Editing History of Romania

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{{History of Romania}}
 
The Romanian state was formed in 1859 through a [[personal union]] of the [[United Principalities of Moldavia and Wallachia|Danubian Principalities]] of [[Moldavia]] and [[Wallachia]]. The new state, officially named Romania since 1866, gained independence from the [[Ottoman Empire]] in 1877. During [[World War I]], after declaring its [[Neutral country|neutrality]] in 1914, Romania [[Romania in World War I|fought]] together with the [[Allies of World War I|Allied Powers]] from 1916. In the aftermath of the war, [[Bukovina]], [[Bessarabia]], [[Transylvania]], and parts of [[Banat]], [[Crișana]], and [[Maramureș]] became part of the [[Kingdom of Romania]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://europecentenary.eu/romania-during-the-period-of-neutrality/|title=Romania during the period of neutrality|last=Stoleru|first=Ciprian|date=13 September 2018|website=Europe Centenary|language=en-US|access-date=4 March 2020}}</ref> In June–August&nbsp;1940, as a consequence of the [[Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact]] and [[Second Vienna Award]], Romania was compelled to cede Bessarabia and Northern Bukovina to the [[Soviet Union]] and [[Northern Transylvania]] to Hungary. In November&nbsp;1940, Romania signed the [[Tripartite Pact]] and, consequently, in June&nbsp;1941 entered [[World War II]] on the [[Axis powers|Axis side]], [[Romania in World War II|fighting against the Soviet Union]] until August&nbsp;1944, when it [[1944 Romanian coup d'état|joined]] the [[Allies of World War II|Allies]] and recovered Northern Transylvania.

Following the war and occupation by the [[Red Army]], Romania became a [[Socialist Republic of Romania|socialist republic]] and a member of the [[Warsaw Pact]]. After the [[Romanian Revolution|1989&nbsp;Revolution]], Romania [[History of Romania (1989–present)|began a transition]] towards [[democracy]] and a [[market economy]].

== Prehistory ==
{{Main|Prehistory of Transylvania|Bronze Age in Romania|Prehistory of Southeastern Europe|Cucuteni culture|Hamangia culture|Hațeg Island}}
[[File:Hamangia Muzeul din Constanta.JPG|thumb|''The thinkers of [[Baia, Tulcea|Hamangia]]'', Neolithic [[Hamangia culture]] (c. 5250 – 4550&nbsp;BC)]]

Remains of 34,950-year-old [[modern human]]s were discovered in present-day Romania when the ''[[Peștera cu Oase]]'' ("Cave with Bones") was uncovered in 2002.<ref>{{Citation |title=Early Modern Human Cranial remains from the Peștera cu Oase|journal=Journal of Human Evolution|volume=45|pages=245–253|year=2003|doi=10.1016/j.jhevol.2003.08.003|pmid=14580595 |url=http://www.geo.edu.ro/sgr/mod/downloads/PDF/Trinkaus-JHE-2003-45-245.pdf|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070925185013/http://www.geo.edu.ro/sgr/mod/downloads/PDF/Trinkaus-JHE-2003-45-245.pdf|archive-date=2007-09-25|vauthors=Trinkaus E, Milota S, Rodrigo R, Mircea G, Moldovan O|issue=3}}</ref> The Romanian fossils are among the oldest remains of ''[[Homo sapiens]]'' in Europe.<ref name=Zilhão>{{Citation |last=Zilhão|first=João|title=Neanderthals and Moderns Mixed and It Matters|journal=Evolutionary Anthropology|volume=15|issue=5|pages=183–195|year=2006|doi=10.1002/evan.20110 |url=http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/cgi-bin/fulltext/113440973/PDFSTART|access-date=2008-01-10|s2cid=18565967}}{{dead link|date=February 2019|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}</ref>

The Neolithic-Age [[Cucuteni]] area in northeastern Romania was the western region of one of the earliest European civilizations, known as the [[Cucuteni–Trypillia culture]].<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/01/science/01arch.html?pagewanted=all |title=A Lost European Culture, Pulled From Obscurity|author=John Noble Wilford|publisher=The New York Times (30 November 2009)|date=1 December 2009}}</ref> The earliest-known salt works is at [[Poiana Slatinei]] near the village of [[Vânători-Neamț|Lunca]]; it was first used in the early Neolithic around 6050&nbsp;BC by the [[Starčevo culture]] and later by the Cucuteni-Trypillia culture in the pre-[[Cucuteni]] period.<ref>{{cite web|author=Patrick Gibbs |url=http://antiquity.ac.uk/projgall/weller/ |title=Antiquity Vol 79 No 306 December 2005 The earliest salt production in the world: an early Neolithic exploitation in Poiana Slatinei-Lunca, Romania Olivier Weller & Gheorghe Dumitroaia |publisher=Antiquity.ac.uk |access-date=2012-10-12 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110430145935/http://antiquity.ac.uk/ProjGall/weller/ |archive-date=30 April 2011 }}</ref>

== Dacia ==
{{Main|Celts in Transylvania|Dacians|Dacia|Domitian's Dacian War|Trajan's Dacian Wars|Getae}}{{Overly detailed|section|date=January 2023}}[[File:Sarmizegetusa Regia - Sanctuarul mare circular. (Zona sacra).jpg|thumb|The [[sanctuaries]] of the ancient [[Dacia]]n Kingdom capital, [[Sarmizegetusa Regia]]]]

The [[Dacians]], who are widely accepted to be the same people as the [[Getae]], were a branch of [[Thracians]] who inhabited [[Dacia]], which corresponds with modern Romania, [[Moldova]], northern Bulgaria, south-western Ukraine, Hungary east of the [[Danube]] river and West Banat in [[Serbia]].<ref>{{Cite book|title=Google Translate| isbn=978-963-386-004-5 |url=https://translate.google.com/translate?depth=1&hl=nl&prev=search&rurl=translate.google.com&sl=en&sp=nmt4&u=https://books.openedition.org/ceup/935|via=translate.google.com|access-date=2020-05-25 | last1=Boia | first1=Lucian | date=January 2001 | publisher=Central European University Press }}</ref>

The earliest written evidence of people living in the territory of present-day Romania comes from [[Herodotus]] in Book IV of his ''[[Histories (Herodotus)|Histories]]'', written in {{circa}} 440&nbsp;BC; He writes that the tribal union/confederation of the [[Getae]] were defeated by the [[Achaemenid Empire|Persian]] Emperor [[Darius the Great]] during his campaign against the [[Scythians]].<ref>{{Citation|last =Herodotus|author-link =Herodotus|title =The Ancient History of Herodotus |type =Google Books|pages =213–217|publisher = Derby & Jackson|orig-year =440&nbsp;BCE, translated 1859|url =https://books.google.com/books?id=sfHsgNIZum0C&q=herodotus+dacians+darius&pg=PA215|access-date=2008-01-10|others = William Beloe (translator)|year =1859}}</ref> One of the most important artifacts from around this period was the [[Helmet of Coțofenești]], which was [[2025 Drents Museum heist|stolen in 2025]].

{{Blockquote|The Dacians are the most law-abiding and the bravest of the Thracians. They believe they are immortal, forever living in the following sense: they think they do not die and that the one who dies joins [[Zalmoxis]], a divine being.|Herodotus}}

[[Strabo]]'s account of the lands inhabited by the [[Getae]]: {{blockquote|As for the southern part of Germany beyond the [[Albis]], the portion which is just contiguous to that river is occupied by the [[Suevi]]; then immediately adjoining this is the land of the [[Getae]], which, though narrow at first, stretching as it does along the [[Danube|Ister]] on its southern side and on the opposite side along the mountain-side of the [[Hercynian Forest]] (for the land of the [[Getae]] also embraces a part of the mountains), afterwards broadens out towards the north as far as the [[Tyragetae|Tyregetae]]; but I cannot tell the precise boundaries.<ref name="strabo">{{cite web | title=Strabo, Geography, Book 7, chapter 3 | website=Perseus Digital Library | url=https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.01.0198:book=7:chapter=3 | access-date=2025-04-11}}</ref> }}
[[File:Dacian_Tribal_Lands.png|thumb|right|alt=Geto-Dacians Tribes|The comprehensive map detailing the approximate lands inhabited by the Getae according to Strabo's accounts]]

The Dacians spoke a dialect of the Thracian language but were influenced culturally by the neighboring Scythians in the east and by the Celtic invaders of [[Transylvania]] in the 4th century.

Due to the fluctuating nature of the Dacian states, especially before the time of Burebista and before the 1st century AD, the Dacians would often be split into different kingdoms. Known rulers of the Dacians include [[Charnabon]] in the 5th century BC, [[Cothelas]] in the 4th century BC,<ref>Atlas of Classical History by R. Talbert, 1989, page 63, "Getae under Cothelas"</ref> Rex Histrianorum mentioned in 339 BC, Dual in the 3rd century BC, [[Moskon]] in the 3rd century BC,<ref>https://revistapontica.files.wordpress.com/2012/02/pontica-3-pag-125-129.pdf Radu Ocheșeanu: Monedele basileului Moskon aflate în colecțiile Muzeului de Arheologie Constanța</ref> [[Dromichaetes]] in the 3rd century BC,<ref>Dacia: Landscape, Colonization and Romanization by Ioana A Oltean, 2007, Index Dromichaetes King of the Getians</ref> [[Zalmodegicus]] around 200 BC,<ref>McGing B.C.: ''The foreign policy of Mithridates VI Eupator, King of Pontus''</ref><ref>Kurt W. Treptow and Ioan Bolovan in “A history of Romania – East European Monographs”, 1996, {{ISBN|9780880333450}}, page 17 "..Two inscriptions discovered at Histria indicate that Geto-Dacian rulers (Zalmodegikos and later Rhemaxos) continued to exercise control over that city-state around 200 BC ...."</ref> [[Rhemaxos]] also around 200 BC,<ref>The Hellenistic Age from the Battle of Ipsos to the Death of Kleopatra VII by Stanley M. Burstein, 1985, Index Rhemaxos Getic or Scythian ruler</ref><ref>Kurt W. Treptow and Ioan Bolovan in “A history of Romania – East European Monographs”, 1996, {{ISBN|9780880333450}}, page 17 "Two inscriptions discovered at Histria indicate that Geto-Dacian rulers (Zalmodegikos and later Rhemaxos) continued to exercise control over that city-state around 200 BC ...."</ref> [[Rubobostes]] before 168 BC,<ref>Dacia: Landscape, Colonization and Romanization by Ioana A Oltean, 2007, Index Rubobostes Dacian King</ref> [[Zoltes]] after 168 BC,<ref name="Gagarin2010">{{cite book|editor-last=Gagarin|editor-first=Michael|last=Theodossiev|first=Nikola|chapter=Thrace|title=The Oxford Encyclopedia of Ancient Greece and Rome|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lNV6-HsUppsC&pg=RA6-PA55|access-date=22 December 2013|volume=1|year=2010|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-517072-6|page=55}}</ref> [[Oroles]] in the 2nd century BC,<ref>Dacia: Landscape, Colonization and Romanization by Ioana A Oltean, 2007, page 53, "Dacian King Oroles"</ref> [[Dicomes]] in the 1st century BC,<ref>Dacia: Landscape, Colonization and Romanization by Ioana A Oltean, 2007, page 47, "Dicomes of the Getians"</ref> [[Rholes]] in the 1st century BC,<ref>The Roman History: The Reign of Augustus by Cassius Dio, Ian Scott-Kilvert, and John Carter, 1987, page 85: "... Then he completed their destruction with the help of Roles, the king of a tribe of the Getae. When Roles visited Octavian, he was treated as a friend ..."</ref> [[Dapyx]] in the 1st century BC,<ref>Cassius Dio. Roman History, Book LI. "While he was thus engaged, Roles, who had become embroiled with Dapyx, himself also king of a tribe of the Getae, sent for him. Crassus went to his aid, and by hurling the horse of his opponents back upon their infantry he so thoroughly terrified the latter also that what followed was no longer a battle but a great slaughter of fleeing men of both arms. Next he cut off Dapyx, who had taken refuge in a fort, and besieged him. In the course of the siege someone hailed him from the walls in Greek, obtained a conference with him, and arranged to betray the place. The barbarians, thus captured, turned upon one another, and Dapyx was killed along with many others. His brother, however, Crassus took alive, and not only did him no harm but actually released him."</ref> [[Zyraxes]] in the 1st century BC,<ref>Dacia: Landscape, Colonization and Romanization by Ioana A Oltean, 2007, page 146, "Zyraxes who ruled in Dobruja"</ref> [[Burebista]] between 82 and 44 BC,<ref>Studies in Ancient Greek and Roman Society by Robin Osborne, 2004, page 128: "... of its citizens, named Akornion, went on an embassy to Burebista, the first and greatest of the kings in Thrace..."</ref> [[Deceneus]] between 44 BC and around 27 BC,<ref>Dacia: Landscape, Colonization and Romanization by Ioana A Oltean, 2007, Index (Decaeneus/Dekaineus/Dicineus) Dacian High priest"</ref> Thiamarkos between 1st century BC and 1st century AD,{{sfn| Berciu|1981|p=139-140}} [[Cotiso]] between c. 40 BC and c.9 BC,<ref>Dacia: Landscape, Colonization and Romanization by Ioana A Oltean, 2007, page 48, "The Dacian king Cotiso"</ref> [[Comosicus]] between 9 BC and 30 AD,<ref name="Dacia 2007, page 72">Dacia: Landscape, Colonization and Romanization by Ioana A Oltean, 2007, page 72, "At least two of his successors Comosicus and Scorillo/Corilus/Scoriscus became high priests and eventually Dacian kings"</ref> [[Scorilo]] between c. 30 AD and 70 AD<ref name="Dacia 2007, page 72" /> [[Coson]] in the 1st century AD,<ref name="Dacia 2007, page 47">Dacia: Landscape, Colonization and Romanization by Ioana A Oltean, 2007, page 47, "Kings Coson (who minted his own coins) and Duras"</ref> [[Duras (Dacian king)|Duras]] between c. 69 AD to 87 AD,<ref name="Dacia 2007, page 47" /> and [[Decebalus]] between 87 AD to 106 AD.<ref>''De Imperatoribus Romanis'' [http://www.roman-emperors.org/assobd.htm#t-inx]. Retrieved 2007-11-08. "In the year 88, the Romans resumed the offensive. The Roman troops were now led by the general Tettius Iulianus. The battle took place again at Tapae but this time the Romans defeated the Dacians. For fear of falling into a trap, Iulianus abandoned his plans of conquering Sarmizegetuza and, at the same time, Decebalus asked for peace. At first, Domitian refused this request, but after he was defeated in a war in Pannonia against the Marcomanni (a Germanic tribe), the emperor was obliged to accept the peace."</ref> Dacia became a province of the [[Roman Empire]] in 106 AD, conquered by Emperor [[Trajan]]. However the Free Dacians outside of the Roman Empire remain independent under [[Pieporus]], king of Dacian [[Costoboci]] in the 2nd century AD,<ref>Wilhelm Tomachek in “Les restes de la langue dace” published in “Le Muséon By Société des lettres et des sciences, Louvain, Belgium, page 407 "Pieporus, prince des daces Costoboces..."</ref><ref>Gudmund Schütte in Ptolemy's maps of northern Europe, H. Hagerup, 1917 page 82 "historical king Pieporus. The same author Schütte in “Our forefathers” published by University Press, 1929 page 74 "The North Dacian tribes of the Koistobokoi and Karpoi unlike the rest of Dacia escaped the Roman conquest of AD 105..."</ref> and possibly Tarbus in the 2nd century AD.<ref>Wilhelm Tomachek (1883): “Les restes de la langue dace” published in “Le Muséon By Société des lettres et des sciences, Louvain, Belgium, page 409</ref><ref>[[Roger Batty|Batty, Roger]] (2007): ''Rome and the Nomads: the Pontic-Danubian realm in antiquity'', Oxford University Press, {{ISBN|0-19-814936-0}}, {{ISBN|978-0-19-814936-1}}, page 366</ref>

The Dacia of King [[Burebista]] (82–44 BC) stretched from the [[Black Sea]] to the source of the river Tisa and from the [[Balkan Mountains]] to [[Bohemia]].<ref name="britannica.com">{{cite encyclopedia|title=History of Romania – Antiquity – The Dacians |encyclopedia=[[Encyclopædia Britannica]] |date=27 May 2023 |url=https://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/508461/Romania/214504/History#ref=ref476941}}</ref> During that period, the Geto-Dacians conquered a wider territory and Dacia extended from the Middle Danube to the Black Sea littoral (between Apollonia and Olbia) and from present-day Slovakia's mountains to the Balkan mountains.{{sfn|Murray|2001|p=1120}} In 53 BC, [[Julius Caesar]] stated that the lands of the Dacians started on the eastern edge of the Hercynian Forest (Black Forest).{{sfn|Mountain|1998|p=59}}

Geto-Dacians inhabited both sides of the Tisa river prior to the rise of the Celtic [[Boii]] and again after the latter were defeated by the Dacians under the king Burebista.{{sfn|Taylor|2001|p=215}} It seems likely that the Dacian state arose as a tribal confederacy, which was united only by charismatic leadership.{{sfn|Taylor|2001|p=215}} Before 168 BC,<ref>Barry Cunliffe (1987)142</ref> under the rule of king [[Rubobostes]] in present-day [[Transylvania]], the Dacians' power in the [[Carpathian basin]] increased after they defeated the [[Celts]], who held power in the region since the Celtic invasion of Transylvania in the 4th century BC.
[[File:Dacian_Empire_Under_Burebista.png|thumb|right|alt=Geto-Dacia under Burebista|The legend map of Dacia at its zenith]]

A kingdom of Dacia also existed as early as the first half of the 2nd century BC under King [[Oroles]]. Conflicts with the [[Bastarnae]] and the Romans (112–109 BC, 74 BC), against whom they had assisted the [[Scordisci]] and [[Dardani]], greatly weakened the resources of the Dacians. The [[Ancient Rome|Roman]] historian [[Trogus Pompeius]] wrote about king Oroles punishing his soldiers into sleeping at their wives' feet and doing the household chores, because of their initial failure in defeating the invaders. Subsequently, the now "highly motivated" Dacian army defeated the [[Bastarnae]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.forumromanum.org/literature/justin/english/trans32.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20030902205715/http://www.forumromanum.org/literature/justin/english/trans32.html|url-status=usurped|archive-date=September 2, 2003|title=Justin: Epitome of the Philippic History of Pompeius Trogus, Book 32|website=forumromanum.org}}</ref>

[[File:Daciamaps.png|left|thumb|Top: territories controlled by the [[List of rulers of Thrace and Dacia|Dacian king]], c. [[50 BC]]; bottom: territories controlled by the [[List of rulers of Thrace and Dacia|Dacian king]], circa [[year zero]]]]
[[Burebista]] (Boerebista), a contemporary of [[Julius Caesar]], ruled Geto-Dacian tribes between 82 BC and 44 BC. He reorganized the army and attempted to raise the moral standard and obedience of the people by persuading them to give up wine.<ref name="StraboVII.3.11">Strabo, ''Geography'', VII:3.11</ref> During his reign, the limits of the Dacian Kingdom were extended to their maximum. The [[Bastarnae]] and [[Boii]] were conquered, and even the Greek towns of [[Olbia]] and [[Apollonia, Thrace|Apollonia]] on the [[Black Sea]] (''Pontus Euxinus'') recognized [[Burebista]]'s authority. In 53 BC, Caesar stated that the Dacian territory was on the eastern border of the [[Hercynian Forest]].{{sfn|Mountain|1998|p=59}}
[[File:Burebista's_campaigns_remake.png|thumb|alt=Dacia under Burebista|Map showing Burebista campaigns and territorial occupation]]

Burebista suppressed the indigenous minting of coinages by four major tribal groups, adopting imported or copied Roman denarii as a monetary standard.{{sfn|Taylor|2001|p=215}} During his reign, Burebista transferred the Geto-Dacian capital from [[Argedava]] to [[Sarmizegetusa Regia]].{{sfn|MacKendrick|2000|p=48}}{{sfn|Goodman|Sherwood|2002|p=227}} For at least one and a half centuries, Sarmizegetusa was the Dacians' capital and reached its peak under King [[Decebalus]]. The Dacians appeared so formidable that Caesar contemplated an expedition against them, which his death in 44 BC prevented. In the same year, Burebista was murdered, and the kingdom was divided into four (later five) parts under separate rulers.
[[File:Burebista_campaign_against_Boii_and_Taurisci_remake.png|thumb|alt=Burebista conquest of Boii and Taurisci|The map that shows the Dacian invasion of Boii and Taurisci]]

The Dacians are often mentioned during the reign of Augustus, who claimed they were compelled to recognize Roman supremacy. However, they were by no means subdued, and in later times, to maintain their independence, they seized every opportunity to cross the frozen Danube during the winter, ravaging Roman cities in the province of [[Moesia]].

