Timeline / Before 1800 to 1870 / ROMANIA
Date Country Theme
1812 Romania Political Context
After the Russian–Ottoman war of 1806–12 Russia annexes the eastern part of Moldavia (Bessarabia).
1813 Romania Fine And Applied Arts
Gheorghe Asachi teaches a class of drawing and history of art at the School for Surveying Engineers (Moldavia).
1817 Romania Travelling
August–September: Habsburg Emperor Francis I and his wife Carolina visit the cities of Transylvania and are very well received by the population.
1821 - 1822 Romania Political Context
January 1821–July 1822: revolution in Moldavia and Wallachia against the Phanariotes (Greek rulers imposed by the Ottoman Empire since the beginning of the 18th century) and for social and economic measures to improve the lives of the people. After the suppression of the revolution the Empire appoints Romanian rulers in Moldavia (Ioni## Sandu Sturdza) and Walachia (Grigore Dimitrie Ghica).
1824 Romania Cities And Urban Spaces
During the reign of Prince Grigore IV Ghica, the major streets in Bucharest, which used to be covered with wooden planks, are covered with cobblestones.
1829 Romania Economy And Trade
14 September: the Treaty of Edirne annuls the Ottoman monopoly on Wallachia and Moldavia’s commerce.
1829 Romania Political Context
The peace Treaty of Edirne institutes the Russian protectorate over Moldavia and Wallachia, which lasts until 1856. The Romanian countries remain under Russian occupation until 1834. Under the supervision of the Russian authorities in 1830– 31 the Organic Regulations, considered to be the first Romanian constitutions, are drawn up and adopted.
1830 Romania Migrations
The beginning of Greek immigration into Br#ila. Many Greeks emigrate to Wallachia and settle in the Romanian ports on the Danube after the liberalisation of commerce on the Danube and Black Sea (1828).
1832 Romania Fine And Applied Arts Date Country Theme
Gheorghe Asachi founds in Ia#i a lithographic printing press called Institutul Albinei (The Bee Institute).
1833 Romania Cities And Urban Spaces
Copou, one of the first public gardens in Romania, is laid out in Ia#i, Moldavia, at the initiative of Prince Mihail Sturdza.
1837 Romania Reforms And Social Changes
Based on the Organic Regulations adopted in 1831, the National Assembly of Wallachia includes for the first time, apart from its traditional categories (the clergy and the aristocracy), representatives of the middle classes.
1837 Romania Rediscovering The Past
Two peasants find a Gothic hoard (4th–5th centuries AD) – the Pietroasa Treasure – near a village from Buz#u county (Wallachia). Unfortunately, only 12 of the 22 golden pieces – jewellery and vases – were preserved.
1840 Romania Music, Literature, Dance And Fashion
Top hats begin to be worn in the United Principalities, where they were called joben, from the name of Jobin, the French merchant who first sold them in Bucharest.
Middle of the 19th century Romania Migrations
The mid-19th century is the beginning of Italian immigration in the Romanian countries. For 1868, the presence of approximately 600 Italian workers in Romania is documented. Italian intellectuals and artists also settle in Romania, such as composer, director and music professor Alfons Castaldi.
1840 Romania Economy And Trade
Austrian engineers Karol and Rafael Hoffmann and Carol Maderspach initiate the extraction of coal in the Jiu Valley (south Transylvania), which was and still is the main coal-mining region of Romania.
1843 Romania Fine And Applied Arts
Carol Popp de Szathmari, the most important Romanian photographer of the 19th century (born in Cluj, Transylvania), moves to Bucharest, where he opens a photo studio.
1846 Romania Economy And Trade
The rulers of Moldavia and Wallachia, Mihail Sturdza and Gheorghe Bibescu, sign a convention that stipulates the abolishment of the customs between the two countries. The convention becomes effective in January 1847.
