RUMANIA 



5105 



RUMANIA 



elected for four years, and in the Senate, which 

 consists of 120 members, elected for eight years. 

 The voters are divided into classes, called elec- 

 toral colleges, the class distinction being based 

 upon property owned, the amount of taxes paid 

 or educational qualifications. This system de- 

 prives the peasants, the overwhelming mass of 

 the people, of any representation in the Senate, 

 and gives them only a small and inadequate 

 representation in the Chamber of Deputies. 



Religion and Education. The Rumanians be- 

 long to the Greek Orthodox Church, which is 

 the official religious establishment of the state, 

 but all religious bodies enjoy full freedom of 

 worship. Education is free and compulsory, all 

 tlit schools being maintained by the govern- 

 ment, but the percentage of illiteracy is high. 

 he head of the educational institutions are 

 the two universities, one at Bucharest and the 

 other at Jassy. 



History. The territory included in old Ru- 

 mania was occupied in ancient times by a peo- 

 ple called Dacians. The Roman Emperor Tra- 

 jan conquered the whole region (101-106 A. D.) 

 and brought here many Roman colonists. 

 Known as Dacia, it 

 was the first Roman 

 province to feel the 

 shock of the bar- 

 barian invasions. 

 From the third until 

 the end of the tenth 

 century this region 



was invaded by va- v FL f l p RUM 1 A * IA I 

 Vertical lines, red ; horl- 

 nous barbaric peo- zontal lines, dark blue; 



pies who swept from P laln 8urface ' yellow ' 

 Eastern Europe toward the southern and cen- 

 tral parts. Finally, in the thirteenth century, 

 tin- two independent principalities of Wallachia 

 and Moldavia were constituted. After the 

 Turks conquered the Balkan Peninsula in the 

 fourteenth century these two principalities rec- 

 ognized the suzerainty of the sultan of Turkey 

 and became autonomous provinces of the Otto- 

 man Empire. During the nineteenth century 

 Russia acquired a right of protectorate over 

 both Walliidn.i and Moldavia. But the na- 

 tional ppirit began to awaken and the desire for 



union of both provinces and their inde- 

 pendence became very strong. The Congress 

 of Paris of 1856 put the principalities under 

 tin joint protection of the Great Powers. In 

 1859 Moldavia and Wallachia elected as t 

 ruler tin- same prince, and thus became united 

 under the name of Rumania. In 1866 the 

 prince resigned and Charles of Hohenzollera 



320 



was called to the throne. The country re- 

 mained under the nominal suzerainty of the 

 sultan of Turkey until 1877, when the Russo- 

 Turkish War broke out. Rumania then de- 

 clared its independence and joined Russia in 

 the war. The young Rumanian army played 



THE. ROYAL COUPLE 

 King Ferdinand and Queen Marie of Rumania, 



an important part in the capture of Plevna, 

 which decided the outcome of the war. The 

 Congress of Berlin (1878) formally recognized 

 the independence of the country. In 1881 

 Prince Charles proclaimed himself king. H 

 was succeeded in 1914 by Ferdinand I. 



Rumania did not take part in the first Balkan 

 War against Turkey, but helped Serbia and 

 Greece to defeat Bulgaria in the second Balkan 

 War. By the Treaty of Bucharest (August 7. 

 1913) it obtained from Bulgaria a stretch of 

 disputed territory which amounted to 2,969 

 square miles, with a population of 275,000. 



In the War of the Nations Rumania re- 

 mained neutral at the beginning, although 

 manifesting strong sympathies for the allies. 

 In the hope of gaining the provinces of Tran- 

 sylvania, Bukowina and Banat, and liberating 

 their oppressed kinsmen from the rule of Aus- 

 tria-Hungary, they finally entered the war on 

 the side of the allies; war was declared against 

 Austria-Hungary on August 27, 1916. Soon 

 afterwards the Rumanian armies invaded Tran- 

 sylvania, against the advice of the English and 

 the French, who preferred that they wage a 

 defensive campaign. The central powers 

 launched then a strong offensive, and after a 

 campaign lasting only three months the coun- 

 ny was overrun, and more than half, in- 

 dueling entirely the Dobrudja, was occupied 

 by the enemy. After the fall of Bucharest 

 (December 6) the seat of the government was 

 moved to Jassy. Rumania was forced by th< 

 collapse of Russia to sign the humiliating Peace 

 of Bucharest in March, 1918. The defeat of t i 

 Central Powers lat< year brought about 



th.- liberation of the entire country, and Ru- 

 mania vigorously pressed its territorial claims 



