History UsefulNotes / Romania

Romania's entry into UsefulNotes/WorldWarI mostly came about under pressure from the Allies and promises that they could annex [[UsefulNotes/{{Uberwald}} Transylvania]] from UsefulNotes/{{Hungary}}. It proved to be a disaster, with the Germans, Austrians, Bulgarians and Ottomans all ganging up on a poorly organised army and forcing it to retreat up to Moldova, where they held together for a few more years before finally capitulating after the Bolsheviks pulled Russia out of the war. As part of the Peace of Bucharest of March 1918, Romania [[DisproportionateRetribution was reduced to a vassal state occupied by Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Bulgaria, had several of its territories yanked away again and would have a German monopoly on oil exports for 99 years]]. Said peace treaty was never completely ratified because King Ferdinand refused to sign it, and Romania re-entered the war one day before the armistice with Germany was signed and well after the military forces of the Central Powers had been thrashed on the Western Fronts. The Allies eventually kept their word, giving Transylvania to Romania (but Romania had to twist their hand a bit by starting a [[CurbStompBattle Curb Stomp War]] with Hungary in 1919 and occupying and plundering it for about a year or so, and then milking some abusive armistice terms, not to mention the fact that the majority of the population in Transylvania were actually Romanians and had voted for a union with Romania), which had also regained the Romanian-dominated area (Moldova between the Prut and Dniester rivers) in the meantime. Greater Romania was born.

Romania's entry into UsefulNotes/WorldWarI mostly came about under pressure from the Allies and promises that they could annex Transylvania from Hungary. It proved to be a disaster, with the Germans, Austrians, Bulgarians and Ottomans all ganging up on a poorly organised army and forcing it to retreat up to Moldova, where they held together for a few more years before finally capitulating after the Bolsheviks pulled Russia out of the war. As part of the Peace of Bucharest of March 1918, Romania [[DisproportionateRetribution was reduced to a vassal state occupied by Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Bulgaria, had several of its territories yanked away again and would have a German monopoly on oil exports for 99 years]]. Said peace treaty was never completely ratified because King Ferdinand refused to sign it, and Romania re-entered the war one day before the armistice with Germany was signed and well after the military forces of the Central Powers had been thrashed on the Western Fronts. The Allies eventually kept their word, giving Transylvania to Romania (but Romania had to twist their hand a bit by starting a [[CurbStompBattle Curb Stomp War]] with Hungary in 1919 and occupying and plundering it for about a year or so, and then milking some abusive armistice terms, not to mention the fact that the majority of the population in Transylvania were actually Romanians and had voted for a union with Romania), which had also regained the Romanian-dominated area (Moldova between the Prut and Dniester rivers) in the meantime. Greater Romania was born.

Romania's entry into World War I mostly came about under pressure from the Allies and promises that they could annex Transylvania from Hungary. It proved to be a disaster, with the Germans, Austrians, Bulgarians and Ottomans all ganging up on a poorly organised army and forcing it to retreat up to Moldova, where they held together for a few more years before finally capitulating after the Bolsheviks pulled Russia out of the war. As part of the Peace of Bucharest of March 1918, Romania [[DisproportionateRetribution was reduced to a vassal state occupied by Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Bulgaria, had several of its territories yanked away again and would have a German monopoly on oil exports for 99 years]]. Said peace treaty was never completely ratified because King Ferdinand refused to sign it, and Romania re-entered the war one day before the armistice with Germany was signed and well after the military forces of the Central Powers had been thrashed on the Western Fronts. The Allies eventually kept their word, giving Transylvania to Romania (but Romania had to twist their hand a bit by starting a [[CurbStompBattle Curb Stomp War]] with Hungary in 1919 and occupying and plundering it for about a year or so, and then milking some abusive armistice terms, not to mention the fact that the majority of the population in Transylvania were actually Romanians and had voted for a union with Romania), which had also regained the Romanian-dominated area (Moldova between the Prut and Dniester rivers) in the meantime. Greater Romania was born.

The country has had quite a troubled past, with large chunks of its history being about [[FailureIsTheOnlyOption resisting encroaching foreign powers for as long as possible before the inevitable failure]], even larger chunks about the struggle to carve a place for itself while surrounded by larger countries like Austria-Hungary, Russia and the Ottoman Empire, all slathered in heavy doses of being the ButtMonkey of Eastern Europe and occasional moments of YankTheDogsChain. The modern country formed through the union of its two constitutent states, Moldova (Moldavia) and Wallachia, in 1859.

