History History

Archaeological finds attest to a very ancient human presence on the territory of Romania. Flint tools dating back 600,000 years have been found. In the Neolithic period, around 5000 BC, two cultures stand out: the culture of Hamangia, in Dobrogea, known for its terracotta figurines, notably that of the Thinker. The brilliant civilization of Cucuteni, present in the northeast, has left remarkable painted ceramics.

First written mention of the Geta (or Daces) by the Greek historian Herodotus. But the Geto-Daces would have arrived about 4,000 years before on the territory, coming from the east. The Greeks, who set up trading posts on the Black Sea coast in the 7th century BC. (Tomis, Histria...), will greatly influence the Dacian civilization. Polytheists, the Dacians venerate a supreme god, Zalmoxis. This people of farmers also exploited the salt and precious metals of Transylvania, sources of a prosperous trade.

In the 1st century BC, King Burebista (82-44) unified all the Dacian tribes, thus founding the powerful kingdom of Dacia, whose centre is in Sarmizegetusa. After Burebista's death, unity breaks down, but the region is still considered a danger by Rome.

Decebal (87-106) manages to reunify the kingdom. His reign is marked by conflicts against the Roman forces, which eventually invade the region in 105-106, under the leadership of Emperor Trajan. Roman settlers came to mingle with the local population. Dacia experienced a remarkable economic boom and the beginnings of a real urbanization (Napoca, Potaissa...).

Faced with the attacks of migrating peoples (Goths in particular), the Roman Empire abandoned the province of Dacia and withdrew, between 271 and 275. But the Dacian-Roman population remained in place. The Romans, despite less than two centuries of presence, leave an important heritage, especially in the language.

The population is gradually becoming more Christian. Throughout the first millennium, the territory is crossed by waves of migrating peoples (Huns, Gepids, Slavs...), who exercise a more or less temporary domination.

The first political formations of Romanians are attested by documents from the 10th century onwards. Small states appear, precursors of the future feudal states. The Magyars settled in Pannonia and founded the kingdom of Hungary in the year 1000.

A schism separates the Churches of East and West.

Around 1100 Transylvania became an autonomous voivodate within the kingdom of Hungary. The Hungarian king Géza II (1141-1162) invited the Saxons to colonize the region to defend it against Tatar invasions. The eastern borders are guarded by the Sicules, a Magyar-speaking people.

Basarab I (1324-1352) unified the existing small feudal states south of the Carpathians and founded the voivodate of Wallachia, vassal of Hungary. It gained its autonomy after the victory at Posada in 1330 over the Hungarian king Charles Robert of Anjou. At the same time, Bogdan I (1359-1365), in conflict with the Hungarians, left his principality of Maramureș to found the voivodate of Moldavia.

At the very end of the 14th century, the expansion of the Ottoman Empire reached the Danube and threatened the Romanian voivodships. It was the beginning of long wars between the princes of Moldavia and Wallachia and the Turkish armies. Despite several victories, Ottoman sovereignty was imposed on the two Romanian states, then on Hungarian Transylvania, which had to pay tribute, but nevertheless retained their autonomy (except for Dobrogea, occupied from 1421). Thus, in Wallachia, Mircea cel Bătrân (1386-1418) signed a pact in 1415. Relations deteriorate and bloody battles take place under Vlad Țepeș, in power in 1448, from 1456 to 1462 and in 1476. In Moldavia, the long and brilliant reign of Ștefan cel Mare (1457-1504) is marked by clashes with the Turks, who end up taking the upper hand. In Transylvania, Mathias Corvin, king of Hungary (1458-1490), battles against the Ottomans. But after his death and the defeat of Mohács (1526), Transylvania became in 1541 an autonomous principality, vassal of the Ottoman Empire.

After several victories over the Turks, Mihai Viteazul (Michael the Brave), Prince of Wallachia (1593-1601), regained independence. He placed Transylvania under his authority in 1599, then Moldavia in 1600, thus becoming the first sole sovereign of the three principalities. The union was short-lived: Mihai Viteazul was assassinated in 1601. His epic will be used, from the 19th century, to symbolize the national unity of the Romanians.

