1922 Encyclopædia Britannica/Rumania
RUMANIA, (see 23.825).—Before 1913 Rumania had an area of about 50,702 sq. m.; and by the treaty of Bucharest (Aug. 7 1913) it received from Bulgaria an addition of 2,969 sq. m. in the Dobrudja, which formed the departments of Durostor and Caliacra. By the treaties following the World War, this area was more than doubled, the additions consiting of the Banat (11,009 sq. m.), Bessarabia (17,146 sq. m.), Bukovina (4,030 sq. m.), Crisana (8,038 sq. m.), Maramuresh (6,258 sq. m.) and Transylvania (22,312 sq. m.), making the total area of the kingdom 122,282 sq. miles. Thus during the period 1910–1912 Rumania, from being slightly smaller than England, became somewhat larger than the whole British Isles. In shape Rumania is nearly circular, with a perimeter of about 1,850 miles. The Carpathians and Transylvanian Alps, which formerly separated Rumania from Austria-Hungary, run in a sickle-shaped curve from near Mt. Pietros to the Iron Gates, and almost down the centre of the country, which takes in the Transylvanian plateau and extends westwards into the Hungarian plain. Bessarabia forms a continuation of the plain of old Rumania. The territory corresponds roughly to the ancient Dacia, and the new Rumania constitutes a satisfactory ethnological unit, while its physical boundaries are, except in some parts, more defined by natural features than would appear from small-scale maps.
Population.—The Rumanian people form the great majority of the population, which was estimated in 1920 at 1712 millions, males being about 100,000 in excess. Apart from the alien elements of mediaeval or earlier origin many foreign stocks are represented in the territories which form new Rumania, and throughout the 19th century Jews driven from Poland penetrated far into the country, particularly into Moldavian towns. But no one of these heterogeneous elements numbers one-tenth of the population, and the very high rate of natural increase among the Rumanians, the common use of the Rumanian language and the wide toleration which prevails in matters of religion, all tend to unification.
The National Orthodox Church had in 1918 a membership of over The National Orthodox Church had in 1918 a membership of over 912 millions, and the Greek Catholic, Roman Catholic and Protestant churches each nearly 112 million. Jews numbered about 830,000, Mahommedans 44,000 and Armenians 17,000.
The chief towns are Bucharest, the capital (estimated pop. in 1919, 400,000), Jassy (80,000), Galatz (60,000), Braila (60,000), Kolozsvar (60,000), Ploesci (50,000), Craiova (46,000). Kishinev, the capital of Bessarabia, has a pop. estimated at 125,000.
Government and Administration.—The Senate consisted in 1920 of 170 members, of whom 82 represented the old kingdom, 45 Transylvania, 24 Bessarabia and 19 Bukovina. The Chamber of Deputies had 347 members; old kingdom 168, Transylvania 112, Bessarabia 51 and Bukovina 16. The Constituent Assembly elected in May 1920 was charged with the adjustment of the constitutions of the old kingdom, Transylvania, Bessarabia and Bukovina. In the elections of June 1920 the returns of parties were:—People’s party 215, Federal Democrats 34, Bessarabian Peasants 25, Transylvanian Nationalists 21, Socialists 19, Independent Democrats 6, others 12.
For administrative purposes Rumania is divided into 735 districts and 129 urban and 5,735 rural communes.
Education.—Education continued to make progress although a large proportion of the population was still illiterate and compulsory school attendance was difficult to enforce. There were in 1920 19,374 schools with 1,612,763 pupils. Universities were founded at Cluj (Kolozsvar) and at Cernaŭti (Czernowitz) in 1920.
Finance.—The national debt of Rumania at the outbreak of the World War amounted to 2,086,008,329 lei. This increased during the war by 2,910,012,500 lei and subsequent increased brought the total to 11,148,408,330 lei as on April 1 1920, of which 3,986,008,330 was funded and 7,162,400,000 lei unfunded debt. To this was to be added about 10,000 million lei as Rumania’s share in the national debts of the states added to her territory by the various treaties of peace, and at least 5,000 million lei required for the withdrawal of Austrian kronen and Russian rubles. The deficits of the war years were largely covered by a “National” loan (1916), a “Unirea” loan (1919) and Banque Nationale loans, and a loan against Treasury Bonds. The revenue and expenditure for the financial year 1919–20 were respectively 1,140 million lei and 4,127 million lei. About one-third of the revenue is obtained from indirect taxes and one-third from State monopolies and public services.
There were in 1919 notes of the National Bank of Rumania amounting to 4,431 million lei, notes of the General Bank of Rumania (issued by the Germans) 2,172 million lei, more than 8,000 million Austrian kronen and about 1,000 million Russian rubles. When the krone and ruble are replaced by Rumanian notes the equivalent paper circulation may be taken at 11,500 million lei. The National Bank had in gold 315 million lei in Moscow, 80 million in Berlin and 98 million in the Bank of England: adding to this drafts and other interest-bearing resources abroad, the guarantee of the notes was nearly 34%, a high perecentage compared with notes of most banks of issue in other countries.
