ION AGRIGOROAIEI
“Today, Greater Romania is at Iaşi.” The Reforms and the Glorious Resistance at Mărăşeşti
Abstract
The present article analyzes Romania’s participation in World War I during 1917. Considerably reduced from a territorial point of view, the Romanian state led by the authorities that had taken refuge in Iaşi had to make sustained efforts for reestablishing and maintaining its interior order in the context of the spread of Bolshevik ideas from Russia.
Battalions of volunteers from Transylvania and Bukovina joined the reorganized Romanian Army. Beside the perspective of Great Romania, war has brought the issue of the land and electoral reforms to the attention of Romanian politics, given the fact that the Army consisted mainly of peasants. In the summer of 1917, the military victories obtained against the Central Powers at Mărăști, Mărășești, and Oituz allowed the Romanian state to avoid complete dissolution. However, the armistice agreed by Russia with the Central Powers determined Romania to exit war as well and adopt new measures under the circumstances of the difficulties caused by the demobilization of the Russian Army.
Keywords: World War I, Romania, Romanian Army, volunteers, unification, land reform, electoral reform, military operations