page_title: Romanian Land Forces
section_title: Cold War
hierarchical_section_title: Romanian Land Forces / History / Cold War
caption_attribution_description: Soldat de artilerie, cu bluza și boneta model 1952, dar epoleți și semn de armă model 1948. Celuloid — Emil Boboescu
context_page_description: The Romanian Land Forces is the army of Romania, and the main component of the Romanian Armed Forces. In recent years, full professionalisation and a major equipment overhaul have transformed the nature of the Land Forces.
  The Romanian Land Forces was founded on 24 November [O.S. 12 November] 1859. It participated in World War I, together with the Russian Empire forces in actions against the Central Powers and, despite initial setbacks, won the decisive battles of Mărăşti and Mărăşeşti. During most of World War II Romanian forces supported the Axis powers, fighting against the Soviet Union on the Eastern Front. From August 1944 until the end of the war, Romania fought against Germany under the control of the Soviet Union. When the communists seized power after the Second World War, the army underwent reorganisation and sovietization.
  Following the Romanian Revolution, due to shortage of funds, many units were disbanded and much equipment was phased out. Likewise, Romanian military capability declined because of a lack of fuel as well as training.
context_section_description: The Soviet occupation of Romania led to a complete reorganisation of the Romanian Land Forces under the supervision of the Red Army. At the onset, pro-German elements were purged from the Romanian armed forces. In 1944–45, two divisions were formed out of Romanian volunteers—ex-prisoners of war, trained and indoctrinated in the Soviet Union during the war, but also of many Communist activists. One was the Tudor Vladimirescu First Volunteer Division, under the command of Colonel Nicolae Cambrea, and the other the Horia, Cloşca şi Crişan Division, under the command of General Mihail Lascăr (who later served as Minister of Defence from 1946 to 1947). These two units formed the nucleus of the new Romanian Land Forces under Soviet control. The postwar reorganisation of the Land Forces included cavalry but the arm disappeared from the force with the disbandment in November 1954 of the 59th Cavalry Division at Oradea.
  After the Romanian Workers' Party seized political power, the sovietization of the army commenced, under the supervision of the new Minister of Defence, Emil Bodnăraş. Thirty per cent of the officers and noncommissioned officers (mostly experienced soldiers, and a potential source of opposition) were purged from the military. This involved copying the Soviet model of military and political organisation, and changing the military doctrine of combat and defence, also in the context of Romania's integration in the strategic system of the Soviets, at the beginning of the Cold War.
  In the early 1950s the RLF reached a level of 12 rifle, one mechanised, and one tank division. Between 1960 and 1964 the rifle and mechanised divisions were converted to mechanized (motorized rifle) divisions, and reductions in strength began; force size dropped to six mechanized divisions and one armored division by 1968. From 1970 to 1976, two more motor rifle divisions and one armored division were formed, and the eight motor rifle and two armored division figure remained that way for the rest of the Cold War. In case of war, at least four other motorized infantry divisions and one tank division could have been formed.
  From 1947 to 1960 the country seems to have been divided into three major military regions: Cluj, Bacău, and Bucharest in the west, east, and south, respectively. In wartime the land forces in each military region would become an army corps with their headquarters in Cluj-Napoca, Iaşi, and Bucharest. Armies seem to have succeeded military regions in 1960, and three armies seem to have become four in 1980. What is known is that on 01.07.1947 Fourth Army became 3rd Military Region, based in Cluj. The 3rd Military Region became the 3rd Army on 30 April 1960, and the 4th Army on 5 April 1980.
  During the 1980s, the land forces numbered 140,000 personnel, of whom two thirds were conscripts. In 1989 four armies appeared to exist: the First Army at Bucharest, Second Army at Buzau, Third Army at Craiova, and Fourth Army at Napoca. In 1989 the land forces consisted of eight mechanised (infantry) divisions (1st, Bucharest, 2nd, Craiova, 9th, Constanta, 10th, Iași, 11th, Oradea, 18th, Timişoara, 67th, Brăila and 81st, Dej) two armored divisions (the 57th Tank Division at Bucharest and the 6th Tank Division at Târgu Mureş), one armored brigade, four mountain (infantry) brigades, and four parachute infantry regiments. According to the 165-year 'History of Modern Romanian Artillery,' in 1989 the 1st Army Command consisted of the 1st Mechanized Division, 57th Tank Division and the 2nd Mountain Brigade; the 2nd Army Command of the 9th Mechanized Division, 10th Mechanized Division, 67th Mechanized Division and 32nd Tactical Missile Brigade; the 3rd Army Command of the 2nd Mechanized Division, 18th Mechanized Division, the 7th Tank Brigade and the 4th Mountain Brigade; and the 4th Army Command of the 11th Mechanized Division, 81st Mechanized Division, 6th Tank Division, the 1st and 5th Mountain Brigades and the 37th Tactical Missile Brigade.
  The mechanized divisions were organized along the Soviet model with three mechanized infantry regiment
caption: Romanian artillery soldier with shirt and cap model 1952, epaulettes and service branch pin model 1948
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