Editing Romania (section)

=== Early modern times and national awakening ===

{{Main|Early Modern Romania|Romanian War of Independence}}
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| footer            = During the [[Long Turkish War]], [[List of rulers of Wallachia|Wallachian Prince]] [[Michael the Brave]] (''portrayed'') briefly reigned over the three medieval principalities of [[Wallachia]], [[Moldavia]], and [[Transylvania]], covering most of the present-day territory of Romania
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The Kingdom of Hungary collapsed, and the Ottomans occupied parts of Banat and Crișana in 1541.{{sfn|Pop|1999|pp=52–53}} Transylvania and [[Maramureș]], along with the rest of Banat and Crișana developed into a new state under Ottoman suzerainty, the [[Principality of Transylvania (1570–1711)|Principality of Transylvania]].{{sfn|Georgescu|1991|p=41}} The [[Reformation]], initiated in Germany by [[Martin Luther]] in 1517, encouraged the rise of Protestantism and four denominations—[[Reformed Church in Romania|Calvinism]], [[Evangelical Church of Augustan Confession in Romania|Lutheranism]], [[Unitarian Church of Transylvania|Unitarianism]], and Roman Catholicism—were officially acknowledged in 1568.{{Who|date=March 2025}}{{sfn|Pop|1999|p=69}} The Romanians' Orthodox faith remained only tolerated,{{sfn|Pop|1999|p=69}} although they made up more than one-third of the population, according to 17th-century estimates.{{sfn|Trócsányi|Miskolczy|1994|p=419}}{{sfn|Georgescu|1991|p=71}}

The princes of Transylvania, Wallachia, and Moldavia joined the [[Holy League (1594)|Holy League]] against the Ottoman Empire in 1594.{{sfn|Georgescu|1991|p=54}} The Wallachian prince, [[Michael the Brave]], united the three principalities under his rule in May&nbsp;1600.{{sfn|Hitchins|2014|p=35}}{{sfn|Georgescu|1991|pp=55–56}} The neighbouring powers forced him to abdicate in September, but he became a symbol of the unification of the Romanian lands in the 19th&nbsp;century.{{sfn|Hitchins|2014|p=35}} Although the rulers of the three principalities continued to pay tribute to the Ottomans, the most talented princes—[[Gabriel Bethlen]] of Transylvania, [[Matei Basarab]] of Wallachia, and [[Vasile Lupu]] of Moldavia—strengthened their autonomy.{{sfn|Pop|1999|pp=75–76}}

The united armies of the [[Holy League (1684)|Holy League]] expelled the Ottoman troops from Central Europe between 1684 and 1699, and the Principality of Transylvania was integrated into the [[Habsburg monarchy]].{{sfn|Pop|1999|p=79}} The Habsburgs supported the Catholic clergy and persuaded the Orthodox Romanian prelates to accept the [[church union|union with the Roman Catholic Church]] in 1699.{{sfn|Georgescu|1991|p=42}} In the [[18th century]], [[Moldavia]] and [[Wallachia]] maintained their internal autonomy, but in [[1711]] and [[1716]], respectively, the period of the [[Phanariots]] began, with rulers appointed directly by the Porte from among the noble families of [[Greeks|Greek]] origin in [[Constantinople]]. With the signing of the [[Ausgleich]] in [[1867]], [[Transylvania]] quickly lost its remaining political autonomy, being politically and administratively incorporated into the [[Kingdom of Hungary]].<ref>Anton Dörner, “Administrarea Transilvaniei în perioada anilor 1867–1876”, Institutul de Istorie „George Barițiu” din Cluj-Napoca – Accessed 02.05.2009.</ref> The Church Union strengthened the Romanian intellectuals' devotion to their Roman heritage.{{sfn|Hitchins|2014|p=60}} The Orthodox Church was restored in Transylvania only after Orthodox monks stirred up revolts in 1744 and 1759.{{sfn|Hitchins|2014|p=61}} The organisation of the [[Transylvanian Military Frontier]] caused further disturbances, [[Siculicidium|especially among the Székelys in 1764]].{{sfn|Trócsányi|Miskolczy|1994|pp=432–434}}

