RUMANIA'S

SACRIFICE
GOGU NEGULESCO

./'%,
O-

0'

^^

RUMANIA'S SACRIFICE

Royal Family

Crown Prince
Ferdinand
now king

Crown

Princess

Marie
queen

Carmen Sylva

now

Kin^

Carl

RUMANIA'S SACRIFICE
HER

PAST, PRESENT,

AND FUTURE

BY

GOGU NEGULESCO
M

SENATOB OF THE RUMANIAN PARLIAMENT

TRANSLATED BY

MRS.

C.

BE

S.

WAINRIGHT

ILLUSTRATED WITH
PHOTOGRAPHS AND MAPS

NEW YORK
THE CENTURY
1918

CO.

2.0

Copyright, 1918, by

The Centxjey

Co.

Puhlishedt September, 1918

SEP 30

1-9I8

'GLA503632
'\\<i

INTRODUCTION
\
>

Before Rumania entered the war she was

almost

unknown

pohtical

in the

and commercial

two countries were very

no minister or consuls

Her

United

States.

relations

The

between the

Rumania had

slight;

here.

entry into the war on the twenty-

seventh of August, 1916, followed in three

months by the retreat of her armies before the

enemy, the fall of the capital, and the occupa-

more than three parts of the country by

the enemy, caused Rumania to become known,
tion of

but in a rather poor way.

Her

enemies, with

the intention of causing a feeling of antipathy

towards her, worked persistently to present the

Rumanian

policy as unstable

and one of con-

quest, giving false information

and leading to

an unjust impression of the events taking place

in

Rumania.

For example,

the following re-

INTRODUCTION
ports were spread about

manian

Army

who during

first,

there were

in reality not a

camp

generals

Oerman

of the enemy, while

has been officer in the

Rumanian Army and not a

Army

German

the struggles were passing with

their troops into the

nian

Ru-

that in the

unit of the

Ruma-

ever passed to the enemy; second,

army were
Rumanian province

that the provision depots of the

placed in

Dobrudja

^a

so that the enemy

near the Bulgarian frontier

might more

manian

easily capture

Army

it

and leave the Ru-

without food; this

false; third, that it

is

absolutely

had been decided that Ru-

mania should attack the Bulgarians, but that

at the last

moment

plan was changed by

this

an attack upon Austria-Hungary, while it is

very well known that any war plans were made
in

agreement with the

Allies, not to say im-

posed by Russia; fourth, that the war plans

were delivered to the enemy by Rumanian

no Rumanian

cers.

It has been proved that

officer

would have been capable of such

vi

offi-

trea-

INTRODUCTION
son and that, on the contrary, they
their duty, but that

it

all

did

was the Russian Govern-

ment which transmitted

these plans to the

enemy, throwing at the same time calumny

upon her ally by false information that the Rumanian soldier does not know how to fight,
although in reality he

was

a warrior in the true

Among many other things

sense of the word.

it

is

men were

said that the political

either

incapable or were being bought.

It

is

none the

less true that all these false

were taking root they were peneThere

trating public opinion little by little.
affirmations

was no Rumanian officialdom over here to explain things and to give the lie to these calumnies, so that the name of Rumania was spoken
with mistrust,

not antipathy.

if

The formation
phere was

all

of this unfortunate atmos-

the easier for the enemies of

Rumania because even European

ion of the Allies

public opin-

was cold and sometimes severe

towards Rumania.

The EngHsh
vii

press asked,

INTRODUCTION

"Why

did

Rumania

THe
Rumanian in-

enter tHe war?"

Russian press cried out that the

tervention was a burden for the AUies,

added

all sorts

of calumny.

was very severe

The

in its criticism,

and

Italian press

and France,

as-

know what to believe.

time Rumania was struggling

tonished, did not

All

this

desperately not only against numerous enemies

who were encircHng

in the

her

her on

all sides,

but also

endeavor to push aside the distrust of

allies.

The

events which took place in Russia in

the beginning of 1917 threw

drama: the

czarist

some

light

on

this

regime having been over-

thrown, the representatives of the revolution

published the documents proving completely
that

Rumania was betrayed by Russia; Eu-

ropean public opinion received with

tion these proofs

and convinced

satisfac-

itself

imme-

diately that Russia

had betrayed the cause of

the Allies and that

Rumania

duty.
viii

honestly did her

INTRODUCTION
Especially

when the Rumanian Army on the

Sereth resisted for a year the drives of the

enemy, fighting battles which have remained

memorable and proving

at every turn her loy-

alty towards her allies, did the first sentiments

of mistrust transform themselves into true feel-

ings of admiration for the

and

for

signal.

Rumania.
Military

France
critics,

Rumanian Army
first

of

political

all

gave the

men, and

the entire press hastened to bring out the injustice done to

Rumania, her

loyalty,

and the

bravery of her army, which, isolated, without

support, betrayed, in want of ammunition and
sufficient food, "held for

her

own means

saries better

against

a long time by only

more numerous adver-

armed than herself she astonished

;

them by the vigor and duration of her

ance, she has

shown

and of her noble

ery

."

herself

resist-

worthy of her past

traditions of knightly brav-

In England and the neutral countries of Eu1

General de

Mean.

La

Croix

"L' Effort de la Rumanie," Paris,

1917, p. 20.

is

INTRODUCTION
rope there was formed the same favorable current of opinion towards

Rumania; the whole

world did her justice now, pitying her for not

having been supported and for being crushed

by her enemies and for the betrayal of her

But

in

if

Europe

it

in evidence the loyalty

ally.

has been easy to put

and the

sacrifice of

Ru-

mania, here in the United States the matter

much more

has been

difficult.

The

first

im-

pression had taken root in public opinion,

aided by the unfortunate events which precipitated themselves

in

Rumania without

logical explanation, as well as

by the organized

persistency of her enemies in attacking

maligning her.
needed,

organized and persistent

work, in order to dissipate the

the lack of

The

and

Time was needed^ work was

especially

pressions.

first

bad im-

extent of this great country,

official

action

by the Rumanian

Government, the lack of widespread propaganda, rendered very

difficult

the formation of

favorable public opinion towards Rumania.

INTRODUCTION

A few scattered Rumanians

do some things for

did attempt to

My brother,

their country.

Paul Negulescu, professor

at the University

of Bukharest, pubhshed during one year a

Enghsh and

review written in

Madame Dr.
good

Stanculeanu, a charming and

Rumanian,

American

held

several

held lectures; the charming

also

dent of the

her husband, the presi-

Rumanian Commission

worked incessantly

American public

the

in the sufferings of the

Ru-

several

thanks to the courtesy of the editor of

especially of

Miller, one of the editors of the

artist,

New
the

"New York Herald" and

Times";

to

interest

to

manian people; I myself published

articles,

in

young and sympathetic,

Messrs. Borccea and loanidu,

Mme. Orghidan and

York,

lectures

circles; the

such as the
engineers,

Rumanian;

in

Mme.

Mr.

Mr.

"New York

Bazsesco, a great

Rumanian

Spiresco, Dr. Andronescu, Petre

Nastasesco, and

many

other

Rumanians never

ceased or wearied of trying to interest their acxi

INTRODUCTION
quaintances and friends in the question of our

But

native country.

all

these attempts kept

and

their private character, timid

ing, nevertheless,

some

isolated, giv-

slight appreciable re-

sults.

At

last in

January, 1918, a minister. Dr.

Angelesco, arrived to represent

Rumania

in

The Rumanians over here were

hope that at last the moment had ar-

Washington.
full of

rived for the true propaganda so long desired,

and

this

hope was

Rumanian

all

the

more

justified as the

minister was received by President

Wilson with edifying and encouraging words

for

But after two months the mindeparted for Europe before having really

Rumania.

ister

begun

his

work, and

of a secretary.

left the

mission in charge

There remains only the

tary attache of the legation,

who

is

mili-

working

for the formation of a committee with the

of relieving the sufferings of so

aim

many Ruma-

nian orphans, and has had considerable success

in this direction.
xii

INTRODUCTION
The gracious and distinguished Miss Wilson,
daughter of the President,
noble work, so

we

is

directing this

feel sure that the results will

be successful.

In cooperation with the Rumanians here

several Americans with kindly hearts and great
ability

have interested themselves deeply in

The

Rumania.

delightful

Mrs.

McVickar,

Mrs. Fletcher, wife of the American ambassador in Mexico, Mr. Trowbridge, Mr. T. T.

Major Louis Livingston Seaman, H.

E. John Riddle, former American ambassador in Russia, and many others too numer-

Wells,

ous
in

mention,

to

have

greatly

contributed

drawing the attention of the public to Ru-

mania

either

by individual

peals sent out in the

Rumanian

At

the

name

efforts or

by ap-

of the American-

Relief Committee.

same time the American newspapers

have shown themselves very greatly disposed

in favor of

Rumania.

In the daily papers and

xiii

in periodicals in-


INTRODUCTION
teresting articles have appeared.
tivity,

but above

all,

Private ac-

the help of the press, has

succeeded in attracting at least in part

tlie at-

tention of the public to

Ruma-

tlie

fact that

nia has been betrayed by Russia and that her

army

did

its full

become convinced of
In the

opinion.

rooms of

As

duty.

tliis

different

New York

for myself I have

change in public

American drawing

and Chicago where I have

had the honor of being received I have seen

men and women the charming

American women who manifest tlieir individthat

the

uahty in a maimer so delicate and gracious

gave mudi attention to the cause of Rumania

and through

showed

their

their desire to

What has been

know her

tlie

termined the Rumanian

the war

different

questions

better.

motive which has de-

Go vermnent

to enter

"^Miat has been the cause of the defeat?

A\Tiy did the Grovenmient enter into war

'

xiv

INTRODUCTION
without the necessary armament and hospital
supplies?

In what
Why was

consists the treason of Russia?

peace declared?

possible to resist

What

is

Was

it

im-

any further?

the origin, the language, the cus-

toms, the laws of Kumania, what constitutes

her economic

Is
alliance

life?

Rumania had made an

with Germany before the war?

it

true that

Do you beheve that

if

the Allies had not

failed in the Dardanelles the Bulgarians

the Turks would have given

and that
nia

in

up

and

their neutrality

any case the position of Ruma-

would have been better?

These are some of the many questions that

prove the desire of the Americans to imderstand better,

if possible,

the condition of

Ru-

mania.

To

reply more completely to these questions

I decided to write this book; but a

XV

difficulty

INTRODUCTION
arose.
tiful

am

not very familiar with

this

beau-

Then two charmMrs. C. de S. Wain-

American language.

ing American

ladies,

me

wright and her daughter, offered to help

as a labor of love for suffering

Rumania.

In this book I have examined very

closely the

events which have taken place in Rumania.

The work
a resume.

is

far

from being complete

My intention has

attention of the public to

easy to read.

it is

but

been to draw the

Rumania by a book

I hope in publishing this book

to render a service to

must become known

my native

country.

to the great

of the United States,

She

democracy

known under her

real

aspect without exaggeration for good or

ill,

without hatred, without admiration for any one

made

my

I hope

person.

I have

that the

American people may know that

Europe
ists

at the

mouth

this

of the

aim.

Danube

in

there ex-

a people of Latin origin, vigorous, inhabit-

ing a country rich by nature, which has a right

to liberty

and to her national unity; a people

xvi

INTRODUCTION
with

whom America

can enter into economic

relations profitable to both sides; a people in

fact which looks with confidence towards this

great democracy from which spring the great

principles of democracy, the right to live for all
nations, great or small, the right of self-gov-

ernment.

To

facilitate the

reading I have divided the book

Rumania in war the second, Rumania after the war, as all Rumanians desire.
In this second part I have shown the wealth of Ruinto three parts

the

first,

mania, the necessity of having this used to better

advantage and the commercial relationships which
the Americans

can undertake with that country.

For those who may be

interested in this direction I

have written the third part, which contains besides

not only details of the economic life of Rumania, but
which touches also on her origin, her political organization, etc.

There

is

also an appendix containing

testimonials of the bravery of the

xvu

Rumanian Army.

FOREWORD
Poor Rumania! An outpost of Latin culture set up in the East, surrounded by the
Hun, the Turk, the Bulgar and the Russ, has
been struck a coward's blow below the

belt.

Betrayed, with death and starvation in her

midst, she had to di^op out from the too unequal
struggle.

Can any land blame

her?

Senator Negulesco's book explains how Rumania was betrayed after her hopeless, but
valiant struggle
is

of the moral

United

The

and shows us how worthy she

and poHtical support of these

States.

Senator's excellent book shows what are

Rumania's wrongs and how America can help

give
to restore Rumania to prosperity and
again freedom and happiness to that corner of
Europe where live our friends and former
allies,

so that again she

may

xix

be given a chance

FOREWORD
to live

Latin

and bring forth the

civilization in

The many

full fruits of her

freedom.

invasions of

Rumania

in the past,

due to her position on the road from the East

to the

West, have tended

to preserve her Latin

tongue and race consciousness, because when

the invaders

came the Kumanians

fastnesses of the mountains

the different districts

fled into the

and the people of

met and talked and the

story of the race was recited

and sung

musical Latin tongue, so that

all

to speak in the
tain the

same

When you

same way and

in the

were brought

to likewise

main-

traditions of the race.

come

to study the popular songs,

tinged with the melancholy due to their sufferings,

and with the

light

and atmosphere of their

woods and mountains, of

rushing
Sea,

rivers, of the

you are bound

their great plains

Danube and

the Black

to be fascinated.

you remember how they have

and

When

to shiver in the

winter from the cold and winds coming from

the

great

Russian

steppes

XX

and how they

FOREWORD
swelter in

summer under an almost

you are bound

tropical sun

to admire their grit and

toil in

having made their land into such a prosperous

and
it

rich agricultural country, as

entered the war.

faith with

which the

As you

it

was before

see the spiritual

rites of the

grand Eastern

Orthodox Church are followed by the people

But

your sympathy draws you to them.

know them and

to

see their generosity

and

their

loyalty to their race, their traditions

and

their

friends, to learn of their

kind and gentle and

brave qualities makes you love them.

We

Americans

further

drawn

to

in our

young republic are

them by the very contrast of

their long past history with their ties with

Rome, with Bysantium, with the Venetian Republic and with Constantinople and
riote colony

tenia so

its

Phana-

which gave Moldavia and Mol-

many hospodars.

It

is

a pleasant con-

trast for us in our dull colored clothes to think

of the old boyards in purple, scarlet, blue and

green satins with pointed toed slippers of gold

xxi

FOREWORD
and

silver

Of

embroidery.

brigands in the mountains

the haiducs and

often

a sort of

Robin Hood helping the poor from the

taken from the Turkish tax gatherer
ditions

and the

tales

fill

spoils

^the

tra-

us with delight.

Their struggles for liberty, for union of the

two great provinces and

cratic constitution

fortunately

draw us

we know

too

modern demothem. But un-

their

to

little

of all this

The book which Senator Negulesco puts

fore us should

and I

trust will, excellent as

be-

it is,

be but the beginning of a wide interest in Rumania, both past and present, which will not

end without bringing the people of America

know

all

about Rumania,

bilities, its political

its

needs,

to

commercial possi-

its

people and the

poetry and history of that land of plains and

mountains, of rich traditions and future prosperity.

T. TiLESTON Wells, Litt. D.

XXll

CONTENTS
OHAPTBK

II

III

IV

PART I
^

The Eueopean Wae and Kumania

German and French Influence

VI

XII

XIV

XV

.......

26
34

^^
64
86

127
THE German Ultimatum
13*7
Peace
and
Rumania
Rumaand
Bessarabia
of
The Union
.

"

^^^

The Causes that Determined Peace 160

PART
XIII

The Struggle
The Causes of the Rumanian Defeat
The Struggle with the Russians and

nia

XI

IX

o
16

Before the Declaration of War

The Declaration of War
The Political and Military Conventions Between Rumania and Her
Allies

VII
VIII

PAGE
.

II

....
....

177
Rumania After the War
184)
Rumania of Yesterday
The Rumanian Provinces Under For^"7
eign Domination
Different Estimates of the Rumanian

Army

^^^

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
Royal family

Frontispiece
FACING
PAGE

Review of Rumanian troops

Troops awaiting inspection by the French Gen-

eral Berthelot

regiment of infantry in the Carpathians

S2

King Ferdinand reviewing

his troops

The Royal Family watching

...

the troops from Transylvania

....

The troops from Transylvania taking

49

Rumanian soldiers building a bridge across the

Danube
King Ferdinand consulting his general staff
about war plans

65

.81

Rumanian soldiers at the front resting

King Ferdinand decorating soldiers for bravery
.

Special cannon for the trenches

88

89
112

children visit the front

Sentinel in first line trench

64

80

search-light at the front

Soldiers descending into the trenches

The Queen and her

48

the oath

of fidelity

33

the Bishop blessing

.113
.128

ILLUSTRATIONS

iPAOINQ

PAGE

Cooking at the front

^^^
yo^

Austrian prisoners
.

.153

.164*

.165

Prince Carl with a French machine gun

Queen Marie in peasant costume
Artillery on the

to the front

way

Rumanians from Transylvania taken prisoners

by their own countrymen

company

1 <^

of bicyclists

^''

Sinai

of
Peasants in national costume, and means
^^"
transportation
208
Poiana Tapului, a village in the mountains
.

Returning after washing new linen in the river

A lake

of oil at Baicioi

Oil wells in

A business
A

^^^

Campina
street in

Bukharest

209
^^^

street in Braila

240
^^^

and ethnological map of Rumania and

248
inhabited by the Rumanians
regions
the

Political

'

RUMANIA'S SACRIFICE

PART

RUMANIA'S SACRIFICE
CHAPTER

THE EUROPEAN WAR AND

RUMANIA
THE CONVENTION OF 1883

WHEN

the great

European

out in August, 1914,

War broke

Rumania found

herself, because of the political-military con-

vention concluded in 1883, on the side of the

Triple Alliance, composed of Germany, Aus-

tria-Hungary, and Italy.

Situated thus, between two powerful empires,

Russia on the one

on the

other,

it

was

to

side,

Austria-Hungary

Rumania's

interest to

BUMANIA'S SACRIFICE
ally herself with

one of these two, for alone,

she was always in danger of being crushed by

one or the other of her neighbors.

Russia was not

try of Kumania, Latin in origin, with a

zollern

coun-

satisfied to see this little

on her throne,

isolated

Hohen-

among the

Slavic

masses who wished to control the Orient Aus;

tria-Hungary, on the other hand, aimed at the

realization of her plans for the domination of

the lower valley of the

time looked upon

traction

Danube, and

Rumania

and even support

nians subject to the

Crown

at the

same

as a point of at-

RumaHapsburg. To

for all those

of

obtain the friendship of one of these neighbors,

was a means

for

Rumania

to obtain necessary

peace and work out her development and her

future.

She had to choose between Austria

The Congress of Berlin of 1817

had driven Rumania from the latter. The obligation which this congress imposed upon her
and Russia.

by forcing her

to yield to the exigencies of

Russia and to abandon Bessarabia to her, ren4i

THE EUROPEAN WAR AND RUMANIA

dered impossible a Russo-Rumanian friendship.

sisted

"The antagonism toward Russia perand

as Austria

was the

traditional rival

of the Russian influence in the Balkans,

Paris

who showed

led to Vienna."

On

to

it

was

Bukharest the road which

the other hand Bismarck had done his

very best to attract Rumania within the orbit

of the Central powers.

occupied with her

own

France, too

much

pre-

rehabilitation after the

events of 1870, was not interested in the destiny

own security by
the side of Austria and Germany and England
did not know Rumania.
The Prime Minister of Rumania, T. Braof

Rumania

Italy sought her

tiano, the father of the first

prime minister of

1916, went to Berlin to see Bismarck and some-

time afterwards Prince Charles of Rumania

went to Gastein to

see the

Emperor

in order to sign the political-military

1

of Austria,

agreement

N. lorga, "Histoire des Relations entre la France et

Roumans,"

p. 248.

les

RUMANIA'S SACRIFICE
would bind Rumania

that

to the Triple Al-

This agreement had for

liance.

its

aim the

maintenance of European peace, reciprocal defense against every foreign attack, and the

economical development

contracting

the

of

parties.

It

had always been said that

the personal

did

it

own
men in

of his

sulting the

This

try.

work

memory
stances

is

of

this alliance

King Charles and

initiative

pohtical

was

that he

and without con-

power

in his coun-

an error and an injustice to the

of a great king.

and the

interest of

Political circumj

Rumania imposed

this action.

The consequences
many.

"First,

of this agreement were

from that moment the na-

tional claims fell to second place, for the

cial

world declared

manner, that

it

offi-

many times, and in a solemn

renounced

tain there, limiting itself

all

endeavor to ob-

from time

to time

by

claiming in a friendly manner, but without result,

better treatment for the people of the

THE EUROPEAN WAR AND RUMANIA

same race and of the same language
der the crown of St. Etienne."

living un-

Thus Rumania could no longer carry into

effect any of her national claims.
It is very
true that in the schools thej^ never failed to ex-

plain

the

to

pupils

Rumania was under

that

a great

part

of

foreign domination, but

they presented their deliverance as a dream to

be realized

The

later.

official

sion to the

world avoided making any

Rumanians beyond

allu-

the Carpathians,

in order to avoid diplomatic conflicts with

ally,

and

if,

an

in opposition, a political party at-

tacked the Government for showing weakness

in
it

its

external policy with Austria-Hungary,

said nothing more,

and the

role

changed with

each party that came into power.

Too
strong,

small and between enemies that were too

Rumania could not prepare

tional unity, because

authorized by the
1

N. lorga, op.

cit.,

for na-

any action whatsoever

officials

p. 249.

immediately drew

RUMANIA'S SACRIFICE
the intervention of the cabinets of Vienna and
Berlin.

It

is

true that throughout the country the

people had full liberty, guaranteed by the constitution, to publish

newspapers and write

re-

views and books, to cultivate and to develop the

sentiment of national unity, but

presented

itself

this

movement

only in a slow and isolated

way, without great influence among the masses

of the people
festations

and even these

intellectual

mani-

were prevented from passing the

frontier into Austria-Himgary.

THE MILITARY PREPARATION

The
cult.
is

military preparation

The convention

was yet more

diffi-

of 1883 had foreseen,

it

well understood, the conflict that was to take

place between Russia and Bulgaria.

Ruma-

nian fortifications were built around Bukharest

and on the

line of Galatz,

Namoloasa, and

Tocsani, in order to prevent a possible Russian invasion, but the passes of the Carpathians

fc

THE EUROPEAN WAR AND RUMANIA

were never studied by the
nian

Army and

staff of the

Ruma-

were not provided with

forti-

at liberty to purchase

muni-

fications.

Rumania was

tions wherever she pleased, but

was very nat-

it

ural to address herself to the principal one of

her

allies.

It

was Germany who had furnished

her with cannons, guns, and munitions, and

was Germany who had promised

her

all

necessary armament and

it

to procure for

money

in case

of war.

had prevented Rumania from inaugurating any industry by

Political circumstances

which she could supply the necessities of her

army. She was obhged to buy everything

from abroad, and

of

Germany.

August, 1914.

more

so she

was

at the

mercy

This was the situation before

After

this date it

became

still

In times of peace Rumania

could concentrate 150,000 men, and in times
of war she could easily mobilize from 350,000
delicate.

to 400,000 men, as

was proved
9

in the

campaign

RUMANIA'S SACRIFICE
against the Bulgarians; but in the two years

from August, 1914,

fective force

to

August, 1916, the

grew to between 700,000 and

ef-

800,-

These needed ammunition, arma-

000 men.

ment, and cannons in particular.

Therefore

much money. As an ally of

powers, Rumania could rely for

they also needed

the Central

money and

the indispensable material of

on Germany.

But, as a neutral, to

war

whom

could she apply?

The German government,

for various reasons,

had even prevented the de-

livery of the orders

made

prior to the

Ruma-

nian declaration of neutrality in August, 1914.

The Entente were not willing to help Rumania

without proof that she would join their cause.

To

give

up neutrahty required money and

armament, but

in order to obtain

it,

necessary to relinquish neutrality.

it

was

Can any

one conceive a more embarrassing situation?

The Rumanian Government found

to cut the

the

way

Gordion knot: to declare war on

Austria-Hungary with the hope that the Allies

10

THE EUROPEAN WAR AND RUMANIA

would send them money and the necessary ammunition. Then, in the anxious moments
which followed after the declaration of war and

Rumanian armies, struggling with

bayonets against German cannon were about
to move upon Austria-Hungary, military comwhile the

missions were sent to France, Italy, England,

Russia, Japan, and the United States, in order

to obtain supplies indispensable for the

army

from the various manufacturers already engaged in sending large orders to the Allies.

To illustrate these
speech

facts,

we

will

quote part of a

made by General Rudeanu,

chief of the

military mission sent to Paris for the purpose

of placing military orders.

"There was the most thorough mutual confidence and therefore speaking a few days after
the

commencement of the Austro-German

counter offensive a great French statesman

asked me, 'With what did you enter into the

war

in the

way

swer except to

of armament?'
tell

I could n't an-

him that we had very

11

little

RUMANIA'S SACRIFICE
armament.

Then he repeated

'But, tell me, then, with

mence the war?'

It

in France."
is

what did you com-

we commenced it
confidence which we

I replied,

with the ever-increasing

had

the question,

true that France was loyal.

all possible sacrifices in

Rumania.

But

for munitions

She made

order to help her

ally,

the difficulty was to ask her

and materials of war

at the very

moment when she herself was in such need of

them. The difficulty of transporting by the
North Sea, where everything was watched by
the

German submarines

or of transporting

through Russia, where there was neither goodwill, administration,

nor railroads, makes one

easily understand the utter lack of proper mili-

tary preparation by Rumania.

Scarcely by March, 1917, had there arrived a

few great cannons and a part of the munitions

ordered from France, also several French
cers.

But by

that time

Rumania was already

invaded the capital had fallen, and the

;

offi-

Ruma-

iLa Revue Hebdomadaire, No. 32, page 284. Discours du

General Rudeanu, Directeur superieur de rarmament Rouman.

12

THE EUROPEAN WAR AND RUMANIA

nian troops had withdrawn to the Sereth, where
they had been resisting the attacks of the enemy
since

The cannons

December, 1916.

as well as the brave

French

officers,

arrived,

and they,

Rumanian comrades, greatly aided the Rumanian Army in

resisting the German drive.
The arrival of
struggling bravely with their

these cannons and officers, which

Reorganization of the
lifted the

also

Rumanian Army, up-

abandoned by the

gave the French

To meet

rest of the Allies

officers

preciate the bravery of the

a chance to ap-

Rumanian

soldiers.

the necessary expenses of the

Rumania had
In

called the

morale of that army, which had be-

lieved itself
it

was

war

contracted a loan in Lrondon.

fact this loan

had been one of the conditions

of her entering the war, and

it

had been

ac-

The Rumanians
Rumanian National

cepted as such by the Allies.

had

also the reserve of the

Bank,

Based upon these funds, the Ruma-

nian Govermnent gave orders to a commission

to purchase quickly

and everywhere the

13

articles

RUMANIA'S SACRIFICE
The mili-

that were indispensable to the army.

tary commission sent to the United States was

well received by the

American manufacturers,

although the United States was not at that

time one of the Allies.

Orders were given,

and part of them were even

filled,

but unfor-

The Eng-

tunately everything stopped here.

Government was unwilling to send to

America the money necessary to obtain the
lish

fulfilment

and shipment of the

do not know
there

was

if

in the

orders.

agreement for the loan

was any clause stipulating that Rumania

to

buy only from England, but we do

not believe that such a clause could

cause at this very

own

exist, be-

moment England was

the midst of transforming

her

We

all

in

her industries for

military interests; she herself bought

from American merchants mihtary

necessities,

and sending the Rumanian Military Commission to the

United States could otherwise have

no raison

d'etre.

happened.

At

In Japan the same thing

the same time the funds of the

,14

THE EUROPEAN WAR AND RUMANIA

national bank, sent to

Moscow in

Russia, to as-

sure security, had been seized by the Bolsheviki,

Rumania found herself with no money,

and her people, and even her army, had no
so that

food, no medical supplies,

They

and no ammunition.

died of famine, of cold, of disease,

yet they were

still

obliged to fight.

16

and

CHAPTER

II

GERMAN AND FRENCH

IN-

FLUENCE

ANOTHER veiy important consequence

of the political-military convention of

1883 was a great economical rapprochement

between Rumania and Germany.

to 1886 there

From

had been a commercial agreement

between Rumania and Austria-Hungary.

this period,

1875

At

about 1875, the means of com-

munication in Rumania were so restricted that

Austria-Hungary was able to monopolize her

market.

This agreement, which gave great

advantages to Austria-Hungary for the place-

ment

Rumania the
and her cattle. But this
which needed Rumanian

of her industries, assured to

export of her cereals

neighboring empire,

16

GERMAN AND FRENCH INFLUENCE

cereals to transform into flour, did not

the

same

narrow

interest in

Rumanian

cattle.

Austria-Hungary,

policy,

have

With a
alleging

sanitary motives, began to prevent the intro-

duction of cattle and ended by suppressing

This

entirely.

fact,

it

and Austria-Hungary's

wish to impose her authority on the navigation

of the lower

Danube, which belonged to the

Rumanians, Bulgarians, and Serbs, greatly

cooled the relations between Austria and

Ru-

mania, and in 1886 a custom-house war broke

out between these two countries and lasted

more than

five years.

Hungary

sent merchandise to the value of

In 1885, Rumanian imports were 293,000,000 lei, and of this Austria134,000,000

lei;

but during

this tariff

products of Austria-Hungary

During

lei.

the

Rumanian market under

ditions.

At

time

fell to 50,000,-

Germany came

000

this

war the
into

favorable con-

the same time Berlin offered to

make good all the loans of her ally, Rumania.

Germany studied well the wealth of Rumania
17

RUMANIA'S SACRIFICE
and the

and pur-

qualities of her population,

sued her policy of economical penetration into

Rumania with

great perseverance.

Traveling

salesmen representing the greatest

German

houses went everywhere throughout the country, giving long-time credits to

merchants, and

taking great care to see that the orders for merchandise were properly executed and promptly
shipped.

found in
ready to

The German business man always

his own country banks that were
discount his drafts. German com-

mercial policy was preoccupied not only with

keeping up, but specially with increasing the

number
great

of

its

Rumanian

customers.

German banks founded banks

Several
in

Ru-

mania, which, on the one hand, procured for

landlords and farmers capital and machinery,
of which they were in need,

and on the other

hand, founded industries for the manufacture

of merchandise that could no longer be im-

ported, owing to the protective tariff of 1891

and 1893.
18

GERMAN AND FRENCH INFLUENCE

The

Austrians, frightened by their danger-

ous competitors, tried to obtain in 1893 another

agreement with Rumania, on the basis of the

clause of "the most favored nation."

They

sought to regain their place in her market by

trying to imitate the methods of the Germans,

but they had no success whatever.

Germany

In 1913

exported into Rumania 237,819,146

lei

worth, and Austria-Hungary 138,192,076

lei

worth of a total of 650,000,000

lei

im-

ports.

This policy of

Germany

resulted in great

economical development of Rumania, great

profit for

German merchandise, and great Ger-

man influence on both the political and financial

markets.

Mr. Carp, former prime

brought out

this fact in

forget that

it

money

is

minister,

"Do

Parliament.

Germany who gave

necessary for our development

gave to us only with

Mr. Take Jonesco

difficulty."

said very justly:

19

lately

not

us the

France

Replying,

RUMANIA'S SACRIFICE
Could
in

it

be possible that we might find ourselves

an alliance which at a given moment could place

camp

hostile to that of France,

and that we

should expect France to give us money?

