CON T E N T S
Pa g e
I
T H E R OU MAN IAN T E R RIT OR Y
7
II
ORI G I N
AN D
M E D IE VAL
D
E VE LOP ME N T OF T H E
10
III
16
IV
R OU M A N IA
27
V
PR OG R E SS OF M OD E R N R OU MAN IA
32
VI
R OU M AN
IA
'
S
38
R OU M A N
T H E
?
IA N S A N D
’
1
T H E I R LA N D S
'
II
T H E R OU M A N I A N
N A T I ON
R OU M A N I A N
I
T he R ou
.
AN D
TH E
K I N G D OM
m
a n ia n
T
errit ory .
People in Western Europe and in Ame rica
“
”
usually take the word Roumanians to m ea n
only the inhabitants of Roumania proper
Roumanian citizenship was a l w ay s confu se d
with the Roumanian race They believed that
all who speak and f eel Roumanian we re com
rised
within
the
boundaries
of
the
Kingdom
p
T h e facts however were entirely di fferent
The Kingdom of Roumania prior to 19 14 h eld
only half Of the Roumanian race All the prov
in ce s surrounding the Kingdom were Rou
manian provinces inhabited by Roumanians
but subj ected to foreign oppressive powers
The ethnical and national Roumanian te rritory
in South Eastern Europe is the land stretch
ing from the Dnieste r West over Transylvania
up to the proximity of t he River Tisa and
South down t o the Danube crossing its lower
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,
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T
H E
R OU
MAN IAN
N
AT ION
AN D
to the shores of the
a lso import a nt islands
ion in the Balkans in
of Rouman i an
Macedonia : T hessaly as well as beyond th e
Dnieste r in the Ukraine T he t otal number of
Roumanians is about
souls The
Roumanian provinces are :
,
'
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.
.
i K i n gdomprior to 19 14
bound in the N orth and West by t he Southern
chain Of th e Car pathians t he so called Tran
sy lv a n ia n A l ps ; in the East by the River Pr u t h
in the South by the D a n ub e a n d the hills which
stretch South East from Silist ria to the B lac k
square miles comprising
Sea ; an area Of
a population of almost
inhabitant s
are Roumanians
O f w h omabout
l
T h e R ou
.
m
an a n
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.
r a n sylva n i a ( with the adjoining coun
l
tri e ) and t he B a n a t comprisi n g the T ra n syl
vania n Plateau between the Eastern C a rpa t h
ia ns the Trans y lvanian A l ps and the Metal
Mountains the territory to the N orth up to the
Tisa River and to the West up to the junction
of t he three C rish es ( Koeroes ) as well as a ll
the territory between the M uresh the Tisa and
the Danube ; an area Of
square mi les
with
inh a bitants Of whom
are of Roumanian race
2
T
.
,
,
,
,
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,
.
lying N orth of the Rouman
ian Kingdom comprising the territory b e
tween t he Ro u manian border the line Of hi lls
3
.
B u cov i n a ,
n
,
,
8
R OU MAN IAN
THE
KI NG D OM
which run from west of Ho t in southwes t erly
and the C h eremu sh River nearly u p t o i t s
source an area of
s q u a re miles inhabited
by about
R oumanians
,
,
.
laying between t he Prut h
Dnieste r and the Black Sea ; an area with a
population of
souls amon g whom
about
are Roumanians There are
also over
Roumanians on the l ef t bank
Of the Dnies t er in Ukraine
4
B essa ra b i a ,
.
,
,
.
.
mk
and M ora va V a lleys in
Serbia which comprise the territory f ormed
by the turn Of the Danube before Orshova and
Turnu Severin continuing and crossing t h e
Bulgarian border an area of
square miles
with about
Roumanians
5
T he
.
T i
o
,
,
.
i where under Serb ian and
Greek rule there are dispersed over
Roumanians
6
M
.
a ced on a ,
.
Thus being a people numbering o ver
0 0 0 souls the Roumanian nation is gre ater in
numb er than the pop u lations of Sweden N or
way Denmark and Holland combined T o be
united under one body politic was their su
preme aim all throu gh the past centuries It
is for this great cause that Roumania made the
great sacrifices and su ffered the painful trag
edy Of 19 16 19 18 which is well known to t he
whole world
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,
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THE
II
m
and
OrI g
.
R OU MA N I A N
N
AT I
ON
AN D
m
M edia eva l D evelop
R ou a n ia n s
m
en t of t h e
.
The Roumanian p eop l e b y l anguage tem
r
n
e
m
and
p
hysical
t
ype
elong
t
o
the
a
e
t
b
p
La t in grou p Of pe oples o f Europe t h us being
k indred t o t he I t alian French Spanish and
Por t uguese They are very closely rela t ed t o
t he I ta l ian s Although in the c Ou rse of t hei r
his t ory especial l y b e t ween the ye ars 30 0 10 0 0
di fferent o t her races the Slavic especial ly
h ave in fl uenced t heir developme n t t heir L atin
characte r has remained una lt erably preserved
The Roumanian lan guage li k e the o t her mod
ern N eO La t in languages derived from po p ular
La t in is so near to t he I talian tha t any m
an
who understands Roumanian will unders t and
Italian and even Spanish withou t having s t ud
ied these languages
The t ype of t h e cranium
is b ra chyc epha le The t emperamen t is emo
t ion a l
The mind clothed with a mantl e of
mysticism which came from t he relation wit h
the Slavs and B yzan t ines has all the cle arnes s
of the Latin genius T his explains why under
grave cir cumstances dur i ng t he war of 19 14
19 18 the Roumanian people have taken t he
par t of t heir Latin brothers and why in spite
of all the mingling Of the Russian Army with
t hat of Roumania on t he Roumanian f ront and
in spi t e of a l l the Bolshevik propaganda t he
Roumanian Army and the Roumanian people
remained untouched b y Russian disease
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10
T
m
R OU MA NI A N
K
mG
D OM
The b irth of t he Roumania n n a t io n d a t es
back to A D 10 1 10 5 when the Rom a n le g io n s
led by E mperor T ra j a n in two wars con quered
Dacia defini t ely Dacia at t h a t time covered
a l l t he territory b ound in t he E a s t b y t he
Dniester in t he West by t he Tisa a n d in t he
South by the Danube having in t he ce n t e r a s
a powerful fortress the plateau surrou n d ed b y
the mountain walls of Transylvania whe re
was also the city of Sa rmiseg et u sa t he c a pit a l
of the land The Dacian King Decebal wh en
conquere d commi t ted suicide and so did a lso
m a ny of the nobles who were with him T he
country then was t urned i n t o a Roma n ow
ince Traj an brough t co l onis t s from I t a ly a nd
from other parts of t he Empire a n d t hus in
the healthy body Of the Dacians who were t h e
brothers of the Thracia ns was inoc ul a t ed t he
Roman blood and c u lt ure which in l e ss t ha n
two centuries formed the nuc l eus a n d p rinci p al
dough from which t he Roumania n race was
kneaded The romaniza t ion of Da cia how
ever had begun even b efore its inva sion Afte r
t he conquest Dacia became one of t he mos t
fl ourishing provinces Of the Em p ire Road s
were built which are stil l in use t o this ve ry
day Cities sprang u p : Ulpia T ra ia n a ( for
me rly Sa rmiseg et u sa ) A p ulum P ot a issa N a
p oca etc Romanization re a ched a comple t e
success especially in Transylvania in t he
B anat Of today as wel l a s in Olt en ia ( t he
We stern part of the Ro umanian Ki n g d om
)
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11
TH
a nd
E
R OU
: 1
M
AN I A N
N
AT I ON
AN D
since that time also began to s p read Chris
‘
t ia n it y
.
