THE REVOLUTION OF TUDOR VLADIMIRESCU – 200 YEARS OF NATIONAL REBIRTH Cornelia Beatrice Gabriela ENE-DINU* Abstract With the Revolution led by Tudor Vladimirescu, the Romanian nation joined the European nations’ movement to affirm their sovereign rights. By their sustained actions and by adhering to the novel ideas emerging across Europe at that time, a generation of Romanian patriots coming from all Romanian territories contributed to the ascent of the Romanian nation and the fulfillment of its political, cultural, social and economic aspirations. The period of national rebirth helped prepare the internal changes in the Danubian Principalities that were brought about by the events in the second half of the 19th century. It was the period when the domestic forces in the principalities determined the goals of their actions and how to fulfill those goals. The Romanian national movement was therefore gradually defining its own way of affirmation and the purpose thereof: achieving national unity. Keywords: revolution, rights, Romanian nation, principalities, national movement, Phanariote regime, domestic rule, oppression, taxation obligations, Ottoman Empire, Phanariotes, privileges, political aspirations. 1820); his predecessor, Ioan Caragea, had left the office in September 1818 after having made an immense 1. Introduction fortune through the methods listed above. Besides the The early 19th century saw Wallachia and obedience of the Phanariote regime to the Porte, which Moldavia undergoing a severe political, economic, would allow such systematic despoiling by the rulers social and cultural crisis. The Phanariote regime, which through new taxes and levies, there were also the had been established more than a century before, abuses by the pashas governing the Danube forts, who proved to be so burdensome and disconnected from the would often carry out raids in Wallachia, looting and interests of its subjects that it had to ever increasingly setting everything on fire. For instance, in December cope with their hostility. The benefits that came with 1800, the troops of the Pasha of Vidin, Pasvan-Oglu, the appointment on the throne gave rise to fierce plundered Oltenia and burned the city of Craiova competition among the Greek aristocratic families in almost entirely; the ransacking raids repeated in the the district of Phanar. The rivalries for the throne winter of 1801 - 1802, when Craiova was again set on continued even after the Porte fixed the term of rulers fire, and the towns of Targu Jiu and Targu Ocna were at seven years and the number of families entitled to pillaged by the Pasha’s aide, Manaf Ibrahim. As if those rulership at four. Those matters were governed by the were not enough, a major earthquake occurred in edicts of 1802 and 1819. Taking office with huge debts October 1802, when the Coltea Tower collapsed in incurred with the very efforts to obtain the Bucharest, and, in September 1804, a fire burned down appointment, the Phanariotes were first and foremost the Princely Court and much of Bucharest; more concerned with paying off those debts. Then, they had destruction was brought about by the Russo-Turkish to satisfy the Porte’s pecuniary claims and pursue the War from 1806 until 1812, while in 1813 “Caragea’s enrichment of their relatives, who offered them support Plague” took 70,000 lives in just one year. The with the Sultan and the Ottoman dignitaries. For multitude of direct and indirect levies (which increased example, Alexandru Sutu came to Wallachia in 1818 following their lease) and the abuses in collecting such with a debt of 4-to-5 million piasters and an 820-strong levies were causing a constant state of uncertainty in entourage, including nine children and about 80 regard to the people’s wealth and property; the relatives, each wanting to get rich1. The means to make taxpayers fleeing would result in the so called 2 money were as varied as they were harmful for the “dismemberment of villages” , as inhabitants left them country. Office peddling, income leasing, awarding and settled elsewhere. The country’s treasury, which in trade licenses, aristocratic titles or other favors were most of the cases would be similar to the ruler’s among the most common and resulted in the treasury, would barely cope with the Porte’s ever diminishing of the authority of the ruler and the other increasing demands. Government institutions. According to some On the eve of the Revolution of 1821, of assessments, the same Alexandru Sutu earned almost Wallachia’s total budget of 5,910,000 thalers, 29 million piasters in his two years of rule (1818 - 2,083,000 thalers were earmarked for the Sultan and * Lecturer, PhD, Faculty of Law, “Nicolae Titulescu” University, Bucharest (e-mail: [email protected]). 1 Pascu Vasile, Istoria modernă a românilor (1821-1918) (The Modern History of Romanians (1821-1918)), Clio Nova Publishing House, Bucharest, 1996, page 9. 