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Brandenburg Navy

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The Brandenburg Navy was the navy of the Margraviate of Brandenburg in Germany from the 16th century to 1701, when it became part of the Prussian Navy .

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95-652: The navy was originally assembled as the Hohenzollern rulers of Brandenburg began to increase in importance and to desire the prestige and security of having a suitable naval defence force. During the 17th century, the navy was of great use in numerous battles in the Baltic Sea , and it also served the interests of Brandenburg's colonies in Africa (specifically the Brandenburger Gold Coast ) and

190-454: A GDP per capita of 20,487 lei at an estimated population of 18.9 million. The 1938 average exchange rate was of 1 leu for US$ 0.00732. Romania's 1938 GDP thus amounted to $ 2.834 billion. Romania's public debt as of 1 April 1938 amounted to 112,267,290,144 lei, of which 78,398,078,964 lei consisted of external debt. Total public debt thus amounted to 29% of Romania's 1938 GDP, while public external debt amounted to just over 20%. Despite

285-545: A bi-confessional state, with the ruling Hohenzollern house staying Calvinist . This situation persisted until Frederick William III of Prussia. Frederick William was determined to unify the Protestant churches to homogenize their liturgy, organization, and architecture. The long-term goal was to have fully centralized royal control of all the Protestant churches in the Prussian Union of churches . The merging of

380-520: A few border settlements were exchanged between Romania and Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes . The most notable Romanian acquisition was the town of Jimbolia , while the most notable Yugoslav acquisition was the town of Jaša Tomić . Romania made no further territorial claims; nonetheless the kingdom's expansion aroused enmity from several of its neighbors, including Bulgaria, the Soviet Union, and especially Hungary. Greater Romania now had

475-617: A minor German princely family into one of the most important dynasties in Europe. From 8 January 1701 the title of Elector of Brandenburg was attached to the title of King in Prussia and, from 13 September 1772, to that of King of Prussia. At Frederick V's death on 21 January 1398, his lands were partitioned between his two sons: After John III/I 's death on 11 June 1420, the margraviates of Brandenburg-Ansbach and Brandenburg-Kulmbach were briefly reunited under Frederick VI/I/I . He ruled

570-508: A population of 18,057,028. Romanians made up 71.9% of the population and 28.1% of the population were ethnic minorities . Largest cities as per 1930 census: Notes: 1 - including 12 suburban communities. Two of Romania's seven largest cities in 1930 are currently located outside of Romania as a result of World War II border changes . While the Romanian nobility had a long tradition of sending their sons to Europe's finest schools,

665-487: A reconciliation with her, and Carol soon arranged for Magda Lupescu's return to his side. Her unpopularity was a millstone around Carol's neck for the rest of his reign, particularly because she was widely viewed as his closest advisor and confidante. Maniu and his National Peasant Party shared the same general political aims as the Iron Guard: both fought against the corruption and dictatorial policies of King Carol II and

760-588: A series of successful battles, regained Dobruja , which had been previously ceded from Bulgaria by the treaty of Bucharest and the Berlin congress . Although the Romanian forces did not fare well militarily, by the end of the war the Austrian and Russian empires were gone; various assemblies proclaimed as representative bodies in Transylvania , Bessarabia and Bukovina decided on union with Romania. In 1919 by

855-434: A short-lived royal dictatorship, sanctioned 17 days later by a new constitution under which the king named personally not only the prime minister but all the ministers. In April 1938, King Carol had Iron Guard leader Corneliu Zelea Codreanu (aka "The Captain") arrested and imprisoned. On the night of 29–30 November 1938, Codreanu and several other legionnaires were killed while purportedly attempting to escape from prison. It

950-433: A significant minority population, especially of Hungarians , and faced the difficulty of assimilation. Transylvania had significant Hungarian and German population who were accustomed to being the power structure; with a historically contemptuous attitude towards Romanians, they now feared reprisals. Both groups were effectively excluded from politics as the postwar regime passed an edict stating that all personnel employed by

1045-600: A single prince to an autonomous principality with a Hohenzollern monarchy. The country gained its independence from the Ottoman Empire during the 1877–1878 Russo-Turkish War (known locally as the Romanian War of Independence ), after which it was forced to cede the southern part of Bessarabia in exchange for Northern Dobruja . The kingdom's territory during the reign of King Carol I, between 13 ( O.S. ) / 25 March 1881 and 27 September ( O.S. ) / 10 October 1914

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1140-457: Is generally agreed that there was no such escape attempt, but that they were murdered in retaliation for a series of assassinations by Iron Guard commandos. The royal dictatorship was brief. On 7 March 1939, a new government was formed with Armand Călinescu as prime minister; on 21 September 1939, three weeks after the start of World War II, Călinescu, in turn, was also assassinated by legionnaires avenging Codreanu's murder. In 1939, Germany and