I n the I I I rd ce ntury A D began the inva
sio n of the barbarian peo p les toward Rome and
Byzan tium Roman life was retreat ing grad
P l ll t l
u a lly from the plains O f the Dniester
a n d t h e D a nube to the mountains O f T ra n syl
vania E m
peror Aurelian in 2 7 1 A D with
dr ew the Ro man legions from Dacia passing
themO n the r ight bank Of the Danube in order
l
t o de fen d Moesia and the roads leading South
T h e pa r ts Of the Empire on the left bank of
t he D a n ube were swallowed u p by the fl ood of
/
rst came the Goths who con
t he in v d e rs
Fi
a
f
h
e
r
e
O
f
u
d
t
plains
Moldavia
and
of
Wal
e
q
T h e Huns followed th em
la c h ia l ( 2 7 l
7
then
came
the
Ge
idae
3
5
4
5
3
5
66
(
(
)
p
All these were p red
a n d t he Avars ( 566
a t OI y t rib es with
e questrian armies T he y
preferred the plains and avoided always the
mo unt a in di stric t s unfavorable to their man
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A
.
ma
populatio n a b andoned by the
to the Transylvanian
Legions ; ret reate d
M ou n tain s a n d th ere defended themselves
with o bsti n a cy Tra n sylvania was at th a t
tim e l ike a rock around which are boiling t h e
waters in t h e wild rapids of a might y river
P ushed by t he barbaria n s in the V I t h and
V l I t h cen t u rie s Slav peoples penetrated
throu gh t h e p l a in s between the Danube and
’
T isa s o u t hw a rd in t O the Balkan P enins u la a n d
'
T he R o
~
n
,
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"
,
12
MA N IAN KI NG D OM
RO U
THE
bro ke t he communication of Dacia with the
rest of the Western Roman world The Rom
—
—
ans or Roumanians t henceforth organiz ed
themse lves in small states along t he vall eys
rem aining in t ouch with the Latin elements of
the Balkans the r emnants Of which are today
the Roumanian s in Macedonia Albania and
Thessaly T heir organization achieved power
esp e cially so as betwee n 79 9 90 0 no incursion
Of note to ok place
Ab out 890 90 0 a n ew b a rbari an race Of M o n
golian origin pas s the northern Carp a thians
and occupy the plains Of the Tisa and the D a n
ube : the H ungaria ns But when they attempt
to pass t h e T isa and to penetrate eastward into
Transylvania t hey a re met by the Rouman
fans with in v in c ib le , re sist a n c e
In T ra n sy l
vani a ther e
t he R o
umanian principality Of
Gelu in t he Banat that of Glad and in the
C rish D istric ts that of M en m
Aft er
orot h
n
s
tr
gles
a
prolonged
parleys
of
u
d
m an y
g
nearly 10 0 years the Hungarians succeed in
r e a ching a n u n d er st a n d in
with
the
T
r
n
l
a
s
g
y
T h e country accepts the
va n r
a n i n ha b it a nt s
su zerai nt y O f t he Hu n g ari a n King
probably
—
r St e h en t h e Saint
e
st illI I m
9
5
9
t
b
u
d
(
p
the T ransylvania n s are guaranteed full liberty
a n d ful l auto n om
y
R ight s w er e r esp ecte d for som e ti m
e In the
X I I th century howeve r rel igious persec u
tion began b y the Catholic Kings O f H ungary
against the Roumanians who h el d on to their
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g
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13
THE
R OU MA N
N A T I ON
IAN
AN D
reek Or t hodo x faith ; thence Opp re ssio n fol
lowe d in order to break en t irely t he in depen
dence of the Roumanians This is why in 129 0
many Roumanian noblemen from T ra n syl
vania especially f rom the Duchy of Fa ga ra sh
leave Transylvania cross the Car p a t hi a n s
southward and uniting the smal l Roumania n
Duchies south of these mountains es t ablis h
the P rin ci pa li t y of Wa l la ch ia B a sa ra b t he I st
Prince of Wallachia ( 130 1 13 30 ) de fea t s com
l
l
the
Hungarian
King
Charles
Rober
t
e
t
e
p
y
in 13 30 and wins thereby f ull inde p endence for
the coun t ry
A t the same time other R oumanian nob l e
men from t he Duchy of M a ra m
u r esh in N or t h
ern Transylvania cross the Moun t ains ea st
ward and establish the M olda via n P rin cipalit y
The Moldavian Prince B ogda n ( 13 59 136 5 )
fights successfully several times t he armie s o f
the Hu n garian King Louis the Great ( 1342
82 ) and a l so w in s fu ll inde p endence for M ol
davia
Thus a t the end of the X I I I t h and a t t he
beginning Of t he X I Vt h century t he R ou
manian people who up t o t his t ime were
united are divide d into three p rinci p ali t ie s :
G
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,
,
,
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,
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1
.
Autonomous Transylvania under t he
suzerainty o f the Hungarian Kin gs
Wallachia and
M ol d a via
,
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3
.
.
14
T
H E
R OU
MAN IA N
.
.
N AT IO N
‘
AN D
of Easte rn E urOpe. B u t the R Ouma n ia n s o f
the Tran syl vania n Princi pality b ein g more a nd
m ore oppresse d by the H u nga ria n n ob le en
and by the G erma n c olon ist s c Ould n ot pl ay
any important part Transy l v ania howev er
Wa s alway s the source a n d ca u se o f re fr eshi n g
the energy and c u lture Of the
o fre e princi
i
l
i
t
h
a
e
s
t
From
Tran
s
lvania
cam
e
e
fi
t
rs
p
y
f ounde r s O f Mold a via and Wallachia F rOm
there al so passed la t er in the X I X t h cen
tury the first thinke rs teachers a n d scie ntis t s
Even today t h e thr ee g reatest poe t s o f t he
modern Ro u manian l iterature Geo rge Cosb uc
St 0 j o sif and Octavia n Go ga are T ra n syl
v a n ia n s w h ofo un d in R ou m
a nia a ref u ge fro m
Hu n ga rian p ers ecu t i on
'
m
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III
.
W a ll a c h i a
o
ld a vi a
M
and
.
Wallachia and M oldavia consoli dated very
l
i
k
u
c
v
q
.
