ROUMANIA AND ITS RUBICON 



199 



conditions. When the waves of invasion 

 swept over their valleys they simply re- 

 tired to the mountains and waited for 

 them to recede ; nor did they wait in vain. 

 The water of invading humanity in very 

 deed did pass, and the stones of persist- 

 ing Roumanian life did remain ; and, al- 

 though for many a weary generation 

 their problem was to save themselves 

 from extinction, they survived. 



Today Roumanians are proudest of 

 their Latin descent ; so proud, indeed, 

 that although their religion is Greek, and 

 although there are more than 6,000 cen- 

 ters of Eastern influence, in the shape 

 of Orthodox churches with Orthodox 

 priests, they are drawn toward ancient 

 Rome and not toward historic Greece. 



the; shuttlecock of nations 



For a thousand years the country was 

 the shuttlecock in the game of political 

 battledore and shuttlecock staged by the 

 rival sovereigns of Europe — Russia, Po- 

 land, Hungary, Austria, Turkey, etc. 

 Once Peter the Great established a pro- 

 tectorate over the Roumanians. Then 

 came Catherine the Great with a plan to 

 annex them to Russia. Austria, afraid 

 that such a course meant Russian terri- 

 torial expansion in a direction that threat- 

 ened her, objected so vehemently that 

 Catherine reconsidered, and Moldavia 

 and Wallachia were placed, in 1774, 

 under the suzerainty of Turkey. 



In 1 86 1 the two principalities decided 

 to unite under the name of Roumania, in 

 accordance with an agreement reached 

 by the Powers, following the Crimean 

 War. Their autonomy guaranteed, the 

 Roumanians selected an army officer, 

 Col. Alexander Cuza, as their prince, 

 who thereupon came into power under 

 the title of Alexander John I, Prince of 

 Roumania. 



In 1866 the ruling element in Bucha- 

 rest decided that they wanted a change, 

 so they politely invaded the prince's bed- 

 room one night, gave him a certificate of 

 abdication to sign, and announced that 

 there was a carriage waiting which would 

 convey him to the station, where he was 

 to take the night express to Paris. He 

 obeyed and disappeared forever from 

 public gaze. 



Thereafter a provisional government 

 elected the Count of Flanders, brother to 

 the late King Leopold of Belgium. But 

 Austria and other powers protested so 

 vigorously that the act was reconsidered 

 and Prince Charles called, as previously 

 stated. 



ROBBED OF SPOILS OF VICTORY 



When Carol assumed the throne, it be- 

 came one of his principal aims to free 

 his country from the suzerainty of Tur- 

 key. When the conflict between Russia 

 and Turkey was impendnig in 1875, he 

 first attempted to have the Powers guar- 

 antee the neutrality of Roumania during 

 the war ; but they were too busy with 

 their own affairs and his efforts failed. 



Then Roumania decided to enter an 

 agreement with Russia. This agreement, 

 which is illuminating, in the light of 

 present-day history, granted free passage 

 of Russian troops over Roumanian soil, 

 Russia undertaking to respect the politi- 

 cal rights and to defend the integrity of 

 Roumania. 



One of the first acts of Roumania after 

 hostilities began was to declare her inde- 

 pendence of Turkey. As the war pro- 

 ceeded, Russia found herself in sore need 

 of help. Repeated appeals finally brought 

 Roumanian participation, and Prince 

 Carol was given the supreme command 

 of the allied forces before Plevna, where 

 he gained a great but costly victory. 



When the war ended and Turkey and 

 Russia entered into the Treaty of San 

 Stefano, it did recognize Roumanian in- 

 dependence, although Roumania was not 

 admitted to the peace conference. But it 

 also provided that Roumania should get 

 the swampy country between the Danube, 

 where it flows north, and the Black Sea. 

 On the other hand, Russia was to have 

 Bessarabia,, territory which Roumania 

 claimed and a part of which she had oc- 

 cupied. 



Roumania stood firm against the idea, 

 of giving up the beautiful Bessarabia in 

 exchange for the unattractive Dobrudja. 

 Russia thereupon threatened to disarm 

 the Roumanian army, to which Prince 

 Carol responded that Russia might de- 

 stroy his army, but that it could not be 

 disarmed. 