1235-487: Is sometimes referred to as the Romanian Old Kingdom , to distinguish it from " Greater Romania ", which included the provinces that became part of the state after World War I ( Bessarabia , Banat , Bukovina , and Transylvania ). With the exception of the southern halves of Bukovina and Transylvania , these territories were ceded to neighboring countries in 1940, under the pressure of Nazi Germany or

1330-685: The Sfatul Țării , or National Council, to proclaim the union of Bessarabia with Romania . War with the Hungarian Soviet Republic in 1919 resulted in the occupation of Budapest by Romanian troops and the end of Béla Kun 's Bolshevik regime. At the Paris Peace Conference , Romania received the territories of Transylvania , part of Banat and other territories from Hungary , as well as Bessarabia (Eastern Moldavia between Prut and Dniester rivers) and Bukovina. In

1425-787: The Black Forest . The Zollerns received the Graf title from Emperor Henry V in 1111. As loyal vassals of the Swabian Hohenstaufen dynasty, they were able to significantly enlarge their territory. Count Frederick III ( c.  1139  – c.  1200 ) accompanied Emperor Frederick Barbarossa against Henry the Lion in 1180, and through his marriage was granted the Burgraviate of Nuremberg by Emperor Henry VI in 1192. In about 1185, he married Sophia of Raabs ,

1520-629: The Brandenburg-Prussian branch. The Swabian branch ruled the principalities of Hohenzollern-Hechingen and Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen until 1849, and also ruled Romania from 1866 to 1947. Members of the Franconian branch became Margrave of Brandenburg in 1415 and Duke of Prussia in 1525. The Margraviate of Brandenburg and the Duchy of Prussia were ruled in personal union after 1618 and were called Brandenburg-Prussia. From there,

1615-706: The Galați shipyard using parts manufactured in Austria-Hungary, and the first one launched was Lascăr Catargiu , in 1907. The Romanian monitors displaced almost 700 tons, were armed with three 120 mm naval guns in 3 turrets, two 120 mm naval howitzers, four 47 mm anti-aircraft guns and two 6.5 machine guns. The monitors took part in the Battle of Turtucaia and the First Battle of Cobadin . The Romanian-designed Schneider 150 mm Model 1912 howitzer

1710-752: The German Empire , and Romania . The family came from the area around the town of Hechingen in Swabia during the late 11th century and took their name from Hohenzollern Castle . The first ancestors of the Hohenzollerns were mentioned in 1061. The Hohenzollern family split into two branches, the Catholic Swabian branch and the Protestant Franconian branch , which ruled the Burgraviate of Nuremberg and later became

1805-533: The German and Prussian monarchy . Georg Friedrich, Prince of Prussia , is the current head of the formerly royal Prussian line, while Karl Friedrich, Prince of Hohenzollern , is the head of the formerly princely Swabian line. Zollern, from 1218 Hohenzollern, was a county of the Holy Roman Empire . Later its capital was Hechingen . The Hohenzollerns named their estates after Hohenzollern Castle in

1900-589: The Imperial City of Nuremberg . The territories of Brandenburg-Ansbach and Brandenburg-Kulmbach remained possessions of the family, once parts of the Burgraviate of Nuremberg. On 2 December 1791, Christian II Frederick sold the sovereignty of his principalities to King Frederick William II of Prussia . On 2 December 1791, Charles Alexander sold the sovereignty of his principalities to King Frederick William II of Prussia. The Duchy of Jägerndorf (Krnov)

1995-703: The Kingdom of Prussia was created in 1701, eventually leading to the unification of Germany and the creation of the German Empire in 1871, with the Hohenzollerns as hereditary German Emperors and Kings of Prussia. Germany's defeat in World War I in 1918 led to the German Revolution . The Hohenzollerns were overthrown and the Weimar Republic was established, thus bringing an end to

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2090-518: The Mareșal tank destroyer , which is credited with being the inspiration for the German Hetzer , a Renault R-35 tank with a T-26 turret and an artillery tractor known as T-1 . Warships built include the submarines NMS  Rechinul and NMS  Marsuinul , a class of 4 minesweepers , 6 Dutch-designed torpedo boats and 2 gunboats. According to the 1930 Romanian Census , Romania had

2185-488: The Mausoleum of Mărășești (1938) were erected. The oil industry was also greatly expanded, making Romania one of the top oil exporters by the late 1930s, which also attracted German and Italian interest . In 1938, Romania produced 6.6 million tons of crude oil, 284,000 tons of crude steel, 133,000 tons of pig iron , 510,000 tons of cement, and 289,000 tons of rolled steel. Romanian military industry during World War I

