1.
Prime Minister of Romania
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The Prime Minister of Romania is the head of the Government of Romania. Initially, the office was styled President of the Council of Ministers, when the term Government included more than the Cabinet, the title was officially changed to Prime Minister during the communist regime. Sorin Grindeanu has been the incumbent prime minister since 4 January,2017, one of the roles of the President of the Republic is to designate a candidate for the office of Prime Minister. The President must consult with the party that has the majority in the Parliament or, if no such majority exists, once designated, the candidate assembles a proposal for the governing program and the cabinet. The proposal must be approved by the Parliament within ten days, both the program and the cabinet membership are debated by the Parliament in a joint session of the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate. The proposal is accepted if a majority of all Deputies. Once the vote of confidence is obtained, the candidate becomes the Prime Minister, the Prime Minister, the Ministers, and other members of the Government take an oath before the President, as stipulated under Article 82 of the Constitution. The Government as a whole and each of its members exercise their mandate from the date of the oath, the Prime Minister directs Government actions and co-ordinates the activities of its members. He submits to the Chamber of Deputies or the Senate reports and statements on Government policy, the President cannot dismiss the Prime Minister, but the Parliament can withdraw its support through a vote of no-confidence. List of Prime Ministers of Romania Nicolae C
2.
Carol I of Romania
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Carol I, born Prince Karl of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen, was the ruler of Romania from 1866 to 1914. He was elected Ruling Prince of the Romanian United Principalities on 20 April 1866 after the overthrow of Alexandru Ioan Cuza by a palace coup détat, in May 1877, he proclaimed Romania an independent and sovereign nation. The defeat of the Ottoman Empire in the Russo-Turkish War secured Romanian independence and he was proclaimed King of Romania on 26 March 1881. He was the first ruler of the Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen dynasty, which ruled the country until the proclamation of a republic in 1947, during his reign, Carol I personally led Romanian troops during the Russo-Turkish War and assumed command of the Russo/Romanian army during the siege of Plevna. The country achieved internationally recognized independence via the Treaty of Berlin,1878 and he married Princess Elisabeth of Wied in Neuwied on 15 November 1869. They only had one daughter, Maria, who died at the age of three, Carol never produced a male heir, leaving his elder brother Leopold next in line to the throne. In October 1880 Leopold renounced his right of succession in favour of his son William, who in turn surrendered his claim six years later in favour of his younger brother, after finishing his elementary studies, Karl entered the Cadet School in Münster. In 1857 he was attending the courses of the Artillery School in Berlin, up to 1866, when he accepted the crown of Romania, he was a Prussian officer. He took part in the Second Schleswig War, including the assault of the Fredericia citadel and Dybbøl, an experience which would be very useful to him later in the Russo-Turkish war. Although he was frail and not very tall, prince Karl was reported to be the perfect soldier, healthy and disciplined. He was familiar with several European languages and his family was closely related to the Bonaparte family, they enjoyed very good relations with Napoleon III of France. The former Domnitor of united Romania, Alexandru Ioan Cuza, had expelled from the country by the leading noblemen. Cuzas double election, both in Wallachia and in Moldavia) had been the basis on which the Romanian Principalities unification was recognized by the European powers, with him gone, the country was in danger of disintegration. As Romanian politicians searched for a successor, Napoleon suggested Karl, napoleons recommendation weighed heavily with Romanian politicians of the time, since Romania was strongly influenced by French culture. Another factor was Karls blood relation to the ruling Prussian family, ion Brătianu was the Romanian politician who was sent to negotiate with Karl and his family the possibility of installing him on the Romanian throne. Due to the conflict between Prussia and the Austrian Empire, Karl travelled incognito by railroad from Düsseldorf to Baziaș. He received there a Swiss passport from a Swiss public clerk, friend of his family, from Baziaș he travelled by boat to Turnu Severin, as there was no railroad to Romania. As he crossed the border onto Romanian soil, he was met by Brătianu and he was elected Domnitor on 20 April
3.