W a ll a c h i a at t he en d Of the X I V t h c en
tury comprised all the t erritory betw een t he
T ransylvanian Alp s and the Danube
in T ransy l vania the Duchy Of Fa g a fa sh a n d
Amlash the uppe r valleys of t h e lBWO Jiul Ri v
ers a s well as the D ob ru dj a Of t oda y from Si l
istria to t h e Sea the mouths Of t h e Da nub e and
the So u thern par t Of modern B e ssarabia
w hic h h ow ever soon passed under Mold a via n
rule
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16
:
d
comprised t h e terri t ory be t ween
the Eastern Carpathians the Dnies ter River
and t he Black Sea also Bucovina of t o day a n ds
the Southern part of Galicia as well as I n Tra m
sylvani a important places in the D uc h y of
M a ra m
and in the B ist rit za D ist riqt
u r esh
Soon it also won from Wallachia the South ern
part O f Bes s arabia of today and thu s her bo un
dari c s extende d South to the lower Danub e
Wallachia has bee n consolidated and r a i sed
to a Europe an political importance especi a lly
by her Prince M irt ch a t h e Old ( 13 86
He conquered the D ob ru dj a O f to d ay b y d e
feating the Byzantin e vassal the despo t D ob J
r o t it c h
and extended t he dominion O f h is
country across the Danube to t h e B lack Sea
“
calling himself Lord of the Lan d of Dobro
”
titch to the Sea and Prince Of Silist ria
The
Turkish peril appeared then for the first time
over Europe M ir t c h a allie d himself with Ser
bia and his army fought alongside with the la t
ter in the great battle of Kosovo in
The
battle was lost but M irt ch a was able to retreat
home over the Danube On the l 0 t h of O cto
b er 139 4 at Rovine near Craiova he defea t ed
completely the armies of Sulta n Baya ze t I l
derim who had crossed the Danube to s ubdu e
Wallachia I n 139 6 M irt ch a allied w it h t h e
Christian armies and took an important pa rt
in the battle Of N icopoli in which howeve r the
Christian war ri o r s lost Late r M irt cha wa s
forced to enter rela t ion s with t h e T u rks a n d
M
o l a via
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17
,
T
mRO
:
U
N A T I ON
MA N I A N
AN D
l
u
o
r
e
h
v
t
d
eve
n
n
im
p
r
t
an
t
p
ar
t
in
e
a
o
pl
t ion s a g ains t t he Sul t an su cceeding t hereby
a l so t o k ee p almos t un t ou c h ed t he in depen
den ce o f his c oun t r y
Wa llachia a t t he same t ime was t hr ea t ened
b y t he H ungarians and b y t h e Germans
M irt cha join t ly with t he M oldavian Prince
P et ru M u sha t ( 13 75
formed an allia n c e
with t he Polish King in 1390 which was la t er
renewed in 14 11 when t he Ge rman em p eror
Sigi smund b ecame also king o f H un g ary
The or g aniza t ion o f M oldavia has been com
e
H
l
e
h
l
e
t
e
x
r
1
40
0
by
A
o
d
e
a
n
t
o
e
G
d
d
p
(
org ani zed the adminis t ra t ion and t he C hurch
encoura ged t he commerce b rou ght archi t ec t s
a n d scientis t s f rom Poland and Western Eu
ro p e N o t b eing so close t o t he Turks a s
M irt c ha he had no figh t wit h t hem
A ccord
ing t o t he t rea t y of alliance o f his coun t ry with
t he Polish k in gs and w i t h M irt cha he sen t
considerable aid in 142 2 t o t he Poles agains t
t he Te u t on K nigh t s of Prussia The Poli sh
Moldavian army de f ea t ed t he Teu t on s a t M a r
ien b u rg wh ere t he Moldavian s distin guished
t hemselves c onsid erab ly
Bu t t he Turk s in 139 3 ha d des t roy ed t he
Bulgaria n Em p ire and e xte nded t heir b oun
dari cs u p t o t he Danub e They soo n sna t c hed
f rom t he R oumanians a l so t he D ob ru dj a
reachin g t h ereby t he mou t hs o f t he D a n u b e
‘
and even t he M oldavian b or der M irt cha s
successor in Wallachia was f orced to a ckn owl
a ye
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18
T
H E
R OU
MAN IAN
"
K
I N G DOM
dge th e suzerainty of the Sultan And a l
146 2 ) recov
tho u gh Vla d t h e
l
er ed for a short time t h e inde p endence of the
country by defea t ing t he T urks several time s
his successors were force d again to subj uga
tion
M ol davia was more fortunate It was no t
so much in the way of t h e T u rks as Wall a chia
In 14 57 ascended her throne on e Of the great
est Princes Oi the Roumanian race and w it h
out doubt one Of the g reate st heroes of Chris
For
t en d om St eph en t h e G rea t ( 14 5 7
47 years this brave man defended the c ountry
ag a inst a l l its enemies : the Turks in the South
bey ond the Danube and on the Sea the T a r
tar allies Of the T u rks in the East beyond t h e
Dniester the H ungarians in the West and the
Poles in the N orth On the eve of his death
he told his physician the Ve netian Muriano :
“
Since I have been Prince of this country I
fought 36 battles ; in 34 I was victorious 2 I
lost for t he Almighty wanted to punish me
”
because Of my sins
After defeating the Tar
tars in 1470 at Lipin t zi he met several plu n
de rin groups of the Turkish army and d e
fea t e t hem
In 1475 he had then to meet the
most terrific struggle : an army Of
Turks entered the country and on January
l 0 t h 147 5 Stephe n destroyed it entirely at R a
c ova This was the gre atest vic t ory won by
C hristians over Heat h ens up to that time
e
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19
mv
N OLLY N
c
m
vn n og
N v
Ste p he n asked a t once the aid o f Chris tian
“
rulers in order to s t em the Turkish fl ood We
have conquered t hem and we have p ut the m
u n der our f ee t and w ith t h e edge Of the sword
we have vanq u ished them for which God be
”
praised wrote he to t he reigning Prin ces of
“
E u ro p e
The infidel Turk sough t to get a
ho ld Of this gate of Christendom whi ch hin
ders him a t ou r border I f this gate should be
l ost by u s al l Christendom will be t hreatened
We promise on our Christian faith that we
sha l l stand re ady to give our liv es and that we
shall fight to Dea t h for t he cause O f C hr istian
”
N O one however gave him any hel p
ity
The Hungarian as wel l as the Polish kings
were themselves too eager to lay their hand s
on Moldavia Being left to fight by himself
Ste p hen was defeated in 1476 at Razboieni by
an army of
led p ersonally by S u l tan
M ohammed I I the conqueror Of Constanti
B u t he raised new t roops in the same
n ople
year and drove the Turks out from his country
across the Danube into D ob ru dj a N ew bat
tles followed with fresh Turkish a rmies a n d
Stephen won new victories over them Par
t ic u la rly important were the victories of Catla
buga in 1485 and of Scheia in 1486 The neigh
boring Christian kings not only faile d to aid
but also attacked him Ste p hen completely
defeated Mathews Corvin the Hungaria n
king in 146 7 at Baia and John Albert the
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R OU MAN IAN
THE
in
Polish kin g ;
'
'
Czernowitz
149 7
,
KI NG D OM
in t he
mmforest
C os
near
,
.
in 150 4 a n d his s uc cessors
o wing t o t he failure of t he Chris t ian p ri n ce s t o
r
h
r
i
s
a
y
cc
r
wer
compelled
i
e
t
u
e
t
u
v
e
m
s
O
o
g
,
,
'
'
’
’
‘
'
-
,
ren d
t o t he
er z
‘
T
u rks:
Wa lla ch ia
T hus
x
M
a nd
b egin
o ld a v ia a t t h e
n in g of the X V I t h c en t u ry are un der Turk
n
a
h
s
e
e
y
h
wever
do
s
no
t
me
s
.
h
t
n
z
o
a
i
s
j
i
u r
,
,
T
wit h the T urk ish Em p ire T he
.
.
.
"
,
-
.
,
Tu rk s too k the e ngagement to preserve un di s
t u rb ed t h e autonomy and undimini sh ed the
territory Of t he Ro uma n ian countr ies and not
h
erm
t
t
e
establ
sh
ent
of
any
M
u
s
even t o
i
m
i
p
sélm
T he p ri n ces
a n in their cit ie s and villag es
a lla c h l a I n their t urn had
Of M olda via a n d
t o pay a n an n u al t ribute which gre w higher
a n d hig her eve ry year B u t no mat t er h ow
many mis rt u n es befe ll the Roumanian prin
cipa lit ies
n ei t h e
r M ol davia Wallachia nor
Tra n syl va nia r eac hed tha t stage Of servitude
ed into Tur kish provinces
of b ein g t ra n sfor
a s was H ju n g a ry from
a n d r uled by P ashas
152 6 to
Th ey always p rese rved at leas t
a shadow Of a uto n omy
I n t h e X V I t h a nd XV I I t h centuries Mol
davia and Wallach ia reached a state of u n
aralleled
misery
Turkish
robbery
and
van
p
d a lismbring the pe o p le to t he point of despai r
Moldavia rises agai nst the Turks unde r J ohn
B u t after a str u ggle of
t h e C ruel ( 15 72
Over t w o y ea r s John is defeated and killed in
.
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21
TH
R OU
E
MAN IA N
N
AT ION
AN D
N eedless t o say t ha t o pp ression con
with s t ill more vigor
A li t tle la t er however Wa l lachia rise s and
the bat t les f ou ght under the leadershi p of
1574
t in u ed
.
.