2280-551: The Principality of Romania , with Bucharest as its capital. On 11 ( O.S. ) / 23 February 1866 a so-called " monstrous coalition ", composed of Conservatives and radical Liberals, forced Cuza to abdicate. The German prince Charles of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen was appointed as Prince of Romania, in a move to assure German backing to unity and future independence. He immediately adopted the Romanian spelling of his name, Carol , and his cognatic descendants would rule Romania until

2375-741: The Soviet Union signed the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact , which stipulated, among other things, the Soviet "interest" in Bessarabia. After the 1940 territorial losses and growing increasingly unpopular, Carol was compelled to abdicate and name general Ion Antonescu as the new Prime-Minister with full powers in ruling the state by royal decree. At the time of the proclamation of the Kingdom, there were already several industrial facilities in

2470-459: The Soviet Union . Following the abolishment of the 1923 constitution by King Carol II in 1938, the Kingdom of Romania became an absolute monarchy , only to become a military dictatorship under Ion Antonescu in 1940 after the forced abdication of King Carol II, with his successor, King Michael I being a figurehead with no effective political power. The country's name was changed to Legionary Romania . The disastrous World War II campaign on

2565-552: The Swabian Alps . The Hohenzollern Castle lies on an 855 meters high mountain called Hohenzollern . It still belongs to the family today. The dynasty was first mentioned in 1061. According to the medieval chronicler Berthold of Reichenau , Burkhard I, Count of Zollern ( de Zolorin ) was born before 1025 and died in 1061. In 1095, Count Adalbert of Zollern founded the Benedictine monastery of Alpirsbach , situated in

2660-630: The Treaty of Berlin, 1878 and acquired Dobruja , although it was forced to surrender southern Bessarabia ( Budjak ) to Russia. On 15 March 1881, as an assertion of full sovereignty, the Romanian parliament raised the country to the status of a kingdom, and Carol was crowned king on 10 May. The new state, squeezed between the Ottoman , Austro-Hungarian , and Russian Empires, with Slavic populations on its southwestern, southern, and northeastern borders,

2755-501: The Treaty of Saint-Germain and in 1920 by the Treaty of Trianon most of the territories claimed were assigned to Romania. The Romanian Old Kingdom ( Romanian : Vechiul Regat or just Regat ; German: Regat or Altreich ) is a colloquial term referring to the territory covered by the first independent Romanian nation state , which was composed of the Danubian Principalities – Wallachia and Moldavia. It

2850-603: The Treaty of Trianon , Hungary renounced in favor of Romania all the claims of the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy over Transylvania. The union of Romania with Bukovina was ratified in 1919 in the Treaty of Saint Germain , and in 1920 some of the Western powers recognized Romanian rule over Bessarabia by the Treaty of Paris . Thus, Romania in 1920 was more than twice the size it had been in 1914. The last territorial change during this period came in 1923, when

2945-462: The Vistula River together with Malbork and Chełmno Land formed the province of West Prussia with its capital at Marienwerder (Kwidzyn) in 1773. The Polish Partition Sejm ratified the cession on 30 September 1772, whereafter Frederick officially went on to call himself King "of" Prussia . From 1772 onwards the titles of Duke of Prussia and Elector of Brandenburg were always attached to

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3040-557: The prince-elector of Brandenburg, who was intensely involved in the navy's affairs, secured the navy a base at Greetsiel , but they shifted to Emden a year later. Frederick William died in 1688, and his descendants took no interest in the Brandenburg Navy. Frederick III and his grandson Frederick the Great recognized that they could never compete directly with the great maritime powers and concentrated instead on building

3135-469: The suzerainty of the Crown of the Kingdom of Poland . In Brandenburg and the other Hohenzollern domains within the borders of the empire, he was legally still an elector under the ultimate overlordship of the emperor. By this time, however, the emperor's authority had become purely nominal over the other German prices outside the immediate hereditary lands of the emperor. Brandenburg was still legally part of

3230-753: The Black Sea due east, and Hungarian neighbours on its western and northwestern borders, looked to the West, particularly France, for its cultural, educational, and administrative models. Abstaining from the Initial Balkan War against the Ottoman Empire , the Kingdom of Romania entered the Second Balkan War in June 1913 against the Tsardom of Bulgaria . 330,000 Romanian troops moved across

3325-603: The Brandenburg Navy: House of Hohenzollern The House of Hohenzollern ( / ˌ h oʊ ə n ˈ z ɒ l ər n / , US also /- n ˈ z ɔː l -, - n t ˈ s ɔː l -/ ; German : Haus Hohenzollern , pronounced [ˌhaʊs hoːənˈtsɔlɐn] ; Romanian : Casa de Hohenzollern ) is a formerly royal (and from 1871 to 1918, imperial) German dynasty whose members were variously princes , electors , kings and emperors of Hohenzollern , Brandenburg , Prussia ,

