Monument to the 1907 Romanian Peasant's Revolt in Buzău

The 1907 Romanian Peasants' Revolt took place in March 1907 in Moldavia and it quickly spread, reaching Wallachia. The main cause was the discontent of the peasants about the inequity of land ownership, which was in the hands of just a few large landowners. Buzău () is a city in the Buzău County, Wallachia, Romania, situated near the right bank of the Buzău river, between the Carpathian Mountains and the fertile lowlands of south Moldavia and east Wallachia. ... Year 1907 (MCMVII) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Monday of the 13-day-slower Julian calendar). ... For other uses of Moldavia or Moldova, see Moldova (disambiguation). ... Map of Romania with Wallachia in yellow. ...

Background

Most large landowners preferred to live in the cities and did not want to bother with the administration of their properties. Therefore, they leased their domains to intermediaries ("arendators"), in exchange for a fixed rent (arenda). The arendators in turn would administer the land and try to make a good profit in a short time. At that time, peasants formed up to 80% of the Romanian population and about 60% of them held very little or no land at all, while the large landowners owned more than half of the arable land. The Anti-Semitic propaganda sought to blame the revolt on Jewish intermediaries. Many of these "arendators" were indeed Jewish, especially in Northern Moldavia. However, Anti-Semitism does not explain the magnitude of the uprising, which rapidly spread to areas were there were very few or no Jewish intermediaries at all. In fact, the height of the uprising was in Oltenia (South-West of the country), where Jewish presence was minimal and where most of the intermediaries were Romanians. In some provinces of Russia, an arendator is one who has the right to collect rents or revenues and pays an amount to the government in exchange for this. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ...

Course of events

The revolt began on the lands administered by one arendator, Mochi Fischer, in the village of Flămânzi (the name seems predestined, as it literally means "hungry men"). He refused to sign the contracts with the local peasants. The Austrian-Jewish family of Fischer used to lease about 75% of the arable land in three Romanian counties in Moldavia (the so-called "Fischerland"). County BotoÅŸani County Flămânzi is a town in BotoÅŸani County, Romania. ...

The peasants, fearing that they would remain without work and, more importantly, without food, began to act violently. Mochi Fischer was scared and fled to a friend of him in Cernăuţi, leaving the peasants without signed contracts. The fear of remaining out of work, combined with the activities of some alleged Austro-Hungarian instigators, led the peasants to revolt. The revolt soon spread across most of Moldavia, with several landowners' properties destroyed and many arendators killed or wounded. The Conservative government (Partidul Conservator) couldn't handle the situation and resigned, so the Liberals (Partidul Naţional-Liberal) of Dimitrie Sturdza assumed power. Austria-Hungary, also known as the Dual monarchy (or: the k. ... The Conservative Party (Partidul Conservator) was between 1880 and 1918 one of Romanias two most important parties. ... The Partidul NaÅ£ional Liberal (National Liberal Party) is a liberal party in Romania, and the second largest party in parliament, being edged out only by the Social Democratic Party. ... Dimitrie Sturdza Dimitrie Sturdza (1833-1914), Romanian statesman, was born in 1833 at IaÅŸi, and educated there at the Academia MihaileanÇŽ. He continued his studies in Germany, took part in the political movements of the time, and was private secretary to Prince Cuza. ...

On 18 March a state of emergency was declared, then general mobilization, with 140,000 soldiers being recruited by 29 March. The Romanian Army began firing on the peasants; thousands of peasants perished and more than 10,000 were arrested. is the 77th day of the year (78th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... For other uses, see State of emergency (disambiguation). ... Mobilization (or mobilisation in British English) is the act of assembling and making both troops and supplies ready for war. ... is the 88th day of the year (89th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... The Romanian Army (Armata Română) consists of three branches: Romanian Land Forces Romanian Naval Forces Romanian Air Force The term army is used in Romania when referring to the entire military, while land forces deal only with the actual army itself. ...

The number of victims is not really known; in fact, the entire historical record of the revolt is unclear, because King Carol I of Romania ordered all documents pertaining to these events destroyed, so that the Liberal government could not be held accountable by an eventual Conservative government. Carol I, original name Karl Eitel Friedrich Zephyrinus Ludwig von Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen (April 20, 1839 - October 10, 1914) was elected Domnitor (prince) of Romania in April 1866 following the overthrow of Alexander John Cuza, and proclaimed king on March 26, 1881. ...

The death toll reported by diplomats who were in Romania at the time is as follows: between 3,000 and 5,000 (Austrian diplomats' figures), and between 10,000 and 20,000 (French diplomats' figures). Historians put the number at between 3,000 and 18,000, with the most commonly used figure being 11,000.

The events continued to resonate in the Romanian conscience, and were the subject of one of the best novels of the interwar period, Răscoala ("The Revolt"), by Liviu Rebreanu, published in 1932. It also formed the subject of a painting by Octav Băncilă, and of a monumental statue which can still be seen in Bucharest. Liviu Rebreanu - (* 27 November 1885, TârliÅŸua, curently BistriÅ£a-Năsăud County, † 1 September 1944, Valea Mare, ArgeÅŸ County), Romanian academician, novelist and playwriter. ... Octav Băncilă (4 February 1872-3 April 1944) was a Romanian painter. ...

References

• (Romanian) Anton Caragea, 1907: Răscoală sau complot? ("1907: Rebellion or Plot"), Magazin Istoric, 2003. Accessed January 3, 2006
• (Romanian) Ion Luca Caragiale, 1907 din primăvară până'n toamnă ("1907 From Spring to Autumn")