National Awakening Of Romania
During the period of Austro-Hungarian rule in Transylvania and Ottoman suzerainty over Wallachia and Moldavia, most Romanians were treated as second-class citizens (or even non-citizens) in their country. In some Transylvanian cities, such as Braşov (at that time the Transylvanian Saxon citadel of Kronstadt) and Sibiu, Romanians were not even allowed to reside within the city walls.
The Romanians looked for support firstly from Russia, who they thought would help the Romanian Orthodox people in their struggle against the Islamic Ottoman empire. However, Russia's expansionist goals after annexing Bessarabia in 1812, made them suspicious that they would just become part of another far-flung empire. Since Austria also had similar goals, as shown by the annexations of Oltenia (1718–1739) and Bukovina (1775), the Romanians started looking for allies in Western Europe.
In the Romantic era, the concept of a national state emerged among the Romanians, as among many other peoples of Europe and a national awakening began. Defining themselves against the nearby Slavs, Germans, and Hungarians, the nationalist Romanians looked for models of nationality in the other Latin countries, notably France.
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Famous quotes containing the words national and/or awakening:
“In really hard times the rules of the game are altered. The inchoate mass begins to stir. It becomes potent, and when it strikes,... it strikes with incredible emphasis. Those are the rare occasions when a national will emerges from the scattered, specialized, or indifferent blocs of voters who ordinarily elect the politicians. Those are for good or evil the great occasions in a nation’s history.”
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“The awakening of the people of China to the possibilities under free government is the most significant, if not the most momentous, event of our generation.”
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