United Principalities
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On 24 January 1862, the Principality of Moldavia and the Principality of Wallachia formally united to create the Romanian United Principalities, the core of the Romanian nation state. In 1866 a new constitution came into effect, giving the country the name of Romania, Transylvania was added after the First World War. It was subsequently used by Romanian historians as an alternative to the older term Romanian Lands. English use of Romanian Principalities is documented from the half of the 19th century. In the period between the late 18th century and the 1860s, Danubian Principalities was used, a term that sometimes included Serbia, in contrast, use of Romanian Principalities sometimes included Transylvania but never Serbia. Though internationally formally recognized only after the period of Cuzas reign, following the 1877-8 war of independence, Romania shook off formal Ottoman rule, but eventually clashed with its Russian ally over its demand for the Budjak region. Ultimately, Romania was awarded Northern Dobruja in exchange for southern Bessarabia, the Kingdom of Romania subsequently emerged in 1881 with Prince Carol being crowned as King Carol I of Romania. Alexandru Ioan Cuza took steps to unify the administrations of the two Romanian Principalities and gain recognition for the Union. Opposition from the large-land-owners dominated parliament to Cuza resulted in a coup against him in 1864 and he subsequently instituted authoritarian rule but his popular support, strong at the time of the coup, gradually waned as the land reform failed to bring prosperity to the peasant majority. Cuza was forced to abdicate in 1866 by the two political groups, the Conservatives and the Liberals, who represented the interests of former large-land-owners. Although the event sparked some anti-unionist turmoil in Cuzas native province of Moldavia, the new governing coalition appointed Carol of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen as the new Ruling Prince of Romania in a move initially rejected by the European powers but later on accepted. In the first year of Carols reign Romania adopted its first constitution and this instrument provided for a hereditary constitutional monarchy, with a Parliament being elected through censitary suffrage although the country remained under Ottoman suzerainty. Carol was not unanimously accepted, and a rise in republican sentiment culminated with an uprising in Ploieşti in 1870 and a revolt in Bucharest in 1871, both of which were quelled by the army. In April 1877, in the wake of a new Russo-Turkish war, on May 9, the Romanian parliament declared the independence of the principality, and joined the war on the Russian side. After several Romanian victories south of the Danube and the victory of the Russian-led side in the war. Nevertheless, Romania was made to exchange Southern Bessarabia for Northern Dobruja, in 1881, the countrys parliament proclaimed Romania a kingdom. Danubian Principalities Romanian Old Kingdom Keith M. Hitchins, The Romanians, 1774–1866 online
4.
Kingdom of Romania
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The Kingdom of Romania was a constitutional monarchy which existed between 13 March 1881 and 30 December 1947, specified by the first three Constitutions of Romania. As such, it is distinct from the Romanian Old Kingdom. From 1859 to 1877, Romania evolved from a union of two vassal principalities under a single prince to a full-fledged independent kingdom with a Hohenzollern monarchy. During 1918-20, at the end of World War I, Transylvania, Eastern Moldavia, in 1947 King Michael was compelled to abdicate and a socialist republic ruled by the Romanian Communist Party replaced the monarchy. The 1859 ascendancy of Alexandru Ioan Cuza as prince of both Moldavia and Wallachia under the suzerainty of the Ottoman Empire united an identifiably Romanian nation under a single ruler. On 5 February 1862 the two principalities were united to form the Principality of Romania, with Bucharest as its capital. On 23 February 1866 a so-called Monstrous coalition, composed of Conservatives and radical Liberals, the German prince Charles of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen was appointed as Prince of Romania, in a move to assure German backing to unity and future independence. He immediately adopted the Romanian spelling of his name, Carol, on 15 March 1881, as an assertion of full sovereignty, the Romanian parliament raised the country to the status of a kingdom, and Carol was crowned as king on 10 May. Abstaining from the Initial Balkan War against the Ottoman Empire, the Kingdom of Romania entered the Second Balkan War in June 1913 against the Tsardom of Bulgaria,330,000 Romanian troops moved across the Danube and into