Alexander John Cuza

Alexandru Ioan Cuza (March 20, 1820, Galaţi – May 15, 1873, Heidelberg), more commonly known in English as Alexander John Cuza, was the domnitor (ruler) of the United Principalites of Romania between 1859 and 1866. Image File history File linksMetadata Download high resolution version (416x640, 101 KB) Summary Licensing File links The following pages link to this file: Alexander John Cuza Wikipedia:Selected anniversaries/February 5 Wikipedia:Selected anniversaries/All Metadata This file contains additional information, probably added from the digital camera or scanner used... Image File history File linksMetadata Download high resolution version (416x640, 101 KB) Summary Licensing File links The following pages link to this file: Alexander John Cuza Wikipedia:Selected anniversaries/February 5 Wikipedia:Selected anniversaries/All Metadata This file contains additional information, probably added from the digital camera or scanner used... March 20 is the 79th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (80th in Leap years). ... 1820 was a leap year starting on Saturday (see link for calendar). ... County GalaÅ£i County Status County capital Mayor Dumitru Nicolae, since 2000 Area 241,5 km² Population (2002) 298,584 Density 123 inh/km² Geographical coordinates 45°27′N 28°2′E Web site http://www. ... May 15 is the 135th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (136th in leap years). ... 1873 was a common year starting on Wednesday (see link for calaber). ... Heidelberg (halfway between Stuttgart and Frankfurt) is a city in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. ... Domnitor (pl. ... 1859 is a common year starting on Saturday. ... 1866 is a common year starting on Monday. ...

Early life

Cuza belonged to the traditional noble (boier) class, the Orthodox Christian Romanian upper class that had come into control of the local governments of Wallachia and Moldavia, and retained traditional control of the country's land, the only key to pre-industrial wealth. Cuza received an urbane European education. A boyar (also spelt bojar; Romanian: boier) was a member of the highest rank of the feudal Ruthenian (Russian) and Romanian aristocracy, second only to the ruling princes, from the 10th through the 17th century. ...

In 1848, known as the year of European revolutions, Moldavia and Wallachia fell into revolt. In Moldavia the unrest was quickly suppressed, but in Wallachia the revolutionaries took power and governed during the summer. Young Cuza played a prominent enough part to establish his liberal credentials (compared to most nobility) and to be shipped to Vienna as a prisoner, where he soon made his escape. 1848 is a leap year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... Moldavia (Moldova in Romanian) was a Romanian principality, originally created in the Middle Ages, now divided between Romania, Moldovan Republic and Ukraine. ... Map of Romania with Wallachia in yellow. ...

Reign

Afterwards however, following a brief career in the Moldavian army, he became minister of war in 1858, and represented Galaţi in the assembly at Iaşi, acting under the guarantee of the European Powers in the wake of the Crimean war to nominate a prince for Moldavia. Cuza was a prominent speaker in the debates and strongly advocated the union of the two Danubian principalities, Moldavia and Walachia. In default of a foreign prince, he was himself elected prince of Moldavia (Moldova) on January 17, 1859 (January 5, Julian) and of Wallachia (Ţara Românească) on February 5, 1859 (January 24, Julian). Galaţi is a city in eastern Romania, on the banks of the Danube, very close to Braila. ... IaÅŸi (also known outside Romania as Jassy; pronunciation in Romanian: ) is a city and a county (see IaÅŸi County) in north-eastern Romania, in the historic region of Moldavia. ... Combatants United Kingdom, France, Ottoman Empire, Sardinia Imperial Russia Commanders Strength 250,000 British 400,000 French 10,000 Sardinian 1,200,000 Russian Casualties 17,500 British 30,000 French 2,050 Sardinian killed and wounded 256,000 killed and wounded {{{notes}}} The Crimean War lasted from 28 March... Moldavia (Moldova in Romanian) was a Romanian principality, originally created in the Middle Ages, now divided between Romania, Moldovan Republic and Ukraine. ... January 17 is the 17th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1859 is a common year starting on Saturday. ... The Julian calendar was introduced in 46 BC by Julius Caesar and took force in 45 BC (709 ab urbe condita). ... Map of Romania with Wallachia in yellow. ... February 5 is the 36th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. ...

Thus Colonel A. I. Cuza achieved a de facto union of the two Romanian principalites. The Powers backtracked, Napoleon III of France remaining supportive, while the reactionary Austro-Hungarian ministry withheld approval of such a union at the Congress of Paris (October 18, 1858); partly as a consequence Cuza's authority was not recognized by his nominal suzerain, the sultan of Turkey, until the December 23, 1861. Prince Albert of Monaco on the left represents a principality where he wields administrative authority. ... Charles Louis Napoléon Bonaparte (20 April 1808, Paris, France - 9 January 1873, Chislehurst, Kent, England) was President of France from 1849 to 1852, and then Emperor of the French under the name Napoléon III from 1852 to 1870. ... Suzerainty refers to a situation in which a region or people is a tributary to a more powerful entity which allows the tributary some limited domestic autonomy but controls its foreign affairs. ...

The Union was formally declared three years later, on February 5, 1862 (January 24, Julian), the new country bearing the name of Romania, with Bucharest as its capital city. February 5 is the 36th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. ... 1862 was a common year starting on Wednesday (see link for calendar). ... Bucharest (Romanian: BucureÅŸti ) is the capital city and industrial and commercial centre of Romania. ...

Cuza was not a diplomatic politician, and lacked the traditional royal background, but he knew how to choose progressive ministers and had an intelligent ear for advice. Immediately he gained the sultan's assent to a single unified parliament and cabinet for his lifetime, in recognition of the complexity of the task. Thus he was the political embodiment of a unified Romania, for his lifetime.

