The New International Encyclopædia/Rumania

RUMA′NIA. A kingdom of Europe, the most northeastern country of the Balkan States. It embraces the former principalities of Moldavia and Wallachia (united in 1861) and the district called the Dobrudja, detached from Bulgaria in 1878. The Eastern Carpathians and their westward continuation, the Transylvanian Alps, presenting their convex side to Rumania, are the western and northern barriers separating the kingdom from Hungary. The Danube marks the line between Rumania and Bulgaria on the south, except in the extreme east of the country, where there is an artificial boundary. The Black Sea bounds the country on the east for a distance of about 130 miles. In the extreme north an artificial frontier extends between Rumania and Russia, and the Pruth separates them on the east. In the extreme west the kingdom touches Servia, the Danube forming the boundary. Rumania extends from latitude 43° 40′ to 48° 15′ N. Area, 50.840 square miles, Rumania being the largest Balkan State except Turkey.

Topography. The surface features comprise the mountain barrier in the west; the mountain forelands and foothills extending into the country for 30 to 40 miles from the Carpathian ranges; the two low plains spreading away everywhere to the east and south of the mountain region; and the higher lands of the Dobrudja, the region between the Danube and the Black Sea. The Dobrudja has low coasts, but its interior is a steppe-like plateau. The great walls of the Carpathians and the Transylvanian Alps, the latter rising over 8000 feet in several places, slope down to the Rumanian plains in finely wooded declivities, divided by the valleys of many rivers. The Moldavian plain, occupying the eastern part of the country, descends to the south and is deeply trenched by many tributaries of the Danube, the principal being the Sereth. The Wallachain plain occupies the entire south, has a general southeasterly incline, and is traversed by the Aluta, Arjesh, Yalomitsa, and other affluents of the Danube. The Moldo-Wallachian plain is physically a part of the great plain of South Russia. The Danube is the great highway of the kingdom. Before it reaches the delta it divides into many branches, and courses over a flat, marshy, alluvial plain, rather difficult of access.

Climate, Flora and Fauna. Though in the same latitude as Northern Italy, the land has far greater climatic extremes. Its bitterly cold winters are due to its being exposed to the winds from the Russian steppes; the winds from the Mediterranean subject it to subtropical summer heat. The mercury sometimes rises to above 100° F. in the shade, and at times sinks below —20°. The Danube is usually ice-bound about three months. The annual rainfall ranges from 15 to 20 inches and is unequally distributed. The soils, particularly the black earth of the plains, make Rumania one of the most fertile countries of Europe.

Three zones of vegetation are distinguished: the high Alpine zone in the mountains, the forest zone of the lower mountain slopes and foothills, and the steppe zone of the prairie regions. The mountains are clothed with nines, larches, firs, dwarf junipers, and birches. Firs are the prevailing trees among the foothills. Varieties of oak grow on the plains, beeches, chestnuts. and maples being also planted. The black alder grows on the marshes. The mountains present great stretches of woodlands, but large forest tracts are now rarely met on the plains and a great part of the Dobrudja is treeless. The fauna resembles that of Russia (q.v.).

Geology and Mineral Resources. The Carpathians and the Transylvanian Alps consist mainly of crystalline schists with extensive intrusions of Jurassic and chalk beds. Earthquakes, originating among the mountains, seem to show that the process of mountain formation is still in progress. The two great low plains are covered with the black loess of South Russia, with large admixtures of pebbles and clay in the southern plain of Wallachia. This region is traversed by Eocene formations, and by strongly folded Miocene strata, which often contain salt and petroleum. The plain of Moldavia, on the other hand, consists of late Tertiary formations. The mineral wealth is very great. Gold, silver, iron, lead, quicksilver, copper, manganese, coal, building materials, petroleum, and salt are all found, but only the last three are worked to any great extent. Gold, in particles and scales, is found in some of the rivers. Recent discoveries show quicksilver in large quantities in Wallachia. Marble of excellent quality, and clays and sands suitable for porcelain and glass wares, are abundant. The salt deposits cover an enormous area in Moldavia and Wallachia, and as many of the beds have a thickness of 740 feet or more, Rumania could supply Europe for centuries. The salt industry has been a State monopoly since 1862, The output in 1900 was 104,604 tons, nearly all being exported. The oil-bearing region is very extensive and is beginning to be exploited by foreign capitalists. The product of petroleum in 1900 was 221,387 tons. All the metals are little mined, for lack of Rumanian capital and transportation facilities.

