Romania in World War I

Uncommon card · No. 172844

The Kingdom of Romania remained neutral throughout the first two years of World War I. They eventually entered the conflict on the side of the Entente from 27 August 1916 until insurmountable pressure from the Central Powers - which had occupied two thirds of the country - led to an armistice being signed on 9 December 1917. Six months later, a crippling peace treaty was imposed on Romania, which the government ratified. King Ferdinand I refused to promulgate the treaty, hoping for an Allied victory on the Western Front. As the Central Power war efforts collapsed, Romania re-entered the war on 10 November 1918. Romania was still a burgeoning state with great territorial ambitions at the onset of the war. It had achieved its independence following the Russo-Turkish War of 1877–1878, although millions of ethnic Romanians continued to reside outside the new nation's borders, particularly in Transylvania and Bessarabia, which were part of Austria-Hungary and Russia respectively. The Romanian...

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