Agriculture.—Four-fifths of the population of Rumania are engaged in agriculture. About 40% of the land under cultivation consists of holdings under 25 ac. and 50% of farms of 250 ac. or more. Far-reaching measures of agrarian reform were begun in 1917, and large areas had in 1921 been expropriated and transferred to the peasants. Of the 34 million acres which made up Rumania after the Peace of Bucharest in 1913 (2 million of which consisted of rivers and lakes) about 1212 million acres were under cereals; 500,000 under pules, vegetables and various industrial plants; 400,000 were vineyards and orchards; pastures covered nearly 3 million acres and nearly 112 million acres were meadowland. Wheat and maize are the principal crops, the former being produced chiefly for export and the latter for home consumption. Maize is the characteristic crop of the small holder in the hill regions, while most of the wheat is produced in the larger farms in the plains. The methods of agriculture are in many parts still very backward; by the development of irrigation in the plains and the abandonment of the fallow system, production could be largely increased. Table I shows the area under cultivation and the production (in tons) of the principal crops in the years 1914, 1915, 1919 and 1920.
| Area and Production of the Principal Crops. | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1914 | 1915 | 1919 | 1920 | |||||
| Acres (thousand). | Tons (thousand). | Acres (thousand). | Tons (thousand). | Acres (thousand). | Tons (thousand). | Acres (thousand). | Tons (thousand). | |
| Wheat . . | 5,216 | 1,248 | 4,703 | 2,408 | 2,949 | 1,320 | 2,096 | 630 |
| Maize . . | 5,092 | 2,701 | 5,205 | 2,743 | 4,838 | 2,597 | 4,051 | 1,773 |
| Oats . . | 1,056 | 367 | 1,064 | 373 | 594 | 207 | 971 | 425 |
| Barley . . | 1,404 | 644 | 1,371 | 758 | 584 | 257 | 1,054 | 460 |
| Rye . . | 208 | 49 | 188 | 75 | 218 | 87 | 184 | 52 |
The cultivation of industrial plants is little developed. The vineyards produce in good years as much as 66 million gallons of wine. Plum trees take the place of the fig tree in Mediterranean countries. The tobacco and beetroot produced barely suffice for local needs.
The number of domestic animals was greatly reduced during the war: in 1920 it was estimated that in the new Rumania there were less than 5 million cattle and 11 million sheep. The breeding of horses was again becoming important, particularly in the Banat and the Nistru (Dniester) valley.
Forests.—Rumania has nearly 19 million acres of forest, of which 69 millions are in old Rumania, 134 millions in Transylvania, 112 millions in Maramuresh and 112 millions in the Banat. A great deal of timber is required locally for building and there is a considerable export from Piatra and Galatz, but the development of the immense timber reserves had only made a beginning before the war.
Minerals.—The useful minerals occur chiefly in the hill districts; petroleum is by far the most important. The production of petroleum amounted in 1914 to over 134 million tons, placing Rumania fourth in the list of the world’s oil-fields. Oil has been chiefly obtained in the region between the Ialomitza and the Bistritza, the main wells being in the districts of Prahova, Dambovitsa, Buzeu and Bacau and especially in Prahova; but there are strong indications that the fields are much more extensive. A line of three pipes from the oil-fields to Constantza, carried over the Danube by the Cernavoda bridge, was completed shortly before the war. The wells and oil refineries were wrecked by a British mission in Oct. and Nov. 1916 to prevent their falling into enemy hands, but during the occupation they were largely restored and a new pipe-line was laid through Bucharest to Giurgevo on the Danube. The production was 517,500 tons in 1917, 1,214,000 tons in 1918, and 920,000 tons in 1919. Considerable importance is attached to discoveries of natural gas, of which it was estimated in 1920 that the annual available supply is 2,500 million cubic feet.
Salt, which is a Government monopoly, is mined at Targu Ocna, Ocnele Mari and Slanic.
About 4 million tons of lignite are produced annually, chiefly in the region between the Danbovitsa and the Ialomitsa. Small quantities of coal (less than 400,000 tons in all annually) are mined near Oravitza in the Banat. The exploitation of iron (400,000 tons annually), copper, lead and manganese has been begun. The gold mines in the Aranyos valley are the most productive in Europe.
Manufactures.—The development of manufactures in Rumania scarcely began before the 20th century. The chief industries are <!-p. 303 -->petroleum refining, sugar manufacture, flour milling and saw milling. Bucharest, Braila and Galatz are the most important centres. In 1915 there were 1,149 industrial establishments employing 58,871 workmen and having invested capital of 805,472,618 lei. It has been estimated that water-power amounting to 150,000 H.P. is available, but in 1912 less than 9,000 H.P. had been brought into use.
Imports and Exports.—The total imports and exports for the years 1911–5 and 1919 are given in Table 2.
| Imports and Exports (000’s omitted). | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1911 | 1912 | 1913 | 1914 | 1915 | 1919 | |
| ₤ | ₤ | ₤ | ₤ | ₤ | ₤ | |
| Imports . . | 22,790 | 25,516 | 23,601 | 19,970 | 13,186 | 143,318 |
| Exports . . | 27,669 | 25,684 | 26,828 | 17,897 | 22,581 | 4,116 |
Before the war exports were chiefly to Belgium and Holland, and cereals formed the most important articles. In 1919 more than half the value of exports was made up by petroleum. Of imports in 1911 29% in quantity and 15% in value came from the United Kingdom, 25% and 24% respectively from Austria and 19% and 32% from Germany. The chief imports in 1919 were cereals and cereal byproducts (220,149 tons; value 362 million lei) and manufactured articles. Exports to the United Kingdom were valued at £2,742,000 in 1919 and £3,227,000 in 1920, imports from the United Kingdom £5,585,085 in 1919 and £7,121,555 in 1920.
Communications.—Rumania had in 1913 2,586 m. of national roads, 3,066 m. of departmental roads, 22,000 m. of communal and village roads and about 7,000 m. of unmetalled tracks. The main roads are well constructed and maintained, but the communal and village roads are not well adapted for traffic and are often impassable at certain seasons.
