
'tolerati' in propria lor tara), a fost pornita de episcopul Inocentiu Micu-
Klein si continuata de grupul de intelectuali din cadrul miscarii 'Scoala
Ardeleana': Gheorghe Sincai, Petru Maior, Samuel Micu, Ion Budai
Deleanu. Acesti carturari au dovedit latinitatea limbii romane si a
poporului roman, ba chiar mai mult faptul ca ei au avut o existenta
neintrerupta ca populatie autohtona.
In virtutea acestei mosteniri, ei au pretins drepturi egale cu celelalte
natiuni din Transilvania - ungurii, secuii si sasii. Revendicarile
romanilor din Transilvania au fost supuse atentiei Curtii din Viena, intr-
o lunga petitie, numita Supplex Libellus Valachorum (1791), care insa
n-a primti nici un raspuns. Problema Renasterii in Tara Romaneasca a
fost exprimata in cadrul Revolutiei condusa de Tudor Vladimirescu

(1821), care a izbucnit in acelasi timp cu miscarea Greciei pentru
libertate.
Tudor Vladimirescu, conducatorul Revolutiei Romane de la 1821
Cu toate ca trupele otomane si tariste au ocupat principatele dunarene

in acelasi an, sacrificiile facute de romani au dus la abolirea regimului
fanariot si domnitorii pamanteni au fost din nou numiti pe tronurile din
Moldova si Tara Romaneasca. Tratatul de Pace din 1929, semnat la
Adrianopole (astazi Edirne), a dus la incheierea conflictului ruso-turc
din 828-829, care a dus in final la razboiul de eliberare nationala purtat
de Grecia. Acest tratat a slabit foarte mult suzeranitatea otomana si a
sporit protectoratul Rusiei. Acum, comertul era liber, cerealele
romanesti au inceput sa patrunda pe pietele europene.
Sub Pavel Kiseleff, comandantul trupelor rusesti, care ocupa cele doua
principate romanesti (1828-1834) a fost introdus un Regulament
Organic in Tara Romaneasca (1831) si Mildova (1832). Pana in 1859,
aceste regulamente au servit ca legi fundamentale (constitutii) si au
contribuit la modernizarea si omogenizarea structurilor sociale,
economice, administrative si politice, care incepusera in decadele
premergatoare.
Prin urmare, in prima jumatate a sec. XIX, Principatele Romanesti au
inceput sa se distanteze de lumea otomana orientala si sa isi spuna
cuvantul in spatiul spiritual al Europei de Vest. Idei curente, atitudini
din vest erau mai mult decat binevenite in societatea romaneasca care
suferea un proces ireversibil de modernizare. Acum, constiinta ca toti
romanii apartin aceleiasi natiuni era generalizata si uniunea intr-un
singur stat independent a devenit idealul tuturor romanilor.
Unirea si independenta
Vantul revolutiei din 1848 a batut si asupra principatelor romanesti de

asemenea. Ele au adus in mijlocul scenei politice o serie de intelectuali
straluciti precum Ion Eliade Radulescu, Nicolae Balcescu, Mihail
Kogalniceanu, Simion Barnutiu, Avram Iancu si altii.
Nicolae Balcescu, unul din conducatorii Revolutiei din 1848
In Moldova tulburarile au fost inabusite rapid dar in Tara Romaneasca

revolutionarii practic au condus tara din iunie pina in septembrie 1848.
In Transilvania revolutia s-a prelungit pina aproape la sfirsitul lui 1849.
Acolo, liderii unguri au refuzat sa ia in consideratie revendicarile
romanilor si ei au reusit sa anexeze Transilvania la Ungaria; asta a dus
la separarea fortelor revolutionare romanesti si unguresti. Guvernul
ungar al lui Kossuth Laios a incercat sa inabuse lupta romanilor, dar el
s-a confruntat cu rezistenta armata a romanilor in Apuseni sub
conducerea lui Avram Iancu.
Avram Iancu, conducatorul Revolutiei din 1848 in Transilvania
Cu toate ca interventia brutala a armatelor otomane, tariste si

habsburgice a fost incununata de succes in 1848-1849, valul de inoire
in favoarea ideilor democratice s-a raspindit peste tot in urmatoarea
decada.
Rusia a fost infrinta in Razboiul din Crimeea (1853-1856) si asta a pus

sub semnul intrebarii din nou fragilil echilibru european. Datorita
pozitiei lor strategice la gurile Dunarii, pe masura ce aceasta cale de
navigatie era din ce in ce mai importanta pentru comunicatiile
europene, la Congresul de pace de la Paris (februarie-martie 1856) s-a
pus problema statutului Principatelor Dunarene. Valahia si Moldova
ramaneau inca sub suveranitate otomana, dar acum ele erau plasate sub
tutela colectiva a celor sapte puteri care semnau Tratatul de pace de la
Paris: aceste puteri au hotarit atunci sa fie convocate adunarile locale
care sa hotarasca asupra viitoarei organizari a celor doua principate.
Tratatul de la Paris stipula de asemenea: retrocedarea sudului
Basarabiei la Moldova, teritoriu ce fusese anexat de Rusia in 1812
(judetele Cahul, Bolgrad, Ismail); navigatia libera pe Dunare: stabilirea
unei comisii europene a Dunarii; statutul de neutralitate a Marii Negre.
In 1857 au fost convocate Adunarile Ad-hoc la Bucuresti si Iasi in baza
prevederilor Congresului de Pace de la Paris din 1856: toate categoriile
sociale participante la aceste adunari au hotarat in unanimitate sa
uneasca cele doua principate intr-un singur stat.
Imparatul francez Napoleon al III-lea a sprijinit aceasta hotarare,
Imperiul Otoman si Austria au fost impotriva, astfel ca s-a convocat o
noua conferinta a celor sapte puteri in Paris (Mai-august 1858): cu acea
ocazie doar citeva din revendicarile romanilor au fost acceptate. Dar,
romanii au ales in 5-17 ianuarie 1859, in Moldova, si in 24 ianuarie-5
februarie 1859, in Tara Romaneasca, pe colonelul Alexandru Ioan
Cuza, ca domnitor unic, realizand, de facto, unirea celor doua
principate.
Alexandru Ioan Cuza (1859-1866), Domnitorul Principatelor Unite
Statul national roman, a luat in 24 ianuarie - 5 februarie 1862, numele

de Romania si si-a stabilit capitala la Bucuresti. Asistat de Mihail
Kogalniceanu, cel mai apropiat consilier al sau, Alexandru Ioan Cuza a
initiat un program de reforme care a contribuit la modernizarea
societatii romanesti si a structurilor statale: Legea secularizarii averilor
manastiresti - 1863, Legea reformei agrare, eliberand taranii de sarcina
indatoririlor feudale si improprietarindu-i cu pamant (1864), Legea

codului penal, Legea codului civil (1864), Legea educatiei, in principiul
careia scoala primara devenea obligatorie si gratuita (1864), infiintarea
universitatilor din Iasi (1860) si din Bucuresti (1864).
Mihail Kogalniceanu (1817-1890), parintele reformei, care a facut din Romania o

tara moderna
Dupa abdicarea lui Alexandru Ioan Cuza (1866), Carol de

Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen, inrudit cu familia regala de Prusia, si care a
fost sprijinit de Napoleon al III-lea si Bismark, a fost proclamat, in 10
mai 1866, dupa un pleibiscit, ca print conducator al Romaniei, sub
numele de Carol I.
Carol I, primul rege al Romaniei
Noua Constitutie, inspirata dupa cea belgiana (din 1831), care a fost
promulgata in 1866 si s-a aflat in uz pana in 1923, proclama Romania
ca o monarhie constitutionala. In urmatorii 10 ani, lupta romanilor de a-
si dobandi independenta totala de stat a fost parte integranta din
miscarile ce au avut loc, impreuna cu alte popoare din sud-estul
Europei - sarbii, ungurii, muntenegrenii, bulgarii, albanezii - si aveau
ca scop sa taie ultimele lor legaturi cu Imperiul Otoman.
Intr-un cadrul international favorabil - in 1865 -, a izbucnit din nou

criza orientala si a inceput atunci, in 1877, razboiul ruso-turc. Romania
si-a declarat independenta de stat totala, in 9-21 mai 1877. Guvernul
condus de Ion C. Bratianu, si in care Mihail Kogalniceanu functiona ca
ministru de externe, a hotarat ca, in cadrul cererii de asistenta a Rusiei,
sa se uneasca cu fortele rusesti ce operau in Bulgaria. Armata romana,
sub comanda directa a printului Carol I, a trecut Dunarea si a participat
la asediul Plevnei; rezultatul a fost incercuirea armatei otomane,
condusa de Osman Pasa (10 decembrie 1877).
Atacul redutei Grivita

