Chronography of Romania and Moldova
Page last modified 18 April �2023
See
also Eastern
Europe, Germany, Russia, Turkey
2006,
Transdniestria backed independence from Moldova.
27 January 2006, Prince
Carol of Romania died (born 8 January 1920)
13 December 2004, In Romania the reformist Mayor of
Bucharest, Traian Basescu, was elected President . He defeated Adrian Nastase,
Social Democrat, whose administration since 1989 had been marred by corruption
and national poverty.
2/2000, Former Communists
won 70% of the seats in the Moldovan Duma (Parliament) in elections.
8 May 1997, Moldova signed a Peace Memorandum with the
breakaway Dneister Republic.
6 March� 1994, A referendum in Moldova
showed the electorate opposed to possible unification with Romania.
1992, Ion Iliescu was re-elected
President.
1991, Romania began a
privatisation programme.
26 December 1990, Exiled King Michael of Romania, who fled his country
in 1947 at gunpoint for Switzerland, attempted to return to Romania. He landed
at Bucharest Airport in a private jet with his wife and daughter. However he
was stopped by police who disputed the validity of his travel documents, and
sent back to Geneva. The Romanian
authorities did not wish to see a Royalist revival, and said Michael could
return after the forthcoming elections.
18 November 1990, In Romania the Socialist Party of Labour, a
recreated Communist Party, was launched.
28 October 1990. In Moldavia, troops kept ethnic Moldavians
and Gaugaz Turks apart.
2 September 1990, Transdnistria
declared its independence from the Moldovan SSR; no other country recognised
this. Transdnistria has many ethnic Russians and Russia retains a small
military force there (2015).
14 June 1990, In Bucharest, Romania, street battles erupted
between students demanding democracy and miners supporting the interim regime
of Ilescu.
21 May 1990, Ion Iliescu elected President of Romania, in
Romania�s first post-Communist free elections.
18 February 1990, Demonstrators in Romania stormed the
headquarters of the provisional government, demanding the resignation of President Ion
Iliescu and Prime Minister Petre Roman.
Caesescu regime 1967-90
2 January 1990. All 40 members of the Romanian Politburo were arrested.
1 January 1990, A week after the death of the Ceausescus, Romania officially
abolished the death penalty
25 December 1989, President Ceausescu and his wife were tried and shot. On 27 December 1989 the Romanian press
was freed.
22 December 1989. A Romanian revolution overthrew President
Nicolae Ceausescu. Ceausescu�s son Nicu was arrested, and the Queen cancelled Nicolae�s honorary knighthood. Ion Iliescu took over as President.
20 December 1989. President
Nicolae Ceausescu declared a state of emergency. His last public appearance with his wife Elena
was in Bucharest on 21 December 1989. As he addressed the crowd of
100,000, in University Square, there were catcalls of �murderers of Timisoara�.
Ceausescu was hustled back indoors and
Romanian television ceased broadcasting the event. This was the signal for a general uprising that afternoon, and the
Securitate began firing indiscriminately into the crowd. Many were wounded or
killed but the crowd sensed the army was now with them, except for diehard
factions of the Securitate.
17 December 1989. In the town of Timisoara, in Transylvania, Romania, troops fired on 10,000
demonstrators, killing 2,000. Ethnic Hungarians within Romania were
protesting against the suppression of the Hungarian language in schools, also
books in Hungarian.
Protests 1989 � end of the Caesescu regime
24 November 1989. President
Ceausescu was re-elected as
leader of Romania. However in Czechoslovakia the Communist leadership resigned.
14 April 1988, President Caesescu of Romania
announced plans to demolish 8,000 villages and forcibly resettle their
population in urban areas.
12/1985, Romania endured power cuts and an austerity
programme, lasting into 1986.
26 March�
1974,
In Romania, Mr
Ion Maurer, 71, retired as Prime Minister and was succeeded by Mr Manea
Manescu.
9 December 1967. Nicolae Ceausescu became President of Romania.
4 July 1966, Start of a 3-day Warsaw Pact meeting in
Bucharest where Nicolae
Ceausescu craftily suggested that both the Warsaw Pact and NATO be
disbanded, knowing that this would leave western Europe more vulnerable to
Russia.
