568 SOUTH EASTERN EUROPE
century the principalities and their
neighbours fought together to fend
off the relentless Ottoman Empire. As
the Ottoman grip weakened in the
19th century, Moldavia and Wallachia
united to form the independent state
of Romania in 1862. Carol I was
made king of a consti tutional
monarchy in 1866 and full indepen-
dence was declared in 1877. Fighting
with the Allies in World War I brought
the reward of unification with
Transylvania in 1918, only to be lost
again at the beginning of World War
II, prompting Romania to take sides
with Germany in the hope of
regaining its territory. Romania
changed sides towards the end of the
war, ensuring the final return of
Transylvania. In 1947, the Communist
Party, with the support of Soviet
troops, forced King Michael I (r. 1927–
30) to abdicate and declared Romania
a People’s Republic. Gheorghe
Gheorghiu-Dej (1901–65) was the
first leader of the single-party
dictatorship; upon his death in
1965, he was succeeded by NicolaeCeauşescu (1918–89). However,
Ceauşescu indulged in grand projects
which consumed the nation’s
resources, leading to an economic
crisis. In 1989, a series of violent
demon strations culminated in the res-
ig nation and subsequent execution of
Ceauşescu. A brief period of insta-
bility followed as hard-line
Communists attempted to regain
power. Since 1990, however, the
country has been ruled by a
succession of democratic govern-
ments. In 2004, Romania joined NATO
and on 1 January 2007, it became a
member of the European Union.LANGUAGE AND CULTURE
Romanian is the country’s official
language, although Hungarian is
spoken by the large Hungarian
minority in Transylvania.
The fascinating ethnographic
museums scattered around the
country provide an insight into
Romania’s rich cultural heritage. It
has a diverse history of rural traditions
involving music, dance and ritual.
These are still preserved in towns
and villages where most people have
practised Orthodox Christianity for
centuries, while the large, modern
cities are very much on a par with
many of their European counterparts.Romanians protesting against Nicolae Ceauşescu, 1989KEY DATES IN ROMANIAN HISTORYAD 101 Romans conquer and colonize Dacia
1003 Hungarian king Stephen conquers
Transylvania
1456–1476 Vlad the Impaler brutally resists
invading Ottoman forces
1526 Transylvania wins independence from
Hungary
1600 Michael the Brave unifies Wallachia,
Moldavia and Transylvania for a single year
1683 Transylvania is absorbed into the
Habsburg Empire
1878 Treaty of Berlin recognizes the
principalities of Moldavia and Wallachia as
the independent state of Romania
1918 Transylvania is unified with Romania
following World War I
1941 Romania joins Germany to fight the Allies
under the dictatorship of Marshall Ion Antonescu
1947 Communists force King Michael to abdicate;
Romania is proclaimed a People’s Republic
1989 Following a bloody revolution, Romania
becomes a democratic republic
2004 Romania joins NATO
2007 Romania becomes a member of the EU