I find that

us in a

the few hundred millions of

up by France

constitute a miracle, since it would

have been natural

[the Germans]

economical

Rumanian revenue taken

if all

our loans had been with those

who were

and

to

draw

profit

development.

military

from our
was
It

natural, once having entered into an alliance, that

Germany should

aid us in completing our economical

condition in order to complete our

armament and

to

consolidate our finances.^

Rumania was

in a period of transition.

needed foreign capital to develop her

If

it is

true that

the

money

no

less

life

of

many.

She

riches.

Germany gave Rumania

necessary for her development,

all

it is

true that the economical and political

Rumania

"We

fell

were

under the influence of Gerat the

mercy of Germany

for everything, for our

arms and for our mu-

nitions of war."

true that great benefits

It

is

accrued to foreign capitalists; but at the same

iXenopolj op.

cit.,

p. 207.

20

QERMAN AND FRENCH INFLUENCE

time the

Rumanian workmen

profited the state

;

profited through the levying of different taxes,

as well as the people

who had

at their disposal

the production of a better market.

tries

a great advantage to
lated

Rumanian

finally

Rumania

his

began to show

as they stimu-

itself in

the line of indus-

King

Charles,

very presence on the throne, contributed

also to the
fluence.

direct

indus-

capital, which, timid at first,

try in an encouraging manner.

by

The

financed with foreign capital were again

encouragement of

It

is

this

German

in-

true that he never exercised any

action along these

lines,

but during

forty-eight years his attitude, which

dignified

and

was both
and reserved as constitutional king

as a private citizen,

drew to him the love

and respect of the country, and these sentiments reflected themselves upon the country of
his

birth.

Also great pohtical personalities

like the late

D. Sturdza,

chief of the liberal

party and former prime minister, the late T.

Majoresco, prime minister of the Conservative
1

RUMANIA'S SACRIFICE
party and one of the best-known leaders of the
intellectual

movement

Rumania, and Mr.

of

Carp, former chief of the Conservative party

and prime minister, manifested openly

their ad-

miration for Germany.

FRENCH INFLUENCE
Beside

French

this

German
In

influence.

influence

intellectual

stood

and

the

social

was great sympathy for France.

circles there

Since 1848 and even before that the wealthy

families

were

in the habit of sending their sons

to Paris to take

their studies

Returning into

education.
these jioung

that had instilled in

and of

into their

their

finish their

own

country,

knowledge, but also

scientific

and gratitude toward

right

and

men brought back from France

not only their

love

up

liberty,

them
and

own midst

this hospitable

land

all

the great ideas of

thej^^

tried to introduce

her ideals, and their ad-

miration for France and the

soil

was

so pro-

pitious that the affection for this noble country

^2

GERMAN AND FRENCH INFLUENCE

penetrated deeply into the hearts of the intellectual class, to the extent that they often re-

placed

Rumanian language with

the

French language

The common

the

in the salons.

origin of these

two

countries,

the preponderant influence of French culture,

the good political relations that have always

existed between

France and Rumania, the

fact

that France had always been the initiator of

great social reforms, the bravery and loyalty

of this country throughout
history,

were the

all

many reasons

the events of

that

its

augmented

and even exaggerated the love of the Rumanians for

all

that

was French or came from

France.

The

greater part of the institutions and the

Rumania were copied from the French

institutions and laws.
The literature was aplaws of

preciated;
fashionable,

French manufactures were very

and French

taste

was followed.

The Rumanians never forgot

that

it

was

through Napoleon III that they were able to

RUIVIANIA'S SACRIFICE
union of their principahties, Wal-

realize the

lachia

and Moldavia,

form Ru-

in order to

mania; nor did they forget that through the

same support she founded her national dynasty.

And when

Rumania and

between

French

1912 and 1913 the conflict arose

in

press, deceived

Bulgaria,

and the

by King Ferdinand of

Bulgaria, took a hostile attitude towards

Ru-

mania, the hearts of the Rumanians, though

profoundly

wounded,

none

beat

This

strongly in their love for France.

ence

is all

the

more

the

interesting as

less

influ-

France has

never sought to draw near or to win the soul of

Rumania.
few

Except

for

Napoleon III and very

others, the political

of France never gave her

is

and

industrial

much

thought.

men
It

true that some French capital was invested

in the country, but in general

it

was placed un-

der the protection of Austro-German enterprises.

Some
finances,

Rumanian minister of
Mr. Marghiloman, now prime minis-

years ago the

GERIVIAN
ter,

AND FRENCH INFLUENCE

went to Paris to negotiate a

they refused to consider.

He

loan,

which

immediately

se-

cured one in Germany, and the French bankers

subscribed to this loan, which nevertheless kept
its

German

character.

In consequence,

France always held a great influence

tellectual life of

tributed without

Rumania, and

any

if

if

in the in-

she con-

volition to the formation

of the taste of the upper classes, she had no influence over the economical

and

political life.

CHAPTER

III

BEFORE THE DECLARATION OF

WAR

EARLY

in the

month

of August, 1914,

King Charles convoked a crown

to determine the attitude of

council

Rumania.

This council consisted of members of the

Government, presidents of the

and former prime

ical parties.

legislative body,

ministers, chiefs of the polit-

These men had only the right

of discussion without voting; they

met simply

to indicate their views to the king, who, nevertheless,

had the power to act independently.

King Charles
victorious,

wise

move

ating for

believed that

and he

Germany would be

felt that it

would not be a

to disregard the advantages of cre-

Rumania

recognition and gratitude

26

BEFORE THE DECLARATION OF WAR

on the part of the

was bound

victor, specially as

to the Triple Alliance

vention of 1883.
place

among

the

sharp

members

Rumania

by the con-

discussion

took

of the council.

Mr.

P. Carp said that Rumania should respect the

convention of 1883 in order to gather the fruits

"We

of a policy practised for forty years.

must

fight," said

Mr. Carp, "in order

vent the success of Russia."

success of Russia

death of Rumania.

He

to pre-

felt that

the

was the beginning of the

According to

his views, if

Russia should take Constantinople, which was

her great ambition,
cut off from

all

Rumania would be

means of export

forever

to the

West.

She would then be subjected to the economical

policy of Russia,
first

who would not fail on

the very

occasion to give her a death blow, in order

to satisfy her greedy desire for monopoly.^

1

Rumania had two

outlets

for the export of her wealth:

Austria-Hungary and Germany, and by sea

across the Black Sea and the Dardanelles. If the straits were
closed to commercial navigation, her export and import remained at the mercy of the Hungarians, which meant sure

by

rail

across

ruin for the country.

^7

RUMANIA'S SACRIFICE
After the speeches of Mr. Bratiano, chief of
the Liberal party

and prime

Marghiloman, the
party, upheld

minister,

and Mr.

chief of the Conservative

by Mr. N.

Filipesco, one of the

most noted members of the Consei^vative party,

the majority of the council decided, nevertheless,

for neutrality.

Mr. Take Jonesco, the

leader of the conservative Democrats, declared

himself for a permanent and absolute neutrality.

It

trality

was

believed that the question of neu-

was imposed upon Rumania by the

atti-

tude of Count Tisza, the all-powerful states-

man of Hungary, who had pushed

the declara-

tion of war, convinced that the propitious

ment had

mo-

arrived to solve the problem of na-

tionalities for the profit of the

Hungarians and
;

in other quarters they believed that as the con-

vention of 1883 had a defensive character

had now become void

Austria-Hungary were
neutral.

since
at

Germany and

war and Italy was

In the midst of these

formation was received from

28

it

discussions in-

Rome

of Italy's

BEFORE THE DECLARATION OF WAR

intention to remain neutral.

This news greatly

influenced the decision of the majority, as the

situation of the

two countries in relation to

the Central powers

was

identical.

King Charles had the authority under the

constitution to call Mr. Carp into power and
to grant

But

him the

dissolution of Parliament.

the king, an ardent pacifist, earnestly

wished to avoid the ravages of war for his country and was unwilling to do

He

this.

ob-

served loyally the state of neutrality until his

death, October 10, 1914.

THE ATTITUDE OF THE POLITICAL PARTIES

Although neutrality was admitted as a
certain political circles

began agitations for

tervention on the side of the Entente.

movement, which

fact,

at first

was rather

in-

This

cautious,

grew more and more determined, and when

General Mackensen took command of the
Austro-German armies

in

order

to

attack

Serbia, the Conservative party under the late

29

RUMANIA'S SACRIFICE
Filipesco

demanded

Rumania

in order to prevent the crushing of

the urgent intervention of

Serbia and the uniting of the

German and Bul-

But Mr. Bratiano was not

garian armies.

to

be moved, specially as the cabinet of Vienna

had given him

Austria

vs^^as

all

necessary assurances that

not acting in a spirit of conquest,

way towards

that she was aiming in no

torial acquisitions.

inets of

At the same

time, the

terri-

Cab-

Sophia and Belgrade asked the Cabinet

of Bukharest whether the violation of the

treaty of Bukharest

for

would constitute a cause

war by Rumania.

that

it

would

not.

Mr. Bratiano

replied

Serbia, squeezed between

the great Germano-Austro-Bulgarian forces,

was crushed, and

direct

communication be-

tween the Germano-Austrian and the BulgaroTurkish armies was established across her
tory.

terri-

This event had a great influence on the

Rumanian

policy.

Some

considered

that

henceforth there could no longer be any question of entering the

war on the
30

side of the

Al-

BEFORE THE DECLARATION OF WAR

lies,

because

Germany had become

in this part of the East, having

all

too strong

under her power

the strength of the Allies.

Mr. Marghilo-

man stood out more strongly than ever for neutrality,

but Mr. Filipesco upheld, on the con-

trary, that

and

as soon as possible

tente.

On

ion there
the

Rumania should

enter at any cost

on the side of the En-

account of this difference of opin-

was a clash between these two men

midst

of

the

party that

Conservative

brought about a secession in May, 1915.

Conservative party divided

in

itself into

The

groups

of political friends.

At

the same time

chief of the

Mr. Take Jonesco, the

Democrats, renouncing

his ideas

of absolute and irrevocable neutralitj^^, turned

completely about and sided with Mr. Filipesco.

The

chief of the Liberal party

minister,

Mr. Bratiano, held

and the prime

their

own

counsel,

thereby mystifying their followers.

A violent campaign had been undertaken by

the

press

and

in

public

31

meetings

among

RUMANIA'S SACRIFICE
the interventionists

and

non-interventionists,

among the pro-Allies and the pro-Germans.

At the same time the intei^entionists eagerlyurged the king and the Government to give up
their neutrality

and

to enter the

war on the

side

favored by each of these groups.

THE SECOND CROWN COUNCIL

This merciless struggle continued until the
twenty-seventh of August, 1916, when

King

Ferdinand convoked the second Council.^

this occasion the chief of the

On

Government, Mr.

Bratiano, declared himself for immediate en-

war on the side of the Entente.

Mr. Marghiloman did his best to prevent any
action of his country, and Mr. Carp upheld,

trance into

with the same force as in the

first council,

Ru-

mania's entrance on the side of Germany.

1 Mr. Stere, deputy and professor at the University of Jassy,
a liberal socialist and personal friend of Mr. Bratiano, was
publishing at this time a review which was greatly appreciated
and in which he demonstrated the miserable state of affairs of
Russia and the grave danger, should Rumania rally to the

cause of Russia.

be

:2

BEFORE THE DECLARATION OF WAR

His profound conviction was

that

Rumania

could be victorious and obtain the realization

of her national ideal for regaining Bessarabia

only through the help of Germany.

his

discourse

"Majesty,

if

He ended

with these memorable words,

you approve the policy of the

Government, you

will lose both

your country

and your throne."

The majority

of the council voted for the

entrance into war on the side of the Allies.

His Majesty, King Ferdinand, considering

that the majority of the council represented the
^will

of the country

and wishing

role of constitutional king,

tion to this decision of the

clare

gave

to retain his
his

approba-

Government, to de-

war against Austria-Hungary.

>

CHAPTER

IV

THE DECLARATION OF WAR

ON

the evening of

August

27, 1916, the

Rumanian Government, Mr. T. Bra-

tiano presiding, without consulting parliament

addressed the following declaration of war to

Austria-Hungaria
The alliance concluded between Germany and
Austria-Hungary and Italy had, according to the
official declaration of the Government, a character
which was essentially conservative and defensive.
Its principal aim M^as to guarantee the Allied countries against every attack

from the outside and to

by former

consolidate the state of affairs created

treaties.
tics in

It was through the desire to place her poli-

accord with these peaceful tendencies that

Rumania joined

this alliance.

Devoting herself to the work of the interior reconstruction and loyally resolved to maintain an eleS4i

THE DECLARATION OF WAR

ment of order and equilibrium in the region of the
lower Danube, Rumania never ceased to contribute to
the maintenance of peace in the Balkans.

The

last

Balkan Wars, by destroying the status quo, imposed

a new line of conduct upon her. Her intervention
hastened peace and

re-established

the

balance of

power; she contented herself with a rectification of

her frontiers, which gave her a greater security
against every aggression and repaired at the same
time the injustice committed against her by the Congress of Berlin.

Rumania was

But

while pursuing this objective

deceived by the attitude of the Con-

gress of Vienna, which was not

what she had the right

to expect.

When

actual war broke out, Rumania, as did Italy,

war with AustriaHungary, not having received from the Congress of

refused to join in the declaration of

Vienna the proper

notification.
In the Spring of
1915 Italy declared war against Austria-Hungary,
and the Triple Alliance existed no longer. The
reasons that had prompted Rumania to join herself

to this political system disappeared at the same time.

In place of a group of states struggling with a com-

mon

effort to

work for

unity, in order to assure peace

and the preservation of the state of affairs and of

right created by the treaties, they found themselves
in the presence of

powers at war one against the

RUMANIA'S SACRIFICE
other, whose aim was to effect a complete transforma-

tion in the former arrangement that

had served as a

basis to their treaty of alliance.

These radical changes were evident proof for Rumania that the objective she pursued by joining herself to the Triple Alliance could no longer be reached
and that she had to direct her views and her efforts
in other directions ; all the more so as the act undertaken by Austria-Hungary had assumed a character
menacing to the essential interests of Rumania, as
well as for her most legitimate national aspirations.
In face of so radical a modification in the situation
created between the Monarchy of Austria-Hungary
and Rumania, the latter retook her liberty of action.

The

neutrality which the royal Government im-

posed upon

itself

following the declaration of war,

which conformed neither to

ests,

its

desires nor to its inter-

was adopted in virtue of assurances given by the

imperial and royal Government that the monarchy,

by declaring war on

Serbia, was not acting in a spirit

of conquest, and that she aimed in no

ritorial acquisition.

manner at

ter-

These assurances have not been

realized.

We

face to-day a state of affairs which can give

birth to great territorial transformation and to political

changes of such a nature as to constitute a

grave menace for the future security of Rumania.

36

THE DECLARATION OF WAR

The

peaceful

work that Rumania,

faithful to the

spirit of the Triple Alliance, struggled to accomplish,

was rendered sterile by those very ones which should

have upheld and defended it.
By adhering in 1883 to the grouping of Central
powers, Rumania, far from forgetting the bonds of
blood that united the people of the kingdom to the

Rumanian

subjects of the Austro-Hungarian mon-

archy, had seen in the relation of friendship an

alli-

ance which had established itself between the three

great powers, a precious pledge for her interior tranquillity as well as for the amelioration of the fate of

Rumanians of Austria-Hungary. In fact GerItaly, who had reconstituted their state

upon the grounds of the principle of nationality,
the

many and

could not

fail

to recognize the legitimacy of the basis

upon which rested

very

their

existence.

As for

Austria-Hungary, she found in the friendly relations

which were established between her and Rumania assurances for her interior tranquillity as well as for
those of our common frontiers.
She knew the degree
of discontent of the Rumanian population, which cast

her back again upon us and threatened at every mo-

ment to trouble the good

relations existing between

the two states.

The hope that we conceived in this regard in our

adhesion to the Triple Alliance has been deceived.
31

RUMANIA'S SACRIFICE
During a period of more than thirty years the Rumanians of the monarchy never saw reforms of a nature that would give them a semblance of satisfaction they have even been treated as an inferior race
and condemned to undergo the oppression of a
;

foreign

among

element

that

constituted

but

minority

the diverse nationalities composing the estate

of Austria-Hungary.

All the injustice to which our

brothers have been subjected have maintained be-

tween our country and the monarchy a continual state

of animosity, which the Government of the kingdom

succeeded in calming only at the price of great

diffi-

and numerous sacrifices. When war actually

broke out there was born a hope that the AustroHungarian Government would be convinced at the last
moment of the urgent necessity of putting an end
to this injustice, for it formed a danger not only in
culties

our friendly relations, but equally

in the

normal inter-

courses which should exist between neighboring states.

Two

years of war have demonstrated to

Rumania

that Austria-Hungary, hostile to every interior re-

form capable of ameliorating the existence of the peowas as prompt to sacrifice

them as she was incapable of defending them against

ples which she governs,

every foreign attack.

The war

in

which almost

all

of

Europe

participates

brings out the gravest problems which affect the

38

THE DECLARATION OF WAR

national development and the very existence of states

Rumania, imbued with the desire to contribute to

hasten the end of the conflict and under the imperative
necessity of safeguarding her racial interests, sees
herself

under the necessity of entering the ranks of

who are

those

better able to assure her national

unity.

For these
moment in a

reasons she considers herself from this

war with Austria-Hungary.

Bukharest, August 27, 1916, 9 o'Clock in the
state of

evening.

Signed

Em. Porumbaro,
Minister of Foreign Affairs.

According to

this historical

document the

principal motives that determined the Govern-

ment

to take a step placing the very existence

of the country in jeopardy were:

First, the

the

freedom of the Rumanians from

domination

of

Austria-Hungary.

Ru-

mania found herself under the imperative

necessity of safeguarding her racial interests,

and the Entente alone was able

assure her national unity.

39

in a

measure to

Secondly, the occu-

RUMANIA'S SACRIFICE
pation of Serbia by the Austro-Hungarian and

Bulgarian forces was of such a nature as to produce in the Balkans great

ations

and

territorial transform-

changes

political

constituting

grave menace for the future security of Rumania.

She was forced, therefore,

to inter-

vene in order to prevent these transformations

and

political changes.

end of the European

Beyond

Thirdly, to hasten the

conflict.

these motives of high national policy

were yet others of a character exalted, but more

human, which,

nevertheless, weighed heavily in

the balance of the war.

The Allies, and specially France, brought

much weight upon the king, upon the prime
minister, and upon all the noted men of the
country, to force Rumania to give up her neuThe political men and the press of the
trality.
west of Europe were making appeals to all the
sentiment of the Rumanians to urge them to
join their cause; they became severe in their
criticisms,

blaming the attitude of a Latin

40

THE DECLARATION OF WAR

country that remained indifferent in the face
of a danger threatening the liberty of the world

and the Latin

race.

Mr. Briand, then Prime Minister of France,

played a prominent role in
the entrance of

Rumania

this matter,

into

because

war was an im-

portant point in his program; and he

made a

great effort to come to an agreement with the

Rumanian Government.
points had not

"If some of these

been agreed upon, France

would have run the

risk of not being effica-

ciously aided in her struggle against the ag-

gressor."

At

another sitting of the French Parlia-

ment Mr. Pichon, minister of foreign affairs,

after having stated that it was specially gratifying to France that Rumania had intervened
in the war, and that this was one more reason

why

she should feel herself pledged to that

country, felt compelled to declare that he had

Declaration made by Mr. Briand at the session of Parliathe eleventh of January, 1918, reproduced from "Roumania," Paris, January, 17, 1918.
1

ment on

41

RUMANIA'S SACRIFICE
informed the Rumanian Government that "the
Allies
all

would maintain

made

pledges

it

in a

complete manner

from the moment when

it

intervened."

Mr. Ernest Daudet, the well-known French

writer, in

an interesting

article,

"La Roumanie

et la Guerre," said:

He [King
many, and

Charles] leaned rather towards Geris

it

against this

tendency that Mr.

Camille Blondet, then representing France in

mania, was forced to counteract.

By

Ru-

the light of

what transpired when the war broke out we must

recognize that thanks to his efforts and with the
collaboration of his Russian and English colleagues,
he succeeded,
political

men

if

not with the king, at least with the

of the

Rumanian

states.^

Influenced in great part by this exterior

action,

the interventionists' opposition com-

menced

a violent

campaign against the Govern-

ment, in order to force

it

to give

up

its

neu-

trality.
1

From

the

newspaper "La Roumanie," Paris, No.

2"Courrier des Etats Unis," June

4i2

19, 1917.

I, 1918.

THE DECLARATION OF WAR

Filipesco and

Take Jonesco demanded

the

immediate intervention on the side of the Allies;

every

moment

of delay was, according to

them, a grave danger to the national questions.

Preparations,

favorable

the

moment,

the

danger to the very existence of the country,

were no longer of any

enter the
History

war
will

at

any

interest.

We

must

price.

probably reproach those directing the

movements for not having known how

rationalistic

and moderate the enthusiasm

war against Austria. They all followed

to lessen the impatience

raised for a

the example

of

Nicholas Filipesco, whose ardent

patriotism was unwilling to recognize obstacles and

who, having

all

the qualities of a leader of a crowd,

never possessed those of a skilled diplomat.

political meetings that

no

hall in

In their

Bukharest was large

enough to hold the interventionists demanded immediate mobilization, and their imposing manifestations
sought to obtain from the Government entrance into
the

war without

sians

Every advance of the Russerved them as a pretext to demand the particidelay.

pation of Rumania in the

common

action; according

to them, the Government was losing every occasion

RUMANIA'S SACRIFICE
and would permit the Russians to arrive alone at
Budapest. These impatient ones imagined that
pace would come from one moment to the other and
that

Transylvania would remain under the Hun-

garian yoke or would pass under that of another.^

And

"To

yet again:

deserve truly the role of

director of a nation, this party, Filipesco,

Take

Jonesco, should show more wisdom than impatience."

This was the idea that

many Ru-

manians expressed during the year 1915, when

they

felt that the

manded

end of neutrality was de-

too lightly.

It

is

these feverish and violent

maj ority

the current the

incontestable that

movements drew
of those

into

who form

the

public opinion of the country and have great

influence over the king

and

this influence

in that

it

was

all

the

more dangerous

worked on sentimental ground.

were passing through a

Reasons on practical
tizans of

and the Government,

crisis

lines

We

of sentimentalism.

espoused by the par-

Mr. Marghiloman had no longer any

1 Serbesco, op.
sijerbesco, op.

cit.,
cit.,

p. 200,
p, 203.

44

THE DECLARATION OF WAR

chance to influence the

The

Government.

pressure brought to bear from Berlin for the

Rumania was
fluence each day with Mr.
the Government commenced
neutrality

of

losing

its

in-

and

Bratiano,

to lean visibly

towards the interventionists and the side of

In order

to understand better

this policy of sentiment,

which was so fatal to

the Entente.

Rumania, we must add the provoking attitude

of the

Hungarian

Every Rumanian

policy.

of Transylvania between the ages of sixteen

and

forty-five

was sent

in

the

ranks

first

against the Russians, the Hungarians forming

only the reserve troops.

was

levied wholly

severe requisition

on the Rumanians the

;

chil-

dren and the old people were in want of food,

and the women were obliged

homes and

their

children

to

to leave their

work

in

the

trenches or to follow the troops in order to wash

The

the clothes of the

Hungarian

least protestation

was punished with death.

soldiers.

Many of the Rumanians were hanged for slight

45

RUMANIA'S SACRIFICE
offenses.

Terror was spread among the Ru-

manians of Transylvania, and the Hungarians

wanted

All those who

to annihilate the race.

could escape passed into

Rumania.

More than

50,000 men, women, and children, crossing at

night the passes of the Carpathians and escap-

ing the pursuit of Hungarian gendarmes, came

Rumania and related everywhere their suffering, begging for delivery.

It was known in

into

Bukharest that Berlin was disgusted with the

pohcy of Vienna and Budapest, and that Ger-

many was insisting upon obtaining the autonomy of Transylvania and thus paralyzing
every

move

of

Rumania.

pest were not able to

on this point.

come

to

an understanding

If this problem had been solved,

Rumania would have been

flict

Vienna and Buda-

saved,

and the con-

of nationalities would have ended.

fact caused the illusion that

never intervene

Rumanian

in

conflict,

the

This

Germany would

Austro-Hungarian-

because

it

was a matter

which concerned only relations between these

46

THE DECLARATION OF WAR

two countries

also because

reconstituted her state

Germany, who had

upon

the basis of the

principle of nationalities, could not fail to rec-

Rumanian

ognize the legality of the

was believed

also that Bulgaria could

Rumania.

interest in attacking

It

act.

have no

Three days

war RadoBulgaria, made the

before Rumania's entrance into the

slavov.

Prime Minister of

following declarations concerning the relations

between the two countries:

"Our

Rumania," he

relations with

said,

"are

not only correct, loyal, and good; they are

peaceful and sure.

We

desire absolutely

on

our side that Rumania should never be either

provoked or

irritated;

peace with her."

On

we wish

to

remain at

the other hand, Russia

boasted that she would punish Bulgaria, "her

ungrateful child," as she bound herself to de-

fend Rumania on the side of the Danube, to

forestall

at the
1

an eventual attack of Bulgarians, and

same time she

Serbesco, op.

cit.,

insisted that

p. 270.

.47

Rumania

RUMANIA'S SACRIFICE
should come to a decision as quickly as possible.

The Russian
his

minister at Bukharest, aided by

English and French colleagues, warned the

Government and
if

the interventionist chiefs that

Russia should cross the Carpathians alone

and should penetrate into Transylvania, Rumania would lose forever the opportunity to
regain her rights. The successes of the Grand

Duke

Nicholas against the Austrians and the

occupation of Bukowina were of such a nature

as to uphold the statement of the Russian

The Rumanian Government was

keeping its own counsel, but little by little its
purpose showed itself. The concentration of
troops on the Hungarian frontier and their ab-

minister.

sence on the side of Russia, the sale of wheat to

the English, some purchases for the army, how-

ever discreetly made, in neutral markets or

even from the Entente, refusal to

sell

benzin to

the Germans, although they offered a price

many times greater than the normal, were

to convince the

Germans
48

facts

that they could no

THE DECLARATION OF WAR

longer count on the neutrality of Rumania.

Then they changed

their political tactics.

In

Russia they had great influence in certain polit-

Thanks

ical circles.

czar, the

weakness of the

Russian Government had fallen into

warm

the hands of

March, 1916,
ister.

to the

partizans of

Stiiniier

Germany.

In

was named prime min-

The Russian Revolution, which took

place later, brought

all this to light.

It proved

that an understanding existed between Berlin

and Stiirmer

Rumania

to divide

as the price of

peace which Russia had planned to

Germany.

From

and Berlin came

the

to

moment

make with

that Stiirmer

an agreement great pres-

sure was exerted at Bukharest to hasten

mania's entrance into war, because

it

was the

most favorable moment for Germany.

Rumanian Government and

RuThe

the Allied govern-

ments did not understand the trickery of Sturmer.

The Rumanian

minister at Petrograd,

Mr. Diamandy, very proud of

his position of

trust granted through the friendship of

49

Mr.

RUMANIA'S SACRIFICE
Bratiano, was only too pleased to cooperate in

forming a

closer relationship

between

his

coun-

try and the great Muscovite empire, and dazzled

by

his surroundings,

He

the realities.

he never appreciated

sent reports to his prime

minister to advise him to have full confidence

the

in

army and

Russian policy and

the

specially in the sincerity of Stiirmer.

Mr.
ism,

who was the soul of interventionwas invited to Germany and to Russia to

Filipesco,

visit the

front and to see for himself the respec-

tive forces

go

to

The late

into

and their organization.

Germany, but he went

whence he returned with a

He refused
to Russia,

certificate of ability

Mr. Diamandy and with a sickness that sent

him to his grave two months after the entrance

for

of

Rumania

These are the circum-

into war.

stances that greatly influenced

who dreamed,

Prime Minister

as does every

good

Rumanian, of the reahzation of a national

ideal,

Bratiano,

but who thought at the same time that fate had

reserved for

him the favor

50

of presiding at an

THE DECLARATION OF WAR

act which

would

tell to

the world and to future

generations the grandeur of his political genius.

They feared the danger throughout the country

lest this ambition should lead him to a precipitate

and dangerous move.

Rumania,

this

was the

case.

51

Unfortunately for

CHAPTER V

THE POLITICAL AND MILITARY

CONVENTIONS BETWEEN RUMANIA AND HER ALLIES
T has been asked if Rumania had made any
convention

political-mihtary
allies

before entering the war.

vention,

if it

existed,

with

Such a con-

was concluded

greatest secrecy, being

her

known only

in the very

to the king,

the Government, and the chiefs of the intervenIt

tionists.

will

be published later in the

"Green Book" of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of

Rumania,

as well as

by those of her

allies;

but for the moment nothing

of

It

it.

is

is

known

true that after August, 1916, they

spoke, or rather whispered, that such an agree-

ment

existed

and that
52

it

assured to the

Ru-

POLITICAL

AND MILITARY CONVENTIONS

manians every guarantee.

when

In October, 1916,

the reverses of the policy of the

Kuma-

nian intervention were beginning to show themselves, that is to say,

of

when

the

Rumanian troops

Dobrudja and Transylvania were obhged

to

withdi-aw before the overpowering forces of the

enemy; when Bukharest was bombarded day

and night by enemy aeroplanes and Zeppelins,
without possibihty of defense; when the support of the Alhes did not show itself; when at
last excited public

opinion wished to

know

they began to speak openly of the existence of an agreement with the Allies, in order
to explain the foresight of the Government and
facts,

the

want of

sincerity of Russia.

At

this

time

there appeared in the "Gazette de Geneve" of

Geneva an

article written

by Mr. N. Basilesco,

deputy professor at the University of Bukharest, in which were laid down even the items
of
such a convention, and the fact that this article

was immediately reproduced by "L'lndependence Roumaine," the official newspaper of the

53

RUMANIA'S SACRIFICE
Government, specially of the brothers Bra-

who

tiano,

at that

moment

of the country, gave

and caused the

disposed of the fate

an authentic character

it

belief that

an agreement existed

imder the conditions exposed

therein.

The

categorical statements of the author in that

which concerned the clauses of the agreement

and

his estimate of the

conduct of the Allies,

which breathes of anxiety and reproach, and

above

all,

the fact of the publication in the

newspaper of the Government indicated that

who had assumed

those

the responsibilities were

not too ignorant of what this article contained.

We
It

is

will here

reproduce

this article exactly.

too important both in fact and observa-

tion to give a resume of

it.

In spite of the imperative motives which were forcing the Rumanians to pass the Carpathians, the

Rumanian statesmen hesitated for a long time before

dragging Rumania into this war where they felt
that she was about to put her very existence in
jeopardy.

54

POLITICAL

AND MILITARY CONVENTIONS

The example

of Serbia was, in any case, fuU of

warning.
Yes, this small nation gave the opportune cause;

but how involuntary she was in the great conflagration!

She had the opportunity of either avoiding

war or

the

of terminating

it

before being crushed

by an honorable peace with the Central powers.

She did not do

this.

The

help of the Allies was

delayed; Serbia was crushed; even

in her former frontiers, it will be

if

reestablished

hard for her to

rehabilitate herself.

Greece, more prudent, avoided the catastrophe by

standing aside; what might not have happened to

Greece

if

she

had yielded to the pressure of the

Allies

and had entered in this terrible furnace at the time

The Austro-Germans, the

Turks, the Bulgarians, would have swallowed her
up by remaining neutral she has been able to render
of the attack on Serbia?

services to the Allies which she has already rendered

and which she renders yet to-day, notably that of

serving through her port of Saloniki for the bases
of their armies in the East.