{{Blockquote|Although the Getae and Daci once attained to very great power, so that they actually could send forth an expedition of two hundred thousand men, they now find themselves reduced to as few as forty thousand, and they have come close to the point of yielding obedience to the Romans, though as yet they are not absolutely submissive, because of the hopes which they base on the Germans, who are enemies to the Romans.|Strabo}}

[[File:Dacian_empire.png|thumb|right|alt=Dacia in 55 BC|One of the greatest existence of Dacia]]

During the [[War of Actium]], King [[Cotiso]] found himself courted by the two Roman antagonists, Octavian and Mark Antony. Cotiso was in a strong position to dictate terms of any alliance. Octavian/[[Augustus]] worried about the frontier and possible alliance between [[Mark Antony]] and the Dacians, and plotted an expedition against Dacia around 35 BC. Despite several small conflicts, no serious campaigns were mounted. King Cotiso chose to ally himself with Mark Antony. According to Alban Dewes Winspear and Lenore Kramp Geweke he "proposed that the war should be fought in Macedonia rather than Epirus. Had his proposal been accepted, the subjection of Antonius might have been less easily accomplished."<ref>Alban Dewes Winspear, Lenore Kramp Geweke, ''Augustus and the Reconstruction of Roman Government and Society'', University of Wisconsin Press, 1935 p.252.</ref>

[[File:Dacian women.JPG|thumb|right|A 19th century depiction of Dacian women]]
[[File:Koson 79000126.jpg|thumb|right|Geto-Dacian [[Coson|Koson]], mid 1st century BC]]

According to [[Appian]], Mark Antony is responsible for the statement that Augustus sought to secure the goodwill of Cotiso by giving him his daughter, and he himself marrying a daughter of Cotiso.<ref>Translations and reprints from the original sources of history, Univ. of Pennsylvania Press, 1898, University of Pennsylvania. Dept. of History</ref> According to [[Suetonius]], Cotiso refused the alliance and joined the party of Mark Antony.<ref name="Monumentum ancyranum">Monumentum ancyranum: the deeds of Augustus, Volume 5, Issue 2, Augustus (Emperor of Rome) The Department of History of the University of Pennsylvania, 1898, page 73</ref> [[Suetonius]] (LXIII, ''Life of Augustus'') says Mark Antony wrote that Augustus [[betrothed]] his daughter [[Julia the Elder|Julia]] to marry Cotiso to create an alliance between the two men. This failed when Cotiso betrayed Augustus. According to [[Cassius Dio]], the story about the proposed marriages is hardly credible and may have been invented by Mark Antony as propaganda to offset his own alliance with Cleopatra.<ref name="Monumentum ancyranum" />

After Augustus's victory in the civil wars, the [[Roman Empire|Romans]] punished the Dacian ruler, who was apparently defeated in battle around 25 BC.<ref>William Miller, ''The Balkans: Roumania, Bulgaria, Servia, and Montenegro'', Putnam, 1972, p.5</ref> In his account of his achievements as emperor, the ''[[Res Gestae Divi Augusti|Res Gestae]]'', Augustus claimed that the Dacians had been subdued. This was not entirely true, because Dacian troops frequently crossed the Danube to ravage parts of Pannonia and Moesia.<ref>Matthew Bunson (1995): ''A dictionary of the Roman Empire'', page 124, Oxford University Press {{ISBN|0-19-510233-9}} {{ISBN|978-0195102338}}</ref> He may have survived until the campaign of [[Marcus Vinicius (consul 19 BC)|Marcus Vinicius]] in the Dacian area c.9 BC. Vinicius was the first Roman commander to cross the Danube and invade Dacia itself. Ioana A. Oltean argues that Cotiso probably died at some point during this campaign.<ref name="io">Ioana A. Oltean, ''Dacia: Landscape, Colonization and Romanization'', Routledge, 7 Aug 2007, p49.</ref> According to [[Jordanes]] Cotiso was succeeded by [[Comosicus]], about whom nothing is known beyond the name.<ref name="io" />
King [[Scorilo]] was [[Comosicus]]' successor and may have been the father of Decebalus. The Roman historian [[Jordanes]] lists a series of Dacian kings before Decebalus, placing a ruler called "Coryllus" between [[Comosicus]] and the independently attested [[Duras (Dacian king)|Duras]], who preceded Decebalus as king. Coryllus is supposed to have presided over a long peaceful 40-year rule, however, the name Coryllus is not mentioned by any other historian, and it has been argued that it "is a misspelling of Scorilo, a relatively common Dacian name".<ref>Köpeczi, Béla, ''History of Transylvania: From the beginnings to 1606'', Social Science Monographs, 2001, p.52.</ref> On this basis, Coryllus has been equated with the Scorilo named on an ancient Dacian pot bearing the words “Decebalus per Scorilo”. Though far from certain, this has also been translated as "Decebalus son of Scorilo". If so, this might mean that Decebalus was the son of Scorilo, with Duras possibly being either an older son or a brother of Scorilo.<ref>Ion Grumeza, ''Dacia: Land of Transylvania, Cornerstone of Ancient Eastern Europe'', University Press of America, 2009, p.72.</ref> A Dacian king (''dux Dacorum'') called Scorilo is also mentioned by [[Frontinus]], who says he was in power during a period of turmoil in Rome.<ref name="bbb">Bărbulescu, Mihai, et al, ''The History of Transylvania: (Until 1541)'', Romanian Cultural Institute, 2005, pp.87–9.</ref> From this evidence and references to Dacian kings elsewhere, it is suggested that Scorilo probably ruled from the 30s or 40s AD through to 69–70.<ref name="bbb" />

The Dacians regularly raided into Roman territory in [[Moesia]]. The emperors [[Tiberius]] and [[Caligula]] solved this problem by paying protection money to the Dacians in the form of annual subsidies. This policy appears to have coincided with the reign of King Scorilo. Scorilo's brother was apparently held captive for a period in Rome, but was released in exchange for a promise that the Dacians would not intervene in Rome's volatile power-politics.<ref name="io2">Ion Grumeza, ''Dacia: Land of Transylvania, Cornerstone of Ancient Eastern Europe'', University Press of America, 2009, p.154-5.</ref> During the reign of Emperor [[Nero]], troops were withdrawn from the Dacian border. When Nero was overthrown in 69, the empire was plunged into turmoil in the [[Year of Four Emperors]]. The Dacians appear to have tried to take advantage of the situation to launch an invasion of Moesia in alliance with the Sarmatian [[Roxolani]]. The invasion was ill-timed. [[Licinius Mucianus]], a supporter of [[Vespasian]], was advancing with an army through Moesia towards Rome to overthrow [[Vitellius]]. The Dacians unexpectedly encountered his forces and suffered a major defeat. Scorilo appears to have died around this time.<ref>Ioana A. Oltean, Dacia: Landscape, Colonization and Romanization, Routledge, 7 Aug 2007, p49.</ref>

[[File:Sarmisegetusa Regia - ansamblu 1.jpg|thumb|The [[sanctuaries]] in the ruined Sarmizegetusa Regia, the capital of ancient Dacia]]
King [[Duras (Dacian king)|Duras]] ruled between the years AD 69 and 87, during the time that [[Domitian]] ruled the [[Roman Empire]]. He was one of a series of rulers following the Great King [[Burebista]]. Duras' immediate successor was [[Decebalus]]. Duras may be identical to the "Diurpaneus" (or "Dorpaneus") identified in Roman sources as the Dacian leader who, in the winter of 85, ravaged the southern banks of the [[Danube]], which the Romans defended for many years. Many authors refer to him as "Duras-Diurpaneus".<ref>Hildegard Temporini, Wolfgang Haas, ''Politische Geschichte: (Provinzen und Randvölker: Griechischer Balkanraum; Kleinasien)'', [[Walter de Gruyter]], 1979, p.167.</ref><ref>Constantin Olteanu, ''The Romanian armed power concept: a historical approach'', Military Publishing House, 1982, p.39.</ref><ref>''Romania: Pages of History'', Volume 4, [[Agerpres]] Publishing House, 1979, p.75.</ref> Other scholars argue that Duras and Diurpaneus are different individuals, or that Diurpaneus is identical to Decebalus.<ref>Ioana A. Oltean, ''Dacia: Landscape, Colonization and Romanization'', Routledge, 2007, p.49-50.</ref>

The Roman governor of Moesia, [[Gaius Oppius Sabinus|Oppius Sabinus]], raised an army and went to war with the Dacians following the Dacian (Getae) raids into Roman territory.<ref name="bri">Brian W. Jones, ''The Emperor Domitian'', Routledge, London, 1992, p.138</ref> Diurpaneus and his people defeated and decapitated Oppius Sabinus. When news of the defeat reached Rome, the citizens became fearful that the conquering enemy would invade and spread destruction further into the Empire. Because of this fear, Domitian was obliged to move with his entire army into [[Illyria]] and [[Moesia]], the latter of which was now split into Upper and Lower regions. He ordered his commander [[Cornelius Fuscus]] to cross the Danube.<ref name="bri" /> The Dacians were pushed back across the Danube, but Fuscus suffered a crushing defeat when ambushed by "Diurpaneus". At this point, the probably elderly Duras seems to have peacefully ceded power to Decebalus.

King [[Decebalus]] ruled the Dacians between AD 87 and 106. The frontiers of Decebal's Dacia were marked by the Tisa River to the west, by the trans-Carpathians to the north and by the Dniester River to the east.{{sfn|Vico|Pinton|2001|p=325}}

[[File:Konstantinbågen detalj 04.jpg|thumb|Two of the eight marble statues of Dacian warriors surmounting the [[Arch of Constantine]] in [[Rome]]{{sfn|Westropp|2003|p=104}}]]
From AD 85 to 89, the Dacians under [[Decebalus]] were engaged in two wars with the Romans. In AD 85, the Dacians had swarmed over the Danube and pillaged Moesia.{{sfn|Matyszak|2004|p=216}}{{sfn|Luttwak|1976|p=53}} In AD 87, the Roman troops sent by the Emperor Domitian against them under [[Cornelius Fuscus]], were defeated and Cornelius Fuscus was killed by the Dacians by authority of their ruler, Diurpaneus.{{sfn|Matyszak|2004|p=217}} After this victory, Diurpaneus took the name of ''Decebalus'', but the Romans were victorious in the [[Battle of Tapae (88)|Battle of Tapae]] in AD 88 and a truce was drawn up .<ref name="Romanis REquote01">{{cite encyclopedia
|access-date=2007-11-08
|url=http://www.roman-emperors.org/assobd.htm#t-inx
|title=De Imperatoribus Romanis
|encyclopedia=An Online Encyclopedia of Roman Emperors
|format=Assorted Imperial Battle Descriptions
|quote= Battle of Sarmizegetusa (Sarmizegetuza), AD 105. During Trajan's reign Rome achieved victory over the Dacians. The first important confrontation between the Romans and the Dacians took place in the year AD 87 and was initiated by Domitian. The [[praetorian prefect]] [[Cornelius Fuscus|Cornelius]] led five or six legions across the Danube on a bridge of ships and advanced towards [[Banat]] (in Romania). The Romans were surprised by a Dacian attack at Tapae (near the village of [[Băuțar|Bucova]], in Romania). Legion V Alaude was crushed and Cornelius Fuscus was killed. The victorious general was originally known as [[Diurpaneus]] (see Manea, p.109), but after this victory he was called Decebalus (the brave one).}}</ref> The next year, AD 88, new Roman troops under [[Tettius Julianus]], gained a significant advantage, but were obligated to make a humiliating peace following the defeat of [[Domitian]] by the [[Marcomanni]], leaving the Dacians effectively independent. Decebalus was given the status of "king client to Rome", receiving military instructors, craftsmen and money from Rome.

[[File:Dacia_under_Decebalus_Remastered.png|thumb|right|alt=Decebalus Dacia|The Dacian kingdom under Decebalus]]

To increase the glory of his reign, restore the finances of Rome, and end a treaty perceived as humiliating, Trajan resolved on the conquest of Dacia, the capture of the famous Treasure of Decebalus, and control over the Dacian gold mines of [[Transylvania]]. The result of his first campaign (101–102) was the siege of the Dacian capital Sarmizegethusa and the occupation of part of the country. Emperor Trajan recommenced hostilities against Dacia and, following an uncertain number of battles,{{sfn|Matyszak|2004|p=219}} and with Trajan's troops pressing towards the Dacian capital [[Sarmizegethusa]], Decebalus once more sought terms.{{sfn|Goldsworthy|2004|p=329}}

Decebalus rebuilt his power over the following years and attacked Roman garrisons again in AD 105. In response Trajan again marched into Dacia,{{sfn|Matyszak|2004|p=222}} attacking the Dacian capital in the [[siege of Sarmizegethusa]], and razing it to the ground,{{sfn|Matyszak|2004|p=223}} the defeated Dacian king [[Decebalus]] committed suicide.{{sfn|Luttwak|1976|p=54}} In the following years, a new city was built on the ruins of the Dacian capital named [[Ulpia Traiana Sarmizegetusa]]. With part of Dacia quelled as the [[Roman province]] [[Roman Dacia|Dacia Traiana]].{{sfn|Stoica|1919|p=52}} Trajan subsequently [[Trajan's Parthian War|invaded the Parthian empire]] to the east. Rome's borders in the east were governed indirectly in this period, through a system of [[client states]], which led to less direct campaigning than in the west.{{sfn|Luttwak|1976|p=39}}

The weapon most associated with the Dacian forces that fought against Trajan's army during his invasions of Dacia was the [[falx]], a single-edged scythe-like weapon. The falx was able to inflict horrible wounds on opponents, easily disabling or killing the heavily armored Roman legionaries.{{sfn|Schmitz| 2005|p= 30}} Trajan erected the [[Trajan's Column|Column of Trajan]] in [[Rome]] to commemorate his victory.<ref>Sinnegen & Boak. ''A History of Rome to A.D. 565'', Sixth Ed. MacMillan Publishing Co., New York. ç1977 p.312</ref>

=== Roman Dacia (106–275 AD) ===
{{Main|Roman Dacia}}
[[File:Roman province of Dacia (106 - 271 AD).svg|right|thumb|[[Roman Dacia]], between 106 and 271&nbsp;AD]]

Roman Dacia, also known as Dacia Felix, was organized as an [[imperial province]]. It is estimated that the population of Roman Dacia ranging from 650,000 to 1,200,000. The area was the focus of a massive Roman colonization. New mines were opened and ore extraction intensified, while agriculture, stock breeding, and commerce flourished. Roman Dacia was of great importance to the military stationed throughout the [[Balkans]] and became an urban province, with about ten cities known and all of them originating from old [[Castra|military camps]]. Eight of these held the highest rank of ''[[Colonia (Roman)|colonia]]''. [[Ulpia Traiana Sarmizegetusa]] was the financial, religious, and legislative center and where the [[Procurator (Roman fiscal)|imperial ''procurator'']] (finance officer) had his seat, while [[Alba Iulia|Apulum]] was Roman Dacia's military center. The region was soon settled by the retired veterans who had served in the Dacian Wars, principally the [[Legio V Macedonica|Fifth (''Macedonia'')]], [[Legio XI Claudia|Ninth (''Claudia'')]], and [[Legio XIV Gemina|Fourteenth (''Gemina'')]] legions.{{sfn|Köpeczi|1994|p=92}}

While it is certain that colonists in large numbers were imported from all over the empire to settle in Roman Dacia,{{sfn|Ellis|1998|pp=220–237}} this appears to be true for the newly created Roman towns only. The lack of epigraphic evidence for native Dacian names in the towns suggests an urban–rural split between Roman multi-ethnic urban centers and the native Dacian rural population.{{sfn|Ellis|1998|pp=220–237}} On at least two occasions the Dacians rebelled against Roman authority: first in 117 AD, which caused the return of Trajan from the east,{{sfn|Pop|1999|p=22}} and in 158 AD when they were put down by [[Marcus Statius Priscus]].{{sfn|Parker|1958|pp=12–19}}

Some scholars have used the lack of ''[[Peregrinus (Roman)#Local authorities|civitates peregrinae]]'' in Roman Dacia, where indigenous peoples were organized into native townships, as evidence for the Roman depopulation of Dacia.{{sfn|Vékony|2000|p=110}} Prior to its incorporation into the empire, Dacia was a kingdom ruled by one king, and did not possess a regional tribal structure that could easily be turned into the Roman ''civitas'' system as used successfully in other provinces of the empire.{{sfn|Oltean|2007|p=227}}

[[File:Roman Gothic Walls Romania Plain.svg|right|thumb|[[Roman walls]] in Dacia]]
As per usual Roman practice, Dacian males were recruited into auxiliary units{{sfn|Goldsworthy|2003|p=76}} and dispatched across the empire.{{sfn|Köpeczi|1994|p=102}} The ''Vexillation Dacorum Parthica'' accompanied the emperor Septimius Severus during his [[Parthia]]n expedition,{{sfn|Vékony|2000|p=109}} while the ''cohort I Ulpia Dacorum'' was posted to [[Cappadocia (Roman province)|Cappadocia]].{{sfn|Găzdac|2010|p=59}} Others included the ''II Aurelia Dacorum'' in [[Pannonia Superior]], the ''cohort I Aelia Dacorum'' in Roman Britain, and the ''II Augusta Dacorum milliaria'' in Moesia Inferior.{{sfn|Găzdac|2010|p=59}} There are a number of preserved relics originating from ''cohort I Aelia Dacorum'', with one inscription describing the ''[[sica]]'', a distinctive Dacian weapon.{{sfn|Vékony|2000|p=108}} Numerous [[Roman military diploma]]s issued for Dacian soldiers discovered after 1990 indicate that veterans preferred to return to their place of origin;{{sfn|Dana|Matei-Popescu|2009|pp=234–235}} per usual Roman practice, these veterans were given Roman citizenship upon their discharge.{{sfn|Erdkamp|2010|p=442}}

In an attempt to fill the cities, cultivate the fields, and mine the ore, a large-scale attempt at colonization took place with colonists coming in "from all over the Roman world".{{sfn|Pop|1999|p=23}} The colonists were a heterogeneous mix:{{sfn|Georgescu|1991|p=6}} of the some 3,000 names preserved in inscriptions found by the 1990s, 74% (c. 2,200) were Latin, 14% (c. 420) were Greek, 4% (c. 120) were [[Illyrian languages|Illyrian]], 2.3% (c. 70) were [[Celtic languages|Celtic]], 2% (c. 60) were [[Thracian language|Thraco-Dacian]], and another 2% (c. 60) were [[Semitic languages|Semites]] from Syria.{{sfn|Köpeczi|1994|p=106}} Regardless of their place of origin, the settlers and colonists were a physical manifestation of Roman civilization and imperial culture, bringing with them the most effective Romanizing mechanism: the use of [[Latin]] as the new ''[[lingua franca]]''.{{sfn|Georgescu|1991|p=6}}

The first settlement at Sarmizegetusa was made up of Roman citizens who had retired from their legions.{{sfn|Köpeczi|1994|p=103}} Based upon the location of names scattered throughout the province, it has been argued that a large percentage of colonists originated from Noricum and western Pannonia.{{sfn|Köpeczi|1994|p=104}} Specialist miners (the [[List of ancient tribes in Illyria#Pirustae|Pirusti tribesmen]]){{sfn|Köpeczi|1994|p=79}} were brought in from Dalmatia.{{sfn|MacKendrick|2000|p=206}}

[[File:Rome-JA1.jpg|thumb|Tarabostes on the [[Arch of Constantine]]]]
Although the Romans conquered and destroyed the ancient Kingdom of Dacia, much of the land remained outside of Roman Imperial authority. The conquest changed the balance of power in the region and was the catalyst for a renewed alliance of Germanic and Celtic tribes and kingdoms against the Roman Empire. However, the material advantages of the Roman Imperial system was attractive to the surviving aristocracy. Afterwards, many of the Dacians became Romanized (see also [[Origin of Romanians]]). In AD 183, war broke out in Dacia: few details are available, but it appears two future contenders for the throne of emperor [[Commodus]], [[Clodius Albinus]] and [[Pescennius Niger]], both distinguished themselves in the campaign.

According to [[Lactantius]],<ref>"Of the Manner in which the persecutors died" by [[Lactantius]] (early Christian author AD 240–320)</ref> the Roman emperor [[Decius]] (AD 249–251) had to restore Roman Dacia from the [[Carpo-Dacians]] of [[Zosimus (historian)|Zosimus]] "having undertaken an expedition against the Carpi, who had then possessed themselves of Dacia and Moesia".

Even so, the Germanic and Celtic kingdoms, particularly the [[Gothic tribes]], slowly moved toward the Dacian borders, and within a generation were making assaults on the province. Ultimately, the [[Goths]] succeeded in dislodging the Romans and restoring the "independence" of Dacia following Emperor [[Aurelian]]'s withdrawal, in 275. At the boundaries of [[Roman Dacia]], [[Carpi (people)|Carpi]] ([[Free Dacians]]) were still strong enough to sustain five battles in eight years against the Romans from AD 301–308. Roman Dacia was left in AD 275 by the Romans, to the Carpi again, and not to the Goths. There were still Dacians in AD 336, against whom [[Constantine the Great]] fought.

The province was abandoned by Roman troops, and, according to the ''Breviarium historiae Romanae'' by [[Eutropius (historian)|Eutropius]], Roman citizens "from the towns and lands of Dacia" were resettled to the interior of Moesia.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ccel.org/p/pearse/morefathers/eutropius_breviarium_2_text.htm|title=Eutropius, Abridgment of Roman History (Historiae Romanae Breviarium)|last=EUTROPIUS|website=www.ccel.org|access-date=2008-06-17|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090220200338/http://www.ccel.org/p/pearse/morefathers/eutropius_breviarium_2_text.htm|archive-date=2009-02-20|url-status=dead}}</ref> Under [[Diocletian]], c. AD 296, in order to defend the Roman border, fortifications were erected by the Romans on both banks of the [[Danube]].{{sfn|Odahl|2003}}

=== Constantinian reconquest of Dacia ===
[[File:Limes Orientalis 337 AD png.PNG|thumb|Dacia during Constantine the Great]]
In 328 the emperor [[Constantine the Great]] inaugurated the [[Constantine's Bridge (Danube)]] at Sucidava, (today Corabia in Romania)<ref>Madgearu, Alexandru (2008). Istoria Militară a Daciei Post Romane 275–376. Cetatea de Scaun. {{ISBN|978-973-8966-70-3}}, p.64 -126</ref> in hopes of reconquering [[Roman Dacia|Dacia]], a province that had been abandoned under Aurelian. In the late winter of 332, Constantine campaigned with the [[Sarmatian]]s against the [[Goths]]. The weather and lack of food cost the Goths dearly: reportedly, nearly one hundred thousand died before they submitted. In celebration of this victory Constantine took the title ''Gothicus Maximus'' and claimed the subjugated territory as the new province of Gothia.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Heather |first1=Peter |title=The Goths |date=1996 |publisher=Blackwell Publishers |pages=62, 63 }}</ref> In 334, after Sarmatian commoners had overthrown their leaders, Constantine led a campaign against the tribe. He won a victory in the war and extended his control over the region, as remains of camps and fortifications in the region indicate.<ref>Barnes, Timothy D. (1981). Constantine and Eusebius. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. {{ISBN|978-0-674-16531-1}}. p 250.</ref> Constantine resettled some Sarmatian exiles as farmers in Illyrian and Roman districts, and conscripted the rest into the army. The new frontier in Dacia was along the [[Brazda lui Novac]] line supported by [[Castra of Hinova]], [[Rusidava]] and [[Castra of Pietroasele]].<ref>Madgearu, Alexandru(2008). Istoria Militară a Daciei Post Romane 275–376. Cetatea de Scaun. {{ISBN|978-973-8966-70-3}}, p.64-126</ref> The [[Limes (Roman Empire)|limes]] passed to the north of [[Castra of Tirighina-Bărboși]] and ended at [[Sasyk Lagoon]] near the [[Dniester]] River.<ref>Costin Croitoru, (Romanian) Sudul Moldovei în cadrul sistemului defensiv roman. Contribuții la cunoașterea valurilor de pământ. Acta terrae septencastrensis, Editura Economica, Sibiu 2002, ISSN 1583-1817, p.111.</ref> Constantine took the title ''Dacicus maximus'' in 336.<ref>Odahl, Charles Matson. Constantine and the Christian Empire. New York: [[Routledge]], 2004. Hardcover {{ISBN|0-415-17485-6}} Paperback {{ISBN|0-415-38655-1}}, p.261.</ref> Some Roman territories north of the Danube resisted until [[Justinian I|Justinian]].

[[Victohali]], [[Taifals]], and [[Tervingi|Thervingians]] are tribes mentioned inhabiting Dacia in 350, after the Romans left. Archeological evidence suggests that [[Gepids]] were disputing [[Transylvania]] with Taifals and Tervingians. Taifals, once independent from Gothia, became federati of the Romans, from whom they obtained the right to settle [[Oltenia]].

In 376 the region was conquered by [[Huns]], who kept it until the death of [[Attila]] in 453. The Gepid tribe, ruled by [[Ardaric]], used it as their base, until in 566 it was destroyed by [[Lombards]]. Lombards abandoned the country and the [[Avar Khaganate|Avars]] (second half of the 6th century) dominated the region for 230 years, until their kingdom was destroyed by [[Charlemagne]] in 791. At the same time, [[Slavs|Slavic people]] arrived.