By the Treaty of Versailles the Commission of the Danube is composed of representatives of France, Great Britain, Italy and Rumania alone. The Pruth, the only important waterway in Rumania besides the Danube, is navigable for ships of about 600 tons as far as Jassy. In 1919 Rumania had 158 merchant vessels aggregating 71,158 tons, including 17 steamers of 29,441 tons. The number of vessels entered at Rumanian ports in 1919 was 10,546, total tonnage 2,991,095 tons.
The railway system is inadequate. Four main lines of standard gauge radiate from Bucharest and a number of transverse lines cross the plains. The Carpathians are crossed at three points. There were 2,200 m. of line open in 1914 and 7,240 m. in 1920. The gauge of the Bessarabian railways differs from the others. Many new lines were in course of construction or were projected in 1921.
HISTORY, 1910–21
The Balkan War.—The war which broke out in the Balkan peninsula in 1911 as a consequence the Italo-Turkish conflict and the Albanian risings demanded the anxious attention of the Rumanian government, now headed by J. Bratianu in place of Sturdza, whom ill-health had compelled to withdraw finally from political life. Rumania's official attitude towards the conflict of 1911 was strictly neutral, public sympathy being manifestly on the side of attacked Turkey. Towards the end of the year the Liberal ministry was obliged to resign. Rather surreptitious methods had been employed to pass a measure providing the church with a new constitution, which established a Supreme Consistory of the Protestant type, representatives of the priesthood sitting side by side with the bishops — this being the result of recent episcopal scandals of a private nature. The new convention with Austria-Hungary had sacrificed the vital interests of the Rumanian herdsmen of Transylvania, accustomed to feed their flocks and herds on the Rumanian slopes of the Carpathians and on the Wallachian plain. An endeavour had been made to regulate the internal distribution of petrol; and at the last moment the Minister of Finance, Costinescu, introduced a scheme for a progressive income tax, which was not adopted by the succeeding Liberal administration.
There were two candidates for the succession: on the one hand M. Take Jonescu, who, having left the Conservative party in consequence of a long-standing feud with the leader of its younger members, the rich landowner Nicolas Filipescu, had then formed a Conservative-Democratic party, which the longing of all classes for a new era had rendered remarkably successful at byelections; on the other P. P. Carp, whom the death of G. Cantacuzene had placed at the head of the Conservative party. Promising a long programme of reforms, including an administrative transformation (the districts to be merged in " regions " of greater size administered by captains), it was the latter who obtained the King's call to office. Among his colleagues were T. Maiorescu, N. Filipescu, and one of the country's foremost writers and orators, the lawyer B. St. Delavorancea.
The new Government far from satisfied the hopes of the public. The Minister of the Interior, Alexander Marghiloman, long regarded by Carp as his future successor, was chiefly preoccupied with assuring his party, despite its unpopularity, of a majority at the polls. To this end no pains were spared. Directly Parliament met, a virulent campaign was opened against the Liberals, beginning with an attack on their new economic policy (inspired chiefly by Vintilă Brătianu, brother of the leader of the party), which aimed at combining the interests of private capital with those of communal and state capital in such great transport concerns as the electric tramways of Bucharest. The Liberal opposition, numerically small, left the Chamber, and combined with Take Jonescu in a furious campaign for the overthrow of the Government. At the same time J. J. Brătianu, influenced by the Socialists, and by a Bessarabian “Poporanist” (peasant party) who had gained a high position in the party, raised the long-abandoned question of universal suffrage, and definitely pledged himself to the considerably milder policy of a single electoral college, with, moreover, only literate electors— the intention seeming rather to be that of weakening the spirit of independence of the first and second electoral colleges, whose sympathies were tending towards new formations like the National Democrats. Efforts were made at the same time to retain the votes of the rural school-teachers.
The Carp Government did something to ameliorate conditions of life for the peasantry; and N. Filipescu strove to improve the army, which had received scant attention of late years. In the matter of the Rumanian ecclesiastical schism—a quarrel between the Bishop of Roman and the Metropolitan Primate Athanasius—both protagonists were persuaded to resign and quit the field.
It was at this moment that the Balkan Confederation went to war with Turkey, whose European possessions they intended to share among themselves. Not only had no support been sought from Rumania, but certain clauses provided for the event of war with both that country and Austria-Hungary. At the outset, in Nov. the Rumanian Government professed complete unconcern with what was happening beyond the Danube. The rapid successes of the allies, however, and above all the Bulgarian victories of Kirk Kilisse and Lule Burgas, opened the eyes of neutral spectators to the danger of a new imperialism in the Balkans: From Austria-Hungary came formal proposals of military collaboration, in order to prevent the victors from realizing the expected profits of their astounding success, and General Conrad von Hoetzendorff arrived at Bucharest, charged with this express mission.
But already the minds of a new generation, educated in the consciousness of a Rumanian moral unity which should necessarily produce practical results at the first great European upheaval, were totally opposed to the continuance of the policy inaugurated in 1884. After a visit from Francis Joseph himself to Bucharest in 1909, the Crown Prince Francis Ferdinand made his appearance at Sinaia, hoping to strengthen ties that were daily growing looser. The Hungarian Government, of which the Crown Prince pretended to disapprove, none the less pursued its denationalizing policy, imposing, with the full rigour of the Apponyi law, which monopolized nearly the whole of primary education with the study of Magyar, an examination in that official state language even on pupils belonging to Oriental religions or to the Greek church. The Emperor-King rejected the representations of the church of Sibiu on this subject. Political prosecutions, even of women, roused public feeling among the Rumanians of Transylvania. Efforts were made, under cover of seemingly democratic intentions, to turn against the Rumanians a project of Hungarian electoral reform then in preparation; and the electoral contests of June 1910 were of unusual brutality (cf. the present writer's pamphlets: Les Hongrois et la nationalité roumaine en 1909 and Les dernières elections en Hongrie et les Roumains, Vălenii-de-Munte, 1909-10). The idea of Rumanians marching shoulder to shoulder with the soldiers of <!-page 304 -->Hungary was received with almost general indignation (cf. the writer's pamphlet: Les Roumains et le nouvel état de choses en Orient, Valenii-de-Munte, 1912). The necessity for a policy based on the existence of 13 million Rumanians, even though they inhabited three different countries, impressed public opinion more and more; and whatever may have been the Government's first intention, it began to realize its difficulties.
