Spanish flu in the Romanian press of 1918
Even though the whole world had suffered since the spring of 1918 of the ravages caused by the Spanish flu it barely made headlines in the issue of October 9, 1918 of the “Epoca” newspaper. Penned under a pseudonym and included in the popular section “Moments and...
Misleading appearances: The military context in which Romania entered the First World War
Romania entered the First World War on August 27, 1916, after two years of hard negotiations with the Entente. Romanian Prime Minister Ionel Brătianu considered that the time had come for action for several reasons: the Entente had transmitted an ultimatum, it was now...
7 things you didn’t know about America’s entry and involvement in the First World War
American troops arrived on the western front in 1918 full of enthusiasm, and in the spirit of great adventure. Yet most of them were novices who, unlike their German counterparts, had seen practically no action. Determined to teach them this was no game, the Germans...
1917- The Bulgarians rob the Romanian Academy
In 1917, the whole of Muntenia was forced to go into exile, in Iași, leaving behind many assets and valuable goods. Among them were many important documents of the Romanian Academy. This time, however, the Germans were not guilty of theft, but the Bulgarians and it...
The US is at war. “We couldn’t believe it, even though it was something great”
After three years of neutrality, the US was at war. At the beginning of 1917, Germany resumed unrestricted submarine warfare. This fact, combined with the indignation of the US public who had found out about the Zimmermann Telegram, led to a break in diplomatic...
1919- the time of financial restitution. “Germany is unable to pay”
The Paris Peace Conference was about more than determining the victors and the losers or resolving territorial claims. There was the question of compensation. Clemenceau wanted to get as much of the war reparations as possible: to slow down Germany’s recovery, while...
The unsuccessful attempt to renegotiate the Treaty of Bucharest (1918)
The failure of the German offensive on the Western Front and the Entente’s subsequent counteroffensive on all fronts in the fall of 1918 weakened the position of the Romanian government. Installed in the spring of the same year with full backing from the Central...
The elections of June 1918: «The Marghiloman Parliament»
Following the toppling of the first Averescu cabinet (January 29-March 4, 1918), King Ferdinand I was forced to entrust the formation of a new executive to Alexandru Marghiloman, a conservative politician and avowed Pro-German, with the hope that he would be able to...
What were the risks for Romania if the war continued in the winter of 1917-1918?
Lenin's decision to conclude peace with the Central Powers left Romania in a particularly vulnerable position. The withdrawal of the Russian soldiers exposed the Romanian army, which could not effectively cover the 1.500 kilometre long frontline. The Romanian...
The military situation on the Eastern Front after the exit of Russia from the First World War
The closure of the Brest-Litovsk armistice between Bolshevik Russia and the Central Powers had adverse repercussions on Romania. The military situation suddenly shifted in favour of the Central Powers, forcing Romania to request a ceasefire. But what was the military...