The ''Hellenic chronicle'' could possibly qualify to the first testimony of Romanians in Pannonia and Eastern Europe during the time of Attila,<ref>Dvoichenko-Markov, Demetrius. "THE RUSSIAN PRIMARY CHRONICLE AND THE VLACHS OF EASTERN EUROPE". Byzantion, vol. 49, 1979, pp. 175–187. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/44172681. Accessed 3 April 2020.</ref><ref>O. V. Tvorogov, Drevne-Russkie Chronography (Ancient Russian Chronographies), Leningrad, 1975, p.138.</ref><ref>P. P. Panaitescu, Introducere la Istoria Culturii Romànesti (Introduction to the History of Rumanian Culture), Bucharest, 1969, p. 130</ref> implying that the formation of Proto-Romanian (or Common Romanian) from Vulgar Latin started in the 5th century.{{sfn|Pană Dindelegan|2013|p=2}}{{sfn|Petrucci|1999|p=4}} The words ''"torna, torna fratre"''<ref>''The Chronicle of Theophanes Confessor'' (258.10–21.), p. 381.</ref> (return, return brother) recorded in connection with a Roman campaign across the Balkan Mountains by [[Theophylact Simocatta]] and [[Theophanes the Confessor]] evidence the development of a Romance language in the late 6th century.{{sfn|Opreanu|2005|p=129}} The words were shouted "in native parlance"<ref>''The History of Theophylact Simocatta'' (ii. 15.10.), p. 65.</ref> by a local soldier in 587 or 588.{{sfn|Opreanu|2005|p=129}}{{sfn|Vékony|2000|pp=206–207}} The 11th-century Persian writer, [[Gardizi]], wrote about a Christian people "from the Roman Empire" called ''N.n.d.r'', inhabiting the lands along the Danube.{{sfn|Armbruster|1972|p=11}} He describes them as "more numerous than the Hungarians, but weaker".{{sfn|Armbruster|1972|p=11}} Historian Adolf Armbruster identified this people as the Romanians.{{sfn|Armbruster|1972|p=11}} Hungarian historiography identifies this people as the [[Bulgarians]].{{sfn|Kristó|1996|p=63}}

=== Name ===
{{Main|Getae#Getae and Dacians}}
The Dacians were known as ''Geta'' (plural ''Getae'') in [[Ancient Greek]] writings, and as ''Dacus'' (plural ''Daci'') or ''Getae'' in [[Roman Empire|Roman]] documents,{{sfn|Appian|165 AD|loc=Praef. 4/14-15|ps=, quoted in {{sfnlink|Millar|2004|p=189}}: "the Getae over the Danube, whom they call Dacians"}} but also as ''Dagae'' and ''Gaete'' as depicted on the late Roman map ''[[Tabula Peutingeriana]]''. It was [[Herodotus]] who first used the [[ethnonym]] ''Getae'' in his ''[[Histories (Herodotus)|Histories]]''.{{sfn|Herodotus|440 BC|loc=4.93–4.97}} In Greek and Latin, in the writings of [[Julius Caesar]], [[Strabo]], and [[Pliny the Elder]], the people became known as 'the Dacians'.{{sfn|Fol|1996|p=223}} Getae and Dacians were interchangeable terms, or used with some confusion by the Greeks.{{sfn|Nandris|1976|p=730|ps=: Strabo and [[Trogus Pompeius]] "Daci quoque suboles Getarum sunt"}}{{sfn|Crossland|Boardman|1982|p=837}} Latin poets often used the name ''Getae''.{{sfn|Roesler|1864|p=89}} Modern historians prefer to use the name ''Geto-Dacians''.{{sfn|Fol|1996|p=223}} [[Strabo]] describes the Getae and Dacians as distinct but cognate tribes. This distinction refers to the regions they occupied.{{sfn|Bunbury|1979|p=150}} Strabo and Pliny the Elder also state that Getae and Dacians spoke the same language.{{sfn|Bunbury|1979|p=150}}{{sfn|Oltean|2007|p=44}}

By contrast, the name of ''Dacians'', whatever the origin of the name, was used by the more western tribes who adjoined the [[Pannonians]] and therefore first became known to the Romans.{{sfn|Bunbury|1979|p=151}} According to Strabo's ''[[Geographica]]'', the original name of the Dacians was {{lang|grc|Δάοι}} "''Daoi''".{{sfn|Strabo|20 AD|loc=VII 3,12}} The name Daoi (one of the ancient Geto-Dacian tribes) was certainly adopted by foreign observers to designate all the inhabitants of the countries north of [[Danube]] that had not yet been conquered by [[Ancient Greece|Greece]] or Rome.{{sfn|Fol|1996|p=223}}

The ethnographic name ''Daci'' is found under various forms within ancient sources. Greeks used the forms {{lang|grc|Δάκοι}} "''Dakoi''" ([[Strabo]], [[Dio Cassius]], and [[Dioscorides]]) and {{lang|grc|Δάοι}} "Daoi" (singular Daos).<ref name="Garašanin, Benac 1973 243">Garašanin, Benac (1973) 243</ref>{{sfn|Strabo|20 AD|loc=VII 3,12}}{{sfn|Parvan|Vulpe|Vulpe|2002|p=158}}{{efn|1=Dioscorides's book (known in English by its Latin title ''De Materia Medica'' ("Regarding Medical Materials")) has all the Dacian names of the plants preceded by {{lang|grc|Δάκοι}} ''Dakoi'' i.e. {{lang|grc|Δάκοι}} ''Dakoi'' προποδιλα Latin Daci [[wikt:propodila|propodila]] "Dacians propodila"}}{{sfn|Tomaschek|1883|p=397}} The form {{lang|grc|Δάοι}} "Daoi" was frequently used according to [[Stephan of Byzantium]].{{sfn|Van Den Gheyn|1886|p=170}} Latins used the forms ''Davus'', ''Dacus'', and a derived form ''Dacisci'' (Vopiscus and inscriptions).{{sfn|Mulvin| 2002|p=59|ps=: "…A tombstone inscription from Aquincum reads M. Secundi Genalis domo Cl. Agrip /pina/ negotiat. Dacisco. This is of a second century date and suggests the presence of some Dacian traders in Pannonia…"}}{{sfn|Petolescu|2000|p=163|ps=: "…patri incom[pa-] rabili, decep [to] a Daciscis in bel- loproclio …"}}{{sfn|Dobiáš|1964|p=43| ps=: "...CIL V 3372 inscription at Verona Papirio Marcellino, decepto a Daciscis in bello proelio.."}}{{sfn|Gibbon| 2008|p= 313|ps=: "…Aurelian calls these soldiers Hiberi, Riparienses, Castriani, and Dacisci " conform to "Vopiscus in Historia Augusta XXVI 38"}}{{sfn|Van Den Gheyn|1886|p=170}}

There are similarities between the ethnonyms of the Dacians and those of [[Dahae]] (Greek {{lang|grc|Δάσαι Δάοι, Δάαι, Δαι, Δάσαι}} ''Dáoi'', ''Dáai'', ''Dai'', ''Dasai''; Latin ''Dahae'', ''Daci''), an Indo-European people located east of the [[Caspian Sea]], until the 1st millennium BC. Scholars have suggested that there were links between the two peoples since ancient times.{{sfn| Kephart|1949|loc=p. 28: The Persians knew that the Dahae and the other Massagetae were kin of the inhabitants of Scythia west of the Caspian Sea}}{{sfn| Chakraberty|1948 |p=34 |ps=: "Dasas or Dasyu of the RigVeda are the Dahae of Avesta, Daci of the Romans, Dakaoi (Hindi Dakku) of the Greeks"}}{{sfn|Pliny (the Elder)| Rackham|1971|p=375}}{{sfn|Van Den Gheyn|1886|p=170}} The historian [[David Gordon White]] has, moreover, stated that the "Dacians ... appear to be related to the Dahae".{{sfn|White|1991|p=239}}

By the end of the first century AD, all the inhabitants of the lands which now form Romania were known to the Romans as Daci, with the exception of some [[Celts|Celtic]] and [[Germanic tribes]] who infiltrated from the west, and [[Sarmatian]] and related people from the east.{{sfn|Crossland|Boardman|1982|p=837}}

=== Carpi and Costoboci ===
{{Main|Carpi (people)|Costoboci}}
The Carpi were a sizeable group of tribes, who lived beyond the north-eastern boundary of Roman Dacia. The majority view among modern scholars is that the Carpi were a North Thracian tribe and a subgroup of the Dacians.<ref>* {{harvnb|Goffart|2006| p=205}}
* {{harvnb|Bunson |1995| p=74}}
* {{harvnb|MacKendrick| 2000| p=117}}
* {{harvnb|Parvan| Florescu| 1982| p=136}}
* {{harvnb|Burns |1991| pp=26 and 27}}
* {{harvnb|Odahl|2003|p=19}}
* {{harvnb|Waldman|Mason|2006|p=19}}
* {{harvnb|Millar| 1970}}</ref> However, some historians classify them as Slavs.{{sfn | Waldman | Mason| 2006 | p=129}}
According to Heather, the Carpi were Dacians from the eastern foothills of the Carpathian range – modern Moldavia and Wallachia – who had not been brought under direct Roman rule at the time of Trajan's conquest of Transylvania Dacia. After they generated a new degree of political unity among themselves in the course of the third century, these Dacian groups came to be known collectively as the Carpi.{{sfn | Heather | 2010 | p=114}}
[[File:Captive dacian pushkin.JPG|thumb|Dacian cast in [[Pushkin Museum]], after original in [[Lateran Museum]]. Early second century AD.]]

The ancient sources about the Carpi, before 104 AD, located them on a territory situated between the western side of Eastern European Galicia and the mouth of the Danube.{{sfn|Pârvan|1926|p=239}} The name of the tribe is homonymous with the Carpathian mountains.{{sfn|Schütte|1917|p=100}} Carpi and Carpathian are Dacian words derived from the root ''(s)ker''- "cut" cf. Albanian ''karp'' "stone" and Sanskrit ''kar''- "cut".{{sfn | Russu | 1969 | pp=114–115}}{{sfn | Tomaschek | 1883 |p=403}}A quote from the 6th-century Byzantine chronicler [[Zosimus (historian)|Zosimus]] referring to the [[Carpo-Dacians]] (Greek: Καρποδάκαι, Latin: ''Carpo-Dacae''), who attacked the Romans in the late 4th century, is seen as evidence of their Dacian ethnicity. In fact, Carpi/Carpodaces is the term used for Dacians outside of Dacia proper.{{sfn | Goffart | 2006 |p=205}} However, that the Carpi were Dacians is shown not so much by the form Καρποδάκαι in [[Zosimus (historian)|Zosimus]] as by their characteristic place-names in –''dava'', given by Ptolemy in their country.{{sfn | Minns | 2011 | p=124}} The origin and ethnic affiliations of the Carpi have been debated over the years; in modern times they are closely associated with the Carpathian Mountains, and a good case has been made for attributing to the Carpi a distinct material culture, "a developed form of the Geto-Dacian La Tene culture", often known as the Poienesti culture, which is characteristic of this area.{{sfn| Nixon| Saylor Rodgers|1995|p=116}}

The main view is that the ''[[Costoboci]]'' were ethnically Dacian.<ref>* {{harvnb|Heather|2010| p=131}}
*{{harvnb|Waldman|Mason|2006|p=184}}
* {{harvnb|Poghirc|1989| p= 302}}
* {{harvnb|Pârvan |1928| pp= 184 and 188}}
*{{harvnb|Nandris|1976|p=729}}
* {{harvnb|Oledzki|2000| p= 525}}
* {{harvnb|Astarita|1983| p= 62}}</ref> Others considered them a Slavic or Sarmatian tribe.{{sfn | Hrushevskyi | 1997 | p=100}}{{sfn|Waldman|Mason|2006|p=184}} There was also a Celtic influence, so that some consider them a mixed Celtic and Thracian group that appear, after Trajan's conquest, as a Dacian group within the Celtic superstratum.{{sfn|Nandris|1976|p=729}} The Costoboci inhabited the southern slopes of the Carpathians.{{sfn | Hrushevskyi | 1997 | p=98}} Ptolemy named the Coestoboci (Costoboci in Roman sources) twice, showing them divided by the Dniester and the Peucinian (Carpathian) Mountains. This suggests that they lived on both sides of the Carpathians, but it is also possible that two accounts about the same people were combined.{{sfn | Hrushevskyi | 1997 | p=98}} There was also a group, the Transmontani, that some modern scholars identify as Dacian Transmontani Costoboci of the extreme north.{{sfn|Schütte|1917|p=100}}{{sfn|Parvan |Florescu |1982|p=135}} The name Transmontani was from the Dacians' Latin,{{Citation needed|date=June 2023}} literally "people over the mountains". Mullenhoff identified these with the Transiugitani, another Dacian tribe north of the Carpathian mountains.{{sfn|Schütte|1917|p=18}}

Based on the account of [[Dio Cassius]], Heather (2010) considers that Hasding Vandals, around 171 AD, attempted to take control of lands which previously belonged to the free Dacian group called the Costoboci.{{sfn | Heather | 2010 | p=131}} Hrushevskyi mentions that the earlier widespread view that these Carpathian tribes were Slavic has no basis. This would be contradicted by the Coestobocan names themselves that are known from the inscriptions, written by a Coestobocan and therefore presumably accurately. These names sound quite unlike anything Slavic.{{sfn | Hrushevskyi | 1997 | p=100}} Scholars such as Tomaschek, Schütte and Russu consider these Costobocian names to be Thraco-Dacian.{{sfn | Tomaschek | 1883 | p=407}}{{sfn|Schütte|1917|p=143}}{{sfn | Russu | 1969 | pp= 99,116 }}

=== Culture ===
Body-painting was customary among the Dacians.{{specify|date = October 2013}} It is probable that the tattooing originally had a religious significance.{{sfn | Bury | Cook |Adcock|Percival Charlesworth| 1954 |p=543 }} They practiced symbolic-ritual tattooing or body painting for both men and women, with hereditary symbols transmitted up to the fourth generation.{{sfn|Oltean|2007|p=114}}

Dacian religion was considered by the classic sources as a key source of authority, suggesting to some that Dacia was a predominantly theocratic state led by priest-kings. However, the layout of the Dacian capital Sarmizegethusa indicates the possibility of co-rulership, with a separate high king and high priest.{{sfn | Taylor | 2001 | p=215 }} Ancient sources recorded the names of several Dacian high priests (Deceneus, Comosicus and Vezina) and various orders of priests: "god-worshipers", "smoke-walkers" and "founders".{{sfn | Taylor | 2001 | p=215 }} Both Hellenistic and Oriental influences are discernible in the religious background, alongside [[chthonic]] and solar motifs.{{sfn | Taylor | 2001 | p=215 }}
According to Herodotus' account of the story of [[Zalmoxis]] or Zamolxis,{{sfn|Herodotus|440 BC|loc=4.93–4.97}} the Getae (speaking the same language as the Dacians and the Thracians, according to [[Strabo]]) believed in the immortality of the soul, and regarded death as merely a change of country. Their chief priest held a prominent position as the representative of the supreme deity, Zalmoxis, who is called also Gebeleizis by some among them.{{sfn|Herodotus|440 BC|loc=4.93–4.97}}<ref>Histories by Herodotus Book 4 translated by G. Rawlinson</ref> Strabo wrote about the high priest of King Burebista [[Deceneus]]: "a man who not only had wandered through [[Egypt]], but also had thoroughly learned certain prognostics through which he would pretend to tell the divine will; and within a short time he was set up as god (as I said when relating the story of Zamolxis)".{{sfn|Strabo|20 AD|loc=VII 3,11}}

[[File:Relief Bendis BM 2155.jpg|thumb|Votive stele representing Bendis wearing a Dacian cap at the [[British Museum]] in [[London]]]]

The Goth [[Jordanes]] in his ''[[Getica]]'' (''[[The origin and deeds of the Goths]]''), also gives an account of Deceneus the highest priest, and considered Dacians a nation related to the Goths. Besides Zalmoxis, the Dacians believed in other deities, such as Gebeleizis, the god of storm and lightning, possibly related to the Thracian god [[Zibelthiurdos]].{{sfn|Tomaschek|1893}} Another important deity was [[Bendis]], goddess of the moon and the hunt.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.theoi.com/Thrakios/Bendis.html|title=BENDIS - Thracian Goddess of the Moon & Hunting|website=www.theoi.com}}</ref> By a decree of the [[Dodona|oracle of Dodona]], which required the Athenians to grant land for a shrine or temple, her cult was introduced into [[Attica, Greece|Attica]] by immigrant Thracian residents,{{efn|1=Extensive discussion of whether the date is 429 or 413 BC was reviewed and newly analyzed in Christopher Planeaux, "The Date of Bendis' Entry into Attica" ''The Classical Journal'' '''96'''.2 (December 2000:165–192). Planeaux offers a reconstruction of the inscription mentioning the first introduction, p}} and, though Thracian and Athenian processions remained separate, both cult and festival became so popular that in Plato's time (c. 429–13 BC) its festivities were naturalized as an official ceremony of the Athenian city-state, called the Bendideia.{{efn|1=Fifth-century fragmentary inscriptions that record formal descrees regarding formal aspects of the Bendis cult, are reproduced in Planeaux 2000:170f}}

== Early Middle Ages ==
{{Main|Romania in the Early Middle Ages|Origin of the Romanians}}
{{See also|Migration Period}}

[[File:Balkans about 680 A.D., foundation of the First Bulgarian Empire.png|right|thumb|The foundation of the First Bulgarian Empire]]
[[File:Balkans850.png|right|thumb|First Bulgarian Empire]]

Between 271 and 275, the Roman army and administration left Dacia, which was invaded later by the [[Goths]].<ref>{{Citation |last= Jordanes |author-link= Jordanes |title= Getica, sive, De Origine Actibusque Gothorum |year=551 |location= Constantinople |url= http://www.harbornet.com/folks/theedrich/Goths/Goths1.htm }}</ref> The Goths mixed with the local people until the 4th century, when the [[Huns]], a nomadic people, arrived.<ref>{{Citation |last1=Iliescu |first1=Vl.|last2=Paschale|first2=Chronicon|title= Fontes Historiae Daco-Romanae |volume=II|pages=363, 587|place= București |year=1970}}</ref> The [[Gepids]],<ref name="gepids" /><ref>{{Citation |first=Istvan |last=Bóna |editor-last=Köpeczi|editor-first = Béla|title=History of Transylvania: II.3 |quote= Several migrating peoples lived alongside the local populations, such as the Gothic Empire (Oium) (from 271 until 378), the Hunnish Empire (until 435), the Avar Empire and the Slavs (during the 6th century) |chapter=The Kingdom of the Gepids|volume=1|publisher=Institute of History of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences|place=New York |year=2001 |chapter-url=http://mek.oszk.hu/03400/03407/html/33.html }}</ref> the [[Avars (Carpathians)|Avars]], the [[Bulgars]] and their Slavic subjects<ref>{{Citation| first=István | last=Bóna| editor-last = Köpeczi| editor-first = Béla | title = History of Transylvania: II.4 |chapter=The Period of the Avar Rule| volume = 1| publisher = Institute of History of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences| place = New York| year = 2001| chapter-url = http://mek.oszk.hu/03400/03407/html/41.html }}</ref> ruled [[Transylvania]] until the 8th century. The territories of [[Wallachia]] and [[Moldavia]] were under the control of the [[First Bulgarian Empire]] from its establishment in 681 until around the time of the [[Hungary|Hungarian]] conquest of Transylvania at the end of the 10th century.<ref name="gepids">{{Citation|last=Teodor|first=Dan Gh.|title= Istoria României de la începuturi până în secolul al VIII-lea |year =1995 |location= București |pages=294–325 |volume=2}}</ref>

After the disintegration of [[Great Bulgaria]] following Khan [[Kubrat]]'s death in 665, a large group of [[Bulgars]] followed [[Asparukh of Bulgaria|Asparukh]], the third son of the great Khan, who headed westwards. In the 670's they settled in the area known as the [[Ongal]] to the north of the [[Danube delta]].<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Fine |first1=John V. A. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Y0NBxG9Id58C |title=The Early Medieval Balkans: A Critical Survey from the Sixth to the Late Twelfth Century |last2=Fine |first2=John Van Antwerp |date=1991 |publisher=University of Michigan Press |isbn=978-0-472-08149-3 |pages=44 |language=en |quote=Second, another son, Isperikh (or Asparukh) moved into what is now Bessarabia, and then in the 670s crossed the Danube into Bulgaria. He conquered the Slavic tribes there and eventually established a Bulgarian state.}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Fiedler |first=Uwe |date=2008-01-01 |title=Bulgars In The Lower Danube Region. A Survey Of The Archaeological Evidence And Of The State Of Current Research |url=https://brill.com/view/book/edcoll/9789047423560/Bej.9789004163898.i-492_006.xml |journal=The Other Europe in the Middle Ages |language=en |pages=152 |isbn=9789047423560 |quote=The Bulgars following Kubrat’s third son, Asparukh, migrated to the west, across the Dnieper and Dniester rivers. They settled in an area close to the Danube Delta named Onglos.}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last1=Curta |first1=Florin |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QOpoAAAAMAAJ |title=The Other Europe in the Middle Ages: Avars, Bulgars, Khazars, and Cumans |last2=Kovalev |first2=Roman |date=2008 |publisher=Brill |isbn=978-90-04-16389-8 |pages=104 |language=en |quote=...date kuvrat's death between 650 and 665...}}</ref> From there, Asparukh's cavalry in alliance with local [[Slavs]] annually attacked the [[Byzantine]] territories in the south. In 680, the Byzantine Emperor [[Constantine IV]] led a large army to fight the Bulgars but was defeated in the [[battle of Ongal]] and the Byzantines were forced to acknowledge the formation of a new country, the [[First Bulgarian Empire]]. The northern border of the country followed the southern slopes of the [[Carpathian mountains]] from the [[Iron Gates]] and reached the [[Dneper]] river or possibly just the [[Dniester]] river to the east.{{citation needed|date=April 2020}}

The Bulgarians' main rivals in the area were the [[Avars (Carpathians)|Avars]] to the west and the [[Khazars]] to the east. The Khazars were a serious threat; they marched westwards after they crushed the resistance of Kubrat's eldest son [[Batbayan of Bulgaria|Bayan]] and waged a war against Asparukh, who was killed, although not necessarily by a Khazar. To protect their northern borders, the Bulgarians built several enormous ditches that ran the whole length of the border from the [[Timok (river)|Timok]] river to the [[Black Sea]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Stepanov |first=Tsvetelin |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Jh24DwAAQBAJ&dq=Khazars+Asparukh&pg=PA216 |title=Waiting for the End of the World: European Dimensions, 950–1200 |date=October 21, 2019 |publisher=[[Brill Publishers]] |isbn=978-90-04-40993-4 |pages=216}}</ref>

In 803, [[Krum of Bulgaria]] became Khan. The new, energetic ruler focused on the north-west where Bulgaria's old enemies the [[Avars (Caucasus)|Avars]] experienced difficulties and setbacks against the [[Franks]] under [[Charlemagne]].{{citation needed|date=April 2020}} Between 804 and 806, the Bulgarian armies annihilated the Avars and destroyed their state. Krum took the eastern parts of the former Avar Khaganate and took over rule of the local Slavic tribes. Bulgaria's territory extended twice from the middle [[Danube]] to the north of present-day [[Budapest]] to the [[Dnester]], though its possession of [[Transylvania]] is debatable.{{citation needed|date=April 2020}} In 813 Khan Krum seized [[Odrin]] and plundered the whole of [[Eastern Thrace]]. He took 50,000 captives who were settled in ''[[Bulgarian lands across the Danube|Bulgaria across the Danube]]''.{{citation needed|date=April 2020}}

== High Middle Ages ==
{{Main|Romania in the Middle Ages}}
{{See also|Moldavia in the Middle Ages|Transylvania in the Middle Ages|Wallachia in the Middle Ages|Founding of Wallachia}}

[[File:Castelul Bran2.jpg|thumb|[[Bran Castle]] ({{langx|de|Törzburg}}, {{langx|hu|Törcsvár}}) built in 1212, is commonly known as ''Dracula's Castle'' and is situated in the center of present-day Romania. In addition to its unique [[architecture]], the [[castle]] is famous because of persistent myths that it was once the home of [[Vlad III Dracula]].]]
[[File:Europe_mediterranean_1190_cropped.jpg|alt=Kingdom of Hungary, King Béla III of Hungary, 1190, Europe, map|thumb|Europe in 1190]]
During the [[Middle Ages]] the [[First Bulgarian Empire|Bulgarian Empire]] controlled vast areas to the north of the river [[Danube]] (with interruptions) from its establishment in 681 to its fragmentation in 1371–1422. These lands were called by contemporary [[Byzantine]] historians [[Bulgarian lands across the Danube|Bulgaria across the Danube]], or Transdanubian Bulgaria.<ref>{{Cite web |title=T. Balkanski – Transilvanskite bylgari – Predgovor |url=http://macedonia.kroraina.com/tb2/tb_predg.htm |website=macedonia.kroraina.com}}</ref> Original information for the centuries-old Bulgarian rule there is scarce as the archives of the Bulgarian rulers were destroyed and little is mentioned for this area in Byzantine or Hungarian manuscripts. During the First Bulgarian Empire, the [[Balkan–Danubian culture|Dridu culture]] developed in the beginning of the 8th&nbsp;century and flourished until the 11th century.{{sfn|Opreanu|2005|p=127}}{{sfn|Spinei|2009|p=87}} It represents an [[Early Middle Ages|early medieval]] [[archaeological culture]] which emerged in the region of the [[Lower Danube]].{{sfn|Opreanu|2005|p=127}}{{sfn|Spinei|2009|p=87}} In Bulgaria it is usually referred to as [[Pliska-Preslav culture]].<ref>Плиска-Преслав: Прабългарската култура, Том 2, Българска академия на науките Археологически институт и музей, 1981.</ref>

The [[Pechenegs]],<ref>{{Citation |last=Constantine VII |first=Porphyrogenitus |title=Constantine Porphyrogenitus De Administrando Imperio |date=950 |url=http://faculty.washington.edu/dwaugh/rus/texts/constp.html |location=Constantinople |author-link=Constantine VII Porphyrogenitus}}</ref> the [[Cumans]]<ref>{{Citation |last=Xenopol |first=Alexandru D. |title=Histoire des Roumains |volume=i |pages=168 |year=1896 |place=Paris}}</ref> and [[Oghuz Turks|Uzes]] are also mentioned by historic chronicles on the territory of Romania until the founding of the Romanian principalities of [[Wallachia]] in the south by [[Basarab I]] around 1310 in the [[High Middle Ages]],<ref>{{Citation |last=Ștefănescu |first=Ștefan |title=Istoria medie a României |volume=I |pages=114 |year=1991 |location=Bucharest}}</ref> and [[Moldavia]] in the east, by [[Dragoș]] around 1352.<ref>{{Citation |last=Predescu |first=Lucian |title=Enciclopedia Cugetarea |year=1940}}</ref>

