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    Country in a Box:

    RomaniaRomnia

    Peoples Palace (Casa Poporului), Bucharest, Romania

    A Teachers GuideCompiled by the Center for Eurasian, Russian and East European StudiesEdmund A. WalshSchool of Foreign Service, Georgetown Universityhttp://ceres.georgetown.edu

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    Romania in a Box: Table of Contents

    Romania: Facts at a Glance 3-5

    History of Romania 6-9

    Timeline of Major Events in Romanian History 10

    Romanian Culture 11-13

    Folklore: The Legend of Dracula 14-15

    Additional Resources 16

    Peles Castle, Brasov, Romania

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    Three equal vertical bandsof blue (hoist side), yellow,and red; the three colorswere used by variousnational revolutionarymovements in the 19thcentury; the national coat ofarms that used to becentered in the yellow bandhas been removednote: now similar to the flagof Chad, whose blue bandis darker; also resemblesthe flags of Andorra andMoldova

    Romania: Facts at a Glance_______Text taken directly from Central Intelligence Agency. The World Factbook: Romania. Availableat:https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/ro.html

    Country Name: Romania

    Background: The principalities of Wallachia and Moldavia - for centuries under the suzeraintyof the Turkish Ottoman Empire - secured theirautonomy in 1856; they united in 1859 and a fewyears later adopted the new name of Romania.The country gained recognition of itsindependence in 1878. It joined the Allied Powersin World War I and acquired new territories -most notably Transylvania - following theconflict. In 1940, Romania allied with the Axis

    powers and participated in the 1941 Germaninvasion of the USSR. Three years later, overrunby the Soviets, Romania signed an armistice. Thepost-war Soviet occupation led to the formationof a Communist "people's republic" in 1947 andthe abdication of the king. The decades-long ruleof dictator Nicolae Ceausescu, who took power in1965, and his Securitate police state becameincreasingly oppressive and draconian throughthe 1980s. Ceausescu was overthrown andexecuted in late 1989. Former Communists

    dominated the government until 1996 when they were swept frompower. Romania joined NATO in 2004 and the EU in 2007.

    Capital: Bucharest

    Location: Southeastern Europe, bordering the Black Sea, betweenBulgaria and Ukraine

    Area: total: 238,391 sq km (slightly smaller than Oregon)land: 229,891 sq kmwater: 8,500 sq km

    Terrain: Central Transylvanian Basin is separated from the MoldavianPlateau on the east by the Eastern Carpathian Mountains and separatedfrom the Walachia Plain on the south by the Transylvanian Alps

    Elevation extremes: Lowest point: Black Sea 0 mHighest point: Moldoveanu 2,544 m

    https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/ro.htmlhttps://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/ro.htmlhttps://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/ro.htmlhttps://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/maps/maptemplate_ro.htmlhttps://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/ro.html
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    Taken directly fromhttp://www.bnro.ro/Monede-si-bancnote-in-

    Natural resources: Petroleum (reserves declining), timber, natural gas, coal, iron ore, salt,arable land, hydropower

    Natural hazards: Earthquakes, most severe in south and southwest; geologic structure andclimate promote landslides

    Environmental issues: Soil erosion and degradation; water pollution; air pollution in south fromindustrial effluents; contamination of Danube delta wetlands

    Population: 21,729,871 (July 2014 est.)

    Ethnic groups: Romanian 83.4%, Hungarian 6.1%, Roma 3.1%, Ukrainian 0.3%, German 0.2%,other 0.7%, unspecified 6.1% (2011 est.)

    Religions: Eastern Orthodox (including all sub-denominations) 81.9%,Protestant (various denominations including Reformed and Pentecostal) 6.4%,Roman Catholic 4.3%, other (includes Muslim) 0.9%, none or atheist 0.2%,unspecified 6.3% (2011 est.)