1964, Construction work began on
the Iron Gates Dam on the Danube, between Yugoslavia and Romania.
1955, Romania joined the Warsaw
Pact.
4 April 1953, Carol II, King of Romania (1930-40), died aged
59.
24 September 1952, Romania adopted a revised Constitution,
making the Workers Party the only legitimate one.
18 March� 1950, Former engine factory foreman
Nicolae
Ceausescu, the protege of Romanian General Secretary Gheorghe
Gheorghiu-Dej, was made a Major General of the Romanian Army,
despite having no prior military experience. Ceausescu would continue his
rise to power and succeed Gheorghiu-Dej in 1965.
Soviet takeover of Romania post World War Two
13 April 1948, The Romanian Constitution
was redrafted, on Soviet lines.
30 December 1947. King
Michael of Romania abdicated, and a Communist republic was set up.
20 November 1946, In controlled �elections�,
the Communists came to power in Romania.
23 September 1947, Romanian opposition leader
Petkov
was executed.
28 July 1947, In Romania the National
Peasant Party, the most popular Party, was dissolved.
1 June 1946. Antonescu was shot as a
war criminal, see 23 August 1944.
5 February 1946, The USA recognised the new
Romanian Government.
2 March� 1945, At Soviet insistence, Petru Groza
was appointed Prime Minister of Romania and formed a pro-Soviet government.
7 December 1944, General Radescu
formed a Romanian government.
23 August 1944. Following
a coup d�etat in Bucharest, in which pro-Nazi dictator General Ion Antonescu was
overthrown (born 1882, acceded 1940), Romania changed sides and declared war on
Germany and Soviet troops entered Rumania as allies. Germans had entered
Bucharest as allies in September 1940, after Antonescu seized power, forcing King Carol II
into exile after Carol had surrendered Romanian territory to Hungary,
Bulgaria and Russia. Romania then supported Germany when it invaded Russia in
June 1941, and assisted in the Nazi capture of Odessa, which was then renamed
�Antonescu�, with areas of south-west Ukraine annexed to Romania. However the
Soviets began to force back the Romanians, and other Axis forces, in the winter
in 1942/3. On this day, 23 August 1944, Carol II�s 23-year-old son, King Michael,
had Antonescu
arrested. Antonescu
was subsequently charged with war crimes in May 1946 and on 1 June 1946, after
a brief trial, was condemned to death and shot. Meanwhile, French forces took
Marseilles, then advanced up the Rhone Valley.
For more events of World War Two in Europe see
France-Germany
7 September 1940, The
Germans imposed the Treaty of
King Carol II, 1930-40
6 September 1940, King Carol II of Romania
abdicated in favour of his son Michael, by pro-Nazi Ion Antonescu.
18 July 1938, Marie, Queen of Romania, died.
29 August 1936, In Romania the Right
forced out Foreign Minister Nicolas Titulesco, who had links with the
Litte Entente. The Romanian Right was friendly to Germany.
27 December 1933, In Romania, the fascist
Iron Guard murdered the Prime Minister Ion Duca.
Fascist Right
gains power
13 March�
1933,
Alexandru
Vaida-Voevod, Prime Minister of Romania, resigned along with his
entire cabinet, and was not asked to stay by King Michael.
16 February 1933, Fearing German aggression,
Czechoslovakia, Romania and Yugoslavia formed the Little Entente, with a Permanent Council,
8 June 1930, King Carol II returned from exile to take the
throne of
7 June 1930, The cabinet of Romanian Prime Minister Iuliu Maniu
resigned in protest of Carol's return; Gheorghe Mironescu took over.
20 July 1927, King Ferdinand of Romania died, aged 61. He was succeeded by his nephew, 5-year
old Michael
I.
25 October 1921, King Michael of Romania was born, son of King Carol II.
23 April 1921, Czechoslovakia and Romania formed an alliance.
3 March� 1921, Poland signed an alliance with
Romania. This resulted in a decline in previously-close Hungarian-Polish
relations.
Romania acquires Transylvania
(from Hungary)
4 August 1919, Romanian
forces occupied Budapest, Hungary (until 14 November 1919)
11 January 1919.
26 January 1918, Nicolae Ceausescu, dictator of
Romania, was born (died 1989).
