Timeline of Romanian history

Prehistory

* 1,000,000 - 700,000 - the appearance of the first carved tools, the so-called "Pebble culture" ("Cultură de prund" in Romanian). These tools have been attributed to the Homo erectus hominid type.

* cca. 40,000 BC - the oldest modern human (Homo sapiens sapiens) remains in Europe, are discovered in 2002 in the "Cave With Bones" (Peştera cu Oase), near Anina.

513 BC to 271 AD

* 513 BC - first written evidence of tribes (Getae or Dacians) inhabiting the region by Herodotus
* first half of 2nd century BC - the Dacian Kingdom was lead by King Oroles
* 74 BC - Dacian Kingdom at its peak under King Burebista
* 86 AD - first encounter of Roman Empire with the Dacian Kingdom
* 101-102 AD - first campaign of Emperor Trajan against Dacians
* 106 AD - Battle of Sarmisegetusa, Dacia becomes a Roman province
* 271 AD - retreat of Roman occupation of Dacia

4th century to 10th century AD

* 10th century - Byzantine, Slavic and Hungarian sources, and—later on—Western and even Oriental sources mention the existence of Romanians and Romanian state entities under the name of Vlachs

10th century - 1601

* 1003 - mention of the local ruler Gyula (Geula, Gyyla or Jula) in Transylvania .
* 1241 - A Persian chronicle mentions several rulers from Wallachia such Bezerenbam and Mişelav and the country of Ilaut.
* 1288 - among the first evidences of Diet in Transylvania
* 1330 - Battle of Posada
* 1437 - Bobâlna revolt

1601-1859

Early Modern Times (1859-1881)

"Main articles National awakening of Romania, Romanian War of Independence"

* 1859 - Alexandru Ioan Cuza is elected Price of Moldavia on January 5. Three weeks later he is also elected Price of Wallachia, thus achieving a de facto union of the two principalities;

* 1860 - University of Iaşi is established, as the first institution of higher education in Romanian language. The Romanian Army is founded;

* 1861 - On 5 February, the 1859 union is formally declared and a new country, Romania is born. The capital city is chosen to be Bucureşti. On 23 December, Abdülaziz, the Sultan of the Ottoman Empire officially recognizes the union but only for the duration of Cuza's reign;

* 1862 - The Government of Romania is formed with Alexandru Constantin Moruzi as the first ever Prime Minister;

* 1863 - Alexandru Ioan Cuza promulgates the Agrarian Reform in which the majority of the land is transferred into the property of those who worked it. As there was not enough land, the Secularization of monastery estates in Romania, in which large estates owned by the Romanian Orthodox Church are transferred under state ownership and than to private property, takes place. This was an important turning point in the history of Romania, as it marked the almost disappearance of the Boyar class, leaving the country to look towards capitalism and industrialization;

* 1864 - The Parliament of Romania is formed. A tuition-free, compulsory public education for primary schools is introduced in Romania for the first time. Also a Criminal Code and a Civil Code, both based on the Napoleonic Code, are introduced;

* 1865 - On 1 January, Casa de Economii şi Consemnaţiuni, the first bank of Romania, is established;

* 1866 - On 22 February, Alexandru Ioan Cuza is forced to sign his abdication. The Agrarian Reform from 1863 made himself many enemies. Besides, the country is facing financial collapse. On 26 March, Karl of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen becomes Prince of Romania as Carol. On 1 July, the first constitution of Romania is ratified;

* 1867 - On 22 April the Leu currency is adopted;

* 1869 - The Bucureşti - Giurgiu railway works are concluded after four years and the line become the first of this kind in Romania. However, it is not the first railway built on the present territory of Romania. The first railway was built in 1854 in Banat;

* 1870 - The short-lived Republica Ploieşti is formed in the city of Ploieşti, as a revolt against the Prince;

* 1877 - On 16 April, Romania and the Russian Empire sign a treaty under which Russian troops are allowed to pass through Romanian territory, with the condition to respect the integrity of Romania. On 21 May, the Parliament of Romania declare the independence of the country. In the fall Romania join the Russo-Turkish War on the Russian Empire side. In November, deeply defeated in the Battle of Pleven, the Ottoman Empire request an armistice.