It's had quite a troubled past, with large chunks of its history being about [[FailureIsTheOnlyOption resisting encroaching foreign powers for as long as possible before the inevitable failure]], even larger chunks about the struggle to carve a place for itself while surrounded by larger countries like Austria-Hungary, Russia and the Ottoman Empire, all slathered in heavy doses of being the ButtMonkey of Eastern Europe and occasional moments of YankTheDogsChain. The modern country formed through the union of its two constitutent states, Moldova (Moldavia) and Wallachia, in 1859.

Romania ('''Romanian:''' ''România''), a member of UsefulNotes/TheEuropeanUnion, is a Eastern European country of 20 million people and one of the only two Latin countries that are Orthodox Christian, the other one being its close relative UsefulNotes/{{Moldova}}.

* [[https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/WesternAnimation/Bunnicula Bunnicula]] is [[https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Creator/Boomerang Boomerang]]'s new animated series based on a children's book series of the same name [[https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Literature/Bunnicula Bunnicula]], but made to look very cute and cuddly while also very weird and unsettling sometimes. It's main character, Bunnicula, is a magic vampire rabbit who belonged to Dracula and somehow ended up in the care of Mina Monroe and her pets Harold the dog and Chester the cat in the supernatural capital of America, New Orleans. The animated series takes a lot of inspiration from the original book and Bram Stoker's Dracula, with Mina sharing a name with the story's main female character and a deformed, insane guinea pig name Lugosi, obviously named after famed black and white monster actor [[https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Creator/BelaLugosi Bela Lugosi]].
* [[https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/WesternAnimation/Vampirina Vampirina]] is a [[https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Creator/DisneyChannel?from=Creator.DisneyJunior Disney Junior]]'s newest animated series based on a series of books for kids named "Vampirina Ballerina" by Anne Marie Pace. It's about a family of vampires that movie from Transylvania to Pennsylvania and open a Bed and Breakfast for ghouls and vampires. The series is [[https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/FishOutOfWater Fish out of Water]] series about a family of vampires adapting to a new life among humans while trying to keep their identity a secret from hardest neighbors.

All this ended after he came back from a tour of UsefulNotes/NorthKorea and UsefulNotes/{{China}} in 1971 and published the "July theses". From then on, he managed to be ''even worse'' than Dej, and is routinely credited for destroying the country thanks to his subsequent policies. In detail: He started a personality cult that was JustForFun/{{egregious}} even by Warsaw Pact standards. In 1966, he presided over a policy of enforcing population growth (as in, five children per mother, abortion and contraception completely banned, guaranteed maternity leave and childcare support), officially named [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Decree_770 Decree 770], that produced many unwanted children, who ended up in {{orphanage|OfFear}}s often described as "gulags for children". He destroyed a whole lot of old buildings in Bucharest (already battered by the 1977 earthquake) and other cities as part of a "systematization" policy which saw them replaced with depressing, Stalinist eyesore apartment blocks. And having already showed his complete incompetence at economic matters, ''then'' he decided to export ''everything'' to pay off Romania's foreign debts, leading to rationing, shortages, and starvation for the rest of the population. Unsurprisingly, even with the heavy-handed dictatorship and secret police, the terrible conditions caused revolts, in 1977 in the Jiu Valley and 1987 in Brașov.

All this ended after he came back from a tour of UsefulNotes/NorthKorea and UsefulNotes/{{China}} in 1971 and published the "July theses". From then on, he managed to be ''even worse'' than Dej, and is routinely credited for destroying the country thanks to his subsequent policies. In detail: He started a personality cult that was JustForFun/{{egregious}} even by Warsaw Pact standards. In 1966, he presided over a policy of enforcing population growth (as in, five children per mother, abortion and contraception completely banned, guaranteed maternity leave and childcare support) that produced many unwanted children, who ended up in {{orphanage|OfFear}}s often described as "gulags for children". He destroyed a whole lot of old buildings in Bucharest (already battered by the 1977 earthquake) and other cities as part of a "systematization" policy which saw them replaced with depressing, Stalinist eyesore apartment blocks. And having already showed his complete incompetence at economic matters, ''then'' he decided to export ''everything'' to pay off Romania's foreign debts, leading to rationing, shortages, and starvation for the rest of the population. Unsurprisingly, even with the heavy-handed dictatorship and secret police, the terrible conditions caused revolts, in 1977 in the Jiu Valley and 1987 in Brașov.

