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People in Bucharest during the 1848 events, carrying the Romanian tricolor

The Wallachian Revolution of 1848 was a Romanian liberal and Romantic nationalist uprising in the principality of Wallachia. Part of the Revolutions of 1848, and closely connected with the unsuccessful revolt in Moldavia, it sought to overturn the administration imposed by Imperial Russian authorities under the Regulamentul Organic regime, and, through many of its leaders, demanded the abolition of boyar privilege. Led by a group of young intellectuals and officers in the Wallachian Militia, the movement succeeded in toppling the ruling Prince Gheorghe Bibescu, whom it replaced with a Provisional Government and a Regency, and in passing a series of major progressive reforms, first announced in the Proclamation of Islaz.

Despite its rapid gains and popular backing, the new administration was marked by conflicts between the radical wing and more conservative forces, especially over the issue of land reform. Two successive abortive coups were able to weaken the Government, and its international status was always contested by Russia. After managing to rally a degree of sympathy from Ottoman political leaders, the Revolution was ultimately isolated by the intervention of Russian diplomats, and ultimately repressed by a common intervention of Ottoman and Russian armies, without any significant form of armed resistance. Nevertheless, over the following decade, the completion of its goals was made possible by the international context, and former revolutionaries became the original political class in united Romania.

Origins

The two Danubian Principalities, Wallachia and Moldavia, came under direct Russian supervision upon the close of the Russo-Turkish War of 1828–1829, being subsequently administrated on the basis of common documents, known as Regulamentul Organic. After a period of Russian military occupation, Wallachia returned to Ottoman suzerainty while Russian overseeing was preserved, and the throne was awarded to Alexandru II Ghica in 1834—this measure was controversial from the onset, given that, despite the popular provisions of the Akkerman Convention, Ghica had been appointed by Russia and the Ottomans, instead of being elected by the Wallachian Assembly.[1] As a consequence, the Prince was faced with opposition from both sides of the political spectrum, while also attempting to quell the peasantry's malcontent by legislating against the abuse of estate lessors.[2] The first liberal movement, taking inspiration from the French Revolution and having for its stated purpose the encouragement of culture, was Societatea Filarmonică (the Philharmonic Society), established in 1833.[3]

Hostility toward Russian policies erupted later in 1834, when Russia called for an "Additional Article" (Articol adiţional) to be attached to the Regulament, as the latter document was being reviewed by the Porte.[4] The proposed article sought to prevent the Principalities' Assemblies from modifying the Regulament any further without the consent of both protecting powers.[5] This move met with stiff opposition from a majority of deputies in Wallachia, among whom was the radical Ion Câmpineanu; in 1838, the project was nonetheless passed, when it was explicitly endorsed by Sultan Abdülmecid and by Prince Ghica.[6]

Câmpineanu, who had proposed a reformist constitution to replace the Regulament entirely, was forced into exile, but remained an influence on a younger generation of activists, both Wallachian and Moldavian.[7] The latter group, comprising many young boyars who had studied in France, also took direct inspiration from reformist or revolutionary-minded societies such as the Carbonari (and even, through Teodor Diamant, from Utopian socialism).[8] It was this faction who would first explicitly publicize the demands for national independence and Moldo-Wallachian unification, which it included in a wider agenda of political reforms and European solidarity.[9] Societatea Studenţilor Români (the Society of Romanian Students) was created in 1846, having the French poet Alphonse de Lamartine for its honorary president.[10]

Pre-revolutionary events and outbreak

In October 1840, the first specifically revolutionary secret society of the period was repressed by Prince Ghica.[11] Among those arrested and taken into confinement were the high-ranking boyar Mitică Filipescu, the young radical Nicolae Bălcescu, and the much older Dimitrie Macedonski, who had taken part in the uprising of 1821.[12]

Lithograph of a group portrait by Constantin Daniel Rosenthal, showing Paris-based revolutionaries during the early 1840s. From left: Rosenthal (wearing a phrygian cap), C. A. Rosetti, anonymous Wallachian

The new ruler, Gheorghe Bibescu, set free Bălcescu and other participants in the plot during 1843; soon afterwards, they became involved in creating a new Freemason-inspired secret society, known as Frăţia ("The Brotherhood"), which was to serve as the central factor in the revolution.[13] Early on, Frăţia's nucleus was formed by Bălcescu, Ion Ghica, Alexandru G. Golescu, and Major Christian Tell; by spring 1848, the leadership also included Dimitrie and Ion Brătianu, Constantin Bălcescu, Ştefan and Nicolae Golescu, Gheorghe Magheru, C. A. Rosetti, Ion Heliade Rădulescu, and Ioan Voinescu II.[14] It was especially successful in Bucharest, where it also reached out to the middle class,[15] and kept a legal facade as Soţietatea Literară (the Literary Society), whose meetings were attended by the Moldavians Vasile Alecsandri, Mihail Kogălniceanu, and Costache Negruzzi, as well as by the Austrian subject Constantin Daniel Rosenthal.[16] During the early months of 1848, Romanian students at the University of Paris, including the Brătianu brothers, witnessed and, in some cases, took part in the French republican uprising.[17]

Rebellion broke out in late June 1848, after Frăţia's members came to adopt a single project regarding the promise of land reform.[18] This resolution, which had initially caused dissension, was passed into the revolutionary program upon pressures from Nicolae Bălcescu and his supporters.[19] The document itself, destined to be read as a proclamation, was most likely drafted by Heliade Rădulescu, and Bălcescu himself was possibly responsible for most of its ideas.[20] It called for, among other issues, national independence, civil rights and equality, universal taxation, a larger Assembly, responsible government, a five-year term of office for Princes and their election by the Assembly, freedom of the press, and decentralization.[21]

The Proclamation of Islaz

Originally, the revolutionary grouping had intended to take over various military bases throughout Wallachia, and planned to simultaneously organize public gatherings in Bucharest, Râmnicu Vâlcea, Ploieşti, Romanaţi County and Islaz.[22] On June 21, 1848, Heliade Rădulescu and Tell were present in Islaz, where, with the Orthodox priest Şapcă of Celei, they revealed the revolutionary program to a cheering crowd (see Proclamation of Islaz).[23] A new government was created on the spot, comprising Tell, Heliade Rădulescu, Ştefan Golescu, Şapcă, and Nicolae Pleşoianu—they wrote Prince Bibescu an appeal, which called on him to recognize the program as the embryo of a constitution and to "listen to the voice of the motherland and place himself at the head of this great accomplishment".[24]