As

to the Bulgarians, they

had been acquired by

the Central powers long before the second Balkan

Wars, which they had dared to undertake only after

being encouraged and excited by them. Even for
those who are least clear-sighted the decision of

55

RUMANIA'S SACRIFICE
Bulgaria was evident from the start ;
fest to all

it became manion the day that Germany consented to

grant her a loan of 300,000,000 marks.

If Rumania, in her turn, had committed the imprudence of entering the war at the time of the attack upon Serbia, she would have met with the same
fate as Serbia, for the

Germans would have preferred,

Rumania

as they have since said openly, to attack

rather than Serbia as the booty would have been

richer, the

prey more easily

seized,

and the military

advantages incomparably superior.

What

oceans

by the best writers of the Allies to

pursuade the Rumanian Government to enter the
war! M. J. C. Bratiano only made the decision,
however, when he was assured that the entrance of
Rumania into the European War would be effectively
opportune and that every condition to which he had
of ink were used

subordinated his offensive would be

What
The

first

was that

all

the Allies, France, England,

Russia, Italy, should guarantee to

the

new

fulfilled.

are these conditions?

territorial acquisitions

Rumania not only

which she claimed,

but the integrity of her territory.

They wished

to avoid the risks run in 1879 when after a glorious

war Rumania saw

herself bereft

part of her territory.

56

by her own

ally of a

POLITICAL AND MILITARY CONVENTIONS

The second

condition asked for military assistance,

which, the Allies

promised her.

We have known
blood

on

the

day that we had shed our

since the

plains

of

Bulgaria,

at

Plevna,

at

Grivitza, at Opanez, at Vigin, that the Bulgarians,

whom we had

called to

life,

would be our implacable

enemies for the very reason that they owed us gratitude.

This

belief

was confirmed,

in the

Balkan Wars,

during which the Bulgarians published openly their

determination to take Dobrudja from us.

It be-

came an absolute certainty at the time of the conAfter

ference at London and of that at Petrograd.
our intervention of 1913 and after the Treaty of
Bukharest, which made of small Bulgaria a great and
powerful state, no Rumanian, except, perhaps, some
incurable Bulgarophile, but

had the conviction that

the Bulgarians would not fail to

as soon as

jump on our backs

They

we should cross the Carpathians.

would act toward us as they did against the Serbs.

It was in vain that I shouted in the ears of the
greatest

men

in authority in Paris

firm in their belief in

Coburg and

the

they were

all

word of Ferdinand of

in his protestations of friendship for

France.

This

is

why Rumania

stipulated, as a second con-

dition essential to her entrance into the war, that on

67

RUMANIA'S SACRIFICE
the one side a Russian

army

of several hundred

tl:

sand strong should pass the Danube, should

Dobrudja, and should take up arms against

Germano-Turco-Bulgarians, who for a long time
been massed on the Rumanian frontier, making
'.

this

war a Russian war, and of

this battle froE

Russian front.

On

the other hand, the

Army

of Saloniki,

wh

they said, was more than 400,000 strong, shouL

and

this

is

the third condition

the Turco-Bulgarian

Rumanian

Army

in its turn att

simultaneously with

offensive in the Carpathians.

As

to

t^

concerns the Russian Army, landed in Dobrudja,

are ignorant of

its

force;

it is

to be hoped tha

be strong enough to hold the enemy forces,

though up to the present it may not have made
weight felt. But what is the Army of Saloniki
will

That

ing?

is

the question at Bukharest.

mains virtually stationary.

Why.?

They

It

give

pretext the uncertainty in the movement of the po

of Greece.

But we must say that

does not date from to-day.

this

situa

It existed at the

moment when the Allies made their agreement

Rumania to set in motion this army, which was
posed to be so powerful that with no help
be

sufficient to

cost

it

crush the Turco-Bulgarians.

it

"v

wc

At

must be marched forward and that vigoroi

5S

POLITICAL AND MILITARY CONVENTIONS

if

we are not to

find ourselves before irreparable dis-

asters.

The fourth

condition

promised by the

stipulated

Allies, the

and

formally

one that brought them

to Bukharest, the one that determined the

Government, was the general

Rumanian

offensive, the realiza-

Mr. Briand of a conupon a united front in order to prevent

tion of the famous formula of

certed action

the interior manoeuvers of a

are

still

common enemy.

waiting for this general

We

oft'ensive.

But another question faces the Rumanians, against

whom the Austro-Germans are concentrating to-day
all their forces and all their hatred.
Why does not the Grand Duke Nicholas transport
his numerous troops in Europe, and why does he not
open for himself the road to Constantinople through
Dobrudja and Bulgaria? Is this not the key of
the war? It is in the Balkans, it is by the taking of
Constantinople, it is by the opening of the straits,
that victory

will

be determined;

it is

here that the

greatest efforts must be made.

This way alone

will

permit the Allies to furnish

arms and munitions to the Russo-Rumanian armies

and to fulfil thus the fifth condition of the treaty of
Rumania with the Allies. We do not share the following opinion, which "The London Times" of Sep-

tember 14 gives to the Rumanian, to leave or to

59

RUMANIA'S SACRIFICE
weaken the Transylvanian
against the Bulgarians

war

of the

Rumanians

front, in order to

a Balkan war

this

is

march

not the

they told the Allies be-

fore their entrance into war; they repeated

it

again

to-day; they demand that each should respect the

given word, that the Allies should go into the Balkans
to fight the Turco-Bulgaro-Germans, as they engaged
to do.

We

must speak plainly:

the Allies should com-

if

mit in regard to Rumania the same fault that they

permitted

in

regard to Serbia

if

they leave the trans-

Danubian Rumania without defense while the Rumanians shed their blood in Transylvania against the

Austro-German armies preparing, cutting, and opening the road for the Russian Army, Germany will
then be playing a sure game.^

The
secret

Bolsheviki have published lately the

documents relating to the entrance of

Rumania
documents

into the war.

it

According to these

appears that the Rumanian Gov-

ernment was not forced to enter

into

war by

threats of the Central powers or of the Entente,

as
1

it

attempts to make believe.

"L'Independence Roumaine," Bukharest, October

60

19, 1916.

POLITICAL AND MILITARY CONVENTIONS

According to the same documents

it

would

seem that the Rumanian Government made

no agreement of
that

it

alliance, that

it

asked only

should be guaranteed the possession of

the provinces which

wishes to regain, and

it

that the Entente should continue the

Rumania

war

should realize her pretentions.

representative of the Allies, and specially

sia,

would have refused

until

this

On

August, 1916.

last

until

The
Rus-

condition

the eighteenth of

August, 1916, as these same documents explain, the Allies signed the protocol

which ad-

mitted these demands of Rumania, and consequently, on the twenty-eighth of the

month

same

she entered the war.

These documents are of the greatest importance.

According to them, the Rumanian

Government acted
criminal.

It

is

in a trifling

very

manner almost

difficult, nevertheless,

to

admit that any government, even the most

incapable one, could be satisfied to ask absurd
conditions from others

who

61

are struggling at


RUMANIA'S SACRIFICE
the time under the same difficulties as them-

without

selves,

indispensable

assuring in the
military

place

first

cooperation.

Mr.

Pichon, the French minister of foreign affairs,

declared that the Allies

agreement made with the

absolutely every

Rumanian

must maintain

Government.

declaration refer to?

To

What

does

this

the agreement indi-

cated by the publications of the Bolsheviki?

That

hardly probable, because this declara-

's

tion of

Mr. Pichon was made

December, 1917,

when

we had

at a date

already the

proof that Rumania could not conquer the

countries with which she

then be that
tical-military

was

at war.

It

this declaration refers to

must

a poli-

convention that guarantees to

Rumania through

military assistance on the

part of the Allies not only the

new

territorial

acquisitions which she claimed, but also the in-

tegrity of her territory.

The

declarations of

Mr. Pichon are perfectly

in accordance with the agreement contained in

62

POLITICAL

AND MILITARY CONVENTIONS

the article reproduced from "L' Independence

Roumaine," and we may admit that a militarypolitical

agreement was settled upon between

the Allies and

Rumania on

This hypothesis

trance into war.

more
all

plausible as

the eve of her en-

it

all

is

the

agrees with the attitude of

the representatives of the Allied countries

who

lately refused to recognize the validity of

a concluded peace.

The Rumanian Government has not

hesi-

tated to punish with the greatest severity

those

who

failed in their

imprudence.

How,

all

duty even through

then, can

we admit

that

it

committed on top of so many imprudences the

gravest thoughtlessness,
of treason,
slip into

that

an abyss?

^worse than -the crime

of allowing the country to

We cannot believe

out seeing the "Green Book."

63

it

with-

CHAPTER VI

THE STRUGGLE

DURING
the

the night of

August

Rumanian Army

27, 1916,

received the or-

der to cross the Carpathians.

With admirable

enthusiasm, passing eight-

een mountain peaks,

it

penetrated deeply into

the territory of Transylvania, repulsing every-

where the advance forces of the Austro-Hun-

The Rumanian population

eagerly welcomed the army of King Ferdinand,
garian

and the

Army.
first

impressions were favorable for

of

the

action

The

press of the

Rumanian Government.
Alhes greeted this move with

the

enthusiasm and even spoke of the end of the

World War, thanks

to the intervention of

Rumania.
64i

><

THE STRUGGLE
But hardly had

the

first

impression of the

entrance into war come to pass, than the reahty

HUN G>^R.V ^

began

to

make

itseK felt in a most disquieting

way.
65

RUMANIA'S SACRIFICE

On

September

1,

1916,

war on Rumania, and

garia took a

Germany

at the

declared

same time Bul-

hostile attitude.

The Rumanian Government, counting upon

General Sarrail's offensive of Saloniki against
the Bulgarians, according to the peaceful dec-

made formally by the Bulgarian prime

minister in regard to Rumania and specially
upon the assurances from Petrograd that Ruslaration

sia

would

to

safeguard the frontier at the south of

Rumania
left in

take, in

against

any

all

case, military

Bulgarian attacks, had

Dobrudja only a few

to forty thousand

measures

divisions.

Thirty

men, mostly of the mihtia, oc-

cupied Turtukai, a small fortified city situated

near the Bulgarian frontier, and there were

also

two

tendje.

to three divisions

An

army

on the

line of

Kus-

of one hundred and eighty

thousand, composed of Germans, Bulgarians,

and Turks, provided with heavy cannons and

all

the

modern material

of war, was advancing

under the command of General Mackensen

66

to-

THE STRUGGLE
For

wards Turtukai.

For nine days

caused great stupefaction.

little

army

time being this

the

of Turtukai resisted heroically all

attacks of a greatly superior adversary.

want of cannons,
for

this

want of

want of strong

for

sufficient

For

artillery,

ammunition, the

Ruma-

nians were forced to attack with the bayonet,

repulsing

many

adversary.

times the advances of their

All fought bravely, but the sec-

ond regiment of Graniceri (Elite Infantry)

In a

specially distinguished themselves.

day

this

regiment made seventeen attacks with

bayonets.

170;

single

out

Out
of

of 3500

50

men

officers

there remained

only

survived.

Colonel Sheinesco, the head of the regiment,

with

all his

subordinate

officers,

The Bulgarian population

ducted

itself in

was

killed.

of Turtukai con-

a most atrocious manner to-

They beat
women, when

wards the wounded Rumanians.

them unmercifully.
the wounded asked

And

the

for water, threw boiling

water on the unfortunate men.

67

The remain-

RUMANIA'S SACRIFICE
ing troops of Turtukai withdrew to the east.

After

shock general headquarters

this first

withdrew several

divisions

from the Transyl-

vanian front in order to send them with

haste to

Dobrudja

were on the

line of

all

to help the forces which

Kustendje and prevent the

Mackensen.

The Premier

advance

of

Rumania

sent Stiirmer a very touching tele-

of

gram, asking urgently for the help formerly

agreed upon, pointing out that, otherwise,
everything was

To

this

lost.

telegram Stiirmer replied imperti-

nently, thus

Who

is

menacing Rumania from that side?

We

cannot shift our troops from one place to another!

All

we can do

After the

is

to send

fall

two Russian

you two or three

divisions.

of the stronghold of Turtukai

divisions

and one composed of

Serbian volunteers arrived from Russia.

I would not
expressing

my

like to

go any further without

highest admiration of that Ser-

68

THE STRUGGLE
bian division which has fought so bravely side

by

side with the

Rumanian Army,

resisting

heroically a numerically superior foe in the

many

terrible attacks

and

battles in

Dobrudja.

A great battle took place at Dobrici

days.

it

lasted

Colonel Brosteano distinguished himself

greatly, ordering all his

hymn, he dashed

into the attack at the

of his regiment; he

The Rumanian

men to sing the national

head

was grievously wounded.

troops, under the pressure

numbers and of perfected instruments of war, were obliged to withdraw towards Cusgun, where another sanguinary batOn the line of Cobadin the
tle took place.
of greater

Rumanians

also took the

great losses in the enemy's

offensive, causing
lines.

These struggles in Dobrudja lasted from

the first days of September until the end of
October, 1916, when the Rumanian troops were
obliged to withdraw on the left bank of the

Danube, blowing up the famous bridge on this

river, because Mackensen, surprised by the re69

RUMANIA'S SACRIFICE
sistance of the

other

armed

Rumania

Rumanians, had planned that

forces should pass the

at other points

Danube

into

and should thus put

the capital itself in danger.

While the troops of Dobrudja were

sacrific-

ing themselves so heroically, the armies of

Transylvania were also in very great danger.

The Germans had withdrawn from

the

West

front (Franco-English) and from the Russian

front

forty-two

divisions

(about

800,000

men) composed of the very best troops, and

had sent them under the command of General
Falkenhayn to reinforce the Austro-Hungarian troops that were facing the

Rumanian

Army.
This formidable force of over a million and

a half men,
trians,

composed of Germans, Aus-

and Hungarians, under the command

of a general provided with heavy artillery,

ample ammunition, and asphyxiating bombs,

began to drive back the Rumanian army, which
then had no more than from 400,000 to 450,000
70

THE STRUGGLE
fighters,

for

of a total of 800,000

must deduct the sanitary

men we

service, the adminis-

trative service, the

wounded, the dead, and the

divisions sent into

Dobrudja,

and was with-

AUSTRIAH

UN G>

out cannons, without sufficient munitions, in

fact,

of

without any of the modern instruments

war

that the other armies

had

in such pro-

fusion.

The Rumanians were

71

obliged to withdraw,

RUMANIA'S SACRIFICE
yielding ground step by step, hoping to find
shelter in the
sist,

and

mountains in order to better

re-

to await the Russian reinforcements

and the promised material of war.

Having reached

the

passes

of

they showed extraordinary

pathians,

ance; sanguinary struggles occurred

Car-

the

resist-

along

all

the Carpathians, but specially in the valley

of Zin, where memorable battles took place.

Falkenhayn had decided to

cross

by the Vul-

can Pass, which was defended by General

Dragalina.

After rigorous and repeated

tacks, in which

were

many

sacrificed, the

Rumanian

territory.

at-

of their best divisions

Germans penetrated into

The Rumanians resisted

desperately, but the

German cannons

drove

them back.
General Dragalina died as a hero.

a young

officer

his father.

His

son,

of artillery, died by the side of

The Rumanians stopped

foot of the peak near to the

azin to fight again.

little city

In defense of
7a

at the

of

Tay-

their native

THE STRUGGLE
land the inhabitants of

command

of a

young

girl,

on both

The

took up arms and

The

ran to meet the enemy.

under the

city,

this

losses

were great

sides.

drive of the

Carpathians

Germans on

never

ceased

They were determined

the side of the

for

moment.

any

to overcome at

price the stubborn resistance of the

Ruma-

nians.

This resistance lasted until the beginning of

November, 1916, and during

all this

time the

Rumanian Government pleaded everywhere

for help, because

it felt itself

at the

end of

its

strength.

Unfortunately, General Sarrail at Saloniki

did not move; the Russian offensive did not

On

begin.

all

other

fronts

absolute

calm

reigned; the help and the munitions did not

arrive the
;

were

Rumanians, attacked on two

left alone, facing forces that

great.

Sarrail

fronts,

were too

"It was the same with the offensive of

as

with

the

general

73

offensive.

It

RUMANIA'S SACRIFICE
Rumania were
seated on a balcony to watch how little
Rumania was about to knock down the giant
the
Germano-Austro-Bulgaro-Turk." ^ At
seemed as though the

allies

of

AUSTRIA
H U M G >^ I=i.^V

BLACK

SEA
end of October, 1916, the army of General

Mackensen began
eral points

movement
1

to cross the

Danube

and penetrate Rumania.

the situation of the

"Journal of Geneva," February

74

at sev-

By

this

Rumanian arm-

15, 1918.

THE STRUGGLE
ies

of the north, which were defending the

peaks of the Carpathians, became very

critical.

There was danger of their being caught between two

fires,

A U S T R.
HU

IS

that

is

to say, between the

>X """'"^
R."r

GA

,CONSTANZA

BLACK

SEA

who was advancing from

the south, and the forces of Falkenhayn, who
was pushing forward from the north. The
Rumanian troops were therefore obhged to
forces of Mackensen,

withdraw, to unite with the troops withdrawn

75

RUMANIA'S SACRIFICE
also

from Dobrudja, and

The enemy

capital.

to try to defend the

forces invaded

Rumania

by the north and by the south, and the two

armies came together under the command of
General Mackensen.

The Rumanians withdrew

to the left

bank

of the river Arjish, and there fought a great

During

battle.

the most critical

of the

moment

the

Rumanian Army urged

which were standing

divisions,

the

and three nights

was disputed between the

victory

At

three days

struggle.

They

refused

adversaries.

commander

three Russian
aside, to enter

categorically.

Their intervention might have given us the

Berlin was very anxious over the

victory.
result

of

this

great

battle,

Rumanians were forced

to

and when the

withdraw before the

greatly superior forces of the enemy, the

peror of

Germany

Em-

decorated Hindenburg and

Mackensen for the great deeds accomplished

on the field of battle of Rumania.

The Rumanian

troops withdrew, abandon76

THE STRUGGLE
ing Bukharest, their capital, in order to save

from bombs, and

it

it

was occupied by the enemy

on the second of December, 1916.

The

royal

family, the Government, the diplomatic corps,

and many

citizens

withdrew to Jassy, near the

Yet

Russian frontier.

the

Rumanians did not

regard themselves as vanquished.

Many other

hard fights took place at Bocov, Buzen, Rimnik and Fo^sani, and they afterwards withdrew

on the

line of the Sereth,

where the front was

narrower and their rear covered by the Rus-

For more than a year the

Rumanian Army opposed the German armies
sian

frontier.

so vigorously that they were not able to ad-

vance further.

Here on

this line of

Sereth in the month of

January, 1917, there at

Russian
of the

divisions,

last arrived several

which completed the defense

Rumanian

front,

March, 1917, there

and at the end of

also arrived

some large

guns, sent by France, which had for a long time

been

lost in Siberia

through the connivance of

77

RUMANIA'S SACRIFICE
Here

in Sereth

a series of battles took place; the

Germans

the Russian administration.

wished to pass at any

cost,

but their effort to

break the line was useless, and the

men was enormous on

the

both

sides.

Rumanian Army was very

sacrifice in

Although

short of

mod-

ern materials of war, although she lacked even

food, nevertheless, the resistance

of this

army reached

and heroism

the limits of

78

what man

THE STRUGGLE
Each regiment wanted

can do.

each soldier and each

itself,

in heroism.
liant

Even

officer, to

surpass

a young girl gave a bril-

She

example of courage and bravery.

demonstrated that the

ties as

woman

has these quali-

highly developed as the best of soldiers

and that she

is

able to face death with the

disdain as anj other hero.

Teiusanu, former military

manian legation

at

Chicago," No.
this

7,

Rumania,

The Commander
attache of the Ru-

"Rumanian Review

of

February, 1918.

extraordinary war

have happened in

same

Washington, related the

following facts in the

In

to distinguish

all

specially, the

the

many

acts of bravery

countries

involved.

In

bravery of the soldiers and

their definace of death have astonished the officers of

Rumanian Army.
women have distinguished

the Allied armies attached to the

In

all

the Allied armies

themselves by their spirit of devotion and sacrifice,

taking care of wounded and sick without fear of contracting contagious diseases from those affected.

women found who have

Rumania
we have nowaIn

Seldom, very seldom, are

soldiers' quahfications.

days a real " Jeanne d'Arc," a

79

girl of

only sixteen,

RUMANIA'S SACRIFICE
but of extraordinary courage. She was so flamingly
But
patriotic that she won the admiration of all.

me tell jou the story of the facts as they occurred

and were seen by myself in my capacity as commander of the company of this heroine, Miss Ecaterlet

ina Theodoroiu, daughter of a captain of cavalry.

She was a sophomore in one of the colleges in

During the vacation of June, 1916, she

came to Targu-Jiu where her family had a small
farm near Schela.
When the war broke out in Rumania in August,

Bukharest.

1916, she enlisted in the

Boy Scout company

render service as a dresser of

bearer behind the front.

wounds and a

to

stretcher-

Despite the measures which

had been taken to prohibit the Boy Scouts from approaching the front line, Ecaterina did not leave
her third brother, who was a corporal in the 8th
Company of the 18th Regiment of Infantry, because
she had lost two brothers (officers) in the battle of
Turtukai a few days previously. Her mother was
living at Schela in the territory which had been occupied by the invaders in their first invasion, and
her brothers had been killed at the front. Her
flaming patriotism inspired her to go to fight in
defense of her beloved country and to relieve the
soul's grief that her enemies had caused.
Several times she was sent away by the colonel,

80

<

THE STRUGGLE
who

said that her place was not at the front.

But

the brave girl disguised herself as a volunteer soldier,

putting on an overcoat, cap, knapsack (empty, howThus equipped, I have

ever), and bearing a gun.
seen her receiving instructions

paying
fixing

close attention to

bayonet,

from her brother,

the directions of firing,

Twenty successive days she

by the side of her only living

etc.

fought, ate, and slept

brother, until he, too, was slain in battle.

beyond measure by
fight for her country

until she, too, should die.

Plunging into the

taken to the prisoners'
that she was a

Afflicted

she decided to

last blow,

this

girl.

fight,

she was

captured and

camp without it being known

Though disarmed, she was

able to conceal a revolver, with which she killed the

guard on her way to the enemy camp. Then she

crawled cautiously through the undergrowth of
familiar ground and, guided by the sounds of the
machine-guns of Section 2 of my company, in which
she was fighting, she succeeded in finding us again
at three o'clock in the morning, and giving precise

information about the enemy, who were preparing a

surprise attack

upon our

unit.

After twenty days of fighting

shell

happened that a

shattered both her legs, producing a double

fracture of the right.

her.

it

I was in the same train with

I was leaving Krajova and she was transported

81

RUMANIA'S SACRIFICE
to the hospital.

When

she was brought to

Bukhar-

est, special care was given her by Queen Marie and

princesses themselves.

I have since been requested

by His Majesty, King

Ferdinand, to make a report in detail upon her, as

who knew most about her. She was

awarded "Virtutea certaseasca en aur pentru fapte
de razhoi" [The Boy Scout Virtue in gold for heroic
deeds], an order specially created for the bravery
I was the one

Boy Scouts of the Jiu, and she was also

awarded the Militarj^ Virtue.
Recovered from her fracture after four and a
half months, she insisted on going back again to
of the

the front.

It was allowed as an exception, and in

the meantime she was advanced to the rank of suh

locotenent

With what pride

commanded her platoon!

[second lieutenant].

and with what

skill

The men

her; her incomparable bravery in-

deified

she

spired more courage in the soldiers while they were

fighting.

How

great and what interminable ovations were

given her in the theatre hall of Botoshani, when,

being authorized myself to

of the decoration of the

the surprise of

all

who

read the high degree

Boy Scout Theodoroiu,

did not

know

to

her, there ap-

peared a young suh locotenent with breeches, boots,

and short

hair,

and campaign equipment.

82

It

is

be-

THE STRUGGLE
yond my power to describe here the manifestations
sympathy that were given her by her college mates,
who had been refused permission to follow her example, as this great deed must remain unique.
of

Taking part in the battle of "Marasesti," Miss

Sub Locotenent was not seriously wounded, but she
She was proposed
dii not want to quit her unit.
for advancement to the grade of locotenent [lieuten-

ant], but the heroine has not had the happiness of

wearing "galoanele de Locotenent,''^ because she was
killed at the head of her company in one of their

bayonet charges.
In order that the beautiful example of the Jeanne
may remain for posterity as a

d'Arc of Rumania
lesson

and a true proof of the forefathers'

virtues,

her name and pictured face ought to be found in

the

Rumanian

schools

all

and homes.

In the month of July, 1917, the Rumanian

troops, led

by General Averesco, undertook a

very vigorous offensive, and in two days they

arrived at the frontier of Transylvania, taking

many important
than

thirty

positions on a depth of

kilometers

(seventeen

more

miles).

This offensive might have driven the enemy out

83

RUMANIA'S SACRIFICE
country.

of the

Unfortunately,

the

prime

minister ordered the cessation of the offensive,

because Petrograd had demanded

justified

by the Russian

Several days later the

it,

and it was

failure in Gahcia.

Germans commenced a

strong offensive, which lasted fifteen days and

fifteen nights.

The

battle

now

entered the acute phase, the

The Germans

eighth of August, 1917.

mined upon a most

deter-

violent offensive, but all

the attacks were repulsed with frightful losses.

German

prisoners declared that they

had never

seen such a bitterly contested battle since Ver-

dun.

The Germans had twelve

divisions

the Marasesti front (the line of Sereth)

Rumanians had only

on
the

August fourteenth
was a day of great carnage. The 89th PrusThe
sian Division was completely decimated.
efforts of the Germans were again repulsed.

At

the

same time

five.

at other points

on the same

front great battles had taken place at Cassinu, Oituf,

Okna and
84>

Panciu.

THE STRUGGLE
The deeds

of heroism and courage performed

by the Rimianian troops

fights surpass all

in these

different

They

power of imagination.

endured without hesitation the most terrible

made with extreme

and Prussian
sistance

The

bombardment.

artillery

attacks en masse

by the Bavarian

violence

were broken by the

soldiers

and bravery of the Rumanian

re-

soldiers,

who, greatly inferior in number, struggled with

incomparable endurance.

We

must

cite the case

Regiment, whose

of the heroic

and

officers

soldiers,

32nd

abandon-

and jackets,

ing their equipment, helmets,

rushed to the attack with such enthusiasm that

they put the enemy to

It

flight.

that in such circumstances the

is

a miracle

Rumanian Army

could hold during more than one year against

The beginfound the Rumanian

the crushing blows of the enemj^.

ning of the year 1918,

army

at

the

strength, but

end of
still

its

resources

courageous.

85

and

its

CHAPTER

VII

THE CAUSES OF THE RUMANIAN

DEFEAT

THE

defeat of the

Rumanians was

prise to the whole world.

explain

how

it

was possible for a

rich in substances
cellent

One

and

a sur-

could not

rich country,

provisions, with

an ex-

army, a situation to be envied, and spe-

cially a brilliant future,

country to which

neutrality had brought unquestionable profits,

and which was not forced

to enter the war,

to cast itself into the fui'nace

months
shortly

see itself invaded

afterward

obliged to
peace.

make

in three

by the enemy, and

reduced

to

famine

and

a separate and disastrous

Distinguished political men, writers,

and recognized
this

and

critics

have tried to explain

phenomenon.
86

CAUSES OF THE RUMANIAN DEFEAT

THE RUSSIAN TEEASON
First of

To-day
czar

it

all
is

we invoke the Russian treason.

known that the Russia of the

and the Revolutionary Russia betrayed

Rumania.

But, the question

What was

Russia act in that way?

terest in betraying

an

why

is,

ally ?

How

should
her in-

can one ex-

war

plain the fact that Russia entered into

against

Germany and

Rumania,

many

afterward, by betraying

Ger-

facilitated the operations of

against herself?

In

reality

all

these

questions form a great problem which only

the future can explain.

moment one can only draw conclufrom facts known up to the present, in

For
sions

the

order to explain the reasons of a betrayal which

exists as a sure

and incontestable

fact.

In 1877, when Russia was obliged by

cir-

cumstances to ask immediate help of Rumania

European public opinion

highly praised the Rumanian Army, thanks to
against

Turkey,

87

RUMANIA'S SACRIFICE

Army

which the Russian

was saved from

dis-

This fact produced a bad impression

aster.

at Petrograd.

sentiment of jealousy or

even of hatred toward Rumania manifested

self

it-

on the part of the colossus of the North.

And

at the Congress of Berlin in 1878 official

Russia, instead of showing gratitude and a protective spirit

toward her small

from her a part of her

Since then

territory.

the relations between Russia and

have been

Rumania

Bulgaria speculated quite a

over the affection that Russia showed

little

her,

cool.

dragged

ally,

and

tried to foster in

ment of mistrust

Petrograd a

in regard to

senti-

Rumania.

In

1911 the czar wished to make a rapprochement

with Rumania, and visited King Charles, there

being at that time a question of a marriage be-

tween one of the daughters of the czar and

the

Crown Prince

ians were furious,

circles

of Rumania.

and the

The Bulgar-

political

Russian

showed themselves unfavorable.

In other ways Russia always saw

88

in

Ru-

CAUSES OF THE RUMANIAN DEFEAT

mania an obstacle

to her policy of expansion

towards Constantinople, because Rumania was

the ally of the Central powers she proposed to
;

prevent

all

passage of Russian armies through

her territory towards Constantinople, and she

never showed herself delighted to undergo any

of the influence of Russian civilization.

When

the events of the great

to develop,

when

the Allies

war began

saw themselves de-

by Bulgaria, who made them believe to

the last moment that she would be on their
ceived

side,

the statesmen of the Allies felt that the

only solution which would give any satisfaction for her defeat in the

Rumania

over.

cabinets of

East was to win

Starting with this idea, the

London and Paris began

a lively

action in this direction, although Russia held

absolutely against this

sians,

solution.

who were announcing

The Rus-

their arrival in

Berlin in a very short time, were nervous at

seeing that

London and Paris

making an appeal

to

insisted

Rumania,

89

upon

specially as

RUMANIA'S SACRIFICE
they considered

intervention a decisive

this

blow for Austria-Hungary and the approach

The

of the end of the war.

sion of

claims of exten-

Rumania, found just and equable by

London and

Paris, angered the political circles

of Petrograd, which saw in this extension of

the territory of their neighbor a policy con-

trary to the interest of Russia.

Even General Alexeief who had in hand the

direction of the Russian Army, was absolutely
,

But in
the end the conditions fixed by the Rumanian
Government had to be accepted by Russia,
against the intervention of Rumania.

who, nevertheless, wanted to prove that she

was

right in her appreciation of the value of

the

Rumanian

prejudice, her
Allies, fell

was

all

intervention,

own

interest,

upon the second

the

more

1916, Stiirmer,

and under

and that of the

plan.