Bulgaria. One army occupied Southern Dobrudja and another moved into northern Bulgaria to threaten Sofia, Romania thus acquired the ethnically-mixed territory of Southern Dobrudja, which it had desired for years. In 1916 Romania entered World War I on the Entente side, the term came into use after World War I, when the Old Kingdom was opposed to Greater Romania, which included Transylvania, Banat, Bessarabia, and Bukovina. Nowadays, the term mainly has a historical relevance, and is used as a common term for all regions in Romania included in both the Old Kingdom and present-day borders. Romania delayed in entering World War I, but ultimately declared war on the Central Powers in 1916, War with the Hungarian Soviet Republic in 1919 resulted in the occupation of Budapest by Romanian troops and the end of Béla Kuns Bolshevik regime. At the Paris Peace Conference, Romania received territories of Transylvania, part of Banat, Bessarabia, thus, Romania in 1920 was more than twice the size it had been in 1914. Although the country was satisfied and had no territorial claims, it aroused the enmity of Bulgaria, and especially Hungary. Greater Romania now encompassed a significant minority population, especially of Hungarians, by contrast, the prewar Romanian state had only one real minority, Jews, but nonetheless anti-Semitism was widespread. Transylvania had significant Hungarian and German population, and with a contemptuous attitude towards Romanians. Both groups were excluded from politics as the postwar Romanian regime passed an edict stating that all personnel employed by the state had to speak Romanian
5.
Petre P. Carp
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Carp was a Moldavian, later Romanian statesman, political scientist and culture critic, one of the major representatives of Romanian liberal conservatism, and twice the countrys Prime Minister. His youth was intertwined with the activity of Junimea club, which he co-founded with critic Titu Maiorescu as a literary society and he was a contributor to the Junimea platform Convorbiri Literare, and founder of the newspapers Térra and Moldova. Widely seen as unyielding and trenchant in his stance, and respected as an orator. Carp stood against the majority current in political debates. His entire discourse was an alternative to the protectionist, antisemitic, welcoming Westernization and free trade, his vision of development nonetheless rested on gradualism and criticized modern experiments in governance. The two Carp administrations are remembered for their reforms, their encouragement of foreign investments. A Germanophile and a Russophobe, Carp gathered consensus for steering the Kingdom of Romania into the Triple Alliance, during that time, he was the only prominent public figure to demand a declaration of war against the Entente Powers. He came out of retirement during the German occupation of Romania and this final project caused his fall into disgrace once the legitimate government regained control. Carp was a scion of the old boyar class in Moldavia, his family has attested roots going back to the 17th century, the Carps were related to other noble houses, including the Cozadinis, the Racovițăs and the Kostakis. They owned the estate of Țibănești, formed over the centuries by the accumulation of yeomen farmland. Carps father, also known as Petre, was a Spatharios of the Princely Court, educated abroad during the earliest wave of Westernization, fascinated by Enlightenment ideals and the Carboneria, he took part in political agitation before the Moldavian Revolution of 1848. His wife, Petre P. Carps mother, was Smaranda Radul, the couple had another son, who died at birth. The future Conservative leader was born in the Moldavian capital of Iași, when he was still a young child, his father took him on his first trip out of Moldavia, they traveled by stagecoach through the Austrian Empire, and then to Prussia. In Berlin, Petre Jr enlisted at the bilingual Französisches Gymnasium, young Carp received a classical education in literature, and was noted as a connoisseur of works by Homer, J. W. Goethe, and especially William Shakespeare. He took his Matura with the highest grade of his class, Carp affiliated with a notorious student fraternity, the Corps Borussia. It was in Bonn that Carp made his debut as an orator, on behalf of the student fraternities, Carp welcomed Jérôme, cousin of French Emperor Napoleon III, and was remarked by the visitor for his clear and intellectually honest political stance. Carps future colleague, Moldavian Iacob Negruzzi, also met him as a student. Carp was in Prussia when Moldavia merged with Wallachia to create the United Principalities and he returned to Iași in autumn 1862, having just turned 25, and soon after dedicated himself to reanimating the citys intellectual scene
6.
