History of Romania
In ancient times, Romania was inhabited by Dako-Göttish tribes, belonging to the family of Thracian peoples. At the beginning of the VII century BC. The Greeks proceeded to establish trading colonies on the Black Sea coast; this is how Callatis was created (today's Mangalia), Tomis (Constance) and Histria. In I in. p.n.e. threatened by the Romans, the Dacians created their own state (first king of Dacia, Burebista, contemporary was Julius Caesar), which, however, in the face of the power of the nascent empire had little chance of maintaining independence. The last king, Decebal, did strengthen them, but he failed to save the country from Roman conquest. The Romans entered the lands of the Daks in the years 105-106 n.e. and relatively quickly took over territory covering most of modern Romania, including Transylvania (pour. “Behind the forest”).
Two famous monuments capture the Roman expansion to the north: Trajan's Column in Rome and the Traiani tropaeum in Adamclisi, the place of victory of the legions in Dobrogea. Settling in a new province, Dacia, The Romans brought their culture here, customs and language and assimilated with the local population. Gradually, a nation with a typically Romanesque temperament emerged, speaking Latin which gradually differed more and more from that of Ovid, sent by Caesar August to Constana on the Black Sea.
Gathering strength to defend against the attacks of the Goths in 271 r., Emperor Aurelian decided to withdraw the Roman legions and administration south of the Danube, but Romanized Wallachian peasants remained in Dacia. Between the 4th and 10th centuries, waves of migrating Goths passed through the country, Huns, Avars, Slavs, Bulgarians and Magyars (Hungarians). The native rural population protected themselves from invaders in the mountains, thanks to which it largely retained its Romanesque identity. Among the tribes that then settled in the lands of modern Romania, the Slavs had the greatest influence on its culture.
In the 10th century, the feudal system began to take shape here; military dignitaries stood at the head of the community.
From the 10th century on, the Magyars, they had previously settled in Pannonia, began to occupy the Transylvanian Upland, that is, areas bounded by the Eastern and Southern Carpathians. W XIII w. all this area passed under Hungarian rule, as a separate principality (however, most of the inhabitants were Romanians). After the devastating invasions of the Tatars in 1241 i 1242 r. the Hungarian king Bela IV, out of concern for the country's security, offered to settle on its borders to the Sasom. In return for the defense of the south-eastern outskirts of the kingdom, the ruler granted them free land and reliefs in compulsory tributes.. It was these German colonizers who founded the famous seven castles, from which the name of the principality of Transylvania is derived, and erected numerous defensive structures, to this day surprising with its size and reliability.
In the 14th and 15th centuries, the principalities of Moldavia and Wallachia put up strong resistance to the Ottoman state advancing north. Particularly significant victories over the Turks were achieved, among others, by. hospods (princes) Wallachia Mircza Stary (Mircea cel Batrin) and Vlad the Impaler (Vlad the Impaler) and the Moldavian hospodar Stefan the Great (Stephen the Great).
Prince Vlad Dracula, for his incredible cruelty he is called the Impaler (rum. Tepes), ruled in Wallachia in the years 1456-1462 and 1476-1477. The ruthless ruler was famous for this, that he punished the slightest offense by impalement. In the country, where the view of the "forest” thousands of piles was not uncommon, crime has completely disappeared. It should not come as a surprise, however, that the prince was not popular and was soon removed from the throne by his own boyars, whom he had previously murdered or turned into slaves of the family.
While Romanians remember mainly the atrocities of the historical Vlad, in the West, he is better known as the legendary vampire prince., hero of Bram Stoker's novel. Dra-ball. Son of Vlad Drake, Knight of the Order of the Dragon, he was called Dracula, or "Little Dragon"”. However, the family name does not yet mean, that its owner must have been a monster in human skin, although in modern Romanian the word drąc means devil. Only personal "merits"” cruel-ka made, that he went down in legend, which folk tales combined with the age-old belief in vampires and strigoi. On the other hand, the international fame of Dracula, not coinciding with historical facts, this is mainly due to the Irish writer.
When the Turks conquered Hungary in the 16th century, Transylvania became a fief of the Ottoman Empire, ensuring his autonomy with the tribute paid to the Sultan.
Due to this partial independence, the Transylvanian Germans were able to. convert to Protestantism, and, consequently, to break with the Catholic Habsburg rule. Hopes for independence were shattered after the Turkish defeat at the gates of Vienna in 1683 i.) three years later Transylvania came under the rule of the Habsburgs. In years 1703-1711 they suppressed insurgent movements, led by the Transylvanian prince Ferenc Rakoczy (Rakóczi) II.
After the Turks' victory in Transylvania, Wallachia and Moldova also paid their autonomy with tribute to Turkey.. (Understanding is not possible without direct headship, why the Ottoman architecture was preserved only in Dobrogea, the area between the Danube and the Black Sea). At the beginning of the 17th century, all three countries were briefly united under the reign of Michael the Brave in Alba Iulia. (Michael the Brave).
The Turks maintained sovereignty over Wallachia and part of Moldavia until the nineteenth century. Uprisings in 1821 i 1848 r. (Spring of Nations). After Russia's defeat in the Crimean War (1853-1856) Romanians got a chance to realize their independence aspirations. Thanks to French support in 1859 r. Prince Alexander Jan took the thrones of Moldavia and Wallachia (Alexandru Ioan) Cuza. This is how the state was created, which in 1862 r. took the name Romania. Cuza, who is a supporter of liberal reforms, w 1866 r. was forced to abdicate in favor of the Prussian prince Charles I.. With Russian help, in 1877 r. Romania proclaimed the shedding of the Ottoman yoke, and after the independence war in 1877-1878 she also extended her rule to Dobruja.