Princes [[Dimitrie Cantemir]] of Moldavia and [[Constantin Brâncoveanu]] of Wallachia concluded alliances with the Habsburg Monarchy and Russia against the Ottomans, but they were dethroned in 1711 and 1714, respectively.{{sfn|Hitchins|2014|pp=44–45}} The sultans lost confidence in the native princes and appointed Orthodox merchants from the [[Fener|Phanar]] district of Istanbul to rule Moldova and Wallachia.{{sfn|Hitchins|2014|pp=55–56}}{{sfn|Georgescu|1991|pp=73–74}} The [[Phanariotes|Phanariot]] princes pursued oppressive fiscal policies and dissolved the army.{{sfn|Georgescu|1991|pp=74–75, 78}} The neighbouring powers took advantage of the situation: the Habsburg Monarchy annexed the northwestern part of Moldavia, or [[Bukovina]], in 1775, and the [[Russian Empire]] seized the eastern half of Moldavia, or [[Bessarabia]], in 1812.{{sfn|Pop|1999|p=92}}{{sfn|Georgescu|1991|pp=75–76}}

A census revealed that the Romanians were more numerous than any other ethnic group in Transylvania in 1733, but legislation continued to use contemptuous adjectives (such as "tolerated" and "admitted") when referring to them.{{sfn|Pop|1999|p=87}}{{sfn|Trócsányi|Miskolczy|1994|pp=427–428}} The [[Romanian Greek Catholic Church|Uniate bishop]], [[Inocențiu Micu-Klein]] who demanded recognition of the Romanians as the fourth privileged nation was forced into exile.{{sfn|Georgescu|1991|pp=89–90}}{{sfn|Trócsányi|Miskolczy|1994|pp=427–428}} Uniate and Orthodox clerics and laymen jointly signed a [[Supplex Libellus Valachorum|plea for the Transylvanian Romanians' emancipation]] in 1791, but the monarch and the local authorities refused to grant their requests.{{sfn|Hitchins|2014|pp=73–74}}{{sfn|Pop|1999|p=87}}
[[File:RomaniaBorderHistoryAnnimation 1859-2010.gif|thumb|right|Animated map depicting the territorial changes of Romania from [[Unification of Moldavia and Wallachia|1859]] to [[Maritime Delimitation in the Black Sea case|2010]]]]

The [[Treaty of Küçük Kaynarca]] authorised the Russian ambassador in Istanbul to defend the autonomy of Moldavia and Wallachia (known as the [[Danubian Principalities]]) in 1774.{{sfn|Hitchins|2014|p=68}} Taking advantage of the [[Greek War of Independence]], a Wallachian lesser nobleman, Tudor Vladimirescu, stirred up a revolt against the Ottomans in January&nbsp;1821, but he was murdered in June by Phanariot Greeks.{{sfn|Georgescu|1991|pp=103–104}} After a [[Russo-Turkish War (1828–29)|new Russo-Turkish War]], the [[Treaty of Adrianople (1829)|Treaty of Adrianople]] strengthened the autonomy of the Danubian Principalities in&nbsp;1829, although it also acknowledged the sultan's right to confirm the election of the princes.{{sfn|Hitchins|2014|p=81}}

[[Mihail Kogălniceanu]], [[Nicolae Bălcescu]] and other leaders of the [[Moldavian Revolution of 1848|1848 revolutions in Moldavia]] and [[Wallachian Revolution of 1848|Wallachia]] demanded the emancipation of the peasants and the union of the two principalities, but Russian and Ottoman troops crushed their revolt.{{sfn|Pop|1999|p=99}}{{sfn|Hitchins|2014|pp=96–97}} The Wallachian revolutionists were the first to adopt the blue, yellow and red [[Tricolour (flag)|tricolour]] as the [[Flag of Romania|national flag]].{{sfn|Pop|1999|p=100}} In Transylvania, most Romanians supported the imperial government against the [[Hungarian Revolution of 1848|Hungarian revolutionaries]] after the Diet passed a law concerning the union of Transylvania and Hungary.{{sfn|Pop|1999|p=100}} Bishop [[Andrei Șaguna]] proposed the unification of the Romanians of the Habsburg Monarchy in a separate duchy, but the central government refused to change the internal borders.{{sfn|Hitchins|2014|p=99}}