In the autumn the Bulgarian minister Danev, all-powerful at that moment, visited Rumania and offered to procure Bulgarian renunciation for ever of all claims to the Dobrudja — where, indeed, Bulgarians formed but a minority of the population — and also the modification of the frontier by flattening salient angles to the advantage of Rumania. His proposals were not accepted. “Compensation” was demanded for the huge territorial gains realized by the neighbouring state; and a formidable agitation for this broke out all over the country. M. Take Jonescu, with whom after the Court of Cassation's verdict in favour of the Tramway Co. an alliance had been made in a new ministerial grouping, with Maiorescu as president of Council, went to London to promote an arrangement, but was unsuccessful. The case was submitted to the Conference of St. Petersburg, which assigned Silistra to Rumania (April).
The mere delimitation of this territory raised many difficulties; and soon after the discussions between the Bulgarians and their allies, the question presented itself anew in different conditions. At that moment Carp, supported by Filipescu, was conducting a violent campaign against the Government, which had " lowered the dignity of Rumania," of which Silistra would even be " the tomb." The Government was called upon either to resign or to declare war on Bulgaria. Maiorescu obtained a parliamentary victory in the debate on the convention of St. Petersburg. But when the Serbians were treacherously attacked by the Bulgarians, and Bulgarian schemes for a Balkan hegemony became obvious, the idea of military intervention beyond the Danube had to be accepted. Russia, whose representative at Bucharest, Chehekov, manifested Rumanian sympathies, advised in that sense, Serbia just then enjoying the support of the Russian Cabinet. In June the Rumanian army. 500,000 strong, crossed the frontier, occupying on one side the Southern Dobrudja as far as Kavarna; and on the other side advancing in an irresistible rush upon Sofia by Vrasta and Orhanie. The exhausted Bulgarian soldiers deserted en masse and the Rumanians sent them back to their homes.
As the Rumanian troops, commanded by the Crown Prince, drew near the Bulgarian capital, the Tsar Ferdinand despatched a telegram to King Charles asking for peace. Negotiations were Immediately begun at Bucharest between Rumanians, Serbians, Greeks and Bulgarians. Peace was concluded in August: as regards Rumania, she obtained the territory which she had already occupied in the Dqbrudja; and, furthermore, her rights of protection over the Rumanians in Macedonia were recognized.
Question of Rumanians in Macedonia.—In that region, isolated from the national soil, all through the Middle Ages sturdy local Rumanian communities had persisted, with forms of autonomy respected by the Turkish Government. Besides the shepherds, whose flocks covered the plateaux of the Pindus (see Wace and Thomson, The Nomads of the Balkans, London, 1913), there was an industrious urban population of artisans and traders, who spread, moreover, into towns in other parts of the Balkan peninsula. Later the activity of these " Koutzovlaks " turned towards Austria, and their colonies advanced from Budapest, Vienna, and Trieste to London and even to Philadelphia. Meeting with the Rumanian intellectuals of Hungary they initiated a new national programme, and in 1830 revived the ancient relations with Bucharest. The Rumania of Charles I. not only welcomed them as brothers, but created, chiefly through the wise agency of their leader, the Apostal Margarit, a complete system of Rumanian education in Macedonia, including a lycee, at Monastir, and a commercial school at Salonika. The Porte was persuaded to differentiate the Rumanian communities of that region from the Greeks of the patriarchal organization, and from the Bulgarians of the Exarchy residing at Constantinople. There lacked but one element, absolutely essential (granted the local conditions), namely the national bishop. He had been promised to the Rumanian faithful by the Treaty of Bucharest; but the clause had never been applied, as much through the Rumanian Government's own negligence as through the ill-will of the new Serbian and Greek masters of the situation.
Germany hailed Rumania’s success as a means of retrieving through her ally that influence which the defeat of her proteges the Turks had caused her to lose in the East. As to AustriaHungary, the imperial and royal minister at Bucharest, Prince Fiirstenberg, presented a note from Count Berchtold in which the recently concluded treaty was referred to as a simple " preliminary arrangement." This conception was energetically rejected, and the scheme for a European congress to arrange Oriental affairs " definitely " was wrecked. But it did not prevent the Tsar Ferdinand from issuing to his army an order of the day in which, speaking of " spoliation," he indicated " better days of glory " as yet to come.
Rumania during the World War.—The World War was now brewing. In the month of June 1914, under the form of a pilgrimage to universities, Turkish intellectuals came to Rumania to make soundings with a view to reconcilation with Bulgaria. One month later Austria-Hungary declared war with Serbia, on th; pretext of avenging the murder of the Crown Prince and his wife at Serajevo by a Serbian. The treaty with the Triple Alliance had only just been confirmed by the minister Maiorescu. His successor, the head of the Liberal party, who had come to power with a long programme of reforms — foremost among them an agrarian law based on the expropriation of the large landowners, and an electoral law establishing universal suffrage with the exclusion of illiterates — had never shown any intention of abandoning the foreign policy identified with King Charles' views and sympathies. Vienna felt assured that the Rumanian army, long prepared to that end, would march at her orders. The King's interview with the Tsar of Russia at Constantza. though it had caused a profound sensation in the country, raising hopes of a change of orientation, had produced no diplomatic results.