Agriculture. Seventy per cent. of the people are engaged in agriculture. Rumania is one of the three large granaries of Europe. But agriculture is still very backward; the peasantry, serfs until recently, have made progress slowly, and methods and implements are still primitive, though modern farm machinery is being largely introduced on the estates. Nearly half of the whole surface is under cultivation. Tillage and stock-breeding outweigh all other resources to a greater extent than in most European States. The land is particularly well adapted for cereals. Wheat and maize are the chief crops. The area under wheat in 1900 was nearly 6000 square miles. The area under maize is a fourth greater. The acreage of barley, oats, and rye together is about half of that of maize. Maize, the chief crop, yielded 116,937,205 bushels in 1901. It is the staple food of the peasantry, and with wheat and barley comprises the bulk of the exports. Tobacco is a State monopoly cultivated wholly under Crown management. In 1901, 10,666 acres were under the crop. Both soil and climate are adapted for the vine, which grows chiefly among the foothills of the mountains overlooking the plains. The vineyards embraced, in 1901, 330,048 acres. Cotnar and Odobesci—dessert wines—vie with the famous vintages of Hungary. Prunes are important in the foreign trade. The kingdom had, in 1900, 864,746 horses, 2,589,000 cattle, 5,644,210 sheep, and 1,709,909 swine. Stock-raising is carried on with little skill or method. There are few stables, and most of the animals are exposed without shelter to the rigorous winter. The exports of hog products to Austria-Hungary and Russia is important. Sheep-breeding is carried on everywhere for mutton, cheese (which is in great demand), and wool, but is declining, especially in the hill districts. The rearing of silkworms, once an important house industry, is reviving under Government patronage. Rumanian streams are well supplied with fish.

Manufacturers and Commerce. The house industries supply the peasants with most of their personal needs. Foreign capital is being attracted and industrial development is making considerable progress. Several hundreds of flouring mills turn much of the wheat into flour, which is exported even to England; in 1901 the sugar factories had an output of 25,350 tons, and there are many other manufactures of different kinds. Expensive freight rates and high customs are the chief hindrances to trade in Rumania. The total volume of the foreign commerce for 1900 was $129,300,000, Textiles stand far in the lead among the imports, and breadstuffs are by far the most important item in the exports. Other noteworthy items of the imports are metals and their manufactures, chemicals, drugs, and groceries; and fruits, vegetables, groceries, chemicals, wood and wooden wares, animals, and animal products figure to some extent among the exports. In the Rumanian commerce Belgium, Germany, and Austria-Hungary figure most extensively.

Transportation and Communication. The only important ports directly on the Black Sea are Sulina and Kustendje. The latter is a new port, but promises to become important. Far more important at present are the large commercial cities of Galatz and Braïla, at the head of deep-water navigation on the Danube. Braïla is the great wheat-exporting port of the country. In 1901 the vessels entering the ports were 29,296, with 8,187,927 tons. In 1902 the commercial marine of Rumania consisted of 391 vessels, of 75,440 tons, including 72 steamers, of 16,146 tons. A large number of steamboats and sailing vessels ply on the Danube, and much timber and grain is transported to the Danube by steamer, barge, or raft on the Sereth and the Pruth. The State owns all the railroads, of which about 2000 miles were in operation in 1903.

Government and Finance. Rumania is an hereditary constitutional monarchy. The present Constitution, enacted by a Constituent Assembly elected by the people in 1866, was amended in 1879 and again in 1884. According to its provisions the executive department is vested in the King, who has power of suspensive veto, and a Cabinet of eight members, including a Prime Minister. The legislative department is composed of a Senate and Chamber of Deputies, the members of both of which are chosen (in part indirectly) by electoral colleges, made up of all taxable citizens classified according to the amount of taxes paid, property owned, or educational qualifications. The Senate has 120 members, elected for a term of 8 years. The heir apparent, 8 bishops, and 2 representatives selected by the universities of Bucharest and Jassy are members of the Upper House. The Chamber of Deputies has 183 members, chosen for four years. Senators to be eligible must be 40 years of age and have an annual income of about $1800. Deputies must be 25 years of age. The Code of Napoleon is the basis of the legal system. For its local government. Rumania is divided into 32 districts. The capital of Rumania is Bucharest.

