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| e. Romania |
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(See 1916, Aug. 27)| |
| 1914–27 |
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| FERDINAND I. | 1 |
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| 1916, Aug. 27 |
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| Romania declared war on Austria-Hungary, but the Romanian armies were decisively defeated before the end of the year. | 2 |
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| 1918, May 7 |
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| Treaty of Bucharest (See May 7). | 3 |
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| Nov. 10 |
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| Romania reentered the war, and Romanian forces occupied Transylvania. | 4 |
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| Dec. 2 |
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| A government, headed by Julius Maniu, Transylvanian peasant leader, was soon (Dec. 14) obliged to give way to a cabinet under Ion Bratianu, leader of the Liberal Party, representing the industrial, commercial, and professional classes of the old kingdom. | 5 |
| Romania's main problems after the war were economic recovery and internal consolidation of the state, primarily by the unification of legislation throughout the country. To alleviate economic problems land reform was partially introduced in Dec. 1918, when a decree was issued expropriating a considerable part of the great landed estates. Reform became more definite in 1921; almost 7 million acres were divided among nearly 1.5 million families, and the remainder of over 4 million acres of grassland and forest became village property to be used by the peasants on payment of a tax. As in the rest of the Balkans, reform was not enough to end rural poverty, and peasants actually cut back commercial production in favor of local subsistence. Urban conditions were also difficult, sparking frequent strikes culminating in a countrywide general strike in 1920. | 6 |
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