This historical process developed on the entire Romanian area scored important marks in 1784, 1821, 1848-49, the unification of Moldova with Muntenia in 1859, the Proclamation of the Absolute Independence after the 1877-78 war and the representative meetings democratically selected of the Romanians living under foreign domination in Chisinau, Cernauti and Alba Iulia in 1918.
Organized in political separate states, always threaten by the powerful neighbors, with parts of the territory–Transilvania, Banat, Bucovina, Basarabia, Dobogea- annexed to the three big empires, Ottoman, Habsburgic (since 1867 Austrian-Hungarian) and Russian, the Romanians always preserved the philosophy of being part of the same people and having the same genesis. This philosophy of the unity of the nation was permanently strengthen by political, military, economic and cultural relationships between the Romanian Kingdoms along the centuries. The 19th century also called the “century of the nationalities” brought a new reality in the Romanian space and that is the Romanian nation, where the national unity consciousness and the common destiny-past, present and future was crystallized.
The perfection of the national unity of Romanians at the end of the First World War must be understood as a natural fulfillment of the historical necessity imposed by the national state evolution and its completion and not as a result of the Romanian military effort. The First World War did not create the Great Romania; it was only the cause. Romania entered the War in order to elaborate the oppressed districts and the unity of the country; the ideal of the Unity expressed by the efforts, sacrifices and heroism on the battlefields in Transilvania and Dobrogea, Valea Jiului and Arges, in the battles at Marasti, Marasesti and Oituz. A military victory was not the base of the national Romanian state, but the will of the Romanian nation. The sacrifices in the campaigns in 1916 and 1917 have been rewarded by the victory of the national ideal when the czarist autocracy collapsed and the communist regime installed and when the Austro-Hungarian monarchy disappeared and the moment of affirmation of the right of the peoples to self-determination based on the principle of nationalities.
The Romanian Armed Forces entered Basarabia at the beginning of 1918 and made no pressure on the members of Sfatul Tarii (Council of the Country) and did not install a military dictature. They called for the Armed Forces for re-establishing order and peace, for protecting the legal regime of the Republica Moldoveneasca, to guard the food and armaments Romanian military depots – created in Moldova in the time of the refugee – and the network of communications. The Romanian military presence hindered the Bolshevik actions made for the install of the Soviet power in Basarabia.
The Romanian troops had the same role of protection in Bucovina at request of the Consiliul National Roman (Romanian National Council) as a result of the disorder made by the retreat of the Austrian military units and the Ukrainian gangs and for hindering the intentions of the Ukrainian National Council to annex the Northern Bucovina to Ukraine. The Romanian military intervention was made after Constituanta, the meeting from October 14/27, 1918 when decided “the unite of the entire Bocovina with the other three Romanian Kingdoms in an unique national and independent state fully solidary with the Romanians from Transilvania and Hungary”.
In the 1st of December, 1918 in the center of Transilvania, at Alba Iulia the vote of the Marea Adunare Nationala (Great National Council) for the unification of Transilvania, Banat, Crisana and Maramures with Romania was acclaimed by an impressed popular meeting and represented the crowning of all the acts of unification from Chisinau (March 27/April 9, 1918) and Cernauti (November 15/28, 1918) stipulating that Basarabia and Bucovina will return to Romania. This Romania returning to her natural borders was naturally made above all the doubts and errors of the political class in the moment when the two Russian and Austro-Hungarian empires simultaneously disappeared.
The Paris Conference of Peace from 1919-20 did not create a complete Romanian state. It was already made due to the acts of unity in Chisinau, Cernauti and Alba Iulia in 1918. The Conference of Peace represented the juridical recognition of the new territorial and political status by the recognition of the principle of national self-determination. Firstly was the self-determination and only after the diplomatic acknowledgement by the treaties of peace of an inalienable historical right of the Romanian nation.
Romania had within her historical borders a surface of 295049 kms in comparison with 137000 kms before 1918 and a population of 18057028 inhabitants (in 1930) in comparison with 7250000 inhabitants in 1913. The Romanians represented 71.9% from the entire population, Hungarians 7.9%, Germans 4.4%, Jews 4%. The 1923 Constitution stipulated in the first two articles: “Kingdom of Romania is a national, unitary and indivisible state” and “ the territory of Romania is unalienable”.
The come true of the national state allowed the Romanian nation to set into values the creating capacity for the economic progress of science, education and culture. Evolving within the parliamentary democracy Romania inscribed between the two World Wars on the way of a modern life and substantially contributed to the international peace and security.


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