The reign of this prince of Wallachia (1688-1714) was marked by a cultural boom. The Brâncovenesc architectural style that appeared at that time blends traditional Romanian elements, Byzantine influences and those of the Italian Renaissance. Churches and palaces were built, including the monastery of Horezu. Brâncoveanu is showing signs of emancipation from Ottoman rule, which is causing its loss. Refusing to renounce the Orthodox faith, he was beheaded with his four sons in the presence of the Sultan in 1714. The Phanariot period began: the Wallachian and Moldavian princes were no longer chosen by the Romanian nobility, but were appointed and dismissed at will by the Ottomans, who drew from the Greek elite in the Phanar district of Constantinople.

Transylvania comes under the domination of the Habsburgs.

Moldavia is cut off from Bucovina, which was annexed by the Habsburg Empire.

In Transylvania, the majority Romanian peasantry is totally excluded from the political field, trussed up by the Magyar nobility and the Saxon high bourgeoisie. Inspired by the spirit of the Enlightenment, the revolution of 1784, led by Horea, Cloșca and Crișan, was harshly suppressed.

The eastern half of Moldavia (Bessarabia) is annexed by the Tsar, who pursues an intense russification policy, pushing many Romanians to flee.

The French Revolution inspired a current of innovative political ideas, aiming at the creation of a Romanian state. In 1821, Tudor Vladimirescu led a revolution of a social and national character, which was suppressed by the Ottoman armies. But it led to the suppression of the phanariot regime, which was very unpopular and corrupt.

During the Spring of the Peoples, the Romanians of Wallachia, Moldova and Transylvania rise up. The revolution is contained by the combined efforts of the Russian and Ottoman empires, but the national consciousness is increasingly marked.

On 5 February 1859, with the support of the great European powers, Alexandru Ioan Cuza, Prince of Moldova for two weeks, was also elected Prince of Wallachia. The union of the two principalities under the name of Romania was proclaimed in 1862. With his Prime Minister Mihail Kogălniceanu, Ioan Cuza strives to modernize the institutions: agrarian reform, abolition of Roma slavery, secularization of the domains of the Church..

Ioan Cuza is forced to abdicate. Carol I, of the German princely family of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen, is then elected reigning prince by the Romanian Parliament. The first constitution is promulgated. It establishes a constitutional monarchy.

As a result of its participation in the Russian-Turkish war of 1877-1878, Romania proclaimed its independence from the Ottoman Empire on 9 May. It was recognized at the Berlin Peace Congress in 1878. Dobrogea is retroceded to it.

Carol I is crowned king. His reign is marked by an economic boom, thanks in particular to grain and oil exports.

In Transylvania, still under Austro-Hungarian domination, the Romanians are undergoing a forced Magyarization. In 1892, they sent a memorandum to Vienna to denounce the suffering they had endured. In vain.

The peasant world, which has not benefited from the economic spin-offs of the industrial revolution, is rising up to protest against its misery. The revolt is violently repressed.

Carol I dies in 1914, her nephew Ferdinand ascends the throne. Initially neutral in the world conflict, Romania entered the war in 1916, alongside the Triple Entente (France, Russia and Great Britain).

After the dissolution of Austria-Hungary, Bucovina, the Hungarian part of Banat and Transylvania were attached to Romania, as well as Bessarabia, giving rise to Greater Romania. The territory and population are doubled. The union was proclaimed on December ¹, 1918 (which became a national holiday), then ratified by the Treaty of Trianon in 1920.

King Ferdinand and his wife Mary are crowned monarchs of the new Romania, in Alba Iulia.

Ferdinand's dead. His son Carol II having renounced his rights to the Crown, it is his grandson Michel, aged 5, who succeeds him. A regency is established. Carol II retook the throne in 1930. The decade that followed was marked by the rise of the Iron Guard, a fascist movement led by Corneliu Codreanu. In 1933, Prime Minister Duca was assassinated shortly after disbanding the movement. In 1938, Carol II establishes a royal dictatorship. He violently represses the Iron Guard, which carries out terrorist actions in retaliation.

The German-Soviet pact of August 1939 precipitates the division of the country: Bessarabia and Northern Bukovina are annexed by the USSR, while Hungary recovers Northern Transylvania and Bulgaria takes over Dobrogea.