    Government type: Republic

    Executive Branch: Chief of state: President Klaus Iohannis (sinceDecember 2014); head of government: Prime Minister Victor Ponta(since May 2012); cabinet: Council of Ministers appointed by the primeminister; elections: president elected by popular vote for a five-yearterm (eligible for a second term); election last held on 16 November2014; prime minister appointed by the president with the consent of theParliament. (Information updated from BBC:

    http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-30076716)

    Legislative Branch: Bicameral Parliament or Parlament consists of theSenate or Senat (137 seats; members elected by popular vote in a mixedelectoral system to serve four-year terms) and the Chamber of Deputiesor Camera Deputatilor (334 seats; members elected by popular vote in amixed electoral system to serve four-year terms)

    Judicial Branch: Supreme Court of Justice (comprised of 11 judgesappointed for three-year terms by the president in consultation with theSuperior Council of Magistrates, which is comprised of the minister of

    justice, the prosecutor general, two civil society representativesappointed by the Senate, and 14 judges and prosecutors elected by theirpeers); a separate body, the Constitutional Court, validates elections andmakes decisions regarding the constitutionality of laws, treaties,ordinances, and internal rules of the Parliament; it is comprised of ninemembers serving nine-year terms, with three members each appointedby the president, the Senate, and the Chamber of Deputies.

    http://www.bnro.ro/Monede-si-bancnote-in-circulatie-724.aspxhttp://www.bnro.ro/Monede-si-bancnote-in-circulatie-724.aspxhttp://www.bnro.ro/Monede-si-bancnote-in-circulatie-724.aspxhttp://www.bnro.ro/Monede-si-bancnote-in-circulatie-724.aspxhttp://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-30076716http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-30076716http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-30076716http://www.bnro.ro/Monede-si-bancnote-in-circulatie-724.aspxhttp://www.bnro.ro/Monede-si-bancnote-in-circulatie-724.aspxhttp://www.bnro.ro/Monede-si-bancnote-in-circulatie-724.aspxhttp://www.bnro.ro/Monede-si-bancnote-in-circulatie-724.aspx
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    Economy Overview: Romania, which joined the EU on 1 January 2007, began the transitionfrom Communism in 1989 with a largely obsolete industrial base and a pattern of output unsuitedto the country's needs. The country emerged in 2000 from a punishing three-year recession dueto strong demand in EU export markets. Domestic consumption and investment fueled strongGDP growth, but led to large current account imbalances. Romania's macroeconomic gains have

    only recently started to spur creation of a middle class and to address Romania's widespreadpoverty. Corruption and red tape continue to permeate the business environment. As a result ofthe global financial crisis, Romania signed on to a $26 billion emergency assistance packagefrom the IMF, the EU, and other international lenders. GDP contracted from 2009 to 2011. InMarch 2011, Romania and the IMF/EU/World Bank signed a 24-month precautionary stand-byagreement, worth $6.6 billion, to promote fiscal discipline, encourage progress on structuralreforms, and strengthen financial sector stability. In September 2013, the Romanian authoritiesand the IMF/EU agreed to a follow-on stand-by agreement, worth $5.4 billion, to continue withreforms, although Bucharest announced that it does not intend to draw funds under theagreement. Economic growth accelerated in 2013, driven by strong industrial exports and anexcellent agricultural harvest; in December 2013 inflation dropped to a historical low annual rate

    of 1.6%; and the current account deficit was reduced substantially. Yet, progress on structuralreforms is uneven and the economy still is vulnerable to shocks.

    GDP(purchasing power parity): $288.5 billion (2013 est.)

    GDP (composition by sector): Agriculture: 12.2%Industry: 37.6%Services: 50.2% (2010 est.)

    Labor Force (by occupation): Agriculture: 29%Industry: 28.6%Services: 42.4% (2012)

    Industries: Electric machinery and equipment, textiles and footwear, light machinery and autoassembly, mining, timber, construction materials, metallurgy, chemicals, food processing,petroleum refining.

    Exports (commodities):Machinery and equipment, textiles and footwear, metals and metalproducts, machinery and equipment, minerals and fuels, chemicals, agricultural products.

    Exports (partners):Germany 18.9%, Italy 12.3%, France 7.1%, Turkey 5.5%, Hungary 5.5%(2012)

    Imports (commodities): Machinery and equipment, fuels and minerals, chemicals, textile andproducts, metals, agricultural products.