Gravura a Razboiului de Independenta (1877-1878)
Independenta Romaniei, ca si independenta Serbiei si a Muntenegrului,

precum si unirea Dobrogei cu Romania, au fost recunoscute, in Tratatul
de pace ruso-turc de la San Stefano (3 martie 1878). In urma insistentei
marilor puteri, s-a tinut Congresul de Pace de la Berlin (iunie-iulie
1878), in cadrul caruia s-a recunoscut si mentinut statutul pe care si-l
proclamase Romania cu un an mai inainte.
S-a restabilit, de asemenea, dupa o lunga perioada de dominatie
otomana, dreptul Romaniei asupra Dobrogei, care a fost realipita la
Romania. Dar, in acelasi timp, Rusia a violat conventia semnata in 4
aprilie 1877 si a fortat Romania sa retrocedeze judetele Basarabiei de
sud Kapul, Bolgrad si Ismail.
Pe 14-26 martie, 1881, Romania s-a proclamat regat si Carol I de

Hohenzollern Sigmaringen a fost incoronat ca rege al Romaniei. Dupa
ce si-a obtinut independenta, statul roman a fost locul catre care si-au
indreptat ochii toti romanii care traiau in teritoriile aflate inca sub
ocupatie straina. Romanii din Bucovina si Basarabia se confruntau cu
politica sistematica de asimilare in lumea germana, respectiv ruseasca.
Imigratia strainilor era dirijata catre teritoriile lor. Enclavele romanesti
din Peninsula Balcanica aveau dificultati tot mai mari vizavi de politica
de deznationalizare. La inceputul sec. XX, romanii erau un popor cu
peste 12 milioane de locuitori, dintre care aproape jumatate se aflau sub
dominatie straina. In aceeasi vreme, in Transilvania, romanii sufereau
consecintele serioase ale acordului prin care statul ungar se restabilea,
dupa mai mult de 3 secole de colaps, in care a fost creata dualitatea
austro-ungara (1867).
Transilvania si-a pierdut statutul autonom pe care l-a avut sub

stapanirea austriaca si a fost incorporata in Ungaria. Legislatia adoptata
de guvernul de la Budapesta proclama existenta unei singure
nationalitati in Ungaria - aceea maghiara, destinata sa distruga din
punct de vedere etno-cultural celelalte populatii, fortandu-le sa devina
ungare. Asta a supus populatia romaneasca, alaturi de alte grupuri
etnice, la grele incercari. La vremea aceea, Partidul National Roman a
jucat un rol important in impunerea identitatii nationale a romanilor;
partidul a fost recunoscut in 1881 si a fost promotorul in lupta de
obtinere a recunoasterii drepturilor egale pentru natiunea romana,
precum si rezistenta ei impotriva proiectelor de deznationalizare.
In 1892, lupta nationala a romanilor a atins apogeul, in cadrul Miscarii

Memorandistice. Memorandumul a fost conceput de liderii romanilor
din Transilvania, Ion Ratiu, Gheorghe Pop Basesti, Eugen Brote, Vasile
Lucaciu si a fost trimis la Viena pentru a fi supus atentiei imparatului
Franz Iosef I. El avertiza opinia publica europeana asupra
revendicarilor romanilor si o punea in garda fata de intoleranta aratata
de guvernul de la Budapesta, referitor la problema nationala.
Perioada 1878-1914 a fost una de stabilitate si progres pentru Romania.

Politica s-a polarizat in jurul a doua partide mari - conservator (Lascar
Catargiu, Petre Carp, Gheorghe Grigore Cantacuzino, Titu Maiorescu)
si liberal (Ion C. Bratianu, Dimitrie Sturza, Ion I. C. Bratianu). Ei au
venit la putere alternativ si asta a fost caracteristic pentru
comportamentul politic al epocii. Politica expansionista a Rusiei a
determinat Romania sa semneze, in 1883, in secret un tratat de alianta
cu Austria, Ungaria, Germania si Italia; tratatul a fost reinnoit periodic
pana la primul razboi mondial. Dupa ce la inceput a ramas neutra, in
primul razboi balcanic (1912-1913), Romania s-a alaturat Greciei,
Serbiei, Muntenegrului si Turciei impotriva Bulgariei, in cadrul celui
de-al doilea razboi balcanic. Pacea de la Bucuresti (1913) a marcat
sfarsitul conflictului si ea prevedea ca sudul Dobrogei - Cadrilaterul
(judetele Durostor si Silistra) sa devina parte la Romania.
In august 1914, cand a izbucnit primul razboi mondial, Romania s-a

declarat neutra. Doi ani mai tarziu, in 14-27 august 1916, ea s-a alaturat
Aliatilor, care i-au promis sprijin pentru dobandirea unitatii sale
nationale. Guvernul condus de Ion I.C. Bratianu a declarat razboi
Austro-Ungariei.
Ion I.C. Bratianu, prim ministru al Romaniei
Dupa primul succes, armata romana a fost silita sa abandoneze o parte

din tara, inclusiv Bucurestiul, si sa se retraga in Moldova, datorita
ofensivei unite a armatelor din Transilvania, comandate de Generalul
von Falkenheyn si a celor din Bulgaria, comandate de Maresalul von
Mackensen. In vara lui 1917, in marile batalii de la Marasesti, Marasti
si Oituz, romanii au respins incercarea puterilor centrale de a se apara si
au scos Romania din razboi, ocupandu-si restul teritoriului.
Lupta de la Marasesti - gravura din primul razboi mondial
Monumentul de la Marasesti dedicat eroilor primului razboi mondial
Situatia insa s-a schimbat complet dupa Revolutia din 1917 din Rusia si
pacea separata, incheiata de sovietici la Brest-Litovsk (3 martie 1918).
Asta atragea dupa sine sfarsitul operatiunilor militare pe frontul de est.
Romania a fost obligata sa urmeze pasii aliatei sale Rusia, deoarece pe
frontul din Moldova trupele romanesti se intercalau cu trupele rusesti si
era imposibil ca lupta sa continue intr-o zona a frontului, si pacea sa se
instaleze in alta zona a frontului. Rupandu-se de aliatii sai occidentali,
Romania a fost obligata sa semneze Tratatul de Pace de la Bucuresti cu
puterile centrale (24 aprilie-7 mai 1918).
Procedura de ratificare n-a fost insa niciodata dusa la bun sfarsit, astfel
ca din punct de vedere legal tratatul n-a fost niciodata operativ; de fapt,
la sfarsitul lui octombrie 1918, Romania a denuntat tratatul si a reintrat
in razboi.
Dreptul popoarelor la autoguvernare a triumfat la sfarsitul primului

razboi mondial, si asta a servit cauzelor romanilor care traiau in
imperiile tarist si austro-ungar. Colapsul sistemului tarist si
recunoasterea de catre guvernul sovietic al dreptului la autoguvernare

permis romanilor din Basarabia sa-si exprime prin vot in cadrul
organului national reprezentativ - Parlamentul tarii, care s-a convocat la
Chisinau, vointa lor de a se uni cu Romania (27 martie-9 aprilie 1918).
Caderea monarhiei habsburgice in toamna lui 1918, a facut posibila,
pentru natiunile aflate sub opresiunea austro-ungara, emanciparea
acestora. La 15-28 noiembrie 1918, Consiliul National din Bucovina a
votat la Cernauti unirea acelei provincii cu Romania.
Palatul Metropolitan din Cernauti,

unde a fost votata unirea Bucovinei cu Romania (28 noiembrie 1918)
Adunarea nationala din Transilvania, convocata la Alba Iulia in 18

noiembrie-1 decembrie 1918, a votat, in prezenta a preste 100.000 de
delegati, unirea Transilvaniei si Banatului cu Romania. Astfel ca, in
ianuarie 1918, cand s-a inaugurat la Paris conferinta de pace, unirea
tuturor romanilor intr-un singur stat era un fapt pe deplin realizat.
Tratatele de pace internationale din 1919-1920, semnate la Neuilly,

Saint Germain, Trianon si Paris, stabileau noile realitati europene si
sanctionau, de asemenea, unirea provinciilor care erau locuite de
romani intr-un singur stat (295.042 km.p, cu o populatie de 15,5
milioane).
Votul universal a fost introdus (1918), reforma radicala a fost aplicata

