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Due to its geographical location, Romania was always the meeting point of political and territorial interests. The Romans, and later the Ottoman, Austro-Hungarian and Russian Empires have all tried in turn to take over this land. This makes Romanian history particularly interesting, as the local people always stood up against foreign occupation, managing to preserve its culture and traditions.

Ancient History

In the 7th and 6th Centuries B.C., the Greeks founded a number of colonies on the Black Sea shore. In this way they came in contact with what is known as the Dacians, a branch of the Balkan people called Thracians. The Greeks and the Dacians lived peacefully, relying on trade and agriculture.

Five centuries later the supremacy of Greece declined, and a new power arose: Rome. The legendary richness of the country made it a temptation for the Roman Empire. In the 1st century A.D., the inevitable happened: Rome attacked. The Dacians led by king Decebalus resisted the Romans for more than 20 years. The Roman Emperor, Traianus, asked the famous ancient engineer, Apolodor of Damascus, to build a bridge over the Danube river to get his troops into Dacia, a project of unprecedented size. Traianus set siege to the capital Sarmizegetusa, but could only take it after a traitor sold him the secret of the hidden water pipes. The Romans left the city without water, forcing it to surrender. Decebalus killed himself, and Traianus celebrated the victory for 123 days. In honor of this victory he erected a sculpted column telling the story of his conquest. Traianus' column still stands in Rome, while ruins of Sarmizegetusa and the remains of the famous bridge remind us of the glory of those times. During the two centuries of Roman occupation, new roads and cities were built in Dacia. The official language became Latin, from which the present Romanian language was born. The Romans retreated from Dacia in 271 A.D.

Medieval History

The centuries that followed the Roman retreat were dark times for Eastern Europe, when countless warrior tribes roamed the land destroying everything in their path. The three regions that form Romania today were first mentioned as states around the 14th Century.

To the West, Transylvania was a region ruled by leaders obeying the authority of the Hungarian King. In its attempt to consolidate its authority in Transylvania, Hungary encouraged the german colonization, which began in 1141 A.D. Bringing along the spirit of western civilization, the colonists built great cities such as Sighisoara, Sibiu, Brasov and developed strong guilds and boosted trade. In the 15th century, the Romanian population stood up and fought against Hungarian oppression, receiving some rights for the first time. Transylvania was united with the other two Romanian territories by Michael the Brave, who defeated the Hungarian Army in 1600. However, because of huge political interests, Michael the Brave was assassinated, and the country broke apart shortly there after.

In 1897, the writer Bram Stoker introduced its famous character Dracula. As we know, Bram Stoker set his novel in Transylvania, one of the great regions of Romania. The idea of identifying Count Dracula with Vlad Tepes, prince or Walachia – called Dracul - who died in Transylvania in the 16th century, stems from his fame for ferocious cruelty. Reputed to be an evil and blood thirsty man, Vlad Tepes was really just one of several more or less fierce leaders in a time when cruelty was the norm. His habit of impaling the Turkish invaders, made prisoners during the many battles, has earned his the name of Dracul, which in Romanian means Devil. Hence, one can assume that count Dracula was created thanks to the inspiration provided by Transylvanian history, where castles such as the one described by Bran indeed set the mood for bloody ghosts and terrifying vampires.

The Southern region, Wallachia, was first mentioned in 1310 A.D. By this time, another big power threatened the Romanian territories: the Ottoman Empire. Wallachia's medieval history is entirely centered on its resisting the Turkish occupation. The fight took centuries, and no matter how tough it got, Wallachia was never fully occupied, despite the enormous military power of the Turks. This was possible because of great commanders such as Mircea the Wise, Vlad Tepes and Michael the Brave.