11 September 1916, Battle of Transylvania.
The Romanian Army began the third phase of conquering Transylvania, leading to the
capture of Merești, forcing a river crossing at Rupea, and establishing a
bridgehead to conquer Daișoara
2 September 1916, Battle of Transylvania.
The Romanian Army captured the city of Orșova, Transylvania, then part of Austria-Hungary,
before advancing towards Sibiu and completing the first phase of its offense
against the Central Powers.
29 August 1916, Battle of Transylvania.
The Romanian Army captured Brașov, Transylvania.
22 August 1916, Romania declared war on
Austro-Hungary.� Its troops crossed the
passes into Transylvania
18 August 1916, The
Second Army of Romania was established. It regrouped in Moldova, the only region of Romania unoccupied by the
Central Powers.
6 December 1915. Germany occupied Bucharest, capital
of
For main
European events of World War One see France-Germany
3/1907, Romania brutally suppressed a revolt in Moldova.
11 April 1899, Lascar Catargiu,
Romanian politician, died (born 1823).
16 May 1891, Ion Bratianu,
Romanian statesman, died (born 2 June 1821).
28 October 1888, Dumitru
Carlaonț, Romanian General, was born.
15 May 1873, Alexander Cuza,
former Prince of Romania, died in Heidelberg.
20 July 1868, Miron Cristea,
Prime Minister of Romania, was born.
24 October 1866, Prince Carol of
Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen was recognised as King of Romania by the
ottoman Sultan. Carol had been invited to accept the throne by both liberal and
conservative factions within Romania. Romania
became fully independent in 1878, and Carol reigned until 1914.
22 February 1866, After a
period of financial mismanagement, Alexander Cuza was compelled to abdicate, and
give safe conduct out of the country.
23
December 1861,
The two states of Moldavia and Walachia (the Danubian Principalities) were united as Romania.
5
February 1859,
Alexander
Cuza was nominated as Prince of Walachia by the Assembly at
Bucharest See 17 January 1859. This united the two principalities with Cuza as
Prince Alexander John I; however such a union was forbidden by the Congress of
Paris (18 October 1858). The Sultan of Turkey did not recognise this Union
until 23 December 1861, when the State of Romania was formally proclaimed.
17
January 1859,
Alexander
Cuza was nominated as Prince of Moldavia by the Assembly at Jassy.
See 5 February 1859.
1857, Oil was first struck near Ploesti.
20
April 1839,
Charles
King of Romania was born.
2
June 1821, Ion Bratianu,
Romanian statesman, was born (died16 May 1891).
20
March� 1820, Alexander Cuza, First
Prince of Romania, was born.
28 May 1812, The Treaty
of Bucharest was signed.
29 December 1606, Stephen Bocksay, Transylvanian Prince, was
poisoned by his Chancellor, Mihaly Katay.
6 May 1600, Prince Sigismund Bathory of Transylvania lost
the city of Suceava to Michael the Brave of Hungary.� The districts of Transylvania, Moldovia, and
Wallachia became united for the first
time as Romania, but the union dissolved a year later when Michael the
Brave was killed.
26 October 1595, Hungary defeated Ottoman Turkey at Giurgiu,
Wallachia (modern-day Romania).
26 November 1476, Radu died and Vlad III The Impaler took the
Romanian throne a third time. However in 1477 Vlad III was killed by an
invading Ottoman army.
31 January 1476, Vlad III Tepes The Impaler, now married to the
sister of Matthias
I Corvinus King of Hungary, returned to the throne of Wallachia (in
present day Romania).
17 June
1462, Vlad the
Impaler, or Dracula, massacred an Ottoman army, killing
15,000, near Targoviste, capital of Wallachia. However Vlad III was forced into exile
and his younger brother Radu became King.
20 August 1456, Vlad III �The Impaler� became King of Romania.
This was his second term oas ruler; he had earlier been deposed after a reign
of just 2 months. His cruelty gave rise to the legend of Dracula. He fought the
Ottoman Empire for control of Wallachia,
11 June 1216, Henry, Emperor of Romania, died.