Public opinion was violently hostile to the Austrian adventure. During the Bulgarian campaign the soldiers had clamoured to be led to Transylvania; the King himself had witnessed their manifestations. In face of Italy's disclaimer of her obligations under the treaty, and England's declaration of war against the Central Powers, Charles I. and his advisers were forced to adopt the compromise of an armed neutrality, which the king hoped to break on the first opportunity.
When the German march on Paris failed, Rumanian politicians had to reconsider their position. M. Take Jonescu passed from the first idea of " loyal neutrality " to that of intervention on the side of the Allies, and in this he was supported especially by the combative energy of Filipescu. The latter did not shrink from dividing his own party, opposing Marghiloman, whose traditional Junimism favoured the Central Powers; and joining hands with his former rival, he effected a fusion with Take Jonescu. Meanwhile, popular demonstrations continued against Austria-Hungary and Germany, who by means of conventions were exploiting Rumania to feed the population of the German Empire, and whose subventioned Rumanian press was generally despised, despite the assistance given it by Carp and a few of his personal friends. At the " Lemberg moment " (the invasion of Galicia by the Russians), Filipescu had vehemently demanded rupture with Austria-Hungary.
In Sept. J. J. Brătianu succeeded in obtaining a declaration from the Allies (including the much-feared Russia) that in exchange for a benevolent neutrality Rumania should have the right to occupy those Austro-Hungarian territories which belonged to her by virtue of nationality. The sudden death on Oct. 10 of King Charles, to the last irreconcilable to a change of policy, facilitated the task of those who desired it. The sufferings of the Rumanians of Transylvania, induced to serve in the army of the Emperor-King by the lie that Rumania herself had embraced the same cause, and that her soldiers were fighting in <!-p. 305 -->Galicia, together with the humiliations imposed on their religious and political leaders, increased the indignation provoked from the first by the conduct of the Germans in Belgium and invaded France. Soon after the Russian retreat from the Bukovina, moreover, rumours began to spread about the man-hunts organized by Austrian gendarmes against Rumanian “traitors.”
The head of the Government, knowing the inadequacy of the military preparation and the difficulty of completing it, thought best to delay yet longer. Meanwhile Count Czernin, Austro-Hungarian representative at Bucharest, spoke to the Crown Prince Ferdinand (married to Princess Marie of Edinburgh, whose sympathies were well known, and whose political attitude and charitable activities were equally admirable) about the " miserable treachery " of Rumania if she abandoned her allies (Diplomatische Aktenslücke betreffend die Beziehungen Oesterreich-Ungarns zu Rumäien in der Zeit von 22 Juli 1914. bis 27 August 1916, Vienna, 1916). The irresistible trend of public opinion was pointed out to him in reply. In Parliament discussion was forbidden on the burning question of relations with the belligerent powers. Troops concentrated in view of possible events were now partially demobilized. And on the side of Austria all that was done was to offer the Rumanians of Transylvania, through the Orthodox Archbishop, " a certain consideration for the wishes of our non-Magyar fellow-citizens relative to the church-schools," and " the admission of the maternal language in direct communication with the authorities," and " modifications of certain dispositions of the electoral law."
As Rumania refused to allow the passage of munitions for Turkey, whose capital was now menaced by the attack in the Bosporus, war on Serbia began anew in 1915The Bratianu Government, which continued negotiations about the frontiers of the Bukovina, claiming to receive back the province precisely as Austria had taken it in 1775, and also about the frontiers of the Banat, where owing to Serbian colonization in the western' districts there was no decisive preponderance of Germans and Rumanians, once more managed to hold public impatience in check. Henceforward, all the Central Powers could exact from RuTiania was the passing of measures necessary for provisioning their populations. Italy's declaration of war in May 1915 served to raise still higher the popular excitement, which was now clamouring for a prompt decision in the only possible sense.
But when the offensive of General Brussilov once more reached Galicia and the Bukovina, further delay was impossible, especially as now, in the month of July, the treaty assuring Rumania of the desired territorial limits had just been signed. Russia became urgent: the Rumanian Cabinet was warned that delay would cause the cancelling of the territorial engagements. Certain illusions had been cherished with regard to Bulgaria, whose Prime Minister Radoslavov had formerly declared in Nov. 1834. that his country was " ready to give all the guarantees which should eventually be desired that she would not attack Rumania if the latter should take part in the general war." Now, however, Russia, who undertook to unite with the Rumanian forces when they entered Transylvania, and to march in concert upon Buiaoest, was asked to send into the Dobrudja troops sufficient to supervise the somewhat mistrusted neighbour who hid participated with such zest in the annihilation of Serbia. Without having ever made one serious proposal, the German and Austrian ministers prepared to depart the moment Rumania's declaration of war arrived at Vienna (Aug. 28 1916).