In September 1940, King Carol II abdicated, forced by Marshal Ion Antonescu. The latter established a fascist regime, the author of many atrocities. Several hundred thousand Jews and Gypsies are deported to Transnistria, where many will die. Terrible massacres and pogroms were perpetrated, including at Iași.

In 1941, Romania entered the war against the USSR alongside Nazi Germany. But after the fall of Antonescu in August 1944, Romania joins the Allies. Romanian troops participated with the Soviets in the liberation of Hungary, Czechoslovakia and Austria.

The 1947 Treaty of Paris returned northern Transylvania to Romania, but not Bessarabia or northern Bukovina.

Few in number before the war, the communists extend their hold, aided by the Red Army, which occupies the country. They won a crushing victory in the 1946 elections, which took place in a climate of terror against the opponents.

King Michael, who returned to the throne in 1940, was forced to abdicate and go into exile. A Soviet-style People's Republic is proclaimed. Then begins a violent wave of repression against intellectuals, democrats, anti-collectivist peasants and all opponents or potential opponents. It is the time of the terrible prisons of Gherla, Aiud, Pitești and Sighetu Marmației, where atrocious re-education programs are put into practice. The economy is organised according to the socialist model, land is collectivised. The Securitate, the secret police, was created in 1948. Gheorghe Gheorghiu-Dej, General Secretary of the Communist Party since 1945, eliminates internal competition and becomes the leader of the country.

After Stalin's death in 1953, the Romanian leadership began to move away from Moscow. The country develops its own foreign policy. In 1958, the Soviet troops begin their withdrawal.

After Gheorghiu-Dej's death, Nicolae Ceaușescu, his right-hand man, came to power and ruled the Socialist Republic. Refusing to support the USSR militarily during its intervention against the Prague Spring in 1968, he receives the support of Western leaders. Many of them (de Gaulle, Nixon, Brandt...) went to Bucharest.

Starting in the 1970s, the regime became more stringent. Ceaușescu became president in 1974 and concentrated powers. The cult of the personality is accentuated, its close relations monopolize the high functions. The Conducător pursues a policy of forced industrialization and incurs many debts abroad.

On 4 March, an earthquake measuring 7.2 on the Richter scale killed 1,570 people in the Bucharest region. The capital is badly damaged.

The 1980s were a terrible time for the Romanian people. Ceaușescu sets out to repay the heavy foreign debt in full. From 1981 onwards, the economy turns entirely to mass production for export, while nothing is imported any more. The population is impoverished, under the effect of strict austerity. There is a lack of food in the shops, where people have to stand in long queues. Water, electricity and petrol are rationed.

The construction of the People's House begins in Bucharest. For this titanic and very expensive building site, Ceaușescu is razing a large part of the historic centre.

On 15 November, three people were killed in riots at Brașov, which pitted armed forces against starving workers. Slogans against Ceaușescu are launched.

Beginning of the village systematization program, which foresees the disappearance of half of the villages.

On 16 December, a first rally takes place at Timișoara, to protest against the forced transfer of the Hungarian pastor László Tőkés, who is critical of the regime. On the 17th, a new rally turns into a riot. The police shoot, killing several people. Soon the revolt spreads to other towns. On December 21, Ceaușesc organizes a big rally in support of the regime in Bucharest. But those who were supposed to cheer him up start booing him. His speech, broadcast live on TV, was interrupted and the rally turned into a blood-curdling protest. On the 22nd, the streets of Bucharest are full of demonstrators, a jubilant crowd invades the headquarters of the Communist Party. Ceaușescu and his wife Elena flee, but they are arrested at Târgoviște. They are summarily tried and executed on Christmas Day. The National Salvation Front, presided over by the former apparatchik Ion Iliescu, takes power. On the 26th, Petre Roman formed a provisional government. In the days following the fall of Ceaușescu, the capital was the scene of deadly clashes, resulting in more than 800 deaths.

In the aftermath of the revolution, the old nomenklatura is still in charge. Exasperated by the continuation of the caciques of the communist regime, the students growl. On several occasions, Iliescu sends the miners from the Jiu valley to subdue the demonstrators. These "miners" caused several deaths. In May, Ion Iliescu is elected president with 85% of the votes, while the National Salvation Front wins a large majority in the legislative elections. In October 1992, Iliescu is re-elected president. A supporter of the politics of small steps, he initiates very few changes.

