The name of the country comes from the Latin word Roma, which means Rome or the country of the Romans. The first people appeared on the territory of present-day Romania no less than 300 thousand years ago. In the 2nd millennium BC. cattle-breeding tribes from the Northern Black Sea region and Central Europe penetrated here. The mixture of local residents and these tribes led to the emergence of the Thracian tribes – Getae and Dacians – the ancestors of modern Romanians. Already by the 1st millennium BC. on the territory of present-day Romania, Bulgaria and Macedonia, a common culture already existed, the foundations of which were laid by the Getae and Dacians, who also created a common state. However, in the 1st century BC. The Romans began to claim these lands. After long wars in 106 AD. under the Roman emperor Trojan, part of the land north of the Danube (Dacia) became a province of Rome.

After that, the era of the “great migration of peoples” began, during which the Goths, Vandals, Huns, Gepids, Avars and Bulgarians passed through the country. All this left an indelible imprint on the appearance of Dacia. In the 6th century, the Slavs began to settle here, and in the 9th century, most of the lands of Romania (northern and central) were captured by the Hungarians. Neighboring countries also influenced the development of the country – Christianity penetrated here from Bulgaria. Check a2zdirectory for old history of Romania.

In the 11-12 centuries, the first Romanian principalities – Wallachia and Moldova – began to form on the Danube, today they are the historical regions of Romania in the south and east of the country, respectively. These principalities for many centuries fought against Poland and Hungary, as well as the Ottoman Empire. At the beginning of the 15th century, after unsuccessful battles, Wallachia and Moldova recognized the supreme power of the Ottoman Empire and began to pay tribute to it. During the period of long wars between Russia and Turkey, the power of the invaders weakened, these territories fell under the protectorate of Russia, however, following the results of the Crimean War, the Russian protectorate over Moldova and Wallachia was canceled. In 1861, both principalities officially united into a state – Romania – while maintaining Turkish suzerainty and paying tribute to the Ottoman Empire.

In May 1877, Romania formed an alliance with Russia and declared its complete independence from the Ottoman Empire. The Treaty of San Stefano, which ended the new Russian-Turkish war, as well as the Berlin Congress of 1878, confirmed this act. The port of Constanta was returned to Romania, but it had to give South Bessarabia to Russia (part of that Bessarabia is now on the territory of the Republic of Moldova). This slightly removed the two powers from each other, Romania began to draw closer to Germany and Austria-Hungary, and already in 1883 entered the Tripartite Alliance. Since 1881, Romania officially became known as the Kingdom of Romania.

Time passed, the throne passed from one king to another, who had his own views on the course of foreign policy, therefore, by the beginning of the First World War, Romania sided with the Entente. After the defeat of Austria-Hungary under the terms of the Saint-Germain, Neuilly and Trianon peace treaties (1919-1920), Transylvania, Bukovina, Eastern Banat and Southern Dobruja joined Romania, and the revolution that took place in Russia allowed Romania in 1918 to annex back the previously owned land of Bessarabia. In 1923, a new constitution was adopted in Romania, which defined the country as a constitutional monarchy.

At the beginning of World War II, Romania sided with Germany. In August – September 1940, Germany forced Romania to cede to Hungary half of the territory of Transylvania (a historical region in the north-west of Romania), and Bulgaria – Southern Dobruja (a region on the Black Sea coast). Following Germany, Romania entered the war with the USSR, but its troops on Soviet territory were defeated – Bessarabia again became part of the USSR, and northern Bukovina (a historical region in northern Romania) was also given away. In August 1944, the Red Army entered Romania, and the king announced the country’s withdrawal from the war. After the victory of the Soviet Union in the war, the development of Romania followed the example of the USSR. The left-wing parties formed the National Democratic Front and in March 1945 took power into their own hands, the king was removed.

In 1947, the Republic of Romania was proclaimed and a constitution based on that of the USSR was adopted. In August 1965, under the general secretary of Ceausescu’s party, Romania was proclaimed a Socialist Republic, and its new constitution consolidated the leading role of the Communist Party. In domestic politics, a tough course was pursued – any manifestations of the opposition were mercilessly suppressed. The industrialization of the country proceeded very rapidly, very high tasks were set, which were already obviously impossible, which undermined the country’s economy.

In 1989, due to the collapse of the economy, a coup d’etat took place – armed workers took to the streets, the army leadership refused to help Ceausescu and the dictator was overthrown and later executed. Power passed into the hands of the interim government – the National Salvation Front. In 1990, elections were held, which were won by a candidate from this party, in 1991 a new constitution was adopted. But the National Salvation Front, which so confidently won the elections, was mired in scandals with other parties and aggravated the economic situation in the country. As a result, by the time of the next elections, held in 1996, power passed to the Democratic Party. The new government tried, but failed to achieve a serious improvement in the economic situation, the country’s external debt exceeded its foreign exchange reserves. The ruling coalition began to fall apart and Romanian nationalism intensified. The general elections in November-December 2000 were won by the Social Democrats and nationalists, in the same year negotiations began on Romania’s accession to the EU. Now the situation in the country is improving, and Romania’s accession to the EU is almost approved.