Romanians celebrate the union of Wallachia and Moldavia Principalities (Jan 24, 2006)

Prince Alexandru Ioan CUZA -- the first elected ruler of the Romanian United Principalities (Wallachia and Moldavia)

(Initially published in www.romania-report.ro -- Jan 24, 2006)

On Jan. 24, 1859, Romanian Principalities of Wallachia and Moldavia accomplished the ‘de facto’ unification, as Alexandu Ioan Cuza (Prince of Moldavia) was also elected as ruler by the Wallachian Parliament.

Cuza was a prominent speaker in the debates and strongly advocated the union of the two Danubian principalities, Moldavia and Walachia.

In default of a foreign prince, he was himself elected prince of Moldavia (Moldova) on January 5, 1859 and of Walachia (Ţara Românească) on January 24, 1859. Thus Colonel A. I. Cuza achieved a de facto union of the two Romanian principalities. The Powers backtracked, Napoleon III of France remaining supportive, while the reactionary Austro-Hungarian ministry withheld approval of such a union at the Congress of Paris (October 18, 1858); partly as a consequence Cuza's authority was not recognized by his nominal suzerain, the sultan of Turkey, until the December 23, 1861.

The Union was formally declared three years later, on January 24, 1862, the new country bearing the name of Romania, with Bucharest as its capital city.

Cuza was not a diplomatic politician, and lacked the traditional royal background, but he knew how to choose progressive ministers and had an intelligent ear for advice. Immediately he gained the sultan's assent to a single unified parliament and cabinet for his lifetime, in recognition of the complexity of the task. Thus he was the political embodiment of a unified Romania, for his lifetime.

Assisted by his councilor Mihail Kogălniceanu, an intellectual leader of the 1848 revolution, Cuza initiated a series of reforms that contributed to the modernization of Romanian society and of state structures, including:

- The law of monastery estates, secularizing monastic assets (1863). Probably more than a quarter of Romania's farmland was controlled by untaxed Greek Orthodox "Dedicated Monasteries," which supported Greek monks in shrines like Mount Athos and Jerusalem but were a substantial drain on state revenues. Cuza got his parliament's backing to expropriate these lands, with the backing of the parliament. He offered compensation to the Greek Orthodox Church, but the Patriarch refused to negotiate. This was a mistake: after several years, the Romanian government withdrew its offer and no compensation was ever paid. State revenues thereby increased without adding any domestic tax burden.

- The Agrarian Reform, liberating peasants from the last feudal duties, freeing their movements and redistributing some land (1864). This was less successful. In attempting to create a solid support base among the peasants, Cuza soon found himself in conflict with conservative boyars. A Liberal bill granting peasants title to the land they worked was defeated. Then Conservatives responded with a bill that ended all peasant dues and responsibilities, but gave landlords title to all the land. Cuza vetoed it, then held a plebiscite to alter the constitution, in the manner of Napoleon III. His plan to establish universal male suffrage, together with the power of the prince to rule by decree, passed by a vote of 682,621 to 1,307. With his new plenary powers, Cuza then promulgated the Agrarian Law of 1863. Peasants received title to the land they worked, while landlords retained ownership of one third. Where there was not enough land available to create workable farms under this formula, state lands (from the confiscated monasteries) would be used to give the boyars compensation. Peasants were not satisfied with the distribution, and landlords managed to keep the best land; they used the compensation fund as investment capital and the boyar class emerged with new wealth from capitalist agriculture.

- The Criminal Code and the Civil Code (1864);

- The Education law, establishing tuition-free but compulsory public education (1864);

- The founding of the Universities in Iaşi (1860) and Bucharest (1864);

- Development of a modern, Europeanized army for Romania, under a working relationship with France.

The radical reforms which he imposed to bring Romania fully into the 19th century impinged upon all classes and alienated his more influential subjects. Cuza was forced to abdicate by the so-called "Monstrous Coalition" of Conservatives and radical Liberals, at four o'clock on the morning of February 22, 1866.

Romania Report & sources