    Imports (partners):Germany 17.5%, Italy 11%, Hungary 9.1%, France 5.7%, Russia 4.4%,Poland 4.3%, Austria 4.2%, Kazakhstan 4.1% (2012)

    Debt (external):$131.6 billion (31 December 2013 est.)

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    History of Romania_______

    Adapted fromhttp://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/508461/Romania

    Antiquity

    For more than a century and a half the Transylvanian Basin and the plain to the south constituted

    the Roman province ofDacia.Roman administration, numerous cities, and the Latin language

    brought about intense Romanization and rapid integration into the empire. The Slavs achieved

    political and social preeminence in Dacia in the 8th century, but even then they were undergoing

    assimilation by the more numerous Daco-Romans. In the 11th century the Hungarians made the

    territory north of the Carpathians, which was to become known as Transylvania, a part of

    the Hungarian kingdom. To the south a number of small duchies coalesced by 1330 into the

    independent Romanian principality of Walachia, and to the east a second principality, Moldavia,

    achieved independence in 1359.

    The Middle Ages

    Nearly four centuries ofOttoman Turkish domination between the 15th and 19th centuries

    reinforced the Romanians attachment to the East. The autonomy of the principalities was not

    seriously compromised until the beginning of the 18th century, after which the payment of

    tribute and the delivery of supplies rose precipitously. Outside the principalities lay

    Transylvania, whose government and economy were dominated in the countryside by the

    Calvinist and Roman Catholic Hungarian nobility and in the cities by the Lutheran German-

    speaking Saxon upper class. A large Romanian population lived there also, but Romanians were

    excluded from public affairs and privileges because they were overwhelmingly peasant and

    Orthodox. Their fortunes improved when Transylvania was brought under the Habsburg crown

    at the end of the 17th century.

    The Growing Role of Russia and Independence

    The international crisis caused by theWar of Greek Independence had important repercussions

    in Moldavia and Walachia. The Treaty of Adrianople of 1829 established a virtual Russian

    protectorate over the principalities and reduced Ottoman suzerainty to a few legal formalities.

    The Russian protectorate, despite a promising beginning, increased Romanian resentment of

    Russia. In Walachia, more-radical forty-eighters established a provisional government to carryout reform and prevent foreign intervention. In the 1850s forty-eighters led the struggle for the

    union of Moldavia and Walachia, which they regarded as an essential preliminary to

    independence. The Romanians themselves settled the matter of union by electing the same

    man,Alexandru Cuza,as prince in both Moldavia and Walachia in 1859. Cuza asserted the de

    facto independence of Romania, as the united principalities were now known. Foes united in

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    1866 to force his abdication, and he was succeeded by

    King Carol I. Formal independence was achieved through

    participation in theRusso-Turkish War of 187778.

    Greater Romania

    In 1916 the country entered World War I on the Allied

    side. As a result of the war, Greater Romaniathe

    expanded nation-state encompassing the majority of

    Romanianscame into being. Through the acquisition of

    Transylvania and the Banat from Hungary, Bukovina

    from Austria, and Bessarabia from Russia, the countrys

    territory was doubled.

    The fundamental political issue in interwar Romania was

    the struggle between parliamentary governmentandauthoritarianism.Two events boded ill for the future

    of democracy: the accession ofCarol II to the throne in

    1930 and the world economic depression. Between June

    and September 1940 the Soviet Union took Bessarabia

    and northern Bukovina, Hungary took northern

    Transylvania, and Bulgaria took the southern Dobruja.

    KingCarolsdictatorship could not survive the

    catastrophe, and he was forced to abdicate on September

    6.

    World War II

    In September 1940 GeneralIon Antonescu forced Carol II

    to abdicate, and Antonescu and theIron Guard established

    an authoritarian National Legionary State. Antonescu

    based his foreign policy on analliance with Germany,

    which he was certain would win the war. After the Battle

    of Stalingrad he lost hope that Germany would win the

    war. As Antonescu clung desperately to the German

    alliance, Iuliu Maniu and KingMichael,who hadsucceeded his father, Carol II, took the initiative in

    overthrowing the dictatorship on August 23 and in

    establishing a new government committed to the Allied

    war effort. The occupation of Bucharest by theRed

    Army a week later marked the beginning of a new era in

    Romanian history.