* 1878 - Romania independence is recognised by the Central Powers on 13 July. Following the Treaty of Berlin, Romania now include territories of Dobrogea, the Danube Delta, and Insula Şerpilor. In return the southern counties of Bassarabia are returned to Russian Empire;

* 1880 - National Bank of Romania is established in April;

Kingdom of Romania (1881 - 1947)

"Main article Kingdom of Romania"

* 1881 - On 26 March, Carol I is crowned as King and Romania becomes kingdom;

* 1882 - The Stock Exchange opens in Bucureşti;

* 1894 - Leaders of the Transylvanian Romanians who sent a Memorandum to the Austrian Emperor demanding national rights for the Romanians are found guilty of treason;

* 1907 - Violent peasant revolts crush throughout Romania, thousands of persons killed;

* 1913 - At the end of the Balkan Wars, Romania acquire the southern part of the Dobrogea from Bulgaria;

* 1914 - On 10 October, Carol I dies and he is succeeded by his nephew, Ferdinand, who becomes the second King of Romania as Ferdinand I;

Romania in World War I

"Main article Romania during World War I"

* 1916 - Despite choosing to stay away from the war, the death of King Carol I and the course of events made Romania to change its view and decide to enter the war on the Entente side, demanding the territory of Transylvania. The demands of the Romanian Government were finally accepted and following the First Treaty of Bucharest, Romania declare war to the Central Powers on 27 August and launch attacks through the Southern Carpathians and into Transylvania. Poorly trained and equipped, the Romanian Army cannot face the power of the German, Bulgarian and Ottoman armies and Bucureşti is lost in December. Iaşi becomes temporarily the capital city of Romania;

* 1917 - The Battle of Mărăşeşti, between 6 August and 8 September, could have been the turning point but the retreat of the Russian Army from Romania left the Romanians no choice but to ask for peace;

* 1918 - The Second Treaty of Bucharest is signed on 7 May. However, after the successful offensive of the on the Entente, on the Thessaloniki front which put Bulgaria out of the war, Romania re-entered the war on 10 November. On 28 November the Romanian representatives of Bucovina voted for union with the Kingdom of Romania, followed by the proclamation of the union of Transylvania with the Kingdom of Romania on 1 December, by the representatives of Transylvanian Romanians and of the Transylvanian Saxons gathered at Alba Iulia. Both proclamations were not, however, yet recognized by the Entente powers;

* 1919 - Bela Kun, the leader of the Hungarian Soviet Republic, decides to attack Romania to regain the lost territories in Transylvania without any success. The counter-offensive led to the occupation of the Hungarian capital Budapest in August by the Romanian Army putting an end to the self-proclaimed Hungarian Soviet Republic. In meantime, the union proclamations of Bucovina, Basarabia and Transylvania are officially recognized by the Treaty of Versailles and later by the Treaty of Trianon and the Kingdom of Romania expand its borders.

Greater Romania (1918 - 1939)

"Main article Greater Romania"

* 1920 - On 20 January, Romania become founding member of League of Nations. The CFRNA (French-Romanian Company for Air Navigation is established, becoming the first airline in Romania;

* 1921 - On 23 April, Romania and Czechoslovakia sign a peace treaty in Bucureşti. It will be followed by a similar treaty between Romania and Yugoslavia signed it Belgrade one month later. A new land reform takes place, at the idea of King Ferdinand I, who wanted to repay the soldiers and their families for sacrifices made during the war;

* 1922 - King Ferdinand I and Queen Maria are crowned in Alba Iulia as King and Queen of all Romanians;

* 1925 - The Romanian Orthodox Church is officially recognized;

* 1927 - On 20 July, King Ferdinand I dies and Mihai I, his grandson, becomes the third King of Romania after his father Carol renounced to his rights to the throne in two years earlier. On 24 July, the Iron Guard is formed by Corneliu Zelea Codreanu. The Iron Guard will play a major role in the Romanian political and social system over the next decade and a half;

* 1930 - Carol II returns to Romania on 7 June and he is proclaimed King one day later, thus becoming the fourth King of Romania. The Societatea Anonimă Română de Telefoane is established and Romania start to use landline telephony;

* 1933 - On 10 December, Ion Duca, Prime Minister of Romania at the time, bans the Iron Guard. On 29 December, Ion Duca is assassinated by members of the paramilitary organisation;

* 1938 - In a bid for political unity against the fascist movement known as the Iron Guard, which was gaining popularity, Carol II dismissed the government headed by Octavian Goga. The activity of the Romanian Parliament and of all political parties was suspended and the country is governed by royal decree. Miron Cristea, the first Patriarch of the Romanian Orthodox Church become Prime Minister on 11 February;

Romania in World War II

"Main article Romania during World War II"

* 1939 - Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union signs the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, in which the Soviet side claims Basarabia. The territory is given to the Soviet Union together with the northern part of Bucovina one year later. On 21 September Armand Călinescu, Prime Minister of Romania, is murdered by the Iron Guard.

* 1940 - On 27 June, following of an ultimatum issued by the Soviet Union, Romania lose Basarabia. On 30 August, under the Second Vienna Award, Romania lose the northern part of Transylvania to Hungary. Only one week later the Kadrilater is lost to Bulgaria. On 4 September, Horia Sima, leader of the Iron Guard, and Ion Antonescu, an Romanian Army General, Prime Minister of Romania at that date, form the "National Legionary State" in Romania, forcing the abdication of King Carol II. Mihai I becomes king for the second time two days later. On 8 October, Nazi troops began crossing into Romania. On 23 November, Romania joined the Axis Powers.