The Eastern kingdom, Moldavia, had to fight not only against the Turks, but also the cruel Tatars. The brightest figure of Moldavia's history was Stephen the Great, who ruled between 1457 and 1504. During his long leadership, Moldavia, which included the territory of the present Republic of Moldova, reached the peak of development. Stephen was a military genius, winning several major battles against the Turks, Tatars, Polish and Hungarians, while being vastly outnumbered. He celebrated each of his victories by building a church or monastery. He was blessed by the Pope as "divine defender of the Christianity".

Bran Castle, refered to as "Dracula's own"

Modern History

Modern Romanian history is the struggle to redefine a nation. In Transylvania, although they were the majority, the Romanian population has been for centuries the subject of a policy of ethnic cleansing by Hungary. In the 19th century, a few Romanian intellectuals set out to arouse the national consciousness of the people by proclaiming the Latin origin of the Romanian language. Timing was right, as a wind of change was sweeping through all of Europe in 1848. In Romania, the revolution of 1848 proclaimed the ideals of a nation and a free world: "Dreptate, Fratie" (Justice, Brotherhood). It called for the union of all the Romanian people in the three provinces, for the cease of foreign domination and abuse (by the Ottoman, Russian and Austrian Empires), for equal justice under law and human rights in the tradition of the French Revolution (1789). Military intervention soon silenced these voices, and the ideals had to wait for more than half a century before finally bearing fruit.

In 1859 Moldavia and Wallachia, who were allowed by the European powers to elect their own princes, chose the same person: Alexandru Ioan Cuza, thus forming a new state called Romania. During his reign, some of the fundamental institutions of a modern state were created, and an important land reform took place. In 1866, Cuza abdicates and Prince Carol of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen is brought to the throne. Under his reign, Romania became independent (1877), a new constitution was passed, and the country had entered a period of great economic development. The bridge over the Danube at Cernavoda (the longest in Europe at the time) was built. Romanian literature and fine arts flourished.

Romania entered the First World War in 1916, on the Allied side. The Romanian Army fought valiantly in the summer of 1917 and registered heavy losses. In 1918 the National Assemblies of the regions of Transylvania (to the West), Bassarabia (The territory of the present day Republic of Moldova), and Bucovina (now part of the Ukraine) decided to unite with Romania. In the following years, under the reign of king Ferdinand, a new constitution was passed, along with land and voting reforms. These were the best years for modern Romania. The oil industry was booming and Bucharest came to be known as "Little Paris".

After Soviet aggression in the summer of 1940 (occupation of Bassarabia), Romania entered the second World War on Germany's side. In August 1944, king Michael arrested the army chief, Marshal Ion Antonescu, and put Romania on the Allied side, against Germany. In the following year, Romanians fought for the liberation of Hungary and Czechoslovakia, losing almost half a million men. However, we were forced to reimburse the Soviet Union, so we gave up the province of Bassarabia. The Soviet Army helped set up a Communist regime in Romania, and forced the king to abdicate.

During the 50's Romania was ruled with an iron fist by Communist hardliners, a situation common throughout Eastern Europe. In 1965 a new president was elected, by the name of Ceausescu. The whole world was fooled by his apparent shift away from Moscow policies during his early years, only later to discover his true personality. Led by extreme greed, megalomania and paranoia, he almost brought the country to ruins, while human rights abuse became the rule. The wind of change that was sweeping through Eastern Europe in the late 80's did not seem to reach Romania. Until...

1989 Revolution

In December 1989, popular demonstrations in the city of Timisoara were the spark that ignited a nationwide upheaval to overthrow the Ceausescu regime. While attaining its primary goal, the focus of the movement shifted towards the elimination of the whole Communist system and values, thus justifying the name "revolution". Many details of the events are still not made public, and many Romanians still hesitate whether it was a genuine public upheaval or a coup. Fact is that unlike what happened in the rest of Eastern Europe, the events in Romania were rather violent. More than 1000 people were killed, including Ceausescu himself (executed after a quick trial by a Military Tribunal).

Today, Romania is a multi-party democracy and human rights have been restored. The economy, crippled in Ceausescu's time, is struggling to shift to a free market system.