The 1848 Revolution in \Wallachia, Banat, and Bukovina

1. The 1848 Revolution in \Wallachia, Banat, and Bukovina

2. Wallachia • Started in Bucharest and Islaz • Was organized by a Revolutionary Committee composed among others by Nicolae Balcescu, C.A. Rosetti, Ion HeliadeRadulescu, and Ion C. Bratianu • The revolution as initially successful. Gheorghe Bibescu (r. 1842-1848) abdicates in favor of a provisional revolutionary government

3. The Islaz Proclamation • During its short time in power, the revolutionary government enacted many measures set forth in the Islaz Proclamation • Rulers elected for 5 years -- A General Assembly composed of all social strata • Political and civil equality. Abolishment of boyar rank not tied to state service • Equal education for both sexes • Abolishment of obligatory labor (claca)and distribution of land to peasants. This measure was not enacted and caused dissensions in te ranks of the Revolutionaries -- A new flag (tricolorul)

4. Defeat and Consequences of the Wallachian Constitution • The Ottomans first try to intervene by diplomatic means, trying to replace the provisional revolutionary government with a new arrangement for governing Wallachia (locotenenta domneasca) • But under Russian pressure, the Ottomans eventually intervene militarily and suppress the revolution • Despite its defeat, the 1848 revolution stimulated Romanian nationalism and gave powerful impetus to the modernization of Romanian society

5. Bukovina • Although part of northwest Moldova, Bukovina becomes part of the Habsburg Empire between 1775-1918. It acquires the official name of Bukovina • 83% of population were ethnic Romanians. All bureaucrats had to learn German and education was also in German. •  In 1848 Bukovina was not a separate province of Austria, but a part of Galicia. In Galicia, the governor abolished serfdom earlier than anywhere else in the monarchy. Bt, the abolition did not apply to Bukovina and the peasantry remained discontent • Te revolution also saw the emergence of national conflict between Romanians and Ukrainians. The major issue of contention was the status of Bukovina. The Romanians, led by the boyar EudoxiuHurmuzaki, sought to separate Bukovina from Galicia, hoping eventually to unite it with Transylvania and the Banat to form a Romanian duchy under Habsburg suzerainty. • The Ukrainians, led by their peasant deputies and the the Galician-based Supreme Ruthenian Council, sought to keep Bukovina within Galicia. After the presentation of petitions and debates in the Reichstag, a decree from Vienna finally settled the issue. The duchy of Bukovina became a separate crown land, but not in union with other Romanian-inhabited regions.

6. The Banat • The aspiration of the Romanians in the Banat to think of themselves as an independent entity became more and more evident in the first decades of the 19th century. The Serbian Orthodox hierarchy felt compelled, under the circumstances, to make concessions to Romanian religious sensibilities by accepting the appointment of a Romanian as bishop of Arad. • The joint Romanian-Serbian protests against the twelve points of the Hungarian revolutionary program in 1848 were the beginning stage of a struggle for social and national rights in the Banat in 1848. The Serbians in Hungary presented to Pest their own demands, subsequently rejected by the Hungarian National Diet. Of these, the call for the recognition of a Serbian national territory and the use of the native language in administration, failed to take cognizance of the Romanian church

7. The Banat (cont.) • Romanian responded with a gathering at Lugoj on May 3/15, 1848, concomitant with the Romanian national assembly at Blaj in Transylvania. They now called for a total separation from the Serbian church hierarchy and for the establishment of an autonomous Romanian regime • The Serb-Magyar conflict dwindled in December 1848 when the appointment of Metropolitan Rajacic as patriarch was recognized. Serb-Romanian conflict also lessened when the attempt to expand the frontiers of the adjacent (Serbian) Voivodina into largely Romanian areas seemed to be abandoned •  critical stage was reached between December 1848 and February 1849, a period that coincided with a heightening of national aspirations and the ultimate clash of interests. The arrival of the Serbian patriarch in Timisoara in February 1849 renewed the conflict. Romanians protested their minimal representation and sent a delegation to see Rajacic. • More petitions were sent to Vienna (February 13/25, 1849), calling again for national political and religious autonomy. All of this fell on deaf ears as the Constitution adoped in April 1849 not only did not address Romanian concerns but legitimized the feared incorporation of Romanians into the Voivodina. Further numerous appeals to the Imperial Court during May and June 1849 brought no result.