Romania
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Romania is a sovereign state located in Southeastern Europe. It borders the Black Sea, Bulgaria, Ukraine, Hungary, Serbia and it has an area of 238,391 square kilometres and a temperate-continental climate. With over 19 million inhabitants, the country is the member state of the European Union. Its capital and largest city, Bucharest, is the sixth-largest city in the EU, the River Danube, Europes second-longest river, rises in Germany and flows in a general southeast direction for 2,857 km, coursing through ten countries before emptying into Romanias Danube Delta. The Carpathian Mountains, which cross Romania from the north to the southwest are marked by one of their tallest peaks, Moldoveanu, modern Romania was formed in 1859 through a personal union of the Danubian Principalities of Moldavia and Wallachia. The new state, officially named Romania since 1866, gained independence from the Ottoman Empire in 1877, at the end of World War I, Transylvania, Bukovina and Bessarabia united with the sovereign Kingdom of Romania. Romania lost several territories, of which Northern Transylvania was regained after the war, following the war, Romania became a socialist republic and member of the Warsaw Pact. After the 1989 Revolution, Romania began a transition back towards democracy and it has been a member of NATO since 2004, and part of the European Union since 2007. A strong majority of the population identify themselves as Eastern Orthodox Christians and are speakers of Romanian. The cultural history of Romania is often referred to when dealing with artists, musicians, inventors. For similar reasons, Romania has been the subject of notable tourist attractions, Romania derives from the Latin romanus, meaning citizen of Rome. The first known use of the appellation was attested in the 16th century by Italian humanists travelling in Transylvania, Moldavia, after the abolition of serfdom in 1746, the word rumân gradually fell out of use and the spelling stabilised to the form român. Tudor Vladimirescu, a leader of the early 19th century. The use of the name Romania to refer to the homeland of all Romanians—its modern-day meaning—was first documented in the early 19th century. The name has been officially in use since 11 December 1861, in English, the name of the country was formerly spelt Rumania or Roumania. Romania became the predominant spelling around 1975, Romania is also the official English-language spelling used by the Romanian government. The Neolithic-Age Cucuteni area in northeastern Romania was the region of the earliest European civilization. Evidence from this and other sites indicates that the Cucuteni-Trypillian culture extracted salt from salt-laden spring water through the process of briquetage
7.
Alexandru Averescu
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Alexandru Averescu was a Romanian marshal and populist politician. A Romanian Armed Forces Commander during World War I, he served as Prime Minister of three separate cabinets and he first rose to prominence during the peasants revolt of 1907, which he helped repress in violence. His controversial first mandate, marked by a crisis and oscillating support from the PNLs leader Ion I. C. Brătianu, played a part in legislating land reform and repressed communist activities and his second term of 1926–1927 brought a much-debated treaty with Fascist Italy, and fell after Averescu gave clandestine backing to the ousted Prince Carol. Faced with the People Partys decline, Averescu closed deals with various right-wing forces and was instrumental in bringing Carol back to the throne in 1930, relations between the two soured over the following years, and Averescu clashed with his fellow party member Octavian Goga over the kings attitudes. Shortly before his death, he and Carol reconciled, and Averescu joined the Crown Council, Averescu, who authored over 12 works on various military topics, was also an honorary member of the Romanian Academy and an Order of Michael the Brave recipient. He became a Marshal of Romania in 1930, Averescu was born in Ozerne, a village northwest of Izmail, now part of Ukraine. The son of Constantin Averescu, who held the rank of sluger, he studied at the Romanian Orthodox seminary in Izmail, in 1876, he decided to join the Gendarmes in Izmail. Seeing action as a sergeant with the Romanian troops engaged in the Russo-Turkish War of 1877-1878, he was decorated on several occasions. He was, however, reinstated later in 1878, and subsequently received an education in Romania, at the military school of Târgoviște. Averescu married an Italian opera singer, Clotilda Caligaris, who had been the prima donna of La Scala and his future collaborator and rival Constantin Argetoianu stated that Averescu chose Mrs. Clotilda at random. Upon his return, Averescu steadily climbed through the ranks, subsequently, he was commander of the First Infantry Division and, later, of the Second Army Corps in Craiova. In 1912, he became a Major General, and, in 1911-1913, in the latter capacity, Averescu organized the actions of Romanian troops operating south of the Danube in the Second Balkan War. During the World War, he led the Second Army in the defense of the Southern Carpathians and he commanded Army Group South in the Flămânda operation against the Third Bulgarian Army and other forces of the Central Powers, ultimately stopped by the German offensive. However, several military historians rate Averescu and his fellow Romanian generals very poorly, arguing that, overall, their direction of the war could not have been worse. Despite controlling an army of 500,000 plus 100,000 Russian reinforcements, despite Averescus talks yielding no result, he was repeatedly attacked by his political adversaries for having initiated them. Averescu quit the army in the spring of 1918, aiming for a career in politics — initially, with a message that was hostile to the National Liberal Party and its leader Ion I. C. He presided over the Peoples Party, and he was popular especially among peasants after the end of the war
8.