(1921), noua Constitutie a fost adoptata - una dintre cele mai
democratice de pe continent - (1923) - si toate aceste au creat un cadru
general democratic si au pavat drumul pentru o dezvoltare economica
rapida (productia industriala s-a dublat intre 1923 si 1938. Cu cele 7,2
milioane de barili de titei produs in 1937, Romania era cel de-al doilea
producator european si nr. 7 in lume. Venitul national pe cap de
locuitor atingea 97 de dolari, in 1938, comparativ cu cel al Greciei de
76$, cel al Portugaliei de 81 $, cel al Cehoslovaciei de 141$ si al
Frantei de 246$.
In politica, erau mai multe partide aflate in competitie. Astfel ca

Guvernul a fost controlat, de-a lungul anilor, de cateva dintre ele:
Partidul Poporului (Alexandru Averescu), Partidul National Liberal
(Ion I.C. Bratianu, I.G. Duca, Gheorghe Tatarescu), Partidul National
Taranesc (Iuliu Maniu). Partidul Comunist Roman, fondat in 1921, si
care avea un numar nesemnificativ de membri, a fost interzis, in 1924.
Garda de Fier, o miscare extremista a aripii nationaliste de dreapta,
fondata de Corneliu Zelea Codreanu, in 1927, a fost, de asemenea,

exilata.
In 1930, Carol al II-lea s-a razgandit in legatura cu decizia sa anterioara
de a renunta la tron si l-a detronat pe fiul sau minor, Mihai (care
devenise rege in 1927) si a luat tronul. Opt ani mai tarziu el instaura
propria sa dictatura (1938-1940).
Obiectivele politicii externe in perioada interbelica, cand Nicolae

Titulescu a jucat un rol major, erau indreptate spre mentinerea status-
quo-ului teritorial, prin crearea aliantelor regionale, sprijinind Liga
natiunilor si politica de securitate colectiva, la fel ca si promovarea unei
stranse cooperari cu democratiile vestice - Franta si Anglia.
Nicolae Titulescu, ministrul afacerilor externe roman, suporterul securitatii

colective in Europa
Impreuna cu Cehoslovacia si Iugoslavia, Romania a fondat Mica

Antanta, in 1920-1921 si a creat o noua organizatie de securitate
regionala - Antanta Balcanica, impreuna cu Iugoslavia, Grecia si
Turcia, in 1934.
Pe masura ce nazismul crestea in Germania, aceasta impreuna cu Italia

sprijinea pretentiile revizioniste ale statelor vecine Romaniei; politica
de forta a avut succes pe continent si acest lucru a fost marcat de
Anschluss, Pactul de la Munchen (1938), de separare a Cehoslovaciei
(1939). S-a produs o apropiere intre Uniunea Sovietica si cel de-al
treilei Reich; toate acestea au dus la izolarea internationala a Romaniei.
Pactul Ribentropp-Molotov (23 august 1939), stipula intr-un protocol
secret interesele sovietice in statele baltice, estul Poloniei, precum si in
Basarabia.
Cand a izbucnit cel de-al doilea razboi mondial, Romania si-a declarat
neutralitatea (6 septembrie 1939). Dar ea a sprijinit Polonia (facilitand
tranzitul tezaurului Bancii Nationale si garantand azil presedintelui
polonez si guvernului). Infrangerile suferite de Franta si Marea Britanie
in 1940 au creat o situatie dramatica pentru Romania.
Guvernul sovietic a aplicat capitolul 3 al protocolului secret din 23
august 1939 si a fortat Romania, prin ultimatumul din 26 si 28 iunie
1940, sa cedeze nu numai Basarabia, dar si nordul Bucovinei si

teritoriul Hertei (ultimele doua nu au apartinut niciodata Rusiei). Sub
tratatul de la Viena - de fapt, un dictat - (30 august 1940), Germania si
Italia i-au dat Ungariei nord-estul Transilvaniei, unde populatia
majoritara era romaneasca. In urma discutiilor romano-bulgare de la
Craiova, s-a semnat un tratat, in 7 septembrie 1940, prin care sudul
Dobrogei (Cadrilaterul) revenea Bulgariei.
Harta Romaniei cu teritoriile pierdute in anii '40
Serioasa criza din vara lui 1940 a dus la abdicarea regelui Carol al II-
lea, in favoarea fiului sau, Mihai I (6 septembrie 1940); in acelasi timp,
a dus la preluarea Guvernului de catre generalul Ion Antonescu (el a
devenit maresal in octombrie 1941). Intr-un efort de a obtine sprijinul
Germaniei si Italiei, Ion Antonescu a antrenat la guvernare miscarea
Garzii de Fier. Miscarea a incercat, intr-un act de rebeliune in 21-23
ianuarie 1941, sa ia intreaga conducere a guvernului, si ca urmare ea a
fost eliminata din politica.
Dorind sa recapete teritoriile pierdute in 1940, Ion Antonescu a

participat, alaturi de Germania, in razboiul dus impotriva Uniunii
Sovietice (1941-1944). Infrangerile suferite de puterile Axei au dus
dupa 1942 la sporirea incercarilor facute de regimul Antonescu, precum
si de opozitia democratica (Iuliu Maniu, C.I.C.
Bratianu) de a scoate Romania din Alianta cu Germania. Pe 23 august
1944, maresalul Ion Antonescu a fost arestat din ordinul regelui Mihai
I.
Noul guvern, format din militari si tehnocrati, a declarat razboi
Germaniei (24 august 1944) si, astfel, Romania si-a adus intregul ei
potential economic si militar in Alianta Natiunilor Unite, pana la
sfarsitul celui de-al doilea razboi mondial in Europa. In ciuda
eforturilor umane si economice, pe care Romania le facuse pentru
cauza Natiunilor Unite timp de noua luni, Tratatul de Pace de la Paris
(10 februarie 1947), nega Romaniei statutul de co-beligerant si o obliga
sa plateasca o imensa despagubire de razboi; dar, Tratatul recunostea
retrocedarea teritoriilor din nord-estul Transilvaniei la Romania, in
timp ce Basarabia si nordul Bucovinei ramaneau anexate la URSS.
Monumentul de la Moisei, dedicat victimelor teroarei hortisto-ungare in

Romania ocupata
Trupele sovietice stationau pe teritoriul Romaniei si tara a fost

abandonata de puterile occidentale, astfel ca urmatorul stadiu a adus o
evolutie similara acesteia, ca si celorlalti sateliti ai imperiului sovietic.
Intregul guvern a fost preluat prin forta de comunisti, partidele politice
au fost interzise, iar membrii lor au fost persecutati si arestati; regele
Mihai I a fost fortat sa abdice si in aceeasi zi a fost proclamata
Republica Populara (30 decembrie 1947).
S-a instaurat dictatura unui singur partid, bazata pe o supraveghere
omnipotenta si omniprezenta si pe forta de represiune. Intreprinderile
industriale, bancile si mijloacele de transport au fost nationalizate
(1948), agricultura a fost colectivizata fortat (1949-1962). Intreaga
economie s-a dezvoltat potrivit planurilor de cinci ani, obiectivul
principal fiind industrializarea de tip stalinist.
Romania a devenit membru fondator al CAER (1949) si al Tratatului de
la Varsovia (1955). La moartea lui Gheorghe Gheorghiu-Dej (1965),
liderul comunist al epocii de dupa razboi, conducerea partidului, care
mai tarziu a fost identificata si cu conducerea de stat, a fost
monopolizata de catre Nicolae Ceausescu. Intr-o scurta perioada, el a
reusit sa concentreze in propriile maini (si ale celor ale clanului condus
de sotia sa, Elena Ceausescu), toate parghiile puterii partidului
comunist si cele ale sistemului de stat. Romania s-a distantat de URSS
(acest lucru a fost facut public in 'Declaratia' din aprilie 1964; politica
interna a fost mai putin rigida si s-a inregistrat o oarecare deschidere in
politica externa (Romania a fost singurul stat membru al Tratatului de
la Varsovia, care nu a intervenit in Cehoslovacia, in 1968); toate
acestea, ca si capitalul politic construit pe o linie mai putin ortodoxa,
erau folosite pentru a consolida propria pozitie a lui Ceausescu, ca sa
preia intreaga putere in cadrul partidului si a statului.
Dictatura familiei Ceausescu, una dintre cele mai absurde forme de
guvernare totalitarista din Europa secolului XX, bazata pe cultul
personalitatii care friza, de fapt, patologicul, a avut ca rezultat, printre
altele, distorsiuni in economie, degradarea in viata sociala si morala,
izolarea tarii in cadrul comunitatii internationale. Resursele tarii au fost
abuziv folosite pentru construirea unor proiecte gigant absurde,
nascocite de megalomania dictatorului. Asta a contribuit, de asemenea,
la scaderea dramatica a nivelului de trai al populatiei si la adancirea
crizei regimului.
In aceste conditii, izbucnirea revoltei starnite la Timisoara in 16

