Romanian nationalism in the context of "National Peasants' Party"

Nicolae Iorga (17 January 1871 – 27 November 1940) was a Romanian historian, politician, literary critic, memoirist, albanologist, poet and playwright. Co-founder (in 1910) of the Democratic Nationalist Party (PND), he served as a member of Parliament, President of the Deputies' Assembly and Senate, cabinet minister and briefly (1931–32) as Prime Minister. A child prodigy, polymath and polyglot, Iorga produced an unusually large body of scholarly works, establishing his international reputation as a medievalist, Byzantinist, Latinist, Slavist, art historian and philosopher of history. Holding teaching positions at the University of Bucharest, the University of Paris and several other academic institutions, Iorga was founder of the International Congress of Byzantine Studies and the Institute of South-East European Studies (ISSEE). His activity also included the transformation of Vălenii de Munte town into a cultural and academic center.

In parallel with his academic contributions, Nicolae Iorga was a prominent right-of-centre activist, whose political theory bridged conservatism, Romanian nationalism, and agrarianism. From Marxist beginnings, he switched sides and became a maverick disciple of the Junimea movement. Iorga later became a leadership figure at Sămănătorul, the influential literary magazine with populist leanings, and militated within the League for the Cultural Unity of All Romanians [ro], founding vocally conservative publications such as Neamul Românesc, Drum Drept, Cuget Clar and Floarea Darurilor. His support for the cause of ethnic Romanians in Austria-Hungary made him a prominent figure in the pro-Entente camp by the time of World War I, and ensured him a special political role during the interwar existence of Greater Romania. Initiator of large-scale campaigns to defend Romanian culture in front of perceived threats, Iorga sparked most controversy with his antisemitic rhetoric, and was for long an associate of the far-right ideologue A. C. Cuza. He was an adversary of the dominant National Liberals, later involved with the opposition Romanian National Party.

Michael the Brave (Romanian: Mihai Viteazul [miˈhaj viˈte̯azul] or Mihai Bravu [ˈbravu]; 1558 – 9 August 1601), born as Mihai Pătrașcu, was the Prince of Wallachia (as Michael II, 1593–1601), Prince of Moldavia (1600) and de facto ruler of Transylvania (1599–1600). He is considered one of Romania's greatest national heroes. Since the 19th century, Michael the Brave has been regarded by Romanian nationalists as a symbol of Romanian unity, as his reign marked the first time in history all principalities inhabited by Romanians were under the same ruler.

His rule over Wallachia began in the autumn of 1593. Two years later, war with the Ottomans began, a conflict in which the Prince fought the Battle of Călugăreni, resulting in a victory against an army nearly three times the size of the army of Michael the Brave, considered one of the most important battles of his reign. Although the Wallachians emerged victorious from the battle, Michael was forced to retreat with his troops and wait for aid from his allies, Prince Sigismund Báthory of Transylvania and Holy Roman Emperor Rudolf II. The war continued until a peace finally emerged in January 1597, but this lasted for only a year and a half. Peace was again reached in late 1599, when Michael was unable to continue the war due to lack of support from his allies. In 1599, Michael won the Battle of Șelimbăr against Andrew Báthory and soon entered Gyulafehérvár (today Alba Iulia, Romania), becoming the imperial governor (i.e. de facto ruler) of Transylvania, under Habsburg suzerainty. A few months later, Michael's troops invaded Moldavia and reached its capital, Iași. The Moldavian leader Ieremia Movilă fled to Poland and Michael was declared Prince of Moldavia. During this period, Michael the Brave changed his seal to represent his personal union of Wallachia, Moldavia, and Transylvania.

The Great National Assembly of Alba Iulia (Romanian: Marea Adunare Națională de la Alba Iulia) was an assembly held on 1 December 1918 in the city of Alba Iulia in which a total of 1,228 delegates from several areas inhabited by ethnic Romanians declared the union of Transylvania with Romania. It was summoned by the Romanian National Council. Regular ethnic Romanian civilians were also called to participate, and these came from all regions inhabited by Romanians; in total, the assembly was attended by some 100,000 people. The union of Transylvania with Romania was declared with the adoption of the Declaration of Alba Iulia (ro) during the assembly.

Although the assembly was announced for 1 December, debates on Transylvania's accession into Romania between prominent representatives of the Romanian National Central Council started already on 30 November. At the debate, chaired by Ștefan Cicio Pop, the present social democrats, including Ioan Flueraș, argued in favour of autonomy for Transylvania within Greater Romania, while the majority of nationalists and representatives of expatriates argued against autonomy and in favour of unconditional annexation.

In 2018, over a hundred localities in Moldova and dozens in Romania issued symbolic declarations of unification (Romanian: declarații de unire, sg.: declarație de unire) with the other country. Such declarations were also issued by some Moldovan districts and Romanian counties (which are respectively each country's first-level administrative divisions), members of the Moldovan and Romanian diasporas and other entities.

A movement for the unification of Moldova and Romania exists in both countries. Both share a common Romanian language, an Eastern Orthodox faith and strong cultural and historical connections. Supporters of the movement look back on the union of Bessarabia with Romania on 27 March 1918, Bessarabia being a region corresponding up to a point with modern Moldova. As the regions of Bukovina and Transylvania also united with Romania in 1918, with the three unifications being collectively known as the Great Union (Romanian: Marea Unire) among Romanians, 2018 was a symbolic year for unionists and nationalists, celebrated as the centenary of the Great Union.

