| Treaty Of Bucharest, 1916 |
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After two years of careful neutrality, in 1916 , Romania joined the war on the side of the Entente in order to obtain Transylvania , a territory ruled by Hungary, but with a Romanian population majority and Hungarian and German minorities. Since the beginning of the 19th Century , popular nationalist movements were on the rise also among Romanians. A dream of a nation state, and the creation of a Romanian nation were gradually developing. With the decline of the Ottoman Empire , the principalities of Wallachia and Moldova were united to eventually become the Kingdom Of Romania in 1881 . On ideological level, Romanian nationalist historians established histories linking present Romanian people first with Roman settlers, then also with the Dacian Empire , two thousands years back in history. This promoted a 'noble' cultural heritage to be proud of, and justful claims to territories once populated by the Dacian people, which stretched from the Danube Delta to the Tisza River . According to the treaty, Romania was to attack Austria-Hungary from the South. In return, the French would grant a bit more than the territory of Transylvania to Romania after the war. Romania declared war on 27 August , and launched three armies of 440,000 men the same night across the passages of the Southern Carpathians . The advance of the Romanian army was easy, as Austria-Hungary did not station considerable forces along the Romanian border. By mid-September, however, the attack was halted, as German - Bulgaria n troops started maneavrues threatining the Romanian army South of Bucharest . By end of October the Romanian army was pushed out of Transylvania with the help of German reinforcements arriving in Transylvania to aid the humble forces of Austria-Hungary. Inevitably, this weakness further subjected Austria-Hungary to Germany. By the end of 1916 the capital, Bucharest fell, the government fled to Iaşi , Moldova , and Wallachia was under the control of Central Powers . The toll of the campaign was approximately 100,000 dead for Romania, but it gained Transylvania. |
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