,
,
Prince M ichel t h e B rave a re marked as the
most brillian t p ages Of Roumanian history
160 1 ) t a k es a dv a n
M ich el t h e B ra ve
tage of t he circums t ances in which Turke y
finds hersel f b y b ein g engaged in a grea t war
with the German Em p eror Rudo lph t he 11n d
and clears his country from every vestige o f
Turkish r ule
Turkey sus p ends t he war
agains t Germany and se nds against h ima p ow
erfu l army under the command of t he Grand
Vizier Sinan Pasha M ichel defea t s t hem a t
Calugareni in 159 5 and the r es t he annihil a tes
at Gi urgiu B u t Michel with his clea r view
unders t ands tha t t he R o umani a n terri t ory
must be uni t ed and it mus t ha ve in t he center
the moun t ain fortress o f T ra n sylva n ia f or its
defe n se He th erefore in 159 9 conquers Tran
sylvania the E as t ern part of the B ana t and t he
neighboring coun t ie s and in t he sa e y ea r he
conquers also M oldavia w here he is receiv ed
as a savior uniting thereby under his rule all
“
three Roumanian countries
Pri nce of Wal
”
lachia Tran sylvania and Moldavia is the t i t le
Michel adopt ed
This union however was considered a crim e
by the German and Hungarian politicians A
conspiracy was framed and t he Hungarian
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22
TH
R OU
E
MAN IA N
N
AT I ON
AN D
and n aturally de p e n ding on t he highest
p rices paid for the Office
This
P h a n a riot E poch ( 17 12 182 1 ) is t he sa ddes t
epoch in the history of the Roumanian princi
l
i
t
e
i
es
i
a
The
Phanariot
p
rinces
had
no
oth
r
n
p
t erest in t he countries th ey ru l ed over t han t hat
of placing heavy tribute and extorting t he
population for their own enrichment f or t he
benefit of the grea t number o f Gre ek function
aries whom t hey b rought wi t h the and for
the purpose of satisfyin g t he greedines s o f t he
di ffer ent T u rkish p as has w hO were rul in g the
Ott oman E pire T he sys t em of go vernmen t
O f t hese Phanariots was nothing else than an
organized robbery
At that e p och took p lace t wo Of the mo st
painful e v en t s in t he history of the Roumanian
N atio n
In 1772 at t he par t i t ion of Poland Austria
took from thi s unfortunate cou n t ry t h e prO
T h r ee years la t er in 177 5
v inc e Of Galicia
by bribing the high T u rkish and Ru ssian Ofli c
ia ls ( their names and the sums are very w
ell
known ) Austria snatched and annexed t o her
Empire the N orthern pa rt of Mo l davia wh ich
“
”
she called afterwards B ucovina
toge ther
wi t h the old Moldavian capital Su t cha va a n d
with the grave of Ste p hen t he Grea t at Putna
In 18 12 by t he T rea t y of Bucharest b e t ween
Turkey and R ussia the growing Empire of t he
Cz ars by bribing the two Turkish de lega t es
M orou zi and G halib B ey tore away half of
n ople,
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24
,
TH
R OU MANIAN
E
KI N G D OM
d a via all the territory b e t ween t h e Pru t h
t h e Dniester River a n d t he B l ack Sea re na m
“
”
—
ing it B essarabia
which former me a nt on l y
t he stri p of territo ry near t he mo u t h s of t h e
Danube and the Sea
But the great French Revol u tion cou l d no t
fl
ass
without
any
in
u
nce
upon
the
Rouman
e
p
ians A new national spirit develo p ed a t the
light of the new ideals In Transy l vania g re a t
historians and scienti sts p resented the pas t a n d
t he unity of the Roumanians their Roman
origin and the aim toward which they had to
Transylvanian teachers and thin k er s
s trive
c ame to B uchares t and to Jassy the capitals o f
t h e two p rincipalitie s where they met a gre a t
n umber of young boyards p enetrated by t he
e nligh t ened and liberal spirit of the Frenc h
movement The dissatisfaction with the Phan
a riot rule and with t he Russian and Austrian
t endencies of conque st broke out in an o p en
when both in Moldavia and
r evolt in 182 1
Wallachia the national revolution drove out
of the country these Greek servan t s of t he
Turkish Governments I n Wallachia especi
ally the revolutionary uprising was very vio
l ent and decided Its leader T u dor Vla dim
ir
declared blunt l y in his p roclamations
escu
“
that : The Country of the Gree k s is Greece ;
the Roumanian Land ( i e Wallachia ) is the
”
country of the Roumanians
Under the pressure Of events the Turk s
ceased to ap p oint rulers from the Phanar for
M
ol
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as
TH
E
R OU
M
ANIAN
N
AT I ON
AN D
the two Roumanian principalities From no “
on they selected them among t he Roumania n
nobility and these princes Of Roumanian b loo d
were t hose who together with the you n g gen
c ration prepared the way for the Union O f the
two countrie s into a single state
The situation O f the countries however grew
more di fficult every day Their territory b e
came the battlefield of the Russians and Turk
ish armies swept over from time to time al so
by the Austrians The princes and populat ion
were submitted to the vexations O f all thr ee
invaders who at the same time made all
e fforts to crush the rising national conscious
ness
It is in this epoch especially about 1830
1840 that the first important waves of Jews im
migrated from Poland and Russia into Mol
davia
In 1848 the Roumanians revolted again
against their oppressors in all three Rouman
ian principaliti es in Molda via and in Wal
la c h ia a s well as in Transylvania demanding a
liberal organization and emphasizin g openly
the unity of the Roumanian race The Turks
invad ed Wallachia the Russians invaded Mol
davia and the movement was curbed In 1853
new revolts sprung up and the Russians anew
invaded the R ou manian territory For all this
su ffering a spark Of consolation has be en given
to the two principalities w h en after the Cri
mean War in 1856 they have been put un d er
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26
THE
R OU
MAN IAN KI NG D OM
the p rotection Of the seven Great Powers a s
sembled at t he Paris Con gress and the South
e rn part of Bessarabia has been restored to
Moldavia
.
IV
R ou
.
m
a n ia
.
As early as t h e beginning of the X I X t h
century the Roumanians of the three princi
i
l
i
h
a
t
e
s
egan
to
ork
for
purpose
of
unit
w
e
b
t
p
ing all Roumanian territories into a single
Roumanian State In 1848 49 they went even
so far as to Offer Emperor Francis Joseph of
Austria that Moldavia Wallachia and Tran
sylvania b e formed into an Austrian state a n d
—
be a part of t h e Austrian Empire a plan
which the court at Vienna did not approve of
The Roumanian tendencies of union were met
always with hostility b y the Rus sians as well
as by the Austrians and the Turks I n 1856
the two principalities appealed to the Paris
Congress asking the assem b le d Powers to
unite them into a single state and in order to
avo id disturb ing rivalries in the country to
unite them under a prince belonging to a West
ern European dynast y The problem how
eve r remained unsolved Two years later in
1858 the powers at the Pa ris Convention
allowed a partial Union comprisi n g the cus
toms mail money system and identical a rmv
“
organization ; each of the United Principal
”
ities of Moldavia and Wallachia had to be
-
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27
,
TH
E
R OU
MA N I A N
I N
N
AT O
AN
D
governed also in the future b y its own a ss em
b ly a n d by its own ruler w h o h a d t o be e le c t e d
from a mong the R oumanian s of t h e two coun
tries
Eluding the vexatory dispositions of t h e
Convention the t w o prin c ipa lit ies in January
18 59 ( M oldavia on January 5th Wallachia on
January 2 4t h ) elected as Governing P rince the
same m
a n : the Moldavian co lonel A lexander
Ion Cuza
T he two princi p alities f rom now on are
united and take the name
The
Tu rks the Russians t he Austrians protested ;
but with the help of France and Italy especial
ly with t h e help of N apoleon the I I I rd t h e
Union has been re cognized and on January
2 4 t h 186 1 in Bucharest m
et the first parli a
ment of odern Roum a nia
‘
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A lex a n der I on C u za ( 1859 1866 ) belongs u n
doubt edly to t he greatest rulers Of the Rou
-
manian N a tio n
Although his reign lasted
only seven years it marks a n e w epoch in the
develo p ment of Roumania He followed the
national program of 1848 H is first important
ref orm w a s the secularizatio n of the estate s
and p roperties of the monas t eries ( 186 3 ) which
were mos t ly dedicated to di ffere n t Greek re
lig iou s fou n d a t ion s in the N ear East to the
“
”
H oly Mount a in ( Athos ) to t h e Patriarchate
i C on st a n t in ople or to the H oly Sepulche r
and consequently their i n come wa s of no use
.