This policy

easy, because since

known

this

March,

as a Germanophile,

had

been named Prime Minister of Russia.^

1 1

was

in Petrograd

when

that great man, Miljukoff, the

90

CAUSES OF THE RUMANIAN DEFEAT

From

the

first

moment

of the

Rumanian

in-

tervention the attitude of the Russians manifested itself hostile to that country.

was no answer

to all the

Rumanian Govern-

ment's entreaties for help from Russia.

the

army

of

There

Dobrudja found

itself

When
crushed

by the German-Bulgarian-Turkish forces, the

large body of the Rumanian Army being in
the
chief of the cadets, later minister of foreign aifairs of
gave
Provisional Government, then member of the opposition,

by
a violent discourse against the Government presided over
Sturmer, demonstrating that this Government wished to make
a separate peace with Germany.
Speaking of the manner in which Rumania had been helped,
Mr. Miljukoff showed that the munitions and the armament
were being transported under bad conditions; that Russia was
sending very few troops, particularly cavalry, when artillery
was most needed; that the manner in which they were acting
speech
could only be called "incapacity or treason." At this
"Surely there is
all the deputies of the opposition called out,
treason!" Such was the atmosphere of the Russian political

world at the beginning of November, 1916.

with high esteem
I made a call on Mr. Miljukov, and left
and admiration for this great man. I thanked him as a Rumanian for his beautiful defense of my country, for his ardent
appeal that urgent help should be sent to Rumania. As I was
which,
leaving, Mr. Miljukoff handed me a copy of his speech,
according to the order of the Government, has not been pubCantacolished in the official journal, I entrusted it to Mr.
to send
Petrograd,
at
Legation
Rumanian
the
of
Minister
fino,
Reto the Rumanian Government. "American-Rumanian
view," Chicago, August, 1917, Paul Negulescu.

91

RUMANIA'S SACRIFICE
Transylvania, the Russians responded to this
desperate appeal of the

Rumanian Government

too late, and then only by sending two to three

divisions,

about 50,000 men, mostly cavalry.

The army

of 500,000 men, which the Russians

were to send into Dobrudja to cover the southern front of Rumania, according to the agree-

ment made among

When

the

all

the Allies, never came.

Rumanian armies

of Transylvania

were driven by the Prussian forces of Falken-

hayn and threatened by Mackensen, who

in-

vaded Rumania in the south, the Russians

re-

mained immovable
and

to the appeals of

Rumania

and of London;

to the urgings of Paris

when, in the great battle of Arjish the com-

mander of the Rumanian Army asked the

Russian forces, who were then very close to
Bukharest, to enter into the
solutely refused;

and

in the

fight,

they ab-

end complete

in-

action reigTied even on the Russian front, thus

Germans a
blow at Rumania.

leaving the
their

92

free

hand to

strike

CAUSES OF THE RUMANIAN DEFEAT

Facts speak for themselves; almost complete Russian inaction in the Carpathians

and

Moldavia continual promises, never carried

out, of an offensive by the army of Lechitsky;
in

delays, then passive attitude of the

contingent brought into Moldavia.

is

still

more.

Muscovite

But

there

Throughout the course of the

campaign the attitude of the war

office

and

that of the Russian generals

was

in every re-

When

the

Rumanians

spect most singular.

had hardly been attacked and were not yet

subjected to any check, a great chief at Stafka
said, looking at a

where we

will

map

of

Rumania, "This

And

resist !"

is

he pointed to the

line of Sereth.

Many superior officers, among

them General

Bielaief, never ceased spreading

hostile insinuations in
finally
ties,

regard to Rumania, and

one of the highest Muscovite authori-

as he

was being

Rumanians during the

to help the

battle of Bukharest, re-

"Not one man and not one canSuch speeches and these are not the

plied clearly,

non!"

solicited

93

RUMANIA'S SACRIFICE
only ones that

we could

demonstrate the

to

war

office

of

repeat

evident

Nicholas II.

are

sufficient

ill-will

We

of

the

must add

to this the criminal indifference of a Sakharof

who

lost

Dobrudja, while

his

staff

gave

a repugnant example of thoughtlessness and

inconsistency and, above

all,

of military in-

capacity.

Numerous facts corroborate this opinion.

The London "Times," January 29, 1918, in
a letter of December 6, from its correspondent
at Jassy, relates the following:

During the

last days of

November, 1916, while at

Jassy, I was present at a conversation between a

Frenchman and a Russian general commanding a

corps of the army the latter declared that he had
;

received the order to direct his troops towards the

Moldavian

frontier, but

after learning of the in-

vasion of Wallachia, he asked authority at Stafka

march upon Bukharest, in order to take part in

Some hours afterwards, this
the imminent battle.
to

astounded general declared, he received the order to

direct himself, in spite of

all,

94<

towards the Transyl-

CAUSES OF THE RUMANIAN DEFEAT

Such

vanlan frontier.

enumerated ad

facts could be

libitum.^

General Alexeief had decided to do nothing

for

Rumania

unless the line of battle should

In

be at Sereth.
troops

fell

fact,

back on the

Rumania

invasion of

when

line of

the

Rumanian

Sereth after the

at the south, there they

found Russian forces already

and

installed

fortified.

Thus was Petrograd content to have executed its program that is to say, to have proved
that the Rumanian intervention was not use;

ful, that

her cooperation had been

therefore, she

true that the

executed

its

true that

it

that,

but,

if it is

Government of Petrograd has

occult program,

it is

none the

has crushed under foot

it

and

territorial acqui-

any aggrandizement;

sition or to

ment, that

had no right to

nil,

has betrayed

its

less

engage-

Rumania and

the

cause of the Allies.

1

"Le Mystire Roumain

et

la

Stienon, pp. 207-208.

95

Defection

Russe,"

Charles

RUMANIA'S SACRIFICE
The

fact that the Russians

fought

seri-

ously only on the line of the Sereth after the

occupation of more than half of

Rumania is evi-

dence of their intention to stop there the advance of the Germans.

This rather suspicious fact has been explained by different political

secret convention,

between

men and by

which was supposed to exist

Stiirmer

and

Berlin,

to

divide

Rumania with the line of the Sereth as a frontier.

They bring as a proof the fact that the
German minister at Bukharest, on leaving, said
to the secretary of the American embassy, Mr.
Andrews, who accompanied him, "Here is the
Sereth, the new Russian frontier."
Events precipitated themselves

The

czar's

regime having been overthi'own,

it

program in regard

to

could no longer follow

Rumania.

in Russian.

its

Kerensky had become the

the Russian people.

idol of

The new regime gave

publicity to secret acts in order to prove the

former regime's treachery to Rumania; an

at-

CAUSES OF THE RUMANIAN DEFEAT

mosphere of confidence

make

itself felt;

Rumania began to
new commander of the

the

in

Russian forces took severe measures to bring

order in his army, which participated in several fights.

Unfortunately

was very
Lenine and Trotzky became masters

short.

of the situation.

experience

this

Their anarchist propaganda

penetrated deeply into the ranks of the

army

and destroyed everything; disorder showed

self

everywhere.

officers,

The

chiefs of the

soldiers

the front in order to

devastate, to pillage the

tion,

army, the

were no longer obeyed; the

commenced to abandon

it-

Rumanian populaThe Russian

already so sorely tried.

armies scattered, giving place to ruin and to

disaster.

Trotzky, commissioner for foreign

affairs,

published the secret treaties between Russia

and her
is

of

allies.

Among these

documents there

found a report made by a former minister

war and pubhshed

97

in the

"Pravda," the

RUMANIA'S SACRIFICE
newspaper of the Bolsheviki.

This document

shows clearly the mentality of the Russian

pohtical circles in

November, 1916, and

also

it

shows the antipathy and the bad faith that fed

the Russian statesmen in regard to Rumania.

At

the beginning of the

had adopted

officially a

European

War Rumania

neutral attitude, which fluc-

tuated very frequently and very noticeably, sometimes on the one and sometimes on the other side,

according to the state of military operations.

attitude

This

was inspired by two principal motives the

:

desire not to arrive too late to share in the division

of Austria, and to win as soon as possible at the

expense of the belligerents.

and Butowina
l:he

in

Our

successes in Galicia

191^ and at the beginning of 1915,

capture of Lemberg and Przemysl, and the ap-

pearance of our advance guard on the other side of

the Carpathians, decided for us the question of intervention.

At

May of the same year our

and Poland, the abandoning

the end of

retreat from Gahcia

of Bukowina, took place.

From

this the state of

mind of the Rumanian leaders modified itself, also,

and the parleys, in view of the intervention of
Rumania in the war, stopped. At the end of 1915
and at the beginning of 1916 the poHcy of Rumania,
98

CAUSES OF THE RUMANIAN DEFEAT

after the crushing of Serbia^ and the intervention of

Bulgaria, leaned very clearly to the side of our

enemies.

At

this period the

Rumanian Government

concluded a series of very advantageous commercial

agreements with Austria-Hungary

and Germany.

This circumstance forced the military, financial, and

commercial departments to adopt a very prudent

attitude in regard to the question of the importing

from Russia into Rumania military equipment and

different provisions, which might fall into the hands
of our enemies.

the spring and

ity of

The offensive of General Brusilov in

summer of 1916 turned the neutral-

Rumania again

to the side of the powers of

the Entente, and presented an opportunity for again

taking up the interrupted parleys concerning intervention.

It

is

to be noticed that from the begin-

ning the chief of staff of the commander for military

reasons considered the maintenance of Rumanian
neutrality

more advantageous for us than her ac-

tive intervention in the

war.

Later, General Alexeief

adopted the point of view of the Allies, which saw

Rumania a decisive blow for

in the intervention of

Austria-Hungary and the beginning of the end of

the war. In August, 1916', a military and political
agreement was signed with Rumania, which assured
her territorial acquisition (Bukowina and the whole
of Transylvania) and which manifestly did not cor-

9^

RUMANIA'S SACRIFICE
respond to the measure of her participation in the

had pledged herself only

war on Austria-Hungary and had limited

military operations, for she

to declare

The following events have demonstrated how much our allies

deceived themselves in overestimating the Rumanian
Under the influence of the unexpected
intervention.
catastrophe there arose in Rumania itself elements

herself to operations in Transylvania.

that were opposed to the continuation of the war

and imposed upon themselves the task of concluding

as soon as possible peace, even

separate peace.

Rumania

is

The

if

it

should be a

misfortune that has struck

the natural consequence of the complete

insufficiency of military preparation

ous policy of Bratiano.

The

and the ambigu-

easy victories of 1913

and Rumania's diplomatic success after the Balkan

War contributed,

in great part, to give to the people

and to the Government an exaggerated idea of their

importance.
In political and military points of view
the Rumanians have exaggerated their value and
feel

now a

bitter deception.

From

the point of view

of Russian interests, the following considerations

should guide us in the appreciation of the actual

situation in Rumania.
If matters

had developed

In

such a fashion that

the political and military agreement of 1916 with

Rumania might have been completely

lOQ

realized,

a very

CAUSES OF THE RIBIANIAN DEFEAT

strong state might have been created in the Balkans,
composed of Moldavia, Wallachia, Dobrudja (actual
Rumania), of Transylvania, Banat, and Bukowina
(acquisitions in virtue of the Treaty of 1916), with
a population of nearly 13,000,000. Later this state
would have held with difficulty any friendly senti-

ments toward Russia, and their ambition would have

been to realize their national dreams in Bessarabia

and the Balkans.

Consequently, the failure of the

plans of the great power of

Rumania

in these

men-

tioned propositions do not oppose particularly the

political

of Russia.
This circumstance
by us in view of the consolidation
of these forced bonds which unite Russia to Rumania

must be

interests

utilized

for as long time as possible.

Our successes on the Rumanian front have for us

an extraordinary importance, as unique a possibility
as for answering once
sired

by

and the

and for

all,

in the sense de-

us, the question relating to Constantinople

straits.

The

actual events in

wholly modified the conditions

of

Rumania have

the

Treaty of

In place of the relatively modest support

that Russia felt bound to give in Dobrudja, she
1916.

was compelled to intrust the defense of

all

Rumanian

territory almost exclusively to the Russian troops.

This military aid of Russia has now taken such proportions that the promise of territorial indemnity to

101

RUMANIA'S SACRIFICE
Russia for her entrance into war, provided for in
the agreement just mentioned, should undoubtedly

be subjected to a revision."

POLIVANOV.

Revision!

That

the essential word, the

is

key of Russian policy towards Rumania.

is

beyond doubt that the treaty made

It
in

August, 1916, was the starting point for the

discontent of Russia; those close to Nicholas

II evidently saw in the invasion of Wallachia

and the intervention of the Muscovite army a

means of revising the agreements concluded

with Bukharest in favor of Petrograd.
since

the

publication

of

the

document of

Polivanov could not be contested.

this

note

is

This,

Besides,

a moral proof of the czarist treason

toward King Ferdinand.

It asserts that the

Russians should be happy by the want of success of the latter.

From

this

we understand

that the voluntary delay of the Muscovite

troops contributed to this result only one step.

Without temerity one can

102

affirm that

the

CAUSES OF THE RUMANIAN DEFEAT

revelations of the future will only bring forth

more

clearly the truth already partly seen.

In any case the document of PoUvanov

is

one

of the most important that the Russian insurrection has brought to light.^

BAD

WAR PLANS

Rumania should have attacked Bulgaria and

should have remained on the defensive to the

northwest against Austria-Hungary.

an opinion which has been heard on

This

is

all sides

and which has often been repeated here

in

America, as constituting the principal cause of

Rumanian defeat. Before the Russian

treason was known this opinion was thrust
the

forth and presented as the cause for the defeat.

Vice- Admiral Fournier, former chief of the

French Navy,

in

an

article

appearing in the

"Courrier des Etats Unis" of February

1917, wrote:
1 Ch. Stienon, op. dt., p.

2^21.

103

6,

RUMANIA'S SACRIFICE
As long

as

Rumania kept her

neutrality, the active

part of the Russian Army, facing the north to help

the offensive of General Brussilov, was directly cov-

ered on

its

by Wallachia and Moldavia and,

by Dobrudja. The Russians thought

flank

in the rear,

that in case of a

Rumanian

of the Entente their new

intervention on the side

allies

would keep the de-

fensive in Transylvania in order to attack Bulgaria

en masse (we were holding her most effective troops

before Saloniki).

They estimated

that they would

have time to execute the necessary change of front

to support and to cover the offensive of their neigh-

bors before the heavy German reinforcement could

arrive at

its

destination.

This plan was also extolled by General Averesco,

who was one of the most esteemed chiefs of his own
country.

Unfortunately, other views prevailed, and

the plan of attack against Bulgaria was replaced

by

a plan of an offensive in Transylvania.

Almost the whole of the Rumanian

penetrated into Transylvania, turning

Army
its

then

back on

the principal enemy and weakening itself as, driving

back the Hungarians by degrees,

front until the day when

it

it

widened the

met the German

rein-

forcements, which had hastened to the help of their

allies.

Then

this

valiant

thrown back again to the

104

army was broken and

frontier, losing in

the

CAUSES OF THE RUMANIAN DEFEAT

retreat a great part of

artillery

its

and almost a

In the meantime the Bul-

third of its effectiveness.

making use of the ambiguity with which

garians,

they had cleverly surrounded their real intentions,

were invading Dobrudja and were marching upon

Bukharest, having easily crossed the Danube, which
for several hundred kilometers was guarded
single

division

of militia.

Under

by one

conditions

these

the taking of Bukharest and the invasion of a great

part of Rumania was inevitable.

Army, surprised by the rapid

succession of the Rumanian reverses, the commanders
suspended the offensive of Brussilov's army in orAs

for the Russian

der to direct great reinforcements into Rumania.

But

the available troops were such that

possible to cover the flank in Wallachia

Dobrudja rapidly enough

in

it

was not

and the rear

to arrest the advance

of the invaders.

It was on the Sereth that the Russians, uniting

with the
the

first

army

body of troops that had arrived from

of General Salikarov,

front enlarged by several good

The

formed a defensive

Rumanian

divisions.

actual resistance of this front, the points of

support which

it

can

find in the rear, the uninter-

rupted and progressive flow of reinforcements which

reached

it,

ing peril

is

permits one to hope that the most press-

now almost

averted.

105

RUMANIA'S SACRIFICE
The

czar himself,

receive

me

who

did

me

the great honor to

at dinner and at breakfast at general

headquarters, has in a private audience given

me

the

assurance that in a verj few weeks the military situa-

commence

tion in the Balkans would

This

article

to change.

was written after the vice-ad-

miral had visited

Rumania and

Russia, where

he had the honor of being invited to breakfast

and to dinner by the

pressed in this article

The opinion

czar.
is

ex-

certainly the result of

the interview which he had with the czar and

with other important personages of Russia;

it reflects

exactly the views of the czarist pohcy,

which tried to cast upon Rumania

sponsibility of her defeat

all

the re-

and to justify the

want of help which was due

to

Rumania from

Russia.

One

certain fact remains of that which the

vice-admiral wrote, and that

and those of

his

the entry of the

is

that the czar

entourage were surprised by

Rumanian Army
106

into Transyl-

CAUSES OF THE RUMANIAN DEFEAT

vania; that, therefore, there was another plan

known

to the Russian staff

the

Herewith are the words of the

Bulgaria.

former chief of the Rumanian

who had

offensive in

staff,

the one

the responsibility, the conception,

the execution of the

and

war plan

The Russian Government submitted

to

us

an

elaborated plan of campaign in which the probable

role of Bulgaria

was not taken into account.

At

our objection Mr. Boris Sturmer, then the president

of the council, replied that never would Bulgaria be
willing to fight against Russia.

Then we asked for

two hundred thousand men of the Russian troops for

the Dobrudja front.

We were told that twenty thou-

sand men would amply

for a demonstration of

suffice

Twice our staff deGovernment commence by an

a purely political character.

manded that

the Russian

operation against Bulgaria, which would have taken

the form of the occupation of a strip of land on the
right banks of the Danube.

The taking

chouk would have been security for our

French

staff shared entirely

op.

cit.,

p. 169.

107

capital.

The

our opinion but Russia

placed upon this an absolute veto.^

iComnene,

of Roust-

RUMANIA'S SACRIFICE
This declaration was made to the representatives of the press in April, 1917.

In the "Figaro" of July

we

signature of "Polybe,"

7,

1917, under the

read:

I have acquired the conviction, having seen the

official

papers, that the principal mistakes of strategy

and of general tactics which have been committed by

the staff of Bukharest were advised, if not dictated,

by the Russian

StavJca and the

Government of Petro-

grad.

Which one
true one?

Either

this

of General Iliesco or
sia?

the

It

is difficult

first

hypothesis

eral Iliesco

two hypotheses

of these

is

the

bad plan was the work

it

to

is

was imposed by Rus-

know

true,

it

the truth; but

if

proves that Gen-

was not a big enough man for

position; if the second hypothesis

is

this

true,

it

proves that Mr. Bratiano and his chief of staff

were guilty of having accepted a plan of war

imposed upon them when the very existence

of the country

We

was

must leave

at stake.
to specialists to appreciate

108

CAUSES OF THE RUMANIAN DEFEAT

which of these two plans would have been the
better,

and we must recognize from circum-

stances that the result

would have been the

same whether the offensive was carried against

Bulgaria or whether it was carried against
Austria.

Had

Kumanian Army pene-

the

trated into Bulgaria, leaving small forces on

the offensive on the side of the Carpathians,

Russia would have had the same attitude to-

wards Rumania, the

Army

of Saloniki would

not have been any more energetic, on the other

fronts there

that

is

would have been the same calm;

to say,

alone just

Rumania would have been

she

as

left

has been, and then the

Rumanian Army would have found

itself in

Bulgaria facing the forces of Mackensen, and

nothing would have prevented Falkenhayn,

who was in Transylvania, from entering

Rumania by the passes of the Carpathians and
then covering

all

Rumanian Army.
nian

Army was

the lines of retreat of the

If the whole of the

Ruma-

not able to resist in the Car109

RUMANIA'S SACRIFICE
pathians the drives of Falkenhayn,

one beheve that only a part of

have had any better result?

had been an

this

how

could

army could

Perhaps

if

there

offensive in Bulgaria the whole of

Rumanian Army would have been made

prisoners, crushed between the forces of Macthe

kensen and Falkenhayn and abandoned by

According

Russia.
cuted, a

to the plans already exe-

work imposed by

the Russian Govern-

ment or made by General

nian

Iliesco, the

Ruma-

Army was at least able to withdraw on the

S^reth and to prove

ance at least
;

it

its

resist-

has escaped the ridiculous posi-

tion of being enveloped

enemy and

courage and

on every

side

by the

obliged to surrender.

WANT OF MATERIAL PREPARATION

The

material preparation of the

army was

wholly incomplete.

Heavy

artillery, aviation,

mastery in war.
tion,

Despite

machine-guns, have the

two years'

reflec-

the national

army

this, after

years so fertile in lessons,

110

CAUSES OF THE RUMANIAN DEFEAT

had

only, all told, eight old 150's,

some 105's, and

There were
munitions stored for about three months, and these
insufficiencies all flowed from the same principle

75's

in

rather insignificant numbers.

preconceived, the powerlessness of the ad-

falsely

Thus before starting to

versary to parry.

fight the

army carried within itself one element of her defeat.

But Brussilov had just annihilated in Galicia 600,000
Austro-Hungarians

Somme

on the

the French were decimating the

Duke

before Gorizia, the

pieces the

army

gave birth to

how much,

failure.

and

divisions

of Aosta was cutting to

of General Buroevic.

Presumption

Will one ever be able to say

among those of our allies who

how much we have lowered our-

especially

are the most Latin,

selves

the English

German

by misconstruing
an enemy?

in

a systematic manner the

qualities of

As

for the technical personnel, neither the officers

nor their men had learned the

tactics.

The

a barrage

latest perfections in

defilement of a battery, the lifting of

...

so

many procedures which have

come the classics

known at Bukharest.

on our

lines,

war

be-

but which remain unin the mountains, it is

true, lends itself poorly to the application of

new

procedures, but as early as October they were fight-

ing in the plains, and one saw then the incredible inexperience of the artillery.

111

How many

times did

it

RUMANIA'S SACRIFICE
not happen under the steady bombardment of the

Germans, as at Zinnicea, that our unfortunate allies

could not even form a battery.
And seeing the waves
of assault rushing behind movable barrage of artillery, the defenders of the city

As

for aviation,

remained stupefied.

did n't even exist

it

date equipments without value.

several out-of-

Thus

for several

months the Rumanians knew nothing of what was happening with the adversary, and he, on the contrary,

The

was perfectly posted.

overcame

escadrille

arrival of the

French

this cause of inferiority at least.

The same remarks can

be

made on

the subject of

the sanitary corps, the transportations, and the

effi-

Truly one might think that

ciency of the railroads.

two years of neutrality served for nothing. The

country possessed a large and disciplined army, but
not an effort was made to adapt it to the new
exigencies.

The

staff

was ignorant even of a trench,

thus calling holes that were incapable of any protection.

shelter

And

one single shot of a 77 bearing upon a

brought about a general crumbling up. It

officers the art of cam-

was, then, necessary to teach

paign

fortification.

same negligence.

Everywhere there was the

The committee on general

safety

was incapable of doing its task and did not know, or

was unwilling to, how to repress spying, an evil too
well-known in France for us to ignore its ravages.
112

<V

(U

IIS

RUMANIA'S SACRIFICE
But

if

the beginnings of the

Rumanian Army were

sad, the continuation became more discomforting.^

These observations, made with great competency, are unfortunately very just.

General Iliesco made the following declaration to the Prussian representative in April,

1917:
war Rumania
war by
the
side
Allies.
Already,
month
the
of the
in
of
August, 1914, we had began to prepare and reorganize our army. It was an arduous task and a
long one. From 180,000 men we had to bring our
army to 820,000 men, out of which 560,000 were
Our list of officers had to be tripled.
fighting men.
We had neither munitions nor machine-guns.
Early

felt sure

in the beginning of the great

that she would have to enter into the

Therefore,

^let

not this affirmation surprise you,

in July, 1916, taking into consideration the im-

mense

difficulties

cations with our

ever,

of transportation and of communi-

Western

had worked without

allies,

Rumania, who, how"was not ready." ^

ceasing,

General Rudeanu, head of the Rumanian

1 Stienon, op. cit., p. 319.
2

Comnene, op.

cit.,

p. 168.

114<

CAUSES OF THE RUMANIAN DEFEAT

Military Mission to Paris, declared also that

Rumania commenced

the

armament, but

''with the

had

in

France."

war without great

confidence that we

These declarations, far from having the character of a justification, constitute,

trary,

on the con-

one of the irrefutable proofs of the

weakness with which the Government presided

over by Mr. Bratiano conducted
the gravest

moments in the history

itself

during

of this coun-

try.

This Government has frivolously declared

through two authorized organs that

it

de-

war on Austria-Hungary without the

army being ready. It must be understood that
the want of sufficient preparation has not constituted the cause of the Rumanian defeat, but
clared

a good material preparation would have proved

the earnestness of the Government, and the

army would have been

in a better position to

resist the attacks of the

1

See p.

12.

116

enemy;

this

want of

RUMANIA'S SACRIFICE
prepaTation could not contribute to the cause
of the defeat because

mania to

it

was impossible for Ru-

who

resist alone those

attacked her.

General Hiritesco, former Second Chief of

the General Staff of the

Rumanian Army

with General Averesco and

wisest

and most

erals, said in

brilliant

and,

Her j en, one of the

of Rumanian gen-

the council of generals that

it is

absolute folly to believe that one could possibly

fight

army

on two fronts totaling 800 miles with an

of from 500,000 to 600,000

men even

though they were the very best that the world

could provide and armed sufficiently with the
completest modern instruments of war.

Rumania is a small and isolated country.

Her army could not be valuable except with the
immediate and complete help of the Russian
armies; but fatality, or rather Petrograd, was

not willing that the Russian

at the very

Army should move

moment when Rumania was playing

the most dangerous game.

116

CAUSES OF THE RUMANIAN DEFEAT

WANT

OF MORAL PREPARATION

But what do we understand by moral preparation? "The Rumanians lacked also the
hatred of the enemy."

To explain this thesis one of the critics

of the

"Le Mystere Roumain et la DefecRusse" states that the Rumanian soldier

author of
tion

had no reproach for the Turks, the Bulgarians,

or the Germans that they had only antipathy
;

for the

Hungarians

of Transylvania.
led

them to

as illegitimate possessors

"Neither hatred nor ideal

it."

These observations might lead one to believe that the

Rumanian

tantly, that he

and without

soldier fought reluc-

was wavering, without bravery

resistance; but

Mr. Stienon does

not draw these conclusions on the contrary, he

;

recognized at every step in his excellent book

the bravery and the sacrifice of the
soldier.
1

Rumanian

"I believe," he says, "that I have

Stienon, op.

cit.,

p. 318.

117

RUMANIA'S SACRIFICE
neglected no occasion to praise the individual
valor of the

Rumanian

soldier.

I recognize

that the morale preparation of the soldier to

enemy is useful though it is not indisBut the failure to do so does not

pensable.
constitute a cause for the Rumanian defeat." ^
It might happen that the preparation of the
hate his

soldier to hate or to love his future probable

enemy

One

or ally

is

useless

and even dangerous.

never knows the attitude which those in

power of a country may take sometimes

last

moment.

at the

Bulgaria gave a striking ex-

ample of such a

case.

There the people were

brought up to love and respect "Holy Russia."

The

least

among

the Bulgarians

knew

that

Russia had liberated them from the yoke of the

Turks and had always protected them. This

sentiment of love and gratitude was so deep
that in Russia everybody believed before the

war

that never

would a Bulgarian

soldier dare

to touch a soldier of the Russian czar.

iStienon, op. cit 319.

118

And

CAUSES OF THE RUMANIAN DEFEAT

even in Bulgaria they feared the effect of such

an education; on the other hand an element of

the Bulgarian religion tried to inspire hatred

among

the Bulgarian population against the

Rumanians.
Nevertheless in the struggles
place in Dobrudja,

v^^hich

the Bulgarian

took

soldiers

fought with the same bitterness against the

Russians as against the Rumanians and the

1

Mr. Oscar Spiresco published

newspapers an article

New York

in

November, 1917,

in

the

which he writes, among

other things: "I have read with interest in the Press of November 10 an excerpt of the Bulgarian 'Hymn of Hate,'
which reveals to the world the real mind of the Bulgarian people.
Quite futile it is for the Bulgarian minister in Washington to dismiss this damning revelation of the Bulgarian mind
by saying that the author of the Bulgarian 'Hymn of Hate' is
an unknown scrivener and that this hymn is an obscure utterance, for of all Bulgarian authors, Ivan ArnaudofF is one of
the most widely read and best qualified to express the spirit of
Bulgaria. In fact, for the very reason that Mr. Arnaudofif is
a leader of Bulgarian thought he enjoys his high position as
a member of the Bulgarian Board of Education. Ivan ArnaudofF is the mentor of his people, the Kipling of Bulgaria, and
well has he caught the spirit of his race in the demoniacal words
of the Bulgarian 'Hymn of Hate': 'Let not one stone rest on
another. Let not one child rejoice; not one old man lean on
his grandson's shoulders.

Throw

in

their skulls to the starving

there remain on the ruins your

skeletons and ghosts.'"

dogs;

let

119

hand has sown only

RUMANIA'S SACRIFICE
Serbs and
;

soldier

it is

important to remember that the

and the Bulgarian population showed

themselves just as ferocious against the Russian prisoners as against the Serbian or

They

manian.

Ru-

did not hesitate to disembowel,

to put out the eyes, to cut out the tongue, or to

allow their prisoners to die of hunger, whether

Rumanians, whether they were

they were

Serbs, or whether they were Russians.

Rumanian soldier has never known

hated the German soldier. Nevertheless he

But
or

the

threw himself with bayonet

in

hand against the

Germans with the same spirit as against the

Hungarian or the Bulgarian, sowing death
among them without any hesitation; but the
difference between the Rumanian and the Bulgarian

lies

over the

in the fact that after the battle

Rumanian is never capable

his prisoner

may

is

of touching

he be Hungarian, Turk, or

Bulgarian; on the contrary, he takes care of

him, and he yields him willingly,

if

necessary,

his last piece of bread, content with

having re-

120

CAUSES OF THE RUMANIAN DEFEAT

who has been conShould a Rumanian officer dare to

lieved the sufferings of one

quered.

give the order to his troops to massacre the

prisoners, the

women, the

children, or the old

men of the enemy, surely his order would be disobeyed by that very army which excels

where

soldier to escape to the

else-

Advise the Rumanian

in its discipline.

enemy, to no longer

lis-

ten to his leaders, to betray his native land,

all

During this
war one single Rumanian officer deserted to the
this is useless

he does not

listen.

No one was willing

enemy, but he went alone.

to follow him, not even his orderly,

who was
who

driving the automobile as chauffeur and

refused to enter the

enemy

be killed by his superior

lines,

officer

preferring to

rather than to

betray his duty as soldier.

Trotzky has had

the pretension to introduce

Maximalism

Rumania.

His agents did

rupt the Rumanian

sert their duty,

their

soldiers, to

into

utmost to corhave them de-

but with no success.

The Rumanian

soldier

121

is

not only the work

RUMANIA'S SACRIFICE
of discipline

it is

that guides him.

rather his personal character

Each

nation, or rather each

from

race, has characteristics inherited

cestors

and influenced more or

stances in the past of

garian

is

its

its

an-

less

by circum-

people.

The Bul-

brave and ferocious because

characteristic of his to be so; the

it is

Rumanian

is

brave and gentle for the same reason each one

;

of these retains the characteristics of his ances-

The Rumanian soldier is profoundly

conscientious.
Even before the war, during

tors.

the mobilization of 1913, also of 1916, the peas-

ant gave startling proofs of his great patriotism.

As an example we will

cite

but two cases

of the thousands that took place.

by the

Electrified

clarion which calls he leaves everything

and runs

to place himself

under the

flag.

The

Bukharests have noted with enthusiasm the

case of a peasant

tramway.