* 1941 - Between 21 January and 23 January, a rebellion organised by the Iron Guard take place in Bucharest. Later known as the Bucharest pogrom, it follows the decission taken by Ion Antonescu to cut-off the privileges of the Iron Guard. During the rebellion, 125 Jews and 30 army soldiers die. After the order is restored, the Iron Guard is banned. On 22 June, Romania join Operation Barbarossa, attacking the Soviet Union hoping to recover the lost territories of Basarabia and Bucovina. Later, Romania annex Soviet lands immediately east of the Dnister;

* 1943 - Romania become a target of Allied aerial bombardment;

* 1944 - On 23 August, King Mihai leads a successful coup with support from opposition politicians and the army. Ion Antonescu is arrested. On 12 September, an Armistice Agreement is signed with the Allied Powers. Romania join the Allied Powers. In October Winston Churchill, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, proposed an agreement with Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin on how to split up Eastern Europe in spheres of influence after the war. The Soviet Union were offered a 90% share of influence in Romania. Battle of Romania begins;

* 1945 - On 1 March, Petru Groza becomes the first Communist Prime Minister of Romania after Nicolae Rădescu was forced to by the Soviet Union's deputy People's Commissar for Foreign Affairs, Andrei Y. Vishinsky. Later in the year Romania takes part to Battle of Budapest as well as the Battle of Prague. Despite joining the Allies in August 1944, Romania had an important contribution in the World War II, shortening it by six months, according to Sir Winston Churchill;

* 1946 - The Romanian Communist Party win the elections held on 19 November through electoral fraud;

Communist Romania (1947 - 1989)

"Main article Communist Romania"

* 1947 - Following the abdication of Mihai I, the People's Republic of Romania is declared on 30 December against the majority of people who supported the monarchy. The new leader of Romania becomes Gheorghe Gheorghiu-Dej, General Secretary of the Romanian Communist Party;

* 1948 - A new constitution is ratified on 13 April. Two months later, on 11 June all banks and major enterprises are nationalized. During the year, also in the years to come, many pre-war politicians, businessmen, priests and even ordinary people are thrown in prisons. On 30 August, following the model of Soviet NKVD, the Romanian secret policed is formed;

* 1949 - A forced collectivization, in which the agriculture is organized under the socialist model, comes into force. Romania join Comecon. The construction of Danube-Black Sea Canal starts. The canal was the most known labour camp in the history of Romania;

* 1951 - During the night of 18 June the third-largest mass deportation in modern Romanian history takes place. Some 45,000 people are taken from their homes and deported to the Bărăgan plain;

* 1952 - The Hungarian Autonomous Province, the one and only autonomous province in modern Romania, is created. It will be disestablished in 1968. The second Communist constitution is ratified;

* 1953 - The Danube-Black Sea Canal is halted and the labour camp disestablished. Iuliu Maniu dies in Sighet prison;

* 1954 - SovRoms, joint ventures between Romania and Soviet Union are formed. They will prove their inefficiency for Romania from the first day of establishment and most of them will be dissolved in 1956;

* 1955 - Romania join the Warsaw Pact. On 14 February, a group of Romanian anti-Communists occupies the Romanian embassy in Berne demanding the release from prisons of many public personalities. With the help of the Swiss police, the order is re-established two days later. On 14 December, Romania join the United Nations;

* 1956 - On 28 October a radio station calling itself "Romania of the future. The voice of resistance" begins broadcasting on different wavelengths. Many protests, especially amongst students, follows in November. On 31 December, Televiziunea Română start to broadcast first programmes;

* 1957 - ARO is established in Câmpulung-Muscel and start to manufacture off-road vehicles. ARO IMS become the first car built in Romania after World War II. Over the next three decades ARO will be a landmark of Romania.

* 1958 - The Soviet Union Army leave Romania after fourteen years of occupation;

* 1959 - On 28 July, the Ioanid Gang carries out the most famous bank robbery ever to occur in a Communist state;

* 1960 - Oliviu Beldeanu, the leader of the group that occupied the Romanian embassy in Berne five years earlier, is executed in Bucureşti;

* 1965 - On 19 March, Gheorghe Gheorghiu-Dej dies and Nicolae Ceauşescu is elected General Secretary of the Romanian Communist Party and become the state leader. The official name of the country is changed into The Socialist Republic of Romania. The third Communist constitution is ratified;

* 1966 - Intreprinderea de Autoturisme Piteşti is established. Two years later Romania start the mass production, the first mass production of a car - Dacia 1100. Nicolae Ceauşescu orders that the abortion decree signed in 1957 to be reversed and new policies to increase birth rate and fertility rate are introduced. The policy fails, as the population begins to swell, accompanied by rising poverty and increased homelessness children in the urban areas;