decembrie 1989, a cuprins rapid toata tara, si in 22 decembrie dictatura
a fost rasturnata, prin sacrificiul a peste 1000 de vieti.
Revolutia romana din 22 decembrie 1989
Victoria revolutiei a deschis drumul spre restabilirea democratiei, a

sistemului politic pluralist, pentru intoarcerea la economia de piata si
reintegrarea tarii in spatiul economic, politic si cultural european.
< Back
< Back
History of Romanians - Ion Calafeteanu
Romania is situated in Central Europe, in the northern part of the Balkan

peninsula and its territory is marked by the Carpathian Mountains, the
Danube and the Black Sea. With its temperate climate and varied natural
environment, which is favourable to life, the Romanian territory has been
inhabited since time immemorial. The research done by Romanian
archaeologists at Bugiulesti, Valcea Country, has led to the discovery of
traces of human presence dating back as early as the Lower Palaeolithic
(approximately two million years BC). These vestiges are among the oldest in
Europe, revealing a period when 'man,' a humanoid in fact, went physically
and spiritually through the stages of his coming out of the animal status. A
denser human population, ('the Neanderthal man') can be proved to have
lived about 100,000 years ago; a relatively stable population can only be
found beginning with the Neolithic (6-5,000 years BC).
Cucuteni pottery
At the time, the population on the territory of present-day Romania created a

remarkable culture, whose proof is the polychrome pottery of the 'Cucuteni'
culture (comparable to the pottery of other important European cultures of the
time in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Middle East) and the statuettes of
the 'Hamangia' culture (the Thinker of Hamangia is known today to the whole
world).
The Thinkers of Hamangia (Neolithic statuette)
At the turn of the second millennium, when the Palaeolithic age made way for
the Bronze age, the Thracian tribes of Indo-European origin settled alongside
http://www.tradepc.co.nz/diasromnz/history/historyengl.htm 11/13/04
the population that already lived in the Carpathian-Balkan region. From the
time of the Thracians on, the uninterrupted phenomenon of the Romanian
people’s birth can be traced. In the former half of the first millennium BC, in
the Carpathian-Danube-Pontic area - which was the northern part of the large
surface inhabited by the Thracian tribes - a northern Thracian group became
individualised: it was made up of a mosaic of Getae and Dacian tribes.
Strabo, a famous geographer and historian in the age of emperor Augustus,
informs that 'the Dacians have the same language as the Getae.' Basically, it
was the same people, the only difference between the Dacians and the Getae
being the area they inhabited: the Dacians - mostly in the mountains and the
plateau of Transylvania; the Getae - in the Danube Plains. In the Antiquity, the
Greeks, who first got to encounter the Getae - used this name for the whole
population north of the Danube, while the Romans, who first got to encounter
the Dacians-extended this name to cover all the other tribes on the present-
day territory of Romania; after the conquest of this territory, the Romans
created here the Dacia province. This is why the whole territory of present-
day Romania is called Dacia in all ancient Latin and Early Middle Ages
sources.
The contact of the Geto-Dacians with the Greek world was made easy by the
Greek colonies created on the present-day Romanian Black Sea shore: Istros
(Histria), founded in the 7th century BC, Callatis (today: Mangalia) and Tomi
(today: Constanta); the latter two were founded a century later. In the
recorded history, the population north of the Danube (the Getae) was first
mentioned by Herodotus, 'the father of history' (the 4th century BC). He told
the story of the campaign of Persian king Darius I against the Scythians in the
northern Pontic steppes (513 BC). He wrote that the Getae were 'the most
valiant and just of the Thracians'. They had been the only ones to resist the
Persian king on the way from the Bosporus to the Danube.
Burebista (82 - around 44 BC), who succeeded to unite the Geto-Dacian

tribes for the first time, founded a powerful kingdom that stretched, when the
Dacian sovereign offered to support Pompey against Caesar (48 BC), from
the Beskids (north), the Middle Danube (west), the Tyras river (the Dniester),
and the Black Sea shore (east) to the Balkan Mountains (south).
The Dacian stronghold of Sarmisegetuza
In the 1st century BC, as the Roman empire was expanding and Roman
provinces were being created in Pannonia, Dalmatia, Moesia and Thracia, the
Danube became, along 1,500 Km., the border between the Roman Empire
and the Dacian world. In Dobrudja, which was under Roman rule for seven
centuries beginning with the reign of Augustus, poet Publius Ovidius Naso
spent the last years of his life, 'among Greeks and Getae,' as he was exiled
there, to Tomi (8-17, AD) by order of the same Caesar.
Dacia was at the peak of its power under King Decebal (87-106 AD). After a
first confrontation during the reign of Domitian (87-89), two extremely tough
wars were necessary (101-102 and 105-106) to the Roman empire, at the
peak of its power under Emperor Trajan (98-117) to defeat Decebal and turn
most of his kingdom into the Roman province called Dacia.
King Decebal Emperor Trajan
Trajan’s Column erected in Rome and the Triumphal Monument at Adamclisi

(Dobrudja) tell the story of this military effort, which was followed by a
systematic and massive colonisation of the new territories that were
integrated into the empire.
Trajan's Column in Rome - the birth certificate of the Romanian people
The Roman monument of Adam Clisi (second century AD)
The Dacians, although they had suffered heavy casuals, remained, even after
the new rule was established, the main ethnic element in Dacia; the province
was subjected to a complex Romanization process, its basic element being
the staged but definitive adoption of the Latin language.
The Romanians are today the only descendants of the Eastern Roman stock;
the Romanian language is one of the major heirs of the Latin language,
together with French, Italian, Spanish; Romania is an oasis of Latinity in this
part of Europe.
The natives, be they of Roman or Daco-Roman descent, continued their

uninterrupted existence as farmers and shepherds even after the withdrawal,
under emperor Aurelian (270-275) of the Roman army and administration,
which were moved south of the Danube. But the ancestors of the Romanians
remained for several centuries in the political, economic, religious and cultural
sphere of influence of the Roman Empire; after the empire split in 395 AD,
they stayed in the sphere of the Byzantine Empire. They lived mostly in the
old Roman hearts that had now decayed and survived in difficult
circumstances under successive waves of migratory tribes.
At the time when the Daco-Roman ethno-cultural symbiosis was achieved

and finalised in the 6-7th centuries by the formation of the Romanian people,
in the 2-4th centuries, the Daco-Romans adopted Christianity in a Latin garb.
Therefore, in the 6-7th centuries, when the formation process of the
Romanian people was done, this nation emerged in history as a Christian
one. This is why, unlike the neighbouring nations, which have established
dates of Christianization (the Bulgarians - 865, the Serbs - 874, the Poles-
966, the eastern Slavs - 988, the Hungarians - the year 1000), the Romanians
do not have a fixed date of Christianization, as they were the first Christian
nation in the region.
In the 4-13th centuries the Romanian people had to face the waves of
migrating peoples - the Getae, the Huns, the Gepidae, the Avars, the Slavs,
the Petchenegs, the Cumanians, the Tartars - who crossed the Romanian
territory. The migratory tribes controlled this space from the military and
political points of view, delaying the economic and social development of the
natives and the formation of local statehood entities.
The Slavs, who massively settled since the 7th century south of the Danube,
split the compact mass of Romanians in the Carpathian-Danubian area: the
ones to the north (the Daco-Romanians) were separated from the ones to the
south, who were moved towards the west and Southeast of the Balkan
Peninsula (Aromanians, Megleno-Romanians and Istro-Romanians). The
Slavs that settled north of the Danube were assimilated little by little by the
Romanian people and their language left traces in the vocabulary and
phonetics of the Romanian language. To the Romanian language, the Slavic
language (similarly to the Germanic idiom of the Franks with the French
people) was the so-called super-imposed layer. The Romanians belonged to
the Orthodox religion so they adopted the Old Church Slavic as a cult
language, and, beginning with the 14-16th centuries, as a chancery and
culture language. The Slavic language was never a living language, spoken
by the people, on the territory of Romania; it played for Romanians, at a
certain time during the Middle Ages, the same role that Latin played in the
West; in the early modern age it was replaced for ever, in church, chancery
and culture included, by the Romanian language. Owing to their position, the
Romanians south of the Danube were the first to be mentioned in historical
sources (the 10th century), under the name of vlahi or blahi (Wallachians);
this name shows they were speakers of a Romance language and that the
non-Roman peoples around them recognised this fact. After the year 602, the
Slavs massively settled south of the Danube and they established a powerful
Bulgarian czardom in the 9th century; this, cut the tie between the Romanian
world north of the Danube and the one south of the Danube. As they were
subjected to all sorts of pressures and isolated from the powerful Romanian
trunk north of the Danube, the number of Romanians south of the Danube
continuously decreased, while their brothers north of the Danube, although
living in extremely difficult circumstances, continued their historical evolution
as a separate nation, the farthest one to the east among the descendants of
Imperial Rome.
In fact the Romanians are the only ones who, through their very name -
roman - (coming from the Latin word 'Roman') - have preserved to this day in
this part of Europe the seal of the ancestors, of their descent, that they have
always been aware of. This will show later in the name of the nation state -
Romania.
Wallachia, Moldavia, Transylvania