The [[Pechenegs]], a semi-nomadic [[Turkic people]] of the [[Central Asian steppes]], occupied the steppes north of the [[Black Sea]] from the 8th to the 11th centuries, and by the 10th century they were in control of all of the territory between the [[Don River (Russia)|Don]] and the lower [[Danube]] rivers.<ref name="britannica">{{cite web|url=https://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/448299/Pechenegs|title=Pechenegs &#124; people &#124; Britannica.com|publisher=britannica.com|access-date=2015-08-25}}</ref> During the 11th and 12th centuries, the nomadic confederacy of the [[Cumans]] and [[Kipchaks|Eastern Kipchaks]] dominated the territories between present-day Kazakhstan, southern Russia, Ukraine, southern Moldavia and western [[Wallachia]].<ref name="cambridge">{{cite web|url=http://www.cambridge.org/catalogue/catalogue.asp?isbn=9780511110153&ss=fro|title=Cumans and Tatars – Cambridge University Press|publisher=cambridge.org|access-date=2015-08-25}}</ref><ref name="eliznik">{{cite web|url=http://www.eliznik.org.uk/RomaniaHistory/wallachia-history.htm|title=Romania's ethnographic regions – Wallachia (Țara Românească)|author=eliznik|publisher=eliznik.org.uk|access-date=2015-08-25|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150923235632/http://www.eliznik.org.uk/RomaniaHistory/wallachia-history.htm|archive-date=2015-09-23|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name="gather">{{cite web|url=http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.jsp?articleId=281474977384642|archive-url=https://archive.today/20130426051709/http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.jsp?articleId=281474977384642|url-status=dead|archive-date=2013-04-26|title=Gather.com – Join The Conversation : Gather.com|publisher=gather.com|access-date=2015-08-25}}</ref>

It is debated whether elements of the mixed Daco–Roman population survived in Transylvania through the [[Dark Ages (historiography)|Dark Ages]] to become the ancestors of modern [[Romanians]] or whether the first [[Vlachs]] and Romanians appeared in the area in the 13th century after a northward migration from the [[Balkan Peninsula]].<ref>István Lázár: ''Transylvania, a Short History, Simon Publications'', Safety Harbor, Florida, 1996
[https://books.google.com/books?id=sCdhLh0C2okC&q=%22Almost+certainly%2C+the+Vlachs+came+from+the+Western+Balkans+and+only+migrated+into+Rumania+as+nomads+abandoned+it+in+the+late+thirteenth%22&pg=PA53]{{Dead link|date=May 2023|bot=InternetArchiveBot|fix-attempted=yes}}</ref><ref>Martyn C. Rady: ''Nobility, Land and Service in Medieval Hungary'', Antony Grove Ltd, Great Britain, 2000
[https://books.google.com/books?id=4SViWPzFj1AC&q=%22sudden+entry+of+the+Vlachs+into+the+Hungarian+historical+record+around+1200+was+a+consequence+of+Romanian+immigration+from+the+Balkan+interior%22&pg=PA91]</ref> There is also debate over the ethnicity of Transylvania's population before the Hungarian conquest.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=VÁLI |first=FERENC A. |date=1966 |title=Transylvania and the Hungarian Minority |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/24363369 |journal=Journal of International Affairs |volume=20 |issue=1 |pages=32–44 |jstor=24363369 |issn=0022-197X}}</ref>

Several [[Hungarian rulers|Kings of Hungary]] invited settlers from Central and Western Europe, such as the [[Saxons]], to occupy Transylvania. The [[Székelys]] were brought to southeastern Transylvania as border guards. Romanians are mentioned by the Hungarian documents of a township called ''Olahteluk'' in 1283 in [[Bihar County]].<ref>György Fejér, Codex diplomaticus Hungariae ecclesiasticus ac civilis, Volume 7, typis typogr. Regiae Vniversitatis Vngaricae, 1831 [https://books.google.com/books?id=1HnUAAAAMAAJ&dq=olahteluk&pg=RA1-PA100]</ref><ref name="Tamás Kis" /> The "land of Romanians" (''Terram Blacorum'')<ref>Dennis P. Hupchick, Conflict and chaos in Eastern Europe, Palgrave Macmillan, 1995 p. 58 [https://books.google.com/books?id=ycNApODqgRUC&dq=first+appearance+romanians+transylvania&pg=PA58]</ref><ref>István Vásáry, Cumans and Tatars: Oriental military in the pre-Ottoman Balkans, 1185–1365, Cambridge University Press, 2005, p. 28 [https://books.google.com/books?id=8C6P3PYaPmQC&dq=terram+blacorum+1222&pg=PA28]{{Dead link|date=May 2023|bot=InternetArchiveBot|fix-attempted=yes}}</ref><ref>Heinz Stoob, Die Mittelalterliche Städtebildung im südöstlichen Europa, Böhlau, 1977, p. 204 [https://books.google.com/books?id=wRAiAAAAMAAJ&q=1222+terram+blacorum]</ref><ref name="Tamás Kis">Tamás Kis, Magyar nyelvjárások, Volumes 18–21, Nyelvtudományi Intézet, Kossuth Lajos Tudományegyetem (University of Kossuth Lajos). Magyar Nyelvtudományi Tanszék, 1972, p. 83 [https://books.google.com/books?id=wGUg0F2FzvgC&q=olah&pg=PA82 Magyar nyelvjárások]</</ref> appeared in [[Făgăraș]] and this area was mentioned under the name "Olachi" in 1285.<ref name="Tamás Kis" />

King [[Louis I of Hungary]] dispatched [[Andrew Lackfi]], [[Count of the Székelys]] to invade the lands of the [[Golden Horde]] in retaliation for the [[Tatars|Tatars's]] earlier plundering raids against [[Transylvania]]. [[Andrew Lackfi|Lackfi]] and his army of mainly [[Székelys|Székely]] warriors inflicted a defeat on a large [[Tatars|Tatar]] army on 2 February 1345.{{sfn|Kristó|1988|pp=96–97}}{{sfn|Bertényi|1989|p=58}} The campaign had finally expelled the [[Tatars]] and ended the devastations of the Mongols in [[Transylvania]].<ref name=":34">{{Cite book |last=Makkai |first=László |title=History of Transylvania Volume I. From the Beginnings to 1606 – III. Transylvania in the Medieval Hungarian Kingdom (896–1526) – 3. From the Mongol Invasion to the Battle of Mohács |publisher=Columbia University Press, (The Hungarian original by Institute of History Of The Hungarian Academy of Sciences) |year=2001 |isbn=0-88033-479-7 |language=English |chapter=The Three Feudal 'Nations' and the Ottoman Threat |chapter-url=http://mek.niif.hu/03400/03407/html/82.html}}</ref> The [[Golden Horde]] was pushed back behind the [[Dniester|Dniester River]], thereafter the [[Golden Horde|Golden Horde's]] control of the lands between the [[Eastern Carpathians]] and the [[Black Sea]] weakened.{{sfn|Kristó|1988|pp=96–97}}{{sfn|Sălăgean|2005|p=199}} [[Moldavia]] was founded in 1346.

Independent Wallachia had been near the border of the Ottoman Empire since the 14th century until it had gradually succumbed to the Ottomans' influence during the next centuries with brief periods of independence. [[Vlad III the Impaler]] was a [[List of rulers of Wallachia|Prince]] of Wallachia in 1448, 1456–62, and 1476.<ref>{{Citation|last =Schoolfield|first =George C.|title =A Baedeker of Decadence: Charting a Literary Fashion, 1884–1927|publisher =Yale University Press|year=2004|isbn = 0-300-04714-2|url = https://books.google.com/books?id=LzBSu7HZLhcC&pg=PA219}}</ref><ref name="donlinke">{{cite web |url=http://www.donlinke.com/drakula/vlad.htm#Evidence |title=VLAD TEPES – The Historical Dracula |publisher=donlinke.com |access-date=2015-08-25 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150902005823/http://www.donlinke.com/drakula/vlad.htm#Evidence |archive-date=2015-09-02 |url-status=dead }}</ref> Vlad III is remembered for his raids against the Ottoman Empire and his initial success of keeping his small country free for a short time. In the [[Western world]], Vlad is best known for being the inspiration for the [[Count Dracula|main character]] in [[Bram Stoker]]'s 1897 novel ''[[Dracula]]''. The {{ill|Romanian historiography|ro|Istoriografia română}} evaluates him as a ferocious but just ruler,<ref>{{Citation| title =Count Dracul's Legend| year =2006| url =http://www.romaniatourism.com/dracula.html| url-status =dead| archive-url =https://web.archive.org/web/20160117044410/http://www.romaniatourism.com/dracula.html| archive-date =2016-01-17}}</ref> and the defender of the Wallachian independence and of the European [[Christianity]] against Ottoman expansionism.

[[Stephen III of Moldavia|Stephen the Great]] ({{Langx|ro|Ștefan cel Mare}}) is thought to be the best [[List of rulers of Moldavia|voivode]] of [[Moldavia]].<ref>{{Citation|last =Marek|first =Miroslav|title =Rulers of Moldavia: Mushati family|url =http://genealogy.euweb.cz/balkan/balkan18.html}}{{Self-published source|date=August 2012}}</ref>{{Better source needed|date=August 2012}} Stephen ruled for 47 years, an unusually long period for that time. He was a successful military leader and statesman, losing only two out of fifty battles;{{citation needed|date=June 2023}} he built a shrine to commemorate each victory, founding 48 churches and monasteries,<ref>{{Citation|last = Orthodox Church in America|title = St. Stephen the Great – Commemorated on July 2|url =http://ocafs.oca.org/FeastSaintsViewer.asp?FSID=149011}}</ref> many of which have a [[Painted churches of northern Moldavia|unique architectural style]] and are listed in [[UNESCO]]'s list of [[World Heritage Sites]]. Stefan's most prestigious victory was over the Ottoman Empire in 1475 at the [[Battle of Vaslui]], for which he raised the [[Voroneț Monastery]]. For this victory, Pope [[Sixtus IV]] nominated him as ''verus christianae fidei athleta'' (a true Champion of the Christian Faith). After Stephen's death, Moldavia also came under the suzerainty of the [[Ottoman Empire]] during the 16th century.{{citation needed|date=April 2020}}
[[File:Europe_in_the_14th_Century.jpg|alt=14th century, Europe, map|thumb|Europe in 14th century]]
Although the core religious vocabulary of the Romanian language originated from Latin,<ref name="Treptow 1997 45">Treptow ''et al.'' 1997, p. 45.</ref> many terms were adopted from the Slavic [[Eastern Orthodox Church|Orthodoxy]],<ref name="Spinei 269">Spinei 2009, p. 269.</ref> showing a significant influence dating from the [[First Bulgarian Empire|Bulgarian Empire]] (681–1396).<ref>{{Citation|title=The Other Europe: Eastern Europe To 1945|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=64VpSBd7xUcC&q=wallachia+church+slavic&pg=PA21|isbn=978-0-8156-2440-0|last1=Garrison Walters|first1=E|year=1988| publisher=Syracuse University Press }}</ref>

== Early modern period ==
{{Main|Early Modern Romania|National awakening of Romania|Regulamentul Organic|Moldavian Revolution of 1848|Wallachian Revolution of 1848}}
{{See also|Early Modern Moldavia|Early Modern Transylvania|Early Modern Wallachia}}
===Ottoman Romania===
[[File:Stema Mihai Viteazul.jpg|thumb|right|Seal of Michael the Brave during the personal union of the two Romanian principalities with Transylvania]]

After the [[Battle of Mohács]] in 1526, [[Transylvania]] belonged to the [[Eastern Hungarian Kingdom]], from which the [[Principality of Transylvania (1570–1711)|Principality of Transylvania]] emerged in 1570 by the [[Treaty of Speyer (1570)|Treaty of Speyer]].<ref>{{Citation |title=History of Transylvania: IV. The First Period of the Principality of Transylvania (1526–1606) |volume=1 |year=2001 |editor-last=Köpeczi |editor-first=Béla |url=http://mek.oszk.hu/03400/03407/html/97.html |place=New York |publisher=Institute of History of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences}}</ref>

By 1541, the entire [[Balkan peninsula]] and [[Ottoman Hungary|the southern and central parts of Hungary]] became Ottoman provinces. Moldavia, Wallachia, and Transylvania came under Ottoman suzerainty but remained fully autonomous and until the 18th century, had some internal independence.{{citation needed|date=April 2020}} However, regions of [[Banat]], [[Northern Dobruja|Dobrogea]] and [[Crișana]] along side cities of [[Giurgiu]], [[Turnu Fortress|Turnu]] and [[Braila]] were completely under Ottoman control. Unlike the autonomous Moldavia, Wallachia and Transylvania, many Muslims settled in those areas. During this period, the Romanian lands experienced a slow disappearance of the [[feudalism]] and the distinguishing of some rulers like [[Vasile Lupu]] and [[Dimitrie Cantemir]] in Moldavia, [[Matei Basarab]] and [[Constantin Brâncoveanu]] in Wallachia. At that time, the [[Russian Empire]] appeared to become the political and military power the threatened the Romanian principalities.{{citation needed|date=April 2020}}

[[John II Sigismund Zápolya|John II]], the non-Habsburg King of Hungary, moved his royal court to [[Alba Iulia]] in Transylvania and after his abdication from the Hungarian throne, he became the first [[Prince of Transylvania]].<ref>{{Cite book|last=Roșu|first=Felicia|date=2018-01-18|title=Elective Monarchy in Transylvania and Poland-Lithuania, 1569–1587|volume=1|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-878937-6 |url=https://oxford.universitypressscholarship.com/view/10.1093/oso/9780198789376.001.0001/oso-9780198789376|doi=10.1093/oso/9780198789376.001.0001}}</ref> His 1568 Edict of [[Turda]] was the first decree of [[freedom of religion|religious freedom]] in the modern European history.{{citation needed|date=April 2020}} In the aftermath, Transylvania was ruled by mostly [[Calvinism|Calvinist]] Hungarian princes until the end of the 17th century, and [[Protestantism]] flourished in the region.<ref>{{Cite book |editor=Gábor Almási |year=2014 |title=Study Tours and Intellectual-Religious Relationships |series=A Divided Hungary in Europe: Exchanges, Networks and Representations, 1541-1699 |volume=1 |publisher=Cambridge Scholars Publishing |isbn=978-1-4438-6686-6 |url=https://www.cambridgescholars.com/resources/pdfs/978-1-4438-6686-6-sample.pdf}}</ref>
[[File:Mihai Viteazul fighting the Turks, Giurgiu, October 1595.jpg|thumb|right|[[Battle of Giurgiu (1595)|Battle of Giurgiu]] which ended with the victory of the united forces of [[Principality of Transylvania (1570–1711)|Transylvania]], [[Wallachia]] and [[Moldavia]] over the retreating [[Ottoman Empire|Ottoman]] army]]
[[Michael the Brave]] was the [[Prince of Wallachia]] from 1593 to 1601, of Transylvania from 1599 to 1600, and of Moldavia in 1600. For a short time during his reign, Transylvania was ruled together with Moldavia and Wallachia in a [[personal union]].<ref>{{Citation|last=Rezachevici |first=Constantin |title=Mihai Viteazul: itinerariul moldovean |year=2000 |journal=Magazin Istoric |issue=5 |url=http://www.itcnet.ro/history/archive/mi2000/current5/mi5.htm |language=ro |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090416234456/http://www.itcnet.ro/history/archive/mi2000/current5/mi5.htm |archive-date=April 16, 2009 }}</ref> After his death the union dissolved and as vassal tributary states, Moldavia and Wallachia still had internal autonomy and some external independence, which was finally lost in the 18th century.{{citation needed|date=April 2020}}
[[File:Moldavia,_Transylvania_and_Wallachia_under_Michael_the_Brave's_authority_(1600).png|thumb|right|alt=Wallachia in 1600|[[Wallachia|Principality of Wallachia]], [[Moldavia|Principality of Moldavia]], and [[Principality of Transylvania (1570–1711)|Principality of Transylvania]] in personal union of [[Michael the Brave]] in 1600]]

[[File:Europe map 1648.PNG|thumb|left|Map of Europe in 1648 showing Transylvania and the two Romanian principalities: Wallachia and Moldavia]]
[[File:Principati1786.jpg|thumb|right|The Principalities of [[Moldavia]] and [[Wallachia]] in 1786, Italian map by G. Pittori, since the geographer Giovanni Antonio Rizzi Zannoni]]

The [[Principality of Transylvania (1571–1711)|Principality of Transylvania]] reached its golden age under the [[Absolutism (European history)|absolutist]] rule of [[Gábor Bethlen]] from 1613 to 1629. In 1690, the [[Habsburg monarchy]] gained possession of [[Transylvania]] through the [[Holy Crown of Hungary|Hungarian crown]].<ref>{{cite book |author=Béla Köpeczi |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VElpAAAAMAAJ&q=%22+in+1690%2C+the+Habsburgs+gained+possession+of+Transylvania+by+right+of+the+Hungarian+crown.%22 |title=History of Transylvania: From 1606 to 1830 |date=2008-07-09 | publisher=Social Science Monographs |isbn=978-0-88033-491-4 |access-date=2017-07-10}}</ref><ref>Peter F. Sugar. [https://books.google.com/books?id=LOln4TGdDHYC&dq=independent+principality+that+was+not+reunited+with+Hungary&pg=PA163 "Southeastern Europe Under Ottoman Rule, 1354–1804"] (''History of East Central Europe''), University of Washington Press, July 1983, page 163</ref><ref name="books.google.com">Paul Lendvai, Ann Major. [https://books.google.com/books?id=9yCmAQGTW28C&dq=diploma+leopoldinum+transylvania&pg=PA146 ''The Hungarians: A Thousand Years of Victory in Defeat''] C. Hurst & Co. Publishers, 2003, page 146;</ref> After the failure [[Rákóczi's War of Independence]] in 1711<ref>[http://www.google.ro/search?tbm=bks&hl=en&q=%22princes+of+transylvania%22&btnG=#hl=en&tbm=bks&sclient=psy-ab&q=%22+In+1711%2C+after+the+Peace+Treaty+of+Szatmar%2C+Austrian+control+was+firmly+established+over+all+of+Hungary+and+Erdely%2C+and+the+princes+of+Transylvania+were+replaced+by+Austrian+governors.+%22&oq=%22+In+1711%2C+after+the+Peace+Treaty+of+Szatmar%2C+Austrian+control+was+firmly+established+over+all+of+Hungary+and+Erdely%2C+and+the+princes+of+Transylvania+were+replaced+by+Austrian+governors.+%22&aq=f&aqi=&aql=&gs_l=serp.3...21238l22034l2l22304l3l2l0l0l0l0l102l180l1j1l2l0.frgbld.&pbx=1&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.r_qf.,cf.osb&fp=3cae50351d088142&biw=1137&bih=752 " In 1711, after the Peace Treaty of Szatmar, Austrian control was firmly established over all of Hungary and Erdely, and the princes of Transylvania were replaced by Austrian governors. " (Google Search)]{{cite book |last1=Glockner |first1=Peter G. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FAAMAQAAMAAJ&q=%22+In+1711,+after+the+Peace+Treaty+of+Szatmar,+Austrian+control+was+firmly+established+over+all+of+Hungary+and+Erdely,+and+the+princes+of+Transylvania+were+replaced+by+Austrian+governors.+%22 |title=Encyclopaedia Hungarica: English |last2=Bagossy |first2=Nora Varga |date=2007 |publisher=Hungarian Ethnic Lexicon Foundation |isbn=978-1-55383-178-5 |language=en}}</ref> Habsburg control of [[Transylvania]] was consolidated, and Hungarian [[List of princes of Transylvania|Transylvanian princes]] were replaced with Habsburg imperial governors.<ref name="Britannica">[http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/603323/Transylvania "Transylvania"] (2009). ''Encyclopædia Britannica''. Retrieved July 7, 2009</ref><ref name="Leopoldinum">[http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/1459175/Diploma-Leopoldinum "Diploma Leopoldinum"] (2009). ''Encyclopædia Britannica''. Retrieved July 7, 2009</ref> In 1699, Transylvania became a part of the [[Habsburg monarchy]] following the Austrian victory over the Turks.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://brill.com/view/title/33550|title=Across the Danube: Southeastern Europeans and Their Travelling Identities (17th–19th C.)|date=2016-11-21|publisher=Brill|isbn=978-90-04-33544-8|language=en|doi=10.1163/9789004335448|editor1-last=Katsiardi-Hering|editor1-first=Olga|editor2-last=Stassinopoulou|editor2-first=Maria A}}</ref> The Habsburgs rapidly expanded their empire; in 1718 [[Oltenia]], a major part of Wallachia, was annexed to the Habsburg monarchy and was only returned in 1739. In 1775, the Habsburgs later occupied the north-western part of Moldavia, which was later called [[Bukovina]] and was incorporated to the [[Austrian Empire]] in 1804. The eastern half of the principality, which was called [[Bessarabia]], was occupied in 1812 by Russia.{{citation needed|date=April 2020}}<ref>{{Cite book |title=Bessarabia |publisher=H.M. Stationery Office |year=1920 |location=London, England |pages=51 |language=en}}</ref>

During the Austro-Hungarian rule of Transylvania, Romanians formed the majority of the population.<ref>{{Citation |last1 =Kocsis |first1 =Karoly |last2 =Kocsis-Hodosi |first2 =Eszter |year =1999 |title =Ethnic structure of the population on the present territory of Transylvania (1880–1992) |url =http://www.hungarian-history.hu/lib/hmcb/Tab14.htm |url-status =dead |archive-url =https://web.archive.org/web/20080222171134/http://www.hungarian-history.hu/lib/hmcb/Tab14.htm |archive-date =2008-02-22 }}</ref><ref>{{Citation|last1 =Kocsis|first1 =Karoly|last2 =Kocsis-Hodosi|first2 =Eszter|title =Ethnic Geography of the Hungarian Minorities in the Carpathian Basin|year =2001|pages =102|publisher =Simon Publications|isbn =1-931313-75-X|url =https://books.google.com/books?id=-zZ_NVM9mNEC&q=hungarian+census+transylvania+1910&pg=PA116}}{{Dead link|date=January 2023 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>

After their defeat to the Russians, the Ottoman Empire restored the Danube ports of [[Turnu]], [[Giurgiu]] and [[Braila]] to Wallachia, and agreed to give up their commercial monopoly and recognize freedom of navigation on the Danube as specified in the [[Treaty of Adrianople (1829)|Treaty of Adrianople]], which was signed in 1829.{{citation needed|date=April 2020}} The political autonomy of the Romanian principalities grew as their rulers were elected for life by a Community Assembly consisting of [[boyar]]s, a method used to reduce political instability and Ottoman interventions.{{citation needed|date=April 2020}} Following the war, Romanian lands came under Russian occupation under the governance of General [[Pavel Kiselyov]] until 1844. During his rule, the local boyars enacted the first [[Law of Romania|Romanian constitution]].{{citation needed|date=April 2020}}

=== Revolutions of 1848 and formation of modern Romania ===
[[File:Peles-Castle-Sinaia-Romania.jpg|thumb|right|[[Peleș Castle]], retreat of Romanian monarchs]]

In 1848, there was a [[Wallachian Revolution of 1848|revolution]] in Moldavia, Wallachia and Transylvania perpetrated by [[Tudor Vladimirescu]] and his [[Vladimirescu's Pandurs|Pandurs]] in the [[Wallachian uprising of 1821]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Chalcraft |first1=John |title=Popular Politics in the Making of the Modern Middle East |date=22 March 2016 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-1-107-00750-5 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JhW8CwAAQBAJ&pg=PA93 |language=en}}</ref>{{rp|93}} The goals of the revolutionaries were full independence for Moldavia and Wallachia, and national emancipation in Transylvania; these were not fulfilled but were the basis of the subsequent revolutions.<ref>{{Cite web |type=paper |last=Ivan |first=Cristi |title=Romanian history the DACIA |url=https://www.academia.edu/18513665}}</ref> The revolution in 1848 already carried the seeds of the national dream of a unified and united Romania,<ref name="Ivan T. Berend">[[Iván T. Berend]], [https://books.google.com/books?id=a9csmhIT_BQC&q=History+Derailed%3A+Central+and+Eastern+Europe+in+the+Long+Nineteenth+Century History Derailed: Central and Eastern Europe in the Long Nineteenth Century], University of California Press, 2013, p. 112 and p. 252</ref> though the "idea of unification" had been known from earlier works of Naum Ramniceanu (1802) and [[Ion Budai-Deleanu]] (1804).<ref name="Juliana Geran Pilon">Juliana Geran Pilon,[[iarchive:bloodyflagpostco00pilo/page/56|<!-- quote="Greater Romania" concept. --> The Bloody Flag: Post-Communist Nationalism in Eastern Europe : Spotlight on Romania]], Transaction Publishers, 1982, p. 56</ref>

=== United Principalities of Moldavia and Wallachia ===

After the unsuccessful 1848 revolution, the [[Great Powers]] rejected the Romanians' desire to officially unite in a single state, forcing the Romanians to proceed alone in their struggle against the Turks.<ref>{{Citation|last =Bobango|first =Gerald J|title =The emergence of the Romanian national State|publisher=Boulder |year=1979 |location=New York |isbn= 978-0-914710-51-6}}</ref>

The aftermath of the [[Russian Empire]]'s defeat in the [[Crimean War]] brought the 1856 [[Treaty of Paris (1856)|Treaty of Paris]], which started a period of common tutelage for the Ottomans and a Congress of [[Great Power]]s—the [[United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland]], the [[Second French Empire]], the [[Kingdom of Piedmont-Sardinia]], the [[Austrian Empire]], [[Prussia]], and, though never again fully, Russia. While the Moldavia-Wallachia [[Partida Națională|unionist campaign]], which had come to dominate political demands, was accepted with sympathy by the French, Russians, Prussians, and Sardinians, it was rejected by the Austrian Empire, and looked upon with suspicion by Great Britain and the Ottomans.

