Union Day

Infobox Holiday
holiday_name = Union Day
type = national
longtype =

---

caption = The National Assembly in Alba Iulia
(December 1, 1918)
official_name = _ro. Ziua Naţională a României
nickname = _ro. Ziua Unirii
observedby = Romania
begins =
ends =
date = 1 December
date2007 =
celebrations = Military parades (most notably in Alba Iulia and Bucharest), fireworks
observances = Te Deum at the Alba Iulia Orthodox Cathedral
relatedto =
color1 = background:#025ad0;

Union Day ( _ro. Ziua Unirii, also called Unification Day [CIA World Factbook, [http://www.cia.gov/publications/factbook/geos/ro.html#Govt Romania - Government] ] ) occurring on December 1, is the national holiday of Romania. It commemorates the assembly of the delegates of ethnic Romanians held in Alba Iulia, which declared the Union of Transylvania with Romania.

This holiday was set after the 1989 Romanian Revolution and it marks the unification of Transylvania, but also of the provinces of Bessarabia and Bukovina with the Romanian Kingdom, in 1918.

Prior to 1918, the national holiday of Romania was set to be on May 10, which had a double meaning: it was the day on which Carol I set foot on the Romanian soil (in 1866), and it was the day on which the prince ratified the Declaration of Independence (from the Ottoman Empire) in 1877.

In Communist Romania, the date of the national holiday was set to August 23 to mark the 1944 overthrow of the pro-fascist government of Marshal Ion Antonescu.

Alba Iulia National Assembly

On December 1, 1918 (November 18 Old Style), the "National Assembly of Romanians of Transylvania and Hungary", consisting of 1,228 elected representatives of the Romanians in Transylvania, Banat, Crişana and Maramureş, convened in Alba Iulia and decreed (by unanimous vote)

The Resolution [Romanian Institute for Cultural Remembrance, [http://www.cimec.ro/Istorie/Unire/rezo_eng.htm The Resolution of the National Assembly in Alba Iulia on December 1, 1918] ] voted by the National Assembly stipulated also the "fundamental principles for the foundation of the new Romanian State". It was conditional, and demanded the preservation of a democratic local autonomy, the equality of all nationalities and religions.

The Assembly also formed from 200 of its members, plus 50 co-opted members a "High National Romanian Council of Transylvania", the new permanent parliament of Transylvania.

The next day, on December 2, 1918 the High National Romanian Council of Transylvania formed a government under the name of Directory Council of Transylvania ("Consiliul Dirigent al Transilvaniei"), headed by Iuliu Maniu.

On December 11, 1918, King Ferdinand signed the Law [Romanian Institute for Cultural Remembrance, [http://www.cimec.ro/Istorie/Unire/law_eng.htm Law regarding the Union of Transylvania, Banat, Crişana, the Satmar and Maramureş with the Old Kingdom of Romania] ] regarding the Union of Transylvania, Banat, Crişana, the Satmar and Maramureş with the Old Kingdom of Romania, decreeing that

ee also

*Union of Bessarabia with Romania
*Greater Romania
*Kingdom of Romania
*History of Transylvania

Bibliography and external links

* [http://www.1decembrie.ro National Day of Romania site with information about the event and webcam showing 2005 celebrations] (by the Alba County Prefecture)
* [http://www.cimec.ro/Istorie/Unire/inainte.htm Union of Transylvania with Romania (in Romanian)]

References