Ro historic personalities (1)

LLP Comenius Multilateral Partnership 2013-2015A Footprint on Romanian History

- Leading PersonalitiesMaterial prepared by:

Mihaela Ţurcănaşu (Teacher of History)

Daniela Livadaru (Teacher of Religion)

Students:Claudia Ciornilă – 12th GradeŞerban Vintilă – 12th Grade Project Meeting in Barcelona, Spain

- the 25th of February – the 2nd of March 2014 -

EUROPE SEEN THROUGH

ITS LEADING

PERSONALITIES

A footprint on Romanian History

Stephen the Great, Voivode of Moldavia

– 1457-1504 –

the most prominent representative of the House of Muşat;

an exceptional personality due to his military, diplomatic and cultural achievements;

Stephen was born in Borzeşti, to Bogdan II, voivode of Moldavia;

After the assassination of his father, he took refuge in Transylvania, under the protection of John Hunyadi, and then in Wallachia, at the court of his cousin Vlad III Dracula (the Impaler);

In 1457, after a victorious battle against his uncle Petru Aron, Stephen was crowned Voivode of Moldavia;

A footprint on Romanian HistoryStephen the Great – 1457-1504

Early life and rise to power

Portrait showing Stephen in his youth

As ruler, Stephen consolidated princely authority, furthered economic prosperity, and reorganized the army, thus creating a powerful Moldavian state;

Menaced by powerful neighbours, Stephen fought against Hungarian Kingdom, Crimean Khanate, Polish-Lithuanian Crown and Ottoman Empire, maintaining the independence and sovereignty of Moldavia;


Reign

Statue of Stephen the Great in Suceava

36 battles, of which 34 victorious, the most renown

being:


Military campaigns

Battle of Baia, December 15th , 1467 – against the armies of the Hungarian king, Matthias Corvinus;

Battle of Vaslui, January 10th , 1475 – against the Ottoman Beylerbeyi of Rumelia, Hadım Suleyman Pasha;

Battle of Valea Albă, June, 1476 – against Sultan Mehmed II; Battle of the Cosmin Forest, October 26th, 1497 – against the

Polish King John Albert;

The territories stretched between: The Carpathian

Mountains The Nistru River The Hotin Fortress

(nowadays in Ukraine)

The Black Sea;


Moldavia in his Time

Stephen had married three times: Evdokia of Kiev, 1463-1467; Maria of Mangop, 1472-

1477; Maria Voichiţa, 1478-1504;

Although he had around 8 children, only two survived him: Bogdan Vlad III (1504-1517) and Petru Rareş (1527-1538, 1541-1546)


Wives and descendants

Votive painting from Voroneţ Monastery (after July 26, 1496)

Stephen, his daughter Maria, his wife, Maria Voichiţa and his son, Bogdan Vlad are offering

their gift to Christ


Illness and Death

Stephen’s the Great tomb, Putna Monastery, his first foundation and

princely necropolis

At the time of his death, Stephen was suffering from an unhealed leg wound. Despite the efforts of famous doctors like Hieronimo da Cesena, Stephen died on July 2nd , 1504, being buried in Putna Monastery, according to his wish, deeply mourned by his people;

He is a well-educated person, worthy of great praise. His subjects like him for mercy and fairness. Stephen is sober-minded and generous; well-built and looks well for his age, but suffers from gout as a result of his wounds. (Matteo Muriano, Italian doctor);

To ensure stability and social-economic development, he managed to temperate boyars’ growing influence and rising anarchic tendencies, favouring instead the free peasants and the middle-class and encouraging external trade;

He paid much attention to reorganising the army, especially by observing strict discipline, strengthening the defensive chain of fortresses and supplying it with necessary funds;

Stephen was a prominent diplomat, maintaining by means of alliances the fragile equilibrium between the three surrounding Powers: Hungary, Poland and the Ottoman Empire;


A Powerful Statesman

Stephen’s Coat of ArmsBell

donated to Bistriţa

Monastery, 1494

Suceava Fortress, his seat

Culture flourished under his patronage, especially in monastic centres (manuscripts illumination, embroidery, mural painting, silver crafting;


Cultural Achievements

Epitaphion (the Dormition of the Mother of God) – silver and gilded embroidery

Putna, 1490

The Four Gospels from Humor, 1473- the most remarkable illuminated

manuscript

His reign marked a period of great ecclesiastical building and endowment;

Stephen supported, founded or restored many churches and monasteries (at least 32 are connected to him);

During his time the Moldavian architectural style developed, blending Byzantine, Gothic and local features;


