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Romania
In the ancient world, areas of south-eastern Romania
formed parts of the kingdom of
Thrace. Various tribes, including the
Roxolani inhabited areas
during the first century BC. Northern areas were under the control of the Germanic tribe of
the Gepids in the sixth century AD.
The country of Romania (or Rumania in older usage) become a principality in
1859 under Ottoman suzerainty when it was formed out of the
late-Byzantine and then
Ottoman-ruled principalities of
Wallachia
and Moldavia. The country
gained independence from the Ottomans in 1877. Karl or Karel of the
Prussian
royal family of Hohenzollern had been brought in to form a new monarchy
for Wallachia, and so became the first king of Rumania in 1881. |
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Kingdom of Rumania (Hohenzollern)
AD 1881 - 1947 |
1881 - 1914 |
Karel I |
Charles Eitel Frederick of
Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen of
Prussia. |
1914 - 1927 |
Ferdinand |
Nephew. Daughter Marie
m King Alexander II of
Yugoslavia. |
1916 - 1918 |
On 17 August 1916, Rumania, long courted by the First
World War Allies, is finally persuaded by promises from
France and
Russia that it will gain the
principality of Transylvania from
Hungary.
Its war effort is quickly defeated when it attacks into Hungary instead of
holding a front against
Bulgaria, as
agreed. However, when the Russian and
Austrian
empires collapse it gets what it wants. Furthermore, the ethnic Rumanians of
the Russian provinces of Bessarabia and
Moldavia declare a Moldavian
People's Republic in January 1918, with the Rumanian army close at hand. In
April, these regions become part of Rumania proper. The country's gains in
populace amount to about a quarter of its total figure. |
1927 - 1930 |
Michael / Mihai |
Son of Karel II.
Born 1921. |
1930 - 1940 |
Karel II |
Son of Ferdinand. |
1940 - 1947 |
Michael / Mihai |
Used as a fascist figurehead. Exiled. |
1938 - 1944 |
Russia
seizes Moldova (former Moldavia)
in 1940, before Rumania becomes an active ally of
Germany. After some internal
strife, the fascists rule Rumania as part of the Axis Alliance with Nazi Germany.
The country is governed by a pro-German dictator, with the king powerless.
Antonescu's rule is marked by anti-Semitic atrocities, including racially
discriminatory laws, deportations and pogroms. The king and his mother,
Queen Helen, are kept informed about the next actions planned against the
Jews. The queen then seeks urgent meetings with Antonescu, and manages to
have many anti-Jewish measures and orders rescinded, saving many thousands
of Jewish lives. |
1940 - 1944 |
Ion Antonescu |
Fascist dictator
and army marshal. Executed. |
1944 |
In August the king requests a meeting with Marshal
Antonescu, and demands his resignation. Antonescu refuses and three soldiers
and a captain, listening in the next room, enter and arrest him. A
provisional government is formed, and an armistice announced which ends
hostilities against
Soviet troops who are
already pressing towards the country's borders. Within hours,
German planes bomb
the royal palace and Romania joins the Allies. Antonescu is executed by the
Communist authorities after the war. |
1947 |
With the
USSR
occupying the rest of Eastern Europe at the end of the Second World War, Rumania is taken over
by communists. The king is forced to abdicate by Petru Groza, the communist
prime minister (known as the 'red bourgeois' thanks to his own upper-middle
class background). Groza threatens the death of about a thousand
pro-monarchy supporters, most of them students who had been arrested at
earlier rallies, if the king does not comply. The king signs and an impromptu
meeting of parliament witnesses the proclamation of a republic. |
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Modern Romania
AD 1947 - Present Day
Romania was occupied
by Soviet forces at the
end of the Second World War and the monarchy was abolished. The largest of
the modern Balkan countries, its communist government pursued polices which
were independent of Soviet control. The king went into exile in
Switzerland
where he still lived at the age of ninety-one in 2011, along with his five
daughters.
Successive claimants to the Romanian throne
are shown with a shaded background. |
1947 - Present |
Michael / Mihai |
'Prince of Hohenzollern'
(1947-48). 'King of Rumania' (1948-on). |
1949 |
One
of the victims of the newly-established communist state is the heir to the
throne of
Mexico,
Princess Maria, who dies in suspicious circumstances
shortly after she is interned along with her husband. |
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1965 - 1989 |
Nicolae Ceauçescu |
Communist dictator.
Executed in a popular uprising. |
1989 |
Communism is
discarded and a democratic republic is painstakingly established. |
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2004 |
Romania joins NATO. |
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2007 |
In
January, Romania becomes a member state of the European Union. |
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Frederick William |
Heir. Prince of
the Hohenzollerns of
Germany. |
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