ARTICLES

GERALD J. BOBANGO (Erie, Pa., U.S.A.)

Colonel : The Making of a Hospodar

Since the study of the early life of Alexandru Ioan Cuza has generally been neglected in Romanian historiography until very recent years, and is totally unknown in the West, the famous double election of 1859 has appeared all the more startling and sensational, seeming,' as it might, to spring from nowhere. In fact, given the planning and forceful tactics of the National Party in last and , it was the logical result of all that had gone into the immediate post-Crimean years. Nor was the ' choice of their dual hospodar a mere whim or accident, but the selection of one whose entire career appeared as a single long preparation for laying the foundation of the Romanian nation-state. The Man

By 1858 Alexandru Cuza had already led an eventful life and achieved a certain dis- tinction as a Romanian unionist. At thirty-eight years of age, a colonel, he was young for such a high position and younger still for the responsibility about to descend on his shoul- ders. Despite much that has been written to the contrary, Cuza was not to become hospodar by accident, but because of his reputation, experience, and merits. He had served at practically all levels of administration and in the judiciary and military as well. His conscientious nature, his sense of duty and right, were qualities which he had demon- strated often. He had made a conscious effort to cultivate an image of liberal, progressive, pro-union tendencies; a man of the future rather than of che past. This was all the more easy to accomplish considering he had never sought positions-they had been laid upon him. He showed therefore in his early years a strong unwillingness to compromise, learn- ing this vital element of parliamentary life only as a ruler. In many ways, Cuza was to grow with his high office. He was not physically imposing, and his uniforms never seemed to fit his 5'8" frame. At the time of his Pircalaby he sported side-whiskers, but by 1858 had adopted the fash- ionable imperial of Napoleon III. The charm of his personality caused men to overlook his outer appearance, however. Disliking pomp and ceremony intensely, nevertheless he excelled at the personal contacts called for by his positions. His courtroom as well as his adjutant's office was informal and he was never too busy to see petitioners. He had the politician's gift of remembering names and personal details-familial or otherwise-about each individual he met, all of which increased his ability to cajole, persuade, or enlist support. His devotion to his country's interests was equalled only by his loyalty to his friends, and to those with whom he had gone through 1848, this faith was implicit. While the fortunes of politics separated him from some, his bond with Costache Negri and was .never broken. He shared the tolerance, bordering on indifference at times, 2

of many an idealist who recognized the monumentality of modernizing Romanian society. While attempting to instill principles of Westernization in his judicial district he yet recognized that, being a country in which evasion of the laws, bribery, fa- voritism, and tax-farming were the tradition of centuries, reformers could not be too harsh on those unable to modernize their lives overnight. While by no means a sentimen- talist, there was in the man a certain delicacy of feeling, an awareness of his own short- comings which produced a certain tolerance of it in others. Enlarging this notion, he sensed the consequences of political vindictiveness in any attempt to introduce prog- ressive change. So in the assembly of 1858 Cuza argued in favor of seating former Prince Mihai Sturdza as a member, since he was not only qualified under the electoral regula- tions, but was one of the best-informed men in , of which the assembly needed all it could obtain. This, despite the fact that it was Sturdza who had ordered Cuza exiled in 1848. Yet there were those critics who pointed out Cuza's tendency to play on public opinion through his skillful timing of resignations and protests with the flow of popular demand and the readiness of the Guarantee Powers to overturn rigged elections. More- over, Cuza's willingness to accept advancement at the hands of the cynical Vogorides dis- credited his nationalist ardor in many eyes. Still, his ethical sense, by the standards of the day, was no worse than that of most who found themselves in similar positions. As for the finality of Vogorides's hold on Moldavia, it was clear that the new order envisioned by the unionists tor the principalities foresaw no place for reactionary caimacams. Cuza esti- mated correctly that the old prince's days were numbered, and took advantage of the fact. By accepting rapid military advancement incidental to Vogorides's desire to buy off known unionists, Cuza thereby advanced himself in a few weeks to a rank which mightt otherwise have taken years to acquire. He was thus in a much stronger position to pro- mote pro-unionist movements. Those who claimed that going from a second-lieutenant to major in a matter of weeks was a clear sign of Cuza's sycophantic attitude to the caima- cam were, at least in part, envious of Cuza's ability to sense the propitious moment and profit by it. Our judgment ought therefore to depend on what Cuza did with the position thus gained, rather than the mere attaining of it. To those who complained of his indolence and boredom with matters of day-to-day business, it may be answered that he merely became indifferent toward things which his efforts failed to improve. His was not above a normal Romanian attitude of resignation to matters beyond his control. Indeed, the traits which some condemned in Cuza on the eve of his election in 1859 were largely self-castigating for, his Western education and dedica- tion to modernization notwithstanding, the man was a very typical and ardent Romanian.

The Heritage Alexandru Cuza came from no royal line, but was the scion of an old and honorable Moldavian family whose origins may be traced to the fifteenth century. There existed a male line of the Cuzas in Moldavia and in Italy as well, the latter branch dying out at the end of the nineteenth century and the Romanian line continuing to the present day. Cuza's ancestors had figured prominently in the ranks of the lesser nobility throughout the eighteenth century, and his grandfather, Nicolae (1755-1805), maintained a close con-