Romanian Volunteer Corps in Russia The Romanian Volunteer Corps in Russia ( ) , or Volunteer Corps of Transylvanians - Bukovinans ( " Corpul Voluntarilor ardeleni - bucovineni " , " Corpul Voluntarilor transilvăneni şi bucovineni " ) , was a military formation of World War I , created from ethnic Romanian prisoners of war held by Russia . Officially established in February 1917 , it comprised abjurers of the Austro - Hungarian Army , mainly contingents from Transylvania and Bukovina . These had been obliged to fight against Romania , and , once in Russian custody , volunteered for service against the Central Powers . As campaigners for self - determination and union with Romania , they passed political resolutions which , in both tone and scope , announced those adopted on Union Day 1918 . The Corps was effectively an active military reserve of the Romanian Land Forces , and regularly dispatched new units to the Romanian front after June 1917 . It helped defend the last stretches of Romania against the Central Powers ' unified offensive , and met success in the Battle of Mărăşeşti , but it still lacked a unitary command structure . When the October Revolution in Russia and the Romanian armistice took Romania out of the Entente camp , the Corps was left without backing and purpose . However , it inspired the creation of similar units in Entente countries , most successfully the Romanian Legion of Italy . Mobilized volunteers or prisoners symbolically tied to the Corps were left behind in Russia after the Russian Civil War was ignited . Various such individuals formed the Romanian Legion of Siberia , which resisted the Bolsheviks in cooperation with the Czechoslovak Legions and the White movement . These units were ultimately repatriated to Greater Romania in 1920 . Darnytsia Corps . Origins . During 1916 , Romania entered World War I as an Entente country , in alliance with the Russian Empire against Austria - Hungary and the other Central Powers . After a while , Romania began investigating the fate and loyalties of Austria - Hungarian Romanians who were held in Russian POW camps . Estimates for that period place the total population of Bukovinan and Transylvanian Romanians in such facilities , throughout Russia , at 120 , 000 or 130 , 000 . Meanwhile , in Romania itself there were several thousand Romanian refugees from Austria - Hungary who immediately signed up for service in the Romanian Armed Forces . In Russia , Romanian captives were complained about being worse off than prisoners from other Austro - Hungarian backgrounds , a matter which may have contributed to their decision of volunteering into Romanian service . Russian authorities were undecided about letting them join , and initially prohibited such initiatives ; those who insisted to establish contact with Romania were arrested by Russian police forces . During the same year , after consultations with Romania , the Russian executive reverted such policies . It was decided that Russia would free at most 15 , 000 of this demographic group , transferring them to Romania in exchange for a similar number of non - Romanian prisoners from Romanian camps . Subsequently , those who chose to enlist were together relocated at the special camp in Darnytsia — a suburb of Kiev , known to Romanians as " Darniţa " . In December 1916 , that facility held some 200 officers and 1 , 200 non - commissioned officer s , who formed the nucleus ( and general command ) of a " Romanian Corps " . Elected First Senior of the Camp , the 40 - year - old Victor Deleu was a legal professional , rank - and - file member of the Romanian National Party ( PNR ) and opinion journalist from Transylvania , who came to Darnytsia after internment in Kineshma . The other members of Darnytsia camp ' s leadership body were Pompiliu Nistor , Vasile Chiroiu , Emil Isopescu , Valeriu Milovan , Octavian Vasu and Ioan Vescan . Regardless of such initiatives , Romania tended to give little attention to the potential of recruitment in Russia , as many decision - makers were still uncertain about the devotion of Transylvanians and Bukovinans , and worried that they might be welcoming Austro - Hungarian spies into army ranks . Additionally , probably half of the 120 , 000 men excluded themselves from the pool of recruits , as Austrian loyalists , invalids or men who had reason to fear Austria - Hungary ' s retaliation . Support from within Romania was therefore weak , and Russian obstruction still had a part to play , but in January the camp was visited by Lieutenant Colonel Constantin Gh . Pietraru of the Romanian Land Forces , on a mission to