3420-653: The Calvinist rite. The vast majority of his subjects in Brandenburg, including his wife Anna of Prussia , remained deeply Lutheran, however. After the Elector and his Calvinist court officials drew up plans for mass conversion of the population to the new faith in February 1614, as provided for by the rule of Cuius regio, eius religio within the Holy Roman Empire , there were serious protests, with his wife backing

3515-863: The Caribbean. The navy also protected Brandenburg's involvement in the Atlantic slave trade , as the Brandenburger Gold Coast was used to transport between 17,000 and 30,000 enslaved Africans to the Americas between 1682 and 1721. By the year 1680, the Brandenburg Navy had almost thirty active warships . These ships were used primarily to secure control over hostile trade routes and maritime trading, as blockades and to provide naval defence, and to also provide reinforcement on various military operations , which would frequently involve engagements with unfriendly warships. In 1682, Frederick William ,

3610-465: The Central Powers in 1916. The Romanian military campaign ended in stalemate when the Central Powers quickly crushed the country's offensive into Transylvania and occupied Wallachia and Dobruja, including Bucharest and the strategically important oil fields, by the end of 1916. In 1917, despite fierce Romanian resistance, especially at the Battle of Mărășești , due to Russia's withdrawal from

3705-527: The Danube and into Bulgaria. One army occupied Southern Dobruja and another moved into northern Bulgaria to threaten Sofia, helping to bring an end to the war. Romania thus acquired the ethnically mixed territory of Southern Dobruja, which it had desired for years. In 1916 Romania entered World War I on the Entente side. Romania engaged in a conflict against Bulgaria but as a result Bulgarian forces, after

3800-679: The Great annexed neighboring Royal Prussia , i.e., the Polish voivodeships of Pomerania ( Gdańsk Pomerania or Pomerelia ), Malbork , Chełmno and the Prince-Bishopric of Warmia , thereby connecting his Prussian and Farther Pomeranian lands and cutting the rest of Poland from the Baltic coast. The territory of Warmia was incorporated into the lands of former Ducal Prussia, which, by administrative deed of 31 January 1772 were named East Prussia . The former Polish Pomerelian lands beyond

3895-693: The Holy Roman Emperor, theoretically the highest sovereign in the West. From 1701 onwards the titles of Duke of Prussia and Elector of Brandenburg were always attached to the title of King in Prussia. The Duke of Prussia adopted the title of king as Frederick I , establishing his status as a monarch whose royal territory lay outside the boundaries of the Holy Roman Empire, with the assent of Emperor Leopold I : Frederick could not be "King of Prussia" because part of Prussia's lands were under

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3990-663: The Kingdom of Romania in 1881, and the annexation of Southern Dobruja in 1913. The term came into use after World War I, when the Old Kingdom was opposed to Greater Romania , which included Transylvania, Banat , Bessarabia, and Bukovina. Nowadays, the term is mainly of historical relevance, and is otherwise used as a common term for all regions in Romania included in both the Old Kingdom and present-day borders (namely: Wallachia, Moldavia, and Northern Dobruja). Romania delayed in entering World War I, but ultimately declared war on

4085-713: The Lutheran and Calvinist (Reformed) confessions to form the United Church of Prussia was highly controversial. Angry responses included a large and well-organized opposition. The crown's aggressive efforts to restructure religion were unprecedented in Prussian history. In a series of proclamations over several years, the Church of the Prussian Union was formed, bringing together the majority group of Lutherans and

4180-510: The Lutherans. This was doubly important as Anna brought with her the duchy of Prussia into the Brandenburg line of the house and the nascent Brandenburg-Prussian state. Resistance was so strong that in 1615, John Sigismund backed down and relinquished all attempts at forcible conversion. Instead, he allowed his subjects to be either Lutheran or Calvinist according to the dictates of their own consciences. Henceforward, Brandenburg-Prussia would be

4275-606: The Malaxa factory under French licence, eventually 126 being built until March 1941. Czechoslovak licence was acquired in 1938 to produce the ZB vz. 30 machine gun, with 5,000 being built at the Cugir gun factory until the start of Operation Barbarossa in June 1941. Romania also acquired the licence to produce the R-1 tankette, but ultimately only one prototype was built locally. German licence

4370-401: The Margraviate of Brandenburg-Ansbach after 1398. From 1420, he became Margrave of Brandenburg-Kulmbach. From 1411 Frederick VI became governor of Brandenburg and later Elector and Margrave of Brandenburg as Frederick I. Upon his death on 21 September 1440, his territories were divided among his sons: In 1427 Frederick, Elector of Brandenburg sold Nuremberg Castle and his rights as burgrave to

