Editing Romania (section)

=== Unification and the Kingdom of Romania ===
{{Main|Unification of Moldavia and Wallachia|United Principalities of Moldavia and Wallachia|Kingdom of Romania}}

[[File:Al I Cuza.jpg|right|thumb|upright|[[Alexandru Ioan Cuza]], ''[[Domnitor]]'' of Romania from 1862 to 1866]]

====From the Little Union to the Great War====
The modern Romanian state was created through the [[Unification of the Romanian Principalities|unification of the principalities of Moldavia and Wallachia]], accepted as a federative structure by the Great Powers following the [[Paris Convention]] of 1858, and later cemented by the simultaneous election as ruler of both states of the unionist [[Alexandru Ioan Cuza]].<ref name="150_2012-07-06">[http://www.jurnalul.ro/special/150-de-ani-de-la-unirea-principatelor-romane-142961.htm 150 de ani de la Unirea Principatelor Române] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120527144901/http://www.jurnalul.ro/special/150-de-ani-de-la-unirea-principatelor-romane-142961.htm |date=2012-05-27 }}, 24 January 2009, ''Jurnalul Național'', accessed 6 July 2012</ref><ref>[http://www.mnir.ro/ro/ExpozitiiTemporare/Expozitie.aspx?IDExpozitieTemp=68 National Museum of Romanian History] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090226155145/http://www.mnir.ro/ro/ExpozitiiTemporare/Expozitie.aspx?IDExpozitieTemp=68 |date=2009-02-26 }} – Unirea Principatelor Române, 150 de ani – Accessed 15 March 2009</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Bobango|first=Gerald J|title=The emergence of the Romanian national State|publisher=Boulder|year=1979|location=New York|isbn=9780914710516}}</ref> After carrying out numerous reforms that laid the foundations for the modernisation of the state, he was forced in 1866 by a broad coalition of the political parties of the time, also known as the "[[Monstrous coalition]]", to abdicate and leave the country.<ref name="FC">Constantiniu, Florin: ''A Sincere History of the Romanian People'', Bucharest, Editura Univers Enciclopedic, 1997 – ISBN 973-9243-07-X</ref>

The union was at one time in peril, but the political leaders of the era succeeded in placing on the princely throne [[Carol I of Romania]], who accepted the Constitution and took the oath on 10 May 1866. Eleven years later, on 10 May 1877, Romania proclaimed its independence—achieved on the battlefield—and in 1881, on the same day of the year, Carol was crowned as [[King of Romania]]. In 1913, Romania entered the [[Second Balkan War]] against [[Bulgaria]], at the end of which it obtained [[Southern Dobruja]].<ref>[http://www.rri.ro/arh-art.shtml?lang=2&sec=40&art=8410 Radio România Internațional] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110819013509/http://www.rri.ro/arh-art.shtml?lang=2&sec=40&art=8410 |date=2011-08-19 }} – Romania in the Balkan Wars – Accessed 15 March 2009</ref><ref>“On 27 June/10 July 1913, Romania summoned its ambassador from Sofia and, via an ultimative diplomatic note, announced to Bulgaria that, if it did not cease its aggressive actions against Greece and Serbia, the Romanian Army would take action.” – Lieutenant-Colonel drd. Rizescu Alexandru – ''[http://www.armyacademy.ro/buletin/2_2001/art9.html Aspects of Romania’s Security Policy in Southeastern Europe at the Beginning of the 20th Century]'' – Accessed 15 March 2009</ref><ref>{{cite book|last1=Anderson|first1=Frank Maloy|last2=Hershey|first2=Amos Shartle|title=Handbook for the Diplomatic History of Europe, Asia, and Africa 1870-1914|publisher=Government Printing Office|year=1918|location=Washington D.C.}}</ref> In 1914, [[King Carol I of Romania|King Carol I]] died, and his nephew, [[Ferdinand I of Romania|Ferdinand I]], succeeded him on the throne.<ref name="FC" />

====World War I and the Great Union====
{{Main|Romania in World War I}}

In 1916, Romania entered [[World War I]] on the side of the [[Entente Powers]].<ref>[http://www.casaromana.org/istoria/r_secolulxx.html Casa Română] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090322072343/http://www.casaromana.org/istoria/r_secolulxx.html |date=2009-03-22 }} – The History of the Romanians – Accessed 15 March 2009</ref> Although the Romanian forces did not perform well militarily, by the end of the war the Austrian and Russian Empires had disintegrated; the National Assembly in [[Transylvania]], and the [[Sfatul Țării]] in [[Bessarabia]] and [[Bukovina]] proclaimed their union with Romania, and [[Ferdinand I of Romania|King Ferdinand I]] and [[Queen Maria of Romania|Queen Maria]] were crowned sovereign of all Romanians in [[Alba Iulia]] on 15 October 1922.<ref>[http://www.familiaregala.ro/?lng=&id2=010103 The Romanian Royal Family] – Ferdinand – Accessed 15 March 2009</ref> The [[Treaty of Versailles]] recognised all the union proclamations in accordance with the right to self-determination established by U.S. President [[Woodrow Wilson]]’s ''Fourteen Points''.<ref>“[http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Fourteen_Points_Speech Fourteen Points Speech]”, Woodrow Wilson. [[Wikisource]].</ref>

====Interwar period====
After having left the country and renounced his claim to the throne in 1925, [[Carol II of Romania|Carol II]] returned in 1930 and usurped his son’s throne; influenced by his inner circle—referred to by historians as the "Royal Camarilla"—he gradually undermined the democratic system, and in 1938 he assumed dictatorial powers. Although he was pro-Western (especially Anglophile), Carol attempted to appease extreme centrifugal forces by appointing nationalist governments that adopted anti-Semitic measures, such as the [[Goga cabinet]] and the one led by the Orthodox Patriarch [[Miron Cristea]].