Negotiations amounted to an agreement on a minimal formal union, to be known as the United Principalities of Moldavia and Wallachia but with separate institutions and thrones and with each principality electing its own prince. However, the Moldavian and Wallachian elections for the [[Ad hoc Divans|ad-hoc divans]] in 1859 profited from an ambiguity in the text of the final agreement, which, while specifying two separate thrones, did not prevent the same person from occupying both thrones simultaneously and ultimately ushered in the ruling of [[Alexandru Ioan Cuza]] as ''Domnitor'' (Ruling Prince) over both Moldavia and Wallachia from 1859 onwards, [[Unification of Moldavia and Wallachia|uniting both principalities]].<ref name="Principalities">{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LBYriPYyfUoC&pg=PA114 |title=The establishment of the Balkan national states, 1804–1920 |date= 20 September 2012|isbn=978-0-295-80360-9 |access-date=2012-03-28|last1=Jelavich |first1=Charles |last2=Jelavich |first2=Barbara |publisher=University of Washington Press }}</ref>

[[File:Battle at river Skit 1877.jpg|thumb|Clash between Romanians and Turks during the [[Romanian War of Independence]], November 1877]]
Alexander Ioan Cuza carried out reforms including abolishing serfdom and started to unite the institutions one by one in spite of the convention from Paris. With help from unionists, he unified the government and parliament, effectively merging Wallachia and Moldavia into one country and in 1862 the country's name was changed to United Principalities of Romania.

Romania was created as a personal union that did not include Transylvania, where the upper class and the aristocracy remained mainly Hungarian, although Romanian nationalism clashed with Hungarian nationalism at the end of the 19th century.{{citation needed|date=April 2020}}<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Identity conflict of the sango minority of Romania |url=https://munin.uit.no/bitstream/handle/10037/20109/thesis.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y}}</ref> Austria-Hungary, especially under the [[History of Hungary|Dual Monarchy]] of 1867, kept the territory firmly in control even in parts of Transylvania where Romanians constituted a vast majority.{{citation needed|date=April 2020}}

== Independence and Kingdom of Romania ==
{{Main|Romanian War of Independence|Kingdom of Romania|United Principalities}}
[[File:RomaniaBorderHistoryAnnimation 1859-2010.gif|thumb|right|Timeline of the borders of Romania between 1859 and 2010]]
In an 1866 ''coup d'état'', [[Alexandru Ioan Cuza|Cuza]] was exiled and replaced with Prince Karl of [[Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen]]. He was appointed [[Domnitor]], Ruling Prince of the United Principality of Romania, as [[Charles I of Romania|Prince Carol of Romania]]. Romania declared its independence from the Ottoman Empire after the [[Russo-Turkish War (1877–1878)]], in which the Ottomans fought against the Russian empire.<ref>{{Citation|title =San Stefano Preliminary Treaty|year =1878|url =http://www.hist.msu.ru/ER/Etext/FOREIGN/stefano.htm|language=ru}}</ref>
In the 1878 [[Treaty of Berlin, 1878|Treaty of Berlin]],<ref>{{Citation|title =Modern History Sourcebook: The Treaty of Berlin, 1878 – Excerpts on the Balkans|date =13 July 1878|place =Berlin|url =http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/mod/1878berlin.html|access-date =30 August 2008|archive-date =8 June 2008|archive-url =https://web.archive.org/web/20080608120300/http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/mod/1878berlin.html|url-status =dead}}</ref> Romania was officially recognized as an independent state by the [[Great Powers]].<ref>{{Citation|last=Patterson |first=Michelle |title=The Road to Romanian Independence |journal=Canadian Journal of History |date=August 1996 |doi=10.3138/cjh.31.2.329 |url=http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa3686/is_199608/ai_n8755098 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080324063246/http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa3686/is_199608/ai_n8755098 |archive-date=March 24, 2008 }}</ref> In return, Romania ceded the district [[Bessarabia]] to Russia in exchange for access to the Black Sea ports and acquired [[Dobruja]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Internet History Sourcebooks: Modern History |url=https://sourcebooks.fordham.edu/mod/1878berlin.asp |access-date=2023-02-02 |website=sourcebooks.fordham.edu}}</ref> In 1881, Romania's [[principality]] status was raised to that of a [[monarchy|kingdom]] and on 26 March that year, Prince Carol became King [[Carol I]] of Romania.<ref>{{Cite web|title=kingdom of romania|url=http://kcdogs.com/idulyxrv/|access-date=2021-07-21|website=kcdogs.com|language=en-US}}{{dead link|date=August 2021 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>{{citation needed|date=April 2020}}

The period between 1878 and 1914 was one of stability and progress for Romania. During the [[Second Balkan War]], Romania joined Greece, [[Serbia]] and [[Montenegro]] against Bulgaria.{{citation needed|date=April 2020}} In the [[Treaty of Bucharest (1913)|Treaty of Bucharest of 1913]], Romania gained [[Southern Dobruja]] and established the [[Durostor County|Durostor]] and [[Caliacra County|Caliacra]] counties.<ref>{{Citation|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>

The governments of Britain and the [[United States]] repeatedly protested the brutal treatment of Romanian Jews, who were regarded as [[Alien (law)|aliens]] who had no civil or political rights. Romania engaged in arbitrary expulsions of Jews as vagabonds and tolerated violent [[pogrom]]s against Jews, many of whom fled to the United States.<ref>{{cite book|author=David Aberbach|title=The European Jews, Patriotism and the Liberal State 1789–1939: A Study of Literature and Social Psychology|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=B3kXQEUJy_YC&pg=PA107|year=2012|publisher=Routledge|pages=107–9|isbn=978-1-136-15895-7}}</ref><ref>Satu Matikainen, ''Great Britain, British Jews and the international protection of Romanian Jews, 1900–1914: a study of Jewish diplomacy and minority rights'' (University of Jyväskylä, 2006).</ref>

== World War I ==
{{Main|Romanian Campaign (World War I)}}

[[File:Romanians before WW1.jpg|thumb|Territories inhabited by Romanians before WWI]]

Due to Romania's unfavorable location between the [[Russian Empire]] and [[Kingdom of Bulgaria]] as well as [[King Carol I of Romania]]'s German heritage, Romania had a secret treaty of alliance with [[Germany]] and [[Austria-Hungary]] since 1883. When the war began in 1914, King Carol I summoned an emergency midnight council where he revealed the secret treaty of alliance. While the king favored Germany, the nation's political elite favored the Entente. As such, the crown council took the decision to remain neutral.<ref name=":1">{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lwcWDFZWuJgC&q=Carol+romania+war+secret&pg=PA102 |title=Brief Romanian Military History |author-first=Călin |author-last=Hentea |publisher=[[Scarecrow Press]] |year=2007 |access-date=2014-03-02 |page=102 |isbn=978-0-8108-5820-6}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=EjZHLXRKjtEC&q=Carol+romania+war+secret&pg=PA208 |title=A Companion to World War I |author-first=Jean-Jacques|author-last=Becker |chapter=Chapter Fourteen: War Aims and Neutrality |editor-first=John |editor-last=Horne |publisher=[[Blackwell Publishing]] |date=2012-01-30 |access-date=2014-03-02 |page=208 |isbn=978-1-4051-2386-0}}</ref> When the Austro-Hungarian Empire invoked a [[casus foederis]] on Romania and Italy linked to the secret treaty of alliance since 1883, both Italy and Romania refused to honor the treaty on the grounds that the attacks on Austria were not ''"unprovoked"'', as stipulated in the treaty of alliance.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lwcWDFZWuJgC&pg=PA102 |title=Brief Romanian Military History |author-first=Călin |author-last=Hentea |publisher=[[Scarecrow Press]] |year=2007 |access-date=2014-03-02 |page=102 |isbn=978-0-8108-5820-6}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=EjZHLXRKjtEC&pg=PA208 |title=A Companion to World War I |author-first=Jean-Jacques|author-last=Becker |chapter=Chapter Fourteen: War Aims and Neutrality |editor-first=John |editor-last=Horne |publisher=[[Blackwell Publishing]] |date=2012-01-30 |access-date=2014-03-02 |page=208 |isbn=978-1-4051-2386-0}}</ref>

King Carol I died on 10 October 1914, and his successor, [[King Ferdinand I of Romania]] was much more favorable towards the Entente. In August 1916, Romania received an ultimatum to decide whether to join the [[Allies of World War I|Entente]]. The Romanian government agreed to enter the war on the side of the Entente, although the situation on the battle fronts was not favorable. For Romania, the highest priority was taking [[Transylvania]] from [[Kingdom of Hungary|Hungary]], with around 2,800,000 Romanians out of around 5,000,000 people. [[Allies of World War I|The Allies]] wanted Romania to join their side in order to cut rail communications between Germany and [[Turkey]], and to cut off Germany's oil supplies. [[United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland|Britain]] made loans, [[French Third Republic|France]] sent a [[French military mission to Romania (1916–1918)|military training mission]], and Russia promised modern munitions. The Allies promised at least 200,000 soldiers to defend Romania against Bulgaria to the south, and help it invade Austria-Hungary.<ref>Marcel Mitrasca, ''Moldova: A Romanian Province under Russian Rule. Diplomatic History from the Archives of the Great Powers'', pg. 56</ref>

On 4 August 1916, Romania and the Entente signed the Political Treaty and Military Convention, which established the parameters of Romania's participation in the war. The Allies promised to Romania the Austro-Hungarian regions of [[Bukovina]], [[Transylvania]] up to [[Tisza]] river and all of [[Banat]]. Joining the Entente had large popular support.<ref>Laurentiu-Cristian Dumitru, Preliminaries of Romania's entering the World War I, No. 1/2012, Bulletin of "Carol I" National Defence University, Bucharest, p.171</ref> The Romanian campaign plan ([[Hypothesis Z]]) consisted in attacking Austria-Hungary in Transylvania, while defending Southern Dobruja and [[Giurgiu County|Giurgiu]] from Bulgaria in the south.<ref name="Emporia">{{cite journal | url=https://esirc.emporia.edu/bitstream/handle/123456789/311/136.pdf?sequence=1 | title=Romania's Entry into the First World War: The Problem of Strategy|author=Torrie, Glenn E. |journal=Emporia State Research Studies|date=Spring 1978|volume=26|issue=4|pages=7–8|publisher=[[Emporia State University]]}}</ref>

[[File:RomaniaLosses1918.jpg|thumb|Romanian territorial losses in the Treaty of Bucharest in May 1918]]

The German high command was seriously worried about the prospect of Romania entering the war, [[Paul von Hindenburg]] writing:

<blockquote>It is certain that so relatively small a state as Rumania had never before been given a role so important, and, indeed, so decisive for the history of the world at so favorable a moment. Never before had two great Powers like Germany and Austria found themselves so much at the mercy of the military resources of a country which had scarcely one twentieth of the population of the two great states. Judging by the military situation, it was to be expected that Rumania had only to advance where she wished to decide the world war in favor of those Powers which had been hurling themselves at us in vain for years. Thus everything seemed to depend on whether Rumania was ready to make any sort of use of her momentary advantage.<ref>Paul von Hindenburg, ''Out of My Life, Vol. I, ''trans. F.A. Holt (New York: Harper & Brothers, 1927), 243.</ref></blockquote>

On 27 August 1916, the Romanian Army [[Battle of Transylvania|launched an attack]] against Austria-Hungary, with limited Russian support. The Romanian offensive was initially successful and Romania managed to occupy 1/3rd of Transylvania, but when the German army arrived in Transylvania the Romanians began to be pushed back.<ref>Michael B. Barrett, ''Prelude to Blitzkrieg: The 1916 Austro-German Campaign in Romania'' (2013)</ref> While on the southern front, a combined German-Bulgarian-Turkish offensive gradually occupied all of [[Dobruja]] and captured Giurgiu. The bulk of the Romanian army managed to escape encirclement from Giurgiu and retreated to [[Bucharest]]. As a result of the [[Battle of Bucharest]], the Central Powers occupied Bucharest on 6 December 1916.<ref>România în anii primului război mondial, vol.2, p. 831</ref>

In the summer of 1917, one of the largest concentrations of forces in World War I was present in Romania: 9 armies, 80 infantry divisions and 19 cavalry divisions, totaling 974 battalions, 550 squadrons and 923 artillery batteries. 800,000 combatants and 1,000,000 reservists were present.<ref>România în anii primului război mondial, vol. 2, Ed. Militară, Bucharest, 1987</ref>

In 1917, a new [[Central Powers]] offensive began, leading to the battles of [[Răcoasa|Mărăști]], [[Mărășești]], and [[Oituz]], where the Romanian army managed to defeat the [[Central Powers]] offensives and take back some territory in a counter-offensive.<ref>România în anii primului război mondial, vol. 2, pp. 834–835</ref><ref>Sanders Marble, Brill, 2016, King of Battle: Artillery in World War I, pp. 343–349</ref> Romania lost over 27,000 men while Germany and Austria-Hungary lost over 60,000. Notably, the Romanian heroine [[Ecaterina Teodoroiu]] and German General [[Karl von Wenninger]] were killed at the end of the [[Battle of Mărășești]].<ref>Keith Hitchins, Clarendon Press, 1994, Rumania 1866–1947, p. 269</ref> However, shortly after the military victories, the [[October Revolution]] threw the [[Russian Empire]] out of the war leaving Romania alone on the Eastern Front, completely surrounded by the Central Powers. This forced Romania to drop out of the war, and it signed the [[Treaty of Bucharest (1918)|Treaty of Bucharest]] with the Central Powers in May 1918.<ref name="auto">John Keegan, ''World War I'', pg. 308</ref>
[[File:Emil Rebreanu.png|thumb|Military officer [[Emil Rebreanu]] (1891–1917), here wearing his [[Medal for Bravery (Austria-Hungary)|Medal for Bravery]], was among the Romanians executed during [[World War I]] by the Russian Empire]]
In 1939, General August von Mackensen would describe the Central Powers offensive from 1917 as following:

<blockquote>After fighting with the Rumanians in 1916, I thought the Rumanian army had disappeared, that it did not exist in 1917 when I had to make a new effort to conquer the rest of Rumania. But when the battles started in Mărășești, Mărăști, Oituz, I was told that in front of me was the Rumanian army that I was convinced had disappeared. But the Rumanian army has risen from its ashes like the Phoenix bird. The attacks on the bayonet scared everyone, and they were running, the Germans, who didn't usually run, this time they were running.<ref>Ioan Scurtu, Octavian Silivestru, Oral History Archive, 1994</ref></blockquote>

Under the terms of the [[Treaty of Bucharest (1918)|Treaty of Bucharest]], Romania would lose all of Dobruja to Bulgaria, all the Carpathian passes to Austria-Hungary and would lease all of its oil reserves to Germany for 99 years.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.mtholyoke.edu/acad/intrel/routreat.html|title=Article X of the Treaty|access-date=17 September 2017|archive-date=24 March 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190324234829/https://www.mtholyoke.edu/acad/intrel/routreat.html|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name="ropeace">{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=joHTAAAAMAAJ|title=Texts of the Roumanian "Peace"|author=United States Department of State|author-link=United States Department of State|publisher=Washington Government Printing Office|year=1918}}</ref> However, the [[Central Powers]] recognized Romania's union with [[Bessarabia]] who had recently declared independence from the Russian Empire following the October Revolution and voted for union with Romania in April 1918.<ref>R. J. Crampton, ''Eastern Europe in the twentieth century'', Routledge, 1994, {{ISBN|978-0-415-05346-4}}, p. 24–25</ref> The parliament signed the treaty, however [[Ferdinand I of Romania|King Ferdinand]] refused to sign it, hoping for an Allied victory on the western front.<ref name="auto" /> In October 1918, Romania renounced the treaty and on 10 November 1918, one day before the [[Armistice of 11 November 1918|German armistice]], Romania reentered the war after the successful Allied advances on the [[Macedonian front]] and advanced in Transylvania. The next day, the Treaty of Bucharest was nullified by the terms of the Armistice of [[Compiègne]].<ref>{{cite book |last=Béla |first=Köpeczi |title=Erdély története |publisher=Akadémiai Kiadó |url=http://mek.oszk.hu/02100/02109/html/571.html}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Béla |first=Köpeczi |title=History of Transylvania |publisher=Akadémiai Kiadó |url=http://mek.niif.hu/03400/03407/html/429.html |isbn=978-84-8371-020-3 |year=1998}}</ref> Total Romanian deaths from 1914 to 1918, military and civilian, within contemporary borders, were estimated at 748,000.<ref>{{cite book |title=Потери народонаселения в 20. веке |language=ru |trans-title=The loss of population in the 20th Century |last=Erlikman |first=Vadim |year=2004 |location=Moscow |publisher=Русская панорама |isbn=978-5-93165-107-1}}</ref>

=== Transylvanian, Bukovinian and Bessarabian Romanians ===

In Austria-Hungary, ethnic Romanians entered the war from the very beginning, with hundreds of thousands of Transylvanian and Bukovinian Romanians being mobilized throughout the war. Although most Transylvanian Romanians were loyal to the Austro-Hungarian Empire, over time, reactionary sentiments emerged, especially after Romania joined the war in 1916. Many of the previously loyal soldiers decided that it was much better to risk their lives through desertion, rather than shoot their ethnic conationals.<ref name="auto1">Erlikman, Vadim (2004). Poteri narodonaseleniia v XX veke : spravochnik. Moscow. Page 51</ref> According to studies made by the army of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the dedication of the Romanian military to the interest of Austria-Hungary was reduced, only ethnic Italians of the same empire can compete with them for the last place in a ranking according to devotion to the state per 100 soldiers, out of about 300,000 Austro-Hungarian deserters, 150,000 were ethnic Romanians.<ref name="auto2">Volantini di guerra: la lingua romena in Italia nella propaganda del primo conflitto mondiale, Damian, 2012</ref>

The Austro-Hungarian Romanian prisoners of war in the Russian Empire would eventually form the [[Romanian Volunteer Corps in Russia]] who would eventually be repatriated to Romania in 1917 and take part in the battles of Mărăști, Mărășești and Oituz<ref>Mamina ''et al.'', p.41; Șerban (1997), p.104-105; (2001), p.149; (''AUASH'' 2004), p.179-180</ref><ref>Părean, [p.4]; Șerban (1997), p.103; (''AUASH'' 2004), p.179</ref> and the Romanian Legion in Siberia who resisted the [[Bolsheviks]] in cooperation with the [[Czechoslovak Legion]] and the [[White movement]] during the [[Russian Civil War]], these units were ultimately repatriated to Greater Romania in 1920.<ref>Șerban (2003), p.153</ref><ref>Cazacu, p.117</ref> While the Austro-Hungarian Romanian prisoners of war in Italy would form the Romanian Volunteer Legion from Italy, which joined the fighting during the last battles on the [[Italian Front (World War I)|Italian front]] and later, after the end of the war, participated in the [[Hungarian-Romanian War]]. Out of a total of 60,000 prisoners of war of Romanian origin, 37,000 Romanians requested to join the Romanian Legion in Italy.<ref name="auto2" /> The ranks of the Austro-Hungarian soldiers enlisted in the Romanian Legion were equivalated to those corresponding of the Italian Royal Army.<ref>Legiunea Voluntarilor Români din Italia, Bușe, 2007, p. 12.</ref> The sedentary part of the Romanian Legion, under the command of Colonel Camillo Ferraioli, was established at [[Albano Laziale]], and the base camp in the [[Avezzano]] camp.<ref>Legiunea Română din Italia, Grecu. p. 3.</ref>

It is estimated that in the period 1914–1918 between 400,000 and 600,000 soldiers of Romanian origin fought on different fronts of Austria-Hungary, which represented a significant percentage of the Romanian ethnics who lived in those times in the Empire. In total, up to 150,000 Romanians were killed in action while fighting as part of the Austro-Hungarian Army.<ref name="auto1" />

== Greater Romania (1918–1940) ==
{{Main|Greater Romania}}
[[File:Romania MASSR 1924.png|thumb|Great Romania (1920–1940)]]

Before World War I, the union of [[Michael the Brave]], who ruled over the three principalities with Romanian population ([[Wallachia]], [[Principality of Transylvania (1570–1711)|Transylvania]] and [[Moldavia]]) for a short period of time,<ref name="Juliana Geran Pilon" /> was viewed in later periods as the precursor of a modern [[Romania]], a thesis which was argued with noted intensity by [[Nicolae Bălcescu]]. This theory became a point of reference for [[Romantic nationalism|nationalists]], as well as a catalyst for various Romanian forces to achieve a single Romanian state.<ref>{{cite book | last = Giurescu | first = Constantin C. | author-link = Constantin C. Giurescu | title = Istoria Românilor | orig-year = 1935 | year = 2007 | location = Bucharest | publisher = Editura All }}, p. 211–13.</ref> World War I played a crucial part in the development of Romanian national consciousness.

In 1918, the union of Romania with [[Bukovina]] was ratified in 1919 in the [[Treaty of Saint Germain]],<ref>{{Citation|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ox_gXq2jpdYC&q=treaty+of+st+germain+text+bukovina&pg=PA162 |title=Europe Since 1945: An Encyclopedia |author=Bernard Anthony Cook |page=162 |isbn=0-8153-4057-5 |year=2001 |publisher=Taylor & Francis |access-date=2007-12-07}}</ref> and some of the Allies recognized the union with [[Bessarabia]] in 1920 through the never ratified [[Treaty of Paris (1920)|Treaty of Paris]].<ref>{{Citation|title=The Legal Status of the Bukovina and Bessarabia |author=Malbone W. Graham |journal=The American Journal of International Law |date=October 1944 |volume=38 |issue=4 |pages=667–673 |jstor=2192802|doi=10.2307/2192802 |s2cid=146890589 }}</ref> On 1 December, the Deputies of the Romanians from Transylvania voted to unite Transylvania, Banat, Crișana and Maramureș with Romania by the ''[[Union of Transylvania with Romania|Proclamation of Union]]'' of [[Alba Iulia]]. Romanians today celebrate this as the [[Great Union Day]], that is a national holiday.