evaluate the recruitment project . The reversal of fortunes on the Romanian front had brought a Central Powers ' invasion into southern Romania , and the Romanian military authority became pressured into finding new soldiers for the defensive action . February Revolution . Shortly after these events , Russia experienced the February Revolution , which brought to power a liberal Russian Provisional Government . As a consequence of these , the whole transfer project was delayed , but the Russian acceptance of self - determination facilitated renewed political action . According to veteran Simion Gocan , the soldiers were inspired by both these revolutionary promises and the American entry into World War I , which seemingly made Wilsonian Self - Determination an official Entente policy . By Order 1191 of , Romania ' s Minister of War , Vintilă Brătianu , created the Volunteer Corps as a special formation of the national army . On the same day , in Darnytsia , Pietraru was tasked by Chief of Staff Constantin Prezan with equipping the new recruits and organizing them into units . The honorary command was assigned to Constantin Coandă , who was already the military attaché with Russia ' s " Stavka " ( General Headquarters ) . Over the next month , in Mogilev , Coandă again negotiated the Corps ' recognition by " Stavka " . Coandă received the permission , but the number of recruits was no longer clearly specified . On March 18 , Coandă issued a " Pledge " ( " Angajament " ) , which regulated the status of Corps soldiers in relation to the Romanian Army , and which the recruits had to sign . It integrated the former Austro - Hungarian officers into the Romanian Army , with equivalent ranks , and equated their Austrian service , including time they spent in the POW camps , with active duty under Romanian banners . The pledge ended with the words : " May God help us , so that through our blood we may liberate our lands and create a Greater Romania , unified in substance and everlasting . " All those who backed out after signing the document were to be considered deserters . Demand for enlistment remained considerable , even though rumor spread that Austro - Hungarian repression forces were by then murdering the families of volunteers and confiscating their property . However , Corps veteran Petru Nemoianu ( Nemoian ) was later to state that envy and class conflict were also characteristic for the formation , where the intellectual leaders quarreled over the better paid assignments . In April , Pietraru met with the Provisional Government ' s Alexander Guchkov , and an agreement was reached regarding the maximum total of troops to be enlisted in the Romanian Corps . Answering to special pleas from Romanian Premier Ion I . C . Brătianu , Guchkov allowed for the recruitment of 30 , 000 prisoners in his custody . The order was revised by Alexander Kerensky , who reduced that number to 5 , 000 prisoners , noting that they were sorely needed as working hands in Russia ' s agriculture and industry . In practice , Quartermaster Ivan Pavlovich Romanovsky only allowed recruitment to take place in Moscow Military District , ordering that no more than 1 , 500 prisoners should be taken into account . Darnytsia manifesto . By then , revolutionary examples also inspired the prisoners of Darnytsia to proclaim their own political goals , and openly demand the union of Transylvania with Romania . Their manifesto of April 26 ( April 13 ) , reviewed for publishing by the Transylvanian poet Octavian Goga , was signed by 250 officers and 250 soldiers , and is probably the first unionist statement to be issued by a Transylvanian representative body . The document states : " we Romanians , like all other subjugated nations , have grown aware that once and for all that we [ . . . ] cannot carry on with our lives within the frame of the Austro - Hungarian state ; we [ . . . ] demand , with unwavering will , our incorporation into Romania , so that together we may form a single national Romanian state . [ . . . ] For the sake of this ideal , we throw in the balance all of what we have , our lives and fortunes , our women and children , our descendants ' life and happiness . And we never will stop , lest we vanquish or perish . " The text , which also survives in slightly different versions , included a brief analysis of the international scene . It paid homage to Russia ' s democratic program , referenced the " generous " Wilsonian doctrine on self - determination , and looked forward to a congress of " blissful , national and democratic states " . The manifesto made ample reference to the