4465-412: The National Liberal Party. The worldwide Great Depression that started in 1929 and was also present in Romania destabilised the country. The early 1930s were marked by social unrest, high unemployment, and strikes. In several instances, the Romanian government violently repressed strikes and riots, notably the 1929 miners' strike in Valea Jiului and the strike in the Grivița railroad workshops. In

4560-404: The Romanian state in the interwar period , and by extension, to the territory Romania covered at the time. Romania achieved at that time its greatest territorial extent (almost 300,000 km (120,000 sq mi) ). At the 1930 census, there were over 18 million inhabitants in Romania. The resulting "Greater Romania" did not survive World War II. Until 1938, Romania's governments maintained

4655-421: The best army in Europe while maintaining good relations with naval powers such as Denmark and the Netherlands . The overseas colonies were eventually sold to the Dutch in 1721. In 1701, Frederick was crowned King in Prussia , marking a shift from Brandenburg to Prussia as the most important Hohenzollern realm. The Brandenburg Navy was consequently merged into the Prussian Navy that year. List of ships in

4750-403: The chain of events that led to World War I . As a result of the war, the German, Russian, Austro-Hungarian and Ottoman empires ceased to exist. In 1918, the German empire was abolished and replaced by the Weimar Republic . After the outbreak of the German revolution in 1918, both Emperor William II and Crown Prince William signed the document of abdication. The official religion of the state

4845-422: The counties) to be ruled by rezidenți regali (approximate translation: "Royal Residents") - appointed directly by the King. This administrative reform did not last and the counties were re-established after the fall of Carol's regime. 28 November. The union of Bukovina with Romania is declared. 1 December. The union of Transylvania with Romania is declared. This day concludes a series of unifications between

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4940-462: The country: The Assan and Olamazu steam mills , built in 1853 and 1862 respectively, a brick factory built in 1865, and two sugar factories built in 1873, among others. In 1857, the first oil refinery in the world was built at Ploiești . In 1880, after several railways were built, the CFR was founded. After proclamation of the Kingdom, the pre-established industrial facilities began to be highly developed: 6 more, larger, sugar factories were built and

5035-457: The crowning of prince Karl of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen as King Carol I (thus beginning the Romanian royal family ), until 1947 with the abdication of King Michael I and the Romanian parliament's proclamation of the Romanian People's Republic . From 1859 to 1877, Romania evolved from a personal union of two principalities : ( Moldavia and Wallachia ) called the Unification of Moldavia and Wallachia also known as "The Little Union" under

5130-416: The daughter of Conrad II , Burgrave of Nuremberg. After the death of Conrad II who left no male heirs, Frederick III was granted Nuremberg as Burgrave Frederick I. In 1218, the burgraviate passed to Frederick's elder son Conrad I , he thereby became the ancestor of the Franconian Hohenzollern branch, which acquired the Electorate of Brandenburg in 1415. After Frederick's death, his sons partitioned

5225-505: The destruction provoked by the First World War, Romanian industry managed significant growth, as a result of new establishments and development of the older ones. The MALAXA industrial engineering and manufacturing company was established in 1921 by Romanian industrialist Nicolae Malaxa and dealt especially with rolling stock maintenance and manufacturing. It developed rapidly, and by 1930 Romania had managed to cease importing locomotives altogether, all required rolling stock being supplied by

5320-460: The economy. Already the Iron Guard had embraced the politics of assassination, and various governments had reacted more or less in kind. On 10 December 1933, Liberal prime minister Ion Duca "dissolved" the Iron Guard, arresting thousands; consequently, 19 days later he was assassinated by Iron Guard legionnaires. Throughout the 1930s, these nationalist parties had a mutually distrustful relationship with King Carol II. Nonetheless, in December 1937,

5415-545: The educated were otherwise a tiny minority. Transylvania had the most educated population in Greater Romania, while Bessarabia fared the worst. While legally all Romanians were required to undergo at least four years of schooling, in practice few actually did and the system was designed to separate those who would go on to higher education from those who would not. While this was partially necessary due to limited resources, it ensured that peasants had almost no chance of becoming educated. High school and college education in Romania

5510-401: The empire and ruled in personal union with Prussia, though the two states came to be treated as one de facto. The king was officially Margrave of Brandenburg within the Empire until the Empire's dissolution in 1806. In the age of absolutism , most monarchs were obsessed with the desire to emulate Louis XIV of France with his luxurious palace at Versailles . In 1772, the Duchy of Prussia

5605-451: The family lands between themselves: The senior Franconian branch of the House of Hohenzollern was founded by Conrad I, Burgrave of Nuremberg (1186–1261). The family supported the Hohenstaufen and Habsburg rulers of the Holy Roman Empire during the 12th to 15th centuries, being rewarded with several territorial grants. Beginning in the 16th century, this branch of the family became Protestant and decided on expansion through marriage and

