Moldovia, Wallachia and Romania

Alexander John Suza
Source

Romania's early stamps developed from those of Moldova and Wallachia, which united to form the core of the new Romania.

In 1877, Romania declared independence from the Ottoman Empire and, following a Russian-Romanian-Turkish war, its independence was recognized by the Treaty of Berlin, 1878, making it the first independent national state in the eastern half of Europe. Following the war Romania acquired Dobruja, but it was forced to cede southern Bessarabia to Russia.

Carol I (1839-1914) was elected prince of Romania in April 1866 and proclaimed as the first Romanian king in March 1881. He was the first ruler of the Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen dynasty which would rule the country until the proclamation of a republic in 1947.


During his reign he personally led Romanian troops during the Russo-Turkish War, 1877-78. The country achieved full independence from the Ottoman Empire (Treaty of Berlin, 1878) and acquired the southern part of the Dobruja from Bulgaria in 1913.

Carol's childlessness left his elder brother Leopold next in line to the throne. In October 1880 Leopold renounced his right of succession in favour of his son William, who in turn surrendered his claim eight years later in favour of his younger brother, the future king Ferdinand.
Ferdinand I (1865-1927) was born in Germany. Prince Ferdinand of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen became heir to the throne of his childless uncle, King Carol I of Romania in November 1888, following the renunciations of his father and elder brother. In 1893, Crown Prince Ferdinand married Princess Marie of Edinburgh. He succeeded his uncle as King of Romania in October 1914, reigning until his death in July 1927.

Though a member of a cadet branch of Germany's ruling Hohenzollern imperial family, he presided over his country's entry into World War I on the side of the Triple Entente powers against the Central Powers in August 1916. His family in Germany denied him and they put a black flag on the Hohenzollern Castle. The outcome of Romania's war effort was the union of Bessarabia, Bukovina and Transylvania with the Kingdom of Romania in 1918.

Despite Romania's disastrous defeat during the closing months of 1916, he became ruler of a greatly enlarged Romanian state in 1918-1920 following the Entente's victory, a war between the Romania and the Hungarian Soviet Republic, and the civil war in Russia, and was crowned king of Romania in a spectacular ceremony on 15 October 1922 at the historic princely seat of Alba Iulia.

Ferdinand died in 1927, and was succeeded by his grandson Michael, under a regency. Although it is said that during his life king Ferdinand was not a very strong-minded person and had no will, he remains Romania's most important monarch. He completed the land reform and promulgated the Romanian constitution of 1923, a landmark in the development of the Romanian democracy.

Romania took no part in the First Balkan War of 1912-13, fought to drive the Ottomans out of the western Balkans. In the Second Balkan War of June-July 1913 it joined Serbia, Greece, Montenegro and Turkey in war against Bulgaria. Bulgaria signed an Armistice on July 31. At the Treaty of Bucharest in August 1913, the final territorial adjustments were made. Romania gained Southern Dobruja from Bulgaria.

Bessarabia, historically a Romanian province, was a Russian territory from 1812 until 1917. During the Russian revolution Bessarabia became a separate Soviet Republic and declared its independence as the Moldavian Republic in March 1918. As compensation for Romania's losses elsewhere the Treaty of Bucharest of May 1918 awarded Bessarabia to Romania, which had already sent in troops. In December 1918, a council of ethnic Romanians formally carried out Bessarabia's union with Romania. Soviet Russia was too weak at the time to contest the loss of Bessarabia but it never recognized it.

Transylvania belonged to the Hungarian half of the Habsburg Monarchy until 1918. The overall majority of the population was ethnic Romanian. As Romanian nationalism was rising, Romania had long aspired to annex Transylvania. The province took no part in the Balkan Wars. In August 1916 Romania declared war and invaded Transylvania, but Austrian troops (with German reinforcements) drove them out within two months. In the Treaty of Bucharest of May 1918 Romania ceded to Austria the control of the Carpathian passes between Romania and Transylvania. Romanian armies and Allied intervention defeated attempts by postwar Hungarian governments to hold Transylvania by force of arms. In the Treaty of Trianon of June 1920 Romania gained all of historic Transylvania plus two-thirds of Hungary's rich Banat (the other third going to Yugoslavia).

Moldavia

Moldavia is a geographic and historical region and former principality in Eastern Europe, corresponding to the territory between the Eastern Carpathians and the Dniester river. issued stamps immediately upon gaining autonomy in 1858, with the first cap de bour stamps being issued in July 1858. These were produced by handstamping on laid paper

Laid paper

Laid paper is a type of paper having a ribbed texture imparted by the manufacturing process. In the 19th century its use diminished as it was largely supplanted by wove paper...

and are now quite rare. The initial round design was shortly followed by one using a square frame with rounded corners, and using blue or white wove paper - these are somewhat more common.

Wallachia

Wallachia or Walachia is a historical and geographical region of Romania. It is situated north of the Danube and south of the Southern Carpathians.

After the union of Moldavia and Wallachia in

1861, the design was adapted to show the emblems of both principalities side-by-side, and inscribed "FRANCO SCRISOREI". Alexander John Cuza was a Moldavian-born Romanian politician who ruled as the first Domnitor of the United Principalities of Moldavia and Wallachia between 1859 and 1866.The first stamps inscribed "POSTA ROMANA" were issued in January 1865; the three values depicted Prince Alexander John Cuza, also in profile, but facing left, and in a style very similar to contemporary French stamps. The adoption of the Romanian leu

These did not last long in use, as Cuza was deposed the following year by a palace coup, and new stamps depicted Prince Carol I of Romania, who was born Prince Karl of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen and became the reigning prince and then King of Romania from 1866 to 1914. 

in 1867 required stamps in new denominations, which appeared in 1868.

In 1869, a new design consisted of the profile as before, but enclosed in an oval frame, a change lasting only until 1872, when the previous round frame once again came into use, with an overall design reminiscent of the contemporaneous stamps of France. They were originally printed in Paris, and then reprinted in Bucharest from 1876, the reprints having a rougher appearance and coarser perforations. New colors and values appeared in 1879.

In 1885 a new definitive series used larger and more readable numeric tablets, and surmounted Carol's profile with a bird. In 1889 the stamp paper was also impressed with a coat of arms, similar to, but not a true watermark.

In 1891, Romania issued its first commemorative stamps, a series of five in which the usual profile of the king was framed by an inscription marking 25 years of his reign. The series of 1893 introduced a variety of frames, and the first stamps denominated in

Leu.

In 1896, Romanian stamps were overprinted in Turkish currency for use on ships passing between Constanta and Constantinople.

In 1903 the first pictorial designs were issued to note the opening of a new post office in Bucharest, followed by a series of 10 designs in 1906, for the 40th anniversary of Carol's reign.

World War I

During World War I, Romanian territory was occupied by Austria, Germany, and Bulgaria, each of which issued stamps for the occupied areas.