1847 Romania Great Inventions Of The 19th Century Date Country Theme
The construction of a road to link Wallachia and Transylvania, crossing through the Predeal Pass in the Southern Carpathians, is begun during the reign of Prince Gheorghe Bibescu.
1848 - 1849 Romania Political Context
Revolution in the Romanian countries: in Wallachia and Moldavia revolutionaries demand their countries’ right to self-determination, while in Transylvania Romanians want equal rights to those of the Hungarians and Germans.
1848 Romania Music, Literature, Dance And Fashion
The premiere at the National Theatre in Ia#i of the first Romanian operetta, Baba Hârca, with a script by poet Matei Millo and music composed by Alexandru Flechtenmacher.
1850 Romania Music, Literature, Dance And Fashion
January: the birth of Mihai Eminescu, who is considered to be the most important Romanian poet of the 19th century.
1851 Romania International Exhibitions
Wallachia and Moldavia participate in the Great Exhibition of the Works of Industry of all Nations, organised at the Crystal Palace in London. Their products are exhibited in the Ottoman pavilion.
1853 Romania Great Inventions Of The 19th Century
14 February: installation of the first electric telegraph lines in the Romanian territories, connecting Ia#i with Cern#u#i.
1854 Romania Great Inventions Of The 19th Century
20 August: inauguration of the first railway of Romania, linking Bazia# to Oravi#a (in Banat). Used at first to transport coal, it was opened for passenger transportation in 1856. In the United Principalities, the first railway line, built by the British company J.T. Barkley and J. Staniforth, was inaugurated 31 October 1869.
1855 - 1856 Romania Reforms And Social Changes
In Moldavia (22 December 1855) and then in Wallachia (20 February 1856) a law for the emancipation of the gypsy slaves of private owners is passed. Gypsies belonging to the church and to the state had already been liberated.
1856 Romania Political Context
At the Congress of Paris peace conference, Wallachia and Moldavia are put under the collective guarantee of the Great Powers (Austria, Russia, Prussia, Piedmont, the UK and France), while remaining under Ottoman sovereignty. The Russian protectorate over the Romanian countries is ended. Moldavia receives the southeast of Bessarabia. Date Country Theme
1856 Romania Economy And Trade
The internationalisation of the Danube through the Treaty of Paris has a positive influence on the development of Romanian commerce.
1857 Romania Economy And Trade
March: the first oil refinery in Romania is built by Teodor Mehedin#eanu at Râfov, Prahova.
1858 Romania Political Context
19 August: the Ottoman Empire, Austria, Russia, Prussia, Piedmont, the UK and France sign the Paris Convention marking the creation of the United Principalities of Wallachia and Moldavia, with separate rulers, legislative and executive powers, and only two institutions in common (Supreme Court of Appeals and central legislative commission). The convention replaces the Organic Regulations, becoming the new constitution of the United Principalities.
1858 Romania Reforms And Social Changes
Through the Paris Convention signed in August 1858 by Russia, the UK, France, Piedmont, Prussia, Austria and the Ottoman Empire the privileges and ranks of the Romanian aristocracy in Moldavia and Wallachia are abolished.
1859 - 1861 Romania Political Context
Union of Moldavia and Wallachia. In January 1859 Alexandru Ioan Cuza is elected ruler of both Moldavia and Wallachia, the double election being recognised by the Great Powers and the Ottoman Empire. In November 1861 the sultan issues a ferman approving the political and administrative union of Moldavia and Wallachia during Cuza’s reign. The United Principalities could now have a single government and parliament.
1860 Romania Fine And Applied Arts
7 November: on the initiative of painter Gheorghe Panaitescu-Bardasare, a School of Fine Arts and an art gallery are founded in Ia#i.
1863 Romania Music, Literature, Dance And Fashion
The literary society Junimea, which had an important role in promoting Romanian literature, is founded in Ia#i. In 1867 it begins publishing a periodical in which the works of Romanian writers appear and also translations from worldwide literature.