Churches Founder

Neamţ Monastery, 1497

Voroneţ Monastery, 1488

Stephen played an important role in hindering the Ottoman advance towards Europe, being called Verus christiane fidei atletha by Pope Sixtus IV;

He is one of the greatest benefactors of the monasteries from Mount Athos;

There are testimonies that the ruler was a pious, sober man, praying and fasting along with his people;

The Romanian Orthodox Church proclaimed him “Saint” in 1992, under the name “Right-believing voivode Stephen the Great and the Holy”;


Defendant of Faith

Icon painted for the 500 years commemoration of his death,

comprising life scenes of Stephen


Carol I, King of Romania

– 1866-1914 –

the first constitutional monarch of Romania;

During his reign, Romania became an independent state, with the rank of kingdom;

A footprint on Romanian HistoryCarol I – 1866-1914

Early life

He was born on April 10th, 1839 in Sigmaringen, a town in the South of Germany.

He spent his childhood years in the Sigmaringen castle of his parents, Prince Karl Anton of Hohenzollern and Princess Josephine.


Studies After finishing his

elementary studies, Carl entered the Cadet School in Münster.

In 1857 he graduated from the Artillery School in Berlin, thus becoming a German officer.


Romania’s political situation After Alexandru Ioan Cuza’s

expulsion, the country was in utter political chaos. Cuza's double election, both in Wallachia and in Moldavia, had been the basis on which the Romanian Principalities' unification was recognized by the European powers and now the country was risking the dissolving of this union.

The country needed a new ruler, who would be accepted by the European countries and who would contribute to the “European integration” in a continent of monarchical dynasties.

Alexandru Ioan Cuza, Prince of the United Principalities of

Moldavia and Wallachia, 1859-1866


Carol I and Romania Prince Carol was reported to be the perfect

soldier, healthy and disciplined, and a very good politician with liberal ideas, speaker of several European languages.

His family, the Hohenzollern dynasty, being closely related to the Bonaparte family, enjoyed very good relations with them. Romania was under a strong French culture influence at the time and Napoleon’s recommendation of Carol weighed heavily with the Romanian politicians.

Ion Brătianu was the Romanian politician delegated to negotiate with Carol and his family the possibility of installing him on the Romanian throne after the previous refusal of Philip of Flandra.

Carol I as chief of the Romanian Army


Carol’s Proclamation as the New Ruler

Carol I was named Ruler of Romania on May 10th, 1866, and on March 26th, 1881 he was crowned monarch, thus becoming the first Romanian constitutional king.

He was the first monarch from the Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen dynasty, which later changed into the Royal House of Romania. This dynasty will lead the country until the proclamation of the Romanian Popular Republic, in 1947.

Entrance of Carol I in Bucharest, on the 10th of May 1866


Achievements during Carol I’s reign Immediately after arriving in the

country, the Romanian parliament adopted, on June 29th, 1866, the first Constitution of Romania, one of the most advanced constitutions in that time.

This constitution allowed the development and modernization of the Romanian state. It was quite daringly decided that the Constitution would ignore the nominal suzerainty of the Ottoman Empire, which paved the way towards a full independence.

Carol I as chief of the Romanian Army


Romania – an Independent State After the Russo-Turkish

War (1877-1878), also known as the War of Independence, Romania was declared a sovereign nation and its independence was confirmed by the Berlin Treaty.

The so-long waited independence led to the consolidation of the country, both domestically and externally, as its prestige raised abroad. In 1881 Romania became kingdom.

Carol I leading the Romanian Army in the Russo-Turkish War


Personal life and legacy Prince Carol I was

married to Princess Elisabeta of Wied.

Their only child was Princess Măriuca, who died of scarlet fever at the early age of 4.

In order to solve the succession problem, he adopted his nephew (his brother’s second son), the future king, Ferdinand I (1914-1927).

Carol I, Ferdinand, his heir, and Ferdinand’s first son, Carol II


The End of his Reign Carol I died on October 19th, 1914, on the brink of World War I.

His 48 year reign is the longest reign of a Romanian monarch.

His successor, Ferdinand, fulfilled the dream of unification of the Romanian people (1918).

Peleş Castle, the Royal summer residence


Nicolae Ceaușescu, portrait of a dictator

– 1965-1989 – General secretary of the

Romanian Communist Party and then President of the Socialist Republic of Romania;

His communist regime collapsed on December 22nd, 1989;

A footprint on Romanian HistoryNicolae Ceaușescu – 1965-1989

Nicolae Ceaușescu was born in the village of Scornicești, Olt County, on January 26th, 1918, being one of the ten children of a poor peasant family.

He studied at the village school and, at the age of 11, he ran away from his abusive father to Bucharest, initially living with his sister and then becoming an apprentice shoemaker.