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    Communist Romania

    During the three years after the overthrow of Antonescu, a struggle for power took place between

    the democratic parties and the Communist Party. The communists came to power in the spring of

    1945. The Romanian Peoples Republic was proclaimed on December 30, 1947. From 1948 to

    about 1960, communist leaders adoptedStalinistprinciples: rigid central planning and direction,as well as emphasis on heavy industry at the expense of consumer goods. The party also

    established the Securitate, the centerpiece of a vast security network, and undertook the forcible

    collectivization of agriculture.

    After party leader Gheorghe Gheorghiu-Dejs death in 1965, his successor,Nicolae Ceauescu,

    redoubled efforts to lessen the countrys dependence on the Soviet Union. Ceauescu sought to

    expand economic relations with the West and skillfully played on the widespread anti-Soviet

    sentiments of the population in order to mobilize support for the Romanian party.

    Ceauescu brought the period of relaxation to an end in 1971. In the nearly two decades of neo-

    Stalinism that followed, Ceauescu promoted a cult of personality that was unprecedented in

    Romanian history and that served as the foundation of a dictatorship which knew no limits. His

    adherence to the Stalinist economic model had disastrous consequences: both industry and

    agriculture fell into disarray, and the standard of living steadily deteriorated.

    Collapse of communism

    The Romanian revolution of 1989 appears to have been a combination of spontaneous uprising

    by the general populace and conspiracy against A loose coalition of groups opposed to

    Ceauescu quickly formed the to lead the country through the transition from communism to

    democracy. In elections held in May 1990, the National Salvation Front (NSF) won handily andassumed formal direction of the country with the inauguration of its head,Ion Iliescu,as

    president on June 20, 1990.

    In November 1992 Iliescusgovernment introduced economic reforms, including price

    liberalization, to bring Romania in line with other emerging market economies. The result was

    soaring inflation and rising unemployment. In 1996 Iliescu lost the presidency to Emil

    Constantinescu, the leader of the Democratic Convention of Romania (CDR). In 1997 the former

    monarchMichael,whom the communists had forced to abdicate in 1947, returned to Romania

    after 50 years in exile.

    Continued economic recession and corruption led to a collapse of support for the CDR. As aresult, Iliescu was returned to power in the elections of 2000. In 2004 the party was ousted from

    power by another center-right coalition of parties, including the Democratic Party (PD),

    whose Traian Bsescu was elected president.

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    In the first years of the 21st century, gross domestic product began showing positive growth,

    inflation fell, and privatization was accelerated. In March 2004 Romania entered theNorth

    Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), and in January 2007 it joined theEuropean Union (EU).

    Parliamentary elections in 2008 resulted in a near tie between the leftist PSD and the Democratic

    Liberal Party (PDL), Bsescus new centrist party. In a runoff election held in December 2009,Bsescu won the vote by lessthan a percentage point. The president asked Emil Boc, who had

    been heading the caretaker government, to continue serving as prime minister.

    Discontent with the government simmered throughout 2010, as Boc implemented a series of

    austerity measures. In January 2012 demonstrations focused on wider issues related to the

    governments austerity program, its perceived

    corruption, and its apparent disconnect from the

    Romanian people. After almost a month of civil unrest,

    the Romanian government collapsed. On February 6,

    2012, Boc resigned as prime minister, and Bsescu

    nominated intelligence chief Mihai Rzvan Ungureanu

    to succeed Boc.

    Ungureanu continued the budget-cutting policies of his

    predecessor, and protesters returned to the streets with

    renewed intensity. Opposition lawmakers headed

    by Victor Ponta of the Social-Liberal Union (USL)

    brought down the two-month-old government in a vote

    of no confidence on April 27, 2012. Ponta, who became

    prime minister the following month, prompted criticism

    from EU officials when he stripped Romanias

    Constitutional Court of its oversight function and

    orchestrated the impeachment of Bsescu. On August

    21, 2012, the Constitutional Court ruled

    theimpeachment invalid, and Bsescu was reinstated a

    week later. Despite widespread criticism from the EU

    and declining domestic popularity, Ponta was

    reaffirmed in this position when the USL was victorious

    in parliamentary elections in December 2012.