Beginning with the 10th century, the Byzantine, Slav and Hungarian sources,
and later on the western sources mention the existence of statehood entities
of the Romanian population - kniezates and voivodates - first in Transylvania
and Dobrudja, then in the 12-13th centuries, also in the lands east and south
of the Carpathians. A specific trait of the Romanian’s history from the Middle
Ages until the modern times is that they lived in three Principalities that were
neighbours, but autonomous - Wallachia, Moldavia and Transylvania.
This phenomenon - which is by no means unique in Mediaeval Europe - is

extremely complex. The underlying causes pertain to the essence of the
feudal society, but there are also specific factors. Among the latter, we wish to
mention the existence of powerful neighbouring empires, which opposed the
unification of the Romanian state entities and even occupied - for shorter or
longer periods of time - Romanian territories. For instance, to the west the
Romanians had to face the policy of conquests conducted by the Hungarian
kingdom. In 895, the Hungarian tribes, who came from the Volga lands, led by
Arpad, settled in Pannonia. They were stopped in their progress towards the
west by emperor Otto I (995) so the Hungarians settled down and turned their
eyes to the south-east and east. There they encountered the Romanians.
A Hungarian chronicle describes the meeting between the messengers sent

by Arpad, the Hungarian king, and voivode Menumorut of the Biharea city in
western Transylvania. The Hungarian ambassadors demanded that the
territory be handed over to them. The chronicle has preserved for us the
dignified answer given by Menumorut: 'Tell Arpad, the Duke of Hungary, your
ruler. Verily we owe him, as a friend to a friend, to give him all that is
necessary because he is a foreigner and a stranger and lacks many. But the
land that he has demanded from our good will we shall never give to him, as
long as we are alive'.
Despite the resistance of the Romanian kniezates and voivodates, the

Hungarians succeeded in the 10-13th centuries to occupy Transylvania and
make it part of the Hungarian kingdom (until the beginning of the 16th century
as an autonomous voivodate.) In order to consolidate their power in
Transylvania, where the Romanians continued to be, over the centuries, the
great majority ethnic element, as well as to defend the southern and eastern
borders of the voivodate, the Hungarian crown resorted to the colonisation of
Szecklers and Germans (Saxons) in the 12-13th centuries in the frontier
areas.
The Church of Densus
In the 14th century, with the decline of the neighbouring imperial powers (the
Poles, the Hungarians, the Tartars), south and east of the Carpathian
Mountains range the autonomous feudal states were formed: Wallachia,
under Basarab I (around 1310) and Moldavia, under Bogdan I (around 1359).
The Polish and Hungarian kingdoms attempted in the 14-15th centuries to
annex or subordinate the two principalities, but they did not succeed.
In the second half of the 14th century a new threat against the Romanian
lands emerged: the Ottoman Empire. After first setting foot on European soil
in 1354, the Ottoman Turks began their rapid expansion on the continent, so
the green banner of the Islam already flew south of the Danube in 1396.
Scene from the Painted Chronicle of Vienna showing the victory of the
Romanians at Posada (1330)
against the army of the Hungarian King
Alone or in alliance with the neighbouring Christian countries, more often in

alliance with the neighbouring voivodes of the other two Romanian
principalities, the voivodes of Wallachia Mircea the Old (1386-1418) and Vlad
the Impeller (Dracula of the Mediaeval legends, 1456-1462), with Stephen the
Great and Holy (1457-1504), the voivode of Moldavia and Iancu of
Hunedoara, the voivode of Transylvania (1441-1456) fought heavy defence
battles against the Ottoman Turks, delaying their expansion to Central
Europe.
Mircea the Old,

Voivode of Wallachia (1386-1418)
Vlad the Impeller, Voivode of Wallachia

(Dracula of the Mediaeval legends, 1456-1462)
Stephen the Great and Holy,

Voivode of Moldavia (1457-1504)
The whole Balkan Peninsula became a Turkish-ruled territory, Constantinople

was captured by Mohammed II (1453), Suleiman the Magnificent captured the
city of Belgrade (1521), and the Hungarian kingdom disappeared following the
battle of Mohacs (1526). Therefore, Wallachia and Moldavia were surrounded
and they had to recognise for over three centuries the suzerainty of the
Ottoman Empire. After Buda was captured and Hungary became a pashalik,
Transylvania became a selfruling principality (1541) and it, too, recognised
the suzerainty of the Ottoman Empire, as the other two Romanian lands.
Unlike all the other peoples of south-east Europe, unlike the Hungarians and
the Poles, the Romanians were the only ones who maintained their state
entity during the Middle Ages, along with their own political, military and
administrative structures. The tribute paid to the sultan was the guarantee for
the preservation of domestic autonomy, but also for the protection against
more powerful enemies. Wallachia and Moldavia, owing to their autonomy
status, continued after the fall of the Byzantine Empire to foster their
Byzantine cultural traditions, taking at the same time upon themselves to
protect the Eastern Orthodox religion; on their territory, scholars from all over
the Balkan Peninsula, chased away by the intolerant Islam, were able to
continue their work without any obstacles; they prepared the cultural revival of
their nations.
City of Soroca on the Dnister river bank
The end of the 16th century was dominated by the personality of Michael the
Brave. He became voivode of Wallachia in 1593, joined the Christian League
- an anti-Ottoman coalition initiated by the Papacy and the Holy Roman
Empire and he succeeded, following heavy battles (Calugareni, Giurgiu) to
actually regain the independence of his country. In 1599-1600 he united for
the first time in history all the territories inhabited by Romanians, proclaiming
himself 'prince of Wallachia, Transylvania and the whole of Moldavia.' The
domestic situation was very complex, the neighbouring great-powers - the
Ottoman Empire, Poland, the Hapsburg Empire - were hostile and joined
forces to overthrow him; so this union was short-lived as Michael the Brave
was assassinated in 1601. The union achieved by the valiant voivode
became, however, a symbol to the posterity. In the 17th century, in various
forms and with evanescent success, other princes attempted to restart the
ambitious political program of Michael the Brave, by trying to form a united
anti-Ottoman front, made-up of the three principalities and to restore the unity
of ancient Dacia.
Michael the Brave (1593-1601) who first united the three Romanian lands
The end of the 17th century and the beginning of the 18th century brought
about changes in the politics of Central and Eastern Europe. The Ottoman
Empire failed to capture Vienna in 1683 and following that, the Hapsburg
Empire began its expansion to the south-east of Europe. The Austrian-Turkish
peace treaty of Karlowitz (1699) sanctioned the annexation of Transylvania
and its organisation as an autonomous principality to Hapsburg Austria (since
1765 great principality), ruled by a governor. Poland was divided and Russia,
by successive conquests, reached under Peter the Great (1696-1725) the
Dniester river, thus becoming Moldavia’s eastern neighbour. The ambitious

