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History

History (Adapted from "History of Romanians" - Ion Calafeteanu)

The rise and fall of the communist "empire"

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); 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).

After WW 2, together with other central and East European states, Romania came into the Soviet Union’s sphere of influence and experienced the harshness, shortages and constraints of the communist regime.

The Monarchs and the World Wars

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.

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 formation of the Romanian Nation

Alexandru Ioan Cuza - The formation of the Romanian Nation

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 modernization of the Romanian society and state structures.

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.

Wars against the Ottomans

Michael The Great - Wars against the Ottomans - The end of the 16th century was dominated by the personality of Michael the Brav

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."

Romanians, the first Christians in East Europe

Mircea the Old (1386-1418)

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.

The Dacians

The Dacians - Romania is situated in Central Europe, in the northern part of the Balkan peninsula and its territory is marked by

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 has led to the discovery of traces of human presence dating back as early as two million years BC.

Romanian language evolution

1918 Union resolution

The language is one of the things that make us special. Here is a short history of the Romanian language and the major influences it suffered from the neighboring languages.

Linguists, when studying the Romanian language, usually go back in their studies as far as 2000 years. At that time, the area that today is Romania was occupied by the Dacian civilization (tribes of Thracian origin).