For me Central Europe has always been shrouded in mystery, never quite as impactful as the western powers or Russia on the east. But they still hold a significantly rich culture and history that has captured my interest the past few years. I've written before on the history of Czech Republic and Austria prior to my visit there in 2022. In 2023 I was in a WWI phase and made a deep dive on the Balkan region (see
Balkan History). And just a few months ago I made a deep dive on the eastern front of WWII (which covered the majority of the war's death toll). But I was especially curious on the ethnicities of this region that were persecuted by the Nazis, primarily the Slavs and the Romani people (often referred to as Gypsies).
So my big question was who exactly are the Slavs? The Slavic region spans east of Germany and west of Russia (consisting of Poland, Czechia, Slovakia, Ukraine, and Belarus in the north; while the Baltic states in the south). They were primarily barbarians from Russian lands that began to occupy this territory in the 5th century after the fall of the Roman Empire. However quite oddly they did not inhabit the lands of Hungary, Romania, and Moldova (almost as if avoiding a cursed land). This was mostly due to geographical reasons, such as the Danube River and the mighty Carpathian Mountains that somewhat protected Hungary and Romania from occupancy.
So who did inhabit this Carpathain-Danubian, "non-Slavic region" after the fall of Rome? It's actually a mixture of ethnicities which adds to the intrigue of Hungary and Romania. At the core of Transylvania was the kingdom of Dacia that was captured by the Romans in 106 AD. This region evolved into a Daco-Roman people (even after the fall of Rome). They were later joined by the Avars in the 5th century, a nomadic warrior tribe from the Pontiac-Caspian steppe (Russia/Kazakhstan). The Avars were a mighty people that were able to repel Slav expansion into Romania and Hungary. Meanwhile the Daco-Roman's existed independently deep in the Carpathian mountains of Romania.
So this now brings me from the Slavs to the Romanian people. Perhaps some other time soon, I might dive into Hungarian culture/history which I find to be somewhat similar to Romania. But to be completely transparent this fascination into Romania didn't so much stem from my WWII eastern phase. It's rather the byproduct of the vampire folklore brought on from Vlad the Impaler and Dracula. This is without question Romania's true claim to cultural fame, and in reading Bram Stoker's
Dracula and Elizabeth Kosova's
The Historian, I need to better understand the full history of Romana (aka Transylvania).
The Dacians
Also known as the Getae, the Dacians were the ancient inhabitants of Romania prior to the rise of the Roman Empire. They were descendants of Thracians, from Greece and Bulgaria who began to establish tribes within the Carpathian Mountains (which would become the heartland of Transylvania). They were known as a fierce people, warriors who used the mountainsides to their tactical advantage. By around 82 BC the various Dacian states were unified into one centralized kingdom by Burebista. The Kingdom of Dacia stretched from the Black Sea into the Balkan Mountains and as far east as Bohemia (southern Germany and Czech Republic). This was rather short-lived however due to Roman conquest from 101-106 AD.
The Roman Emperor Trajan achieved final victory over King Decebalus at the Battle of Sarmizegetusa. While the Romans began to establish their provincial laws they also admired the Dacian's fierceness and adopted some of their own customs. This led to a slow fusion of cultures between Romans and Dacians that eventually became the main ethnicity of Romania. By around 271 AD as the Roman Empire began to crumble, the Roman government completely abandoned it's post in Dacia. A new society of Daco-Roman people stayed in the Transylvania region to govern themselves and resist foreign expansion.
Despite threats from barbarian tribes such as the Goths and Carpi the Daco-Roman people were able to maintain their region in the mountains. They continued to practice a Roman/Latin structure whilst establishing their own cultural identity. This was no longer a government rather a tribe of rural warriors, defending their mountaintops. The region was later shared with other various tribes of Goths, Capri, and Huns. During Constantine's reign he was able to swallow up a good portion of Romania along the Danube River, which became a part of the Byzantine Empire. However he was unable to lay claim to the Daco-Roman pocket in the mountains.
The Avars and the Bulgarian Empire
The region of Romania was mostly controlled by the Byzantine Empire with barbarian pockets on the eastern front (primarily the Huns). The Huns began their conquest of western Romania in 370AD and eventually were driven out by 454 AD after the death of Attila. This gave way for a new rising force in the Caucasus, known as the Avars. They migrated from Kazakhstan and eventually established a stronghold in Hungary which covered a good portion of Romania. By 560AD, the Avar Khaganate spanned from Ukraine to Bohemia (covering most of Hungary and Romania). They had multiple wars with the Byzantine Empire in the south, seeking to control the Balkan territory. The Azar-Byzantine wars of 586-626 ultimately weakened both sides, and allowed the Slavs to inhabit this southern region of Europe.
