While most people today have at least heard of Romania, if you’re not Romanian, you’re not likely to be familiar with the history and culture of this beautiful country and its people. If you have ever thought about visiting Romania, it is probably a good idea to get some basic knowledge of Romanian history and the events that shaped the diverse people of Romania.

One of the biggest points of pride in the Romanian historical consciousness is the descent of the Romanian people from the fierce, independent Dacians on the one hand, and their Roman occupier civilization on the other. Most Romanian students are taught from the beginning that the two forefathers of the Romanian people are the heroic Dacian king Decebalus and the Roman Emperor Trajan. Decebalus ruled the independent kingdom of Dacia from A.D. 87-106 and fought three fierce wars against the mighty Roman Empire. He was finally defeated by the Roman Legions in A.D. 106, when he committed suicide rather than fall into Roman captivity and humiliation.

Roman Dacia was ruled as a province of the Roman Empire until the mid to late third century, when frequent barbarian invasions and political troubles at home forced the Romans to abandon the province. Long after the fall of Rome, in the medieval period, Romanians inhabited three principal regions: Wallachia, Moldova, and the Principality of Transylvania, the last of which was mainly under direct or indirect Hungarian rule throughout most of the last millennium. The union of the three provinces, as well as other outlying Romanian regions such as Bucovina, into one Romanian political entity has been the centuries-long dream of all Romanian people, and it was finally achieved after the defeat and dissolution of the Austro-Hungarian Empire (then-owner of Transylvania). Romanians around the world celebrate December 1, 1918 as the greatest landmark in the formation of Greater Romania.

After World War II, Romania also endured forty years of Communist tyranny under the Stalinist and very Soviet-friendly leader Gheorghe Gheorghiu-Dej until 1965. Romania was then taken over by a notorious dictator, Nicolae Ceausescu, whose principal goal was to develop a semi-independent Romanian Communism with strong Romanian nationalistic elements. After the fall of Communism in the Eastern Bloc in 1989 and the bloody Romanian Revolution, Romania saw a stagnant transition in the 1990s. However, the 21st century brought tremendous economic growth and liberalization as well as the improvement of the newly-democratic political culture.

To find out more about modern Romanian economy, the Romanian media, and all the benefits of visiting Romania, check out the pages above!