As regards the internal political situation, the Liberal Government, which had achieved the entry into war unassociated with any of the opposition parties (for Maiorescu, summoned to the palace on the eve of the declaration, had fancied he was going to be called to power in order to prevent the rupture) , did not even call the Chambers together to obtain their approval of the step. The armies were swiftly crossing the mountains by all the passes, to unite and form one single front upon a diagonal line in the middle of Transylvania. The enemy's feeble forces were everywhere retreating; but Germany had soon moved in her ally's interests, and had declared war. Bulgarians armed and led by German officers now surprised at Turtucaia a badly organized Rumanian army, forced it to capitulate, and advanced through unresisting Silistra into the Dobrudja, which despite General Averescu's sturdy defensive was soon the prey of Marshal Mackensen; while in Transylvania itself General Falkenhayn was striking a decisive blow near Sibiu-Hermannstadt.
For the Rumanians nothing was left but the tragic duty of defending, with utterly inadequate technical preparation, their Carpathian frontier. This defensive they succeeded in prolonging until the end of Nov., when, served by the spies of the Austro-Hungarian companies for the exploitation of the forests, and favoured by exceptionally mild weather, they penetrated the valley of the Jiu, and occupying Craiova proceeded towards Bucharest, whose fortifications, constructed against the Russians in 1880 by the Belgian General Brialmont, had no longer ar.y military value. After brilliant initial succ:ss a stand was made on the Argesh by advice of the French General Berthclot, but ended in defeat. The army retreated in disorder towards Moldavia to reorganize there, sheltered behind Russian troops who had at last arrived on this new theatre of war; king, ministers, and parliament were already in the ancient Moldavian capital of Jassy, where they had to remain until the end of 1918.
A counter-offensive, carefully prepared during 1917, had already begun, and in July had opened the path through Wallachia, when the Russian defection in Galicia and the subsequent push by Mackensen, who threw all the forces at his disposal upon the Sereth for an advance upon Odessa, brought upon the new Rumanian army the great disaster of Marasesti — a battle lasting ten days and ending in complete inability for further resistance. As the disintegration of the Russian army proceeded, yesterday's allies turning into pillaging bands dangerous to the whole life of the country, hostilities were perforce suspended; and eventually it became necessary to submit to the armistice imposed by the Germans on General Shtcherbachev, who had assumed the chief command on the Rumanian front, passing over King Ferdinand's right to the supreme command. Rumania, nevertheless, parleyed yet another two months before entering into negotiations that could only mean the abandonment of her rights, .the diminution of her pre-war territorial possessions, and the loss of her economic independence.
Agrarian and Electoral Reforms.—Ever since in Dec. 1916 the Parliament had met at Jassy and enthusiastically approved the prosecution of the war to a finish, Bratianu had shared the burden of power with Take Jonescu and his section of the Conservative party. (Filipcscu had died at Bucharest before the debacle.) The activities of the Coalition Ministry had naturally been limited to ordinary current affairs. But in April the agrarian question once more became urgent, owing in part to the reactions on the public mind of the triumph of the social revolution in Russia. (The chief of the Rumanian socialists, a Bulgarian named Rakovski, after having been kept for some time under arrest at Jassy, had managed to escape, and was now agitating with his followers against the king and the bourgeoisie.') Influenced by ths Crown, the Conservatives at last accepted the radical policy of expropriation, to be applied to an area fixed at 2,000,000 hectares.
Parliament debated the project for two months, the result being a law promulgated in July 1917, which left the original proprietors 500 hectares at most for each separate estate (absentees being completely expropriated), and assigned them a compensation in State bonds, the amount not to exceed twenty times the annual value of the property. A scheme for the communal holding by village associations of the land thus obtained was rejected in favour of the traditional individual tenure. Details of the distribution were to be fixed by law; but now, under the menace of a German occupatibn even in Moldavia, members of parliament were dispersing. When the triumph of the Central Powers seemed certain, and the armistice foreshadowed an early peace, the leaders of the war-party were practically forced to flee the country. A number of them took refuge in Paris, where they formed a national Committee of Claims.
Reunion of Bessarabia; Peace of Bucharest; Expulsion of Occupying Forces.—Already, however, the depredation of the <!-p. 306 -->Russian Bolskeviks had obliged the Rumanians of Bessarabia to form a Moldavian Republic; the ancient Rumanian spirit had quickly awakened, thanks in part to a group of young writers who had never ceased to cultivate spiritual relations with free Rumania. An attempt to form a local army having failed, appeal Was made to the Rumanian troops, who had moreover an interest in defending the stores of food in Bessarabia. The union of the Principalities was celebrated in Feb. 1919 at Chishinau, capital of the province, as well as at Jassy; and on April 9 the Sfatul Taril (Council of the country), formed on the model of all the other revolutionary assemblies of the former empire of the Tsars, was to proclaim the union of Bessarabia with the kingdom of Rumania. J. J. Bratianu had already resigned (Jan. 1918) in face of the equal impossibility of either organizing resistance or signing a treaty of abdication. General Averescu, charged with the negotiations because of his military prestige, went for this purpose to Buftea near Bucharest, and found in the capital a party of violent opponents of the war led by the Germanophils Carp and Stere. Count Czernin, irreconcilable in his attitude towards the Rumanians, rejected Germany's advice, brought him by von Kuhlmann, to concentrate solely on placing Rumania in a state of economic servitude, and proceeded to carve up in fantastic fashion the mountainous frontier of the kingdom; cutting off, moreover, the Dobrudja, whose future was to be settled between the Germans and the Bulgarians, Rumania being only left access to the sea under terms to be subsequently fixed. The Danube would become an artery for Austrian and German commerce, Vienna taking foothold at Severin, and Berlin at Giurgevo by means of " purchases " of wharves and sites on long leases. The entire export of the chief products of the country was assured to the Central Powers. Their army of occupation would have to remain for years to enforce the fulfillment of provisions, unexampled in severity, imposed on the country as expiation for its " crime."