* A anime adaptation of the light Novel's ''LightNovel/FateApocrypha'' takes place here, which is intentional: the Black Faction's leading Heroic Servant is, in fact, UsefulNotes/VladTheImpaler (''not'' Literature/{{Dracula}}, and he won't [[BerserkButton appreciate you making the mistake]]). Since the power of a Heroic Spirit is directly proportional to their Legend's fame, Vlad's master deliberately had his faction build their base of operations in the former Voivode's home country, banking on the massive power boost that would give him. Unfortunately for him, it cuts both ways - the minute the Red Faction can lure him ''off'' of Romanian soil, his power drops like a rock. It was mentioned that on his own land, Vlad Tepes had the power of King Arthur at his prime. Strange that he gets so weak while in a another land right next to his own while King Arthur was summoned in Japan of all places and could still take out Servants even stronger than Red Faction…

* A lot of ''LightNovel/FateApocrypha'' takes place here, which is intentional: the Black Faction's leading Heroic Servant is, in fact, UsefulNotes/VladTheImpaler (''not'' Literature/{{Dracula}}, and he won't [[BerserkButton appreciate you making the mistake]]). Since the power of a Heroic Spirit is directly proportional to their Legend's fame, Vlad's master deliberately had his faction build their base of operations in the former Voivode's home country, banking on the massive power boost that would give him. Unfortunately for him, it cuts both ways - the minute the Red Faction can lure him ''off'' of Romanian soil, his power drops like a rock.

** 'the Zmeu'(a magical evil humanoid creature who has the power of 10 men. In most stories, it is the antagonist of the story);
** 'the Balaur' (a flying dragon that has the intelligence of humans and is able to speak and bring judgement upon the hero of the story),Usually the hero is not able to defeat this beast and instead has to convince it not to eat him;

*** There is a an assortment of mythological creatures from literature that are specific to Romania or sureounding regions. But among the most specific there are 3 of the most recognizable:
--'the Zmeu'(a magical evil humanoid creature who has the power of 10 men. In most stories, it is the antagonist of the story);
-- 'the Balaur' (a flying dragon that has the intelligence of humans and is able to speak and bring judgement upon the hero of the story),Usually the hero is not able to defeat this beast and instead has to convince it not to eat him;

/folder]]

[[/folder]]

* A anime adaptation of the light Novel's''LightNovel/FateApocrypha'' takes place here, which is intentional: the Black Faction's leading Heroic Servant is, in fact, UsefulNotes/VladTheImpaler (''not'' Literature/{{Dracula}}, and he won't [[BerserkButton appreciate you making the mistake]]). Since the power of a Heroic Spirit is directly proportional to their Legend's fame, Vlad's master deliberately had his faction build their base of operations in the former Voivode's home country, banking on the massive power boost that would give him. Unfortunately for him, it cuts both ways - the minute the Red Faction can lure him ''off'' of Romanian soil, his power drops like a rock. It was mentioned that on his own land, Vlad Tepes had the power of King Arthur at his prime. Strange that he gets so weak while in a another land right next to his own while King Arthur was summoned in Japan of all places and could still take out Servants even stronger than Red Faction…

* '''National Flower''': The Poemy

The Revolution saw 1,104 deaths, with Ceaușescu and his wife receiving a machine-gunning, on camera, as a Christmas present. It too counts as a MeetTheNewBoss, since in the entire chaos the second rung of the Communist Party ended up in power. It is wise to try to steer clear of this subject, since there's so many unknowns and suspicious details going around that it's a prime source of UsefulNotes/{{conspiracy theories}} -- where the USA has WhoShotJFK, Romania has What Really Happened In 1989? and What The Hell Was Up With [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mineriad The Mineriad]]? [[note]]A series of post-revolution protests and counter-protests that turned violent, involving Romanian miners breaking up anti-government student protests on behalf of the government, before turning against the government themselves[[/note]].