activity of " traitors " to the Transylvanian cause . As Nemoianu later recounted , there was a disguised reference to the PNR , whose moderate leaders , ostensibly loyal to the Austro - Hungarian monarchy , still tried to achieve Austrian devolution . More leniently , Gocan argued that the PNR at home was " deeply terrorized " and bound to government by a forcefully signed " declaration of loyalty " . Goga , a civilian refugee in transit through Russia , was supposed to have left Darnytsia with a copy of the appeal . Some argue that he did , and that the subsequent popularization is largely owed to his work as publicist . Such accounts are contradicted by the recollections of another unionist activist , Onisifor Ghibu : " [ The appeal ] was supposed to be handed down to Goga , on his stopover in Darniţa . For whatever reason Goga stopped for a day in Kiev . In such circumstances I was the one designated to hold it " . In this version , Ghibu passed it on to Romania ' s executive , King Ferdinand I and General Prezan . In Russian and French translations , the document was distributed to various institutions : the Provisional Government , the Mossovet , the Petrograd Soviet and the Central Rada . It was also presented individually to representatives of Russian political life and to the foreign press agencies , and circulated among the national emancipation movements of Czechs , Poles , Serbs and " Ruthenians " . A copy was later taken to the United States by Romania ' s special delegates Vasile Stoica , Vasile Lucaciu and Ioan Moţa , and reprinted in the Romanian American community press . According to one account , it was also included in airborne leaflet propaganda dropped over the Austro - Hungarian trenches on the Italian front . The Darnytsia soldiers soon gave themselves a special banner , based on the Romanian tricolor , with the added slogan " Trăiască România Mare " ( " Long Live Greater Romania " ) . Seven such items were sewn in all , of which one was kept by Banat - born soldier Dimitrie Lăzărel ( Lăzărescu ) . Arrival in Iaşi . Six recruiting commissions were then dispatched from Romania to Russia . During May 1917 , they received the Romanian volunteers , relocated from Darnytsia to the Girls ' Lycée in Podil , where work also began on tailoring of the new Romanian uniforms . From Podil , a newly formed battalion was quickly sent into Romania to reinforce defense . Comprising some 1 , 300 men , this unit traveled by chartered train , stopping first in Kishinev ( Chişinău ) . The largely Romanian - inhabited Russian city gave them a warm welcome : the battalion received another Romanian tricolor as war flag , and were presented with an Orthodox icon . The battalion arrived in the city of Iaşi , Romania ' s provisional capital , where the volunteers were welcomed as heroes . On June 9 , at Iaşi ' s marching ground , they took their oath and were officially integrated into the Land Forces . The ceremony was attended by King Ferdinand , Premier Brătianu , General Prezan , by representatives of Entente missions ( Alexander Shcherbachov , Henri Mathias Berthelot ) and by ambassadors of neutral countries . Manuel Multedo y Cortina of Spain recalled the sermon as a " a solemn act " , clamoring " the national aspiration " of Romanians . At a later banquet and public rally in Union Square , Victor Deleu addressed the civilian population , describing the Corps ' arrival as a rescue mission : " We had the duty of coming over here on this day , when you are living through such hardships . We left a foreign country , but did so with just one thought on our minds : coming home . That ' s why there was only road meant for us , the one leading us ahead . [ . . . ] We ' ll be the victors , for the Carpathians cannot reach as high as our hearts have been elevated ! " As politician Ion G . Duca recalled , no other speech left as deep an impression on the public : " Deleu [ ' s speech ] was a pure and simple marvel , something unforgettable . " There was a noted effort on the part of Corps staff and other Transylvanian exiles ( Ion Agârbiceanu , Laurian Gabor , Octavian Tăslăuanu etc . ) to encourage the rapid integration of Podil - formed units into the Romanian line of defense . After a quick session of retraining , the Corps units were attached to the 11th Division , which was recovering in Iaşi . It was , however , decided that the formations , particularly those from Transylvania , were to be kept distinguished from the rest under the common command structure . An official act of 1918 explained the rationale behind this act : " Transylvanians should fight as