dream of the czars to dominate the Bosporus strait and Constantinople placed
the Romanian Principalities in the way of Russian expansionism. The
Ottoman Empire, in an attempt to defend its old position, introduced in
Moldavia (1711) and Wallachia (1716) the 'Phanariot regime,' (until 1821),
under which the Sublime Porte appointed in the two principalities Greek
voivodes recruited from the Phanar district of Istanbul and considered faithful
to the Turks. That was a time when the Ottoman political control and
economic exploitation increased and corruption spread; but some social
reforms were also introduced - such as the abolition of serfdom - as well as
administrative and modernising reforms, modelled on the European ones in
the age of the Enlightenment. The domestic autonomy, although limited, was
basically preserved and the two principalities continued to be distinct entities
from the Ottoman Empire; this situation was recognised in several
international treaties (for instance that of Kuchuk-Kainargi, 1774). Lying at the
borders of three great empires and wanted by all three of them, Wallachia and
Moldavia became for over 150 years not only territories of contention but also
a battlefield on which the armies of the empires fought each other.
Many wars were fought by Austria and Russia against the Ottoman Empire
(1710-1711, 1716-1718, 1735-1739, 1768-1774, 1787-1792, 1806-1812,
1828-1829, 1853-1856): those battles took place on Romanian soil, always
accompanied by a foreign military occupation, which was often maintained
long after the war proper was over, so the Romanian lands endured not only
through devastation and irrecoverable losses but also through population
displacements and painful territory amputations. So, Austria temporarily
annexed Oltenia (1718-1793) and Northern Moldavia that they called
Bukovina (1775-1918). Following the Russian-Turkish war of 1806-1812,
Russia annexed the eastern part of Moldavia, the land between the Prut and
Dniester rivers, later called Bessarabia (1812-1918).
National Revival
In the 18th and early 19th centuries huge economic and social changes took
place, the feudal structures were deeply eroded, the first capitalist enterprises
emerged and at the same time Romanian goods were attracted step by step
into the European circuit. The national idea, as everywhere else in Europe,
was becoming the soaring dream of intellectuals and the underlying element
in the plans for the future made by the politicians. The union of part of the
clergy in Transylvania with the Catholic Church (the Greek- Catholics),
achieved by the House of Hapsburg in 1699-1701, played an important part in
the emancipation of Transylvanian Romanians. Their fight for equal rights with
the other ethnic groups (although the Romanians accounted for over 60% of
the principate’s population, they were still considered 'tolerated' in their own
country) was begun by Bishop Inocentiu Micu-Klein and continued by the
intellectuals grouped in the 'Transylvanian School' movement: Gheorghe
Sincai, Petru Maior, Samuil Micu, Ion Budai-Deleanu, a.o. These scholars
proved the Latinity of the Romanian language and people and, even more,
the fact that they had uninterruptedly been the autochthonous population
here. By virtue of this ancients, they demanded equal rights with the other
'nations' in Transylvania - Hungarians, Szecklers and Saxons. The claims of
the Romanians in Transylvania were submitted to the Court of Vienna in the
long petition called Supplex Libellus Valachorum (1791), which did not receive
any answer.
The quest for renewal in Wallachia was expressed in the revolution led by
Tudor Vladimirescu (1821), which broke out at the same time with the Greek’s
movement for liberation.
Tudor Vladimirescu, the leader of the 1821 Romanian revolution
Although the Ottoman and Czarist troops occupied the Danube principalities
that same year, the sacrifices made by the Romanians brought about the
abolition of the Phanariot regime and native voivodes were again appointed
on the thrones of Moldavia and Wallachia. The peace treaty of 1829 signed at
Adrianople (today Edirne) ended the Russian-Turkish conflict of 1828-1829,
which had broken out in the final stage of the war for national liberation fought
by the Greeks; this treaty greatly weakened the Ottoman suzerainty, but it
increased Russia’s 'protectorate.' Now that trade was freed, Romanian
cereals began to penetrate European markets. Under Pavel Kiseleff, the
commander of the Russian troops that occupied the two Romanian
principalities (1828-1834), quasi-identical Organic Regulations were
introduced in Wallachia (1831) and Moldavia (1832); until 1859 these
Regulations served as fundamental laws (constitutions) and they contributed
to the modernisation and homogenisation of the social, economic,
administrative and political structures that had started in the preceding
decades. Therefore, in the first half of the 19th century, the Romanian
principalities began to distance themselves from the Oriental Ottoman world
and tune into the spiritual space of Western Europe. Ideas, currents, attitudes
from the West were more than welcome in the Romanian world, which was
undergoing an irreversible process of modernisation. Now the awareness that
all Romanians belong to the same nation was generalised and the union into
one single independent state became the ideal of all Romanians.
Union and Independence

The winds of 1848 also blew over the Romanian principalities. They brought
to the centre-stage of politics several brilliant intellectuals such as Ion Heliade
Radulescu, Nicolae Balcescu, Mihail Kogalniceanu, Simion Barnutiu, Avram
Iancu and others.
Nicolae Balcescu, one of the 1848 revolution leaders
In Moldavia the unrest was quickly cracked down on, but in Wallachia the
revolutionaries actually governed the country in June-September 1848. In
Transylvania the revolution was prolonged until as late as 1849. There, the
Hungarian leaders refused to take into account the claims of the Romanians
and they resolved to annex Transylvania to Hungary; this led to a split of the
revolutionary forces between the Hungarians and the Romanians. The
Hungarian government of Kossuth Lajos attempted to crack down on the fight
of the Romanians, but he encountered the resolute armed resistance of the
Romanians in the Apuseni Mountains, under the leadership of Avram Iancu.
Avram Iancu, leader of the 1848 Romanian revolution in Transylvania
Although the brutal intervention of the Ottoman, Czarist and Hapsburg armies
was successful in 1848-1849, the renewal tide favouring democratic ideas
spread everywhere in the next decade.
Russia was defeated in the Crimean War (1853-1856) and this called into
question again the fragile European balance. Owing to their strategic position
at the mouth of the Danube, as this waterway was becoming increasingly
important to European communications, the status of the Danube
principalities became a European issue at the peace Congress in Paris
(February-March 1856). Wallachia and Moldavia were still under Ottoman
suzerainty, but now they were placed under the collective guarantee of the
seven powers that signed the Paris peace treaty; these powers decided then
that local assemblies be convened to decide on the future organisation of the
two principalities. The Treaty of Paris also stipulated: the retrocession to
Moldavia of Southern Bessarabia, which had been annexed in 1812 by
Russia (the Cahul, Bolgrad and Ismail counties); freedom of sailing on the
Danube; the establishment of the European Commission of the Danube; the
neutral status of the Black Sea. In 1857 the 'Ad-hoc assemblies' convened in
Bucharest and Iasi under the provisions of the Paris Peace Congress of 1856;
all social categories participated and these assemblies unanimously decided
to unite the two principalities into one single state. French emperor Napoleon
III supported this, the Ottoman Empire and Austria were against, so a new
conference of the seven protector powers was called in Paris (May-August
1858); there, only a few of the Romanians’ claims were approved. But the
Romanians elected on January 5/17, 1859 in Moldavia and on January
24/February 5, 1859 in Wallachia Colonel Alexandru Ioan Cuza as their
unique prince, achieving de facto the union of the two principalities.
Alexandru Ioan Cuza (1859-1866), Voivove of the United Principalities
The Romanian nation state took on January 24/February 5, 1862 the name of
Romania and settled its capital in Bucharest. Assisted by Mihail
Kogalniceanu, his closest adviser, Alexandru Ioan Cuza initiated a reform
programme, which contributed to the modernisation of the Romanian society
and state structures: the law to secularise monastery assets (1863), the land
reform, providing for the liberation of the peasants from the burden of feudal
duties and the granting of land to them (1864), the Penal Code law, the
Civilian Code law (1864), the education law, under which primary school
became tuitionfree and compulsory (1864), the establishment of universities
in Iasi (1860) and Bucharest (1864), a.o.
Mihail Kogalniceanu (1817-1890), father of the program to make

Romania a modern country
After the abdication of Alexandru Ioan Cuza (1866), Carol of Hohenzollern-

Sigmaringen, a relative of the royal family of Prussia, who was supported by
Napoleon III and Bismark, was proclaimed on May 10, 1866, following a
plebiscite, ruling prince of Romania, with the name of Carol I.
Carol I, first King of Romania
The new Constitution (inspired from the Belgian one of 1831), which was
promulgated in 1866 and was in use until 1923, proclaimed Romania a
constitutional monarchy. In the next decade the struggle of the Romanians to
achieve full state independence was part of the movements that took place
with other peoples in the south-east of Europe - Serbs, Hungarians,
Montenegrins, Bulgarians, Albanians - to cut off their last ties to the Ottoman
Empire. Within a favourable international framework - in 1875 the Oriental
crisis broke out again and the Russo-Turkish war started in April 1877 -
Romania declared its full state independence on May 9/21, 1877. The
government led by Ion C. Bratianu, in which Mihail Kogalniceanu served as
Foreign Minister, decided, upon the Russian request for assistance, to join the
Russian forces that were operative in Bulgaria. A Romanian army, under the
personal command of Prince Carol I, crossed the Danube and participated in
the siege of Pleven; the result was the surrender of the Ottoman army led by
Osman Pasha (December 10, 1877).
Attack of Grivita stronghold

Engraving of the Independence War period (1877-1878)
The independence of Romania, similarly to that Serbia and Montenegro, as

well as the union of Dobrudja with Romania were recognised in the Russian-
Turkish peace treaty of San Stefano (March 3, 1878). Upon the insistence of
the great powers, an international peace Congress was held in Berlin (June-
July 1878), which acknowledged and maintained the status that Romania had
proclaimed by herself more than a year before; it also re-established, after a
long period of Ottoman rule, Romania’s rights over Dobrudja, which was re-
united to Romania. But at the same time Russia violated the convention
signed on April 4, 1877 and forced Romania to cede the Cahul, Bolgrad and
Ismail counties of Southern Bessarabia.
On March 14/26, 1881, Romania proclaimed itself a kingdom and Carol I of

Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen was crowned King of Romania.
After gaining its independence, the Romania state was the place to which the
hopeful eyes of all Romanians who lived on the lands still under foreign
occupation turned. The Romanians in Bukovina and in Bessarabia were
facing a systematic policy of assimilation into the German and Russian
worlds, respectively. Immigration of foreign peoples was directed to their
territory. The Romanian enclaves in the Balkan Peninsula had increasing
difficulties in opposing the denationalisation tendencies. At the turn of the 20th
century, the Romanians were a people with over 12 million inhabitants, of
whom almost half lived under foreign occupation.
At the same time in Transylvania, the Romanians suffered the serious

consequences of the accord by which the Hungarian state was re-established
more than three centuries after its collapse and the dual Austria-Hungary
state was created (1867). Transylvania lost the autonomous status it had
under Austrian rule and it was incorporated into Hungary. The legislation
passed by the government in Budapest, which proclaimed the existence of
only one nationality in Hungary - the Magyar one - sought to destroy from the
ethno-cultural point of view the other populations, by forcing them to become
Hungarian. This subjected the Romanian population, along with other ethnic
groups, to heavy ordeals. At that time the National Romanian Party in
Transylvania played an important role in asserting the Romanian national
identity; the party was reorganised in 1881 and it became the standard bearer
in the struggle to achieve recognition of equal rights of the Romanian nation
and it the resistance against the denationalisation projects.
In 1892 the national struggle of the Romanians reached a climax through the
Memorandum Movement. The memorandum was drafted by the leaders of
the Romanians in Transylvania, Ion Ratiu, Gheorghe Pop of Basesti, Eugen
Brote, Vasile Lucaciu, a.o. and it was sent to Vienna to be submitted to

emperor Franz Joseph I; it advised the European public opinion of the
Romanians’ claims and of the intolerance shown by the government in
Budapest regarding the national issue.
The 1878-1914 period was one of stability and progress for Romania. Politics
got polarised around two huge parties - the conservative one (Lascar
Catargiu, P.P. Carp, Gh. Grigore Cantacuzino, Titu Maiorescu, a.o.) and the
liberal one (Ion C. Bratianu, Dimitrie A. Sturdza, Ion I.C. Bratianu, a.o.). They
alternatively came to power and this became the characteristic trait of the
epoch’s politics. The expansionist policy of Russia determined Romania to
sign in 1883 a secret alliance treaty with Austria-Hungary, Germany and Italy;
the treaty was renewed periodically until World War I. After staying neutral in
the first Balkan war (1912-1913) Romania joined Greece, Serbia, Montenegro
and Turkey against Bulgaria in the second Balkan war. The peace treaty of
Bucharest (1913) marked the end of that conflict and under its provisions
Southern Dobrudja - the Quadrilateral (the Durostor and Caliacra counties)
became part of Romania.
In August 1914, when World War I broke out, Romania declared neutrality.
Two years later on August 14/27, 1916 it joined the Allies, which promised
support for the accomplishment of national unity; the government led by Ion
I.C. Bratianu declared war on Austria-Hungary.
Ion I.C. Bratianu, Prime Minister of Romania
After the first success, the Romanian army was forced to abandon part of the
country, Bucharest included and to withdraw to Moldavia, owing to the joint
offensive of the armies in Transylvania, commanded by General von
Falkenhayn and those of Bulgaria, commanded by Marshal von Mackensen.
In the summer of 1917, in the great battles of Marasti, Marasesti and Oituz,
the Romanians aborted the attempt made by the Central Powers to defeat
and get Romania out of the war by occupying the rest of her territory.
Fighting at Marasesti - Engraving of WWI
The Marasesti Monument dedicated to the heroes of WWI
But the situation changed completely following the outbreak of the revolution
in Russia (1917) and the separate peace concluded by the Soviets at Brest-
Litovsk (March 3, 1918); this triggered the end of the military operations on
the eastern front. Romania was compelled to follow in the steps of her
Russian ally, because on the Moldavian front the Romanian troops were
interspersed with the Russian ones and it was impossible for combat to
continue on one area of the front and for peace to settle on another front area,
and so on. Cut off from its western allies, Romania was forced to sign the
peace treaty of Bucharest with the Central Powers (April 24/May 7, 1918).
The ratification procedure was never carried through, so from the legal
standpoint the treaty was never operative; in fact, in late October 1918,
Romania denounced the treaty and re-entered the war.
The right of the peoples to self-rule triumphed in the final stage of World War I
and this served the cause of the Romanians who lived in the Czarist and
Austro-Hungarian Empires. The collapse of the czarist system and the
recognition by the Soviet government of the right of the exploited peoples to
self-rule allowed the Romanians in Bessarabia to express through the vote of
the national representative body - the Country Council which convened in
Chisinau - their will to be united with Romania (March 27/April 9, 1918). The
fall of the Hapsburg monarchy in the autumn of 1918 made it possible for the
nations that had been under Austrian-Hungarian oppression to emancipate
themselves. On November 15/28, 1918, the National Council of Bukovina
voted in Cernauti to unite that province to Romania.
The Metropolitan Palace of Cernauti,

where the union of Bukovina with Romania was voted (November 28,
1918)
In Transylvania the National Assembly called at Alba Iulia on November

18/December 1, 1918 voted, within the presence of over 100,000 delegates,
to unite Transylvania and Banat with Romania. So, in January 1919, when the
peace conference was inaugurated in Paris, the union of all Romanians into
one single state was an accomplished fact.
The international peace treaties of 1919-1920 signed at Neuilly, Saint-

Germain, Trianon and Paris, established the new European realities and also
sanctioned the union of the provinces that were inhabited by Romanians into
one single state (295,042 square kilometres, with a population of 15.5 million).
The universal suffrage was introduced (1918), a radical reform was applied
(1921), a new Constitution was adopted - one of the most democratic on the
continent (1923) - and all this created a general-democratic framework and
paved the way for a fast economic development (the industrial output doubled
between 1923 and 1938). With its 7.2 million metric tons of produced oil in
1937, Romania was the second largest European producer and number
seven in the world. The per capita national income reached $94 in 1938 as
compared to Greece - $76, Portugal - $81, Czechoslovakia - $141, and
France - $246.
In politics many parties competed with one another, so the government was
controlled over the years by several of them: the People’s Party (Alexandru
Averescu), the National Liberal Party (Ion I.C. Bratianu, I.G. Duca, Gheorghe
Tatarescu) and the National Peasant Party (Iuliu Maniu). The Romanian
Communist Party, established in 1921, and which had an insignificant number
of members, was banned in 1924. The Iron Guard, an extremist right-wing
nationalist movement, established by Corneliu Zelea Codreanu in 1927, was
equally banned. In 1930 Carol II changed his mind about his earlier decision
to give up the throne, he dethroned his minor son, Michael (who had become
king in 1927) and he took the throne. Eight years later he established his
personal dictatorship (1938-1940).
The goals of the foreign policy in the inter-war period, when Nicolae Titulescu
played a major role, sought to maintain the territorial status quo by creating
regional alliances, supporting the League of Nations and the collective
security policy, as well as by promoting close co-operation with the Western
democracies - France and Great Britain.
Nicolae Titulescu, Romanian Foreign Minister, supporter of collective

security in Europe
With Czechoslovakia and Yugoslavia, Romania lay the foundation in 1920-

1921 for the Little Entente and in 1934 Romania created with Yugoslavia,
Greece and Turkey a new organisation of regional security - the Balkan
Entente.
Nazi Germany was rising and, together with Italy it supported the revisionist
states neighbouring Romania; the force policy was successful on the
continent and this was marked by the Anschluss, the Munich Pact (1938), the
break-up of Czechoslovakia (1939); there was rapprochement between the
Soviet Union and the Third Reich; all this led to Romania’s international
isolation. The von Ribbentrop-Molotov Pact (August 23, 1939) stipulated in a
secret protocol the Soviet 'interest' in the Baltic states, eastern Poland and the
Soviet similar 'interest' in Bessarabia.
When World War II broke out, Romania declared neutrality (September