By around 681 the Bulgarian Empire was established by Khan Asparukh who swallowed up a big region of Romania in Southern Wallachia (south of the Capathian mountains), Moldova, and Dobruja (the eastern coast along the Black Sea). Despite many clashes with the Bulgarians, the Avers were able to sustain their territory in Transylvania. That is until the Frankish campaigns of Charlemagne begun in 788-803 AD. The Avars soon found themselves pinched on a two-front war between the Frankish Lombards and the Bulgarians which caused them to capitulate. Yet strangely enough neither side properly laid claim to the mountains region of Transylvania and it was rather inhabited by a new tribe from Hungary known as the Magyars.
Magyars and the Hungarian Kingdom
Throughout the 800-900s the Magyars continued their expansion from Hungary into the Carpathian Basin of Romania. By this time the Daco-Romans had evolved into the people known as the Vlachs. There were also various Turkish nomads such as the Pechenegs, Cumans, and Uzes that were inhabiting the region of Romania. Alongside pockets of Slavs. These were to be the early founding peoples of Romania, amisdt the shadow of influence from the Bulgarian Empire. Under Simeon the Great, Bulgaria had reached it's zenith and was continuously fighting for territory against the Byzantine Empire.
In the year 1000 AD Stephen of Hungary transforms the Magyar people into the first Hungarian Kingdom. It is a western influence Christian kingdom that consolidates it's control over Transylvania. The kings that follow Stephen, continue to further expand their territory throughout Romania. Meanwhile by around 1018, the Byzantines finally deliver a crushing blow to the Bulgarian Empire. In 1185 they are able to establish a Second Bulgarian Empire and endure in the Balkans for a while longer, however never challenging Transylvania. During this time much of western Europe such as England, the Holy Roman Empire, and France were consumed with the Crusades.
By the 1200s the Byzantine Empire begins to lose sway of the Balkan territory. This allows for a new military power to invade from the eastern lands of Mongolia. Under their leader Batu Khan the Mongols destroy many settlements throughout the Carpathian region of Hungary, Romania, and Moldova. The Kingdom of Hungary is severely weakened by the invasion but the Vlach communities are able to endure in their mountaintops. Within a year, the Mongols were pushed back to their Golden Horde territory in Russia. Despite the heavy loss and devastation both the Hungarian Kingdom and Bulgarian Kingdom were able to quickly rebuild.
Wallachia, Moldova, and Transylvania
By 1310 the southern region of Romania under the leadership of Basarab I established an independent nation known as Wallachia. This was essentially a Vlach community that sought to govern itself, free from Hungarian influence. Basarab I decisively defeated the Hungarian army at the Battle of Posada in 1330 to secure this new Wallachia region. The region of Moldova followed suit shortly after when the Hungarian noble Dragos began to coordinate a Vlach defiance against Hungarian control from 1345-1359. Dragos essentially laid the groundwork for Bogdan I to complete the defiance and declare an independent Moldavia in 1359. After many skirmishes and and sieges throughout the Carpathian mountains the Kingdom of Hungary was finally forced to recognize Moldovia's independence.
By the late 14th century, the Ottoman Empire becomes the new rising power in the middle east. They are able to defeat the Second Bulgarian Empire and swallow up territory in the Balkans. In 1453 they achieve their monumental victory at Constantinople which marks an abrupt end to the Byzantine Empire. And yet again, just as with the Slavs, and the Franks, this new military power chose not to occupy the Carpathian mountains of Wallachia, Moldova, and Transylvania. Instead they established political tribute arrangements so they maintained their independence while still honoring Ottoman influence. During this time waves of gypsies began to migrate from India and the Balkans into modern day Hungary and Romania. They brought unique customs, crafts, and folklore that was later adopted into Romanian culture. (I'd like to someday make a deeper dive into this group of people).
The central Romanian region of Transylvania however did not achieve independence (like Moldova and Wallachia) and still remained a vassal of the Hungarian kingdom. The Hungarian kings saw this mountainous territory as a crucial stronghold in their ongoing battle against the Ottoman Empire. Therefore Transylvania was the fierce pocket of Hungarian resistance that did not offer any tributes to the Ottomans. It was most famously defended by Vlad III the Impaler, a Wallachian prince who later inspired the great tale of Dracula. (I will later make a deeper dive on him as he is without question one of the most iconic Romanian historical figures).
During this time, Stephen the Great of Moldova also achieved many defensive victories over the Ottomans (most famously at the Battle of Vaslui in 1475). He is best renown as a devout Catholic who would go on long fasts and sought to establish a Christian nation in the midst of Ottoman influence. He strengthened Christian monasteries and castles across Moldavia. He resisted not only the Ottomans on the eastern front but also Polish and Hungarian opposition on the west. He was later canonized for the many monasteries he built and defended throughout Moldova. He is considered a national hero of Moldova, but also a hero of the Catholic faith.
