History - The Monarchy in Romania
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The Monarchy in Romania
Peles Castle - the royal residence
In 1866, Alexandru Ioan Cuza, the first prince of the unified Romania, abdicated. In order to avoid new domestic quarrels, and to get the support of the foreign powers, the Romanian politicians decided to offer the crown of Romania to a prince of an important European dynasty. On May 10, 1866, Carol I of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen swore his oath in front of the Romanian Parliament in Bucharest and became the prince of Romania. He was a relative of the German Emperor, Wilhelm I, and he was also supported by Napoleon III. In 1881, Carol and his wife, Elisabeth, were crowned as King and Queen of Romania. Elisabeth of Wied was a German princess. She was a highly cultured person and a poet. Her literary name was Carmen Sylva, and she acted as a patron of arts and culture in Romania. Carol introduced a lot of important reforms and made modern Romania'a constitutional monarchy.
In 1914, Carol died, and his successor was Ferdinand, his brother's son. He became King Ferdinand I (1914-1927); he married Maria (Mary), niece of Queen Victoria. Although a German officer and a member of the Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen family, Ferdinand joined the Entente (France, Russia, U.K.) during the First World War, and, in 1922, he and Maria were crowned at Alba Iulia as monarchs of Greater Romania.
The son of Ferdinand, Carol, was a controversial figure. He enjoyed adventures and a life of luxury. In 1920, he married Elena (Helen) of Greece and in the next year a boy was born. His name was Mihai (Michael) of Romania. In 1927 Ferdinand died, and because Carol had already given up the throne, Mihai was proclaimed King of Romania. As he was only six years old, a Regency was settled. Three years later, his father, Carol, decided to return to Romania. He did so, and became King Carol II. In 1938, he imposed his personal government. He proved to be an intelligent but unstable character since in decisive moments of the Romanians' history like the summer of 1940, when Romania lost north-western Transylvania, Bessarabia and south Dobrudja, he would not adopt a firm stand. He was forced to abdicate by Marshal Antonescu for his lack of authority as a monarch. His son Mihai swore the oath on September 6, 1940. For nearly four years (1940-1944), the power actually belonged to Ion Antonescu, state leader. But on August 23, 1944, after a coup d'état, Antonescu was arrested, and Romania joined the United Nations alliance. In the next four years, the young king tried hard to oppose the communist onslaught on Romania's politics. But on December 30, 1947 he was forced by the communists to abdicate. He left for Switzerland and he lived there until 2001, when he chose to return to Romania. Since 1997 he has engaged himself in actions to serve his country's interests of integration within Euro-Atlantic structures .