2 Neagu Djuvara, O scurtă istorie ilustrată a românilor (A Brief Illustrated History of Romanians), Humanitas Publishing House, Bucharest, 2013, page 223. Cornelia Beatrice Gabriela ENE-DINU 413 Ottoman dignitaries, 1,394,000 thalers were allocated monarchic powers (Austria, Prussia, Russia, England) to the Prince, and the remaining amount accounted for against him, giving rise to the long series of wars wages of the state officials or payments for various throughout 1805 – 1815. services. So, the cost of rulership and Ottoman After the defeat and exile of Napoleon on the suzerainty amounted to 60% of the country’s treasury. Island of St. Helena, the victorious European powers The culture of the Danubian Principalities was met at the Congress of Vienna (1814-1815) and, with undergoing a marked process of “greecification”. Most the decisions made there, they reinstated the former of the writings were printed in Greek. Many Romanian absolute monarchic order on the continent. In boyars endeavored to learn the Greek language, September 1815, Austria, Prussia and Russia signed in adopted Greek customs and dressed according to the Paris the document giving birth to the “Holy Alliance”, Greek fashion. Greek would be used in the official an agreement directed against any political movement documents, in higher education and in the printed law that could jeopardize the principle of “monarchic codices. During the Phanariote regime, there were legitimacy”. It underlined its conservative purpose to attempts to introduce Greek as a second language maintain the political status quo that had been in place besides Romanian. A number of Greek and Turkish before the French Revolution. The liberal & words entered the vocabulary. Political intrigue, constitutional movement continued to act against the favoritism and corruption, servility were practiced in resolutions of the Congress of Vienna and the “Holy the Romanian principalities the same as in Alliance”, condemning the absolute power of monarchs Constantinople. It is equally true that, through the and advocating for the separation of the branches of Greeks, the Danubian Principalities also came into government4. This movement’s main purpose was to contact with the French ideas and culture, but that restrict the power of rulers by adopting constitutional happened through the agency of their language, and not acts to secure civil rights and freedoms. To that effect, through the filter of our own Romanian language and the revolutionary movement led by Rafael Riego spirit. started on January 1, 1820 in Spain (where the Bourbon The Revolution of Tudor Vladimirescu happened dynasty had been restored in 1814), following which to put an end to this sort of a regime and to reinstate the King Ferdinand VII was forced to reinstate the principalities’ old rights. This is why this event is Constitution of Cadiz of 1812. Following the thought to be the beginning of the Romanians’ National intervention of French troops in 1823, the movement Rebirth. The immediate effect of the revolution in terms was defeated, the Constitution was repealed and of national revival was the return to domestic rulership absolute monarchy was restored. and the ousting of foreign (Greek) elements from the Similar revolutionary movements also took place internal matters of the principalities. The involvement in the Italian states (Piedmont, Naples) in 1820 – 1827, of the local aristocracy in the revolutionary surged over as well as in Portugal (1820 – 1821), with the latter the next decades by conceiving domestic institutional introducing constitutional monarchy in 1822. As Spain reorganization projects based on new principles: and Portugal were facing liberal & constitutional separation of powers, accountability of state officials, movements domestically, their colonies in Latin rule of law, removal of economic barriers, greater role America started declaring their independence from for education in the national language. This renewing their parent states (1815 – 1830), giving rise to the process had to face and overcome a number of independent national states in South America. conservative positions, both domestic and foreign, but Concurrently with the events in Western and was permanent in nature and became prevalent, Southern Europe in the early 19th century, in the culminating with the Revolution of 18483. Balkans, the Ottoman Empire was barely coping with Russia’s expansionist tendencies and with the national emancipation movements among the peoples in this 2. The European Context of the region. The rebellion of the Serbs started in 1804 Revolution (initially against the janissaries who held vast domains), which subsequently turned into a national The Revolution led by Tudor Vladimirescu movement for liberation from the Ottoman rule. Russia, unfolded against a historical European background which dubbed itself as the protector of the Balkan dominated by the clash between the monarchic Slavs, stepped in and, by supporting the war of 1806 – legitimism and conservatism on the one hand, and the 1812, determined the Porte to sign the Treaty of new liberal ideas generated by the French Revolution Bucharest, which granted Serbia domestic autonomy on the other hand.