A new Constitution is adopted.

Prevented several times from entering the country after the revolution, King Michael was finally allowed to come for Easter. On April 25, a million people cheer him in Bucharest. He is then banned from staying and only finds his Romanian passport in 1997.

Romania is admitted to the Council of Europe.

In November, the centrist opposition wins a majority in parliamentary elections and the Christian Democrat Emil Constantinescu is elected president. The Constantinescu years are marked by several liberal reforms. Foreign capital begins to appear and negotiations to join the European Union begin. But the changes are timid and the daily life of Romanians remains difficult.

Iliescu is again elected president, facing Corneliu Vadim Tudor, the leader of the extremist Greater Romania Party. Adrian Năstase is appointed Prime Minister. During his term of office, the country makes economic progress, but regresses in terms of democracy.

Romania joins NATO. At the December presidential election, Traian Băsescu, the candidate for the alliance between the National Liberal Party and the Democratic Party, narrowly defeats Adrian Năstase. Nicknamed Popeye, for his physique and his past as a sailor, this atypical president wants to champion the fight against corruption and oligarchs. He dramatically reduces taxation, with a single 16% tax for both companies and individuals. Băsescu also initiates a process of decommunisation, condemning the crimes committed under the communist regime and authorising the opening of the Securitate archives. The fight against corruption is making progress, the economic situation is improving (+6.7% growth per year between 2002 and 2008). Cohabitation with the liberal Prime Minister Călin Popescu Tăriceanu, on the other hand, is tumultuous. Parliament even initiated impeachment proceedings against Băsescu in 2007, which were overwhelmingly rejected by referendum.

On ¹ January, Romania joins the European Union. This has meant that the country has had to carry out important political, economic and social reforms. There have been many upheavals in the agricultural and judicial sectors, administrative reorganisation, depoliticisation of institutions, the fight against discrimination against minorities (especially the Roma) and against corruption

Băsescu is narrowly re-elected for a second term, marked by the global economic crisis, which is hitting the country hard. Riots erupt during the winter 2011-2012, as a result of the fiscal austerity measures implemented by PM Emil Boc's Government. The latter is due to resign on February 6, 2012.

In the presidential elections, the liberal Klaus Iohannis, mayor of Sibiu from the Saxon minority, was elected against the populist Victor Ponta (PSD), who became prime minister after his party's victory in the parliamentary elections.

On 30 October, a fire destroyed the Colectiv nightclub in Bucharest, killing 64 people. It was discovered that the patrons had received the authorisations, despite the failure to comply with safety standards. Large demonstrations broke out against the gangrene of corruption. Already embroiled in several scandals, Victor Ponta finally resigned on 4 November. A transitional government, made up of people from civil society and led by former European Commissioner Dacian Cioloș, was formed.

The December parliamentary elections brought the PSD back to power.

As soon as it was invested, Sorin Grindeanu's government launched reforms aimed at weakening the fight against corruption, while PSD boss Liviu Dragnea was prosecuted. A vast protest movement, supported by President Iohannis, is developing throughout the country. The disputed laws are repealed and on 21 June, the Grindeanu government is overthrown by its own majority. A new cabinet was installed, headed by Mihai Tudose, who resigned six months later.

On 29 January, Viorica Dăncilă (PSD) becomes the first woman to head the government. She relaunched the offensive against the independence of the judiciary. The head of the National Anti-Corruption Directorate Laura Codruța Kövesi, a very active and popular prosecutor, is dismissed. In August, a large demonstration by the diaspora is violently dispersed. In October, the referendum initiated by the PSD to outlaw same-sex marriage is flopped: because of a lack of participation, it is invalidated.

In the first half of the year, Romania holds the Presidency of the European Union, in a climate of tension with Brussels, which is critical of the judicial reforms. In May, Liviu Dragnea is definitively convicted and imprisoned. The Dăncilă government is overthrown in October and the liberal Ludovic Orban becomes Prime Minister. In November, Klaus Iohannis is widely re-elected to the presidency.

The PSD is back in the political spotlight with the appointment of Marcel Ciolacu as Prime Minister. Although the PSD is the favorite to win the 2024 presidential election, the rise of the far-right AUR party, which could join the government, is a cause for concern in Europe.