Evening star., 1926-12-12
BY FRANK ii. SIMONDS

n JeCL SIZE tOlu us tLl tHc Siltt was
to put Rumania on the map,
But viewed in retrospect. can it be felt
that on this side, at the least, the
royal excursion was a shining sue
cess, and that the people of the many
States through which she passed are
today more conversant with the reali-
ties or even with the fact of the Latin
Kingdom camped on either side of the
Carpathians than they were before?
And yet Rumania remains one OF the
most fascinating and at the same time
complex problems of all modern Eu
rope south Of Vienna, which most
Americans conceive to have been Bal
kaniZed by the peace treaties, and let
it go at that. There is today little
recollection that the single authentic
transcript of any speech made by Mr..
Wilson at the Paris peace conference
on the subject of the meaning of Eu-
ropean commitments under the cove
nant which has seen the light of day
so far concerns the integrity of this
same Rumanian state.
Before the war Rumania was a small
country, about the size of New York
State, and with a population of 7,OO0,-
900, wholly southeast of the convex
side of the Carpathian curve and be-
tween those mountains and the Danube
and the Pruth. It was the single
1 SURVIVING ISIIilidIlL VI LAC 1NOiiAaA OCAC
nization which had once penetrated
deeply into what is now Slavic and
Teuton Europe.
Retain Roman Traces.
| In their own proud national legends.
| the RumanianS have clung to the ira
dition as well as the name of Romans
| But, seated at one of the cross roads
of Europe, they have been in the path
/ Of N Cinnc and thaV have
| in the end succumbed to all, Magyar.
Slavic and Tukish alike. Yet to an
amazing degree they have preserved
| the imprint of Rome, beyond all else.
| in their language, which is as Latin
as French or as Spanish.
The Rumanian people in recent
! times have no such tradition OF re-
| sistance to the Turks as. the Serbs.
They escaped from Turkish rule ra-
| ther by the will of others and the acci-
dents of national progression about
them than by any racial revolt. They
owe to Napoleon III as much as to
any one else the national unity which
came with the joining of Wallachia
and Moldayia, but by an odd turn of
| fate state which had a French bless
| ing received Hohenzollern dynasty.
| Rumania begins to fight with the
| Russian war, which centered about
| Shipka Pass and precipitated the
crisis following the treaty of San Ste
| fano and later the congress of Berlin.
| The Russians advancing victoriously
| over Rumania on their way to Con-
stantinople paid scant attention to Ru-
manian rights and interests, but when
| they were checked and well nigh
/ beaten in the Balkans, it was the Ru-
| manian army which brought them the
aid without which their victory was
not to be had.
Russia Took Territory.
Characteristically, after the war the
Russians took from the ally all of its
territory east Of the Pruth. constitut-
ing a fraction Of Bessarabia, which
was and is mainly inhabited by Ru-
manians. On the other hand and as
compensation, they bestowed upon
their ally the Dobrudja district, be-
tween the Black Sea and the Danube.
where that river bends northward be-
fore 1t flows into the sea. By quaint
bit of irony, too, this region was main
ly inhabited by Bulgarians and con-
stftuted an essential circumstance in
Bulgar aspiration for the greater ra-
cially united Bulgaria.
Following the events of the Russo
Turkish War and the congress of Ber-
lin, Rumanian policy for three dec
AIDES was mainly anti-Russian and pro-
German, and Rumania became a mi
nor partner in the Austro-German al
lance which. when Italy Joined. be-
came the triple alliance. DynaStically,
too, this was natural for the King was
a Hohenzollern.
But the alliance was unnatural be-
cause beyond the Carpathians lived
many millions Of Rumanians in the
Magyar lands of the. Banat and
TransyIvania and the Austrian crown
land of the Bukovina. Just as the
Italian mind was always dominated
by the thought of the redemption of
Triest and the Trentino, the Ru-
with the hope Of uniting the Rumani-
ans Of Austria and Hungary to the
kingdom.
Rumania Becomes Aroused.
But no real break in the alignment
came until the second Balkan War.
Then Rumania. alarmed at the rise
Of Bulgaria. which was striking for
Balkan hegemony at the moment and
at war with her Greek and Serb
allies of the first Balkan War. fought ,
against Turkey, interposed, and by
her aid contributed to the defeat of /
the Bulgarians. AS reward she |
took a larger slice Of the Dobrudja.
The effect of this little war upon |
Rumanian spirit, however, was very /
considerable. 1t stimulated sense !
Of national strength and it increased |
the desire to recover the. Latin I
brethren beyond the Carpathians. /
When the World War came, despite /
the efforts of the King, Rumanian |
statesmen refused to fulfil the condi- /
tions Of alliance and Rumania re-
manned neutral. Disappointment and |
humiliation over this course killed
King Carol.
Subsequently, when Russian ad-
vance seemed irresistible, Rumania.
like Italy, cast her lot in with the
allies and received in reward the
promise Of possession after victory
of all the Austro-Hungarfan lands she
desired. But, instead of bringing VIC
tory to the allies, Rumania brought
ruin to herself. Her armies were de-
feated in the Carpathians, and the
attack Of Bulgaria in the rear led to
the loss of the capital and most or
the country. The collapse of Russia
following the revolution forced her
to make the treaty Of Bucharest. by
which she abandoned her claims to
Hapsburg land, surrendered strategic
territories In the Carpathians and
turned over the Dobrudja to Bulgaria
Her conquerors did. however, per-
NIT her to occupy not only the portion
Of Bessarabia which had been hers
before the Russo-Turkish War Of the
preceding generation, but the whole
Russian province to the Dniester.
Thus, If her war had cost her dear,
she did regain one of the lands in
habited by Rumanians, which was an
essential circumstance in the Greater
Rumania.
RecouDed at End of War. /,