* 1968 - Romania refuse to participate to the invasion of Czechoslovakia. Nicolae Ceauşescu openly condemns the action, thus he becomes a Western world favourite. Richard Nixon's visit in Romania was the first of an American president in a Communist country. The Patriotic Guards are formed, as additional defence force in case of an attack from the outside;

* 1972 - In order to develop a "multilaterally socialist society", Nicolae Ceauşescu starts a urban planning planning, following the ideologies of North Korea. The face of the country is completely changed in the years to come;

* 1974 - Nicolae Ceauşescu becomes the first President of Romania. Romania become the first country in the Eastern Bloc ever to establish economic relations with the European Community. The Generalised System of Preferences is signed, followed by Agreement on Industrial Products in 1980.

* 1976 - At the age of 14, Nadia Comăneci becomes one of the stars of the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal. During the team portion of the competition, her routine on the uneven bars is scored at a 10.0. It is the first time in modern Olympic gymnastics history that the score had ever been awarded. Over the next years, Nadia will become one of the most known Romanians in the world;

* 1976 - The Danube-Black Sea Canal project re-starts;

* 1977 - On 4 March, 21:20 local time, an earthquake with a magnitude of 7.4 and epicentre in Vrancea at a depth of 94 kilometres occur. The earthquake killed about 1,570 people and wounded more than 11,000. Total damages are estimated at more than two billion dollars. On 1 July 35,000 out of 90,000 miners in Jiu Valley decide to stop working. Their protest is the biggest of this kind in Communist Romania before the 1989 revolution. The strike only ends when Nicolae Ceauşescu intervened in person.

* 1978 - Ion Mihai Pacepa, a senior officer in Securitate, defected to the United States becoming the highest ranking defector from the Eastern Bloc;

* 1980 - Construction of the Cernavodă Nuclear Power Plant begins. The fourth Communist constitution is ratified;

* 1981 - The 1981 Summer Universiade becomes the most important sport event ever to be hosted by Romania. Dumitru Prunariu becomes the first Romanian in space;

* 1983 - As part of the urban planning programme significant portions of the historic centre of Bucureşti are demolished in order to accommodate standardized apartment blocks and government buildings, including the grandiose Centrul Civic and the palatial House of the People, the second largest building in the world;

* 1984 - Romania is, alongside People's Republic of China and Yugoslavia, one of the three Communist countries to take part to the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, USA. The Danube-Black Sea Canal canal is finally completed after nearly four decades;

* 1986 - On 7 May, Steaua Bucureşti win the European Cup and become the first and only football team from a Communist country to win the trophy;

* 1987 - In a climate of economic depression and food shortages a rebellion erupts on 15 November in the city of Braşov. Over 300 protesters were arrested for hooliganism.

* 1989 - On 16 December, a protest brakes out in Timişoara. Five days later Nicolae Ceauşescu organises a mass meeting in Bucureşti. The jeers and whistles soon erupts into riot, as the crowd takes to the streets, placing the capital in turmoil. Nicolae Ceauşescu and his wife leave Bucureşti putting and end of a four-decades long Communist period in Romania. On 25 December, after a short trial, Nicolae Ceauşescu and his wife are executed.

Present Day Romania (since 1989)

"Main article Present Day Romania"

* 1989 - The National Salvation Front (FSN) take the power during the Romanian Revolution. The leader is elected Ion Iliescu. The new name of the republic becomes Romania;

* 1990 - On 20 May free elections are held in Romania for the first time after fifty years. FSN, which became a political party, win the elections. Ion Iliescu is elected the second President of Romania. Before and after the elections, a protest initiated by the students and professors of University of Bucharest, which was also supported by many intellectuals, demanded that former members of the Romanian Communist Party, which included Ion Iliescu, should be banned from elections. The protest was ended by the intervention of the miners from Jiu Valley, brought to Bucureşti by Iliescu himself in what is remembered as the June 1990 Mineriad;

* 1991 - A new constitution is ratified;

* 1992 - Elections are held and Ion Iliescu wins a second mandate. Privatization of the industry starts;

* 1993 - Romania apply to become a member of the European Union. The first wireless telephony system becomes active;

* 1995 - The Stock Exchange reopens in Bucureşti;

* 1996 - Emil Constantinescu becomes the third President of Romania;

* 1997 - Romania join the countries able to use GSM telephony;

* 2000 - Ion Iliescu returns to power after winning the elections;

* 2004 - Traian Băsescu becomes the fourth President of Romania. Romania join the North Atlantic Treaty Organization;

* 2007 - On 1 January, Romania join the European Union. Traian Băsescu is temporarily suspended in relation to corruption allegations and replaced with Nicolae Văcăroiu.