5700-412: The field on 10 November 1918, a day before the war ended in Western Europe. Following the proclamation of the union of Transylvania with the Kingdom of Romania on 1 December 1918 by the representatives of Transylvanian Romanians gathered at Alba Iulia , Transylvania was soon united with the Kingdom, as was Bessarabia earlier in 1918, since the power vacuum in Russia caused by the civil war there allowed

5795-406: The first Duke of Prussia. He belonged to the Ansbach branch of the dynasty. The Duchy of Prussia adopted Protestantism as the official state religion . From 1701, the title of Duke of Prussia was attached to the title of King in and of Prussia. In 1701, the title of King in Prussia was granted, without the Duchy of Prussia being elevated to a Kingdom within Poland but recognized as a kingdom by

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5890-593: The first locally-built warship, the minelayer NMS  Amiral Murgescu . During the war, Romania copied and produced hundreds of Soviet M1938 mortars , as well as designing and producing up to 400 75 mm Reșița Model 1943 anti-tank guns. Infantry weapons designed and produced by Romania during the war include the Orița M1941 sub-machinegun and the Argeș flamethrower . Romania also built 30 Vănătorul de care R-35 , 34 TACAM T-60 , 21 TACAM R-2 tank destroyers and rebuilt 34 captured Soviet Komsomolets armored tractors . A few prototype vehicles were also built, such as

5985-410: The form, if not always the substance, of a liberal constitutional monarchy. The National Liberal Party , dominant in the years immediately after World War I, became increasingly clientelist and nationalist , and in 1927 was supplanted in power by the National Peasants' Party . Between 1930 and 1940 there were over 25 separate governments; on several occasions in the last few years before World War II,

6080-427: The king appointed National Christian Party leader, the poet Octavian Goga , as prime minister of Romania's first Fascist government . Around this time, Carol met with Adolf Hitler , who expressed his wish to see a Romanian government headed by the pro-Nazi Iron Guard. Instead, on 10 February 1938 King Carol II used the occasion of a public insult by Goga toward Lupescu as a reason to dismiss the government and institute

6175-424: The king free rein to dissolve parliament and call elections at will; as a result, Romania experienced over 25 governments in a single decade. Increasingly, these governments were dominated by a number of anti-Semitic , ultra-nationalist, and mostly at least quasi-fascist parties. The National Liberal Party steadily became more nationalistic than liberal, but nonetheless lost its dominance over Romanian politics. It

6270-419: The local industry. Industrial facilities acquired along with the new provinces, such as the Reșița works , also contributed to the rapid development of Romanian heavy industry. Other important establishments were the Copșa Mică works , producing non-ferrous metals and the Romanian Optical Enterprise . Construction also developed, as great monuments like the Caraiman Cross (1928), Arcul de Triumf (1936), and

6365-543: The matter in their own hands. The land reform passed in 1921 accomplished little however. Large landowners still controlled up to 30% of Romania's land, including the forests peasants depended on for fuel. The redistributed plots were invariably too small to feed their owners and most peasants could not overcome their tradition of growing grain over cash crops. Nothing was done to remedy basic problems such as rural overpopulation and technological backwardness. Draft animals were rare, to say nothing of machinery, actual productivity

6460-432: The mid-1930s, the Romanian economy recovered and the industry grew significantly, although about 80% of Romanians were still employed in agriculture. French economic and political influence was predominant in the early 1920s but then Germany became more dominant, especially in the 1930s. As the 1930s progressed, Romania's already shaky democracy slowly deteriorated toward fascist dictatorship. The constitution of 1923 gave

6555-427: The minority group of Reformed Protestants. The main effect was that the government of Prussia had full control over church affairs, with the king himself recognized as the leading bishop. Kingdom of Romania Trăiască Regele ("Long live the King") (1884–1948) The Kingdom of Romania ( Romanian : Regatul României ) was a constitutional monarchy that existed from 25 March [ O.S. 13 March] 1881 with

6650-427: The monarchy, with Romania becoming a Soviet satellite state as the People's Republic of Romania on the last day of 1947. The 1859 ascendancy of Alexandru Ioan Cuza as prince of both Moldavia and Wallachia under the nominal suzerainty of the Ottoman Empire united an identifiably Romanian nation under a single ruler. On 24 January ( O.S. ) / 5 February 1862, the two principalities were formally united to form

6745-400: The overthrow of the monarchy in 1947. For more than a decade after the formal union of the two principalities, Romania was still nominally a vassal of the Ottoman Empire. However, this was increasingly a legal fiction. Romania had its own flag and anthem, and from 1867 had its own currency as well. Following the Russo-Turkish War of 1877–1878 , Romania was recognized as an independent state by