He

who was

was

the conductor of a

in the principal street of

Bukharest as a group of recruits was passing;

the bugle

was announcing
12S

in all the streets the

CAUSES OF THE RUMANIAN DEFEAT

The conductor stopped

general mobilization.

everybody seated therein, and went

to place himself in the ranks of those who were

his car, left

mobilized.
Sinaia, as a peasant

At

was passing peace-

fully with his cart loaded with merchandise, he

heard the clarion calling to arms.

begs the

his cart,

to his home,

first

He

passer-by to drive

and enters the group of

leaves
it

back

recruits,

although he yet had forty-eight hours' time in

which to report to
It

is

his regiment.

noticeable that in all the mobilization

only three or four per cent, failed to answer the

call.

The Rumanian peasant

telhgent,

and always ready

does not frighten him.

him

to hate the

fight.

enemy

It

calls

conscientious, in-

to face death.

is

It

not necessary for

in order to be able to

All that he needs

country

is

is

to

know

that his

him, that he must fight for her,

for this land which he so loves,

and that

he has understood; he knows

how

123

is all;

to do his

RUMANIA'S SACRIFICE
duty; he

fights, indifferent if his

enemy

garian, Bulgarian, or Russian.

soldier has

Hun-

This has been

largely proved during this war.

manian

is

The Ru-

fought with the same hero-

ism against the Bulgarians, the Turks, the

Germans, the Austro-Hungarians, and when

at last he

had to

fight against the Russians, his

companions of yesterday, he struck them with

such ardor that they were forced to surrender

A soldier must be filled with

or take to flight.

the desire to do his duty, to sacrifice himself for

his native land.

His

ideal

must be

with courage and abnegation to the

country, and

it

is

sacrifices

call of his

that which constituted the

moral education, that he has

he

to respond

his ideals for

himself without a

which

murmur and

without bitterness.

Before

this

world war one might have be-

lieved that the faculty of facing death belonged

rather to the least civilized people, those least

capable of reasoning, to those people with more

124


CAUSES OF THE RUMANIAN DEFEAT
or less warlike education; one could have be-

man

lieved that the

more

of to-day, accustomed to a

and more agreeable

intellectual

life,

would not be capable of enduring the miseries

of a war.

But

this

heroism

among
army

manifested

itself

surprises;

everywhere,

the peoples in the struggle;

is all

the greater

when we

and the

see that the

of the United States, organized at one

stroke
try,

has

all

surprise

war has given us great

among men educated

commerce,

specially in indus-

agriculture,

young army of a

business,

to

conducts

itself

this

civilized country, civilized

bottom and from bottom to

from top

on the

field of battle

top,

with an

enthusiasm and a heroism which equals that of

the most brilliant armies of warlike countries.

The Russians

alone have not reached this

height, although this population

civilized

and the

least

happy.

a people do when badly led?

sian soldier

is

good when he
125

is

is

the least

But what can

The true Ruswell disciplined

RUMANIA'S SACRIFICE
and well

led.

certain things

Perhaps there

may happen

is

yet time, for

to bring out the

who are to-day

but who to-mor-

patriotism of the true Russians

scattered without leadership,

row may redeem by

errors

their sacrifices so

and so many crimes.

126

many

CHAPTER

VIII

THE STRUGGLE WITH THE RUSSIANS AND THE GERMAN

ULTIMATUM

THE

Bolsheviki, not content with all the

misfortunes which Russia had caused

Rumania, gave the order for

leave

Rumania.

their

army

This retreat finished the

to

pil-

lage and the devastation of the country ; at the

same time the Rumanian minister

was

at

Petrograd

King Ferdinand was threatened

if Rumania did not consent to make

arrested,

with arrest

peace with the Central powers on the side of

the Bolsheviki.

Rumania refused

this

ulti-

matum of one ally, and then a Russian army of

several divisions advanced against

Rumania.

Immediately a part of the Rumanian

Army

was detached from the Sereth front and sent

against Russia.

RUMANIA'S SACRIFICE

Many
sians

battles took place

between the Rus-

and the Rumanians near Galatz.

Rumanian

soldiers

The

attacked with great en-

who were forced to

Bessarabia. The Rumanians

thusiasm the Russians,

withdraw into

pursued them, and a great battle took place

near Reiney in Bessarabia; 20,000 Russians

were made prisoners; the

Army

rest of the

Russian

withdrew in disorder, leaving a great

deal of ammunition in the hands of the

Ru-

manians.

All of Bessarabia was occupied by the troops

of

King Ferdinand, and

the

Rumanian

flag

was raised on the public buildings of the towns

and

villages of Bessarabia.

The Bolsheviki protested against

this occu-

pation, threatening to send against

Rumania

much
tice

larger forces at the

;

same time the armis-

between Rumania and the Central powers

had expired, and they were sending an

matum

to

wanted

to

ulti-

Rumania to determine whether she

make peace or continue the war to
128

^MiMi

imiMm

THE STRUGGLE WITH THE RUSSIANS

Herewith

the bitter end.

French press upon

this

the opinion of the

is

great event.

"Journal des Debats," February 11, 1918

(A. Gauvin).

We feel
this, their

deeply for our brave

new

trial.

We

Rumanian

friends in

should send them rather

encouragement than counsel, for one can hardly well

appreciate the situation except on the spot.

The

communications of the West with Jassy and Kief are

so slow and subjected to so

many

risks that

the most precious elements of appreciation.

we miss
Never-

more than likely that Rumania is not

exposed to an immediate offensive. The enemies'
troops are not very numerous in comparison to the
theless, it is

troops of King Ferdinand.

They are probably not

The

in a condition to bring about a decisive stroke.

Rumanian Government appears,

then, to have time

to appreciate the possibilities open to

more reassured on

the Russian side,

it

it.

If

it

is

might certainly

hold, at least during some time, against the Bulgaro-

Touranians.

If it should be attacked also on the

side of Ukraine, one dares not think of the extremities

to which

it

would be reduced.

"Le Temps," Febmary

rial).

129

11,

1918 (Edito-

RUMANIA'S SACRIFICE
The

Rumania, which has not been very

grievous for these long months past, is becoming
role of

again important.

This

is

the desired policy of the

enemy, affirmed by the parleying of Brest-Litovsk and

confirmed by the resolutions of Berlin.

The governments of Germany and Austria-Hungary are in haste to grasp the provisions of Ukraine.
They think, probably, that the best means to defend
their people against the Maximalist propaganda is to
feed them better.
But between the Central powers
and the port of Odessa, where the shipment of wheat
to reach the Danube might take place, there exists a
much more serious obstacle than the Maximalist anarchy against which the German newspapers fulminate; there is Rumania, that is to say, an organized
state, a patriotic nation, a robust army, which is
wanting neither in officers nor in material of war.
Thus it is not surprising that General Mackensen has
He would
called upon Rumania to negotiate peace.
like to set aside the watchman who is in front of the
granary. The summons sent to the Rumanians is an
attempt at intimidation rather than an attack.

But we must consider all the hypotheses, even the

one that Rumania should really be obliged to choose
between a war to the bitter end or a separate peace.

One cannot compromise with

the Austro-Germans.

pitiless

masters

like

Valiant Rumania, who has a

130

THE STRUGGLE WITH THE RUSSIANS

right to her liberty and her unity, has but one policy
to follow

enemy

that which Mr. Orlando

sistere, resistere, resisterel"

"Le

defined after the

when he exclaimed, "Re-

offensive of Venetia,

Petit Journal," February 10, 1918.

One has not forgotten that Rumania has adhered

Russian front.
But the heroic Rumanian Army, which
to the armistice which united the whole of the

has a strength of several hundred thousand men, the

Rumanian Government,

the

King and Queen of Ru-

mania, in a unanimous burst of patriotism have held

themselves aside from the negotiations of Russia with
the Central empires.

By

holding themselves as they have done until

they have forced

Germany and her

now

Allies to hold

themselves motionless far from the Western front,

both men and material.

In order to give

all

freedom of action to

his king,

Mr. Jean Bratiano, president of the council, who has

been in power during the past four years, and who on
the twenty-ninth of August, 1916, had associated
Rumania with the destinies of France and her allies,
has just handed in his resignation.

At
1

this

N. A.

hour so tragic
The advice

is

to eat in order to follow

in

her destiny Rumania can-

good, but one should have wherewith

it.

ISl

RUMANIA'S SACRIFICE
not ignore, no more than she has already done since
the

day when the grievous hours commenced for

that to yield to her enemies

but

it is

is

her,

not to appease them,

to render their appetite

more

insatiable.

Let us await what her wisdom and her heroism

shall

dictate to her.

"L'Homme
From

Paris

the situation of

Libre," February 10, 1918.

it is difficult

for us to judge exactly

Rumania and her army.

well rehabilitated,

guards jealously the

This army,
soil

which

the Austro-Boches have hesitated to attempt to take

away from

her.

The ultimatum

to

Rumania,

like

an

ultimatum to the Government of Petrograd, demands

troops and material.
tainous and

difficult,

On the Rumanian front, mounany advance appears yet more

hazardous.

known what is the state of revicarmy in provisions and munitions

there are unknown questions and difficult to solve, the
reply of King Ferdinand alone will show the value.
Whilst Trotsky seeks to enter upon "the game of
secret documents" with the German Government, as he
did with us, to the profit of our enemies, King Ferdinand prepares at Jassy the reply to the Mackensen
It remains to be

tualizing this

ultimatum.

Awaiting

this decision,

France can only

remind herself of the valor of her unfortunate

isa

ally.

THE STRUGGLE WITH THE RUSSIANS

"Echo de Paris," February

11,

1918 (Per-

tinax).
All our thoughts are with Rumania.

hope

We

must
army,

that, despite her critical condition, the

with an eifective force greatly superior to

those

all

who are opposed to her, upheld rather than weakened

by the heroic sacrifices already sustained, will remain
faithful to the duties of her alliance.
The last
thought of the French cabinet and, without doubt,
of the other Allied cabinets, has been expressed to

King Ferdinand and

to his counselors.

The

decision

rests with their consciences.

The German
preme attempt

policy displays at this

to obtain the

moment

a su-

disarmament of the only

great force which yet threatens between the Carpathians and the Ural.

"La

Victoire," Februarjr 10, 1918 (Gustave

Herve).
Poor Rumania
That Ukraine should anger us,
major democracies of the West, England, Italy, France, and America, we are large
enough after this treason not only to defend ourselves
against Germany, but to bring her to her knees.
!

we, the great

It

is

heroic

cowardly of Ukraine to stab in the back the

Rumanian Army, which, with her back

llSS

to the

RUMANIA'S SACRIFICE
frontiers of southern Russia, awaited against all

Army

a resurrection of the Russian

By

hope

in the fight.

Rumanian
Army, hands and feet bound, to Germany. Reduced
to a quarter of her territory, Rumania could only conher capitulation Ukraine delivers the

tinue to fight

if

Southern Russia continued to revict-

ualize her at the expense of the Allies

and munitions.

By

both as to food

withdrawing from the breeches

with this absolute irresponsibility the Ukrainians drive

unfortunate Rumania to capitulate herself.

Already

Rumanian

it is

announced that the President of the

Council, Bratiano, has handed in his resig-

nation and that Mackensen has just sent an ultimatum

to the

Rumanian Government

to

demand the conclud-

ing of peace within four days.

It

is

gay, when one

It

is

gay, when one

is
is

little

nation, to be our ally

a great nation, to be the ally

of Russia

"La

Febmaiy

Victoire,"

11,

1918 (Gustave

Herve)
anything more frightful than the situation
Rumania since Ukraine has consented to kiss the
German boot?
Is there

of

Neither the situation of unfortunate Serbia nor

the situation of

unhappy Belgium has anything to

be compared to this

134<

THE STRUGGLE WITH THE RUSSIANS

Independent Serbia

is

reduced to a shred of terri-

tory in the vicinity of Monastir; but the Serbian

army, solidly flanked and surrounded by English,

ian,

fear,

Ital-

Greek and French troops, can await, without

and without despair, the hour of vengeance.

Since October, 1916, there

is

left of free

Belgium

only a few hundred kilometers in the neighborhood of

the Yser, occupied by the Belgian army, but encom-

passed solidly by the English and French troops

noble

ance

army knows

little

well that the

hour of

the

deliver-

ring for the whole of Belgium and that she

will

will enter

one day in triumph into Ghent, into Ant-

werp, into Brussels, and into Liege.

The

fate

of the

Rumanian Army

is

otherwise

atrocious.

To-day it is a blow with a club on her rear.

Ukraine makes peace with the Central empires, and
Mackensen gives her four days to surrender. If

unhappy Rumania, betrayed by the Ukrainians, has

been driven to capitulate, it is not she who should
be blamed, but those who have reduced her to this
harsh extremity.

To

see

an Allied nation assassinated and to be

powerless to bring her any direct aid, what a heart-

ache for

And more particuFrenchmen who have so many causes to

new martyred people !"
all

the Western Allies

larly for us

love this

135

RUMANIA'S SACRIFICE
"Le Figaro," February
The Rumanian Army, on

11,

1918 (Polybe).

the contrary, has never

yet been more strong, better disciplined, or better

provided with artillery.

In the course of a long and

frightful tragedy she has given proof of a tried en-

durance and of a valor worthy of an epic poem.

Some one

said one

"half war."

It

is

day that she was making but a

a whole war that she has fought

against the "Quadruplice," and, alas, also against

the Russian troops.

few divisions are established

solidly in Bessarabia, a region as fertile as Ukraine,

with

infinite fields

of wheat, rich

fields

where are pas-

Never has glory made

more of a halo for the "head of Auroch" in the coat
Mackensen, I acknowledge,
of arms of Moldavia
plays his game, but while playing it he allows his

tured herds of ostriches.

cards to be seen!

This should be enough to dictate to the Entente

There are no circumstances in the world

Everywhere there is
something to be done; at Jassy, at Petrograd, and
again elsewhere. There is something to be done withJapan
out delay for all the peoples of the Entente.

her duty.

where

is

it

should await events.

one of these people

Sun."

it is

the

"Empire of

the Rising

Will she permit that another sun shall

rise

out of the shadow to mount the heavens of extreme

Asia?

136

CHAPTER IX

RUMANIA AND PEACE

RUMANIA

has concluded a peace

peace imposed, but not desired.

Isolated and without help, unable to obtain

food or materials of war, the Rumanian

found

itself

Army

squeezed in front by Mackensen,

strangled in the rear by Russia, and menaced

on the north by German

forces,

which operated

on the Russian front, but which had been

erated by the desertion of the

The

disaster

honor:

we

army,

which

was complete;

all

all

of Lenine.

was

lost save

did retain the honor of our valiant

had

struggled

manner

of

with

own
privations; we

against the enemy, against

against

army

lib-

137

its

heroism
ally,
still

and
kept

RUMANIA'S SACRIFICE
the admiration of the whole world for this brave

population which suffered with resignation the

invasion of the enemy, sickness without medical
help, starvation,

and pillage by the Russian

Army.
The government of Bratiano, which with
Take Jonesco, made the war, became frightened at the result of their
at the critical
to

moment

Mr. Marghiloman,

acts,

resigned and fled

the king then appealed

chief of the Conservative

party, in order that he might take

the re-

He accepted this

sponsibility of the situation.

charge and concluded a peace.

man

up

Mr. Marghilo-

has been from the very beginning of the

European

War

constantly on the side of neu-

trality.

A protest of several Rumanian organizations

against the Treaty of Bukharest was received

from Paris through

The

official

French channels.

dispatch follows

A protest

against the Treaty of Bukharest, signed

by the committee of the Paris Rumanian colony, by

188

RUMANIA AND PEACE

the committee of Rumanians from Transylvania and
Bukowina, and by the delegates of the Committee of
Oppressed Nationalities says

"The Rumanian people have been crossed from the

of free nations.
The peace imposed upon Rumania by the Central powers is the very negation of

list

the political and economic independence of our country.

It

violence

is an act of hatred and vengeance done with

and with utter disregard of the most ele-

mentary principles of

justice.

"might succeeds over bight

"The Rumanian people cannot accept

it.

Her

enemies imposed upon her what they call a peace

based on German friendship.

In fact, it is the most

and insulting subjection: military subjection
through the loss of the Carpathian range; political
subjection through German interference in all the
cruel

great state administrations; commercial subjection

through the theft of Dobrudja, the only maritime

province of Rumania, and through the domination
established

by the Germans over the Danubian navigamonopoly of

tion; industrial subjection through the

the most important mineral wealth of the country

the oils

financial

established

subjection through the control

by the Germans over the

the country

cereals.

139

chief

product of

RUMANIA'S SACRIFICE
"Such

the political

is

and economic slavery to

the Germans intend to subject Rumania.

Might succeeded over right. Germany has trampled
under foot the sacred principles of liberty and jus-

which

tice for

which

all

nations, united, fight.

FREE RUMANIANS PROTEST

The

Rumanians who

free

live in

the land of noble

France raise their voices in protest against the

monstrous crime. The Bukharest act is not a peace
treaty

it

is

an evident contradiction of the idea

of peace as the civilized world understands

it.

The

clauses of this treaty excluded very plainly the free

consent of Rumania.

It

is

one more act of hard vio-

lence imposed by a pitiless enemy.

The Rumanian people, left without arms before the

German bayonets, no more enjoying any freedom in
and opinions, cannot express a protest
peace of spoliation and subjection. But

their actions

against this

they turn to their great

hope.

The

interests

allies in full

of the

confidence and

Rumanian nation are

Western democracies.
Rumania at the door of the Balkan Peninsula, is the
only barrier against German invasion toward the
In the name of the Rusouth and toward Asia.
people
declare
that to-day as yesterday
manian
we
we are the allies of the Entente powers, and we prosolidly with those of the great

140

RUMANIA AND PEACE

claim that the Treaty of Bukharest, with

and added conventions,

It

is

posed

is

null

and

all classes

void.^

true that peace under the conditions im-

is

Rumania, but what

disastrous for

else

could be done ?

The question was how to keep out of this mis-

By

erable situation.

the time peace

was con-

was complete.

All Mr.

Marghiloman could accomplish was

to salvage

cluded, the disaster

bits from the wreckage.

By this peace Rumania loses in the first place

Dobrudja, which

is

a large part of her territory,

comprising the land between the Danube and

the Black Sea, where Kustendje

is

situated,

her only deep-sea port.

Rumania, by reason of her geographical position,

had as

ports to
across

sole

Western Europe two ways, one by

the

too costly

and

mercy of Hungary, who

will

The

places her at the

From

rail

Austria-Hungary, the other by the

Black Sea.

communication for her ex-

first

New York

route

"Tribune,"

141

is

May

30, 1918.

RUMANIA'S SACRIFICE
cause worse

difficulties

henceforth than in the

past; the second remains

through the Black

Sea.

By the treaty of peace New Dobrudja passes

into the hands of Bulgaria,
part, Ancient

and the northern

Dobrudja, goes to the Central

powers.

Ancient Dobrudja belonged to Rumania

(Wallachia)
later

it fell

before the fourteenth century;

under the domination of the Turks

and afterwards was ceded

to

by the Congress of Berlin.

Rumania
It

in

had a popula-

tion of 300,000, of which 70 per cent,

Rumanians

the rest were

1878

were

composed of Turks,

Bulgarians, Germans, and Itahans.

In 1913

by the peace of Bukharest Rumania obtained a

small part of Bulgaria, about 5000 square
miles,

known under

brudja.
is

In

name of New Dothe Rumanian element

the

this region

in the minority, the majority of the popula-

tion being

Turks and Bulgarians.

Rumania spent

large sums of

142

money

for the

RUMANIA AND PEACE

development of Ancient Dobrudja.

The Tur-

kish villages were transformed into fine

The

Kustendje became a

village of

port.

Bridges,

etc.,

opened great

Great

railroads,

schools,

cities.

first-class

hospitals,

possibilities in this province.

installations for the depots of grain

and petroleum destined for export were made

at Kustendje,

and

this

port was bound to the

centers of the country

by a

pipe-line.

Do-

brudja represented the lungs of Rumania.

She could breathe she had no access to the sea

;

except here.
Besides

all this,

Rumania had

rectifications of boundaries

on the

to submit to
side of

Hun-

gary; the conditions are not as yet known; but

the

demands

will

no doubt include her great

wealth of forests, petroleum, and minerals.

It

is

true that the treaty of peace

is

made

without "indemnities" of war, but the value of

outweighs

the land annexed

is

any indemnity.

The formula "No annexa-

tions,

so great that

no indemnities," adopted
143

in

it

March, 1917,

RUMANIA'S SACRIFICE
by the Reichstag, and even by the chancelors
Michaelis and Hertling, has been completely

on the occasion of

set aside

peace.

this

unfortunate

Besides annexation the Central powers

reserve for themselves the right of requisition

of all kinds of food on the production of 1918

and many more humiliating and burdensome

conditions.

It

is

understood that

this

peace had produced

great satisfaction in the military-political

cles of
if it

Austria and Germany, but

made

we doubt

the same impression on the industrial

and commercial

Rumania

cir-

circles of these

two

countries.

has been one of their best customers.

She imports each year merchandise to the value

of 590,012,640

mately

lei

(which represents approxi-

$100,100,000)

and

alone she buys 237,810,146

Austria 138,122,076

At

the

lei

lei

Germany

worth, from

worth.

same time German

tributed greatly to the

Rumania,

from

capital

con-

home manufactures

of

establishing factories in the country,

144

RUMANIA AND PEACE

thus avoiding the heavy taxes which had been

imposed by the Rumanian Government to protect these newly estabhshed industries, as well
as in the production of petroleum.

and Austria should have,

no

then,

Germany
interest in

crushing a country which had been one of their

best markets

and exceedingly

profitable for the

capital.

By

Dobrudja Rumania is closed

in on every side, with no access to the sea, and
she is condemned to a sure and slow death.
She cannot recover from her disaster.
the loss of

Whatever may be the

conditions,

should be outrageous, even

if

even

her outlets and her independence, Rumania

peace, for she cannot do otherwise.

ably be some people who

There

will find in

sad courage to reproach her for

bow with

they

if

they should take away

this.

will

will

sign

prob-

themselves the

As

for us, we

respect before her misfortune.^

We herewith reproduce the text of the treaty

of peace published in an American newspaper,

"The
1

New York

Times,"

May

"Journal de Geneve," March 1918

145

9,

(Wm.

1918:
M.).

RUMANIA'S SACRIFICE

RUMANIA SHACKLED BY TREATY

WITH FOE
Text

of the

Document shows the Kingdom

Teuton domination

is

com-

pletely under

JOY EXPRESSED BY KAISER

He

sajs the

German people are fighting

for a happy future

The peace

treaty just signed between

step

by step

Rumania and

the Central powers consists of eight clauses, says a

Vienna dispatch to-day.

It reads

CLAUSE

Reestablishment of Peace and of Friendship

Germany, Austria-Hungary, Bulgaria,

Article I.
and Turkey, on the one hand, and Rumania, on the
other, declare the state of war ended and that the
contracting parties are determined henceforth to

live

together in peace and friendship.

Article II.

Diplomatic and consular relations be-

tween the contracting parties

diately

will

be resumed imme-

after the ratification of the peace treaty.

The admission

of consuls will be reserved for a future

agreement.

146

RUMANIA AND PEACE

CLAUSE U
Demobilization of the Rumanian Forces
Article III.

Army, which
peace

is

is

The demobilization of the Rumanian

now proceeding, will immediately after

signed be carried out according to the pre-

scriptions contained in Articles I and VII.

Article

IV.

The regular

military

supreme military authorities, and

all

bureau,

institutions will remain in existence as provided

The

the last peace budget.

the

the military

by

demobilization of divi-

sions 11 to 15 will be continued as stipulated in the

treaty of Focsani signed on

Rumanian divisions 1
vision now employed

March

to 10, the
in

8, last.

Of the

two infantry

di-

Bessarabia, including the

Jaeger battalions, which are the remnants of dissolved

Jaeger divisions, and including two cavalry divisions
of the

Rumanian Army,

until the

will remain on a war footing

danger arising from military operations now

being carried on in the Ukraine by the Central powers

ceases to exist.

The remaining

eight divisions, including the staff,

shall be maintained in

Moldavia at the reduced peace

composed of four
infantry regiments, two cavalry regiments, and one
strength.

Each

division will be

battalion of pioneers, together with the necessary

technical transport troops.

147

The

total

number of the

RUMANIA'S SACRIFICE
infantry of the eight divisions shall not exceed 20,000

men; the total number of cavalry shall not exceed

8200; the entire artillery of the Rumanian Army,
apart from the mobile divisions, shall not exceed
9000 men. The divisions remaining mobilized in
Bessarabia must, in case of demobilization, be reduced
to the same peace standard as the eight divisions

mentioned

in Article IV.

All other

peace time

Rumanian troops that did not

will at the

military service remain as in peace time.

shall not be called

exist in

end of their term of active

up for training

Reservists

until a general

peace has been concluded.

Article

V.

Guns,

machine-guns,

small

arms,

horses, and cars, and ammunition which are available

owing to the reduction or the dissolution of the Rumanian units shall be given into the custody of the
supreme command of the Allied (Teutonic) Forces in
Rumania until the conclusion of a general peace.
They shall be guarded and superintended by Rumanian troops under supervision of the Allied command. The amount of ammunition to be left to the
Rumanian Army in Moldavia is 250 rounds for each
rifle, 2500 for each machine-gun, and 150 for each
gun.

The Rumanian Army

is

entitled to

exchange

unserviceable material at the depots of the occupied

region, in agreement with the Allied supreme com-

148

RUMANIA AND PEACE

mand, and to demand from the depots the equivalent
The divisions in Rumania
of ammunition spent.
which remain mobilized will receive their ammunition
requirements on a war basis.

The demobilized Rumanian troops

Article VI.

to

remain in Moldavia until the evacuation of the occupied

Rumanian

regions.

Excepted from this proand men mentioned in

vision are military bureaus

Article V,

who

are required for the supervision of

the arms and material laid

The men and

reserve officers

down in these regions.

who have been demobil-

ized can return to the occupied regions.

formally active

officers require, in

Active and

order to return to

these regions, permission of the chief

army command

of the Allied forces.

Article VII.

powers, with

general staff

staff, will

officer

of the Allied

be attached to the Rumanian

commander-in-chief in Moldavia, and a Rumanian

general-staff officer, with staff, will be attached as

command of the
Rumanian districts.
The Rumanian naval forces

liaison officer to the chief

Allied

forces in the occupied

Article VIII.
left to their full

will

be

complement and equipment, in so far

as their crews, in accordance with Article

not to be limited until affairs

in

IX, are

Bessarabia are clear,

whereupon these forces are to be brought to the usual

peace standard. Excepted herefrom are river forces

149

RUMANIA'S SACRIFICE
required for the purposes of river police, and naval
forces on the Black Sea employed for the protection

of maritime

and the restoration of mine-free

traffic

Immediately

fairways.

the

after

peace treaty these river forces

signing

of

the

on a basis of

will,

special arrangement, be placed at the disposal of the

authorities intrusted with river policing.

cal

Black Sea commission

will reserve

The

nauti-

the right of dis-

posing of the naval forces on the Black Sea, and a

naval

officer is to

be attached to this commission in

order to restore connection therewith.

Article IX.

who

in

All

men serving

in the

army and navy

peace time were employed in connection with

harbors or shipping shall on demobilization be the

first to

be dismissed in order that they

ployment

in their

may

find

em-

former occupations.

CLAUSE

III

Cessions of Territory Outlined in Articles

X, XI,

and XII

X. With regard to Dobrudja, which, according to Paragraph I of the peace preliminaries, is

to be added by Rumania, the following stipulations
are laid down: (a) Rumania cedes again to Bulgaria,
Article

with frontier rectifications, Bulgarian territory that

fell

to her

Bukharest

by virtue of the peace treaty concluded at

in 1913.

150

RUMANIA AND PEACE

A

commission composed of representatives of the

Allied powers shall shortly after the signature of the

down and demarkate on the spot the new

The Danube frontier befrontier line in Dobrudja.
tween the regions ceded to Bulgaria and Rumania foltreaty lay

Directly after the signature of

lows the river valley.

upon
Thus the

the treaty further particulars shall be decided

regarding the definition of the valley.

demarkation
water

shall take place in

autumn, 1918, at low

level.

(b)
tion of

Rumania cedes to the Allied powers that porDobrudja up to the Danube north of the new

frontier line described under section (a)

that

is

to

say, between the confluence of the stream and the

Black Sea, to the

The Danube

St.

George branch of the

river.

frontier between the territory ceded to

the Allied powers and

river valley.

The

Rumania

will

Allied powers

be formed by the

and Rumania

will

undertake to see that Rumania shall receive an assured trade route to the Black Sea, by

way

of Tcher-

navoda and Kustendje.

Article
frontiers

XI
shall

says that

undergo

Rumania agrees that the

rectification

in

favor

of

Austria-Hungary as indicated on the map and continues

Two

mixed commissions, to be composed of equal

numbers of representatives of the powers concerned,

151

RUMANIA'S SACRIFICE
are immediately after the ratification of the peace
treaty to

fix

a new frontier line on the spot.

Property

Article XII.

Rumania passes without

in

which acquire these regions.

the ceded territories fall shall

Rumania on

the ceded regions of

indemnification to the states

Those states to which

make agreements with

the following points

First, with regard

Rumanian inhabitants of these

manner in which they are to be ac-

to the allegiance of the

regions and the

corded the right of option

secondly, with regard to

the property of communes split by the new frontier

thirdly and fourthly, with regard to administrative

and juridical matters

fifthly,

effect of the changes of territory

IV
XIII

Clause
Article

war

deals with

with regard to the

on dioceses.

indemnities, of which

declares that the contracting parties

mutually renounce indemnification of their war costs,

and

special

arrangements are to be made for the

set-

tlement of damages caused by the war.

The

fifth clause relates

to the evacuation of occu-

pied territories, embodied in articles

summed up as follows
The occupied Rumanian
army

to

XXIV,

territories shall be evacu-

ated at times to be later agreed upon.

of the

XIV

The strength

of occupation shall, apart from the

formation employed in economical functions, not surpass six divisions.

Until the ratification of the treaty

152

RUMANIA AND PEACE

the present occupation administration continues, but

immediately after the signature of the treaty the Ru-

manian Government has the power to supplement the

corps of officials by such appointments or dismissals
as may seem good to it.

Up

to the time of evacuation a civil official of the

occupation administration shall always be attached to

the Rumanian ministry in order to facilitate so far
as possible the transfer of the civil administration

to the
ities

Rumanian

The Rumanian author-

authorities.

must follow the directions which the command-

ers of the

army

of occupation consider requisite in

the interest of the security of the occupied territory,

as well as the security, maintenance, and distribution

of their troops.

For
will

the present, railways, posts, and telegraphs

remain under military administration and

will, in

accordance with proper agreements, be at the

posal of the authorities and population.
eral rule the

Rumanian courts

will

As

dis-

a gen-

resume jurisdiction

in the occupied territories to their full extent.

The

Allied powers will retain jurisdiction, as well as the

power of police supervision, over those belonging to

the army of occupation.

army

Punishable acts against the

of occupation will be judged

tribunals,

and

by

its

military

also offenses against the orders of the

occupation administration.

153

Persons can only return

RUMANIA'S SACRIFICE
to the occupied territories in proportion as the

Ru-

manian Government provides for

and

maintenance.
requisition

is

The army

their security

of occupation's

right to

restricted to corn, peas, beans, fodder,

wool, cattle, and meat from the products of 1918,

and, further, to timber,

oil,

and

oil

products, always

observing proper regard for an orderly plan of pro-

curing these commodities, as well as satisfying the

home needs

From
army

of Rumania.

the ratification of the treaty onwards the

of occupation shall be maintained at the expense

of Rumania.

separate agreement will be made with

regard to the details of the transfer of the

civil

ad-

ministration, as well as with regard to the withdrawal

of the regulation of the occupation administration.