Transylvanians [ . . . ] against the Hungarian state , so as to assert , clearly and beyond all doubt , that the Romanian nationals of the Hungarian state do not recognize its authority . To have fought against Hungary , however the war may end , ought to have been a badge of honor for the Romanian nation in Hungary and a moral reinforcement during the battles to come " . When it was proposed that men from the Corps be assigned " noms de guerre " so as to avoid execution if captured , Deleu reacted strongly : " We intend to be the army of Transylvania ! We aim to be the conscience of Transylvania , which is for absolute freedom and The Union ! We do not want [ to receive ] a conquered land , we wish to liberate ourselves with our own forces ! Hangings ? Let them hang us ! But let them be aware that Transylvania herself is fighting for liberty and The Union ! " During and after Mărăşeşti . In July 1917 , Corps offices in Kiev circulated the first issue of a recruitment gazette , " România Mare " ( " Greater Romania " ) , which became the essential component of its propaganda effort in Russia . It was a new edition of the Bucharest gazette founded by Voicu Niţescu , and , in this new form , was managed by a team of pro - union activists : the Transylvanians Sever Bocu , Ghiţă Popp , Iosif Şchiopu and the Bukovinan Filaret Doboş . " România Mare " was successful , despite the fact that only between 3 , 000 and 5 , 000 copies were published per issue . Recruitment itself continued at a steady pace , and the Romanian General Staff created " Biroul A . B " ( " T [ ransylvania ] and B [ ukovina ] Bureau " ) to keep evidence of Austro - Hungarian abjurers , on and behind the front . Its founding members were three Sub - lieutenant s : Deleu , Vasile Osvadă , Leonte Silion . " Biroul A . B . " was assisted by a Consultative Commission of intellectuals and politicians of Transylvanian or Bukovinan backgrounds ( Goga , Ion Nistor , Leonte Moldovan ) and represented in Russia itself by a deputation of Transylvanian officers — Elie Bufnea , Victor Cădere . Units of the Volunteer Corps earned distinction in the defense of eastern Romania , which postponed the Central Powers ' advance during summer 1917 . With the 11th Division , the Transylvanians - Bukovinans participated in the battles of Mărăşti , Oituz and Mărăşeşti . At the time , they were split between five regiments of the 11th Division : 2nd , 3rd Olt , 5th Chasseurs , 19th Caracal , 26th Rovine . The three battles to hold back the Central Powers ended in early autumn 1917 , by which time there were 31 dead and 453 wounded among the volunteers ; 129 received distinction . Dimitrie Lăzărel was one to have survived all three engagements , and legend has it that he never went into combat without the banner . Deleu had left reserve duty to join the 10th Chasseurs Battalion in the Mărăşeşti combat , but fell severely ill and was reassigned to other offices . The divisive command structure was a disappointment for the Transylvanian and Bukovinan volunteers . In a complaint they sent to King Ferdinand during September , they requested reintegration into a special Corps , arguing : " Through such legions the free will of the formerly oppressed citizens would be expressing a common will . One would not be enrolling isolated individuals [ . . . ] , but an entire people free from the [ Austrian ] yoke . " Like his army staff , the monarch disapproved of this initiative , informing Deleanu and Tăslăuanu that , at most , units overseen by " Biroul A . B . " could expect to form special regiments within the existing divisions . Parallel negotiations continued between Russia and Romania over the total number of volunteers allowed to leave Russian soil . During early June , " Stavka " approved the release of 5 , 000 Romanian Austro - Hungarian prisoners , all of them from the Moscow Governorate . According to historian Ioan I . Şerban , the approval was creating problems for the Romanian side : of the soldiers in question , the majority were held deep inside Russia , and employed " in the agricultural regions and the various industrial centers of southern Russia , the Ural , western Siberia etc . " As the Mărăşeşti battle was waging , the Romanian government called on the Russian leadership to allow yet more recruits to be sent to the front , and received a confirmation of Guchkov ' s earlier 30 , 000 directly from Chief of Staff Lavr Kornilov . As a result , two of the recruiting commissions relocated to the Pacific port of Vladivostok , and set in motion a plan for recruiting more volunteers throughout Asiatic Russia . After