,
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,
,
28
TH
R OU
E
MA N IAN K I NG D OM
A
for t he country This was followed in 1864 b y
the grea t agrarian reform wh ich ga ve to t he
exploited p eas a ntry t he necessary lan d t o l ive
“
.
on Strongly opposed by the great landlords
Prince Cuza enforced this reform by a coup
d etat dissolving the natio n a l assembly a n d
submitting t he electoral dispositions for a new
parliamen t to a plebisci t e N ew civil and crim
ina l laws t hen a very important educa t io n al
law have b een created in 186 4 1 86 5 Primary
schools all over the country secondary schools
two universities ( in Bucharest and J assy ) art
s chools conserva t ories have been ere c t ed
education has been made free for all degrees
and t hus the nation a l culture took a powerful
develo p men t
I n 1866 mostly under the pressure of t he ele
ments discontented wi t h his democra t ic a gra
rian law Alexander Ion Cuza abdicated and at
t he recommendation of N apoleon the I I I rd t he
Roumanians by p lebiscite elected t o the Rou
manian throne his re lative Prince Ch a rles of
Hohenzollern Sigmaringen ( 1866
The new prince continued the grea t work of
Cuza Gifted with a greater t actfulness and
with an extraordinarily clear vision he suc
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I"
Ho
i maring e n a r e t h e Sout h ern b ran ch
of t he Hoh n o erns
T h e t wo b r a nches
t he Sou thern
i s C a t ho l ic t he N or t hern is P ro t es t a n t —were al m
os t in
o pen con fl ic t with e a ch o ther fo o ver t hree cen t uries
T h e h a l t L a t in Sou t h ern b ra nch never app rov e d of t h e
P ru s si an m
et hod s of t h e N ort he rn Hoh en zo ll ern s
T he
h en zoll ern- S g
e z ll
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29
TH
E
R OU
MANIAN
N
AT ION
AN D
not only in appeasing the rivalrous pas
sions inside the country but also to make Rou
mania prosperous and respe cted by her great
and greedy neighbors the Russian and Austro
H ungarian Empires
B esides continuing the re form Of the admin
ist ra t ion justice and finances Prince Charles
since the beginni ng Of his rule laid great
weight on the organization Of the Army This
was Of grea t est importance in 1877 when t he
Ru ssia n Turkish war broke out The Russian s
after being defeated twice at Plevna in 1877
appealed to the Roumanian Army to cross the
Danube under any co nditions t he Roumanian
Government wanted and to help them because
“
”
the cause of Christianity was in danger The
Roumani a n troops crossed the Danube and
distinguished themselve s in the great battles a t
Plevna where the only victories until the end
of N ovember were those that had b een won
by Roumanian arms T h e course of the war
changed : Plevna fell t h e Danube fortresses
fell the Russian troops crossed the Balkan
and in February 1878 the Turks w er e com
e
ll
e
e
to
agre
to
the
Treaty
San
Stefano
d
f
O
p
dismembering their European territories
After the war although Russia bound her
“
self solemnly to respect the present t e rritorial
”
integrity of Roumania which included also
Southern B essarabia she took away for the
second time the Roumanian territory betwee n
the Pruth and the Dniester and at the protest s
c eed ed
,
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80
TH
MAN IAN
R OU
E
a re st she Obt a ined
N
AT
IO N
AN D
and bet t e r d efe nsible
borde r li ne in the D Ob ru dj a tu rnin g f ro mthe
Danube West Of Turt ucaia a n d reachi n g t he
Bl ack Sea Sou t h of B a lfchik The territ ory b e
tw
e en t h e Old front ier a n d this new li n e c o
i
a
r
de
p
r
t
e
ts
ris
g
w
D
u
s
n
t
o
r
o
t
and
Cal
o
;
p n
iac ra is the "so called Q u a d rila t er or N ew
h
i
t
whic
s
to
b
a
u
d
dis
inguished
f
ro
O
b
e
r
D
j
the Old or Roumanian D Ob ru dj a reannexed
from Turkey to Roumania in 1878
At t h e beg i n ni n g of the Gre a t Wa r in O cto
ber 19 14 King Charles die d and the throne
w a s a scen d ed b y his nephew the pres en t King
Ferdinand t he I st or as t he Frenc h ca l l him
s
l
1
e
1
4
und
r
who
e
h
L
9
n
o
a
t
e
e
i
r
a
n
d
d
F
y
(
ma ste rfu l lea dership Roumania achieved her
Ro u
Of u n iting all
Old aspiration
c entury
ma n ia n s into one strong Roumanian Stat e
a
n ew
,
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V
.
P rogress
of
M
odern
.
m
R ou
an ia .
the last fifty years Rouma nia made an
The population dou
u n paralleled progress
ble d I n 1859 its number w a s
in 19 12
it a mounted to
out of whom a s R ou
mania is a n agricultural cou n t ry t he rural pop
The sanitary c ondi t ions
u la t ion forms
w hich at 1850 we re pitiful improv ed so gre a tly
that the birt h rate which in 1888 was Of 2 20
in 19 13
0 0 0 h a s been raised to over
.
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32
R OU MAN IAN
THE
KI NG D OM
t hus placing Rouma ni a a mong t he coun t ries
with the highest n a tality
en t is t h a t of a Con
T h e f orm of G overn m
i
M o na rchy
T he c ons t it u t o n is
st it u t ion a l
ve ry lib eral and democra t ic h a v ing Eb een
in a t in g re
fra m
ed aft er the B el gian The d om
is t he Gre e k
lig ion
i
n
li
l
t
l
e
e
e
h
r
is
how
ver
comp
t
gio
s
ib
r
y
e
e
r
e
u
e
T
,
ic a l ain
T h e politic a l a n d ec On om
t h e cou n try
equ a li t y that still ex ist e d wa s r emoved by t h e
Cons t itut ion a l As s em b ly in t he Sp rin g of 19 17
which ou t Of t he 4 million hec ta res forming the
propriety of the grea t l a nd ow n er s Of some j n
st it u t ion s or Of the State e x propria t e d a n d dis
t ribut e d to the pea santr y ov er 2 % million h ec
tares a n d also introduced univ ersal su ffrage
for a ll Roumanian c i t ize ns T he J ewish p rob
lem that has been so much e mphasi zed in t he
last t en years hy t he A m eric a n and E n gli sh
p ress and for which Rouma n ia w a s so Of t en
criticized a lso ha s been sol v e d Owin g to the
fact that at the b eginning
XI Xth
centur y there were n o Je w s in R ouma n ia that
the y im m
igrated m
ostly a b out a n d a ft er 1840
f rom R ussian Poland a n d G a licia t h a t t hey
were forming even at the tim e of t h e n a t ion a l
rebirth of Roumania a strong body of G erman
or Y iddis h speaking foreigners be t ter ar m
ed
for the life than the Roumanian p easan t ry ke pt
in subj ection for centuries by the Tu rks a n d
their favorite Phanariote b oyards t he Rou
manian legislation in 1864 in order to pr otect
.