Ion Ghica
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Ion Ghica was a Romanian revolutionary, mathematician, diplomat and politician, who was Prime Minister of Romania five times. He was a member of the Romanian Academy and its president many times. He was the brother and associate of Pantazi Ghica, a prolific writer. He was born in Bucharest, Wallachia, to the prominent Ghica boyar family, Ion Ghica was educated in Bucharest and in Western Europe, studying engineering and mathematics in France from 1837 to 1840. Ion Ghica became a lecturer on mathematics at the Academy which was founded by the same Prince Sturdza in Iași, while in Istanbul, he was appointed Prince of Samos, where he proved his leadership skills by extirpating local piracy. After completing the task, Ghica was awarded the title of Prince of Samos by Sultan Abd-ul-Mejid I in 1856. In 1859, after the union of Moldavia and Walachia had been effected, later, despite being trusted by Prince Cuza, Ghica took active part in the secret grouping that secured Cuzas overthrow. He was the first prime minister under Prince of Romania Carol of Hohenzollern, Ghica is also noted as one of the first major Liberal figures in the Kingdom of Romania, and one of the leaders of the incipient Liberal Party. The matter of the Liberals loyalty was ultimately settled 1876, with the exceptionally long Liberal Ministry of Ion Brătianu, in 1881, Ghica was appointed Romanian Minister in London, an office he retained until 1889, he died in Ghergani, Dâmbovița County. Beside his political distinction, Ion Ghica earned a reputation by writing his Letters, addressed to Vasile Alecsandri. Conceived and written during his residency in London, the letters depict the stage of Romanian society. He was also the author of Amintiri din pribegie, in 1848 and he was the first to advocate the favoring of local initiatives over foreign investments in industry and commerce - to a certain extent, this took the form of protectionism
9.
Alexandru Marghiloman
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Alexandru Marghiloman was a Romanian conservative statesman who served for a short time in 1918 as Prime Minister of Romania, and had a decisive role during World War I. Born in Buzău, he entered the Saint Sava National College in Bucharest, Marghiloman was elected to the Romanian Parliament in 1884, and joined the government in 1888. A member of the Conservative Party, he supported cooperation with the German Empire and Austria-Hungary in the Triple Alliance, Romania remained neutral until 1916, when she entered on the Allied side and this was the reason he refused a seat in the Ion Brătianus liberal government. After the Germans occupied Bucharest, he remained there as the president of the Romanian Red Cross and he rejected the ideas of the German side of forming a parallel administration to King Ferdinand Is government that was moved to Iaşi. Indeed, Marghiloman negotiated and signed a treaty with the Central Powers on May 7,1918. However, this treaty was never ratified, retreated from public life following the collapse of Conservative politicians in post-war Greater Romania, Marghiloman died in his native town. In his private life, Marghiloman was also a horse breeder. His large estate, the Albatros Villa in Buzău, was for a time a meeting place for Conservative politicians. Marghiloman gave his name to Marghiloman coffee, Turkish coffee boiled in rum
