History of Romania

About History of Romania

(Română)

Prin istoria României se înțelege, în mod convențional, istoria regiunii geografice românești precum și a popoarelor care au locuit-o și care, pe lângă diferențele culturale și transformările politice, au dotat-o cu o identitate specifică care, în timp, a dus la recunoașterea României drept subiect istoric de sine stătător. Într-o accepțiune mai restrânsă, prin istoria României se înțelege doar istoria statului unitar, adică istoria statului modern România, a Regatului României și a formelor de organizare intermediare, precum și a evenimentelor care au dus la formarea sa ca stat național.


(English)

Settlement in what is now Romania began in the Lower Paleolithic followed by written records attesting the kingdom of Dacia, its conquest, and subsequent Romanisation by the Roman Empire during late antiquity.

The modern Romanian state 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. During World War I, after declaring its neutrality in 1914, Romania fought together with the Allied Powers from 1916. In the aftermath of the war, Bukovina, Bessarabia, Transylvania, and parts of Banat, Crișana, and Maramureș became part of the Kingdom of Romania.[1] In June–August 1940, as a consequence of the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact and Second Vienna Award, Romania was compelled to cede Bessarabia and Northern Bukovina to the Soviet Union and Northern Transylvania to Hungary. In November 1940, Romania signed the Tripartite Pact and, consequently, in June 1941 entered World War II on the Axis side, fighting against the Soviet Union until August 1944, when it joined the Allies and recovered Northern Transylvania.

Following the war and occupation by the Red Army, Romania became a socialist republic and a member of the Warsaw Pact. After the 1989 Revolution, Romania began a transition towards democracy and a market economy.