This treaty was signed by the new Marghiloman Ministry, installed in office just after the arrival of a secret mission from the Emperor Charles acquiescing in the maintenance of the Rumanian dynasty. The king had been subjected to the extreme humiliation of having to go to a Moldavian railway station to meet Count Czernin, who had come there expressly to afford himself the satisfaction of that revenge.
The Marghiloman Ministry, whose chief certainly possessed statesmanlike qualities, struggled against insurmountable difficulties through months of unexampled suffering for the exploited and humiliated country. In the occupied territory everyone was snatching greedily at the remnants of national prosperity now in process of dispersal; the unlimited issue of paper money imposed on the country by the Austro-Germans through the Banque Generate presaged financial ruin; while economic ruin was ensured by the exportation of sheep and cattle, by the cutting down of forests, and by the dismantling of factories. The population, meanwhile, was starving, reduced to famine rations, and the morals of its working-class were being perverted by revolutionary propaganda. A Parliament elected under the pressure of enemy armies — a Parliament, moreover, composed of the worst elements of political life — often succeeded in disgusting even those who had desired to have it.
This state of things lasted until the battle-front of the Central Powers had been penetrated both on the Rhine and in the Balkans. The king then called to power General Coanda, an old soldier who had already had experience in diplomacy, together with General Grigorescu, to whom was due the chief credit for the victory of Marashti, as Minister of War. This Cabinet, without reference to Parliament, decreed a law for the expropriation of landowners, in accord with liberal ideas, and on the basis of the new constitutional text (the acts had been passed by the dissolved Marghiloman Parliament, the decisions of which had been declared null and void). But no sooner had the French troops commanded by General Berthelot arrived on the Danube, than the head of the Liberal party claimed, as initiator of a war due chiefly to pressure of public opinion, a change of Government in his favour. In a few days he entered Bucharest at the side of the king, to inaugurate an administration which only lasted one year.
Reunion of the Bukovina and of Transylvania.—The new Liberal Government had the extraordinarily difficult task of reuniting, in one political whole, provinces which had been under the domination of different alien states. Bessarabia was already incorporated in the ancient kingdom, having completely abandoned the idea of autonomy, which had at first been supported by her leaders, Inculetz, Pelivan, and Halipa. Before the King's departure from Jassy he had received a deputation which came to offer him the Bukovina with the delimitation of 1775. Menaced by a Bolshevist agitation begun at Czernowitz by demobilized soldiers, this province had in Nov. proclaimed its reunion with the mother-country, under the inspiration of the historian, Prof. Jean Nistor, and of Jean Flandon, formerly head of the National party and of the Rumanian Political Union (his rival, Aurele, chief of the Democrats, had compromised himself by projects for a great Austria, to include Rumania) . The German immigrants, the few Poles, and the Jews had given their assent; only the Ruthenians held aloof, planted out as they had been by Austria and sedulously represented by statistical artifices as being the principal nationality in the Bukovina.
In Transylvania during the war the Magyar administration had spared no pains to reduce the number and importance of the Rumanians, over 3,000,000 in numbers, and predominant especially in the rural districts. The prisons were filled with suspects; judicial murders were the order of the day; a measure was framed to expropriate in favour of alien immigrants the widows and children of soldiers killed in action. At Bucharest the Bessarabian C. Stere performed the deplorable r61e of editing a journal which advocated the candidature of the new EmperorKing Charles to the throne of Rumania (Prince Joachim of Prussia had also been suggested) . Directly Vienna and Budapest repudiated the Habsburgs and their followers, as being responsible for the defeat, a great Rumanian assembly at Alba lulia declared (Dec. 1918) that Transylvania henceforth formed part of the kingdom of the united Rumanians, but that they promised absolute national liberty to their Saxon and Magyar fellowcitizens. The Saxons gave their adhesion immediately; but the Magyar bishops, Catholic, Calvinist, and Unitarian, did not take the oath of allegiance to King Ferdinand till 1921. A Council of Direction, presided over by Jules Maniu, took the reins, established order, and gave new national forms to Transylvanian life. The greater number of non-Rumanian officials were retained; communes kept their accustomed privileges; Magyar and Saxon schools worked unmolested side by side with Rumanian institutions both old and new.
Latest Events: The Agrarian Question.—During the few months of Liberal Government the reunited country awaited in vain its definitive constitution. The reconstruction of the devastated districts had to be attended to, and difficult diplomatic negotiations had to be conducted that should result in the recognition by the Allies of the new frontiers. Those fixed by the treaty of 1916 were drawn back in places to give the Hungarians a part of the hinterland of Oradea-Mare (Nagy-Varad, GrossWardein), and the Serbians a good half of the Banat — they had pressed to be given also the town of Temesvar (Temișoara).
After the end of 1918 a Bolshevist Government had been in power at Budapest, Count Karolyi having resigned rather than acquiesce in the military convention which deprived Hungary of the provinces which she had conquered and held since the Middle Ages. This Government showed from the first its intention of serving the party of revenge, and of trying to restore the mediaeval kingdom. An armed attack on Rumanian territory by the greater part of the Red army led, in Aug. 1919, to a Rumanian counter-offensive, which — despite the interdiction of the Allies — arrived at Budapest in a few days; and there the Rumanians remained until the appointment of Admiral Horthy as regent. This was expected to promote the same policy of revenge by preparing the return of Charles of Habsburg.
The treaties of Versailles and of St. Germain recognized as Rumanian the territories which had belonged to the Dual Mon<!-p. 307 -->archy. Austria quickly signed what regarded her; but Hungary resisted till 1921, and then expressed her ratification in terms which left no doubt as to the sentiments animating a large part of the nation. Nevertheless, Rumania now considered it right and safe to demobilize (April 1921).