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    Timeline of Major Events in Modern Romanian History_______Text taken directly from BBC News. Timeline: Romania. Available at:http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/country_profiles/1058027.stm

    1916-18 - Romania fights on Allied side during World War I. As part of the peace settlement atthe end of the war acquires several territories with resident Romanian populations - virtuallydoubling in size and population.

    1941Under the dictatorship of Marshall Ion Antonescu Romania fights on the German sideagainst the Soviet Union.

    1944-5- Antonescu ousted. Romania switches sides as Soviet forces close in. Soviet-backedgovernment installed.

    1947- Romania regains Transylvania under peace treaty but loses territory to Soviet Union.King Michael abdicates. Romanian People's Republic proclaimed.

    1965- Nicolae Ceausescu becomes Communist Party leader after death of Gheorghe Gheorghiu-Dej. He pursues foreign policy that runs "independent" of that of Moscow.

    1989December - Demonstrations in city of Timisoara against the harassment of a dissidentethnic-Hungarian priest, Laszlo Tokes, trigger bloody national uprising. Ceausescu and his wifeElena try to flee but are caught and then executed on Christmas Day. National Salvation Frontestablished, headed by Ion Iliescu.

    1990- Elections confirm Iliescu as head of state. New government of Prime Minister PetreRoman embarks on reform program. Student and opposition protests against the ex-communistleadership are crushed when 20,000 coal miners are brought in to stage a counter demonstration.

    1996- Centre-right election victory sweeps aside former communists. Emil Constantinescuelected president, Victor Ciorbea becomes prime minister.

    2000November-December - Ion Iliescu defeats far-right rival Corneliu Vadim Tudor to retakepresidency. Leftist Adrian Nastase becomes prime minister in minority government.

    2004March - Romania admitted to NATO.

    2004November-December - Centrist alliance leader Traian Basescu elected president. His allyCalin Tariceanu becomes prime minister. Both pledge to speed up EU-oriented reforms.

    2007January - Romania and Bulgaria join the European Union, raising the EU membership to 27.

    2009 December - Incumbent President Traian Basescu declared winner of run-off election byvery narrow majority. Emil Boc forms new coalition government.

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    Romanian Culture_______Text taken directly from the World InfoZone.Romania Information. Available at:http://worldinfozone.com/country.php?country=Romania&page=2#arts

    The earliest evidence of the arts inRomania dates back to ten thousandyear-old cave paintings in northwestTransylvania and examples ofNeolithic pottery. Over thecenturies, the typical Romanian styleof pottery has developed and is stillone of the most famous in the regiondue to its natural colors and stylizedmotifs.

    Leading Romanian painters includethe portrait painter Theodor Aman(1831-91) and the landscape painterNicolae Grigorescu (1838-1907).Constantin Brancusi (1876-1956),the famous sculptor, attended theBucharest School of Fine Arts before moving to Paris in 1904.

    Well known Romanian writers include the narrative poet anddramatist Vasile Alecsandri (1821-90), the poet MihaiEminescu (1850-1889), the novelist Mihail Sadoveanu (1880-

    1961) and the playwright Eugene Ionesco (1912-1994).Famous Romanian musicians are George Enescu (1881-1955), the violinist and composer, known for Romanianrhapsodies, Dinu Lipatti (1917-1950), pianist and composer,and Angela Gheorghiu, the Romanian soprano.

    Romanian Cuisine

    The cuisine of Romania is diverse. It has been greatlyinfluenced by Balkan cuisine as well as of its neighbors, suchas Germans, Serbians, and Hungarians. The Turks have

    brought meatballs (perioare in a meatball soup), from theGreeks there is musaca, from the Bulgarians there are a widevariety of vegetable dishes likeghiveciandzacusc, from theAustrians there is thenieland the list could continue.

    One of the most common dishes is mmliga, a cornmeal mush served on its own or as anaccompaniment. Pork is the preferred meat, but beef, lamb, and fish are also popular.