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33
T
H E
R OU
M
AN IAN
N
AT ION
AN D
national character of the cou ntry inserted
in t he Constitution the Article 7 which allow ed
only individual naturali za tion b y an a ct of the
Parliament T his a rticle was applied to every
body but as the maj ority of the immigra nts
were Jews it cert a inly a ffected more seriously
their interests and thus a great part of t he Jews
inha biting Roumania were not Roumanian
citizens In 1878 the B erlin Congress i posed
upon Roumania to give citizenship to all her
Jewish inhabitants Roumania protested and
refused to comply with this decisio n All t he
more so as this decision has been t a ke n at the
insiste nces of Germany which wanted to ex
tort by this threat a better price for the Ger
man built railro ads in R oumania and especia lly
as no d ecmon of this kind has been imposed
upon the neighboring Russian Empire To
give full citizenship to all Jews immigrat ed
into Roumania while in Russia these rights to
the Jews were denied would have meant to
invite the millions of Russian and Polish Jews
into Roumania and t o compromise the natio n al
life of the country I n relation to the United
States one has always to remembe r t hat R ou
mania never needed immigrants to colonize it s
l ands Pogroms never happened in Ro umania
and all news of this kind are only senseless u n
truths The ve ry fact that year after year new
waves of Jews immigrated into Rou mania
proves that they were living b etter here than in
other countries In 19 14 their number in the
t he
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34
.
TH
E
R OU M
K w en o
u
AN I AN
Roumani a n Kingdom was som ethi n g over
By the Union of all Roumanian t er
rit ories into one state their situation in R ou
mania has changed entirely I n the fu t ur e t h ey
cannot constitu t e any more dan g er for t he
Roumanian nation Acco rding to the la w of
May 22 n d 19 19 all the Jews born in t he t e rri
tory o f t he Old Kingdom of Rou mania beco m
e
Roumanian citizens by simply making a d ecla r
ation that they were born in Roumania and
that they never enj oyed a foreign pro t ec t io n
The future welfare of t he Jews in Roumania
f rom now on will depend on t he part they wi ll
take in the country s national aspirations as
well as in its economical and socia l develop
me nt and to be f rank it also will be in fl uenced
by the hostile or friendly attitude tha t thei r
Jewish kinsmen abroad will have toward R ou
mania
B esides the social reorganization of the coun
try a great weight has been laid on the educa
tion In 1850 there were only a few schools on
the Roumanian soil In 1885 there were
p rimary schools with
pupils ; in 19 15
there were
primary schools with
pupils The same happened with the H igh
School and University education There were
in 19 0 8 in Roumania 179 High Schools ( Ly
pupils Th e University
c eu m
s ) with
education ( 2 universities 1 superior veterinari
an school 1 academy of commerce etc ) counts
students B esides
50 0 professors with
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35
Ta
R OU
n
M
AN I AN
N
AT ION
'
AN D
hese ins t itutions of state there are 50 0 private
schools with
professors and
pu p ils
T he Roumanian Universities are t he f o re
most centers of science in Eastern Europ e
Sc ient ists as Dr Toma Ionesco Dr A Mar
in esc o Dr V B a b e sh the great bacteriologist
or historian s as N X en o pol and N Iorga are
kno wn today all over t he world
Roumania being a country abu n dantly en
dowe d with na tural riches her economical life
rai sed with an unparalleled rapidity railroad s
ha v e b een built waterways especially the har
bors on the Danube have been improved and
p ow erful lin es of river navigation have been
e stablished Con stantza in 1878 was only a
fi
sh e r v illa g e
r
oo
T
u
rkish
Today
it
is
a
p
large fl ourishing city a n d after Odessa the
most importan t harbor of the Black Se a with
the most mod ern accommodations for oil and
cereal t ransports
A few figures will give some idea as to the
economi cal progres s of Ro u mania :
Agricult u re :
In 1866
ton s
I n 19 13
tons
P etroleum :
In 1866 a n output of
ton s
I n 19 12 an output o f
ton s
t
.
.
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,
.
.
,
.
.
.
,
.
.
.
,
,
,
,
,
.
'
.
,
.
'
Ind u stry :
In 186 6 not a single factory
36
.
over
I n 19 12
I
m
90 0
-
~
factories wit h a pro d u ct io n o f
fra n cs
.
por t s :
tons worth
tons worth
I n l 880 ,
I n 19 1 1
’
,
2 2 5 0 0 0 ,0 0 0 fran cs
‘
,
francs
,
,
Exp ort s :
In
1880
worth
,
fr a ncs
In
.
to
ns
19 1 1,
francs
Railroads :
I n 186 4 not a
worth
,
.
I
n
I
n
1873
19 11
In
In
co
s1n g le
.
m
e
,
yard
40 3 miles with
.
cars
cars
:
a
l
oads
i
R
r
of
.
,
francs
fancs
3
1
Bud get
In
"
:
1 86 7 .
f rancs
E kced en t s of the R ou
9
mania n Budget
=
12
"
nn ,
n 19 1 5 16
:
francs
francs
fra n c s
‘
I
I
I
francs
“
-
B ud g etary i nc ome in
r
i
r
i
l
e
u
a
a
b
S
Mon
t
enegro
B g a
“
s i 1Q1f
reec e together
il a n i a a l o n e
'
,
mm
~
‘
/
'
'
'
.
and
:
francs
francs
Forei gn trade in 19 11 :
B ulgaria Serbia Monteneg ro and
Greece to g ether
R ouma n i a alone
,
,
fran c s
fr a n c s
The public debt of R oumania in 19 14
amoun t ed to
francs which in p ropo r
tion with her income places Ro u mania amon g
the countries with the most favorable financi a l
situation of Europe
,
.
VI
.
m
R ou
’
a n ia s
Wa r
.
The Roumanian Kingdom p revious t o 19 14
had to be for Roumania of tod a y wha t Pie d
mont was for Italy Its nationa l mission wa s
to unite under the same rule all te rrito ri es in
ha b ited by the Roumanian race : Tran sylvani a
the B anat and B ucovina which were oppr ess e d
by Austria Hungary as well as B essa rab i a
which was under Russian yoke The wa r im
posed by the Central Powe rs upon the wor l d
decided Rou mania s attitude ; the total d est ru c
tion o f t h e Serbians w ou ld have meant the im
mediate slavery of the other smal l er natio n s
of South Eas t ern Europe and consequent l y t h e
total slavery of the Ro u manian race From t h e
very beginning p u blic opinion and Gove r n
ment in Roumania were decided for war on t h e
side o f the Western A llies a ga inst A ust ria
Hungary in order to fre e Transylvania t h e
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38
TH
E Z R OU M A N M N
.
.
w
N
.
AN D
af raid that the fron t w o uld
b rea k with tragi cal cons equences
I t wa s
amidst these events that on Ju ly 6 t h 19 1 6 the
A ll ied Powers t h rough the Fren ch Milit a ry
Attache Major Pichon delivered to R on
man ia a n ultimatum : e ither to ente r im
media t ely : the war on their side or to
renou nce forever her century old idea l of un it
in g all the Roumanians
The fa t e of R ou
ma n ia vva s decided On August 16 t h a Trea ty
of Alliance had b een concluded with F r an ce
—
Gre a t Britain R u ssi a a n d It a ly j Russia being
—
at the sam
e time the spokesman of Serbia b y
which tr eaty it had bee n defined that all Rou
mani a n ter rito r ies of Austri a Hungary i nclud
ing the whole of t h e B a n at b etwe en the
Mu r esh T i s a and D a n u b e R 1v er s would b e
united wit h the R o um
an ia n K i ngd o m At the
same t im
e a M ilit a ry C on v en t ion was si g n ed
by which t he A llies p le dged t hemselve s t o pro
vi de t he Roum
a n ia n Army wi t h all n e ces sa ry
mil it a ry e qui pm
a mm u n iti o n ; m
en t
a c hin e
gun s a n d hea vy a rti lle ry to send th e n ec essa ry
reser ve forces a n d
e ig ht day s b efore Ron
ma ni a s e n tra nce in to t he w a r t Q s t art a p0 wer
fu l offen sive a t S a lo n i ca a n d in Gal ic ia in order
c x
a n ian A rm
t o f a c ilit a t e f or t h e R o u m
h
é
y
c ro ss i n g o f t he Ca rpat h ia n s a nd t he rshort en
in g of it s fr ont in T r an sylvani a ; O mA ugg st
R oum
a ni a e n t er ed t h e wa r a gai nst
2 7t h
A u st ri a H u n ga r y a n d t h e T eu t on allies, a fid
t h e A llie s
/
w e re
on
“
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~
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a
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v
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-
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r
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,
’
‘
~
,
‘
,
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r
.