The revenues are derived from the indirect taxes (stamp, legacies, spirits, and beer taxes); direct taxes (real estate, building taxes, road tolls, licenses for the sale of spirits, and registration fees, trades); monopolies (tobacco, salt, matches, playing cards, and cigarette paper); sale of and revenue from public lands: and customs. In 1903-04 the revenue was approximately $44,000,000, and the expenditure $42,600,000. The public debt amounted on March 31, 1902, to $275,001,179.88. More than half had been contracted for public works, mainly railways. The foremost financial institution is the Rumanian National Bank, at Bucharest, with branches in the important towns. On December 23, 1900, it had a note circulation of $23,737,350.

Money, Weights, and Measures. The gold standard was introduced in 1888. As geld coins are minted only in limited quantities, the short supply is widely supplemented by foreign pieces. The gold len (equaling one franc) is the unit of coinage, and the small change is of silver or bronze. The metric system of weights and measures is legalized, but Turkish denominations are used to some extent. For army, see ARMIES.

Population. The population of Rumania, by the census of 1899, was 5,912,520, of whom the Rumanians numbered 92.5 per cent. Bucharest had a population in 1899 of 282,071. The next largest town, Jassy, had 78,069 inhabitants.

Religion and Education. Orthodox Greek is the State religion, but all confessions enjoy full freedom. The State Church is independent of all ‘alien prelates,’ and the Metropolitan Primate is appointed by the legislative bodies and confirmed by the King. In 1899 there were 5,408,743 members of the Greek Church, 168,276 Catholics and Protestants, 269,015 Jews, and 43,740 Mohammedans. The percentage of illiterates is very high, the census of 1899 showing that 88.4 per cent. of the population could not read or write. Though education is ‘free and compulsory,’ no schools have as yet been established in many of the village communes. There are two universities—one at Bucharest, with about 80 professors and over 4000 students, and one at Jassy, with about 50 professors and 800 students.

Ethnology. The Rumanians, or Wallachs, constitute a race whose origin has been much discussed and is still by no means clear. Only about half of the Rumanians inhabit the modern Kingdom of Rumania. The remainder are found in the neighboring regions of Eastern Hungary (mainly Transylvania), Bukowina, Bessarahia, Servia, and Bulgaria, besides scattered groups in other parts of the Balkan Peninsula. These smaller groups are rapidly disappearing among the surrounding peoples. The most important of the detached Rumanian communities is that inhabiting the Mount Pindus districts. These are called Tsintsars or Kutzo-Vlachs by their Macedonian neighbors, but their true name is Aramáni or Armáni, i.e. ‘Romans.’ The popular belief and claim of the Rumanians is that they are the direct descendants of the Roman colonists sent into the conquered province of Dacia (the modern Rumania) by the Emperor Trajan. This theory has been severely attacked by Rösler, Hunfalvy, and others, and seems questionable bath on historical and linguistic grounds. The Emperor Aurelian (270-275) withdrew the Roman colonists from Dacia to the south side of the Danube, and from that time until the thirteenth century Dacia was given over to the barbarian hordes, who swept over the country repeatedly. During this time the Roman language and culture seem to have disappeared, and the former was first reestablished in its modern form in connection with a northern movement of the Rumanians from the regions south of the Danube. This would seem to support the view that the final area of dispersion was to the south. and possibly in the neighborhood of the Pindus region. Here would also be the seat of the development of the language. Numerous linguistic characteristics seem to support this view. On the other hand, it is not at all necessary to suppose that all or even a majority of the inhabitants of reorganized Rumania came from the south. The number was probably relatively few. The study of the head form of the modern Rumanians shows dolichocephaly in the east, the breadth of the head increasing to brachycephaly in the west. This eastern dolichocephaly along the Black Sea is regarded by many as a survival from a primitive long-headed race, which formerly occupied almost all Eastern Europe before the Slavic invasions. If this be true, it shows a continuance of race in spite of invasions. It is also noteworthy that in physical type the Rumanians differ but slightly from the Bulgarians, which would seem to show that the mass of the people have been but slightly affected by their conquerors. The Rumanians may then be regarded as a mixture, varying in different regions, of this primitive population with Roman colonists, and Teutonic, Slavic, and Mongol invaders. Consult: Rosny, Les Romains de l’Orient, aperçu de l’ethnographie de la Roumanie (Paris, 1885); Hunfalvy, Ethnographie von Ungarn (Budapest, 1877).