Kornilov ' s promise , the Romanian high command took measures of creating a single and distinct division , comprising both those who had passed through Podil and those refugees already in Romanian service . " Biroul A . B . " was replaced by a Central Service , answering to General Staff . In early December 1917 , the Corps was reformed a final time , as a division - sized formation . Colonel Marcel Olteanu was placed in charge of the central Volunteer Corps ' Command , based in Hârlău . By the early days of 1918 , it had three new regiments under its command : 1st Turda ( commander : Dragu Buricescu ) , 2nd Alba Iulia ( Constantin Paşalega ) , 3rd Avram Iancu . Reenlisted prisoners of war formed a large section of the approximately 30 , 800 former Austria - Hungarian citizens who were registered as active on the Romanian side by late 1917 . By the time it stopped recruiting ( January 1918 ) , the Corps had enlisted some 8 , 500 to 10 , 000 men . However , the Kornilov order came too late in the war for there to have been a more significant Transylvanian - Bukovinan contribution to the Romanian effort . October Revolution and Romanian truce . The October Revolution shook Russia and placed most of it under a Bolshevik government which had no intention of continuing with war against the Central Powers . Although the Romanian presence in Kiev was set back by the November Uprising and the January Rebellion , then dispersed by the anti - Entente Skoropadsky regime , Constantin Gh . Pietraru and a small force remained behind in the new Ukrainian People ' s Republic ( UNR ) , where they signed up the last group of Romanian volunteers . Some of these efforts were hampered by a diplomatic tensions between the UNR and Romania . Ukrainian officials refused to either rally with the Entente or negotiate border treaties with Romania , but tacitly permitted Deleu , Bocu , Ghibu and other Transylvanian Romanians activists who worked against Austria - Hungary to work on UNR territory . " România Mare " gazette , which still had Bocu as chief editorial manager , closed down in December 1917 , having published 23 issues in all . By then , Ion Agârbiceanu and family had left their temporary home in Yelisavetgrad for Hârlău , where he became the Corps ' chaplain . A last group of Romanian units left the UNR and headed for Kishinev , where a Romanian - friendly Moldavian Democratic Republic was vying for power with the local Bolsheviks . The volunteers had dressed as Russian soldiers during their passage to Iaşi , but were recognized as Romanian units by the Bolshevik garrisoned in Kishinev City Station , where their train stopped on January 6 . A skirmish followed , and the Bolsheviks killed or kidnapped Corps soldiers . The survivors were held captive in the same place as Moldavian Army founder Gherman Pântea , and were released later that day by Republican troops . Years later , suspicion arose that Pântea had in fact helped the Bolsheviks , as an alleged enemy of Romanian interests in Bessarabia . Romania ' s own armistice with the Central Powers put the recruitment project on a complete standstill , and diminished the effort to move Transylvanian - Bukovinan soldiers into the single new force . According to his own account , Sever Bocu attempted to quickly dispatch Hârlău troops to the Western Front , but his project vetoed by the Romanian commander in chief Alexandru Averescu . As Romania faced indecision about its future , the Corps was still the subject of unionist propaganda , spread by Romanian intellectuals in the capitals of Entente nations . From his temporary home in France , Bocu reestablished " România Mare " as the tribune of Romanian diaspora politics and unionist aspirations . He was joined there by Octavian Goga , who had crossed over Bolshevik territory and Finland with false papers , claiming to be a Volunteer Corps veteran . Legacy . Diaspora units and the cut - off troops . By spring 1918 , Transylvanian - Bukovinan prisoners held in France and Italy proceeded to form their own abjurers ' units , based upon the existing Romanian Corps . Luciano ( Lucian ) Ferigo became Commander of the newly formed Romanian Legion in Italy ( " Legione Romena d ' Italia " ) which took its ceremonial flag from the " Regio Esercito " on July 28 and contributed the Austrians ' defeat at Vittorio Veneto . On the Western Front , a similar formation was being created , mainly by Romanian citizens who resented their country for surrendering , but also by soldiers who clandestinely left Romania to continue the fight . Its Transylvanian - Bukovinian membership was small , reflecting