ESSAYS/ESSAIS

�TEFAN PASCU (Cluj, Romania)

Independence: A Fundamental Characteristic in the History of the Romanian People

An objective observer may clearly see the historic column which supports the national edifice of the Romanians and their land. Romanians are perma- nently tied to the land of their ancestors. Menacing clouds and tempestuous storms could not frighten them away from their homeland. Centuries of ex- perience confirmed the Romanian proverb that "water flows but pebbles stay put"; indeed, their past taught them that pebbles, cemented together, may form a powerful stronghold protecting both land and people. Strong and lasting ties between land and people preserved the Romanians' national existence. Their vigorous and passionate patriotism amazed outsiders unfamiliar with Romanian realities. Recurrent migrations could not supplant either the Dacian substratum or the Roman stratum. The Daco-Romans be- came Romanians, who inhabited all the land which they tilled with their sweat and defended with their blood. Ties between land and people explain the Romanians' firmness in maintain- ing and defending their national being against many covetous and malevolent foes and invaders. This firmness assured independence and internal harmony. With tenacious courage they repeatedly faced invading armies from the fourth century to 1944. Soldiers, led by brave men, demonstrated temerity when called from their ploughs and machines. Only people fused with the land on which they live, who have preserved and valiantly defended their national being, could then display such unusual temerity in winning liberty, social and national equality, and political independence. Four ideas and ideals-equality, liberty, independence, and unity-constitute a red thread in the fabric of the Romanians' history. They are permanences of this history--generating one another, together forming the backbone of the national body, and synthesiz- ing past, present, and future. Equality cannot be understood without liberty, nor can one imagine independence without equality and liberty;nor can unity be achieved without liberty, equality, and independence. The entire thirteen centuries of Romanian history reveal a continuous struggle-crowned in the end by victory--for liberty, social and national equality, political independence of the state, and national unity. The permanences of Romanian history-equality, liberty, independence, 37

and unity-were founded on a powerful reality: the awareness of shared eth- nic, linguistic, cultural, and economic characteristics of the entire Romanian people. The common origin of the Romanians; the unity of their language, culture, and customs; the uninterrupted economic ties- during the Middle Ages-all of these circumstances generated an active national consciousness which in turn supported tendencies toward unity in the Romanians' pro- longed struggle for independence. For Romanians-descending from fearless Dacians and daring Romans, or- ganically tied to the land, tempered by the times, and deeply believing in their future-there is an obvious connection between resistance to oppression and consciousness of national rights. For liberty and independence Gelu and Menumorut, as well as Glad and Ahtum fought in Transylvania; Tatos, Sestlav, and Satza in Dobrogea during the tenth and eleventh centuries; the Boloho- vens and Brodnics in Moldavia between the twelfth and thirteenth centuries; Litovoi and Seneslau as well as Barbat in thirteenth-century Wallachia; Basar- ab and Bogdan for the independence of Wallachia and Moldavia respectively in the fourteenth century. The independence and liberty of the Romanian principalities were defended by Mircea cel Batnn, ?tefan Must, Dan II, Iancu of Hunedoara, Vlad Tepe§, 5tefan cel Mare, Pavel Chinezu, Radu de la Afu- mali, and Petru Rare§-at Rovine, at Hindov, at the Danube, at Sibiu and Bat- grad, at Tirgovi§te, Vaslui and Codrul Cosminului, C"lmpul Pnnii, Slefeni and Feldioara, and many more places. These inestimable deeds inspired other ef- forts, sacrifices, and struggles to regain independence: such as Ioan Voda cel Cumplit at Cahul and Ro§cani and especially Mihai Voda Viteazul at Cilugir- eni-Giurgiu, Selimbar, and Suceava. Other heroes, brave men, and memorable places illustrate the difficult progress toward liberty, equality, independence, and unity:Cantemir and Briricoveanu at Stinile§ti and Urlali; Horea and Tudor in the Apuseni mountains, at Fades and Tismana, in Bucure§ti and at Drigi§- ani ; in the pan-Romanian revolution of 1848; the union of the Romanian principalities in 1859; Romania's independence in 1877; the achievement of national union in 1918. Other names, other dates, and other happenings en- riched the historical spiral of the Romanian people. Liberty, equality, inde- pendence, and unity engraved themselves as beautiful bas-reliefs representing not only the heroes and leaders, but also the brave multitudes-the people, the real makers of history. Another characteristic of the Romanian people's struggle for equality, li- berty, independence, and unity is their active cooperation, with an impressive solidarity, in the historic provinces. The essential ethnic feature-the conscious- ness of a common national origin-explains the cohesiveness of the Romanian people_ and nation, transcending artificial boundaries separating Romanian principalities from territories under foreign occupation: Transylvania, Buco- vina, Bessarabia, and Dobrogea. The community of struggle for equality, li- berty, independence, and unity-alongside the community of territory, lan-