The Romanian expression [[Greater Romania|''România Mare'']] (Great or Greater Romania) refers to the Romanian state in the [[interwar period]] and to the territory Romania covered at the time. At that time, Romania achieved its greatest territorial extent, almost {{convert|300000|sqkm|sqmi|disp=or|abbr=on}}<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://media.ici.ro/history/ist08.htm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100108060819/http://media.ici.ro/history/ist08.htm|url-status=dead|title=Institutul Național de Cercetare-Dezvoltare în Informatică – ICI București|archive-date=January 8, 2010}}</ref>), including all of the historic Romanian lands.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Codrul Cosminului|publisher=Universitatea Stefan cel Mare din Suceava|doi=10.4316/cc|s2cid=246070683}}</ref>

Most of the claimed territories were granted to the [[Old Kingdom of Romania]], which was ratified in 1920 by the [[Treaty of Trianon]] that defined the new border between Hungary and Romania.<ref>{{Citation|url=http://wwi.lib.byu.edu/index.php/Treaty_of_Trianon |title=Text of the Treaty of Trianon |publisher=World War I Document Archive |access-date=2007-12-07}}</ref> The union of [[Bucovina]] and Bessarabia with Romania was ratified in 1920 by the [[Treaty of Versailles]]. Romania also acquired [[Southern Dobruja]] territory called "The Quadrilateral" from Bulgaria as a result of its participation in the [[Second Balkan War]] in 1913.

[[File:Alba Iulia Resolution.jpg|thumb|Proclamation of Union between Transylvania and Romania]]

As a result of the [[Paris Peace Conference, 1919|peace treaties]], most regions with clear Romanian majorities were merged into a single state. It also led to the inclusion of sizable minorities. National minorities were recognized by the [[1923 Constitution of Romania]]; they were represented in [[Romanian Parliament|Parliament]] and several of them created political parties, although a unique standing of minorities with autonomy on a wide basis, provided for at the [[Great National Assembly of Alba Iulia]] on 1 December 1918, was not fulfilled. According to the [[1930 Romanian Census]], Romania had a population of 18,057,028. [[Romanians]] made up 71.9% of the population and 28.1% of the population were [[Minorities in Romania|ethnic minorities]]. This occasionally led to violent conflict, as exemplified by the [[Hungarian–Romanian War]] and the [[Tatarbunary Uprising]]. To contain Hungarian irredentism, Romania, [[Yugoslavia]] and [[Czechoslovakia]] established the [[Little Entente]] in 1921. That same year Romania and Poland concluded a [[Polish–Romanian alliance|defensive alliance]] against the emergent Soviet Union, and in 1934 the Balkan Entente was formed with Yugoslavia, Greece and Turkey, which were suspicious of Bulgaria.<ref name="Axworthy, p. 13">Axworthy, p. 13</ref>
Until 1938, Romania's governments maintained the form, if not always the substance, of a liberal constitutional monarchy. The [[National Liberal Party (Romania, 1875)|National Liberal Party]], dominant in the years immediately after World War I, became increasingly [[clientelism|clientelist]] and [[nationalism|nationalist]], and in 1927 was supplanted in power by the [[National Peasants' Party]]. Between 1930 and 1940 there were over 25 separate governments; on several occasions in the last few years before World War II, the rivalry between the fascist [[Iron Guard]] and other political groupings approached the level of a civil war.{{citation needed|date=June 2015}}

Upon the death of King [[Ferdinand of Romania|Ferdinand]] in 1927, his son, [[Carol II of Romania|Prince Carol]], was prevented from succeeding him because of previous marital scandals that had resulted in his renunciation of rights to the throne. After living three years in exile, with his brother Nicolae serving as regent and his young son [[Michael I of Romania|Michael]] as king, Carol changed his mind and with the support of the ruling National Peasants' Party he returned and proclaimed himself king.

[[Iuliu Maniu]], leader of the National Peasants' Party, engineered Carol's return on the basis of a promise that he would forsake his mistress [[Magda Lupescu]], and Lupescu herself had agreed to the arrangement. However, it became clear upon Carol's first re-encounter with his former wife, [[Helen of Greece and Denmark|Elena]], that he had no interest in a reconciliation with her, and Carol soon arranged for Magda Lupescu's return to his side. Her unpopularity was to be a millstone around Carol's neck for the rest of his reign. Maniu and his National Peasant Party shared the same general political aims of the Iron Guard: both fought against the corruption and dictatorial policies of King Carol II and the National Liberal Party.<ref>Rebecca Ann Haynes, "Reluctant allies? Iuliu Maniu and Corneliu Zelea Codreanu against King Carol II of Romania." ''[[The Slavonic and East European Review]]'' (2007): 105–134. [http://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/2247/1/2247.pdf online]</ref>

The [[Great Depression|worldwide Great Depression that started in 1929]] and [[Great Depression in Romania|was also present in Romania]] destabilized the country. The early 1930s were marked by social unrest, high unemployment, and strikes. In several instances, the Romanian government violently repressed strikes and riots, notably the 1929 miners' strike in [[Valea Jiului]] and the strike in the [[Grivița]] railroad workshops. In the mid-1930s, the Romanian economy recovered and the industry grew significantly, although about 80% of Romanians were still employed in agriculture. French economic and political influence was predominant in the early 1920s but then Germany became more dominant, especially in the 1930s.<ref>William A. Hoisington Jr, "The Struggle for Economic Influence in Southeastern Europe: The French Failure in Romania, 1940." ''Journal of Modern History'' 43.3 (1971): 468–482.</ref>

[[File:Paris-expo-1937-pavillon de la Roumanie-10.jpg|thumb|Romanian pavilion at EXPO Paris 1937]]

As the 1930s progressed, Romania's already shaky democracy slowly deteriorated toward [[fascism|fascist]] dictatorship. The constitution of 1923 gave the king free rein to dissolve parliament and call elections at will; as a result, Romania was to experience over 25 governments in a single decade.

Increasingly, these governments were dominated by a number of [[antisemitic]], ultra-nationalist, and mostly at least quasi-fascist parties. The [[National Liberal Party (Romania, 1875)|National Liberal Party]] steadily became more nationalistic than liberal, but nonetheless lost its dominance over Romanian politics. It was eclipsed by parties like the (relatively moderate) National Peasants' Party and its more radical [[Romanian Front]] offshoot, the [[National-Christian Defense League]] (LANC) and the [[Iron Guard]]. In 1935, LANC merged with the [[National Agrarian Party (Romania)|National Agrarian Party]] to form the [[National Christian Party]] (NCP). The quasi-mystical fascist Iron Guard was an earlier LANC offshoot that, even more than these other parties, exploited nationalist feelings, fear of communism, and resentment of alleged foreign and [[Jew]]ish domination of the economy.

Already, the Iron Guard had embraced the politics of assassinations, and various governments had reacted more or less in kind. On 10 December 1933, Liberal prime minister [[Ion Duca]] "dissolved" the Iron Guard, arresting thousands; consequently, 19 days later he was assassinated by Iron Guard legionnaires.

In December 1937, the king appointed LANC leader, the poet [[Octavian Goga]] as prime minister of Romania's first [[Kingdom of Romania under Fascism|Fascist government]]. Around this time, Carol met with [[Adolf Hitler]], who expressed his wish to see a Romanian government headed by the pro-Nazi Iron Guard. Instead, on 10 February 1938 King Carol II used the occasion of a public insult by Goga toward Lupescu as a reason to dismiss the government and institute a short-lived royal dictatorship, sanctioned seventeen days later by a new constitution under which the king named personally not only the prime minister but all the ministers. The new regime featured [[corporatist]] policies that often resembled those of Fascist Italy and Nazi Germany.<ref>Axworthy, p. 22</ref> In parallel with these internal developments, economic pressures and a weak Franco-British response to Hitler's aggressive foreign policy caused Romania to start drifting away from the Western Allies and closer to the Axis.<ref name="Axworthy, p. 13" />

In April 1938, King Carol had Iron Guard leader [[Corneliu Zelea Codreanu]] (aka "The Captain") arrested and imprisoned. On the night of 29–30 November 1938, Codreanu and several other legionnaires were killed while purportedly attempting to escape from prison.

The royal dictatorship was brief. On 7 March 1939, a new government was formed with [[Armand Călinescu]] as prime minister; on 21 September 1939, three weeks after the start of World War II, Călinescu, in turn, was also assassinated by legionnaires avenging Codreanu's murder.
[[File:Kingdom_of_Romania_(1939).svg|thumb|right|alt=Romania in 1939|Kingdom of Romania in 1939]]

On 13 April 1939, France and the United Kingdom had pledged to guarantee the independence of the Kingdom of Romania. Negotiations with the [[Soviet Union]] concerning a similar guarantee collapsed when Romania refused to allow the [[Red Army]] to cross its frontiers.<ref name="Study">U.S. government [http://countrystudies.us/romania/22.htm Country study: Romania], c. 1990. {{PD-notice}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Henig|first=Ruth|title=The Origins of the Second World War 1933–1941|year=2013|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-134-31987-9|pages=92–93|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-OVwVO58pI0C&pg=PA93}}</ref> In August 1939, Germany and the [[Soviet Union]] signed the [[Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact]], which stipulated, among other things, the Soviet "interest" in Bessarabia. After the 1940 territorial losses and growing increasingly unpopular, Carol was compelled to abdicate and name general [[Ion Antonescu]] as the new Prime-Minister with full powers in ruling the state by royal decree.<ref>{{cite web|title=Decret regal privind investirea generalului Ion Antonescu cu depline puteri|url=http://ebooks.unibuc.ro/istorie/istorie1918-1940/13-15.htm|work=Istoria românilor între anii 1918–1940|access-date=19 September 2011|author1=Ioan Scurtu|author2=Theodora Stănescu-Stanciu|author3=Georgiana Margareta Scurtu|language=ro|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111002052125/http://ebooks.unibuc.ro/istorie/istorie1918-1940/13-15.htm|archive-date=2 October 2011|url-status=dead}}</ref>

== World War II and aftermath (1940–1947) ==
{{Main|Romania during World War II|Bombing of Romania in World War II}}
{{More citations needed section|date=January 2022}}
[[File:Romania 1930 ethnic map EN.png|thumb|right|Ethnic map of Greater Romania according to the [[Demographic history of Romania#29 December 1930 census|1930 census]]. Sizeable ethnic minorities put Romania at odds with Hungary, Bulgaria, and the Soviet Union throughout the interwar period.]]

Eight days later Nazi Germany invaded the [[Second Polish Republic]]. Expecting military aid from Britain and France, Poland chose not to activate the [[Polish-Romanian Alliance]] in order to be able to use the [[Romanian Bridgehead]] strategy. A neutral Romania would be used to resupply the Polish troops and could be used as an escape corridor in case of defeat. Following the fall of Poland, the Polish government, the treasury of the [[National Bank of Poland]] and about 120,000 Polish troops withdrew through the Romania, the majority of those troops joined the newly formed [[Polish Armed Forces in the West]] in France and the [[United Kingdom]] during 1939 and 1940.<ref name="FT06">Kwan Yuk Pan, [http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0d441dfa-ecf1-11d9-9d20-00000e2511c8.html "Polish veterans to take pride of place in victory parade"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070318131325/http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0d441dfa-ecf1-11d9-9d20-00000e2511c8.html |date=2007-03-18 }}, ''[[Financial Times]]'', May 25, 2007. Last accessed on 31 March 2006.</ref>

Romania officially remained neutral and, under pressure from the Soviet Union and Germany, interned the fleeing Polish government after its members had crossed the Polish–Romanian border on 17 September, forcing them to relegate their authority to what became the [[Polish government-in-exile]].<ref>Michael Alfred Peszke. [https://books.google.com/books?id=zhb2doihL1wC&pg=PA25 ''The Polish Underground Army, the Western Allies and the Failure of Strategic Unity in World War II''], McFarland, 2005, {{ISBN|0-7864-2009-X}}</ref> After the assassination of Prime Minister [[Armand Călinescu]] on 21 September King Carol II tried to maintain neutrality for several months longer, but the surrender of the [[Third French Republic]] and the retreat of British forces from continental Europe rendered the assurances that both countries had made to Romania meaningless.<ref name="Study" />

[[File:PérdidasTerritorialesRumanas1940-ro.svg|thumb|right|Romania after the territorial losses of 1940. The recovery of Bessarabia and Northern Bukovina was the catalyst for Romania's entry into the war on Germany's side.]]
[[File:Bundesarchiv Bild 183-B03212, München, Staatsbesuch Jon Antonescu bei Hitler.jpg|thumb|left|[[Ion Antonescu|Antonescu]] and [[Adolf Hitler]] at the ''[[Hochschule für Musik und Theater München|Führerbau]]'' in [[Munich]], June 1941]]

In 1940 Romania's territorial gains made following [[World War I]] were largely undone. In July, after a Soviet ultimatum, Romania agreed to [[Soviet occupation of Bessarabia and Northern Bukovina|give up Bessarabia and northern Bukovina]] (the Soviets also annexed the city of [[Hertsa]], which was not stated in the ultimatum). Two-thirds of Bessarabia were combined with a [[Moldavian ASSR|small part of the Soviet Union]] to form the [[Moldavian SSR|Moldavian Soviet Socialist Republic]]. The rest (northern Bukovina, the northern half of [[Hotin county]] and [[Budjak]]) was apportioned to the [[Ukrainian SSR|Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic]].

Shortly thereafter, on 30 August, under the [[Second Vienna Award]], Germany and [[Kingdom of Italy|Italy]] mediated a compromise between Romania and the [[Kingdom of Hungary (1920–1946)|Kingdom of Hungary]]: Hungary received a region referred to as '[[Northern Transylvania]]', while 'Southern Transylvania' remained part of Romania. Hungary had lost [[Transylvania]] after [[World War I]] in the [[Treaty of Trianon]]. On 7 September, under the [[Treaty of Craiova]], [[Southern Dobruja]] (which Bulgaria had lost after the Romanian invasion during the [[Second Balkan War]] in 1913), was ceded to Bulgaria under pressure from Germany. Despite the relatively recent acquisition of these territories, they were inhabited by a majority of Romanian speaking people (except Southern Dobruja), so the Romanians had seen them as historically belonging to Romania, and the fact that so much land was lost without a fight shattered the underpinnings of King Carol's power.

On 4 July, [[Ion Gigurtu]] formed the first Romanian government to include an Iron Guardist minister, [[Horia Sima]]. Sima was a particularly virulent [[Antisemitism|antisemite]] who had become the nominal leader of the movement after the death of [[Corneliu Codreanu]]. He was one of the few prominent far-right leaders to survive the bloody infighting and government suppression of the preceding years.

In the immediate wake of the loss of Northern Transylvania, on 4 September the Iron Guard (led by Horia Sima) and General (later Marshal) [[Ion Antonescu]] united to form the "[[National Legionary State]]", which forced the abdication of Carol II in favor of his 19-year-old son [[Michael of Romania|Michael]]. Carol and his mistress [[Magda Lupescu]] went into exile, and Romania, despite the unfavorable outcome of recent territorial disputes, leaned strongly toward the [[Axis powers|Axis]]. As part of the deal, the Iron Guard became the sole legal party in Romania. Antonescu became the Iron Guard's honorary leader, while Sima became deputy premier.

In power, the Iron Guard stiffened the already harsh antisemitic legislation, enacted legislation directed against minority businessmen and wreaked vengeance upon its enemies. On 8 October German troops began crossing into Romania. On 23 November Romania joined the Axis powers. On 27 November, 64 former dignitaries or officials were executed by the [[Iron Guard]] in [[Jilava]] prison while awaiting trial (see ''[[Jilava Massacre]]''). Later that day, historian and former prime minister [[Nicolae Iorga]] and economist [[Virgil Madgearu]], a former government minister, were assassinated.

The cohabitation between the Iron Guard and Antonescu was never an easy one. On 20 January 1941, the Iron Guard attempted a [[Legionnaires' rebellion and Bucharest pogrom|coup, combined with a pogrom against the Jews]] of [[Bucharest]]. Within four days, Antonescu had successfully suppressed the coup. The Iron Guard was forced out of the government. Sima and many other legionnaires took refuge in Germany;<ref>{{Cite book|title=The legionary movement after Corneliu Codreanu : from the dictatorship of King Carol II to the communist regime (February 1938 – August 1944)|last=Țiu, Ilarion.|date=2010|publisher=East European Monographs|isbn=978-0-88033-659-8|pages=184–186|oclc=630496676}}</ref> others were imprisoned. Antonescu abolished the National Legionary State, in its stead declaring Romania a "National and Social State."

[[File:Romania1941.png|thumb|Romania [[Transnistria Governorate|administered Transnistria]], the area between the [[Dniester]] and [[Southern Bug]], in July 1941]]
[[File:Razboiul Sfant Contra Bolsevismului (1941 stamp).svg|thumb|1941 stamp depicting a Romanian and a German soldier in reference to the two countries' common participation in Operation Barbarossa, the text below reads ''the holy war against [[Bolshevism]]'']]

On 22 June 1941, German armies with Romanian support attacked the Soviet Union. German and Romanian units conquered Bessarabia, Odessa, and Sevastopol, then marched eastward across the Russian steppes toward Stalingrad. Romania welcomed the war because they were allies with Germany. Hitler rewarded Romania's loyalty by returning Bessarabia and northern Bukovina and by allowing Romania to administer Soviet lands immediately between the Dniester and the Bug, including Odessa and Nikolaev.<ref>Vladimir Solonari, ''A satellite empire: Romanian rule in southwestern Ukraine, 1941–1944'' (2019).</ref> Romanian jingoes in Odessa even distributed a geography showing that the Dacians had inhabited most of southern Russia.<ref name="Study" /><ref>{{Cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/romaniacountryst00bach_0|title=Romania : a country study|last1=Bachman|first1=Ronald D.|last2=Keefe|first2=Eugene K. Area handbook for Romania|last3=Library of Congress. Federal Research Division|date=1991|publisher=Washington, D.C. : The Division : For sale by the Supt. of Docs., U.S. G.P.O.|others=The Library of Congress|pages=[https://archive.org/details/romaniacountryst00bach_0/page/41 41]}} {{PD-notice}}</ref> After recovering Bessarabia and Bukovina ([[Operation München]]), Romanian units fought side by side with the Germans onward to [[Odessa]], [[Sevastopol]], [[Stalingrad]] and the [[Caucasus]]. The total number of troops involved on the Eastern Front with the [[Third Army (Romania)|Romanian Third Army]] and the [[Fourth Army (Romania)|Romanian Fourth Army]] was second only to that of Nazi Germany itself. The Romanian Army had a total of 686,258 men under arms in the summer of 1941 and a total of 1,224,691 men in the summer of 1944.<ref name='Sources'>{{cite book|editor-last=Axworthy|editor-first=Mark| editor2-last=Scafes |editor2-first=Cornel|editor3-last=Craciunoiu|editor3-first=Cristian |title=Third axis, Fourth Ally: Romanian Armed Forces In the European War 1941–1945|publisher=Arms & Armour Press|year=1995| location=London|pages=1–368|isbn=963-389-606-1}}</ref> The number of Romanian troops sent to fight in the Soviet Union exceeded that of all of Germany's other allies combined. A ''[[Library of Congress Country Studies|Country Study]]'' by the U.S. Federal Research Division of the Library of Congress attributes this to a "morbid competition with Hungary to curry Hitler's favor... [in hope of]... regaining northern Transylvania."<ref name="Study" />

[[Bessarabia]] and the [[Northern Bukovina]] were now fully re-incorporated into the Romanian state after they had been [[Soviet occupation of Bessarabia and Northern Bukovina|occupied by the USSR a year earlier]]. As a substitute for Northern Transylvania, which had been given to Hungary following the [[Second Vienna Award]], Hitler persuaded Antonescu in August 1941 to also take control of the [[Transnistria]] territory between the [[Dniester]] and the [[Southern Bug]], which would also include [[Odessa]] after its eventual [[Battle of Odessa (1941)|fall in October 1941]]. Although the Romanian administration set up a civil government, the [[Transnistria Governorate]], the Romanian state had not yet formally incorporated Transnistria into its administrative framework by the time it was retaken by Soviet troops in early 1944.

Romanian armies advanced far into the Soviet Union during 1941 and 1942 before being involved in the disaster at the [[Battle of Stalingrad]] in the winter of 1942–43. [[Petre Dumitrescu]], one of Romania's most important generals, was commander of the Third Army at Stalingrad. In November 1942, the [[6th Army (Wehrmacht)|German Sixth Army]] was briefly put at Dumitrescu's disposal during a German attempt to relieve the Third Army following the devastating Soviet [[Operation Uranus]]. Prior to the Soviet counteroffensive at Stalingrad, the Antonescu government considered a war with Hungary over Transylvania an inevitability after the expected victory over the Soviet Union.<ref name="Study" />

=== King Michael's Coup ===

On 23 August 1944, with the Red Army penetrating German defenses during the [[Second Jassy–Kishinev Offensive|Jassy–Kishinev Offensive]], King [[Michael I of Romania]] led a successful coup against the Axis with support from opposition politicians, most of the army and [[Romanian Communist Party|Communist]]-led civilians.<ref name="Library" /> Michael I, who was initially considered to be not much more than a figurehead, was able to successfully depose the Antonescu dictatorship. The King then offered a non-confrontational retreat to German ambassador [[Manfred von Killinger]]. But the Germans considered the coup "reversible" and attempted to turn the situation around by military force. The Romanian [[First Army (Romania)|First]], [[Second Army (Romania)|Second (forming)]], and what little was left of the [[Third Army (Romania)|Third]] and the [[Fourth Army (Romania)|Fourth Armies]] (one corps) were under orders from the King to defend Romania against any German attacks. King Michael offered to put the Romanian Army, which at that point had a strength of nearly 1,000,000 men,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://rohistory.ici.ro/eng09.htm |title=Romania During the Second World War (1941–1945) |access-date=2011-01-26 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120713084246/http://rohistory.ici.ro/eng09.htm |archive-date=2012-07-13 }}</ref> on the side of the [[Allies of World War II|Allies]]. Stalin immediately recognized the king and the restoration of the conservative Romanian monarchy.<ref>Deutscher, Stalin. 1967, p.&nbsp;519</ref>

In a radio broadcast to the Romanian nation and army on the night of 23 August King Michael issued a cease-fire,<ref name="Library">[http://countrystudies.us/romania/23.htm ''Country Studies: Romania''], Chap. 23, [[Library of Congress]]</ref> proclaimed Romania's loyalty to the Allies, announced the acceptance of an armistice (to be signed on September 12)<ref>{{in lang|ro}} Delia Radu, [http://www.bbc.co.uk/romanian/news/story/2008/08/080801_serial_antonescu_episod3.shtml "Serialul 'Ion Antonescu și asumarea istoriei' (3)"], [[BBC]] Romanian edition, August 1, 2008</ref> offered by Great Britain, the United States, and the [[USSR]], and declared war on Germany.<ref>{{in lang|ro}} [http://www.curierulnational.ro/Specializat/2004-08-07/“Dictatura+a+luat+sfarsit+si+cu+ea+inceteaza+toate+asupririle” ''"The Dictatorship Has Ended and along with It All Oppression" – From The Proclamation to The Nation of King Michael I on The Night of August 23 1944''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160228102833/http://www.curierulnational.ro/Specializat/2004-08-07/%E2%80%9CDictatura+a+luat+sfarsit+si+cu+ea+inceteaza+toate+asupririle%E2%80%9D |date=2016-02-28 }}, ''[[Curierul Național]]'', August 7, 2004</ref> The coup accelerated the [[Red Army]]'s advance into Romania, but did not avert a rapid Soviet occupation and capture of about 130,000 Romanian soldiers, who were transported to the Soviet Union, where many perished in prison camps. The armistice was signed three weeks later on 12 September 1944, on terms virtually dictated by the Soviet Union.<ref name="Library" /> Under the terms of the armistice, Romania announced its unconditional surrender<ref>[https://www.nytimes.com/1944/08/24/archives/break-in-balkans-king-proclaims-nations-surrender-and-wish-to-help.html?scp=1 ''"King Proclaims Nation's Surrender and Wish to Help Allies"''], ''[[The New York Times]]'', August 24, 1944</ref> to the USSR and was placed under occupation of the Allied forces with the Soviet Union as their representative, in control of media, communication, post, and civil administration behind the front.<ref name="Library" /> Some attribute the postponement of a formal Allied recognition of the ''de facto'' change of orientation until 12 September (the date the armistice was signed in Moscow) to the complexities of the negotiations between the USSR and UK.<ref name="Honest">{{in lang|ro}} Constantiniu, Florin, ''O istorie sinceră a poporului român'' ("An Honest History of the Romanian People"), Ed. Univers Enciclopedic, București, 1997, {{ISBN|973-9243-07-X}}</ref>