Ottoman and Habsburg Romania
While Moldova and Wallachia remained independent tributary stats of the Ottoman Empire, Transylvania continued to resist well into the 1500s. That is until the fateful Battle of Mohacs (1526) where the Hungarian Kingdom was once and for all defeated by Suleiman the Magnificent. This marked the collapse of the Hungarian Kingdom and a new period of Ottoman influence over the majority of Romania. Transylvania became a vassal state that now offered tribute to the Ottomans (similiar to Moldova and Wallachia). The Hungarian territory is mostly divided between the Ottomans and the Habsburg dynasty of the Holy Roman Empire.
During this period a new cultural fusion began, of Christians and Muslims throughout the Romanian states of Wallachia and Transylvania. Religious freedom was tolerated by the Ottomans, and Protestantism also began to take root throughout Romania. In 1593, the Wallachian Prince Michael the Brave united Wallachia, Moldavia, and Transylvania to begin a campaign of Ottoman resistance. This was part of a greater conflict iniated by the Habsburg monarchy known as the Long Turkish War (1593-1606). While Michael the Brave was able to take advantage of the dispute and achieve victories such as at Battle of Girugiu, his political alliance was eventually crushed by the Ottomans in 1601.
The state of Transylvania reached it's golden age in 1613 to 1629 under the rule of Gabor Bethlen. He strengthened his alliance with the western Protestant powers, seeking to establish a Calvinist state whilst balancing peace with the Ottomans. This saw the first major flourishment of Romanian trade, agriculture, schools, and urban development. By 1687 the Habsburg dynasty presses it's advantage on the Ottoman Empire during the Great Turkish War. With a powerful alliance of the Holy Roman Empire, Poland, Russia, and Venice they are able to achieve victory and redistribute new lands. The Habsburg dynasty takes ownership of Transylvania in 1699 while Wallahia and Moldavia stay with the Ottoman's influence.
Throughout the 1700s Romania remains divided by Habsburg and Ottoman influence. Wallachia attempted to regain it's independence under the leadership of Constantin Brancoveanu who oversaw a boom of art and architecture. However he was later executed by the Ottoman's for plotting with the Christians. Meanwhile the Russian Empire began to make it's grand entrance in the region during the Russo-Turkish War of 1710-1711. Moldavia boldly sided with Russia hoping to achieve it's independence once again, but were ultimately defeated by the Ottomans. Despite this foreign intervention Romania continues to build it's cultural identity. The city of Bucharest becomes a booming cultural trade hub for the Ottomans and the Balkans during this period.
Romanian Independence
During the 1800s the European wave of nationalism spread into Romania as political cries for independence began. In 1821, Tudor Vladimirescu organized a Pandur militia and led an uprising in Wallachia seeking to achieve independence for Wallachia, Transylvania, and Romania. The uprising was brutally crushed by the Ottomans however and Tudor was executed. However this event only intensified Romania's desire for a unified state and independence from the Ottomans. During the Spring of Nations in 1848, various national uprisings occurred in Romania, primarily in Bucharest led by Nicolae Balcesu and Ion Heliade Radulescu. The revolution was once again crushed, and Romania was left alone to seek independence from the Ottomans.
In 1853 the Romanian nationalist movement finally got some help during the Crimea War between Russia and the Ottoman Empire. Their was a sudden shift of eastern European powers, as both Russia and the Ottoman Empire were weakened by the three year conflict. As a result Romania was allowed more autonomous control, but still under the influence of the Habsburg Austrian dynasty. Alexandru Ioan Cuza became a key Romanian figure in 1859 when he successfully united the principalities of Wallachia and Moldavia to establish the first independent nation of Romania. The name "Romania" was adopted as their new state name since it referred to their ancestral Roman roots in Dacia. Transylvania however remained under Austro-Hungarian control for a while longer.
The nationalist movement however continued in Transylvania seeking to unite with the new state of Romania. Even after the Russo-Turkish War of 1877-1878 where Romania was recognized as an official state, Transylvania was still unable to join the party. Carol I became the first king of Romania and instituted a cultural boom such as the development of infrastructure, industry, arts, and architecture. Some of his most famous buildings include the Peles Castle and the King Carol Bridge which spanned across the Danube River to become the longest bridge in Europe at it's time.
However despite this boom in Romanian culture, The Austro-Hungarian Empire stood firmly against Transylvanian nationalist movements. This tense situation remained until the end of WWI, where the Austro-Hungarian Empire was defeated by the western allied powers. Transylvania finally had the freedom to join Romania in 1918, and became the independent state we know it as today. Moldova eventually broke away in 1990 after the fall of the Soviet Union. Both nations still hold a friendly brotherhood of shared historical development. It's a very rich history, that was mostly occupied territory, however a cultural identity of resistance was established in those stubborn Carpathian Mountains.
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