Early life

Photo taken when he was 18 years old

In 1933, he enrolled in the Youth wing of the Romanian Communist Party, an illegal political organisation;

In 1936 he was convicted to three years of prison for distributing Communist pamphlets and antifascist propaganda, being jailed in Doftana Prison.

In 1940, Ceauşescu was arrested again and sentenced, being transferred in 1943 to Tîrgu Jiu internment camp, where he shared the detention cell with Gheorghe Gheorghiu Dej, becoming soon his protégé.


The Beginning of his Career

Convicted at 15 years old for Communist activities

In 1939, while out of jail, at a reunion of Young Communists, he met Elena Petrescu, who will play an important role in his political life over the years;


Family

He married Elena in 1946, having three children, a girl – Zoia, and two boys – Nicu and Valentin; only the latter one lives today;


Gheorghe Gheorghiu Dej and Nikita Khruschev at Bucharest Băneasa Airport (June 1960) –

Ceauşescu is behind them.

Gheorghe Gheorghiu Dej (the first Communist leader after the removal of the Romanian monarchy, in 1948) died on March 19th, 1965;

Three days later, Ceauşescu managed to be elected as General Secretary of the Romanian Workers party, changing its name back to Romanian Communist Party.

In 1967, he consolidated his power by becoming president of the State Council (head of state);

Rise to power

In the 1960s, Ceauşescu ended Romania's active participation in the Warsaw Pact, openly condemning and refusing to take part in the 1968 Invasion of Czechoslovakia to halt the Prague Spring;


Prague , 1968

Early Policy

His seeming independence from Moscow earned Romania maverick status within the Eastern Block, being encouraged by notable Occidental leaders and gaining the sympathy of the people;

Between the 1965 and 1971, Ceauşescu pursued an open policy towards the Western Europe and USA;

He borrowed heavily from the West to finance economic development programs of the country;


Official meeting with Richard Nixon (up) and Queen Elizabeth

II (below)

Early Policy

After the 1971 visits to China and North Korea, Ceauşescu took great interest in the idea of total national transformation and in the personality cults, deciding to translate this ideological pattern to Romania;

His speech addressed to the Executive Committee of the Romanian Communist Party (the July Theses, 1971) opens the way to the new cultural revolution;


Ceauşescu meeting North Korean Leader Kim Il Sung,

1971

Late Policy

On March 28th, 1974, Nicolae Ceauşescu was elected as President of the Socialist Republic of Romania, ensuring thus a full-fledged executive presidency; he had monopoly on the state power, often ruling by decree;

The pervasive personality cult grew more when he invested his wife, Elena Ceauşescu with the second position in the state (Deputy Prime Minister);


Ceauşescu receiving the presidential sceptre, 1974

Personality cult

POSITIVE ASPECTS There were plenty of working places for everybody, due

to the increased industrialization and economy growth; Workers could get a free dwelling from the state,

especially in the new block of flats; Education and medical services were free.


Life of the Romanians in 1980s

Large urbanisation of the country Visit to an industrial area


Food shortage led to immense queues in order to get basic foodstuff

Shops were almost empty, products such as sweets and coffee being practically non-

existent

Life of the Romanians in 1980sNEGATIVE ASPECTS The policy to pay back all the international loans led to an

austerity programme; Basic necessities, such as food, heating, electricity and

medical care were rationed and the infrastructure has been left decaying;

The standard of living fell by 19-40 per cents;


Public manifestations occasioned by Ceauşescu’’s Birthday, August 23rd, official visits… gathered thousands of people on the streets to acclaim the “Beloved Leader”

Life of the Romanians in 1980sNEGATIVE ASPECTS Travelling abroad was very restrictive, permissions being

allowed with much difficulty; Press censorship and the violation of democratic rights

and liberties were a feature of the regime; The personality cult grew up to an unbearable great

extent;


Overthrow – The 1989 Revolution Ceaușescu’s regime collapsed

after he ordered his security forces to fire on antigovernment demonstrators in the city of Timişoara on December 17th, 1989;

The demonstrations spread to Bucharest (December 21st, 1989) and turned into the Romanian Revolution, more than 1,000 Romanians being killed during clashes, in what amounted to eastern Europe's most violent anti-communist revolution;


Overthrow – The 1989 Revolution Ceaușescu and his wife were

captured; on December 25th, 1989 the couple were hastily tried and convicted by a special military tribunal on charges of mass murder and then shot by a firing squad.

Since 1990, in Romania a democratic regime had been established in full rights.

As recognition for its democratic status, Romania became a member of NATO and of European Union.

Documents

Ro historic personalities (1)