6840-493: The purchase of surrounding lands. In the first phase, the family gradually added to their lands, at first with many small acquisitions in the Franconian region of Germany : In the second phase, the family expanded their lands further with large acquisitions in the Brandenburg and Prussian regions of Germany and present-day Poland: These acquisitions eventually transformed the Franconian Hohenzollerns from

6935-411: The railway network was expanded more. Another, more modern brick factory was built in 1891. Despite all of these industrial achievements, the overwhelming majority of Romania's economy remained agricultural. In 1919, a staggering 72% of Romanians were engaged in agriculture. The Romanian peasantry was among the poorest in the region, a situation aggravated by one of Europe's highest birth rates. Farming

7030-426: The result being the most effective field howitzer in Europe at that time. Romania even managed to design and build from scratch its own model of mortar, the 250 mm Negrei Model 1916. Other Romanian technological assets include the building of Vlaicu III , the world's first aircraft made of metal. The Romanian Navy possessed the largest warships on the Danube. They were a class of 4 river monitors, built locally at

7125-464: The rivalry between the fascist Iron Guard and other political groupings approached the level of a civil war. Upon the death of King Ferdinand in 1927, his son, Prince Carol , was prevented from succeeding him because of previous marital scandals that had resulted in his renunciation of rights to the throne. After living three years in exile, with his brother Nicolae serving as regent and his young son Michael as king, Carol changed his mind and with

7220-503: The side of the Axis powers led to King Michael's Coup against Ion Antonescu in 1944, as a result of which the Kingdom of Romania became a constitutional monarchy again and switched sides to the Allies , recovering Northern Transylvania . The influence of the neighbouring Soviet Union and the policies followed by Communist -dominated coalition governments ultimately led to the abolition of

7315-824: The state had to speak Romanian. The new state was also a highly centralized one, so it was unlikely that the Hungarian or German minorities would exercise political influence without personal connections in the government in Bucharest. Despite these policies, the Romanian government permitted both Germans and Hungarians the freedom to have separate schools, publications and judicial hearings in their respective languages. These rights were not extended to other minorities, Jews in particular. The Romanian expression România Mare (literal translation "Great Romania", but more commonly rendered in English: "Greater Romania") generally refers to

7410-486: The support of the ruling National Peasants' Party he returned and proclaimed himself king. Iuliu Maniu , leader of the National Peasants' Party, engineered Carol's return on the basis of a promise that he would forsake his mistress Magda Lupescu , and Lupescu herself had agreed to the arrangement. However, it became clear upon Carol's first re-encounter with his former wife, Elena , that he had no interest in

7505-453: The title King of Prussia. In 1871, the Kingdom of Prussia became a constituent member of the German Empire , and the King of Prussia gained the additional title of German Emperor . Frederika Louisa of Hesse-Darmstadt Auguste von Harrach Hermine Reuss of Greiz In 1871, the German Empire was proclaimed. With the accession of William I to the newly established imperial German throne,

7600-516: The titles of King of Prussia, Duke of Prussia and Elector of Brandenburg were always attached to the title of German Emperor . Prussia's Minister President Otto von Bismarck convinced William that German Emperor instead of Emperor of Germany would be appropriate. He became primus inter pares among other German sovereigns. William II intended to develop a German navy capable of challenging Britain's Royal Navy . The assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria on 28 June 1914 set off

7695-643: The war following the October Revolution , Romania, being almost completely surrounded by the Central Powers, was forced to also drop from the war, signing the Armistice of Focșani and next year, in May 1918, the Treaty of Bucharest . But after the successful offensive on the Thessaloniki front which put Bulgaria out of the war, Romania's government quickly reasserted control and put an army back into

7790-520: The war, Romania acquired from France the licence to produce hundreds of Brandt Mle 27/31 and Brandt Mle 1935 mortars, with hundreds more produced during the war, and also the licence to produce 140 French 47 mm Schneider anti-tank guns at the Concordia factory, with 118 produced between 26 May 1939 and 1 August 1940 and hundreds more produced during the war; these guns were to be towed by Malaxa Tip UE armored carriers, built since late 1939 at

7885-416: Was "bi-confessional". John Sigismund's most significant action was his conversion from Lutheranism to Calvinism , after he had earlier equalized the rights of Catholics and Protestants in the Duchy of Prussia under pressure from the King of Poland. He was probably won over to Calvinism during a visit to Heidelberg in 1606, but it was not until 25 December 1613 that he publicly took communion according to

7980-406: Was achieved when, under the auspices of the Treaty of Paris (1856) , the ad hoc Divans of both countries – which were under Imperial Ottoman suzerainty at the time – voted for Alexander Ioan Cuza as their prince, thus achieving a de facto unification. The region itself is defined by the result of that political act, followed by the inclusion of Northern Dobruja in 1878, the proclamation of