Money

spent by the Allied powers in the occupied ter-

on public works, including industrial undermade good on their transfer. Until

the evacuation these undertakings shall remain under
ritories

takings, shall be

the military administration.

CLAUSE

VI

Regulations Regarding Navigation on the Danube

Rumania shall conclude a new

Article XXIV.
Danube navigation act with Germany, Austria-Hungary, Bulgaria, and Turkey, regulating the legal
154

RUMANIA AND PEACE

position on the

Danube from the point where

it

be-

comes navigable, with due regard for the prescrip-

A to D,
and on conditions that the prescriptions under Section B shall apply equally for all parties to the
tions subsequently set forth under Sections

Danube act. Negotiations regarding the new

Danube navigation act shall begin at Munich as soon
as possible after the ratification of the treaty.

(A) Under the name Danube

The sections follow
Mouth Commission the European Danube Commis:

sion shall, under conditions subsequently set forth, be

maintained as a permanent institution empowered

with the privileges and obligations hitherto appertaining to

it

for the river from Braila downwards,

inclusive of this port.

provide
shall

among

The

conditions referred to

other things that the

commission

henceforth only comprise representatives of

Danube or the European coasts

The commission's authority ex-

states situated on the

of the Black Sea.

tends from Braila downwards to the whole of the

arms and mouth of the Danube and adjoining parts
of the Black Sea.

(B) Rumania guarantees to the ships of the

other contracting parties free navigation on the Rumanian Danube, including the harbors. Rumania
shall levy no toll on ships or rafts of the contracting
155

RUMANIA'S SACRIFICE
parties and their cargoes merely for the navigation

of the river.

Neither shall Rumania in the future

levy on the river any tolls save those permitted by the

new Danube Navigation Act,

156

CHAPTER X

THE UNION OF BESSARABIA AND

RUMANIA

FROM
lowing

Basle, Switzerland,
notices

of

the

come the

fol-

telegrams

ex-

changed between Mr. Marghiloman, Prime

Minister of Rumania, and Mr. C. C. Arion,
minister of foreign affairs.

Mr. Marghiloman

telegraphed from Kisineu (a large city in Bessarabia)

After two days of deliberation the Diet of Bessarabia has voted solemnly the reunion of Bessarabia
to

Rumania on

the ninth of April, 1918, at seven

o'clock in the evening,

ten.

the

by eighty-six

voices against

I have taken cognizance of this vote, and in

name

of the

Rumanian people

I have proclaimed

the union in the midst of indescribable enthusiasm.

At

eight o'clock in the evening divine service took

157

RUMANIA'S SACRIFICE
Everybody rejoiced. I am
A. Marghiloman.

place in the cathedral.

happy.

Mr. Arion

replied:

Right has conquered.

all

my

I congratulate you with

heart for this brilliant success.

The wounds

of the country shall find some amelioration.

The important

act which ratifies this union con-

new strength for Rumania, who has become

Long live RuLong live Bessarabia
greater.
fers

C. C. Arion.

mania!

It

is

incontestable that the union of Bes-

sarabia with

Rumania

constitutes a claim to

glory for the Govern-

ment of Mr. Marghilo-

AUSTRIA-,

man and

same

at the

time a great consolation

for

Rumania.

This province was a

part of
1812,

when Russia occupied

Rumania
it

until

without any

other claim than that of force; three parts of

the population

is

Rumanian.
158

After the

fall

of

BESSARABIA AND RUMANIA

the czarist regime, Bessarabia was proclaimed

an independent republic under the name of The

Republic of Moldavia.

On the occasion of her union to Rumania the

National Council of Bessarabia adopted a resolution

which

which contains the conditions under

this

union

is

made, and which commences

with this declaration:

The Moldavian people's republic, lying between the

Pruth, the Dniester, the Danube, and the Black Sea,
and the old Austrian frontiers, which more than a
hundred years ago had been torn away from old Moldavia, is now permanently uniting with the Rumanian
fatherland on the basis of historical and national
rights, as well as of the right of self-determination

of peoples.^

iThe "New York Tribune."

159

CHAPTER XI

THE CAUSES THAT DETERMINED

PEACE

TO

enable the reader to understand the

causes that determined the

Rumanian

Government, presided over by Mr. Marghilo-

man, to conclude peace, we reproduce the appeal

made by

the

Queen

of

Rumania

American people, and published

in several

to the

in July, 1917,

newspapers of various

cities in

the

United States:
Death, in
try

all its

forms, has broken

down my coun-

the sword, flames, and invasion, famine and sick-

Lands have been taken away from us, hope has

been destroyed, and cities and villages devastated.
That which yet remains of our country is overrun by

ness.

the terrible inpouring of those

from

the brutalities of the

who saved themselves

Our hospitals are

enemy.

160

CAUSES THAT DETERMINED PEACE

overfilled,

our food insufBcient.

In vain do we strug-

gle against the storm which already crushes us.

But we have not yet lost courage. Step by step,

we struggle for the blessed land of our native
country no sacrifice is too hard, no suffering is too
great.
But the terrible want of food faces us. For
a long time I have had good and faithful friends
;

among
they

the Americans; I

will help

my

therefore, sure that

am

me what

and medicinal

unable to procure,
supplies,

feel,

people by sending

may

so that I

clothing,

food,

not remain powerless be-

fore the tears of a nation in torment.

Many

words are

grief-stricken.

useless.

Must

I insist

Rumania
more?

is

desperate,

I await help

from the great and generous hearts of America. Do

not leave my hands empty, when mothers and children, soldiers and wounded, call to me in their incredible

misery!

And

again:

QUEEN MARIE CABLES PRESSING NEEDS

OF THE RUMANIANS
Jassy, Rumania, July 26.
(Delayed.)

Having heard of the generous suggestion

in the

Chicago "Daily News" that an appeal be made on

161

UUM A XIA^
nf

HT iiDSTTliilt,,

SACRIFICE

I viih

t.:

exrre?;? tr

it f-'^^

to

.-iaibes.

5T of PletBigri^

Xew^" Juhr 27, 1917:

>5 ry jassy

^^r
-

z^

:i
:

-T

ispfltcb

ZZ-.

fram

lis

Bssset D^|li^:

ttere JsgT-T

C'

CAUSES THAT DETERMINED PEACE

The need

help for the sick troops.

is

so dire that

blessings will be lavished on the donors by the sufferers.

at libertT to quote the exact text, bat

am not

the Queen's letter, which

is

in her o-wn handwriting,

corroborates the news from numerous source that

the health situation in northern Rumania is extremely
An intelligent censorship will recognize the
bad.
desirabilitT of obtaining wide publicity of this fact,

as hushing it

up would simply be dealing a

cruel blow

to our suffering Allies, depriving them of aid from

abroad.
I have recently found numerous letters in the Russian press describing the health situation in Jassy

almost

as appalling

as

bad

Xish in the spring

rampant, compelling

as at

Contagious disease is
of 1915.
the constant destruction of bedding and hospital garments.

Pending the call for bedding and garments for

American troops in France, the urgent crisis at
Jassy demands prompt and generous aid- If every
American woman now making bandages and garments
for the Red Cross would put aside one day's output
next week for i)est-ridden Jassy, where Queen Marie
herself is working from early in the morning till late
at night as hard as any other hospital nurse, it would
greatly improve the situation, save numerous lives,

163

RUMANIA'S SACRIFICE
and earn the deep gratitude of the Queen and of
the nation.

Following these touching appeals, Chicago

In other

subscribed $35.00.

were almost
States

who

The people

nil.

have

nobility of heart,

cities

wealth,

the results

of the United

generosity,

and

and who have given hundreds

of millions of dollars to relieve the suffering

of the French, Belgian, Serbian, and

negrin population

have

not, apparently,

able to appreciate the suffering of

We

Monte-

can only explain

this

been

Rumania.

by laying the

blame on the former Rumanian Government,

which did not place before the American public

the

Rumanian

cause before and after her

entrance into war.

Official

Rumania has not reached

Individuals,

propaganda for

the United States.

Rumanians, have

tried to

do some-

thing in this direction; but their work, without

Rumanian Government,
weak results.

the support of the

could only obtain

In

New

York,

at

43 Cedar Street, a cornier

CAUSES THAT DETERMINED PEACE

Rumanian Relief of
patronage of Queen Marie

mittee was formed, the

America, under the

of Rumania, and under the direction of two

Mr. Breck Trow-

distinguished Americans,

bridge and Mr. T. Tileston Wells, our very-

sympathetic Consul, aided by the delightful

Mrs.

and Madame

McVickar

Orghidan, as honorary secretaries.

mittee, during the
ceived,

We

up

to now,

month

Constantin
This com-

of April, 1917, re-

some $10,000.

are profoundly grateful to all these

charitable people for the interest they have

shown

in relieving the suffering of the

nian population.
to the

We

Ruma-

also feel very grateful

American Red Cross, which sent a com-

mission to Jassy with doctors and medicinal

supplies.

The "Rumanian Review"

of Chicago, in

by Mr. H.

March, 1918, pubhshed an

article

Gideon Wells, a professor

at the University

of Chicago.

Mr. Wells was a member of the

special mission,

under the direction of Lieu165

ROLINIA'S SACRIFICE
Henry W. Anderson, sent
Rumania by the Red Cross to relieve the

tenant- Colonel

fering of the population.

said, in

JVIr.

into

suf-

Wells's article

part

One of the most striking impressions we all had

on reaching Jassy was the sense of order and highspirited endeaTor that prevailed in the provisional

capital

an impression which,

anything, grew as

if

we saw the rest of Moldavia. Everywhere there was

good discipline, industry, and an evident spirit of
zeal and loyal purpose that refused to yield to disaster or to submit to any invader, whether Hun,
After suffering unSlav, or epidemic and famine.
expected and overwhelming military disaster, followed by one of the most serious epidemics of modern times, augmented by famine, cold, and privation of almost all the necessities of life, the Rumanian
people were

still

unconquered.

ers to the peasants, all were

From

the royal lead-

working unceasingly

and together for the salvation of

their country,

and

for that alone.

shown by all was

Everywhere there was a lack of
everv material supply. There was sufficient of nothing, and of many needed materials there were none
yet reorganization was going forward despite these
166

The

spirit of unselfish devotion

most impressive.

CAUSES THAT DETERMINED PEACE

were no nails to be had, barracks
were built without nails. If there was no wood,
clay and mud were made to serve, and there seemed to
be no difficulty that could not be overcome in some

handicaps.

way.

If there

The ingenuity

of the peasants in using the

materials that came to their hands was everywhere

manifested.

The

surgical

supplies

were

correspondingly

meager, with barely enough dressings and ordinary

supplies for the day's work, a dearth of rubber
goods of aU kinds, a severe shortage of chemicals,

and no reserves to meet serious emergencies or an

unexpected rush of freshly wounded soldiers. Likewise the food for the population was at a minimum
there was enough wheat to last only until January,

enough corn until April, meat enough only to provide a luxury to be enjo^^ed but once a week, and
other food supplies only occasional and not to be
relied

upon.

had survived since

the beginning of the war, or had been brought or
worn in fleeing from Wallachia for there had been
practically no new supplies to be obtained in
Moldavia or to bring from outside. Even in September and October, the months of harvest and
plenty, we found many of the refugees and the

The people had such

clothes as

families

evacuated from behind the line suffering

167

RUMANIA'S SACRIFICE
severely from their privations.

Diseases due to de-

ficiencies in the diet, especially to deficiencies in quality,

were extremely prevalent among those unfor-

tunate people.

Pellagra,

"war dropsy," and dysen-

tery were especially abundant.

The

full

supply in most places was known to be

al-

together inadequate for the coming winter, and there

was no prospect of remedying

warm

clothing.

even the
footgear.

Russian

army could not

And

this deficiency

with

Shoes were almost unobtainable, and

be supplied with proper

everywhere were scattered clouds of

soldiers,

always hungry, always

idle

cept in foraging, always a reminder to the

ex-

Ruma-

nians of their own unmerited misfortunes, but always

an example of the results of disorder, disorganization, and lack of national unity.

We violate no confidence in saying that we found
both the American Red Cross and the American
Government willing and anxious to do all that they
.

possibly can to help their sorely afflicted Ally

and

the measure of what they do for Rumania will be determined by what the conditions in Russia permit,

rather than by what America will try to do.^

The

brave struggle Rumania has made to stand on her

own

feet since her disaster arouses the admiration

1 Unfortunately, circumstances did not permit one to take

other measures to aid Rumania.

168

CAUSES THAT DETERMINED PEACE

of all

who know

of

it,

and makes them zealous to help

her because of her own zeal to help herself.

H. Gideon Wells.

Having read

the appeal of the

Queen and

the recollections of Professor Wells,

to understand that

tion of
plies

if

in

want of hospital sup-

clothing, her situation

must have been

much worse

in February, 1918,

parleys were

commenced

interval

easy

in July, 1917, the popula-

Rumania was

and

it is

when peace

especially as

in the

no amelioration had taken place.

Surrounded entirely by enemies, without the

possibility of
lies,

any communication with the Al-

the population

of

Rumania was

con-

demned to die of hunger.

The surplus of refugee population from
parts occupied by the enemy increased
number

of those

who themselves had

In the

cities

become so dense that many

the

neither

food nor clothing nor the wherewithal to

themselves.

the

warm

the population had

families

were forced

to sleep in the streets, in garrets, in cellars, or in

169

RUMANIA'S SACRIFICE
the hallways of houses almost too overcrowded.

Epidemics made nmnerous victims, and the

want of

food, medical supplies,

creased this danger.

In

less

and

fuel in-

than three months

of the winter of 1916, 300,000 persons of those

who

inhabited cities perished;

000

soldiers

died

their country,

to

150,-

and many

diseases;

of

wounded, who fought

more than

defend the honor of

became infected and died for

the want of medical and surgical help.

In the

winter of 1917 and 1918 the losses were equally

severe.

In the
if

villages the situation

was even worse,

such a thing were possible.

arrived there.

made

Famine had

Children perished.

desperate by

Mothers,

their inability to feed their

starving children, were seen throwing themselves into rivers or wells to

put an end to their

mental and physical torture.

Add
of

to all this pillage, murder, the violation

women by drunken Russian soldiers, to com-

plete the chain of suffering which a people

170

had

CAUSES THAT DETERMINED PEACE

of civilbeen forced to undergo in this century
No other country has suffered so
ization.
vitally as

No

Rumania.

other country has

numbers
seen her sons disappear in such great
Rumania.
and with such frightful rapidity as

And,

at the

same time, no other country has

result of
suffered to the degree that she has as a
criticism of
the indifference and even the

former friends.

King Ferdinand,
ment

at the

opening of Parha-

in Jassy, declared that the prolongation

war had sapped Rumania's strength to

peace
the point of exhaustion and that a forced
was necessary for her existence.
To the telegram in which Prime Minister
Marghiloman announced to the King that
of the

peace was concluded, the King replied:

peace at
In taking cognizance of the treaty of
Rumanian
other
the
Bukharest, I thank you and
labor which
delegates for the difficult and devoted
rights
you have accomplished for the defense of our
in these grievous hours.

171

RUMANIA'S SACRIFICE
As

the

King and

in the future of

as a

my

Rumanian, I put

all

my

hope

brave and valiant country and

people, and I thank you for the assurance of confidence which

you have

in the prosperity

strength of the country under

my

and the
and

direction

that of the dynasty.

It

is

plain that the causes that determined

Rumania

to conclude peace

absolute helplessness.

were famine and

Without

this

peace the

very existence of the country was at stake.

Following are some of the newspaper com-

ments on Rumania's action:

Rumanian has just signed a peace of
She could not hope for any other. Under
ditions

disaster.

the con-

where the treason of the Czarist Government,

represented by the

Emperor and Empress and Rasby the treason of the

putin, had led her, and also

revolutionary

Government represented by Lenine,

Trotzky, and Krilenko, she had no other option than

("L'Eveneto submit to the will of her conquerors.
ment," Paris,

May

10, 1918.

The German dagger at her

throat, the Austro-

Hungarian sword at her heart, Rumania has been

She has done this
forced to lay down her arms.
112

IS

CAUSES THAT DETERMINED PEACE

with so

much

dignity, so

much nobihty, that her

honneur sauf is resplendent in the somber disaster.

She is the great victim of Russia; she has been
played and betrayed by her.

Thrust into Tran-

sylvania, she has not been upheld in Dobrodgea,

and

when, having bound her wounds, she was about to

take

by

up again

the struggle, she saw herself encircled

perils, the

Germans

in front, the

Austro-Hun-

garians behind, the Bolsheviki and the Russians who

had become

hostile.

Isolated, abandoned, being able to accept no help

Allies,

poor Rumania was forced to lay

down the broken

pieces of her valiant sword at the

from her

("Le Petit Nicois," May,

feet of her conquerors.

14, 1918.)

The German-Rumanian
pressure of necessities,

absurdity

of

which

("New York Herald,"

It
this

is

treaty, signed under the

is

the greatest diplomatic

Germany
Paris,

has

May

been

guilty.

14, 1918.)

so grievous (this peace), because, on seeing

Rumania

so

abominably mutilated, dismembered,

when
magworld by the

humiliated, one recalls the period, yet so near,

she threw into battle, resolute and confident, a
nificent

army, which astonished the

prodigies that she was able to accomplish ag^nst

17^

RUMANIA'S SACRIFICE
an enemy ten times superior in numbers.
We
had counted, alas, without the Russian treason. It
was not a treason of a day, or of one man it was
.

a slow and progressive defection of an entire country, whose solemnly promised concourse

was

indis-

pensable.

Of

all

the crimes of which Bolshevism will bear the

heavy responsibility
the most odious.
to refuse to

in history, this

one

is,

It did not content itself, in fact,

Rumania

the help that the

Government

of the Czar had engaged itself to send;

her,

I believe,

it

obliged

by making a pact with the enemy, to lay down

her arms while she had yet the means to defend herself

had she not been knifed in the back.

Gaulois," Paris,

May

10, 1918.)

174

("Le

PAR^T
*'War disorganizes, but
ize."
Emerson.

II

it is

in order to reorgan-

CHAPTER

XII

RUMANIA AFTER THE WAR

THE

Rumanian

people, driven into

an

abyss by the want of forethought of her

much energy and

whatever may happen, Rushown

statesmen, have
resistance that,

mania

will not perish.

her deep wounds

all

so

She
the

will recover

more

from

so as the treaty

of Bukharest represents every chance of being

modified.

Let us hope

that, at the conclusion of a

general peace, Europe and America, convinced

that the application of the principle of nationalities is the sole basis for

will decide that

a durable peace,

Rumania must be

reconsti-

tuted within her natural limits between the

Tisza, the

Danube, and the Dniester, in order

177

RUMANIA'S SACRIFICE
form

to

in the southeast of

of progress

and of

Europe a kingdom

civihzation, causing thus

to disappear forever the fatal troubles of peo-

ple subjected

by

force, but free

by

their sen-

timents of courage and dignity.

We
two
all

dream of a great Rumania, mistress of

slopes of the Carpathians, uniting together

her scattered sons to

all directions

of

human

make them work

in

activity with the cour-

age and ardor of free men, laying thus the

solid basis of prosperity

the real

Humania

and the influence of

as a sovereign State.

But, in order that a country

and progressive
that

it

may have

a free

political life, it is necessary

should have also a free economic

because the political

the economic

life.

life is

The

closely

life:

bound to

great countries that

new basis of life

Rumania to obtain her

are called to-day to set the

for humanity

must aid

complete economic and political independence.

Until to-day, only

Germany has known Ru-

mania and pursued a policy of ecpnomic pene178

RUMANIA AFTER THE WAR

She completely succeeded by making

tration.

Rumania dependent upon

who wished to give to Ru-

the economic life of

herself;

and those

mania, in this war, a political

from her economic

up her

neutrality,

deprived of so

many

elements, because

had cut

life,

life

separated

by forcing her

to give

have seen the country

industrial, indispensable

Germany, the

The

off the supply.

sole supplier,

neglect of the

statesmen to take account of this situation contributed very largely to the disaster of

Ru-

mania.
Financiers,

business

men, manufacturers,

and statesmen of other countries have not

hitherto attempted to understand the wealth of

Rumania

her petroleum,

salt, lignite, forests,

the waterfalls, the picturesque beauty of her

mountains, the marvelous possibilities of agriculture,

in this

and the

vitality of her people.

war Rumania has drawn

But

to herself the

attention of the whole world because of her

sacrifices

and the bravery of her peasants.

179

RUMANIA'S SACRIFICE
Let us hope that henceforth she

known and

will

be better

better appreciated.

American

capitalists, so

daring and so clear-

sighted, will turn their energies

toward Ru-

mania; they will undertake to establish closer

relations with this country.

Business

men will

find important outlets for their merchandise;

manufacturers

mania;

will construct factories in

capitalists will

found banking houses;

a large field of activity will be opened.

Rumanian

The

State must borrow to recover from

her disaster, and this will be the

which

Ru-

this collaboration will

Rumania

is

first

manifest

act in

itself.

one of the chief sufferers in this

war, because two-thirds her territory has been

the theater of battles

enemy.

The

and was occupied by the

Rumanian

ground step by step

troops,

yielding

in their retreat, devastated

everything in an effort to impede the advance

of the

from

what

enemy and

to prevent the food

falling into the enemy's hands.

little

supply

And

remained was destroyed by the

180

in-


RUMANIA AFTER THE WAR
must

vader.

This

houses,

roads,

all

railways,

be

reconstructed

bridges,

factories,

everything.

In the parts not occupied the movement of

Rumanian army and the pillaging of the

Russian army formed a real zone of operation.
Here also all is to be rebuilt.
Rumania hopes to be aided in the reconthe

struction of her country.

derstood,

ing

all

it is

But,

let it

be un-

not only a question of rebuild-

that has been destroyed:

Rumania

will

achieve a great development in her economic

life.

Owing

to the lack of road-beds, the system

of railways

dred miles.

is

approximately twenty- four hun-

In order

to develop her forests,

mines, and her quarries, Rumania's railways

must be multiplied.

ment

it

For

agi-icultural develop-

will be necessaiy to increase the

of arable land

amount

by draining swampy grounds

and the delta of the Danube.

The waterways

must be improved by dredging

181

canals,

etc.

RUMANIA'S SACRIFICE
In the

and

cities

villages, buildings

must be

put up; systems of lighting and of tramways

must be organized.

The petroleum
developed.

We

industry should be greatly

must not

lose sight of the

important part that petroleum has played in

this

The petroleum

war.

especially valuable,

of

Rumania has been

owing to

its

quality

and

the geographical location of the country; besides, this industry

is

the sole source of energy

necessary in order that

commence

Rumania might

re-

the activity of her shipping and her

manufactures.

Other indispensable industries

of the country must be re-built and created.

There can be no doubt that Rumania cannot

reconstruct herself alone,

Rumanian

capital be-

ing too small.

In order that Rumania may recover from her

disaster,

and above

all

that she

may

be able

to utilize her wealth, she will for a long time

yet have need of foreign capital, which will

bring great returns while rendering as well

182

RUMANIA AFTER THE WAR

great service to Rumania; and, with time, the
energies of the country will succeed in eman-

cipating

Rumania from

her economic

life,

foreign influence in

especially

when

nomic influence does not follow the

fluence,

and

all

the

more

this

eco-

political in-

will the financial

intervention of America be desirable for

Ru-

mania because the United States has no political interest to pursue in that country beyond
proving that they intervene always for the
defense of the hberty of people

especially the

small ones as well on the political ground as

upon

the economic.

183

CHAPTER

XIII

RUMANIA OF YESTERDAY

THE

THE LIMITS

THE

Kingdom

of

BOUNDARIES

Rumania

lies

in the

southeastern part of Europe, between

and

the Carpathian Mountains on the north

west, the

Danube on

the south,

and the Black

Sea and the River Dniester on the

To

the north and the west

is

east.

Austria-Hun-

gary, separated by the Carpathians; on the

south, Serbia

Danube

and Bulgaria, separated by the

and

as far as the city of Turtukai,

thence to the Black Sea by a conventional line

and on the northeast from Russia by the

river

Prutu.

Although Rumania has a very ancient

tory, she has remained undeveloped
184*

his-

and has

RUMANIA OF YESTERDAY
taken

little

part in the

life

within the last fifty years.

this lack of

development

is

Europe until
The reason for

of

the continual wars

wage against barbarian

invasions and rapacious neighbors who wished
to gain possession of her fertile lands. Ruthat she has

had

to

mania's past

is filled

her existence

is

with suffering, and even

due wholly to the warlike char-

acter of her people,

who defended throughout

the centuries her liberty, her language, and

her religion with courage and

sacrifices.

THE ORIGIN
In the southeastern part of Europe existed
until the year 107 A. D. the

Kingdom

of Dacia.

The Dacians were a warlike and courageous

people, often making incursions even into the
possessions of the Roman Empire itself, until
the Roman Emperor Trajan declared war on
them, conquered them, and took possession of
their lands

and made

it

the year 107.

186

Roman

province in

RUMANIA'S SACRIFICE
Because of the density of population

in the

Roman Empire, many Roman

colonists

to establish themselves in this

new

whose

fertile fields, rich

came

province,

mountains, and pleas-

ant climate promised them an easier and richer

life.

Out

of this amalgamation of the inhabitants

of ancient Dacia and the

Roman

colonists

was

formed the people known as Rumanians.

The Roman province of Dacia lasted hardly

more than two hundred years for, in the latter
half of the third century, Germany made continual attacks upon it.
The Roman Emperor
;

Aurelian, in the years 270 to 275 a.

d.,

seeing

that he could no longer defend this province,

recalled his armies

and his public

functionaries,

Danube

bringing them across the

into the mid-

dle Moecia, leaving the province of

Dacia to

its fate.

to say,
the colonists brought by Trajan found themThe Latin element

in

Dacia

^that is

selves left alone to resist the invasion of the

186

RUMANIA OF YESTERDAY
Asiatic peoples

who overflowed

into

Europe

through Dacia, that being the shortest and easiThe Dacians withdrew into the
est route.
Carpathians, and strengthened themselves in
natural fortresses in order to resist the enemy.

After an invasion had subsided, they would

descend from their mountains into the plains
again.

These many invasions lasted from the

third to the fifteenth centuries.

Towards the end of the thirteenth century

the Roman-Dacian population the Rumanians of to-daygrouped themselves into vari-

ous small States.

The chief of one of these little

States,

formed

in the year 1320 the State of Wallachia; the

chief of another State formed the State of

Moldavia in 1360.

WALLACHIA AND MOLDAVIA

These two States, Wallachia and Moldavia,
were governed by a prince elected by the people,

and for many years they were obliged

187

to

ROIAXIA^S SACRIFICE
sustain great

neighbors.
sians,

wars against

The Turks,

their

rapacious

the Poles, the Rus-

and the Hungarians never ceased in their

efforts to

conquer Wallachia and Moldavia.

But, through

manv memorable battles, the Ru-

manian princes succeeded in retaining

country.

their

In 1600 the Prince of Wallachia,

3Iihai the Brave, succeeded in uniting to his

crown Wallachia, Moldavia, and Transylvania.

Unfortunately, the realization of this dream

Rumanians was of short duration, for

Prince ^lihai was killed by the Yalon Basta.
These troublous times in Moldavia and Walof the

lachia continued until the year 18o9,

these

two

httle

when

States, realizing that united

they could withstand more easily the attacks

of their neighbors, constituted themselves into

one single State, having one reigning prince.

PETN'CE CTTZA

On Februaiy

5,

1859, Colonel Cuza, elected,

a few days earher. Prince of Moldavia, was

188

ROIAXIA OF YESTERDAY
Then was

also elected Prince of Wallachia.

proclaimed the union of the two principahties

under the name of Ritmaxia.

Prince Cuza was the author of great reforms, and he laid the foundation for a

em

He

Rumania.

introduced

mod-

new laws

con-

forming with the times, taking for a model

Xapoleonic

the

He

code.

the

secularized

lands belonging to the Greek monasteries, and

He

placed them in the hands of the State.

also aided in building

up the army.

He

or-

ganized schools, brought order into the administration and finances, and created personal

and

free peasant property, taking

great landowners

certain

paying for them

away from

portions

of

their

at a fair valuation,

and

who paid

for

Prince Cuza greatly loved the peasants,

who

lands,
selling

them

them

to the peasants,

in annual instalments.

never forgot their great protector; at the same

time, he detested the noble class, the ambitious

and intriguing Boiars.

He openly manifested

189

RUMANIA'S SACRIFICE
One

these sentiments.
ant, he shook

how

day, meeting a peas-

hands with him, saying:

are you?"

am

"I

"Well,

sad," responded the

peasant, "because a BoTard has slapped

"Go and

face."

tell

my

the Boiard that where he

slapped you a prince has embraced you."

And

he kissed the peasant on the cheek.

On

February

24, 1866, a conspiracy in the

palace put an end to the reign of Prince Cuza.

He

Great patriot that he was, he

abdicated.

made no
avoid

objection to this move, seeking to

all difficulties

for his country, and being

partially convinced himself that a foreign-born

prince might be of greater value.

PRINCE CAROL

On

April

1866,

8,

by popular

vote, Carol

de Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen was elected the

reigning prince.

His
of the

father, Charles Antoine,

House

and related

was the head

of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen,

to the

King

of Prussia.

l&O

On

July

RUMANIA OF YESTERDAY
30, 1866, Prince Carol took the oath to respect

the Constitution of the country.

In 1868 he

married the Princess Elizabeth of Wied.

From

the start he tried to assure the

Ru-

manian nation a path of evolution that was

active, wise,

and well balanced, paying

special

Up

attention to the organization of the army.

to this time

Rumania had been under

In the

suzerainty of Turkey.
tury, too

neighbors,

weak

the

fifteenth cen-

to resist the attacks of their

Moldavia and Wallachia asked

the protection of Turkey.

The Rumanian

princes considered this the only

means of

suring the autonomy of their country.

principalities

as-

The

kept their absolute liberty; they

were merely obliged to pay a sum of money

This policy continued

each year to the Turks.

after the union of the

two

principalities.

THE WAR OF 1877-1878.

In 1877 war between Russia and Turkey
broke out.

Russia sought to liberate Bulgaria

191

RUMANIA'S SACRIFICE
from the Turkish domination, Bulgaria heing
at that time a Turkish province.
ies

Russian arm-

passed into Turkey (the Bulgaria of to-

day) through Rumania.

Great battles were

Army was

fought, but finally the Russian

in

grave danger, driven towards the Danube by

a vigorous attack of Osman-Pasha, the Com-

mander

Then

of the Turkish forces.

of the Russian

Army, Grand Duke

the chief

Nicholas,

appealed to Prince Carol to intervene in order

to prevent the Christians

from being crushed by

the Turks.

On May

10, 1877,

Rumania proclaimed her

independence of Turkey, and on

she entered the

war on

Prince Carol, taking

May 17,

1877,

the side of Russia.

command

of his army,

Danube in order to pass into

Turkey. The Rumanian Army met with great
crossed the

success at Nicopol, Rahova,

Smardan, Gri-

and Opanef and on November 28, 1877,

the Turkish fortress Plevna, which was the
center of their operation, fell. The Turks

vitza,

Sinaia.

At

this

place

the

King has

his

summer

residence

p^

RUMANIA OF YESTERDAY
were forced to capitulate before the Russo-

Rumanian forces but the Turkish commander,

;

Osman-Pasha, refused to surrender

his

sword

any other than Prince Carol as an homage

to

of the bravery of the

Rumanian Army.