1863 Romania Reforms And Social Changes
December: the National Gathering of the United Principalities adopts the law through which the land owned by monasteries (more than a quarter of Romania’s surface) becomes property of the state.
1864 Romania Economy And Trade Date Country Theme
27 October: foundation of the Romanian Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
1864 Romania Fine And Applied Arts
Dimitrie Bolintineanu, the Minister of Religion and Public Instruction, organises in Bucharest an exhibition displaying works of contemporary Romanian artists, the most important of the time being painters Theodor Aman, Gheorghe Tattarescu and Carol Popp de Szathmari.
1864 Romania Reforms And Social Changes
26 August: Alexandru Ioan Cuza promulgates the first Romanian land reform, which transforms peasants into owners of the land on which they had been working on the estates of the aristocracy. Peasants are also freed from the duties they had to perform for the nobility.
1864 Romania Political Context
14 May: coup d’état of Alexandru Ioan Cuza, who dissolves parliament and proposes a new constitutional project, which is voted the same month and ratified by the Ottoman Empire and the guaranteeing Powers in June 1864. The Statute Expanding the Paris Convention assigned greater power to the prince and the government.
1864 Romania Great Inventions Of The 19th Century
4 August: establishment of the General Directorate of the Post and the Telegraph in the United Principalities.
1864 Romania Cities And Urban Spaces
19 August: establishment of Bucharest’s city hall. Bucharest had been the United Principalities’ capital since 1861.
1864 Romania Reforms And Social Changes
December: the law of public instruction establishes free, compulsory primary education.
1864 Romania Cities And Urban Spaces
14 April: the Commune Law is adopted by which cities and towns become urban communes, led by a mayor and a council. All urban communes must have a fire department and a hospital.
1864 Romania Fine And Applied Arts
14 November: a School of Fine Arts (which today is the National University of Art) is founded in Bucharest by painters Gheorghe Tattarescu and Theodor Aman.
1865 Romania Fine And Applied Arts Date Country Theme
The first showing of the “Living Artists Exhibition” (for painters and sculptors), organised by painter Theodor Aman, takes place in Ia#i. The annual organisation of such an exhibition is established by a decree issued in December 1864.
1866 Romania Political Context
February: because of his authoritative regime, Cuza is forced to abdicate by a coalition of conservative and liberal-radical politicians.
1866 Romania Political Context
14–20 April: plebiscite leading to German Prince Carol de Hohenzollern- Sigmaringen being elected ruler of the United Principalities and recognised by the Ottoman Empire in October. On 13 July a new constitution is adopted, based on the Belgian one from 1835.
1867 Romania Political Context
The centre of present-day Transylvania is integrated into the Hungarian kingdom after the creation of the Austro-Hungarian monarchy. Partium and Banat had already been included in Hungary.
1867 Romania International Exhibitions
At the International Exposition held in Paris, the United Principalities of Wallachia and Moldavia have their own pavilions.
1867 Romania International Exhibitions
On the occasion of the International Exposition of Paris a book with information about Romania’s agriculture, commerce, industry and resources is published in Paris by a commission coordinated by Alexandru Odobescu.
1867 Romania Economy And Trade
4 May: proclamation of the law for the introduction of a new monetary system and for the issuing of national coins; 1870 is the year when the first Romanian coins are minted in Romania having previously been minted abroad.
1867 Romania Rediscovering The Past
The Pietroasa Treasure is displayed at the International Exposition in Paris.
1868 Romania Music, Literature, Dance And Fashion
29 April: the Romanian Philharmonic Society is founded by conductor Eduard Wachmann with the aim of organising a permanent symphony orchestra. The inaugural concert takes place in the same year on 15 December.
1869 Romania Great Inventions Of The 19th Century
Timi#oara is the first city in Romania to use horse-drawn trams for public transportation. In Bucharest they are introduced in 1871. Date Country Theme
1869 Romania Great Inventions Of The 19th Century
Installation of the first public telephone line in Romania (in Bucharest between the Minister of Internal Affairs and the Central Post Office).