page_title: Free and Independent Faction
section_title: 1875 return
hierarchical_section_title: Free and Independent Faction / 1875 return
caption_attribution_description: English: Buĭmăcit de intrigĭ rătăcesce pe căĭ streine de căminu'i depărtat ("Dazzled by Intrigues, he wanders upon roads that take him far away from his home"): caricature of the Romanian political leader Mihail Kogălniceanu (in boyar clothes) upon his split from the National Liberal group. The latter is represented, top left, by Ion Brătianu and his sun-banner, marked Viitorul ("The Future"). Top right is conservative Lascăr Catargiu as a decapitated head on a pole marked Dreapta ("The Right [Wing]"), bearing a banner with the club—alluding to electoral violence. Similarly, moderate Ion Ghica is depicted bottom right, with Presentul ("The Present Day") and a flag bearing a half-moon—alluding to his friendliness toward the Ottoman Empire. Bottom left is a headless calf marked Centru ("Center"), its banner depicting a purse—suggesting that the centrists would sell themselves to the highest bidder.
context_page_description: The Free and Independent Faction or Free and Independent Fraction was a nationalist and national-liberal party in Romania, regionally centered on Western Moldavia. Originally informal, and defined by its adversaries, the Faction mainly comprised pupils and followers of the philosopher Simion Bărnuțiu. During most of its existence, it had as its recognized leader the academic and polemicist Nicolae Ionescu.
  Consolidated during the election of Carol I as Domnitor, the Faction opposed his rule, favoring either an elective monarchy with a native prince or a republican system. Secondary Factionalist leaders included Dimitrie Tacu, Alecu D. Holban and Nicu Ceaur-Aslan, who had varying levels of involvement with Western Moldavian separatism in 1866. The group's nativism bordered on violent xenophobia, endorsing economic antisemitism and anti-Germanism. The party also stood for democratization, including radical land reform and a reshaping of the census suffrage, while its regional ethos resulted in support for federalism, then communalism.
context_section_description: From early 1871, the "Reds" began talks of fusion with the Factionalists and with all other liberal clubs. The cause was popularized by the two new Factionalist organs: Uniunea Liberală and Gazeta de Bacău ("Bacău Gazette"). Members of both groups organized the ostentatious funeral of Domnitor Cuza in May 1873. Ionescu delivered the funeral oration; the burial at Ruginoasa was overseen by a National Committee, whose members included Anghel, Fătu, Pastia, Poni, Tacu, Șendrea and Suciu. This ceremony allowed the "Reds" to obscure their participation in the 1866 coup and reemerge as legatees of the Cuza regime.
  In August 1874, political journalist Scipione "Bagyai" Bădescu referred to the Faction as to an "extremity of the red party", though still counting it as one of five distinct parties, separate from other liberals. The negotiations took years: a definitive alliance, also known as the coalition of "Mozhar Pasha", only transformed itself into the National Liberal Party (PNL) in 1875 or after. According to some accounts, the Faction joined the coalition, but not the party. Other sources suggest that the Faction, including its rural chapters, was "folded into the bosom of the Liberal Party".
  The elections of that year also created an understanding between Epureanu's "independent conservative" faction and Brătianu, allowing them to govern together. In the electoral sweep of 1876, 18 Factionalists, including Ionescu, took seats as PNL deputies. The PNL's secure victory, and a subsequent rapprochement with Carol, toned down republicanism, which was only expressed by dissenters such as Rosetti and Carada. As leader of the Faction, his name absent from the cabinet proposal, Ionescu also continued to voice the old credo, insisting that the republic was "the most liberal, most democratic, most perfect" regime. However, he sent out conciliatory messages to Carol, assuring him that the Faction did not seek to have him appear in court over accusations of corruption. Against the changing consensus, he also defended alleged perpetrators of antisemitic violence.
  With Brătianu as head of government, Ionescu served briefly as Vice President of Chamber. Following a reshuffle, during which the moderates again withdrew and the Faction became an important partner in government, he was appointed Foreign Minister. The younger Factionalist, Ștefan C. Șendrea, was one of his trusted secretaries. Their policy still differed from the PNL's: Ionescu did not look favorably on the project to shed Ottoman suzerainty, and felt that Romania should declare herself a neutral country. Since the guarantees of the Treaty of Paris would have been voided by independence, he feared that the country would end up under a foreign occupation, and was especially troubled by any empowerment of the Russian Empire. During his time in office, Ionescu also toned down his own protectionism. He supported fixed tariffs against Kogălniceanu's free-trade agenda, but argued that import substitution industrialization generated "bad, overpriced merchandise"; by 1877, he endorsed reciprocal free-trade agreements with the major exporters of Western Europe. In other areas, the Faction took the initiative for asserting Romanian autonomy. By December 1876, Factionalist deputies, led by Andrei Vizanti, submitted a project to set up the National Bank of Romania. The motion, criticized in the press as amateurish, was eventually defeated in that form.
  This period in government preceded the Faction's ultimate downfall. Now identified as one of the "center-left" parliamentary leaders, Ionescu parted with the Faction during his tenure, leaving his Moldavian colleagues in Chamber as an unaffiliated group. In February 1877, Kogălniceanu, George D. Vernescu and other moderates withdrew from the embryonic PNL, leaving it to be taken over by the "Reds"; the Faction remained aligned with the "Mozhar Pasha" group. Its list of adversaries included, from April, a Moderate Liberal Party—formed in Moldavia by Kogălniceanu and Mârzescu, alongside Eugeniu Alcaz, Vasile Conta, and Telemac Ciupercescu. A
caption: Ghimpele cartoon of March 1877, showing Mihail Kogălniceanu undecided between the political camps of Ion Brătianu, Lascăr Catargiu, and Ion Ghica. Bottom left is the "Center", depicted as a headless calf ready for purchase
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