The Bratianu Government had resigned in order to avoid signing a treaty which imposed on the kingdom a system of minority rights that they would have preferred to establish by their own legislation. As a matter of fact, by two successive measures full political rights had already been granted to the Jewish population, without distinction between old inhabitants and recent immigrants; so that this " question " had finally ceased to exist.
For the first time the elections were free, under supervision of the " Ministry of Generals " presided over by Arthur Vaitoianu. They resulted in a large .majority for the Peasant party (whose chief was the rural school-teacher Jean Mihalachi) and the National Democrats; the Liberals now formed but a fifth part of the total number of deputies; the National party of Transylvania, the Peasant party of Bessarabia, and the National party of the Union of Bukovinians were united in their representation; a certain number of Socialists made their appearance in this first Parliament of united Rumania. The majority parties coalesced as a " bloc parlementaire," and in Nov. 1919 formed a democratic Government of advanced tendencies under presidency of the Transylvanian Alexander Vaida Voevod, who at once visited Paris and London and obtained the formal recognition of a Rumanian Bessarabia (this was confirmed by his successor at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Take Jonescu). Measures were elaborated for a definitive solution of the agrarian question (the Mihalachi scheme, leaving landowners only 100 hectares for each estate, but granting concessions to those who had farms and agricultural installations); for the reorganization of education and administration; and for remedying the shortage of housing accommodation (scheme of Dr. Lupu, Minister of the Interior). General Averescu, who in April 1917 had founded a " League of the People," demanding penalties against the abuses of the Liberals during the war, and who had developed this organization — which contained many Conservatives and some " new men " — into a party under his leadership, now came into power, thanks to the alarm aroused at Court and in society by the Bolshevist agitations. The Socialists had promised their support to the man of the moment; and soon after his advent to power (March 1920) General Averescu concluded a pact with Take Jonescu, though without admitting that statesman's " Democratic " party (entirely Conservative but for Marghiloman's " Progressists ") to a share in the administration of the country.
There ensued a regime of relentless repression. The threat of a general strike provided an opportunity to try and to condemn by court-martial the leaders of the Communists, from whom the Social-Democrats had detached themselves under the leadership of the Bukovinian Grigorovici. During the elections opponents were roughly treated. Few attempts were made to check the growing corruption of the towns. Important projects of law were hung up: that concerning the distribution of land was modified until it resembled the Mihalachi scheme in regard to the quota to be expropriated (and for the remainder, simple decrees at once put in force had, as in other cases, anticipated parliamentary decision). In March 1921 the Finance Minister, Nicolas Titulescu, having reduced to order the chaos of the Treasury Bonds, introduced a bill heavily taxing new fortunes and capital in general, while relieving the peasants and the small urban proprietors. It was hoped by this means to stabilize the national finances, and to restore the Rumanian exchange, which had fallen as low as 18 centimes in Paris. (N. J.)
LITERATURE.—The revival of Rumanian literature dates back to about the middle of the igth century, when, owing chiefly to the awakened interest in Percy's Reliques, the poet Alexandri published his collection of Folk Poems. This, together with the Old Chronicles, edited by Kogalniceanu, constituted a living monument of the vernacular. Their importance as an inspiring ng and stimulating power to the new writers was fully appreciated by Titu Maiorescu, who became the leading critical spirit in Rumanian letters. Under Maiorescu's influence a group of national writers gathered round the newly founded periodical Convorbiri Literare. Among them were J. Creangă, who in the Recollections of Childhood and other tales embodied the spirit of the Moldavian peasantry; Caragiale, who, besides a realistic drama and two volumes of short stories and sketches of unsurpassed craftsmanship, showed in his comedies The Lost Letter and Stormy Night the grotesque effect resulting from a hasty introduction of Western manners into a society still stamped with an Oriental character; and above all the poet Eminescu. The last-named, who has been compared with Leopardi, was dominated by a note of profound, penetrating, overwhelming sadness, which affected all his successors, not excepting Al. Vlahutza, a poet with a strong individuality of his own. But there is another side to Eminescu, his broad conception of the Rumanian race. It was this that impressed writers of the later generation such as Prof. Jorga, who, in his History of Rumanian Literature, arrived at a clearer understanding of what a national literature may be. In his own weekly, Sămănătorul, as well as in such other periodicals as Convorbiri Literare under the editorship of Prof. Mehedintzi, Luceafarul and Viata Românească, was first published almost all the modern writing which reflects artistically the deeper characteristics of the Rumanian people. A corner of the humble life of Banat is described in Popovici Banatzeanu's short story, Out in the World; the romantic Vlach population scattered throughout the mountainous parts of Macedonia, Epirus and Thessaly is represented in Marcu Beza's volume of short stories On the Roads and his novel A Life; Transylvania has produced the poets G. Cosbuc, Octavian Goga, and Stephen Josif. To the last-named, a Transylvanian of Vlach paternity, are due the best renderings into Rumanian of Shakespeare's Midsummer Night's Dream and Shelley's To a Skylark. Barbu Delavrancea has given to the theatre an historical trilogy. Victor Eftimiu's poetic excursion into fairyland, String ye pearls I is founded on a popular Rumanian folk tale. And among storywriters must be mentioned Bratescu-Voineshti, Duiliu Zamfirescu, and Michael Sadoveanu. A great loss to Rumanian literature was the untimely death of the poet Cerna, who in profundity ranked next to Eminescu. (M. B.*)