History. The modern Kingdom of Rumania, which dates in its present political organization only from 1881, was formed by the union of the two kindred principalities of Moldavia and Wallachia (qq.v.). These countries form the greater part of the large area conquered by the Emperor Trajan (a.d. 101-106) and made the Roman Province of Daci.a (q.v.). The Dacians, according to the Roman accounts, were a warlike race, and under their King, Decebalus, made a vigorous resistance to the conquest. During the reign of Alexander Severus, in the second quarter of the third century, the province began to suffer from the inroads of the Goths, and in the reign of Aurelian (270-275) it was finally abandoned to these Germanic invaders, with whom the Emperor established an honorable alliance. A majority of the inhabitants crossed to the south of the Danube, but many remained among the Goths and introduced the arts of Roman civilization. The Goths were later crowded out by the Huns and the country was overrun by successive barbarian invasions. The present inhabitants are of a much mixed race, their language being a Romance tongue.

In the eleventh century the Cumans, a Turkish people, established themselves for a time in Moldavia, and two centuries later the country fell into the hands of the Nogai Tatars and the people were driven into the forests and mountains. The history of the period of recovery of Wallachia and Moldavia from the barbarians and of their organization into States is very imperfectly known and is not of particular importance.

In the latter part of the thirteenth century we find a Wallach, or Ruman, principality in the region between the Lower Danube and the Transylvanian Alps, which took its place in the map of Europe as Wallachia. A little later by the side of this arose another Wallach principality, which took the name of Moldavia, from the River Moldava, an affluent of the Sereth. Both principalities had to face the tide of Turkish invasion which after the middle of the fourteenth century swept over Southeastern Europe. At the same time they had to contend against the kings of Hungary. By the beginning of the fifteenth century Wallachia had become a vassal State of the Ottoman Empire, being forced to pay regular tribute; Moldavia held out a century longer. It was long, however, before the Turks succeeded in actually subjecting the principalities to their sway, and more than once they suffered defeat at the hands of the Kuman voivedes or princes. The rule of the voivodes of Wallachia and Moldavia presents a dismal and bloody record, vigor and ability on the part of the princes going hand in hand with savagery. For a moment, at the close of the sixteenth century, the Wallach, or Ruman, nationality was brought under the sway of a single monarch, Michael the Brave of Wallachia, who brought Moldavia and Transylvania (inhabited in great part by Wallachs) under his sceptre. Michael was assassinated in 1601 and this Great Rumania vanished, to be revived in the dreams of the Rumanian patriots of today, whose aspirations are directed to the establishment of a Dacian realm of which Transylvania shall form a part.

In the seventeenth century the hold of Turkey (then in its decline) upon the principalities was gradually tightened, and at last their independence was practically extinguished. ‘The Rumuanian soil, however, was not opened to the Turks for settlement. The onslaughts of Russia upon the Ottoman Empire introduced a new and sinister element into the life of the principalities. In 1710 the voivodes sought to free their States from the Turkish yoke with the assistance of Peter the Great. (See Kantemir.) The Czar was hemmed in by the Turks on the River Pruth (1711) and eseaped only by agreeing to a humiliating peace. After this the Porte ruled Moldavia and Wallachia through hospodars or governors taken from among the Greek Fanariot families (see Fanariots), who, in their greed and lack of sympathy for the inhabitants, exploited the principalities in a merciless manner. Many of the families of the boyars or nobles became allied with the Fanariot houses and Greek became the official language. This tended very much to obscure the national feeling. Again and again the armies of Russia, in her wars with Turkey, traversed and occupied the unhappy provinces. Bukowina, in 1777, and Bessarabia, in 1812, were severed from Moldavia and annexed to Austria and Russia respectively. The ambitious designs of Russia looked to the incorporation of Moldavia and Wallachia in the empire of the Czar. And the fact that their inhabitants belonged to the Greek Church afforded a pretext for interfering in the affairs of the principalities. The outbreak of the Greek struggle for independence, the first episode of which was enacted at Jassy in 1821 (see Ypsilanti, Alexander), put an end to the Fanariot rule in the two Danubian Principalitics and boyars were allowed to choose the hospodars from natives.