[[File:1944soviet1.png|thumb|left|[[Nicolae Ceaușescu]] and others welcome the Red Army as it enters Bucharest on 30 August 1944]]
[[File:WWII Southern Central Europe 1944-1945.png|thumb|[[Allies of World War II|Allies]] operations against the [[Axis powers|Axis]]]]

During the [[Moscow Conference (1944)|Moscow Conference]] in October 1944 [[Winston Churchill]], [[Prime Minister of the United Kingdom]], proposed an [[Percentages agreement|agreement]] to [[General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union|Soviet leader]] [[Joseph Stalin]] on how to split up [[Eastern Europe]] into spheres of influence after the war. The Soviet Union was offered a 90% share of influence in Romania.<ref>European Navigator: [http://www.ena.lu?lang=2&doc=4272 The division of Europe] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070927220124/http://www.ena.lu/?lang=2&doc=4272 |date=2007-09-27 }}</ref>

The Armistice Agreement of 12 September stipulated in Article 18 that "An Allied Control Commission will be established which will undertake until the conclusion of peace the regulation of and control over the execution of the present terms under the general direction and orders of the Allied (Soviet) High Command, acting on behalf of the Allied Powers". The Annex to Article 18 made clear that "The Romanian Government and their organs shall fulfil all instructions of the Allied Control Commission arising out of the Armistice Agreement." The Agreement also stipulated that the [[Allied Control Commission#Romania|Allied Control Commission]] would have its seat in [[Bucharest]]. In line with Article 14 of the Armistice Agreement, two [[Romanian People's Tribunals]] were set up to try suspected war criminals.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.yale.edu/lawweb/avalon/wwii/rumania.htm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160820014103/http://www.yale.edu/lawweb/avalon/wwii/rumania.htm|url-status=dead|title=The Armistice Agreement with Romania|archive-date=August 20, 2016}}</ref>

[[File:Romania WWII.png|thumb|right|Map of Romania after World War II indicating lost territories]]

As the country declared war on Germany on the night of 23 August 1944, border clashes between Hungarian and Romanian troops erupted almost immediately. On 24 August, German troops attempted to seize Bucharest and suppress Michael's coup, but were repelled by the city's defenses, which received some support from the United States Air Force. Other Wehrmacht units in the country suffered severe losses: remnants of the Sixth Army retreating west of the [[Prut River]] were cut off and destroyed by the Red Army, which was now advancing at an even greater speed, while Romanian units attacked German garrisons at the [[Ploiești]] oilfields, forcing them to retreat to Hungary. The Romanian Army captured over 50,000 German prisoners around this time, who were later surrendered to the Soviets.<ref name="jn">{{in lang|ro}} Florin Mihai, [http://www.jurnalul.ro/articole/106834/sarbatoarea-armatei-romane "Sărbătoarea Armatei Române"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130616194953/http://jurnalul.ro/articole/106834/sarbatoarea-armatei-romane |date=2013-06-16 }}, ''[[Jurnalul Național]]'', October 25, 2007</ref>

In early September, Soviet and Romanian forces entered Transylvania and captured the towns of [[Brașov]] and [[Sibiu]] while advancing toward the [[Mureș River]]. Their main objective was [[Cluj]] (Cluj-Napoca), a city regarded as the historical capital of Transylvania. However, the [[Second Army (Hungary)|Second Hungarian Army]] was present in the region, and together with the [[8th Army (Wehrmacht)|Eighth German Army]] engaged the Allied forces on 5 September in what was to become the [[Battle of Turda]], which lasted until 8 October and resulted in heavy casualties for both sides. Also around this time, the Hungarian Army carried out its last independent offensive action of the war, penetrating [[Arad County]] in western Romania. Despite initial success, a number of ad hoc Romanian cadet battalions managed to stop the Hungarian advance at the [[Battle of Păuliș]], and soon a combined Romanian-Soviet counterattack overwhelmed the Hungarians, who gave ground and evacuated [[Arad, Romania|Arad]] itself on 21 September.

The [[Romanian Army]] ended the war fighting against the [[Wehrmacht]] alongside the Red Army in Transylvania, Hungary, [[Yugoslavia]], Austria and the [[Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia]], from August 1944 until the [[End of World War II in Europe|end of the war in Europe]]. In May 1945, the [[Romanian First Army|First]] and [[Romanian Fourth Army|Fourth]] armies took part in the [[Prague Offensive]]. The Romanian Army incurred heavy casualties fighting Nazi Germany. Of some 538,000 Romanian soldiers who fought against the Axis in 1944–45, some 167,000 were killed, wounded or went missing.<ref>Third Axis Fourth Ally, p. 214</ref>

Under the [[Paris Peace Treaties, 1947|1947 Treaty of Paris]],<ref>*[https://treaties.un.org/doc/Publication/UNTS/Volume%2049/v49.pdf United Nations Treaty Series volume 49]</ref> the Allies did not acknowledge Romania as a co-belligerent nation but instead applied the term "ally of Hitlerite Germany" to all recipients of the treaty's stipulations. Like Finland, Romania had to pay $300 million to the Soviet Union as war reparations. However, the treaty specifically acknowledged that Romania switched sides on 24 August 1944, and therefore "acted in the interests of all the United Nations". As a reward, Northern Transylvania was, once again, recognized as an integral part of Romania, but the border with the USSR and Bulgaria was fixed at its state in January 1941, restoring the pre-Barbarossa status quo (with [[Tătaru Mare Island|one exception]]). Following the [[History of the Soviet Union (1985–1991)|dissolution of the Soviet Union]] in 1991, the Eastern territories became part of Ukraine and the [[Moldova|Republic of Moldova]].

== Communist period (1947–1989) ==
{{Main|Socialist Republic of Romania}}
{{More citations needed section|date=January 2022}}

[[File:Adunare Piaţa Palatului August 1968.jpg|thumb|[[Nicolae Ceaușescu]] condemning the [[Warsaw Pact invasion of Czechoslovakia]] in 1968]]
[[File:Personality Cult Romania 1986.jpg|thumb|The Communist government fostered the [[Nicolae Ceaușescu's cult of personality|personality cult]] of Nicolae Ceaușescu and his wife [[Elena Ceaușescu|Elena]], 1986.]]

In Romania proper, [[Soviet occupation of Romania|Soviet occupation]] following World War II facilitated the rise of the [[Communist Party of Romania|Communist Party]] as the main political force, leading ultimately to the forced abdication of the King and the establishment of a single-party [[Socialist Republic of Romania|people's republic]] in 1947.

Romania was proclaimed a [[people's republic]]<ref name="cia">{{cite web|url=https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/romania/ |title=CIA – The World Factbook – Romania|publisher=cia.gov|access-date=2015-08-25}}</ref><ref name="ed-u">{{cite web|url=http://www.ed-u.com/ro.html|title=Romania – Country Background and Profile at ed-u.com – The Colossal Education Mega-Site|publisher=ed-u.com|access-date=2015-08-25|archive-date=2008-12-10|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081210194350/http://www.ed-u.com/ro.html|url-status=dead}}</ref> and remained under military and economic control of the Soviet Union until the late 1950s. During this period, Romania's resources were drained by the "[[SovRom]]" agreements; mixed Soviet-Romanian companies were established to mask the Soviet Union's looting of Romania.<ref>{{Citation|first=Carmen |last=Rîjnoveanu |title=Romania's Policy of Autonomy in the Context of the Sino-Soviet Conflict |year=2003 |pages=1 |publisher=Czech Republic Military History Institute, Militärgeschichtliches Forscheungamt |url=http://www.servicehistorique.sga.defense.gouv.fr/07autredossiers/groupetravailhistoiremilitaire/pdfs/2003-gthm.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080624195137/http://www.servicehistorique.sga.defense.gouv.fr/07autredossiers/groupetravailhistoiremilitaire/pdfs/2003-gthm.pdf |archive-date=2008-06-24 }}</ref><ref>{{Citation|last=Roper|first=Stephen D.|title=Romania: The Unfinished Revolution|place=London|publisher=Routledge|year=2000|isbn=90-5823-027-9|pages=18}}</ref><ref>{{Citation|last=Cioroianu|first=Adrian|author-link=Adrian Cioroianu|title=On the Shoulders of Marx. An Incursion into the History of Romanian Communism|language=ro|publisher=Editura Curtea Veche|year =2005|location=Bucharest|pages=68–73|isbn=973-669-175-6}}</ref>

Romania's leader from 1948 to his death in 1965 was [[Gheorghe Gheorghiu-Dej]], the [[General Secretary|First Secretary]] of the [[Romanian Workers' Party]]. The Communist regime was formalized with the [[1948 Constitution of Romania|constitution of 13 April 1948]]. On 11 June 1948, all banks and large businesses were [[Nationalization|nationalized]]. This started the process of the [[Romanian Communist Party]] to collectivize the Romania's resources including agriculture.

In 1946 and 1947, several high-ranking members in the pro-Axis government were executed as war criminals, primarily for their involvement in the Holocaust and for attacking the Soviet Union. Antonescu himself was executed 1 June 1946. Once the Communist government became more entrenched, the number of arrests increased. All strata of society were involved, but particularly targeted were the prewar elites, such as intellectuals, and anybody who could potentially form the nucleus of anti-Communist resistance. According to figures, in the years between 1945 and 1964, 73,334 people were arrested.<ref>Cicerone Ionițoiu, Victimele terorii comuniste. Arestați, torturați, întemnițați, uciși. Dicționar. Editura Mașina de scris, București, 2000. {{ISBN|973-99994-2-5}}.</ref> Between 60,000<ref>{{Citation|publisher=[[S.R.I.]]|title=Cartea albă a Securității|volume=2|year=1997}}</ref> and 80,000 political prisoners were detained.<ref>Gheorghe Gheorghiu-Dej, ''Speech at the Plenary session of the Central Committee of the Romanian Workers' Party'', 30 November 1961</ref><ref>''Recensământul populației concentraționare din România în anii 1945–1989'' – report of the "Centrul Internațional de Studii asupra Comunismului", Sighet, 2004</ref><ref>''Raportul Comisiei Prezidențiale pentru Analiza Dictaturii Comuniste din România'' – report of the "Comisia Prezidențială pentru Analiza Dictaturii Comuniste din România", 15 December 2006</ref><ref>Valentino, Benjamin A (2005). Final solutions: mass killing and genocide in the twentieth century. Cornell University Press. pp. 91–151.</ref><ref>Rummel, Rudolph, Statistics of Democide, 1997.</ref>

Gheorghiu-Dej attained greater independence for Romania from the Soviet Union by persuading Soviet First Secretary [[Nikita Khrushchev]] to withdraw troops from Romania in April 1958.<ref>Johanna Granville, [https://web.archive.org/web/20090902161846/http://www.scribd.com/doc/17679545/DejAVu-Early-Roots-of-Romanias-Independence-by-Johanna-Granville "''Dej''-a-Vu: Early Roots of Romania's Independence,"] ''East European Quarterly'', vol. XLII, no. 4 (Winter 2008), pp. 365–404.</ref> After the negotiated withdrawal of Soviet troops, Romania under the new leadership of [[Nicolae Ceaușescu]] started to pursue independent policies, including the [[Ceaușescu's speech of 21 August 1968|condemnation]] of the [[Warsaw Pact invasion of Czechoslovakia|Soviet-led 1968 invasion]] of [[Socialist Republic of Czechoslovakia|Czechoslovakia]]—Romania being the only [[Warsaw Pact]] country not to take part in the invasion—the continuation of [[Israel-Romania relations|diplomatic relations]] with Israel after the [[Six-Day War]] of 1967 (again, the only Warsaw Pact country to do so), and the establishment of economic (1963) and diplomatic (1967) relations with [[West Germany]].<ref name="countrystudies">{{cite web|url=http://countrystudies.us/romania/75.htm |title=Romania – Soviet Union and Eastern Europe |publisher=countrystudies.us|access-date=2015-08-25}}</ref> Romania's close ties with [[Arab world|Arab countries]] and the [[Palestine Liberation Organization]] (PLO) allowed to play a key role in the Israel-Egypt and Israel-PLO peace processes by intermediating the visit of Egyptian president [[Anwar Sadat|Sadat]] to Israel.<ref name="countrystudies2">{{cite web|url=http://countrystudies.us/romania/80.htm |title= Middle East policies in Communist Romania |publisher=countrystudies.us|access-date=2015-08-25}}</ref>

Between 1977 and 1981, Romania's [[foreign debt]] sharply increased from US$3 to US$10&nbsp;billion<ref>{{Citation|last=Deletant|first=Dennis|title=New Evidence on Romania and the Warsaw Pact, 1955–1989|publisher=Cold War International History Project e-Dossier Series|url=http://www.wilsoncenter.org/index.cfm?topic_id=1409&fuseaction=topics.publications&doc_id=16367&group_id=13349|access-date=2008-08-30|archive-date=2008-10-29|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081029113345/http://www.wilsoncenter.org/index.cfm?topic_id=1409&fuseaction=topics.publications&doc_id=16367&group_id=13349|url-status=dead}}</ref> and the influence of international financial organizations such as the [[IMF]] and the [[World Bank]] grew, in conflict with Ceaușescu's [[Autarky|autarchic]] policies.{{citation needed|date=April 2020}} Ceaușescu's independent foreign policy meant leaders of Western nations leaders were slow to criticize Romania's government which, by the late 1970s, had become arbitrary, capricious and harsh.{{citation needed|date=April 2020}} The Romanian economy grew quickly through foreign credit but this was replaced with austerity and political repression, which became more draconian through the 1980s.{{citation needed|date=April 2020}}

Ceaușescu eventually initiated a project of full reimbursement of the foreign debt; to achieve this, he imposed [[1980s austerity policy in Romania|austerity policies]] that impoverished Romanians and exhausted the nation's economy. The project was completed in 1989, shortly before his overthrow. He greatly extended the authority of the ''[[Securitate]]'' (secret police) and imposed a [[cult of personality]], leading to a dramatic decrease in Ceaușescu's popularity and culminating in his overthrow and execution in the bloody [[Romanian Revolution]] in [[Revolutions of 1989|December 1989]].<ref>{{Cite web|date=2019-12-25|title='Shameful but necessary': How the Romanian rulers who starved their people met their end|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/independentpremium/long-reads/ceausescu-romania-bucharest-communism-politics-history-a9234806.html|access-date=2022-02-19|website=The Independent|language=en}}</ref>

== 1989 Revolution ==
{{Main|Romanian Revolution}}
{{Unreferenced section|date=January 2022}}
[[File:Revolutia Bucuresti 1989 000.JPG|thumb|Tanks and [[Miliția (Romania)|Miliția]] on the [[Bulevardul Magheru|Magheru Boulevard]] in [[Bucharest]] during the 1989 Revolution]]
The [[Romanian Revolution]] resulted in more than 1,100 deaths in [[Timișoara]] and [[Bucharest]], and brought the fall of Ceaușescu and the end of the Communist regime in Romania.<ref name="BBC">{{cite news |last1=McGrath |first1=Stephen |title=Executing a dictator: Open wounds of Romania's Christmas revolution |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-50821546 |access-date=13 November 2024 |publisher=BBC |date=25 December 2019}}</ref> After a week of unrest in Timișoara, a [[Ceaușescu's last speech|mass rally]] summoned in Bucharest in support of Ceaușescu on 21 December 1989 turned hostile. The Ceaușescu couple fled Bucharest by helicopter but ended up in the custody of the army.<ref name="BBC" />

After being [[Trial of Nicolae and Elena Ceaușescu|tried and convicted]] by a [[kangaroo court]] for [[genocide]] and other crimes, they were executed on 25 December 1989.<ref>{{Cite news |last1=Kifner |first1=John |last2=Times |first2=Special To the New York |date=1989-12-26 |title=UPHEAVAL IN THE EAST; ARMY EXECUTES CEAUCESCU AND WIFE FOR 'GENOCIDE' ROLE, BUCHAREST SAYS |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1989/12/26/world/upheaval-east-army-executes-ceaucescu-wife-for-genocide-role-bucharest-says.html |access-date=2022-08-12 |issn=0362-4331}}</ref>

[[Ion Iliescu]], a former Communist Party official marginalized by Ceaușescu, attained national recognition as the leader of an impromptu governing coalition, the [[National Salvation Front (Romania)|National Salvation Front]] (FSN) that proclaimed the establishment of democracy and civil liberties on 22 December 1989.{{citation needed|date=April 2020}} The Communist Party was initially outlawed by Iliescu, but he soon revoked that decision; as a consequence, Communism is not outlawed in Romania today. However, Ceaușescu's most controversial measures, such as bans on abortion and contraception, were among the first laws to be changed after the Revolution.{{citation needed|date=April 2020}}

== Transition to free market (1990–2004) ==
{{Main|History of Romania since 1989}}
{{Undue weight section|date=January 2022}}

After the fall of Ceaușescu, the [[National Salvation Front (Romania)|National Salvation Front]] (FSN) led by Iliescu introduced partial multi-party democratic and free market measures.<ref>{{Citation| last=Carothers| first= Thomas |title= Romania: The Political Background |url= http://www.idea.int/publications/country/upload/Romania,%20The%20Political%20Background.pdf |quote= This seven-year period can be characterized as a gradualistic, often ambiguous transition away from communist rule towards democracy.}}</ref><ref>{{Citation| work=Transitions World Politics |volume=50 |number=2 |date=January 1998 |pages=203–234| last=Hellman| first=Joel| title= Winners Take All: The Politics of Partial Reform in Postcommunist}}</ref> A university professor with family roots in the Communist Party, [[Petre Roman]], was named prime minister of the new government, which mostly consisted of former communist officials. The government initiated modest free market reforms. Several major political parties of the pre-war era, the [[Christian Democratic National Peasants' Party|National Christian Democrat Peasant's Party]] (PNȚ-CD), the [[National Liberal Party (Romania)|National Liberal Party]] (PNL), and the [[Romanian Social Democratic Party (1990–2001)|Romanian Social Democratic Party]] (PSDR), were reconstituted.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Thomas |first=Carothers |title=ROMANIA: THE POLITICAL BACKGROUND |url=https://aceproject.org/ero-en/regions/europe/RO/Romania,%20the%20political%20background.pdf |access-date=March 5, 2022 |website=aceproject.org}}</ref>

From April to June 1990, a series of anti-government protests known as the [[Golaniad]] took place in Bucharest's [[University Square, Bucharest|University Square]], against the FSN consisting of several former Communists and [[Securitate]] officials.<ref name="Deletant">{{Cite book|last=Deletant |first=Dennis |chapter=The Security Services since 1989: Turning over a new leaf |year=2004 |editor-last=Carey |editor-first=Henry F. |title=Romania since 1989: politics, economics, and society |publisher=Lexington Books |location=Oxford |page=507 |url=http://d.yimg.com/kq/groups/21010417/803473086/name/Carey_final.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121105090207/http://d.yimg.com/kq/groups/21010417/803473086/name/Carey_final.pdf|archive-date=November 5, 2012}}</ref> General elections were held on 20 May 1990, the first free ones since [[1937 Romanian general election|1937]].<ref>[https://www.chicagotribune.com/1990/03/30/romanians-hope-free-elections-mark-revolutions-next-stage/ Romanians Hope Free Elections Mark Revolution's Next Stage]. ''[[Chicago Tribune]]''. 30 March 1990.</ref> Benefitting from the FSN's tight media control, Iliescu won the presidency with 85% of the vote, whilst the FSN secured two-thirds of the seats in Parliament. Although most protesters left University Square after the elections, a minority deemed the results illegitimate and demanded the exclusion from political life of the former high-ranking Communist Party members. The peaceful demonstrations degenerated into violence; some of the protesters attacked the police headquarters, national television station, and the Foreign Ministry. After the police failed to bring the demonstrators to order, Iliescu called on the "men of good will" to defend the state institutions in Bucharest.<ref>{{Citation| last=Bohlen | first=Celestine |title = Evolution in Europe; Romanian miners invade Bucharest|url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C0CE6D6113DF936A25755C0A966958260 |quote=Responding to an emergency appeal by President Ion Iliescu, thousands of miners from northern Romania descended on the capital city today | work=The New York Times | date=15 June 1990 | access-date=2010-05-04}}</ref><ref>{{Citation| title= Romania, Human Rights Developments|url= https://www.hrw.org/reports/1990/WR90/HELSINKI.BOU-02.htm| quote=The most dramatic example was then President-elect Iliescu's call on 13 June for miners to come to Bucharest to restore order}}</ref>

Various worker groups from Romania's industrial platforms responded, some of them engaged in altercations with the protesters. The coal miners of the [[Jiu River|Jiu Valley]], thousands of whom arrived in Bucharest on 14 June, were the most visible and politically influential. According to the miners, most of the [[June 1990 Mineriad#Inquiry into potential involvement of the Romanian Intelligence Service|violence was perpetrated by government agents]] who were agitating the crowds.<ref name="Deletant" /><ref name="Baleanu">{{cite web|url=https://fas.org/irp/world/romania/g43.html |author=Baleanu, V G.|title=The Enemy Within: The Romanian Intelligence Service in Transition.|date=January 1995|publisher=Conflict Studies Research Centre, The Royal Military Academy Sandhurst: Camberley, Surrey GU15 4PQ. |access-date=2015-08-25}}</ref> Some of the counter-protesters attacked the headquarters and private residences of opposition leaders. Later parliamentary inquiries showed members of the government intelligence services were involved in the instigation and manipulation of both the protesters and the miners, and in June 1994, a Bucharest court found two former Securitate officers guilty of ransacking and stealing $100,000 from the house of a leading opposition politician.<ref name="Deletant" /><ref name="Baleanu" /> Roman's government fell in late September 1991, when the miners returned to Bucharest to demand higher salaries.{{citation needed|date=January 2022}} A [[technocrat]], [[Theodor Stolojan]], was appointed to head an interim government until new elections could be held.{{citation needed|date=January 2022}}

=== 1991 constitution ===

In the [[1991 Romanian constitutional referendum|first referendum]] in post-Decembrist Romania, a [[Constitution of Romania|new constitution]] was adopted in 1991,<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Gherghina |first1=Sergiu |date=August 2019 |title=Hijacked Direct Democracy |url=http://eprints.gla.ac.uk/167694/ |journal=East European Politics and Societies |volume=33 |issue=3 |pages=778–797 |doi=10.1177/0888325418800553 |s2cid=158726014 |access-date=2022-12-01}}</ref> being revised in [[2003 Romanian constitutional referendum|2003]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=CONSTITUTION OF ROMANIA |url=http://www.cdep.ro/pls/dic/site.page?id=371 |access-date=2022-04-28 |website=www.cdep.ro}}</ref> In [[2018 Romanian constitutional referendum|2018]], 93.4% of the electorate voted in favor of amending the constitution definition of family in order to prohibit [[same-sex marriage]], although the change was not implemented due to an only 21% voter turnout.<ref>[http://referendum2018.bec.ro/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/prezenta_16.01.pdf Referendumul naţional pentru revizuirea Constituţiei din 6 și 7 octombrie 2018]</ref>

In March 1992, the FSN split into two groups: the [[Social Democratic Party (Romania)|Democratic National Front]] (FDSN), led by Iliescu and the [[Democratic Party (Romania)|Democratic Party]] (PD), led by Roman. Iliescu won the presidential elections in September 1992 and his FDSN won the general elections held at the same time. [[Red Quadrilateral|With parliamentary support]] from the nationalist [[Romanian National Unity Party]] (PUNR), [[Greater Romania Party]] (PRM), and the ex-communist Socialist Workers' Party (PSM), a new government was formed in November 1992 under Prime Minister [[Nicolae Văcăroiu]]. The FDSN changed its name to [[Party of Social Democracy in Romania]] (PDSR) in July 1993.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Romania - Political Stability, Economic Reforms, and Corruption Trials {{!}} Britannica |url=https://www.britannica.com/place/Romania/New-constitution |access-date=2023-05-24 |website=www.britannica.com |language=en}}</ref>

