The 1923 Constitution reflected Romania's territorial gains in the wake of WWI.
The WWI victory of the Entente, a coalition of nations that Romania joined in 1916, led to the union with the Kingdom of Romania of territories with a majority Romanian population in Tsarist Russia and Austro-Hungary. In March 1918, Bessarabia or the eastern Moldavian land between the rivers Prut and Dniester that had been annexed by Russia in 1812 joined Romania, followed in November and December by Banat, Bukovina and Transylvania. The Kingdom of Greater Romania thus created was a brand new and much more diverse entity than what had existed before.
Romania's 125-year-old constitutional history began in 1866, with the coronation of Carol of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen and the adoption of the first founding act of the Romanian state. To date, Romania has had no fewer than seven constitutions, each reflecting a different type of political regime. The 1866 Constitution was the founding constitution, that of 1923 was the constitution of the unification, that of 1938 was the expression of Carol II's authoritarian regime, while the next three constitutions were adopted during the communist regime, in 1948, 1952 and 1965. The final one, which is still in force today, was adopted in 1991 and reinstated the values of democracy after the overthrow of the communist regime in 1989.
The Constitution of 1923, which was published in the Official Gazette on 29th March, represented the most refined expression of Romanian constitutional law. The anniversary of 100 years since its adoption is an opportunity to remember the biggest Romanian democratic state that was created in the aftermath of WWI and for which around half a million Romanians sacrificed their lives, at a time when the country was led by King Ferdinand and Queen Marie.
The Romanian Academy and the Italian Embassy in Bucharest celebrated together the anniversary of the 100 years that have since passed. The president of the Romanian Academy, the historian Ioan-Aurel Pop, outlined the most important moments in Romania's constitutional history and discussed the 19th century Romanian legislation that helped lay the foundations of the future Romanian state:
"Romania had already had a constitution from 1866, but the general view was that it was no longer fit for purpose after 1918. Many said the Romanians drafted their constitution very late. In fact, they did so at the right time, together with most modern states in Europe. Italy had its own constitution in 1861 after the unification, incorporating the 1848 constitution created after the revolution in Palermo."
The history of the period prior to the Romanian Constitution in the 19th century is fascinating. We can see the old customs disappearing, only to make room for other modern values replacing them. One such value was the importance of the popular vote.
The historian Ioan-Aurel Pop:
"Just as we learned in school, the Constitution was the fundamental law of the states. I should add of the modern states, there were no constitutions in the Middle Ages, much as some pundits would like to push things back in the past. In the Romanian space, the Organic Regulations of 1831-1832 for Wallachia and Moldavia or the Leopoldine Diploma of 1691 for Transylvania had been imposed under foreign domination, having a mere constitutional value, without, however, being the democratic expressions of the Romanian people's elected personalities. The Constitution of 1866 was the first such genuine act, written following an advanced European model, the Belgian model, and tailored to suit the Romanian realities, in a state that had barely become a constitutional monarchy. "
The 19th century ended properly in the 1920s of the 20th century, after the great world clash of the 1914 -1918. Everything changed yet again, while the new circumstances of the newly-emerging state of Greater Romania lead up to the birth of a new Constitution.
Ioan-Aurel Pop:
"In 1918, Romania doubled its population and enlarged its territory, to be optimistic, not twice but almost three times as much. Therefore, a unification was needed and a uniformization, primarily a legislative one. And that, only the Constitution could accomplish. Our Constitution of 1923, adopted by Parliament, was a democratic one, considering the level of democracy at that time, and I'd like to add, the level of democracy in the South-east European states. The document declared Romania a national, unitary and indivisible state, with an inalienable territory. It was dubbed the Constitution of the union and was rather short-lived. "
Unfortunately, the Constitution of 1923 fell prey to both totalitarian regimes, fascism and communism. In 1938, it fell apart under the blows of fascist ideas, while in 1948, when it was barely reinstated, it was dismantled by the regime of the Communist Party.
The historian Ioan-Aurel Pop:
"After less than two decades of being in force, in 1938, Romania had another constitution. Then, after World War Two, the one of 1923 had been officially reinstated and was in force until the official instatement of the communist regime in 1947. A little over four decades of communism followed, while the present constitution of Romania, adopted after 1989, with all the ensuing changes, owes a lot to the content of the old constitution of 1923. It was a document that was elaborated after a long period of reflection, it symbolized the formation, from a domestic legislative point of view, of unified Romania, also proving its perennial dimension. "
The Constitution of 1923 re-emerged in 1989 as a re-founding document of democracy. Its centenary today proves it still is a landmark of the heritage of Romanian judicial thought.
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