The Rumanian language took its place again, and, under the stimulus of the teaching of the history of the people, promoted especially by four Rumanian historians, Śincai, Maior, Asachi, and Lazar, a spirit of nationality was developed which looked to independence and gave a new unity to the ideas and purposes of the two States.

In the Treaty of Adrianople of 1820 Turkey was forced to accord to Russia a protectorate over the Danubian Principalities. The hospodars, among whom were some strenuous and enlightened rulers of the family of Ghika (q.v.). were reduced almost to the position of lieutenants of the Czar. But the schemes of Russia aroused patriotic opposition, and the unsuccessful issue of the war waged against Turkey and her Western allies (1853-56) deprived Russia of her hold on the Danubian Principalities.

The Congress of Paris in 1856 recognized the need of 2 modification of the relations of the Porte to the principalities, but would not concede complete independence. They were organized as the United Principalities of Moldavia and Wallachia, each having its own hospodar and government, but with a common commission of sixteen members and a general court of justice. In 1859 both elected the same hospodar, a boyar of Moldavia, Prince Cuza, and in 1861 he was proclaimed Prince of Rumania under the name of Alexander John 1. (q.v.). The Sultan recognized the new adjustment, and the long desired union was accomplished. Prince Alexander was deposed in 1866 because of his arbitrary government, and Prince Charles of Hohenzollern was elected as hereditary Prince under a modern constitution, it being found impossible to reach an agreement on any member of the native nobility. An efficient army was organized by Prince Charles on the Prussian model, and when war broke out between Russia and Turkey in April, 1877, Rumania entered into alliance with Russia, giving the armies of the latter free passage through Rumanian territory. On May 21st the Rumanian Parliament declared the country independent. The Rumanian army joined the Russians in the field, and in the operations at Plevna the forces of the principality bore an important and wholly creditable part. (See Russo-Turkish War.) The Berlin Congress in 1878 recognized the independence of Rumania, but in spite of the protest of the Rumanian envoys restored to Russia the strip of Bessarabia, touching the Pruth and the Danube, which had been annexed to Moldavia in 1856. Rumania, however, received the Dobrudja. It was further stipulated that difference of religious profession should not disqualify from the exercise of full civil and political rights in Rumania. The last stipulation introduced the Semitic question into the politics of the new State by bringing a quarter of a million Jews into its citizenship, a condition which has never been acquiesced in by the Christians, who have continued to persecute the downtrodden race, many of whom have emigrated to the United States. In 1881 the Government declared Rumania a kingdom, and this was accepted by the Powers. In 1893 King Charles summoned his nephew and heir, Prince Ferdinand, to the kingdom and the latter’s son was baptized into the Greek Church.

Bibliography. Reclus, Nouvelle géographie universelle, vol. i. (Paris, 1875); Beaure et Mathorel, La Roumanie: géographie, histoire, organisation politique, judiciaire, religiouse (Paris, 1878); Samuelson, Roumania Past and Present (London, 1882); Rosny, Les populations danubiennes (Paris, 1885); Laveleye, The Balkan Peninsula (London, 1887); Bergner. Rumanien: Eine Darstellung des Rumania Land und Leute (Breslau, 1887): Cremer, Avutiile minerale ale Romaniei (Liège, 1888); Arion, La situation economique et sociale du paysan en Roumanie (Paris, 1895): Richard, La Roumanie à vol d’oiseau (Bucharest, 1895); Bley. La Roumanie: étude economique et commerciale (Paris, 1896); Krauss. Bucarest und Rumanien (Leipzig, 1896); Miller, Roumania (London, 1896); de Gubernatis, La Roumanie et les Roumains (Florence, 1808); de Bertha, Magyars et Roumains devant l’histoire (Paris, 1899); Lahovari, Geographisches Lezicon von Rumania (Bucharest, 1809 et seq.); Benger, Rumania in 1900, trans. by Keane (London, 1900); Bengeseo, Bibliographie franco-roumaine du XIXème siecle (Brussels, 1895).