the number of Austro - Hungarian prisoners in France , who had been taken mainly in the Serbian and Macedonian operations . The 135 who signed up in October 1918 were put off by the refusal of French officials to recognize their Austro - Hungarian officer ' s ranks . Their unit was attached to the French Foreign Legion , to be joined by the various other categories of Romanian recruits , but the effort was stopped midway ; in November , the Entente ' s victory over Germany ended World War I for both France and Romania . As the dissolution of Austria - Hungary was taking effect in October 1918 , other such units were spontaneously formed on Austrian territory , mainly from rogue components of the Imperial Army . The Romanian Legion of Prague helped the Czechoslovak National Council and the Sokol s gain the upper hand during an anti - Austrian uprising , while other Romanian units were breaking away from Austrian command in Vienna . Romanians also formed a distinct segment of the " k . u . k . Kriegsmarine " personnel who rioted on the Austrian Littoral and elsewhere in the Adriatic . A more complex situation reigned in Russia . As early as April 1918 , some Romanian volunteer groups joined up with the Bolshevik Red Army , taking their orders from Commissar Béla Kun , but some of their members continued to serve the nationalist cause . In June 1918 , a number of Romanian prisoners who had signed up for the Volunteer Corps were cut off from Romania by the Russian Civil War and left to fend for themselves . Some crossed into Bolshevik Russia hoping to be repatriated together with the Romanian consulate , while others took to areas controlled by the White movement , reaching Irkutsk ; still others escaped through northern routes into Sweden . The various groups were monitored by French public opinion , and plans were drafted to merge them into the Romanian Legion on the Western Front , or even to have them open up a new Eastern Front . Meanwhile , in tandem with larger Serb and Czech national units , Romanian prisoners on the Trans - Siberian Railway were involved in creating new armed formations . Their original goal was to show to the Entente that Romanians were still eager to fight against the Central Powers , but the Romanians also defended the line in skirmishes with the Bolshevik or anarchist cells . They resisted especially when the Bolshevik Russian government asked them to surrender all weapons . " Horia " Regiment and Romanian Legion of Siberia . Some prisoners or drifting units in Russia joined up with new arrivals from Kiev . They created the 1 , 300 - strong battalion of Kinel , which was effectively a subunit of the Czechoslovak Legions . Romanian officers ' clubs were organizing themselves in lands held by the Komuch Democrats and the White Russian Siberian Autonomy . The original force to emerge from such schemes was formed at Samara by Valeriu Milovan . Criticized for his eccentric idea of imitating egalitarian Bolshevik practices and doing away with military ranks , he also sparked a conflict when he arrested the more conservative officer Voicu Niţescu . Niţescu escaped imprisonment and fled to Chelyabinsk , but support for his cause continued to be eroded by the privates ' growing support for the Bolsheviks . As a result of Niţescu ' s activity , supported by Gocan and Nicolae Nedelcu , Dr . iur . , Romanian loyalists in Chelyabinsk created a " Horia " Battalion ( or Regiment ) . Major Ioan Dâmbu was assigned to lead it , and , under Czechoslovak orders , the new Mărăşeşti and Reserve battalions were sent on mission to other localities . At the time , the two recruiting commissions in Vladivostok were also reactivated by the arrival of an international anti - Bolshevik force . Their propaganda leaflets , drafted by Bukovinan Iorgu G . Toma , reached all 40 POW camps in the region , urging any volunteer to make his own way to Chelyabinsk . That city emerged as a main site of Romanian political and military activity , with a reported population of 3 , 000 liberated Romanians ( July 1918 ) . Major Dâmbu put a momentary stop to Bolshevik influence by arresting Milovan and ordering the Samaran unit to Chelyabinsk . A complex set of sanctions were imposed , in the hope of curbing dissent , ranks were reintroduced , uniforms on the Romanian Land Forces model were distributed around , and a patriotic cultural section began to function . Taking a long and perilous journey , Elie Bufnea and some other officers of the original Darnytsia Corps joined up with " Horia " in mid autumn , at a moment when the Romanian soldiers were celebrating the breakup of