Kingdom of Romania

Birth of the Romanian nation

During the rule of the Austro-Hungarian Empire in Transylvania and the Ottoman Empire in Moldavia and Wallachia, most Romanians were in the situation of being second-class citizens. In Wallachia a first revolution was led by Tudor Vladimirescu on 1821. Despite the fact that the Ottoman and Russian troops put down the movement, the revolution led to the abolition of the Phanariote regime and the appointing of native princes to the thrones of Moldavia and Wallachia.

The Peace Treaty signed in Adrianople in 1829, putting an end to the Russian-Turkish conflict of 1828-1829, considerably diminished the Ottoman suzerainty in the Romanian principalities, enhancing, on the other hand, Russia’s "protectorate".

In 1848, the European revolutionary movements extended to the Romanian principalities as well with Moldavians represented by Mihail Kogalniceanu, Wallachians by Nicolae Balcescu and Transylvanians by Simion Bărnuţiu. In Moldavia the movements were soon defeated, but in Wallachia the revolution was in place from June to September 1848. In Transylvania, the revolution lasted until 1849; the attempt of the Hungarian government to stop the Romanians’ struggle came up in the Apuseni Mountains against the resistance led by Avram Iancu. The Crimean War (1853-1856) and its aftermath brought the question of the Romanian Principalities to the forefront of European countries.

Alexander John Cuza The Paris Treaty (1856) stipulated that the Russian protectorate be replaced by the collective guarantee of European states; it also stipulated the autonomy of the Romanian Principalities, and in 1857, the assemblies of Moldavia and Wallachia voted to create a union of the two Principalities. As the Romanians' desire to be in a single state was unsupported by the Great Powers and the electors in Moldavia on January 17, 1859 and Wallachia on February 5, 1859 chose Alexander John Cuza (Alexandru Ioan Cuza) as prince under the suzerainty of the Ottoman Empire. The Romanian nation state took the name of Romania, with Bucharest as the capital since 1862. Alexandru Ioan Cuza together with his counsellor Mihail Kogalniceanu initiated a program of reforms to update the structures of the Romanian society and government. On February 23, 1866 Cuza was forced to abdicate by the coalition of radical Liberals and Conservatives.

On May 10, 1866, as a result of a plebiscite, was appointed prince of Romania the German prince Carol I of Romania, a relative of the royal family of Prussia belonging to the Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen family supported by Napoleon III and Bismark. The New Constitution passed in 1866 (and remaining in force until 1923) proclaimed Romania a constitutional monarchy. On the background of the conflict between Russia and Turkey, on 4th/16th April 1877 was signed in Bucharest the Convention which established the transit of Russian troops through Romania; Russia obliged itself to respect and to maintain Romania's integrity and independence. On May 9, 1877 the independence was proclaimed from the Ottoman Empire. During the Congress of Berlin in 1878, the seven Powers reconfirmed the independence of the country. Romania acquired Dobrudja, but she was forced to concede the South of Bessarabia to Russia. In 1881 Carol I became the first King of Romania.

After maintaining her neutrality in the first Balkan war (1912-1913), Romania joined Greece, Montenegro, Serbia and Turkey against Bulgaria during the second Balkan war. By the peace treaty signed in Bucharest in 1913, ending this conflict, the south of Dobrudja was annexed to Romania. On 1867, the the creation of the Hungarian State had serious consequences for the Romanians inhabiting the Transylvania as they lost the autonomy enjoyed during the Austrian Empire, and the region was incorporated by Hungary. The Romanians’ national identity in Transylvania was asserted by the Romanian National Party. In 1892 the Memorandum Movement called the attention of Emperor Franz Joseph I and of the European public opinion to the intolerance of the Budapest government.

Ferdinand I of Romania At the beginning of World War I in August 1914, Romania declared its neutrality. On 10 October 1914, Ferdinand I succeeded his uncle as King of Romania, reigning until his death on 20 July 1927. Two years later on August 1916 it joined the Allies declaring war to Austria-Hungary. Due to the defeated of the Austrian and Russian empires at the end of World War I, on December 1st, 1918 Transylvania and Eastern Moldavia (Bessarabia and Northern Bukovina) chose to join the Kingdom of Romania, building the Greater Romania, by a great national assembly in Alba Iulia.

Michael I of Romania In 1921 the Romanian Communist Party was established that, even if it had a very small number of members, was banned in 1924.

The same fate had the extremist right-wing nationalist movement of the Iron Guard led by Corneliu Zelea Codreanu, also banned in 1927.

In December 1925, due to personal troubles, the eldest son of Ferdinand I, Carol, renounced his right to the throne in favor of his son Michel, born on 1921, who in 1927 succeeded under a regency to his grandfather Ferdinand as Michael I when he died.

Carol II of Romania The depression of 1929-1933 caused social unrest and instability within the country. Carol changed his mind, and he dethroned his son Michael, ascending to the throne in 1930, as Carol II; in 1938 he established a personal dictatorship that lasted till 1940.

In 1939 the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact was signed by the Soviet Union and Germany, which stated the Soviet influence in Bessarabia. In 1940, at the beginning of World War II, Northern Transylvania, Basarabia and Cadrilater were ceded to Hungary, Soviet Union and Bulgaria respectively, only Northern Transylvania being recovered after the World War II ended.

In September 1940 the Marshal Ion Antonescu staged a coup against Carol, building a pro-German regime. Antonescu proclaimed Michael as King, but, being an 18-year-old boy, he could not exercise any authority and served as a figurehead for the Antonescu regime. On August 23rd 1944, as the Soviet armed forces approached Romania's eastern border, Michael joined other pro-Allied politicians in an attempt of coup d'etat against Ion Antonescu, but he was placed under arrest. Michael proclaimed Romania's loyalty to the Allies, declared war on Germany, and named Constantin Sănătescu as Prime Minister of Romania. Nicolae Rădescu followed Sănătescu as the last pre-Communist prime minister of Romania, from December 7, 1944 to March 1, 1945. In 1945, political pressures forced Michael to appoint a pro-Soviet government headed by Petru Groza and dominated by the Communist Party of Romania. In December 1947 the Communists announced the abolition of the monarchy; Michael had to abdicate, and soon after he left the country.