All this ended after he came back from a tour of UsefulNotes/NorthKorea and UsefulNotes/{{China}} in 1971 and published the "July theses". From then on, he managed to be ''[[UpToEleven even worse]]'' than Dej, and is routinely credited for destroying the country thanks to his subsequent policies. In detail: He started a personality cult that was JustForFun/{{egregious}} even by Warsaw Pact standards. In 1966, he presided over a policy of enforcing population growth (as in, five children per mother, abortion and contraception completely banned, guaranteed maternity leave and childcare support) that produced many unwanted children, who ended up in {{orphanage|OfFear}}s often described as "gulags for children". He destroyed a whole lot of old buildings in Bucharest (already battered by the 1977 earthquake) and other cities as part of a "systematization" policy which saw them replaced with depressing, Stalinist eyesore apartment blocks. And having already showed his complete incompetence at economic matters, ''then'' he decided to export ''everything'' to pay off Romania's foreign debts, leading to rationing, shortages, and starvation for the rest of the population. Unsurprisingly, even with the heavy-handed dictatorship and secret police, the terrible conditions caused revolts, in 1977 in the Jiu Valley and 1987 in Brașov.

* ''[[Webcomic/HetaliaAxisPowers Hetalia]]''. Another MoeAnthropomorphism of [[http://images5.fanpop.com/image/photos/28100000/Romania-official-character-hetalia-28116403-1197-1217.jpg Romania]] is mentioned in Hungary's bio and relationship chart, and apparently doesn't get along with her. By now, he had appeared in Volume 4 and wears a NiceHat. He may be a homage or reference to Dracula because of his [[{{RedEyesTakeWarning}} red eyes]] and [[{{CuteLittleFangs}} cute little fang]]. Personality-wise he's a cheerful NightmareFetishist, a good friend of Bulgaria, Moldova's big brother, and the SitcomArchnemesis of Hungary.

* Romanians are anti-vaxxers - Well, sadly true. But don't hold it against them, during the communist era, a lot of cheap useful and useless vaccines were used. And people generally formed a distrust of doctors and their expertise.

In sports, Romania is well-known for its gymnasts, many of whom were the products of infamously rough training. The most famous is Nadia Comăneci, who won the first perfect 10 in gymnastics at the 1976 Montreal UsefulNotes/OlympicGames, effectively redefining the sport.

Romania has many long-standing problems, one of them being [[OrphanageOfFear nasty orphanages]]. This had to do with Ceaușescu wanting to boost the Romanian population by all means, even if this involved many mothers not being able to care for so many unwanted kids, abandoning them instead, so they ended up in... right. And we haven't even gone into the chaotic post-dictatorship situation, the Mineriad, the inefficient education system, the painful transition to capitalism, the income inequality and poverty problems, the severe corruption and plain incompetent governments...

This interest for space seems to have been carried with them because in 2022, Romania is participating in a European space contest with an experimental green fuel flight system named EcoRocket. Basically, it is a 2 stage rocket for delivering small and medium scale satellites into space using 2 types of propulsion: a water based propulsion system to secure a boost and normal rocket fuel to secure the flight into orbit. It's more eco friendly because if successful it will use less fuel than normal rockets, and it can be reusable. The flight is meant to take place is early in the second half of 2022 and if successful it will mean that Romania will be the second country in the European Union, next to France, to launch its own satellite in space. Pretty interesting for being a deadlast in EU's eyes.

* [[TheNapoleon Nicolae]] Ceaușescu - the country's dictator between 1965-1989. Initially supported by the West for daring to stand up to Moscow, by the end he had hundreds of volunteers for his firing squad. Today, he is reviled for severely mismanaging the economy, oppressing the people, and generally running the country into the ground. One of the rare cases of the Revolution being televised -- he and his wife were deposed, subjected to a shift show trial, mostly meant to show off their avaricious life-style, and sentenced to a summary execution, all on live television.

* Ion Iliescu - former Communist member and the country's first post-Communist president, serving three terms between 1990-1996 and 2000-2004 (despite the Constitution limiting him to two. LoopholeAbuse is ''fun''!). Masterminded the Mineriad, which is a whole 'nother can of worms.

The Revolution saw 1,104 deaths, with Ceaușescu and his wife receiving a machine-gunning, on camera, as a Christmas present. It too counts as a MeetTheNewBoss, since in the entire chaos the second rung of the Communist Party ended up in power. It is wise to try to steer clear of this subject, since there's so many unknowns and suspicious details going around that it's a prime source of UsefulNotes/{{conspiracy theories}} -- where the USA has WhoShotJFK, Romania has What Really Happened In 1989? and What The Hell Was Up With [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mineriad The Mineriad]]?.