Austria - Hungary . The union between " Horia " and various new arrivals from the western Siberian camps became a second Volunteer Corps , grouping as many as 5 , 000 volunteers . Through the alliance it formed with the anti - Bolshevik Czechoslovak Legions , it was a Romanian national contribution to the international coalition , but reluctantly so . Once relocated to Irkutsk and Omsk in late 1918 , the volunteers expressed their lack of interest in fighting against the Bolsheviks : after rebelling against Colonel Kadlec , their Czech technical adviser , the Corps was placed under Maurice Janin of the French Mission . A Romanian Legion of Siberia was formed from this structure , but only 3 , 000 soldiers still volunteered in its ranks — 2 , 000 others were progressively transferred out of the combat zone , shipped out to Romania or taken back to prisoner of war camps . As Şerban notes , the Western Front victory had opened the way for Transylvania ' s union , and " their only thought was to regain , as fast as possible , their families and their places of origin " . A special case was that of Bolshevik sympathizers : in October , Dâmbu was killed by his own soldiers , partly in retaliation for Milovan ' s arrest . The combative Legion defended the Trans - Siberian between Tayshet and Nizhneudinsk , where they forced the Bolsheviks into a truce and established their reputation for brutality with the nickname " Dikaya Divizia " ( Дикая Дивизия , " Wild Division " ) . The anti - Bolshevik formation and the Romanian non - combatants were eventually retrieved from the Russian Far East upon the end of foreign intervention , and were fully repatriated with the other Romanians from May 1920 . Milovan , court - martial led by the Legion , was cleared of the charges by a higher authority ; however , those who killed Dâmbu were sentenced as mutineers and assassins . Late echoes . The original Volunteers ' Corps went out of service in December 1918 , soon after German defeat and Transylvania ' s " de facto " union ( " see Great Union Day " ) . The Romanian volunteers ' rally in support of self - determination was judged by some Romanian authors as a direct predecessor of Alba Iulia ' s " Great National Assembly " , whereby union was being endorsed on Wilsonian principles . They call the Corps ' April 26 meeting a " 1st Alba Iulia " . Within Transylvania itself , opinion was more divided . Shortly before the Hungarian – Romanian War erupted , members of Corps were required to present themselves for reenlistment . The old rivals from within the Romanian National Party , who led the Directory Council of Transylvania after 1918 , allegedly refused to welcome the Corps back as a single unit , and plans for its mobilization had to be dropped . A new " Horia " Volunteer Corps was reportedly formed on the Crişul Alb River , as a first line of defense against the Hungarian Soviet Republic . In 1923 , the old Corps set up a veterans ' association , the Union of Volunteers , which carried the reputation of being a fascist - inspired section of the PNR . Petru Nemoianu strongly dismissed the accounts as " enormities " , and stated that the Union had good cause to reject the PNR for its handling of the Transylvanian issue . More sympathetic to the PNR , Simion Gocan was President of the Union in Bihor County , and complained about tensions with Nemoianu . The Union even ran for Transylvanian seats in Parliament during the 1931 general election . It formed an electoral cartel with Nicolae Iorga ' s Democratic Nationalist Party and against PNR ' s successors ( the National Peasants ' Party ) , but was only assigned non - eligible positions on the electoral lists . All praise for the Corps ' contributions was toned down between 1948 and 1989 , when Romania was a . According to Şerban , communist historiography presented the story " superficially , usually truncated or in the context of other events " . During the first wave of communization , repression touched several figures once associated with the Corps : Bufnea , Sever Bocu ( beaten to death in Sighet prison ) , Ghiţă Popp . Interest in the Volunteer Corps ' activity was only revived after the Romanian Revolution of 1989 . Among the relics left behind by the Corps is Dimitrie Lăzărel ' s banner , probably the only one of seven to have survived . In 1923 , Lăzărel paraded it at the Volunteers ' Union reunion in Arad . Referred to as the " Darniţa Banner " , it was donated to a local church , then exhibited by the Museum of Banat , Timişoara . The Kishinev flag was donated by the Corps to ASTRA National Museum Complex of Sibiu .