====World War II: Positions and territorial losses====
[[File:PérdidasTerritorialesRumanas1940-ro.svg|thumb|right|Romania's territorial losses in the summer of 1940. Of these territories, only [[Northern Transylvania]] was [[Paris Peace Treaties, 1947|regained]] after the end of World War II]]
Following the [[Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact]] of 1939, in June 1940 Romania accepted the loss of [[Bessarabia]], [[Northern Bukovina]] and the [[Hertsa]] region in favour of the [[USSR]] (as stipulated in the Soviet ultimatum of 28 June 1940). Unaware of the details of the Soviet–German pact, Carol attempted to secure an alliance with [[Nazi Germany]], and appointed Ion Gigurtu as President of the Council of Ministers, who declared that he would pursue a Nazi pro-Axis (Berlin–Rome) policy that was anti-Semitic and fascist-totalitarian in nature.<ref>''Le Figaro'', 6 July 1940, p. 2.</ref><ref>''Le Figaro'', 9 July 1940, p. 1.</ref><ref>''New York Times'', 5 July 1940; ''New York Times'', 7 July 1940; ''New York Times'', 30 July 1940; ''New York Times'', 9 August 1940.</ref> Between 4 July and 4 September 1940, by accepting [[Second Vienna Award|Hitler's arbitration]] over Transylvania (after Gigurtu declared on radio that Romania must make territorial sacrifices to justify its Nazi orientation and full adherence to the Berlin–Rome Axis), Romania ceded [[Northern Transylvania]]—including the city of [[Cluj]]—to Hungary.<ref>''Le Figaro'', 9 August 1940; ''New York Times'', 9 August 1940.</ref><ref>Constantiniu, Florin: ''Between Hitler and Stalin; Romania and the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact'', Bucharest, Editura Danubius, 1991.</ref><ref>Constantiniu, Florin: ''Hitler, Stalin and Romania – Romania and the Genesis of Operation “Barbarossa”'', Bucharest, Editura Univers Enciclopedic, 2002.</ref> The vast territories in Transylvania ceded by Ion Gigurtu to Hungary contained important natural resources, including gold mines.<ref>''Le Figaro'', 4 September 1940.</ref> Ion Gigurtu also initiated negotiations to cede 8,000&nbsp;km<sup>2</sup> of Southern Dobruja to Bulgaria,<ref>''Le Figaro'', 23 August 1940.</ref> these negotiations were interrupted by Antonescu's unconditional acceptance of the territorial cession.<ref name="romlib2018-07-04">{{Citation | url=https://romanialibera.ro/special/documentare/75-de-ani-de-la-pierderea-cadrilaterului---mica-bijuterie-a-coroanei-romaniei-391941 | title=PHOTO. 75 Years since the Loss of the Quadrilateral – the Small Jewel of the Romanian Crown | newspaper=România liberă | date=2015-09-07 | first=Mihai | last=Diac | access-date=4 July 2018}}</ref>

In response to the chaotic withdrawal from Bessarabia, the territorial cessions, public discontent, and protests from political leaders, King Carol II suspended the [[1938 Constitution of Romania]] and appointed General [[Ion Antonescu]] as Prime Minister. This measure, supported by the [[Iron Guard]], demanded that the king abdicate in favour of his son, [[Mihai I of Romania|Mihai]]. Subsequently, Antonescu assumed dictatorial powers and became President of the Council of Ministers, self-titling himself as the "Leader" of the state.<ref name="barba">Constantiniu, Florin: ''Hitler, Stalin and Romania – Romania and the Genesis of Operation “Barbarossa”'', Bucharest, Univers Enciclopedic, 2002</ref><ref name="Encarta">“[http://encarta.msn.com/encyclopedia_761559516_9/Romania.html History of Romania] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091030124558/http://encarta.msn.com/encyclopedia_761559516_9/Romania.html |date=2009-10-30 }}”. Encarta. Accessed 14 March 2009.</ref>

====World War II====
{{Main|Romania in World War II}}
In 1941, as an ally of [[Nazi Germany]], Romania entered [[World War II]] by declaring war on the [[Soviet Union]].<ref name="barba"/><ref name="Encarta"/> A shift in fortunes only became discernible after the defeat at Stalingrad and the subsequent change of the USSR from a defensive to an offensive posture. On 23 August 1944, with the Soviet army having been present in northern Moldova since March, [[Mihai I of Romania|King Mihai I]] forcibly removed Marshal [[Ion Antonescu]] from power, as he refused to sign an armistice with the [[Allies of World War II]].<ref name="Memoria">[http://www.revista.memoria.ro/?location=view_article&id=386 ''Memoria''], Eugen Denize. Accessed 15 March 2009.</ref> Following Antonescu's outright refusal, King Mihai I ordered the dismissal and arrest of the marshal, and Romania switched sides to join the Allies.<ref name="Memoria" />