Reforms

Assisted by his councilor Mihail Kogălniceanu, an intellectual leader of the 1848 revolution, Cuza initiated a series of reforms that contributed to the modernization of Romanian society and of state structures, including: Mihail Kogălniceanu (September 6, 1817, Iasi - July 1, 1891, Paris) was a Romanian statesman, historian and publicist, he became the first Prime minister of Romania October 11, 1863, after the union of Moldavian and Wallachian principalities. ...

• The law of monastery estates, secularizing monastic assets (1863). Probably more than a quarter of Romania's farmland was controlled by untaxed Greek Orthodox "Dedicated Monasteries," which supported Greek monks in shrines like Mount Athos and Jerusalem but were a substantial drain on state revenues. Cuza got his parliament's backing to expropriate these lands. He offered compensation to the Greek Orthodox Church, but the Patriarch refused to negotiate. This was a mistake: after several years, the Romanian government withdrew its offer and no compensation was ever paid. State revenues thereby increased without adding any domestic tax burden.

• The Agrarian Reform, liberating peasants from the last feudal duties, freeing their movements and redistributing some land (1864). This was less successful. In attempting to create a solid support base among the peasants, Cuza soon found himself in conflict with conservative boyars. A Liberal bill granting peasants title to the land they worked was defeated. Then Conservatives responded with a bill that ended all peasant dues and responsibilities, but gave landlords title to all the land. Cuza vetoed it, then held a plebiscite to alter the constitution, in the manner of Napoleon III. His plan to establish universal male suffrage, together with the power of the prince to rule by decree, passed by a vote of 682,621 to 1,307. With his new plenary powers, Cuza then promulgated the Agrarian Law of 1863. Peasants received title to the land they worked, while landlords retained ownership of one third. Where there was not enough land available to create workable farms under this formula, state lands (from the confiscated monasteries) would be used to give the boyars compensation. Peasants were not satisfied with the distrubution, and landlords managed to keep the best land; they used the compensation fund as investment capital and the boyar class emerged with new wealth from capitalist agriculture.

• The Criminal Code and the Civil Code (1864)

• The Education law, establishing tuition-free but compulsory public education (1864)

• The founding of the Universities in Iaşi (1860) and Bucharest (1864)

• Development of a modern, Europeanized army for Romania, under a working relationship with France

The drastic reforms which he imposed to bring Romania fully into the 19th century impinged upon all classes and alienated his more influential subjects. 1863 (MDCCCLXIII) is a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Saturday of the Julian calendar). ... One of the 20 monasteries on Mount Athos Mount Athos is a mountain and a peninsula in Macedonia, northern Greece, called Άγιο Όρος (Ayio Oros or Holy Mountain) in Modern Greek, or Ἅγιον Ὄρος (Hagion Oros) in Classical Greek. ... Jerusalem (31°46′N 35°14′E; Hebrew: (help· info) Yerushalayim; Arabic: (help· info) al-Quds; (alternative Arabic found in Bible translations: أُورْشَلِيم Urshalim); see also names of Jerusalem) is an ancient Middle Eastern city and the capital of the ancient Kingdoms of Israel and Judah and of the present-day... Charles Louis Napoléon Bonaparte (April 20, 1808 - January 9, 1873) was the son of King Louis Bonaparte and Queen Hortense de Beauharnais; both monarchs of the French puppet state, the Kingdom of Holland. ... IaÅŸi (also known outside Romania as Jassy; pronunciation in Romanian: ) is a city and a county (see IaÅŸi County) in north-eastern Romania, in the historic region of Moldavia. ... Bucharest (Romanian: BucureÅŸti ) is the capital city and industrial and commercial centre of Romania. ... Alternative meaning: Nineteenth Century (periodical) (18th century — 19th century — 20th century — more centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 19th century was that century which lasted from 1801-1900 in the sense of the Gregorian calendar. ...

Downfall and exile

Cuza failed in his effort to create an alliance of prosperous peasants and a strong Liberal prince, ruling as a benevolent despot in the style of Napoleon III. Financial distress supervened, there was an awkward scandal that revolved around his mistress, and popular discontent culminated in revolution. Cuza was forced to abdicate by the so-called "Monstrous Coalition" of Conservatives and radical Liberals. At four o'clock on the morning of February 22, 1866, a band of military conspirators broke into the palace, and compelled the prince to sign his abdication. On the following day they conducted him safely across the frontier. February 22 is the 53rd day of every year in the Gregorian Calendar. ... 1866 is a common year starting on Monday. ...

His successor Prince Karl of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen was proclaimed king as Carol I of Romania on March 26, 1866. Ironically, a foreign prince with ties to an important princely house, legitimizing Romanian independence, had been one of the Liberal aims in the revolution of 1848. Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen is the cadet branch of the senior Swabian branch of the Hohenzollern dynasty, less known however than the Franconian branch which became Burgraves of Nuremberg and later ruled Brandenburg, Prussia and ultimately Germany in the centuries to 1918. ... 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. ... March 26 is the 85th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (86th in leap years). ... 1866 is a common year starting on Monday. ...

Prince Alexander spent the remainder of his life as an exile, chiefly in Paris, Vienna and Wiesbaden. He died at Heidelberg on May 15, 1873. The Eiffel Tower has become a symbol of Paris throughout the world. ... Vienna (German: Wien [viːn]; Slovenian: Dunaj, Hungarian: Bécs, Czech: Vídeň, Slovak: Viedeň, Romany Vidnya; Croatian and Serbian: Beč) is the capital of Austria, and also one of the nine States of Austria. ... Wiesbaden is a city in central Germany. ... Heidelberg (halfway between Stuttgart and Frankfurt) is a city in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. ... May 15 is the 135th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (136th in leap years). ... 1873 was a common year starting on Wednesday (see link for calaber). ...