8075-458: Was acquired in 1938 to produce 360 37 mm Rheinmetall anti-aircraft guns , but only 102 were produced until May 1941. British licence was acquired to produce 100 Vickers Model 1931 75 mm anti-aircraft guns at the Reșița works , with the first battery of 6 guns entering service on 1 August 1939, and 100 more guns were built during the war for a total production of 200. On 14 June, Romania launched

8170-592: Was considered one of the most modern field guns on the Western Front. The Romanian armament industry was expanded greatly during the Interwar period and World War II. New factories were constructed, such as the Industria Aeronautică Română and Societatea Pentru Exploatări Tehnice aircraft factories, which produced hundreds of indigenous aircraft, such as IAR 37 , IAR 80 , and SET 7 . Before

8265-421: Was divided into 33 counties. After World War I, as a result of the 1925 administrative unification law, the territory was divided into 71 counties, 489 districts ( plăși ) and 8,879 communes . In 1938, King Carol II promulgated a new Constitution , and subsequently he had the administrative division of the Romanian territory changed. Ten ținuturi (approximate translation: "lands") were created (by merging

8360-814: Was eclipsed by parties like the (relatively moderate) National Peasants' Party and its more radical Romanian Front offshoot, the National-Christian Defense League (LANC) and the Iron Guard . In 1935, LANC merged with the National Agrarian Party to form the National Christian Party (NCP). The quasi-mystical fascist Iron Guard was an earlier LANC offshoot that, even more than these other parties, exploited nationalist feelings, fear of communism, and resentment of alleged foreign and Jewish domination of

8455-595: Was elevated to a kingdom. Sophia Charlotte of Hanover Sophia Louise of Mecklenburg-Schwerin Frederick William 's successor, Frederick the Great gained Silesia in the Silesian Wars so that Prussia emerged as a great power . The king was strongly influenced by French culture and civilization and preferred the French language. In the 1772 First Partition of Poland , the Prussian king Frederick

8550-512: Was mainly focused on converting various fortification guns into field and anti-aircraft artillery. Up to 334 German 53 mm Fahrpanzer guns, 93 French 57 mm Hotchkiss guns, 66 Krupp 150 mm guns and dozens more 210 mm guns were mounted on Romanian-built carriages and transformed into mobile field artillery, with 45 Krupp 75 mm guns and 132 Hotchkiss 57 mm guns being transformed into anti-aircraft artillery. The Romanians also upgraded 120 German Krupp 105 mm howitzers,

8645-491: Was modeled after the French system. Students undertook a rigid curriculum based around the liberal arts. Romania suffered from the same problem as the rest of Eastern Europe, which was that most students, coming from aristocratic backgrounds, preferred to study subjects such as theology, philosophy, literature and the fine arts over science, business, and engineering. After Independence, the Romanian Old Kingdom

8740-571: Was primitive and machinery and chemical fertilizers almost unheard of. The Regat (prewar Romania) was traditionally a land of large estates worked by peasants who either had little or no land of their own. The situation in Transylvania and Bessarabia was marginally better. After peasant calls for land reform snowballed into an avalanche, King Ferdinand had to oblige, especially once the Russian Revolution had encouraged peasants to take

8835-833: Was purchased in 1523. The duchy of Jägerndorf was confiscated by Emperor Ferdinand III in 1622. In 1411, Frederick VI , Burgrave of the small but wealthy Nuremberg, was appointed governor of Brandenburg in order to restore order and stability. At the Council of Constance in 1415, King Sigismund elevated Frederick to the rank of Elector and Margrave of Brandenburg as Frederick I. In 1417, Elector Frederick purchased Brandenburg from its then-sovereign, Emperor Sigismund, for 400,000 Hungarian guilders. Anna of Saxony Hedwig of Poland Sabina of Brandenburg-Ansbach Elisabeth of Anhalt-Zerbst Eleanor of Prussia personal union with Prussia after 1618 called Brandenburg-Prussia . The short-lived Margraviate of Brandenburg-Küstrin

8930-689: Was set up as a secundogeniture of the House of Hohenzollern. Although recognized as a branch of the dynasty since 1688, the Margraviate of Brandenburg-Schwedt remained subordinate to the electors, and was never an independent principality. In 1525, the Duchy of Prussia was established as a fief of the King of Poland . Albert of Prussia was the last Grand Master of the Teutonic Knights and

9025-519: Was worse than before. Romanian agriculture struggled in the international market, and with the onset of the Great Depression , collapsed completely. Romania's 1913 GDP at the 1990 exchange rate amounted to $ 11.7 billion. However, the 1990 dollar was 9.27 times weaker than the 1938 dollar. Thus, Romania's 1913 GDP at the 1938 exchange rate amounted to $ 1.262 billion. The 1938 Romanian GDP amounted to 387.204 billion lei, with

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