"
~
'
,
,
,
,
-"
m
t h e yR ou
an
‘
.
ia n : fo r ce s
.
.
mj
.
os sed t h e
10
.
.
‘
C a r pa t hia n s;
TH
R OU
E
M
AN IAN
'
K
I N G D oM :
op ened the mountain passe s for the Russia n
troops concentrated in Bucovina and Galicia ,
and drove with great rapidity in t o the cen t er o f
Transylvania But Allie d help in spite of t h e
Military Convention failed entirely The
Allied Army under General Sarrail at Salo n ica
was unable to move forward o n accoun t of
malaria and its insignificant number whic h en
abled the G erman commander General Mac k
ens en to conce ntrat e a powerful army on Rou
mania s Southern frontier to push into t he
D ob ru dj a and later even to cross the Danube
The Russian Army under General B ru silofi in
Galicia remained entirely inac t ive as the whole
Russian front in V olh y n ia and t he Ba ltic
Countries which enabled the oth er grea t Ger
man commander General Falkenhayn to t ake
considerable forces from that fro n t and to con
centrate them agains t the Roumanians Eight
special G erma n sh ock troop divisi ons have
been brought into Transylvania fro the Wes t
ern front especially from Verdun and t he
Somme River by which t h e dangerous situa
tio n of the Allies on t hat front ha d b een d efi
n it ely relieved
The heavy art illery p romis ed
by the Allies was withheld in R u ssia t he Rou é
manian m
achine guns sen t fr o F ra n ce by
w a y of Archangel were installed by Mi nis
t e r P rot o popoff on the hous e roofs o f Pet ro
—
grad to crush the Revolution and im m
e
d ia t ely after th e ir en t rance in t o t he battles t he
R ou m
anian troop s w ere l eft alone to fac e t he
.
,
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-
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m
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,
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,
41
T a n R OU M AN
N AT I ON
I AN
AN D
t wo grea t German armies T he Russian s o n ly
sen t t wo divisions in t o t he D ob ru dj a which
b o t h were composed of weak and p oor figh t
ers commanded b y a much weaker st a ff of
o fficers Thus t he Roumanian force s had t o
p ro t ec t alone all t he b orders of t he co u n t ry
They numbered 2 3 divisions on a fron t of 80 0
miles The fron t in France from t he channe l
.
,
,
.
.
—
miles long and
.
to Switzerland was only 430
was defended by f our and one half million s of
fi g h t ers p rovided with t he bes t moder n
weapons The Central Powers concentra t ed
a gains t the R oumanians 38 divisions and in
Decemb er 19 16 t hey brou g h t 5 more t he
numb er o f their divisions a t the end of t he
year amounting t o 43
I n face of the overwhelmi ng power of t he
enemy the R oumanian troops re t reated a t t he
b eginning of October to t he Car p athians
where t hey fou g ht despera t ely for t wo more
months defending t he mountain passes le a d
ing in t o R oumania Unfortuna t ely t here were
no mor e re serves ; the same t roo p s were fig ht
ing for 50 60 days incessan t ly in the firs t lines
Some divisions were reduced even t o
men On the Jiul River t he Eleventh R ou
manian Division had to figh t for t wo we ek s
agains t three German divisions ou t of whi ch
the Elevent h B avarian Division had b een eu
t irely a nnihilated or captured
Attacked from the Sou t h West and N or t h
b y superior forces with a p erf ec t war m
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o
42
TH
ROU
E
M AN
IAN
K
I N G D OM
chinery the Roumanian troo p s a f t er a de s p er
a t e struggle had t o yield to t he circums t ances
and in order to shorten the f ron t t he Firs t
Roumanian Army at the middle of N ovemb e r
after i t won under the he roic General Dr a ga
lina ( who died on the ba tt lefield ) t he gre a t
victory on the Jiul began t o retrea t t ow a rd t he
East leaving Western Roumania in t he hands
of the e nemy
The retrea t was a continuous series of vio
lent counter attacks
B efore Buchares t on
the A rge sh River the Roumanian forces a t t he
beginning of December 19 16 gave once m ore a
desperate battle to stop the foe and t o save t he
capital All available man power even t he mili
tary schools we re in the first lines The b a t
tle was won when on the left wing t he enemy
with great losses succeeded in breakin g t he
lines of a Roumanian division Lackin g wholly
Roumanian reserves the Roumanian com
mand appealed to t he Russian divisions which
began to arrive in order to protec t t he Rou
manian retreat and summoned t hem t o replace
the shattered Roumanian division The Rus
sian commanding general refused to t ake part
“
in the battle because he had received order s
from h is General Sta ff to direct his troops
”
toward the N orth
The battle was los t
Buc h are st fell and t he Rou manian troops ha d
to retreat furt h er E a st to the Sereth River
w h ere in I a n u a rv 19 17 with the he lp o f new
Russian troops they succeeded in stoppin g th e
,
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43
.
TH
ROU
E
T
M AN
IAN
N
AT ION
AN D
euton drive And Commissione r Polivanov
reported immediately to his government in
Petrograd that the tragical reverse of Rou
mania is not at all in contradiction with the
"
plans and interests of the R uss ian Empire
At the beginning of January 19 17 the whole
Roumanian A rmy was in Moldav ia ; there was
besides the M oldavian population also an en or
mous number of refugees from Wall a c hia a n d
more than one million of Russian troo p s were
arriving from Russia well provided wi t h ar ms
and ammunition but without the necessary
food supply In less than two months a ll R ou
manian supply stores were emptied And the n
whole villages and towns fell victims to f a m
in e
and epidemic s e specially to the terrific spotted
typhus fever
It was amidst the se di fficulties that the Rou
manian General Sta ff under General Presa u
a n d the French Military Mission of General
B erthelot undertook the r eo rg a n ia t ion o f the
Roumanian Army In June 19 17 this Army
reduced to 15 divisions but better equipp ed
and better instructed than in August 19 16 was
ready for the expected o ffensive of reve nge
T h e two Roumanian Armies and the group of
reserves were preparing for the great battle
that had to come
.
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u b l ishe d b y th e B o l shevik G ove rn men t prin te d
R ou m
a n i a s Sa cri fic e b y G N eg u lesco C en t u ry
Y ork 1 9 1 8
P
“
’
”
.
,
.