The Partida Naţională din Ţara Românească (English: National Party of Wallachia) was a Romanian political organization active in the period of 1837–1848 in the Danubian Principalities, made up of the boyars who opposed foreign interference. It was established by Ion Câmpineanu (ro). It was a loose group which helped to popularize Romanian nationalism, and finally the union of the Principalities.

National communism in Romania is a term referring to a form of nationalism promoted in the Socialist Republic of Romania between the early 1960s and 1989; the term itself was not used by the Communist regime. Having its origins in Gheorghe Gheorghiu-Dej's political emancipation from the Soviet Union, it was greatly developed by Nicolae Ceaușescu, who began in 1971, through his July Theses manifesto, a national cultural revolution. Part of the national mythology was Nicolae Ceaușescu's cult of personality and the idealization of Romanian history, known in Romanian historiography as protochronism.

This nationalistic ideology was built upon a mixture of both Marxist–Leninist principles and doctrines of Romanian nationalism. The driving force behind the ideology of national communism was the belief that Romanians are an isolated "Latin island" in Eastern Europe who have endlessly and unanimously fought off external forces throughout two thousand years to achieve unity and independence.

Tudor Arghezi (Romanian pronunciation: [ˈtudor arˈɡezi]; born Ion Nae Theodorescu; 21 May 1880 – 14 July 1967) was a Romanian writer and political figure, widely considered one of his country's greatest poets (second only to Mihai Eminescu). An illegitimate, part-Hungarian, child who was purposely vague about his roots, he had a troubled youth during which he held a variety of jobs—including a stint as a hierodeacon of the Romanian Orthodox Church, from which he gathered his extreme anti-clericalism. He debuted in the 1890s as an affiliate of the Symbolist movement, being welcomed as an outstanding poet. Arghezi renounced this career to study theology in Switzerland, but never graduated, training instead as a watchmaker and typographer. From 1910, his social poetry and leftist journalism became widely read, allowing him to return as a professional writer and art columnist. He soon became highly controversial for his apparent corruption and his mordant satire, as well as for his political positions during World War I—when, as editor of Seara and Cronica, he favored the Central Powers. Arghezi stayed behind in occupied Bucharest after The Romanian Debacle of 1916, collaborating with the German Empire in a manner that was judged as treasonous. In postwar Greater Romania, he was initially punished with imprisonment at Văcărești (an experience which informed his interwar poetry and prose), but amnestied within months of the verdict.

Arghezi returned to political journalism, frequently changing sides and patrons, but remained constant in his promotion of avant-garde literature. Credited with having discovered the similarly influential Urmuz, he set up his own review, Bilete de Papagal, which helped launch careers. He only published his poetry as books when he was in his forties, becoming instantly famous. Initially well-liked for his bridging of modernist literature and thematic traditionalism, he became reviled, especially in conservative circles, for the extreme naturalism and grotesque expressionism found in his subsequent works. Arghezi had a consuming dispute with the nationalist ideologue Nicolae Iorga, but never fully rejected nationalism, and seemingly agreed with conservatism, as well as with far-right groups such as the Iron Guard, on a number of topics. By 1930, he was a virtual client of the authoritarian King, Carol II, who also intervened to silence Iorga's opposition. Largely with money obtained from Carol, Arghezi maintained his estate of Mărțișor, located outside his former prison; it is known as the setting of his other poetic cycles and his children's literature, which address the beauties of family life. For a while, he was absent from literary life due to a misdiagnosed disease, and preserved from this a hatred of the medical profession.

John George Caradja, also known by his regnal name Ioan Gheorghe Caragea (Greek: Ἰωάννης Γεωργίου Καρατζάς, romanized: Ioanni Georgiou Karatzas; pre-modern Romanian: Ioan Gheorghie Caragea, Cyrillic: Їωан Геωргïє Караџѣ; French: Jean Georges Caradja, Caradgea, or Caradgia; Italian: Giovanni Caradza, Caragia, or Caraggia; Turkish: Yoan Corc Karaca; 1754 – 27 December 1844), was a Phanariote Greek Prince of Wallachia, who reigned between August 1812 and September 1818. He was the second, and last, member of the Karatzas or Caradja family to ascend to the Wallachian throne, but one of several to have also held office as Great Dragoman of the Ottoman Empire. Caradja, whose life is relatively obscure up to that point, held two terms as Dragoman (1807–1808, 7–27 August 1812). Before 1800, he also embarked on a literary career, participating in the spread of Enlightenment literature throughout the Rum Millet, and becoming noted for his translations from Carlo Goldoni. His progeny included Rallou Karatza-Argyropoulos, who was famous in her own right as a pioneer of modern Greek theater.

Caradja's reign came at the apex of Phanariote influence in the Danubian Principalities, a time marked by political corruption, outside interference, and, increasingly, the affirmation of Romanian nationalism as an alternative to Greek hegemony. His candidacy in Wallachia was supported by Halet Efendi and the Austrian Empire, and made possible by large sums of money that Caradja intended to recover from taxes. He arrived in Bucharest just as Wallachia was recovering from a Russian occupation, and was involved in punishing those whom he regarded as Russophiles—his clampdown resulted in the death of Abdullah Ramiz Efendi and the expulsion of Manuc Bei; the latter spent his remaining years attempting to have Caradja deposed. Caradja was then involved in securing jobs for his Greek retinue or in trafficking high offices in exchange for bribes; in order to meet Ottoman fiscal demands, but also his own financial goals, he created an infamous system of spoliation which perplexed foreign observers and angered the Wallachian public. Having to deal with an outbreak of brigandage, Caradja became known for enforcing capital punishment, as well as torture and amputation.