BRIEF HISTORY

CAROL I
-crowned after A. L. Cuza’s forced abdication
-ruled for 48 years: 1866-1914(longest reign in the history of the Roamanian states)
-1869:according to the Romanian constitution he himself approved, he wasn’t allowed to marry
someone of romanian origin, so he initiated a trip through Europe to find a wife. He married
Elisabeth in the same year.
-the worsening of the peasant problem
-the independence of the country
-Dobrogea

FERDINAND 1
-1914-1927
-ruled during WW1. Because Romania under his leadership sided with the Antente he was expelled
from the Royal House of Hohenzollern.
-during his time Romania finalized the process of realizing a unitary national state(Bassarabia,
Bucovina, Transilvanya)= end of WW1
-married with Mary
-1925= a dynastic crisis emerged, as Carol renounced his rights to succesion; which prompted
Ferdinand to expell him from the Royal House of Romania and to name his son, Michael, as succesor

MICHAEL I
-1927-1930/1940-1947
-was one of the few WW2 heads of state that also lived through the 21 st century
-Under the government led by militray dictator Ion Antonescu, Romania became aligned with Nazi
Germany. 1944= Michael participated in a coup against Antonescu,ousted him and declared an
alliance with the Allies. In March 1945, political pressures forced Michael to appoint a pro-soviet
government headed by Petru Groza. From August 1945 to January 1946, Michael went on a “royal
strike” and unsuccessfully tried to oppose Groza’s communist-controlled government by refusing to
sign and endorse its decrees. On 30 December 1947, Groza met with Michael and compelled him to
abdicate. Michael was forced into exile, his properties confiscated, and his citizenship stripped.
-1948=he married Princess Anne of Bourbon-Parma, with whom he had 5 daughters, and the couple
eventually settled in Switzerland

CAROL II
-1930-1940
-His continued affairs with Magda Lupescu obliged him to renounce his succesion rights in 1925 and
leave the country. His wife, Princess Helen of Greece eventually divorced him in 1928.
-King Ferdinand died in 1927 and 5 year-old Michael ascended the throne. Carol then returned to
Romania in 1930 and replaced his son and the regency thta had been in place. His reign was marked
by alignement with Nazi Germany, adoption of anti-semitic laws and it ultimately evolved into a
personal dictatorship beginning in 1938. In 1940, he was forced by Prime Minister Ion Antonescu to
leave the country and withdraw abroad into exile. After this, Michael came to the throne again.