THE CONGRESS OF BERLIN

In the month

of July, 1878, the Congress

of Berlin opened to regulate the peace be-

tween Russia, Rumania, and Turkey.

surprise of victorious

manded

that

To

the

Rumania, Russia de-

Rumania should be

obliged to

yield part of Bessarabia, which the Congress

of Paris had returned to

Rumania

in 1856.^

None of the members of the Congress made any

opposition to this injustice.

Neither the treaty

between Rumania and Russia

by which was

guaranteed the integrity of the Rumanian

ritory

nor the

services rendered

ter-

by Rumania

to Russia had the slightest effect, in spite of

all
1

the protestations of the Rumanians.

See page

2^50 entitled

"Bessarabia."

193

In

RUMANIA'S SACRIFICE
exchange

Rumania

obtained

Dobrudja,

Turkish province situated between the Dan-

ube and the Black Sea.

The

decision of the Congress

made a

pro-

found impression on Rumania, and general

indignation was manifested against the action
of the Russians, especially as Bessarabia

Rumanian land

inhabited by

Rumanians and

rich in agricultural productions,

ja

was

and Dobrud-

was a Turkish province sparsely peopled

1 Dobrud j a has been known a long time.

Nine centuries before Christ the Greeks created commercial relations, specially
at Tomi and Kallatis (Mangalia). Tomi derives its name from
the King ^ctes, the king of Colchis, the father of the beautiful
Medea. She, fleeing with her lover at sea and being pursued
by her father, cut her little brother Absyrtus into pieces,
and threw the body into the sea. The unhappy father, King
of ^ctes, stopped on his way to pick up the pieces of his
son's body and landed on the coast of the Black Sea to bury
these pieces. This coast and the smaU village which was formed
later on, received the name of Tomi, a name which is supposed
to come from the Greek verb, re/iva} to cut.
The Romans had in their possession Dobrudja, known then

under the name of Scythian Minor. We find today many traces

of this domination. There is found the famous monument Tropaeum Trajani, the statue of Ovid, and the ruins of the Roman
village Traianenses Tropacenas. They believe that the name
of Dobrudja is derived from the Slavic name "Dobrice,". which
means "stony region."
Dobrudja is a large part of Rumania situated on the borders
194)

RUMANIA OF YESTERDAY
by Turks and Tartars.
country, without

cities,

It

was rather a wild

without communicating

roads, without any cultivated lands.

sented a single advantage

The

the

It pre-

sea.^

decision of the Congress of Berlin in-

fluenced the political orientation of Rumania;

of the Black Sea and at the mouth of the Danube, an ancient
Rumanian province under the rule of the rumanian Prince
Mircea in the year 14.18. Later it became a Turkish Province,
When the Congress of Berlin gave this province to the Rumanians, it was in a lamentable state, as are all the Turkish
provinces. The Rumanians made great efforts to develop it.

The small and dirty cities became large and beautiful. Kustendje became a first-class port. Railroads traversed the province in all directions, and a bridge, which was a European
work of art, stretched across the Danube, linking together
Dobrudja and the mother country. Schools, roads, hospitals,
and intelligent agricultural and mineral exploitations sprang
up; a pipe-line connecting the oil wells of Rumania with the
port of Kustendje was built; oil tanks, as well as depots of
grain destined for export, have cost vast siuns to Rumania; so
they transformed Dobrudja into a veritable garden.
In 1913, on the occasion of the Treaty of Bukharest, a rectification of the frontier of Rumania and Bulgaria was admitted by giving to Rumania a small portion known by the name
of the New Dobrudja.
The population of Dobrudja was approximately three hundred
and fifty thousand inhabitants, of which Rumanians in ancient
Dobrudja represent seventy per cent. The rest is comprised
of Turks, Bulgarians, Tartars, Germans, etc. In New Dobrudja the majority of the population consists of Bulgarians

and Turks.

iThe

father of the one

who was Prime Minister

195

in 1916.

RUMANIA'S SACRIFICE
she felt herself estranged forever from Rus-

The Prime Minister Bratiano

sia.

life
sia,

all

his

manifested a profound hatred toward Rus-

and directed

all his policies

toward Ber-

lin.

THE KINGDOM OF RUMANIA

In 1881

the representatives of the nations

proclaimed the

Kingdom

of

Rumania, which

was recognized by the foreign powers and, on

May, 1881, Prince Charles was

crowned King of Rumania. This was a great
the tenth of

fete-day for

all

Rumanians.

Divine services

were held throughout the country; thousands

of peasants, arrayed in brilliant native cos-

tumes, came to Bukharest; the capital presented a fairy-like aspect, ornamented with
flags

chains

and triumphal

arches,

of variegated-colored

festooned with
flowers,

under

which Prince Charles passed amidst an enthusiastic

crowd on

his

way

196

to receive the royal

RUMANIA OF YESTERDAY
crown, forged from the cannon taken as trophy

from the enemy

in the

war of 1877.

King Charles having no

constitutional

children,

monarchy being

and the

hereditary, his
his brother,

nephew, Prince Ferdinand, son of

was proclaimed hereditary prince of the throne.

THE WAR OF 1912-1913

When

autumn of 1912

in the

was commenced

in the Balkans, they did not

yet believe at Bukharest that

declared.

But

mobilization

war was

to be

events precipitated themselves,

and on the eighth of October, 1912, Montenegro declared war on Turkey, followed shortly

by Bulgaria,

Serbia,

and Greece.

countries, wishing to deliver their

All these

own people

from under the domination of the Turks and

not being able to obtain willingly the amelioration of their conditions, declared

war on Turkey

common

empire of the

and, by a

action, the

sultan, being at this

moment
197

so rotten that

RUMANIA'S SACRIFICE
it

could

offer

quickly ended

man Empire

the

war was

by the reduction of

the Otto-

no

resistance,

into

much

smaller

terri-

tory.

Shortly after the declaration of peace dis-

putes arose

among

the former allies because

Bulgaria wanted to take everything.

She was

unwilling to share the spoils of war with the

On

others.

the twenty -ninth of June, 1913,

the Bulgarians attacked Serbia,

and a new war

broke out, with Bulgaria on the one side and

the Serbs, the Greeks, and the Montenegrins

on the

other.

The prospect

ment of Bulgaria

of the aggrandize-

at the expense of the other

Balkan countries disturbed Rumania,

interest

it

among

all

was

in

whose

to have equilibrium maintained

the countries in the Balkans.

the same time

Europe

felt

At

anxious lest these

internal conflicts in the Balkans

might bring

Under these condiby Rumania imposed itself.

about general trouble.

tions intervention

For a long time

she

had been
198

telling the

Bul-

RUMANIA OF YESTERDAY
garians that she could not accept a Bulgarian

hegemony founded upon the crushing of Serbia

and Greece. A short time after the Bulgarian
aggression, the

Rumanian Army

Danube and penetrated deeply

crossed the

into Bulgaria

towards the capital with such rapidity that the

Bulgarians had not even the time to recover

from

their surprise.

THE PEACE OF BUKHAREST

Bulgaria capitulated, and the plenipotentiaries

of Serbia, Bulgaria, Greece, and

met

at

Rumania

Bukharest in August, 1913, to conclude

the peace.

It

was

to crush Bulgaria

power of the

allies

under the weight of

their

in the

demand.

Mr. Venizelos, Prime Minister of

Greece, and Mr. Pachitch, Serbian prime minister,

were in favor of

resentatives of
its

this solution.

The

rep-

Rumania, through the voice of

great man, Titu Majorescu, prime min-

ister,

made

everj^ effort to

sions of the allies.

modify the preten-

Rumania wa^s not pursuing

199

RUMANIA'S SACRIFICE
She had intervened with

a policy of conquest.
the assent of

all

Europe

to bring about calm in

the Balkans and maintain equilibrium.

then,

was her attitude throughout

cussions of peace.

all

the dis-

She demanded only a

fication of the frontier

on the

This,

recti-

side of Bulgaria.

Peace was concluded; they hoped that henceforth calm might be assured for Europe, but

one year afterwards, in August, 1914, the great

European

War broke

out.

THE WAB OF 1914

King

Charles, being a determined pacifist,

was absolutely against a war between the powers of Europe and before the great war broke
;

out he was approached by the Austro-Hungarian minister at Bukharest, Count Czernin,

and sounded on the

case of a

attitude of

European war.

Rumania

The king

in

told the

Austrian minister at Bukharest that he could

not count upon Rumania.
of July,

1914,

On

the eighteenth

the Austrian minister tele-

aoo

RUMANIA OF YESTERDAY
graphed to the Government at Vienna
king

me

tells

against us,

we

"The

Russia should be

that, in case

could not, unfortunately, count

upon any military support from Rumania." ^

In August, 1914, after the beginning of the
great European War King Charles convoked
immediately the crown council.

The majority pronounced themselves for

neutrality King Charles was convinced of the
German military strength and of the weakness
;

of the Russians, and he felt that

true interest of

Germany;

Rumania

to be

nevertheless he

it

was

on the

in the
side of

bowed before the

opinion of the majority of the council, that

say, for neutrality.

Had he

is

to

Ruof Germany,

truly wished

mania to enter the war on the side

he had only to name as prime minister, Mr.

who was a determined partizan of the entry of Rumania into

Carp, former prime minister,

war on the

side of the Central powers,

iThe Austrian "Red Book," which appeared

and

at Vienna in

according to Comnene, "Notes sur la guerre en Roumania," p. 155.

1916,

^01

RUMANIA'S SACRIFICE
him the

to grant

dissolution of

Parhament.

Mr. Carp could obtain the Parliamentary

majority, the attitude of Rumania would have
If

been

drawn

in

this

But King

direction.

Charles did not wish this; he preferred neutrality.

During

the whole of his reign of forty-eight

years he always maintained his dignity as

and as king.

No

one could ever boast of any

friendship with the king.

He

was always the

same towards everybody, amiable,

showing great tact and forethought.
qualities

abroad.

deliberate,

His

fine

gave him great prestige at home and

During

his

reign

Bukharest, at Sinaia, his

and

man

at Kustendje,

statesmen,

many

he

received

summer

residence,

brilliant guests

among whom were

the

at

and

Emperor

of

Austria-Hungary, Francis Joseph, and the

czars of Russia,

He

Alexander II and Nicholas II.

died in October, 1914, leaving a will that

profoundly impressed the country, because a

great part of his fortune was bequeathed to

202

RUMANIA OF YESTERDAY
charities

and

to institutions important to the

country.

QUEEN ELIZABETH
Queen Elizabeth was a worthy companion
to this great man.
She was an accomphshed
musician, and wrote under the name of "Car-

men

She loved the people and

Sylva."

war of 1877 and 1878 she consecrated

wounded and
Her great regret was

in the

herself

to the care of the

the relief of

suffering.

that she had

no

children, because she recognized that the

role of the
delicate

woman

mother was the most

as a

and the most noble.

In March, 1890,

having been urged to deliver a speech in the

academy, she uttered these beautiful words

Woman

must be

silent in the

Church!

Not even

to-day have I changed this opinion and I will always

woman

say that the activity of a

should never de-

part from the holy interior of the family.

of the

woman

fireside in the

great

God has

is

The path
nowhere more charming than at her

midst of her children.

enlargedl-

my

fireside.

203

As

for me, the

Is not

my

dear

RUMANIA'S SACRIFICE
dear children, a great and charm-

country, with

its

ing fireside?

If I have decided to speak

cause here I
dren.

am

at

is

be-

home in the midst of my chilyou a story a story about

I have to read

snakes and brave

it

men and

holding a distaff in

if,

my

while speaking, I

hand, I

will

am not

nevertheless

try to spin a long and thin thread from which the

one who

listens to

me may

be able to weave.

According to these words we can appreciate

Queen

the character and the soul of

Elizabeth.

She worked constantly to encourage the domesindustry of the peasant woman.

tic

She often

used to dress, specially when she was young, in

She died in Oc-

the costume of the peasant.

tober, 1915.

King Charles and Queen Elizabeth

are both

buried in the monastery Curtiu of Arjish,

according to wishes that they had expressed.

The Rumanian people profoundly

death of this great

man and

regret the

of his good

and

gentle queen, specially in these extremely try-

ing moments through which

to pass.
^04<

Rumania has had

RUMANIA OF YESTERDAY
KING FERDINAND

King Ferdinand is the son of Leopold of

Hohenzollem,' who is the eldest brother of
King Charles. He it is "who reigns to-dayover Rumania and shares his eJfforts and his
suffering with those of the soldiers who are
fighting for national unity."

QUEEN MARIE
King Ferdinand married the Duchess Marie,
daughter of the

Duke

They have five

Gotha.

of Saxe-Coburg

children, the sixth hav-

ing been killed during

thrown

into

and

this

war by a bomb

Bukharest by an aeroplane of the

enemy he was seven years of age. The queen,

known for her beauty, her kindliness, and her
;

energy, has devoted herself to the relief of the

sufferings of her people during this terrible

Calvary.
1 N. Jorga, "Histoire des relations entre la France et la
Roumanie," p. 245.

205

RUMANIA'S SACRIFICE
THE LANGUAGE
The Rumanian language forms part
group of the Latin languages.

of a

It represents

a mixture of Latin with Dacian, influenced

somewhat by Slavic and Greek.

ever,

is

Latin.

is

it is

French and Spanish.

easy and the spelling, simple.

the words

is

how-

It resembles greatly the Italian

of to-day; at the same time

ble with

Its base,

also

compara-

The grammar
The sound of

agreeable as they are rich in vowels

with no special accent.

The language is the same in the kingdom and

in all the provinces inhabited by Rumanians
and subjected to foreign domination. The
dialects are not

importance.

numerous and of very

little

In other words, the Rumanians

of Transylvania can be very well understood

by those of the kingdom and of Bessarabia.

Between the

cultivated class

and the people

there exists a very slight difference in speech.

206

RUMANIA OF YESTERDAY
THE RELIGION
In Rumania the
not obligatory.
the

New

tles,

The

orthodox.

It

is

basis of this religion

is

religion

is

Testament written by the four apos-

Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John.

The

ceremonies are decided according to rules

tablished

by the twelve synods of

Nicaea.

es-

The

orthodox religion forms a part of the orthodox

Greek Church, which separated from the

Roman

Catholic Church in 1054 a. d.

Among

the religions of the United States the Episcopal

is

very close to the orthodox in

and adornment of the church.

Church

is

independent.

It

is

belief, ritual,

The Rumanian
under the

direc-

tion of a head called metropolite, resident at

Bukharest.

He

is

elected

by a

college

com-

posed of senators, deputies, and the members

of the synod.

20T

RUMANIA'S SACRIFICE
THE CLIMATE
The climate of Rmiiania is Continental.
The seasons are about like those of the eastern
part of the United States.
is

As

a rule the

sky-

blue and the months of the spring and of

the

autumn

are very beautiful.

The tempera-

ture varies from ten degrees Fahrenheit below

zero during the winter to one hundred above
zero during the summer.

In summer one can go

to

many

attractive

places in the foot-hills of the mountains, where

the temperature

make

also

is

very agreeable.

One can

pleasant excursions into the Car-

pathian JNIountains, and their picturesque beauties

equal those of Switzerland and the Pyre-

nees.

THE CUSTOMS
The customs

of the

Rumanian people are

very important from an ethnological standpoint.

In

reality,

these customs

208

owe

their

RUMANIA OF YESTERDAY
Rome, and they
are upheld not only in the Kingdom of Rumania, but among all the Rumanians who are
origin to the old customs of

found in the provinces subjected to Austria-

Hungary, Russia, and even Macedonia.

COLINDETZA

On Christmas Eve the children of the people

organize themselves into
cities,

little

as vrell as in the villages,

groups in the

and go through

the night

from house to house, singing seasonal

hymns.

The people

children fruits
called

that they visit give these

and a

special kind of bread

Covrigi.

SORCOVA

During the early morning of the

New Year

groups of children run about through the

streets carrying

paper flowers called Sorcova,

with which they strike the passers-by, wishing

them a "Happy

New

Year."
209

RUMANIA'S SACRIFICE
PAPAEUDA
After Easter the young gypsy
their dresses with foliage

and go

girls cover

in

groups

in

the different courtyards of the houses, dancing

and singing and invoking the god of

The people

rain.

that they are visiting sprinkle a

water upon them and give them pennies.

little

STEAUA
Before Christmas groups of children carry
into the streets a large, silver, illuminated star

made

of paper, in

commemoration of the Star

They

of Bethlehem.

sing in chorus and are

called into the different houses

and are given

petite monnaie.

VICLEIMUL

During the

mas

the

streets

men

carnival before

and after Christ-

of the people run through the

during the evening, dressed in fantastic

costumes representing Herod and the three

210

RUMANIA OF YESTERDAY
Wise Men

They

of the East.

are called into

the different homes while singing in chorus and

acting and relating the hirth of Christ.
also, are

They,

given petite monnaie.

OUAROSI

On

Easter

king's

down

Day

in every family,

from the

to that of the very poorest peas-

ant, hard-boiled eggs colored red are served

at the table.

Each member of the family takes

one of them and knocks

it

on the egg of the

one standing next to him, at the same time

wishing him a *'Happy Easter."
It

is

customary for the king to knock his egg

on the one held by the

chief prelate of the

Church.

There
that

exists

among

when Jesus

Jewish

the people the belief

Christ rose from the dead a

woman was

going to her house holding

eggs in her apron; on her way she met a

who

said to her,

"The Christ

replied,

211

is

risen,"

man

and she

RUMANIA'S SACRIFICE
"Jesus Christ would

When
and

moment

at that

rise

from the dead,

these eggs would turn red,"

she

saw that the eggs were

red.

NATIONAL COSTUME

The peasants still hold to one special costume. The women, specially, dress very prettily.
They weave their own linen of extremely
fine texture

and on

it

they embroider flowers in

With

color

and

make

their dress, embroidering a waist

in gold.

skirt

with bands at the bottom of the

Over

this

material,

and

skirt.

they wear a shorter skirt of heavier

and

this

national costume

they also embroider.

is

worn only

and by the peasants.

the

they

this material

European

dress,

In the

French

The

in the villages

cities

styles

they wear

predominat-

Rumanian
cities.
The late Queen Elizabeth (Carmen
Sylva) and also the present Queen Marie have
given a great impetus to the industry of home
ing in the drawing-rooms of the

21S

RUMANIA OF YESTERDAY
weaving among the peasants.
blouses

The

beautiful

worked by the Rumanian peasants have

been greatly admired by the

women

of LonThe two queens took

don, Paris, and Berlin.

great pleasure in dressing from time to time in

the costume of the peasant in order to develop
this taste

among

women.
Rumania and of Tran-

the society

The shepherds

of

sylvania wear a caciula

zeghea (cloak) exactty

(woolen cap)

like those

worn by the

On

Dacians and the Romans of old Dacia.

stone column erected in

Trajan one can

and
a

Rome by the Emperor

see sculptured the shepherds

of Dacia in costumes identical with those

worn

by the shepherds to-day.

THE AREA
Rumania has an

area of 53,489 square miles

or a surface approximately the size of the State

of Illinois.

The

elevations vary greatly,

peaks over 8000 feet in the Carpathian

tains to

low

foot-hills,

which

213

from

Moun-

finally lose

them-

RUMANIA'S SACRIFICE
Numerous small
rivers traverse the country and empty into the
Black Sea and the Danube River, both of which
selves in the plains below.

are included in the boundary of the country.

POPULATION

The population in Rumania was

little

more

than doubled during the period of years be-

tween 1860 and 1914, the

that of the latest
inhabitants

census.

In 1860 the

numbered 3,717,541 and

these figures
this

official

latter date being

in 1914

Of

had increased to 7,508,009.

number more than

six million persons are

in the rural communities, the remaining one

and one-half
cities

millions residing in the seventy

and small towns of the country.

AGRICULTURE
Agriculture

is

the principal occupation of

the country, and the land

for this purpose.

is

specially

adapted

It has been conceded that

the most productive land in the world

214

is

to

RUMANIA OF YESTERDAY
be found in Rumania, southern Hungary, and
southern Russia.

The

soil is

black and rich,

On

mixed with clay and very deep.

of the compactness of the

ence of the clay,

it

soil,

account

due to the pres-

has been plowed very deeply.

The Rumanian peasant

farmer and, although

still

is

an excellent

partial to his old-

time plow and oxen, he makes use of

modern
ers

and

agricultural machines, specially reapbinders.

chines are of

majority of these ma-

American make.

After the war

there will undoubtedly be a very great

for

many

American-made machinery of

demand

all

kinds,

specially of auto-tractor plows.

CULTIVATED ACREAGE

Rumania held the disranking third among European

Previous to the war,

tinction

of

countries in the export of cereals.

In 1911

there were 15,000,000 acres under cultivation

in that country,

and they yielded a harvest of

$269,000,000.

215

RUMANIA'S SACRIFICE
The majority
to

Belgium,

of

cereals

Holland,

exported went

France,

and

Italy.

Huge granaries were constructed at Brai'la and

Kustendje to store these grains for export.

WHEAT
Wheat
crops.

is

one of the most important of the

In the year 1912 there were approxi-

mately 5,000,000 acres planted in wheat, producing an average of from 14 to 16 bushels per
acre.

CORN
Equally important

is

the annual maize crop,

which yielded in the same year an average of

17.25 bushels per acre from a cultivated area

of

little

more than 5,000,000

acres.

BARLEY
Barley

is

next in the

list

of staples, with a

cultivated acreage in 1912 of 1,234,715 acres,

netting a total of 20,636,387 bushels.

216

RUMANIA OF YESTERDAY
OATS

The

oats crop for the

to 20,182,832 bushels

same year amounted

from a

total of 943,008

acres cultivated.

RYE

Rye

is

cultivated to a considerable extent

for breweries

and for export, the acreage

tilled

being about 400,000 acres and j^elding annually in the neighborhood of 11 bushels per
acre.

OTHER CROPS

Numerous

other

smaller amounts,

crops

are

produced in

among them being

buck-

wheat, millet, flax, peas, hemp, potatoes, lentils,

sugar-beets, cabbages, onions, etc.

VINEYARDS

The vineyards occupy an area

acres

of 241,419

and produce annually an average of

22,000,000 gallons of wine, valued at $9,000,000.

aiT

RUMANIA'S SACRIFICE
FRUITS

Other

fruits are also extensively cultivated,

specially

prunes,

apples,

pears,

peaches, and English walnuts.

000 trees bearing these

cherries,

Fully 50,000,-

fruits are to be found,

in addition to which are smaller fruits of vari-

ous kinds and delicious flavors.

FORESTS

Rumania

possesses 7,000,000 acres of large

and very old

forests, 3,000,000 of

which be-

long to the Government and the remainder to

private persons.
pine,

fir,

The

trees include oak, beach,

larch, elm, maple, willow, walnut.

Excellent timber for construction work

is

ex-

ported in large quantities into various parts

of Western Europe, as are also resinous woods

and those

suitable for furniture.

DOMESTIC ANIMALS
Before the war Rumania possessed an adequate supply of domestic animals for
^18

all

pur-

RUMANIA OF YESTERDAY
poses.

In 1916 there were

country

in the

nearly 2,000,000 horses, 8,000,000 sheep, 2,000-

000 pigs, 4,000,000 cows and

goats, donkeys, poultry,

mals.

On

account of

bulls,

besides

and other small

ani-

of customs,

difficulties

the export of meat was not highly developed

in the past.

FISH

Rumania abounds

in beautiful lakes,

are plentifully supplied with

fish,

and the exporting of

many

fish is

the fresh caviar of

ciated in

Rumania

varieties of

one of the im-

portant industries of the country.

is

which

Specially

greatly appre-

Europe.

COMMERCE
There were

in

Rumania before

the

war ap-

proximately 120,000 business firms, of which

79,000 were Rumanian, 25,000 Jewish, and
16,000 of other nationalities.

commerce were organized

the larger

cities

in

1886 in eleven of

of the country.

219

Chambers of

RUMANIA'S SACRIFICE
EXPORTS

The exports

of

cially of cereals

Rumania

and

Rumania exported
705,335

The
269

their products.

In 1913

to a total value of 670,-

lei.

mount up to a value of 448,412,among which wheat represents a value

cereals

leij

of 208,152,226

To

are composed spe-

lei

and maize 115,764,527

the export of wheat

we must add

lei.

flour,

which in 1913 represented the value of 34,044,115

lei.

Then

follow oats, barley, rye, and

millet.

The countries that import

from Rumania are:
Belgium

the most cereals

1,074,335 tona

Austria

616,020

Italy

341,136

Holland

217,170

France

162,055

England

148,895

Germany

128,020

220

RUMANIA OF YESTERDAY
To the exports we must add vegetables, flowers, grains, trees,

wood, animals used for food,

live stock, skins, wool, fruit, etc.

Petroleum comes next to cereals as export

merchandise, but

money

that

is

we must

derived from the sale of the

cereals reverts to the

On the other hand,

sale

also note that the

the

Rumanian producers.
money derived from the

of petroleum goes entirely to foreign-

owned companies.
Recently the production of petroleum has

In 1913 the export of

fined petroleum amounted to 428,098 tona.
greatly increased.

Benzin

Mineral

oils

Paraffine

By-products

Refined petroleum
Italy,

is

re-

241,726 tona
"
7,732

664

"

377,688

"

exported to England,

Egypt, and Germany.

Benzin

is

ported specially to France and Germany.

221

ex-

RUMANIA'S SACRIFICE
IMPORTS

Rumania imported
the

value

Germany
mania,

of

in 1913 merchandise to

590,012,640

lei

leads in the importation into

followed

Ru-

by Austria-Hungary; the

other countries are far behind.

ports

($1,026,109).

Rumania im-

from Germany metals, manufactured

metals, and other mineral products to the value

of 89,643,608

lei.

Machinery
35,215,635
Woolens, bristles, and man-

lei

ufactured goods of this

Explosives

"
18,217,168

Vehicles

14,341,489

14,056,180

class

"

and manufactured
from skins
10,489,392 "
4,626,589 "
Silk and silk goods
Skins

articles

We will not enumerate all the

in which

As

Germany

total, in

other articles

occupies the second rank.

1913 Germany imported mer222

RUMANIA OF YESTERDAY
chandise into

819,146

Rumania

to the value of 237,-

lei.

After Germany came Austria, which imported merchandise to the total of 138,192,076
in 1913; but she holds her

lei

culty in the

the

German

raw

own

with

diffi-

Rumanian market on account

of

She sends specially

competition.

celluloid, white celluloid,

mineral waters,

horseshoe nails, oak lumber, carbonic acid, tartaric

acid,

agricultural

implements,

linen,

glassware, dyes, woolen goods, shoes, porcelains,

and tanned

skins.

Fine materials are imported into Rumania

by Germany amounting
Austria twenty-six per

to forty-six per cent.,

cent.,

England seven-

teen per cent., France and Italy nine per cent.

The necessary equipment of armament for

the army is bought in very small part from
Austria, France, and Italy, as the greatest part

comes from Germany.

With France

the commercial relations are

223

RUMANIA'S SACRIFICE
very
the

In 1913 she

slight.

amount of 34,135,788

Rumanian

statistics,

and

sold to
lei,

to

according to the

to the

200,000 according to French

Rumania

amount of

statistics,

16,-

and she

bought from Rumania to the amount of about

50,000,000

With

lei.

the United States the following com-

mercial relations existed:

The trade

relations between the

Rumania, while

United States and

small, have, according to statistics,

extended over a period of more than forty years.

The

following table represents the Imports and ex-

ports of the two countries during the years 1909-'

1916.

Import

Year

1900
1901
1902

41,562

26,560

Export
$101,042
000,000

<

'a
S
a

RUMANIA OF YESTERDAY
Year
1909
1910
1911
1912
1913
1914
1915
1916

Import

Export

647,045

9,340

470,364

36,181

964,398

273,597

906,819

91,773

,417,591

348,481

2,306,377

489,620

391,001

97,881

112,437

20,079

These figures represent merely the direct trade between the United States and Rumania, but, in addi-

amount of American goods were bought

each year in other countries, specially in Germany,
tion, a large

by the Rumanian merchants.

The imports from the United States consisted
mostly of agricultural machines and implements, also
metals, leather, and leather goods, cotton-seed oil
etc., while

the exports into the United States were

copper ore, petroleum, walnut lumber, furs, fish,

cheese, beans, grass seed, tobacco, toys, laces, etc.

The development

of trade relations between the

United States and Rumania has been slow, on account of the lack of Rumanian diplomatic and commercial

representation in

the

insufficient advertising of the

United States, the

United States

mania, the lack of direct shipping

225

facilities

in

Ru-

between

RUMANIA'S SACRIFICE
the two countries, and the difficulty of language and

The small amount of trade already exwas due to private initiative without official
interference, and this is a proof that many American goods are highly prized in Rumania and a better
market might be secured if the work were better orof banking.

isting

ganized.^

TARIFF

To

protect and to encourage her

factures,

Rumania

in

1906 adopted a protect-

ive tariff, maintaining at the

protective

same time

special

arrangements

commercial

England, France,

own manu-

Italy,

with

Belgium, and Hol-

land.

SHIPPING

Rumania's shipping

effectives

consist

nearly 800 merchant vessels of different

of

sizes,

and an average of 9,000,000 tons of domestic

and foreign vessels enter and clear from Rumanian ports annually.
1 Dr. D. I. Andrenescu, "Rumanian Review," of Chicago,
February 7, 1918.

RUMANIA OF YESTERDAY
CUSTOMS

The
located

three customs houses of

at

Bukharest,

Rumania

are

and Galatz.

Braila,

Merchandise passing through these three cus-

toms houses annually amounts to nearly 94,000

tons.

SALT

There are several large

mania.

The

salt deposits in

Ru-

ones are located at

principal

Ocnele-man, Targu-Ocna, Slanik and Doftana.

The annual output

to be 125,000,000 tons.

of salt

is

estimated

Considerable amounts

of salt are exported yearly.

INDUSTRIES

Industry

is

yet very

young

in

Rumania.

It

hardly commenced in 1886 when under the

protection of an autonomous tariff a law wasf

passed on the 21st of April, 1887, for the en-

couragement of national industry.

these industries

we must count
227

in the

Among
very

first

RUMANIA'S SACRIFICE
rank, with the exception of petroleum, the flour
industry, of which

34,044,155

lei,

is

exported to the value of

and the manufacture of woolen

goods, the product of thirteen factories.

After

above-mentioned

these

industries

comes the manufacture of linen goods, sugar,

wood, paper, metals, vegetable

oils,

soap, sul-

phuric acid, glasswares, dyes, cement, the can-

ning of fruits and vegetables, meats,

etc.

Here we have given a very slight resume of

our principal industries. The total production represents a value of 550,000,000

lei.

It

supplies specially the interior necessities of the

country.

almost

We

all

into account that in

of these industries foreign capital,

particularly
share.

must take

German

capital,

takes a large

Naturally a great part of the benefits

derived from these capitals reverts to

The

following

is

list

Germany.

of the distribution of

capital according to nationalitj'-.

German

160,000,000

Holland

60,000,000

2^8

lei
*'

RUMANIA OF YESTERDAY

115,000,000
45,000,000

French
English

Itahan

10,000,000

Belgian

10,000,000
6,000,000

Austria-Hungarian

American

25,000,000

Rumanian

25,000,000

"
"

"

PETROLEUM

Rumania
wells.

their

possesses

very

petroleum

rich

These are only partly exploited, and

quality

is

extraordinary.

When

the

wells have been driven tremendous eruptions

have taken place, throwing up the petroleum

Some of these wells have
to a great height.

produced such a quality and quantity of petroleum that they have been worth five to six
millions of dollars.

Much foreign capital has come into Rumania

to extract the petroleum, to refine

ous

distilleries

it

in

numer-

that have been built near the

petroleum centers.

Afterward

it is

sold either

for interior consumption or for exportation.