,
a l so i n
N
e
w
TH
R OU M
E
AN I AN
K I N G D OM
Unfortunate ly the Russia n power wa swa n
ing After the overthrow of the Czar in March
19 17 the Russ ian troops in spite of the soun d
in g messages from Petrograd lost e very spiri t
of discipline Their revolutionary commit t ees
were even re commending the fr a ternizing
with the enemy The Russian High Command
became more pow erless ev ery day Out of the
four Russian armies ( together
troops ) fighting at the right and l eft fl anks of
in g ly
the Ro u manians there was but on e se m
willing to fight
At the end of July 19 17 the Second Rou
rr a n ian Army under General A v e r esc o started
with a great success the long e xpected o ffen
sive In two days the enemy line s were broken
on a front of 2 0 miles and the Roumanian
troops were sweeping forward V ictoriously
T h e first Roumanian Army was joining in
when the Russian Armies refused to advance
An order came from Prime M inist er Ke rensky
to the Ru ssian commander Gene r al Sh t ch er
batch e ff to stop any o ffensive movement of
the Rus sian forces and to direct the reliab le
V I I I t h Army to the front of B ucovina and
Galicia where the troops of Ge n er a l K orn iloff
wer e l eavi n g the battlefi eld and retreating with
music Roumanian regiments had now to
take over als o the front of the V I I I t h Rus sian
Army T h e Germans well informed cone en
t ra t ed in t he important points of junction at
M a r a sh e sh i a n d Oituz a great number of fresh
,
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45
,
T u n R OU M
AN I AN
N
AT I ON
AN D
shock t roo p s and on Augus t 2 u d st a r t ed a
series o f t errific attacks agains t t h e Ru ssia n
R oumanian li n es with t h e pu rpose o f break in g
through and advancing u p on Odessa The
Russian t roops ceded everywhere and were re
p laced immedia t ely by Roumanians A ft er t he
t hird day of the German o ffensive t here were
on the front only Roumanian t roo p s which no t
only de fende d t heir lines desperate l y b u t even
s ucceeded in reca p turing a part o f t he de f ense s
lost by t he R ussian s The bravery o f t he R ou
manian p easan t figh t ers was stirred t o i t s c l i
max by the presence in t he trench es o f K in g
Ferdinand who during these days was sharing
with his soldiers all the dangers o f t he f ear fu l
s t ruggle
Afer t hree wee k s of useless blee ding t he
Teu t on avalanche was definitely curbed I t
cost t en German and se veral Aus t ro t
a
g
rian divisions I t was t he first time t ha t the
“
”
great front bre aker
Ge n eral M ackensen
was de f ea t ed
But no power could stop the dissolution o f
t he Russian Army I n October 19 17 the Ker
ensky Government was overthrown T he
B o lsheviki Lenine and T rot zky who t ook his
place decided to make pe ace at any p rice with
the enemy and were carrying on amon g t heir
own troops the most unscrupulous p ropagan da
for peace socialism and disobedience A grea t
number o f Russian o ffi cers were kille d b y t heir
own troops and whole divisions left t he
,
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4s
T un ROU M
AN I A N
N
AT I ON
AN D
mto
the same de vastations as Roumania a t
the call of t he Be ssarabian Di et R ouman ia n
troops headed by an Allied general p as sed the
Pru th River and with the help of im p rovised
local forces cleared up the unfortunate country
of all pillaging Russian soldier bands
However an armistice w a s signed for the
whole of the Eastern front Then in January
and February 19 18 the German and Austro
Hungarian armies advanced N orth of the Rou
manian front upon Kie v then South upon
O dessa and at the end of February Roumania
wa s surround ed from every side Without any
help from any of the Allies without a mmu n i
tion and medical supplies without a Korfu
—
where to retreat as Serbia did the Allied com
ma nd saw that a further resist a nce was im
possible After a re pe ated German ultima t um
sent by General Mackensen the Roumanian
Government was forced to agree to the painful
Bucharest Treaty of March 2 7 t h that will g o
down into history as one of the most fearful
treatie s ever imposed by a nation upon another
The terms of this treaty had to enslave for
ever the national life of Roumania B esides
losing a sixth of her territory as well as any
outlet to the sea she had to hand over to Ger
many and Austria H ungary all t he Roumanian
oil fields forests fisheries factories bank s
railroads telegraphs telephones mail and
mines which all had to be entirely or partially
under German or Austro Hungarian control ;
ti
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48
,
R OU
THE
MAN I A N
K
I N G D OM
she had to p ay over five billion f rancs a s in
n it ies and contributions
t o t he Cen t ra l
d em
Powe rs ; sh e had to submi t all her e xp or t s and
imports to Teu t on disposi t ions t o a mn est ia t e
all the slackers spies and traitors who helped
t h e German invasion and t o admi t and pro
mote German colonization on her terri t ory
These heavy conditions raised a deep hatred
in the Roumanian people against Germany and
her associa t es King Ferdinand refused t o pu t
his signa t ure t o s u ch a t reaty and with a grou p
of fai t hful re t rea t ed to the Bicaz Castle in t he
Carpa t hians awaiting the great Allied victory
of which he n ever had any dou b t
A sligh t consolation was t he p atrio t ic deci
sion of B essarab ia which after 10 6 years of
sla very under Russian yoke
b y a unanimous
vote of h er N ational Assembly on April 9 t h
united again with Roumania The Roumanian
forces also were able to keep t heir arms until
t he turn of e vents facilitated a gain t heir entry
into the figh t ing ranks
But the losses Roumania endured were enor
mous Out of an army of
fighters she
lost
dead besides a great number of
wounded and mutilated
About the same is
the numbe r of the losses ou t of the civilian
population on account of epidemics and st a rva
tion As the t otal popula t ion o f R oumania
previous t o t h e war was about
souls
she lost almost a t enth of her inhabitants ; the
United States would lose p roportiona t ely 1 1
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49
THE
R OU M
N AT I ON
AN I AN
AN D
p eople And who could e st im a t e t he
value of t he de stroyed bridges railro a d s d is
man t led factories or of t he rich Roumani a n oil
.
,
,
,
wells
and oil refinerie s
However the day of reckoning arrived I n
Oc t ober 19 18 t he Teuton Hungaria n f or ce s
were crushed on the French and Italia n fronts
as well as in the Balkans The Allied Armi es o f
Salonica under General Franche t d E sperey
a p proached the Danube Aus t ria Hungary
t urned in t o a turmoil of na t ional revolu t ions
the once p roud Aus t ro Hunga rian Army wa s
disbanded and the Roum a nians o f T ra n syl
vania B ana t and Bucovin a t ook t he p ower over
their coun t ry in t heir own hands On N ovem
ber 5t h Roumania en t ered aga in t he wa r a n d
in one week s time t he f amous M ac ke nsen
Army was swe pt away f rom Roumani a whil e
it s remnan t s were cap t ured by t he newly or
z
n
i
e
d
t
roo
p
s
of
t
he
Transylvani
Rou
a
n
a
g
.
.
,
-
,
,
.
’
,
,
-
,
,
-
.
,
.
’
,
m
a n ia n s
.
On N ovember 2 8t h B ucovin a
joi n ed a ga i n
Roumania and on December l s t t he Unio n
with Roumania was una n imously vo t ed als o by
t he Gre a t N ational Assembly of Tr a nsylvani a
and the B an a t The armies o f the Roumanian
Kingd om crossed again t he Carpathia n s a n d
t ogether with t he forces of t he rede eme d
p rovinces a ft er a few ba t tles with Hungari a n
t roo p s and seve ral diplomatic di fficul t ies occu
pied in former Aus t ria Hungary all t erri t ori es
inhabi t ed by Roumanians with t he e xcep t i on
.
,
-
,
so
T
H E
R OU
MAN
IAN
K IN
G D OM
t he Western pa rt of B anat which has been
occupied t emporarily by the Serbians
Thus the grea t ideal of Union for which the
of
,
.
Roumanians struggled incessantly all through
t he past centuries has be en definitely achieved
The overthrow of tyrannies has brough t jus
t ice t o the oppressed
T he collapse of Russia
freed Bessarabia while the defeat of Aus t ria
Hungary freed Transylvania the Banat and
Bucovina The Roumanian lands are at present
u nited into one Roumanian State from the
Dniester to the Tisa comprising
square miles with about
inhabitants
who all with very few exceptions are of the
s a me Latin race speak the same language
have the same creed and aspirations On
account of her enormous natural wealth and
her intelligent N eo Latin inhabitants United
Roumania very shortly will be the most pros
r
o
e
u
s
and
most
powerful
country
of
South
p
Eastern Europe
.
,
.
,
,
.
,
,
,
.
-
,
.
.
51