Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Ottoman Expansion
Throughout the 14th and 15th centuries Wallachia and Moldavia offered strong resistance
against the Ottoman's northward expansion. Mircea cel Bătrân (Mircea the Old; r
1386-1418), Vlad Ţepeş ('The Impaler'; r 1448, 1456-62, 1476) and Ştefan cel Mare
(Stephen the Great; r 1457-1504) were legendary figures in this struggle. When the Turks
conquered Hungary in the 16th century, Transylvania became a vassal of the Ottoman
Empire, retaining its autonomy by paying tribute to the sultan, as did Wallachia and Mol-
davia. In 1600 these three principalities were briefly united at Alba Iulia under the leader-
ship of Mihai Viteazul (Michael the Brave; r 1593-1601), who shortly after was defeated
by a joint Habsburg-T ransylvanian noble army and beheaded.
Following the defeat of the Turks, in 1687
Transylvania came under Habsburg rule. The
18th century marked the start of the
Transylvanian Romanians' fight for political
emancipation. Romanian peasants constituted
60% of the population, yet continued to be ex-
cluded from political life. In 1784 three serfs
called Horea, Cloşca and Crişan led a major
uprising. Their death wasn't without some success, for in 1785 the Habsburg emperor,
Joseph II, abolished serfdom in Transylvania. The 17th century in Wallachia, under the
reign of Constantin Brâncoveanu (r 1688-1714), brought a period of prosperity character-
ised by a cultural and artistic renaissance. In 1775 part of Moldavia's northern territory -
Bucovina - was annexed by Austria-Hungary. This was followed in 1812 by the loss of its
eastern territory - Bessarabia (most of which is in present-day Moldova) - to Russia.
After the Russo-Turkish War of 1828-29, Wallachia and Moldavia became Russian pro-
tectorates while remaining in the Ottoman Empire.
Romanians are proud, proud, proud that the Turks
never completely conquered their land, but - in
quiet tones - some admit that Bucharest wasn't
even on the way between Constantinople and the
Ottomans' main goal, Vienna.
One State
The revolutionary spirit that gripped much of Europe in the years leading up to 1848 was
entangled with the Hungarian revolution in Transylvania, led by Hungarian poet Sándor
Petőfi. Romanian revolutionaries demanded their political emancipation, equality and the
abolition of serfdom. The Austrian authorities struck a deal with Transylvania's Romani-
ans, promising them national recognition in return for joining forces with them against the
Hungarian revolutionaries in Transylvania. Thus Transylvanian Romanians fought against
and enacted revenge upon Transylvanian Hungarians for what was seen as centuries of