The subsequent disintegration of the National Salvation Front (FSN) produced the Party of Social Democracy in Romania (PDSR) (later [[Social Democratic Party (Romania)|Social Democratic Party]], PSD), the [[Democratic Party (Romania)|Democratic Party]] (PD),<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |title=225. Romania's First Post-Communist Decade: From Iliescu to Iliescu {{!}} Wilson Center |url=https://www.wilsoncenter.org/publication/225-romanias-first-post-communist-decade-iliescu-to-iliescu |access-date=2022-04-28 |website=www.wilsoncenter.org |date=7 July 2011 |language=en}}</ref> and the ApR ([[List of political parties in Romania#Post−1989 parties|Alliance for Romania]]).<ref>{{Cite web |title=Teodor Melescanu implineste 70 de ani |url=https://ziare.com/teodor-melescanu/pnl/teodor-melescanu-implineste-70-de-ani-1080641 |access-date=2022-04-28 |website=Ziare.com |language=ro}}</ref> The PDSR party governed Romania from 1990 until 1996 through several coalitions and governments with Iliescu as head of state.{{citation needed|date=January 2022}}
[[Emil Constantinescu]] of the [[Romanian Democratic Convention|Democratic Convention]] (CDR) won the second round of the 1996 presidential election and replaced Iliescu as head of state.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Popescu|first=Liliana|date=April 1997|title=A Change of Power in Romania: The Results and Significance of the November 1996 Elections|url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/government-and-opposition/article/change-of-power-in-romania-the-results-and-significance-of-the-november-1996-elections/3227BF839545F4CE61B82155866733E0#|journal=Government and Opposition|language=en|volume=32|issue=2|pages=172–186|doi=10.1111/j.1477-7053.1997.tb00156.x|s2cid=146186773 |issn=0017-257X}}</ref> The PDSR won the largest number of seats but failed to form a viable coalition. Constituent parties of the CDR joined the Democratic Party (PD) and the [[Democratic Alliance of Hungarians in Romania]] (UDMR/RMDSZ) to form a centrist coalition government, holding 60% of the seats.<ref>{{cite web |title=ROMANIA Parliamentary Chamber: Camera Deputatilor |url=http://archive.ipu.org/parline-e/reports/arc/2261_96.htm |website=IPU |access-date=25 October 2022}}</ref> This coalition implemented several critical reforms. The new coalition government, under prime minister [[Victor Ciorbea]] remained in office until March 1998, when [[Radu Vasile]] (PNȚ-CD) took over as prime minister. The former governor of the National Bank, [[Mugur Isărescu]], eventually replaced [[Radu Vasile]] as head of the government.{{citation needed|date=January 2022}}

The [[2000 Romanian general election|2000 election]] brought Iliescu's PDSR, known as [[Social Democratic Party (Romania)|Social Democratic Party]] (PSD) after the merger with the PSDR, back to power.<ref name=":0" /> Iliescu won a third term as the country's president. [[Adrian Năstase]] became the prime minister of the newly formed government.<ref>{{Cite news |title=Profile: Adrian Nastase |url=https://www.rferl.org/a/1056361.html |access-date=2022-04-28 |newspaper=Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty |date=8 April 2008 |language=en|last1=Shafir |first1=Michael }}</ref>

In 2004, [[Traian Băsescu]] was elected president with an electoral coalition called [[Justice and Truth Alliance]] (DA).<ref name="nytimes.com">{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2004/12/13/international/europe/romanians-elect-mayor-of-bucharest-as-new-president.html|title = Romanians Elect Mayor of Bucharest as New President|newspaper = The New York Times|date = 13 December 2004|last1 = Dempsey|first1 = Judy}}</ref> The government was formed by a larger coalition which also included the [[Conservative Party (Romania)|Conservative Party]] (PC) and the [[Democratic Alliance of Hungarians in Romania]] (UDMR).<ref>{{Cite web |last=Refugees |first=United Nations High Commissioner for |title=Refworld {{!}} Freedom in the World 2010 – Romania |url=https://www.refworld.org/docid/4c1a1ea10.html |access-date=2022-04-28 |website=Refworld |language=en}}</ref>

== NATO and the European Union membership (2004–present) ==
{{Main|Accession of Romania to the European Union|Romanian membership of the European Union|2012 Romanian protests|2017–2019 Romanian protests}}Post–[[Cold War]] Romania developed closer ties with Western Europe, eventually joining [[NATO]] in 2004 and the [[European Union|EU]] in 2007.<ref>{{Citation|title =NATO update: NATO welcomes seven new members|url =http://www.nato.int/docu/update/2004/04-april/e0402a.htm}}</ref><ref>{{Citation |title=BBC News: EU approves Bulgaria and Romania |date=26 September 2006 |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/5380024.stm |access-date=2010-01-05 |publisher=[[BBC News Online]]}}</ref>

General elections took place on in [[2004 Romanian general election|2004]], with the joint PNL-PD candidate [[Traian Băsescu]] winning the second round with 51% of the vote.<ref name="nytimes.com" /><ref>Adrian Năstase</ref><ref name="cortland">{{cite web |title=NeoVox: the International College Student Magazine: The Romanian Elections: to Fraud or Not to Fraud? |url=http://neovox.cortland.edu/archives/2004/12/the_romanian_el.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304074325/http://neovox.cortland.edu/archives/2004/12/the_romanian_el.html |archive-date=2016-03-04 |access-date=2015-08-25 |publisher=neovox.cortland.edu}}</ref>

Then-PNL leader, [[Călin Popescu-Tăriceanu]] was assigned the task of building a coalition government without the PSD. In December 2004, the new coalition government (PD, PNL, PUR —[[Romanian Humanist Party]]—which eventually changed its name to [[Romanian Conservative Party]]/PC and UDMR/RMDSZ—was sworn in under Prime Minister Tăriceanu.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://jurnalul.ro/vechiul-site/old-site/english-version/calin-popescu-tariceanu-gets-the-pm-job-54230.html|title=Calin Popescu Tariceanu Gets the PM Job|website=jurnalul.ro}}</ref>

Following the free travel agreement and politic of the post–Cold War period, as well as hardship of the life in the post 1990s economic depression, Romania has an [[Romanian diaspora|increasingly large diaspora]]. The main emigration targets have been Italy, Germany, Spain, the United Kingdom, the United States and Hungary.<ref>{{Cite book |last=OECD |url=https://www.oecd-ilibrary.org/sites/0b2cc7aa-en/index.html?itemId=/content/component/0b2cc7aa-en |title=Talent Abroad: A Review of Romanian Emigrants |date=2019-07-16 |publisher=OECD Publishing |isbn=978-92-64-88012-2 |language=en |chapter=Chapter 1. Numbers and locations of Romanian emigrants}}</ref>

In 2009, President [[Traian Băsescu]] was [[2009 Romanian presidential election|re-elected]] for a second five-year term as the President.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.robert-schuman.eu/en/eem/0960-traian-basescu-is-re-elected-for-a-second-term-in-office-as-leader-of-romania|title=Traian Basescu is re-elected for a second term in office as leader of Romania|access-date=2021-04-11|archive-date=2022-05-17|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220517202002/https://www.robert-schuman.eu/en/eem/0960-traian-basescu-is-re-elected-for-a-second-term-in-office-as-leader-of-romania|url-status=dead}}</ref>

In January 2012, Romania experienced [[2012 Romanian protests|national protests]], which were the first significant popular uprising in the country since 1991. They were triggered by proposed health reforms, and were further motivated by wider disillusionment with austerity and the government.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Besliu |first=Raluca |title=Honour and Solidarity: The 2012 Romanian Protests |url=https://blog.politics.ox.ac.uk/honour-and-solidarity-the-2012-romanian-protests/ |access-date=2022-04-27 |website=OxPol |date=19 February 2012 |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Bran |first=Mirel |date=2012-01-24 |title=Anger threatens to topple Romanian president as austerity measures bite |url=http://www.theguardian.com/world/2012/jan/24/romania-anti-government-austerity-protests |access-date=2022-04-27 |website=the Guardian |language=en}}</ref>[[File:Protest against corruption - Bucharest 2017 - Piata Universitatii - 5.jpg|thumb|Romania has seen its largest waves of protests against judicial reform ordinances of the PSD-ALDE coalition during the [[2017–2019 Romanian protests]]]]

[[Klaus Iohannis]] was elected president in [[2014 Romanian presidential election|2014]],<ref>{{Cite web |date=16 November 2014 |title=Klaus Iohannis wins Romanian presidential election |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/nov/16/romania-klaus-iohannis-president |website=[[TheGuardian.com]]}}</ref> being re-elected in [[2019 Romanian presidential election|2019]],<ref>{{Cite web |date=24 November 2019 |title=Romanian centrist president re-elected by a landslide |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/nov/24/romania-centrist-president-re-elected-by-a-landslide-klaus-iohannis |website=[[TheGuardian.com]]}}</ref> and serving until his resignation in 2025 in the aftermath of the annulment of the [[2024 Romanian presidential election|2024 presidential election]] in which he did not stand.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Romanian President Klaus Iohannis resigns ahead of election re-run |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c3w805xjg1xo |access-date=10 February 2025 |website=BBC|date=10 February 2025 }}</ref>

The [[2020 Romanian parliamentary election|2020 parliamentary election]], which took place during the [[COVID-19 pandemic in Romania|COVID-19 pandemic]], resulted in PNL senator [[Florin Cîțu]] forming [[Cîțu Cabinet|a center-right coalition]] consisting of two other parties.<ref>{{Cite web |date=19 December 2020 |title=Liberal Florin Cîțu put forward to be Romania's next prime minister |url=https://www.politico.eu/article/florin-citu-romania-national-liberal-party-government-prime-minister/}}</ref> Following the [[2021 Romanian political crisis|2021 political crisis]], a [[National Coalition for Romania|grant coalition]] was agreed upon between the PNL and PSD in which they would rule Romania together for or the next seven years. Thus, it was agreed that the [[prime minister of Romania]] and several other important ministries would rotate every year and a half. [[Nicolae Ciucă]] of PNL consequently succeeded Cîțu in November 2021,<ref name=":22">{{Cite web |date=November 25, 2021 |title=Guvernul PSD-PNL-UDMR a fost învestit de Parlament cu 318 voturi 'pentru' / Ciucă: Ne aflăm într-un moment mult așteptat de toți românii / Ciolacu: Nu voi minți niciodată că am învins pandemia / Barna: De ce nu l-ați chemat direct pe Dragnea să îi predați Ministerul Justiției? |url=https://www.g4media.ro/guvernul-psd-pnl-udmr-a-fost-investit-de-parlament-cu-318-voturi-pentru-ciuca-ne-aflam-intr-un-moment-mult-asteptat-de-toti-romanii-ciolacu-nu-voi-minti-niciodata-ca-am-invins-pandemia-bar.html |website=G4Media}}</ref> himself being succeeded by PSD leader [[Marcel Ciolacu]] in June 2023.<ref>{{cite web |date=13 June 2023 |title=Klaus Iohannis: Marcel Ciolacu este noul premier desemnat al României &#124; VIDEO |url=https://www.europafm.ro/klaus-iohannis-marcel-ciolacu-este-noul-premier-al-romaniei/}}</ref>

In the [[2024 Romanian presidential election|2024 presidential election]], Independent candidate [[Călin Georgescu]] achieved a surprise win in the first round. However, the [[Constitutional Court of Romania|Constitutional Court]] annulled the election results, citing [[Accusations of Russian interference in the 2024 Romanian presidential election|alleged Russian meddling]]. The cansellation led to [[2024–2025 Romanian election annulment protests|widespread protests]], [[2025 JD Vance speech at the Munich Security Conference|criticism]] by the United States, and [[Ilie Bolojan]] becoming acting president in February 2025 as Iohannis resigned to political pressure.<ref name="Chao-Fong">{{Cite news |last1=Chao-Fong |first1=Léonie |last2=Krupa |first2=Jakub |last3=Chao-Fong |first3=Léonie |last4=Krupa |first4=Jakub |date=February 14, 2025 |title=Zelenskyy demands 'real security guarantees' before peace talks; Vance accused of 'trying to pick a fight' with EU – as it happened |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/live/2025/feb/14/russia-ukraine-war-peace-vladimir-putin-volodymyr-zelenskyy-donald-trump-munich-security-conference-europe-news?page=with:block-67af4b688f08101b5631d57f&filterKeyEvents=false#liveblog-navigation |access-date=February 15, 2025 |work=[[The Guardian]] |language=en-GB |issn=0261-3077}}</ref>

On 1 January 2025, Romania along with Bulgaria joined the [[Schengen Area]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Schengen: Council decides to lift land border controls with Bulgaria and Romania |url=https://www.consilium.europa.eu/en/press/press-releases/2024/12/12/schengen-council-decides-to-lift-land-border-controls-with-bulgaria-and-romania/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241212125630/https://www.consilium.europa.eu/en/press/press-releases/2024/12/12/schengen-council-decides-to-lift-land-border-controls-with-bulgaria-and-romania/ |archive-date=12 December 2024 |access-date=12 December 2024 |website=Consilium |language=en}}</ref>

== Romanian rulers ==
* [[List of Wallachian rulers]] (up to 1859)
* [[List of Moldavian rulers]] (up to 1859)
* [[List of Transylvanian rulers]] (up to 1867)
* [[Domnitor|Domnitori of Romania]] (1862–1881)
* [[Kings of Romania]] (1881–1947)
* [[Presidents of Romania]] (since 1974)
* [[List of heads of government of Romania|Prime ministers of Romania]] (since 1862)

== See also ==
* [[Balkan–Danubian culture]]
* [[Bulgarian lands across the Danube]]
* [[Historical regions of Romania]]
* [[King of Romania]]
* [[List of Dacian kings]]
* [[List of heads of government of Romania]]
* [[List of presidents of Romania]]
* [[List of wars involving Romania]]
* [[Military history of Romania]]
* [[Politics of Romania]]
* [[Territorial evolution of Romania]]

== Notes ==
{{notelist}}

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

== Sources ==
===Ancient===
{{refbegin|30em}}
* {{cite book |last=Appian |author-link=Appian |title=Historia Romana |trans-title=Roman History |url=https://archive.org/details/appiansromanhist01appi |year=165 |language=grc |ref={{harvid|Appian|165 AD}}}}
* {{cite book |ref={{sfnRef|Herodotus|440 BC}} |last=Herodotus |author-link=Herodotus |title=Histories |url=http://www.sacred-texts.com/cla/hh/ |orig-year=c. 440 BC |language=grc}}
* {{cite book |last1=Pliny (the Elder) |last2=Rackham |first2=Harris |title=Pliny Natural History, Volume 2 |year=1971 |publisher=Harvard University Press}}
* {{cite book |ref={{sfnRef|Strabo|20 AD}} |last=Strabo |author-link=Strabo |title=Geographica |trans-title=Geography |url=https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Strabo/home.html |orig-date=c. 20 AD |language=grc}}
{{refend}}

===Modern===
{{refbegin|30em}}
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* {{cite book |last1=Chakraberty |first1=Chandra |title=The prehistory of India: tribal migrations |year=1948 |publisher=Vijayakrishna}}
* {{cite book |last1=Clarke |first1=John R. |title=Art in the Lives of Ordinary Romans: Visual Representation and Non-Elite Viewers in Italy, 100 B.C.-A.D. 315 |publisher=University of California |year=2003 |isbn=978-0-520-21976-2}}
* {{cite book |last1=Crossland |first1=R.A. |last2=Boardman |first2=John |title=Linguistic problems of the Balkan area in the late prehistoric and early Classical period |series=The Cambridge Ancient History |volume=3 |issue=Part 1 |year=1982 |publisher=CUP |isbn=978-0-521-22496-3}}
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<!-- D -->
* {{Cite journal |last1=Dana |first1=Dan |last2=Matei-Popescu |first2=Florian |title=Soldats d'origine dace dans les diplômes militaires |trans-title=Soldiers of Dacian origin in the military diplomas |journal=Chiron |language=fr |url=http://www.dainst.org/en/publication/band-39-2009-chironmitteilungen-der-kommission-f%C3%BCr-alte-geschichte-und-epigraphikdes-deu?ft=all |volume=39 |year=2009 |publisher=German Archaeological Institute/Walter de Gruyter |location=Berlin |issn=0069-3715 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130701052845/http://www.dainst.org/en/publication/band-39-2009-chironmitteilungen-der-kommission-f%C3%BCr-alte-geschichte-und-epigraphikdes-deu?ft=all |archive-date=1 July 2013 }}
* {{cite book |last=Dobiáš |first=Josef |chapter=The sense of the victoria formulae on Roman inscriptions and some new epigraphic monuments from lower Pannonia |title=Mnema Vladimír Groh |editor1=Češka, Josef |editor2=Hejzlar, Gabriel |location=Praha |publisher=Státní pedagogické nakladatelství |date=1964 |pages=37–52}}

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* {{cite book |last=Eisler |first=Robert |author-link=Robert Eisler |title=Man into wolf: an anthropological interpretation of sadism, masochism, and lycanthropy |url=https://archive.org/details/manintowolf033333mbp |year=1951 |publisher=Routledge and Kegan Paul |location=London |asin=B0000CI25D }}
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{{refend}}

== Further reading ==
{{Further|Ion Antonescu#References and further reading}}
* {{Cite book|last=Abraham|first= Florin|title=Romania since the Second World War: a political, social and economic history|publisher=[[Bloomsbury Publishing|Bloomsbury]]|year= 2016}}
* Burks, Richard V. "Romania and the Balkan Crisis of 1875–78." ''Journal of Central European Affairs'' 2 (1942): 129+.
* Dinu, Elena Steluța. "Balancing Romania-Russia relations: a grounding of the Balkan crisis through proper application of political conditionalities." ''Revista de Științe Politice. Revue des Sciences Politiques'' 45 (2015): 76–88; covers 1885–1913 [https://cis01.central.ucv.ro/revistadestiintepolitice/files/numarul45_2015/8.%20Balancing%20Romania-Russia%20Relations%20A%20Grounding%20of%20the%20Balkan%20Crisis...%20pp.%2076-88.pdf online].
* {{Cite book|last=Djuvara|first= Neagu|author-link= Neagu Djuvara|year=2014|title=A Brief Illustrated History of Romanians|url=http://www.libhumanitas.ro/neagu-djuvara-a-brief-illustrated-history-of-romanians-humanitas-2014-ebook.html|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20140304222134/http://www.libhumanitas.ro/neagu-djuvara-a-brief-illustrated-history-of-romanians-humanitas-2014-ebook.html|archive-date= 2014-03-04}}
* Du Nay, Andre. ''The origins of the Rumanians: the early history of the Rumanian language'' (1996) [https://archive.org/details/originsofrumania0000duna online free]
* Fischer-Galați, Stephen A. ''Twentieth century Rumania'' (1991) [https://archive.org/details/twentiethcentury00fisc online]
* Forbes, Nevill, and Arnold J. Toynbee & D. Mitrany. ''The Balkans: A History Of Bulgaria, Serbia, Greece, Rumania, Turkey'' (1915) [https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.173142 online] pp 251–318.
* Gallagher, Tom. "Balkan But Different: Romania and Bulgaria's Contrasting Paths to NATO Membership 1994–2002." ''Journal of Communist Studies and Transition Politics'' 20.4 (2004): 1–19.
* Gilberg, Trond. ''Modernization in Romania since world war II'' (Greenwood, 1975).
* Hall, Richard C. ''War in the Balkans: An Encyclopedic History from the Fall of the Ottoman Empire to the Breakup of Yugoslavia'' (2014) [https://www.amazon.com/War-Balkans-Encyclopedic-History-Yugoslavia/dp/1610690303/ excerpt]
* {{Cite book | last = Hitchins | first = Keith | author-link=Keith Hitchins | year = 1994 | title = Rumania, 1866–1947 }}; 592pp
* {{Cite book
 | last = Hitchins | first = Keith |author-mask = 3 | year = 1996
 | title = The Romanians, 1774–1866
 }}
*{{Cite book
 | last = Hitchins | first = Keith |author-mask = 3 | year = 2014
 | title = A Concise History of Romania
 | publisher = Cambridge UP| isbn = 978-0-521-87238-6
 | s2cid = 160258445 }}
* Jelavich, Barbara. ''History of the Balkans'' (2 vol 1983)
* Jókai, Mór. ''The golden age in Transylvania'' (1898) [https://archive.org/details/goldenageintrans00joka online]
* Jowitt, Kenneth, ed. ''Social Change in Romania, 1860–1940'' (California UP, 1978)
* Lampe, John R.'' Balkan Economic History, 1550–1950: From Imperial Borderlands to Developing Nations'' (Indiana UP, (1982)
* Miscoiu, Sergiu. "Balkan populisms: the cases of Bulgaria and Romania." ''Southeastern Europe'' 38.1 (2014): 1–24.
*{{Cite book
 | last = Moscovici | first = Claudia | year = 2012
 | title = Velvet Totalitarianism: Post-Stalinist Romania
 }}
* Oțetea, Andrei, ed. ''A Concise history of Romania'' (1985) [https://archive.org/details/concisehistoryof00ot online]
* Pavlowitch, Stevan K. ''A History of the Balkans 1804–1945'' (Routledge, 2014).
* Roberts, Henry L. ''Rumania: Political Problems of an Agrarian State'' (Yale UP, 1951)
* Seton-Watson, R. W. A ''History of the Roumanians'' (Cambridge UP, 1934). [https://www.amazon.com/History-Roumanians-R-W-Seton-Watson/dp/1107511585 excerpt]
* Sjöberg, Örjan, and Michael Louis Wyzan, eds. ''Economic Change in the Balkan States: Albania, Bulgaria, Romania and Yugoslavia'' (Pinter, 1991).
* Stavrianos, L.S. ''The Balkans Since 1453'' (1958), major scholarly history; [https://archive.org/details/balkanssince145300lsst online free to borrow]
* Treptow, Kurt W., and Marcel Popa. ''Historical Dictionary of Romania'' (1996) 384pp
* Verdery, Katherine. ''National Ideology under Socialism. Identity and Cultural Politics in Ceaușescu’s Romania'' (U of California Press, 1991).
* Wachtel, Andrew Baruch. ''The Balkans in World History'' (New Oxford World History) (2008).
* Watts, Larry L. ''Romanian Cassandra: Ion Antonescu & the Struggle for Reform, 1916–1941'' (1993) 390pp

=== Historiography and memory ===
* Bucur, Maria. ''Heroes and victims: Remembering war in twentieth-century Romania'' (Indiana UP, 2009).
* Hitchins, Keith. "Romania." ''American Historical Review'' 97.4 (1992): 1064–1083. [https://www.jstor.org/stable/2165493 online]
* Livezeanu, Irina. ''Cultural Politics in Greater Romania: Regionalism, Nation Building and Ethnic Struggle, 1918–1930'' (Cornell UP, 1995)
* Michelson, Paul E. "Recent American historiography on Romania and the second world war" ''Romanian Civilization''. (1996) 5#2 pp 23–42.
* Trencsényi, Balázs and Constantin Iordachi. "In Search for a Usable Past: The Question of National Identity in Romanian Studies, 1990–2000" ''East European Politics and Societies'' 17 (2003), 415–453.
* Turda, Marius. "The Nation as Object: Race, Blood, and Biopolitics in Interwar Romania" ''Slavic Review'' 66#3, (2007): 413–441 [https://www.researchgate.net/publication/285937900 online].
* Weinbaum, Laurence. [http://www.jcpa.org/phas/phas-045-weinbaum.htm "The Banality of History and Memory: Romanian Society and the Holocaust", ''Post-Holocaust and Anti-Semitism'' No. 45 (June 2006)] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210314183226/https://www.jcpa.org/phas/phas-045-weinbaum.htm |date=2021-03-14 }}
* Zavatti, Francesco. "Writing History in a Propaganda Institute: Political Power and Network Dynamics in Communist Romania" (Diss. Södertörns högskola, 2016) [https://www.diva-portal.org/smash/get/diva2:920385/FULLTEXT01.pdf online].

== External links ==
{{Commons category|History of Romania}}
{{Wikisource|The Principalities of the Danube}}
* [http://www1.yadvashem.org/yv/en/holocaust/about/04/romania.asp?WT.mc_id=wiki The Beginning of the Final Solution: Murder of the Jews of Romania] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211026160909/https://www.yadvashem.org/yv/en/holocaust/about/04/romania.asp%3FWT.mc_id%3Dwiki |date=2021-10-26 }} on the [[Yad Vashem]] website
* [http://eudocs.lib.byu.edu/index.php/History_of_Romania:_Primary_Documents History of Romania: Primary Documents]
* [https://archiving-family-memories-and-dreams.net/ Gerlinde Schuller: Archiving memories and dreams – Historical family stories about the minorities in Romania] (with many archive images)

{{Romanian topics}}
{{History of Europe}}
{{European history by country}}

[[Category:History of Romania| ]]
[[Category:Prehistory of Southeastern Europe]]