    Hora de la Aninoasa (Round dance at Aninoasa) Theodor

    Aman, 1890

    Mademoiselle Pogany, sculpture

    by Constantin Brancusi, 1931

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    Cozonac

    Traditional Romanian sweet bread

    Romanian cuisine also has some traditionaldeserts such as cozonac, pasca (a sweet cake withcheese prepared for Easter, Paste), papanasi ormucenici.

    One of the most popular dishes in Romania ismititei. They are prepared with ground pork meat,a bit of baking soda, salt, pepper, coriander,cumin, garlic mixed and then shaped into littlesausages. Romanians eat mici with mustard insidea bread roll and it is the favorite dish at outdoorsbarbecues.

    Sport in Romania

    Football (soccer) is the most popular sport inRomania, the most internationally known playerbeing Gheorghe Hagi, who played for SteauaBucureti(Romania), Real Madrid, FC Barcelona(Spain) and Galatasaray (Turkey), among others.In 1986, the Romanian soccer club SteauaBucureti became the first Eastern European clubever, and only one of the two (the other being RedStar Belgrade) to win the prestigious EuropeanChampions Cup title. In 1989, it played the finalagain, but lost to AC Milan.

    Romania holds a long tradition in artisticgymnastics, especially in the ladies' competition.The most famous Romanian gymnast is Nadia

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    Martisor

    Comneci, who was the first gymnast to ever score a perfect 10 at the Olympic Games, duringthe 1976 Summer Olympics at the age of fourteen. Top Romanian men's gymnasts includeMarius Urzic and Marian Drgulescu.

    Ilie Nstase, the tennisplayer, is another internationally known Romanian sports star. He won

    several Grand Slam titles and dozens of other tournaments and was the first player to be rankedas number 1 by ATP from 1973 to 1974; he also was a successful doubles player. Romania hasalso reached the Davis Cup finals three times.

    Romanian traditions

    Romania has preserved traditions that go backcenturies ago most of them being a blend of pre-Christian and Christian beliefs. In the winter,around Christmas people and especially children gofrom house to house singing carols, while at New

    Year the same tradition is done by young menmaking wishes of prosperity to each household thatwould receive them.

    Spring is announced by the arrival of snow-drops,the first flower to bloom after winter. As a traditionstarting March 1 to March 8 people give each othermrioare (little March) made up of two thin

    threads of white and red string intertwined, symbolizing purity and life. The red and white"Martisor" is hanged at the gates, at the windows, at the animals' horns, at the sheep's shedsagainst evil spirits and invoking life and regenerative power.

    At Easter, Romanians celebrate the resurrectionof Christ. Besides eating traditional dishes likelamb roast, drop (lamb haggis), pasca (traditionalcheese cake), Romanians paint Easter eggs.From simple red in average households to acascade of vivid colors in creative models,Romanian Easter eggs are famous throughoutthe world.

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    Childrens Folklore: The Legend of Dracula

    _______The Legend of Dracula. Available at:http://www.rotravel.com/History/Dracula-Legend-and-Reality/

    Dracula or Vlad the Impaler was the son of Vlad Dracul (1436-1442; 1443-1447) and grandsonof Mircea the Old (1386-1418). Vlad Dracul was dubbed a knight of the Dragon Order by theHungarian king. All the members of the order had a dragon on their coat of arms, and that iswhat brought him the nickname of Dracul (the Devil). Vlad the Impaler used to sign himselfDraculea or Draculya - the Devil's son -, a name which was distorted into Dracula.

    Dracula's renown reached the West through the Saxons from theTransylvanian towns of Brasov (Kronstadt) and Sibiu(Hermannstadt), who often gave shelter to those who claimed theWallachian throne. In order to escape the peril of losing his

    throne, Vlad would punish the Saxons. Sibiu and the neighboringarea were pillaged and burnt down by Vlad, and many Saxonswere impaled. The same happened to the Saxon merchants whocame on business to Trgoviste.

