THE HISTORY

OF OUR COUNTRY
ROMANIA
 SOMEWHERE ON EARTH IN THE SOUTH - EAST OF EUROPE

LIES ROMANIA

Romania lies in the south-east of Europe. The territory is crossed by the

Carpathian Mountains. In the south it is bordered by the Danube River, which
represents the connection with central Europe and in the south-east by the
Black Sea which has always provided the opening to the Orient.
Our city, Constanta, is on the Black Sea shore and it was founded by Greek
colonists in the sixth century BC, under the name Tomis.
 First Inhabitants
Romanian territory has been inhabited since ancient times.
Early Stone Age archaeological traces date about 1 million years ago and
belong to the most distant human ancestors (homo habilis and homo sapiens).
New Stone Age is better documented by the many discoveries made in
Romania.

Especially remarkable are the

painted pottery vessels belonging to the
Cucuteni culture. High quality ceramics
with different motifs and elegant forms,
obtained by combining three colors:
white, red and black (black was obtained
in special ovens at a temperature over
1000 degrees in a natural oxide) have
made Cucuteni culture unique in the
Europe of the IVth millennium BC.
 Also in the Neolithic were discovered
3 burned clay tablets at Tărtăria, tablets
which include some figurative signs and
which could be, in the opinion of some
researchers, a preceding stage of
Sumerian writing, invented 2 millenniums
later and that is considered today the
oldest writing.

In the Metal age it is formed, in

central and south-east Europe, the
Thracian tribe which is our ancestor.
 Ancient Romania
Dacians (after Roman
historians), Getae (after the
Greek historians) lived on the
present territory of Romania.
The first king who united all
the Daco-getics tribes and
founded a state was Burebista.

The Dacian State

reached its maximum
prosperity during
King Decebal when The new emperor Traian proposed the conquest of Dacia and
the military conflict he succeeded after two long and bloody wars between 101-102
with the mighty and 105-106 AC. Decebal committed suicide to escape the
Roman Empire was humiliation of being taken prisoner in Rome and Dacia becomes
resumed. Roman province. So begins the process of Romanization of the
Dacians.
Between 106 AC and ninth century took place the process of
formation of the Romanian people and Romanian language.
Romanian people was formed as a result of mixing between the
Dacians, Roman settlers and part of the migratory who passed
our territory.
The Romanian language is of Latin origin with some
influences from the migratory Slavs.
 Middle Ages

In the early Middle Ages in the aria known today as

Romania there were four separate countries which
shared the same language and
traditions:Transylvania,The Romanian Country, Moldavia,
Dobrudja.

Transylvania was occupied first by Hungarians, then

by Ottomans and Austrians while the Romanian Country,
Moldavia and Dobrudja were later occupied by the
Ottomans. Throughout the Medieval time, the rulers of
the Romania Countries tried to stop the expansion of the
Ottoman Empire.
Sources noted the involvement in this fight of
Stephen the Great (Stefan cel Mare), Iancu from
Hunedoara (Iancu de Hunedoara), Vlad the Impaler (Vlad
Tepes) and Michael the Brave (Mihai Viteazul).

Michael the Brave

(Mihai Viteazul)
 In a letter of Stephen the Great, the leader of
Moldavia, in which he asked the Pope for help in the
fight against the Ottomans, he called Moldavia “the
Gate of Christianity”, meaning that if Moldavia fell, the
entire Christianity would be in danger.

Iancu from Hunedoara, the

Transylvanian leader, defeated at the walls of
the fortress of Belgrade the conqueror of
Constantinople - Mehmed the 2nd- thus
stopping the Ottomans’ advance towards the
heart of Europe.

The same anti - Ottoman policy was

promoted by the leader of the
Romanian Country, Vlad the Impaler.
The cruelty of his ways of punishment,
exaggerated by some medieval
writings, generated the legend of
Dracula.

Despite the heroic struggle carried out by Romanians, the Ottoman

Empire gradually established a strong dominance through centuries over
the Romanian Countries.
 The Modern Age
The modern history of the Romanians is tightly
related to the events that took place in Europe.

The ideas of equality, liberty and justice promoted

by the French revolution echoed in the Romanian
Countries too. During the revolutions of 1821 and 1848
the Romanians and other nations fought for national
liberty, social equality and the modernization of society.

In 1859, with the help of some European rulers

(France, Piemont and Prusia) the Romanians succeed in
unifying Moldavia with the Romanian Country and in
constituting a state under the name of Romania and
under the reign of Alexandru Ioan Cuza.
In 1866 Romania became more powerfull by bringing
Carol the 1st from the German house of the
Hohenzollern to the throne. Under his reign of 48
years, Romania gained independence as a result of
fighting along Russia against the Ottoman Empire. Carol Ist
Between the years 1916 and 1918, Romania took part in
the First World War in order to set free the Romanian
teritories under foreign reign (Transylvania, Basarabia
and Bucovina) and afterwards unite them with Romania
after the war.
 Contemporary Period
The period between World War II and today marks a great devastation for
Romania both in economic and political terms. The economic reforms have delayed
the country, and the new 1923 constitution consolidates the democratic regime,
under the leadership of king Ferdinand.
Unfortunately the Romanian history is marked by the evolution of European
historical events: the installation of communism in Russia and the rise of fascism in
the European countries.
Romania is forced to sign an alliance with Hitler’s Germany with the promise
of the recovery of the lost territories of Basarabia, the North of Bucovina, the
South of Dobrudja, and a large part of Transylvania in favour of URSS, Bulgaria
and Hungary.
In the second World War Romania fights with Germany against URSS for the
release of Basarabia (Moldova). On August 23rd 1944 Romania starts to fight
against Germany until the 8th of May 1945 when Romania joins the Allied forces.
 At the end of the war, on complicated
background, the countries from Eastern Europe
are abandoned by the western countries under
the leadership of Stalin - the leader of URSS -
who sets up a communist regime in the area.
Romania bears the toughest communist Nicolae Ceausescu -
regime, marked in the last part by a powerful
economic crisis. In December 1989 the communist President of the
regime is concluded with the killing of Nicolae Socialist Republic
Ceausescu, the leader of Romania. of Romania
1974 - 1989

Starting with 1990 Romania tries to integrate European political and strategic
structures.
In 2004 Romania joins NATO.
In 2007 Romania joins the UE.
 Quiz
• Where did the geto-dacians come from ?
• Please specify the name of the Roman emperor who conquered Dacia.
• What origins does the Romanian language have ?
• During the Middle Age there were three Romanian principalities. Can you specify
them?
• Which one of the Romanian rulers gives birth to Dracula’s legend?
• In what century was the Romanian state built under the leadership of Alexandru
Ioan Cuza?
• What German dynasty did the Romanian kings come from, between 1866-1947?
• What kind of political regime existed in Romania between 1974-1989?

• Who was the last communist dictator of Romania?

• Study the origin of Dracula’s legend.