6,1939) but she supported Poland (by facilitating the transit of the National
Bank treasure and granting asylum to the Polish president and government).
The defeats suffered by France and Great Britain in 1940 created a dramatic
situation for Romania. The Soviet government applied Plank 3 of the secret
protocol of August 23, 1939 and forced Romania by the ultimatum notes of
June 26 and 28, 1940 to cede not only Bessarabia, but also Northern
Bukovina and the Hertza land (the latter two had never belonged to Russia).
Under the Vienna 'Award' - actually a dictate - (August 30, 1940) Germany
and Italy gave to Hungary the north-eastern part of Transylvania, where the
majority population was Romanian. Following the Romanian-Bulgarian talks in
Craiova, a treaty was signed on September 7, 1940, under which the south of
Dobrudja (the Quadrilateral) went to Bulgaria.
Romania's map with the territorial losses of the '40s
The serious crisis in the summer of 1940 led to the abdication of King Carol II
in favour of his son Michael I (September 6, 1940); equally, it led to General
Ion Antonescu’s take-over of the government (he became a Marshal in
October 1941). In an effort to win support from Germany and Italy, Ion
Antonescu joined forces in government with the Iron Guard Movement. The
Movement attempted by way of the rebellion of January 21-23, 1941 to take
over the entire government and, as a result, it was eliminated from politics.
Wishing to get back the territories lost in 1940, Ion Antonescu participated,
side by side with Germany, in the war against the Soviet Union (1941-1944).
The defeats suffered by the Axis powers led after 1942 to enhanced attempts
made by Antonescu’s regime, as well as by the democratic opposition (Iuliu
Maniu, C.I.C. Bratianu) to take Romania out of the alliance with Germany. On
August 23, 1944, Marshal Ion Antonescu was arrested under the order of
King Michael I. The new government, made up of military men and
technocrats, declared war on Germany (August 24, 1944) and so, Romania
brought her whole economic and military potential into the alliance of the
United Nations, until the end of World War II in Europe. Despite the human
and economic efforts Romania had made for the cause of the United Nations
for nine months, the Peace Treaty of Paris (February 10, 1947) denied
Romania the co-belligerent status and forced her to pay huge war reparation.
payments; but the Treaty recognised the come-back of north-eastern
Transylvania to Romania while Bessarabia and Northern Bukovina stayed
annexed to the USSR.
The Monument of Moisei, dedicated to the victims of the Horthy

Hungarian terror in occupied Transylvania
On the territory of Romania Soviet troops were stationed and the country was
abandoned by the Western powers, so the next stage brought a similar

evolution to that of the other satellites of the Soviet Empire. The whole
government was forcibly taken over by the communists, the political parties
were banned and their members were persecuted and arrested; King Michael
I was forced to abdicate and the same day the people’s republic was
proclaimed (December 30, 1947). The single-party dictatorship was
established, based on an omnipotent and omnipresent surveillance and
repression force. The industrial enterprises, the banks and the transportation
means were nationalised (1948), agriculture was forcibly collectivised (1949-
1962), the whole economy was developed according to five-year plans, the
main goal being a Stalinisttype industrialisation. Romania became a founding
member of COMECON (1949) and of the Warsaw Treaty (1955).
At the death of Gheorghe Gheorghiu-Dej (1965), the communist leader of the

after-war epoch, the party leadership, which was later identified with that of
the state as well, was monopolised by Nicolae Ceausescu. In a short period
of time he managed to concentrate into his own hands (and those of a clan
headed by his wife, Elena Ceausescu) all the power levers of the communist
party and of the state system. Romania distanced herself from the USSR (this
publicy inaugurated in the 'Statement' of April 1964); the domestic policy was
less rigid and there was some opening in the foreign policy (Romania was the
only Warsaw Treaty member-state that did not intervene in Czechoslovakia in
1968); all this, as well as the political capital built on such a less Orthodox line
were used to consolidate Ceausescu’s own position, to take over the whole
power within the party and the state. The dictatorship of the Ceausescu
family, one of the most absurd forms of totalitarian government in the 20th
century Europe, with a personality cult that actually bordered on mental
illness, had as a result, among other things, distortions in the economy, the
degradation of the social and moral life, the country’s isolation from the
international community. The country’s resources were abusively used to
build absurdly giant projects devised by the dictator’s megalomania; this also
contributed to a dramatic decline of the population’s living standard and the
deepening of the regime’s crisis.
Under these circumstances, the spark of the revolt that was stirred in
Timisoara on December 16, 1989 rapidly spread all over the country and in
December 22 the dictatorship was overthrown owing to the sacrifice of over
one thousand lives.
The Romanian Revolution of December 22, 1989
The victory of the revolution opened the way for a re-establishment of

democracy, of the pluralist political system, for the return to a market
economy and the re-integration of the country in the European economic,
political and cultural space.
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Untitled Page 1 of 23

Istoria Romanilor - Ion Calafeteanu

Romania este situata in centrul Europei, in partea de nord a Peninsulei

La un moment dat, populatia de pe teritoriul actualei Romanii, a creat o

Ganditorul de la Hamangia (statueta neolitica)

La inceputul mileniului al doilea, cand Epoca Paleoliticului facea loc

Cetatea dacica de la Sarmisegetuza

In primul secol inainte de Hristos, pe masura ce Imperiul roman se

Regele Decebal Imparatul Traian

Columna lui Traian din Roma - certificatul de nastere a poporului roman

Mausoleul roman de la Adamclisi (secolul II e.n.)

Dacii, cu toate ca au suferit pierderi grele, au ramas, chiar si dupa ce a

Locuitorii, fie ei descendenti ai Imperiului Roman sau a daco-

Roman, in anul 395 e.n., ei au ramas in sfera de influenta a Imperiului

La vremea cand simbioza etno-culturala dintre daci si romani a fost

Valahia, Moldova si Transilvania

Incepand cu sec. al X-lea, surse bizantine, slave si ungare, si mai tarziu

O cronica ungara descrie intalnirea dintre mesagerii trimisi de Arpad,

In ciuda rezistentei cnezatelor si voievodatelor romanesti, ungurii au

Biserica din Densusi

In sec. XIV, odata cu declinul puterii imperiilor vecine (polonii,

In cea de-a doua jumatate a sec. XIV, o noua amenintare se abatea

Scene din Cronica pictata de la Viena, reprezentand victoria romanilor la

Singure sau in alianta cu tarile crestine vecine, mai degraba in alianta

Mircea cel Batran,

Vlad Tepes, domnitorul Tarii Romanesti

Stefan cel Mare si Sfant,

Intreaga Peninsula Balcanica a devenit teritoriu turcesc.

Orasul Soroca pe malul raului Nistru

Sfarsitul sec. XVI a fost dominat de personalitatea lui Mihai Viteazul.

Sfarsitul sec. XVII si inceputul sec. XVIII au adus schimbari, politice,

luat proportii, la fel ca si coruptia; dar, s-au introdus, de asemenea, si

Multi ani, Austria si Rusia au luptat impotriva Imperiului Otoman

In sec. XVIII si la inceputul sec. XIX au avut loc uriase transformari

fost exprimata in cadrul Revolutiei condusa de Tudor Vladimirescu

Tudor Vladimirescu, conducatorul Revolutiei Romane de la 1821

Cu toate ca trupele otomane si tariste au ocupat principatele dunarene

Vantul revolutiei din 1848 a batut si asupra principatelor romanesti de

Nicolae Balcescu, unul din conducatorii Revolutiei din 1848

In Moldova tulburarile au fost inabusite rapid dar in Tara Romaneasca

Avram Iancu, conducatorul Revolutiei din 1848 in Transilvania

Cu toate ca interventia brutala a armatelor otomane, tariste si

Rusia a fost infrinta in Razboiul din Crimeea (1853-1856) si asta a pus

Alexandru Ioan Cuza (1859-1866), Domnitorul Principatelor Unite

Statul national roman, a luat in 24 ianuarie - 5 februarie 1862, numele

indatoririlor feudale si improprietarindu-i cu pamant (1864), Legea

Mihail Kogalniceanu (1817-1890), parintele reformei, care a facut din Romania o

Dupa abdicarea lui Alexandru Ioan Cuza (1866), Carol de

Carol I, primul rege al Romaniei

Intr-un cadrul international favorabil - in 1865 -, a izbucnit din nou

Atacul redutei Grivita

Independenta Romaniei, ca si independenta Serbiei si a Muntenegrului,

Pe 14-26 martie, 1881, Romania s-a proclamat regat si Carol I de

Transilvania si-a pierdut statutul autonom pe care l-a avut sub

In 1892, lupta nationala a romanilor a atins apogeul, in cadrul Miscarii

Perioada 1878-1914 a fost una de stabilitate si progres pentru Romania.

In august 1914, cand a izbucnit primul razboi mondial, Romania s-a

Ion I.C. Bratianu, prim ministru al Romaniei

Dupa primul succes, armata romana a fost silita sa abandoneze o parte

Lupta de la Marasesti - gravura din primul razboi mondial

Monumentul de la Marasesti dedicat eroilor primului razboi mondial

Dreptul popoarelor la autoguvernare a triumfat la sfarsitul primului

recunoasterea de catre guvernul sovietic al dreptului la autoguvernare

Palatul Metropolitan din Cernauti,