229

RUMANIA'S SACRIFICE
The annual production of peiroleum is about
2,000,000 metric tons or 14,380,000 barrels.

In 1911 there were manufactured from

570 tons of raw petroleum
barrels)

(or

1,243,-

8,941,268

1,386,267 barrels of benzine, 2,630,-

763 barrels of kerosene, 201,320 barrels of

mineral

oil,

etc.

In the same year were ex-

ported 1,653,700 barrels of petroleum valued

at $1,364,285; also 2,286,420 barrels of refined petroleum valued at nearly $2,000,000

and 891,560

barrels

of

benzine

valued at

$3,000,000.

INSTRUCTION AND THE CHAEACTER OF

THE PEOPLE
In Rumania there are three grades of instruction: first, primary schools, where all the
children

from seven

to

fourteen years are

obliged to follow the courses for four years;

second, intermediate schools, for those

have the means;

who

this course is eight years in

the college ; third, professional or advanced col-

230

RUMANIA OF YESTERDAY
lege

work

for which

we have two

one at Bukharest, with

universities,

five faculties,

and the

Besides these there

other at Jassy, with four.

are special schools for engineering, militarytraining, fine arts, music, agriculture, industry,

and other branches of education.

The Rumanian peasant has been described

by all foreigners visiting Rumania as possessing a lively intelligence, subtleness of mind,
great courage, and a lively imagination.

Pop-

ular poetry, the folk-lore, and the stories are

full of wit
sacrifice,

and charm.

Sentiments like love,

courage, abnegation, altruism, pre-

dominate everywhere among the works of these

people.

They
homes a
foreign,

are always
traveler,

who

happy

to receive in their

whether he be Rumanian or

asks for shelter, and to share with

him the modest

repast, exceedingly

happy

to

have been able to do a good deed, but never

thinking of asking or of receiving
such hospitality as they

may

231

money

for

be able to give.

RUMANIA'S SACRIFICE
THE FORM OF GOVERNMENT
Rumania

is

constitutional

monarchy,

hereditary, having the rank of a kingdom.

The

rules that

mined by a

govern the country are deter-

The Law

constitution.

voted and put into effect in 1866,

of Laws,

is

modeled

on the Belgian Constitution.

The

principal point of the constitution

dividual liberty

is

in-

the liberty of thought, speech

in public meetings,

and of the press

is

guaran-

teed.

All distinctions of classes have been abolished; all citizens are equal before the

law and

have the same right and the same obliga-

No

tion.

any

title

one since 1866 has the right to bear

of nobility, such as prince, count,

baron, etc.
the

This right

members

reserved wholly to

of the royal family.

domicile,

and

service

obligatory,

is

is

letters are inviolable.

Property,
Military

and primary instruction

both compulsory and free.

232

RUMANIA OF YESTERDAY
The

sovereignty of the state

by three

represented

which control each other

bodies,

and counter-balance
islative

is

then- influence: the leg-

power, the judiciary, and the execu-

tive.

The
that

legislative

makes the

to the people.

power, that

to say, the one

laws, belongs to the king

The people

sentative deputies

and make the

is

and

and

elect their repre-

senators,

laws, but these laws

who

discuss

must

also be

approved by the king.

The judiciary power administers the laws.

For small lawsuits there are the Circuit
Judges, who travel from village to village, to
attend to small lawsuits. For the more important cases amounting to more than 3000
in each department there are courts

lei,

composed

of three judges, the attorney, and the examin-

ing magistrate.

Against the decision of the court the case

can be carried to a court of appeals, of which
there are

five.

There
233

is

also

the supreme

RUMANIA'S SACRIFICE
court,

which has general control over

all

the

courts of appeal.

The judges

are elected by the king after be-

ing recommended by the minister of justice,

and they must be graduates of the law

For crime

college.

the jury system of twelve citizens

is

used.

The

executive power belongs to the king,

who, in turn,

office

by the

will of the king.

also the chief of the army.

inviolable.

He

acts; the only

who

by the

All administrative functionaries

constitution.

hold their

controlled by rules fixed

is

is

He

His person

is

is

never responsible for his

one responsible

signs the acts, which have

is

the minister

no value with-

out his signature.

The king is aided by a prime minister and

by nine other ministers. They form the government, which

is

indicated to the king

majority of the Parliament.

ment has

all

by the

The govern-

the responsibilities in the conduct

of the state, because

it

has also

234

all

the rights,

RUMANIA OF YESTERDAY
having the power even to refuse to sign an act

demanded by the

To
try,

At

king.

facihtate the administration of the coun-

it is

divided into thirty-three departments.

the head of each department there

named by

fect

is

a pre-

the king to represent the

Gov-

ernment.

THE ARMY
In time of peace there are 150,000 men

Rumanian Army, 3500

the

horses,

men can

15,000

In time of war

and 500 cannons.

000 to 450,000

officers,

400,-

By

be mobihzed.

in

in-

creasing the age limit to 46 years from 700,-

000 to 800,000 fighting men can be obtained.

There are three mihtary school for

the

war

of a soldier

very

The

college, etc.

and of an

officers,

military education

officer is

complete and

strict.

THE
The

capital of

CITIES

Rumania

is

Bukharest, which

has half a million inhabitants.

235

It

is

a dainty

RUMANIA'S SACRIFICE
with pretty houses, generally from one to

city,

two

Very nearly every house has

stories high.

a flower garden in front, and in the rear fruittrees are

large

and

The

grown.
beautiful.

and the Parisian

public buildings are

Life

style

and

is

gay and elegant,

taste reigns every-

where.

In Bukharest there
schools, libraries, etc.

is

It

a university, special
is

the principal in-

dustrial center of the country, as well as the

most important commercial center.

Next comes

Jassy, the former capital of

Moldavia; Krajova, the center of agriculture

and commerce; Braila, a port on the Danube;

Galatz, the most important commercial center; Ployeschi,

with

factories

an important industrial center,

and

petroleum

distilleries;

Kustendje, the only port on the Black Sea in

deep water.

236

CHAPTER XIV

THE RUMANIAN PROVINCES

UNDER FOREIGN DOMINATION
T

to the interest of the reader to

know

Rumanian

dom-

is

the

regions under foreign

ination, in order to understand better the

tive that

mo-

determined Rumania to enter the war.

The Rumanians form

a compact mass on

the territory between the river Tiza in

Hun-

gary to the north of the country of the

Maramoureche

to the south to the

Danube,

continuing to the east by Moldavia, Bukowina,

and Bessarabia as far as the Dniester, that

to

say,

including

Banat,

Bessarabia.

237

Bukowina,

is

and


RUMANIA'S SACRIFICE
TRANSYLVANIA

One

of the

Rumania states,

the Carpathians

and Tiza,

No

of Transylvania.

is

situated between

Duchy
even the Hun-

the former

one, not

garians, contests the fact that Transylvania

is

a part of ancient Dacia occupied by

colonists in A.

But the Hungarian

107.

i>.

Roman

historians, in order to justify their claims over

Transylvania, have raised a question they pre:

tend that when in a.

abandoned

this

d.

270 Emperor Aurelian

province he withdrew

all

the

Roman and Dacian population living there

all the Roman colonists established in those
regions for

years

more than one hundred and

fifty

and the autochthon population, and

transported them into middle Mcecia on the

other side of the

Danube;

in consequence, so

they say, in the eleventh century,

Hungarians came

there, they

there after them.

the

found a coun-

try completely vacated, and the

came

when

Rumanians

These arguments, sus-

238

UNDER FOREIGN DOMINATION

tained by Rossler,

A.

De

Bertha, and others,

were contested by both Hungarian and Ger-

man

historians.

The

orders of the

Emperor

Aurehan could not be obeyed except by the

army, the functionaries, and the rich class; it
is

not possible to believe that the whole of the

population left the land to which

it

belonged.

This phenomenon was even put into evidence

when the means of transportation

are very much easier. When the Germans

in our day,

penetrated into Belgium, France, Serbia, and

Rumania, the

rich class

and those

in authority

could save themselves, but the great portion

of the people were obliged to remain at home.

The

colonists could not find there

conditions, being just as

any better

much exposed

to bar-

barian invasions, and the Carpathians offered

them a

fairly

good protection

in their

own

country.

The Hungarian
the time of the
tries

historian

Keza

says that at

Hungarian invasion

these coun-

were inhabited by a Rumanian popula-

RUMANIA'S SACRIFICE
made up of shepherds and older colonists.
The anonymous chronicler of the Hungarian king Bela explains that when the Hungarians came into Transylvania they found the
principality of Gelu, which was purely Ruma-

tion

nian,

and that they had

Rumanian Dukes

to struggle with the

of Transylvania.

In 1910 the minister of commerce of Budapest published a book entitled "Hungary," in

which it is also explained that the Roman colonists

who were

established there

and who

ac-

quired *'by the sweat of their brow" lands,

vineyards, houses, could not have abandoned

with their families

all

order to "search for a

that they possessed in

new

country."

It

is

perfectly clear that Transylvania, a country

purely Rumanian, has been invaded by the

Hungarians.
After the battle of Mohacs (1526) Transylvania succeeded in becoming independent, and
in the year 1599 the principalities of
lachia,

Wal-

Moldavia, and Transylvania were re240

^!B*^SSSS^5a3S"*

.^^'

<

I.

a^!4*.

yii"-^- .*l:i:'^

UNDER FOREIGN DO:^^NATION

united under the rule of the Wallachian Prince

Mihai the Brave.

This great Rumanian event

lasted but a short time, because the prince

assassinated

was

by the Austrian Basta.

Transylvania continued to keep her independence, but, being attacked sometimes by the

Turks, sometimes by the Hungarians and by

the Poles, she was obliged to form an alliance

with the House of Hapsburg, the reigning

In 1691 the relations between Transylvania and the House of Austria were settled in the Diploma of Leopold I.

House

of Austria.

This treaty formed the fundamental pact of

Transylvania until 1867 and established the

autonomy of Transylvania. All the emperors

who succeeded Leopold I respected this treaty.

The Emperor Francis Joseph even

this State

by a document dated June

In 1866, Austria, defeated

obiged to become reconciled to

In exchange

manded

recognized

at

15, 1863.

Sadowa, was

the Hungarians.

for this reconciliation they de-

that Austria cede

241

Transylvania to

RUMANIA'S SACRIFICE
them.

The emperor,

testable rights of the

forgetting the

Rumanians

incon-

to Transyl-

vania, to autonomy, forgetting that he did not

have the right to cede a country which did not

belong to him, accepted the proposition of the

Hungarians, and signed the treaty of 1867,

which put an end to the autonomy of Transylvania.

By

Hungary,

this act

Transylvania, annexed to

lost all her rights,

and the Hun-

garians, pretending to be the masters, pro-

posed to transform the Rumanians into

Hun-

garians.

THE PERSECUTION OF THE RUMANIANS

In order that the Hungarians might carry
out their program, they sought through force
to

make

ity,

the

Rumanians forget

their national-

language, and religion.

The Hungarians began

their persecution

by

Rumanian language in the schools, and when the Rumanians

created by their own means thirty-five thouforbidding the teaching of the

242

UNDER FOREIGN DOMINATION

sand elementary schools in which they also
taught Hungarian, the Government, on differ-

The Ru-

ent pretexts, closed these schools.

manians were even obhged, under various

penalties, to send their children from the age
of three years to special schools

where only the

Hungarian language was taught.

When
lic

office,

a Rumanian wished to occupy a pub-

^which

was obhged

happened very

to speak perfect

even to change

rarely,

^he

Hungarian and

name from a Rumanian

to a

and he was immediately

dis-

his

Hungarian

one,

charged

he was caught speaking his

if

own

language.

The hberty

of the press

and of pubhc meet-

ings was entirely restricted.

newspaper

man

or an orator

If a

Rumanian

had the audacity

to write or speak, even in a most guarded

ner,

demanding the equality of

Rumanians, he was

man-

rights for the

at once arrested

and

cited

before a Hungarian court on the accusation

of having

made an attempt
243

against the secur-

RUMANIA'S SACRIFICE
Without exception, he was
prison for from one to five

ity of the state.

condemned

to

years.

Despite the electoral law, the Rumanians

had the right to

vote, but, the vote being verbal,

Hungarian

authorities terrorized the voters

the

in order to assure the success of the

candidate.

Under

this

Hungarian

system the Rumanian

population, which represented a quota of four

million inhabitants, could send to the Parlia-

ment

at

Budapest but one or two representa-

The elections took the form of a veritable civil war in which on the one side stood
the unarmed Rumanian voter and on the other
side the Hungarian policeman armed to the
teeth, and not hesitating to kill the Rumanian
tives.

voter for the slightest cause.

The hatred

of the Hungarians for the

manians was always kept

ties

and by the

press.

alive

by the

In order

Ru-

authori-

to better edify

the reader, I will reproduce a few examples of

the

manner

in

which the Hungarians edited

S44i

UNDER FOREIGN DOMINATION

their papers against the Tlumanians,

and

also

give the opinions of several foreign persons

who were impartial.

The Hungarian newspaper "Koloswar," of
August 3, 1891, wrote: "Brutal force alone
can make an impression on this boorish mass,

of note

the Rumanians.

We must gain the authority

of power to impose

it

upon Rumania

herself."

The Hungarian newspaper "Szatmar,"

of

the twenty-eighth of February, 1891, wrote:

"This wild beast, the Rumanian, cruel and savage,

is

athirst for the blood of the

We will sweep thee out

Magyar.

of the country, a peo-

ple ungrateful and perfidious.

If our lan-

guage does not please you, get out of

Go

to the devil, for

many

here.

trees in our forest

and a crowd of crows await your bodies."

The Hungarian newspaper "Elenzek," number 146, 1887, published with satisfaction the
Caransebes:
correspondence of
following

"The 23rd

of

Orsova passed

June

all

along the streets of

at a gallop a carriage in

245

which

RUMANIA'S SACRIFICE
were seated two policemen.
riage

was

tied a

Behind

this car-

Rumanian peasant; he had

been forced to run behind the carriage for three

miles and, being unable to longer stand on his
legs,

had

fallen

and was being dragged

in that

condition."

Georges Clemenceau, the present Prime

Minister of France, with a thorough knowl-

edge of the different nationalities of Hungary,

after having written the history of the

Ruma-

nian claims, which he found to be absolutely

legitimate, protested with vigor against "this

sovereignty force erected on the principle of

public rights in Transylvania

by the Hun-

garians."

Adam wrote in the

"Nouvelle Revue" of May 15, 1894, the followMadame

ing words

Juliette

"One knows what

is

taking place

in spite of the promises of emancipation

by

Kossuth, in spite even of those of Deak, for the

Kingdom

of

forty years

it

small Slavic nationalities of the

St.-Etienne.

For more than

S46

UNDER FOREIGN DOMINATION

has been the same for Transylvania,

whom

the

followers of the Germanophile Tizsa insist

upon Magyarizing; but the Rumanians of

Transylvania and of Banat have the intangible

and they propose to remain

spirit of the race

Latin.

The laws

of exception which regulate

Transylvania are a continual threat of trouble.

Four

million

Rumanians

live

under the regime

of the good will of a government which has

exceptional favors only for those of the Ger-

man race."
Mr. Flourens, a former minister of France,
wrote in 1894 the following words: "The
claims of the Rumanians, co-existing in equal

number

if

not superior to the Hungarians, on

the soil of Transylvania, are all the

more just

and more moderate, and because of

is

astonished,

on reading them,

this

one

that, at the

end of the nineteenth century a European people should be so reduced as to be obliged to

claim the exercise of rights as essential and

incontestable."

("Voix Latines," p. 109.)

24n

RUMANIA'S SACRIFICE

well-known Englishman, H.

W.

Seton-

Watson, who writes under the nom-de-plume

of Scotus Viator, published in 1908,
Political Persecution in

"The

Hungary," which con-

tains a real speech for the

crown against the

"barbarous conduct" of the Hungarians,

by

who

their acts against nationalities "have lost

their rights to the title of civilized people."

Mr. Henry Wickham Steed writes in his

book, "The Hapsburg Monarchy," on page
66 and page 429 the following:
Francis Joseph, at the risk of alienating as important a race as the Rumanians in Transylvania,

Hungarian
Prime Minister who followed him to Magyarize the
Rumanians and he showed himself indifferent to the
use of corruption and of pressure as a means of
tolerated the tactics of Tisza and of the

government.

Here, as in the question of the Slavs of the South,

the short-sighted Chauvinism of the Hungarians must
again

be

blamed.

Magyarize a

While

attempting

prolific race, well gifted

inferior to themselves even

from an

248

and

vainly
in

to

no way

intellectual point

44

!lillil!l!IIIII!i{inie^7?ti^iMiiii!iiiiiiiiii{ii|iii!|iiiiiiii|i{!iiiiiJ!,iL

j^,G

|l_

'C

'
'
:

iesie-

'-

POLITICAL and ETHNOLOGICAL

OF

MAP

MAN A
AND THE REGIONS

R U

INHABITED BY

THE RUMANIANS.

UNDER FOREIGN DOMINATION

of view,

In

although long persecuted, the Magyars

Generale" Mr. Lavisse

their "Histoire

and Mr. Rambaud branded

clared Magyarization,"

this policy "of de-

and were indignant

at

the measures applied in Transylvania "with a

rigor and with unusual meannesses."

ume

(Vol-

12, p. 170.)

BANAT
Banat

consist

of three counties,

Temes, and Torontal.

In

this part the

lation, in the greater majority, is

and Serbian, and

Krasso,

their existence

is

popu-

Rumanian
as bad as

in Transylvania.

BUKOWINA
Bukowina formed a part of Moldavia until
the year 1775, when it was occupied militarily
by the Austrians, with the excuse that it was
from a strategic point of view.
Turkey, upon whom the Moldavians called,

necessary

249

RUMANIA'S SACRIFICE
not only approved the occupation, but killed
the Moldavian Prince Gr. Ghika,

who

pro-

tested.

The

ancient documents of these days show

that Kaunitz, the minister of

the

Maria Theresa,

Empress of Austria, had given

vizier of

Turkey 10,000

to the

grand

florins to assure the

moral cooperation of the Turks.

In Bukowina are found many old Rumanian

monuments.

There

found Suceavea, the

is

former capital of Moldavia; there also

the monastery of

tomb

of the

Putna where

is

is

found

situated the

Moldavian Prince Stefan the

Great.

BESSARABIA
Bessarabia formed a part of Moldavia until

the year 1812,

when

it

was occupied by the

Russians through the Peace of Bukharest.

The Russians fought

ter

the Turks, and the lat-

gave Bessarabia to Russia, although the

province did not belong to them.

250

1600

i7Tr

1812

1856

1878

1913

RUMANIA'S SACRIFICE

By the

treaty of Paris in 1856, following the

Crimean War, they forced the Russians

to

return to Moldavia three departments of the

southwestern part of Bessarabia; but by the

Congress of Berlin of 1878 the Russians took

these three departments back again.

Bessarabia has a population of about 3,000,-

000 persons, of which three fourths are Rumanians.

It

is

situated

between

the

rivers

Pruth, Dniester, Danube, and the Black Sea.

The

and

soil is fertile

rich.

The population

Rumanian language, although the

Russians attempted to make them forget both

retains

its

language and their

origin.

MACEDONIA
In Macedonia there are

six

hundred thou-

sand Rumanians, who guard their language,

religion, customs,

and love for

their

mother

country in spite of the persecution of the

Turks and the Bulgarians.

CHAPTER XV
DIFFERENT ESTIMATES OF

THE RUMANIAN ARMY

THE RumaniansRumania
who
history of

the

proves to us that

have been called to

fight against barbarians or against too rapa-

cious neighbors have always

to

be

true

German

All

French-Belgian-

military critics recognized, specially

Russo-Turco-Rumanian war of 1877-

in the

1878,

warriors.

shown themselves

when

the attention of the

manian

made up

Rumania drew
whole world, that the Ru-

for the first time

Army

is

an armj^ of the

first order,

of excellent soldiers and distinguished

officers.

In 1913 the same

critics

praised highly the

same army, which penetrated Bulgaria

as far

as Sophia, in order to stop the troubles of the

253

RUMANIA'S SACRIFICE
BalkanSj so swiftly and skilfully that the Bulgarians were paralyzed and obliged to accept
the Peace of Bukharest.

In 1916 the Rumanian troops advanced into

Transylvania under good conditions and later,
being pushed by the greater forces of the

enemy and threatened by

the invasions of the

Germano-Turco-Bulgarian

armies

south, withdrew, but yielding

ground only step

by

step, in perfect order

battles.

at

the

and with sanguinary

This year of retreat was witnessed by

the French Vice- Admiral Fournier,

at this period in

He

Rumania.

who was

wrote in the

Paris newspapers:
In

my

automobile trips on the roads of Rumania,

covered with marching troops in perfect order, I

met only magnificent

soldiers admirably equipped, in

excellent form, singing,

their discipline

thousands of men

and

perfect.

is

fill

in perfect

At

good humor;

the canteens, where

their cups with hot tea

poured

from large copper caldrons used for this purpose,

one hears no loud voices everywhere there reigns an
;

impressive silence.^
1 "Courrier des Etats Unis,"

February

254.

6,

1917.

THE RUMANIAN ARMY

This truth, attested by a competent observer,
explains itself not only by the warlike tem-

perament of the Rumanian

soldier,

but also by

the fact that during more than forty years

King Charles was occupied with

the organiza-

tion of the army, introducing a regime very like

that of

of

Germany; and

Rumania was not

if

the democratic spirit

willing to allow these mili-

tary institutions to become an instniment of

domination and tyranny,

it is

none the

that in accord with public liberties

it

less

true

formed

the basis of her national force.

The greater number of the officers came from

either special French, Belgian,

Italian schools, or
cial

War

Grcrman, or

from the mihtary and Spe-

School of Bukharest, which

King

Charles had modeled on the French and Ger-

man

professional schools.

The Rumanian

soldier

is

not only very cour-

ageous and vigorous in the attack, but he

sober, resisting fatigues

of the weather.

is

and the inclemencies

He is able to march for whole

255

RUMANIA'S SACRIFICE
days and nights in rain or under the sun, without a murmur, content with very

and always ready

spirit

little

to eat,

to rush to the attack with

and enthusiasm.

Queen Marie,

in

an interview with a rep-

resentative of the Associated Press, said:

^'Heroism

is

my soldiers.

one of the greatest qualities of

Their contempt for suffering has

never been surpassed.

horrible

They endure

wounds with perfect

Pain does not

terrorize the brave

mania; they bear

it

else

equanimity.

men

Ru-

their native land."

have strangers been better able

to appreciate the valor of the

Rumanian Army

than in the great battles fought on the

Sereth.

of

with the same courage with

which they struggle for

Nowhere

the most

line of

All those who have had the oppor-

tunity to view closety this

admiration for

its

army have

endurance and

its

felt

high

bravery.

Tokens of appreciation reach the army from all

sides.

in

We

reproduce the telegram published

"The London Times"

256

of September 20,

THE RUMANIAN ARMY

1917, in connection with the declaration

by one of the
democracy on

made

representatives of the Russian

this subject.

Mr. Jablanofsky, high commissioner of the proGovernment of the southwest front, has just

visional

returned after passing several days at Odessa where

he had been called to regulate several questions on
the subject of revictualizing. Being questioned on
the events happening at the Rumanian front, the

high commissioner declared that Crimea and Odessa

owed not having fallen under the power of the Germans entirely to the valor and the tenacity of the
Rumanian armies, who sacrificed themselves with
heroic grandeur to the common cause.
"History," continued Mr. Jablanofsky, "will place
on the same footing with the immortal conquerors
of the Marne and of Verdun the Rumanian peasant
soldiers who fought one against five under the crushing blows of huge bombs without one hour of rest,
in order to save from invasion that which yet remains free of the territory of our Rumanian Ally."

"The London Times,"

relating the defense

of the sector of Marasesti, gives these details

of the admirable resistance of the Rumanian

soldiers

257

RUMANIA'S SACRIFICE
The

defense of the sector of the Marasesti to the

north of Focsani

is

the most glorious feat of arms

Rumanian Array, which resisted forces far

superior in number and possessing an element of surprise.
The principal objective of the Germans was
of the

to reach the bridge of Cosmesti and to cross the line

of Sereth without difficulty, which would place the

whole of Moldavia in the power of the Germans.

Mackensen chose the eighth of August to attack, on

which date the Russians were relieved by the Rumanians.

One Rumanian

division

for three

resisted

days the violent attacks of three German

divisions,

which attempted to cross the bridge at any

The

cost.

August the enemy, realizing the usemore to the west.

of the enemy were enormous the 12th

twelfth of

lessness of its efforts, attacked

The

losses

Bavarian Division was almost annihilated; there

mained but 2000 men.

The

losses of the

re-

Rumanians

were equally heavy.

The

following days the enemy attacked on the

whole front of the Marasesti with twelve divisions,

Rumanian forces, very much inferior in numThat attempt also failed. The fourteenth of
August the enemy, after ejecting strong asphyxiating gases, returned to the assault. The Rumanians,
The
despite their heavy losses, resisted heroically.
258
the

ber.

THE RUMANIAN ARMY

French Captain Verneuille was
of the

fight.

killed in the

midst

After the battle the 84th Prussian

Division, decimated,

was obliged to

retire.

Germans was on the nineThe

teenth of August; two German divisions and one
Austrian attacked the Rumanians on the northeast
last attempt of the

of Panchiu.

The Rumanians,

in the presence of the

king and of Prince Charles, struggled with a bravery beyond all commendation. The enemy reached
the

Rumanian wire entanglements.

counter at-

tack of the last Rumanian reserves threw them back

in disorder; the

Germans threw down

their

guns

and surrendered, and six hundred Austro-Gerraan

filed out in parade before the king.
This German check was the most serious that the

prisoners

enemy had to undergo on

the Oriental front.

Mr. Dechanel, president of the Frencli

Chamber, in a speech made before the French

Parhament on the occasion of the reception of

the Rumanian mission, said

"The Kumanian army, thrown

bat, without the
sians, resists for

into full

com-

promised help of the Rus-

many months
g59

the

Germano-

RUMANIA'S SACRIFICE
Austro-Bulgaro-Turkish armies with bravery

and heroic

tenacity, relieving thus the other

fronts."

The French General La Croix

writes in his

book, "Effort de la Kumanie," p. 20:

She [the Rumanian Army] held out for a long
time alone by her own means, against more numer-

ous and better armed adversaries she astonishes them

by the vigor and duration of her resistance and she
shows herself worthy of her past and of her noble
;

traditions of chivalric bravery.^

Mr. Lacour Gayet, member

of the Institute,

has outlined in the "Journal" of March

1917, a

stirring picture of the valor of the

manians

9,

Ru-

Since the twenty-seventh of August, 1916, the

Rumanian Army has

sustained ten months of heroic

She had an army of 450,000 fighting men,

excellent soldiers, incomparable with bayonet, very
struggle.

enduring, rude peasants, virtually

had

all

of them.

They

to defend a front of 1350 kilometers, which

According to "Roumanie" Paris, September

Comnene

op.

cit.,

p. 183.

260

8, 1917.

THE RUMANIAN ARMY

side of

the
was threatened in every part except on
a front
what
know
we
Do
the Russian frontier.
of the
length
the
is
It
of 1350 kilometers means?

Russians

Western front of Russia; but there the

men. Our Anglohave a milhon and a half fighting
to the Vosges,
French front, from the North Sea
this stretch
on
and
kilometers,
measures only 100
of ground, relatively small,

how many

times 450,000

men have we?

This Rumanian Army,

too feeble for so extensive

marvelous deeds. During nearly

a front, has done

reinforced, she held
four months, without being
well-fed all the time
against at least triple forces
heavy artillery at
and with a formidable material of
disShe yielded ground only by

their disposal.

puting
it

it

enemy to
step by step; she forced the

buy

with the most cruel losses.^

witnessed
Mr. Stanley Wascheburn, who has

cannot say
the struggle of the Riimanians,
Army. In
enough in praise of the Kumanian
November 7, 1916,
*'The London Times" of
virtues of
other things he extols the

among
the Rumanian Army,
ance,

and what he

iComnene,

op.

cit.,

its soldiers,

calls

p. 181.

261

their endur-

"their obstinacy

RUMANIA'S SACRIFICE
resistance

and

their superb

most tragic hour."

morale even in the

General von Falkenhayn, interviewed in

Berlin on the twenty-eighth of November,
1916, declared to the correspondent of the

Associated Press of

New

York, "The desper-

ate bravery of which the

Rumanians have

given proof in their constantly repeated assaults

is

troops."

recognized

by

all

the

German

The German Commander Franz Karl Enders of the

book,

German Army

"La Guerre Contre

pamphlet

is

has just published a

la

Kumanie."

This

a most precious document for the

Rumanians.

It

is

a testimony from an enemy,

which bears witness that the Rumanian Ai'my

has struggled everywhere with courage and
impetuosity and that she has been the cause
of enormous losses to Germans.

author writes:
1

Comnene, op.
Comnene, op.

181.

cit.,

p.

cit.,

p. 187.

262

The German

THE RUMANIAN ARMY

The Rumanians are holding fast;
by step the German drive.

sisted step

thej;

have re-

Their armies

have fought with bravery, but the conduct of their

operations has been forced to yield before ours and

... As

before our plans.

est, it

to the taking of Bukliar-

could not have been avoided unless the

manians had had double forces.

Ru-

However, there

were painful hours for the brave German troops,

and

it is

only after furious attacks that we have

been able to conquer on the Argesh.

the

German Army

recollection
in

will

... As

keep of the Rumanian

of fighting

filled

with

for us,

War

difficulties,

which she was able to show her power

but

a recollec-

tion of fights without precedent which have cost us

many hard

sacrifices.^

Major Tokinoly,

to the G. Q. G. of the
to the

Rumanian

Japan
Rumanian Army, made

military attache of

press of Jassy the following

declarations

The whole of Japan follows with emotion and

sympathy the superhuman efforts of Rumania. We
know your sufferings.
Accustomed to love those who are small and glorious, accustomed to hate with all passion the odious

i"La Roumanie,"

Paris,

January

S63

24, 1918.

RUMANIA'S SACRIFICE
tyranny against which you have risen with bravery,
can there yet be any question in what manner we

you giving new birth to your native land ?

Nippon press speaks with merited praise
of the heroism of the Rumanian Army.
Our newspapers do not hesitate to show your
marvelous qualities. They deplore the distance and
the impossibility of giving you all our help.
The nomination of a representative of Rumania at
Tokio shows clearly enough the reciprocal intention
see

All of the

of solid friendly relations.

We

will

be happy to form close relations with a

brave people, industrious and honest,

nian people, and
ties to

it

would be only to

assure you that

Then

all

like the

Ruma-

you

banali-

tell

our solicitude

Franco-English-Italian

Austrian and

German

is

yours.^

press,

the

press, as well as the

press of the neutrals, have recognized without

reserve that the

man who
military

Rumanian

soldier

is

a brave

has attracted the attention of

critics,

of

of the whole world.

all political

Military

men,

critics

all

the

in fact,

have de-

clared that the bravery of the soldiers cannot

i"La Roumanie,"

Jan. 17, 1918.

264

THE RUMANIAN ARMY

be better appreciated than in a
the bayonet, and

Rumanian

the
self.

He

human
tles

it is

stiTiggle with

just with the bayonet that

soldier has distinguished

him-

fought as in the ages when "the

material" had the upper hand in bat-

in a

war where

the upper hand belongs to

the machines of war, and

is

fatal to

him and

to his heroic enthusiasm, he replied from the

trenches with asphyxiating gases, with enor-

mous bombs, and the great cannons. Nevertheless, the Rumanian soldier was able to resist
and to inflict great losses upon the enemy.

THE END

S65

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