    In fact, Vlad was called Tepes (the Impaler) only after his death(1476). He ruled in Wallachia between 1456-1462 and in 1476.In 1462, having been defeated by the Turks, Vlad took refuge inHungary. In 1476, with the help of the Hungarian king Matia

    Corvin and the Moldavian prince Stephen the Great, Vlad took over the Wallachian throne againfor a month. A battle followed, during which Vlad was killed. His body was buried in the church

    of the Snagov Monastery, on an island near Bucharest. His body lies in front of the altar. In1935, a richly dressed but beheaded corpse was exhumed at Snagov, a fate known to haveovertaken Dracula, whose head was supposedly wrapped, perfumed and dispatched as a gift tothe Turkish sultan.

    They say that impaling was one of Dracula's favorite punishments, but he was not the only onewho made use of it at the time. Other German and Spanish princes would do the same. He usedthe method for boyars, thieves and criminals, Turks, Saxons and those who conspired againsthim; more than once it happened that a whole forest of sharp stakes with enemies' heads wouldrise around Trgoviste, the capital of Wallachia at the time. Horrified by these atrocities, theSaxons printed books and pamphlets in which they told about Vlad's cruelty. These booklets also

    reached Germany and Western Europe, where Dracula became known as a bloody tyrant.

    In 1897, the Irish writer Bram Stoker published Dracula, which made Vlad the Impaler famousworld-wide. Stoker read the stories about Dracula printed in the 15th and 16th centuries and wasstruck by his acts of cruelty. He decided to make him his character; he also read several booksabout Transylvania (a name of Latin origin, meaning "the country beyond the forests"), andthought that this "exotic" land would make a proper setting for Dracula's deeds.In fact, Stoker used Vlad only as a source of inspiration, since in his novel, Dracula is not prince

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    Vlad the Impaler, but a Transylvanian count living in a mysterious castle where he lured hisvictims. His story takes place in the Bistritza area, and the castle lies near the Brgau Pass (in theCarpathian Mountains). As Stoker had never visited Transylvania, most places and happeningswere pure fiction.

    Bran Castle (Draculas Castle), near Brasov

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    Select Bibliography of Sources on Romania

    Carey, Henry F. 2004.Romania since 1989: politics, economics, and society. Lanham:Lexington Books.

    Cinpoes, Radu. 2010.Nationalism and identity in Romania: a history of extreme politics fromthe birth of the state to EU accession. London: Tauris Academic Studies.

    Constantinesco, Nicholas. 2004.Romania in harm's way, 1939-1941. Boulder: East EuropeanMonographs.

    Deletant, Dennis. 1999.Romania under communist rule. Iasi, Romania: Center for RomanianStudies in cooperation with the Civic Academy Foundation.

    Durandin, Catherine, Zoe Petre, and George F. Jewsbury. 2010.Romania since 1989. Boulder:

    East European Monographs.

    Gallagher, Tom. 2005.Modern Romania: the end of communism, the failure of democraticreform, and the theft of a nation. New York: New York University Press.

    Ioanid, Radu. 2000. The Holocaust in Romania: the destruction of Jews and Gypsies under theAntonescu regime, 1940-1944. Chicago, Ill: Ivan R. Dee.

    King, Ronald Frederick, and Paul E. Sum. 2011.Romania under Basescu: aspirations,achievements, and frustrations during his first presidential term. Lanham, Md: Lexington Books.

    Light, Duncan, and David Phinnemore. 2001.Post-Communist Romania: coming to terms withtransition. Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire: Palgrave.

    Lipcsey, Ildik. 2006.Romania and Transylvania in the 20th century. Buffalo: Corvinus Pub.

    Papadimitriou, Dimitris, and David Phinnemore. 2008.Romania and the European Union: frommarginalisation to membership. London: Routledge.

    Pop, Ioan Aurel, Ioan Bolovan, and Susana Andea. 2006.History of Romania: compendium.Cluj-Napoca: Romanian Cultural Institute.

    Roper, Steven D. 2000.Romania: the unfinished revolution. Amsterdam, the Netherlands:Harwood Academic.

    Ruegg, Francois, Rudolf Poledna, and Calin Rus. 2006.Interculturalism and discrimination inRomania: policies, practices, identities and representations. Berlin: Lit.

    Stan, Lavinia, and Lucian Turcescu. 2007.Religion and politics in post-communist Romania.Oxford: Oxford University Press.