men. Rumania was to remain part of the Ottoman empire within the limits fixed by the capitulations and the treaty of Paris.
The first Rumanian ministry formed under the new prince was composed of the leading statesmen of all political parties, Foreign and domestic politics, 1866-70. care being taken that the two provinces should be equally represented. A new constitution was unanimously passed by the chamber on the 11th of July. It provided for an Upper and Lower House of Representatives, and conferred on the prince the right of an absolute and unconditional veto on all legislation. Other reforms were urgently needed. There was an empty treasury, and the floating debt amounted to £7,000,000; maladministration was rampant in every department of the state; the national guard was mutinous, while the small army of regulars was badly organized and inefficient. The existence of famine and cholera added to the difficulties of the government, and in March 1867 the Lower House, by a majority of three, passed the laconic resolution, “The chamber inflicts a vote of blame on the government.” As the result of this vote M. Kretzulescu, a Moderate Conservative, was called to the head of affairs, and I. C. Bratianu entered the government as minister of the interior. The new ministry, of which Bratianu was the leading spirit, showed considerable energy: a concession was granted for the construction of the first Rumanian railway, from Bucharest to Giurgevo, and the reorganization of the army was undertaken. Among other less judicious measures, a decree was passed ostensibly directed against all vagabond foreigners, but really aimed at the Jews, large numbers of whom, including many respected landowners and men of business, were imprisoned, or expelled, from Jassy, Bacau and other parts of Moldavia. This harsh treatment created intense indignation abroad, especially in France and Great Britain; and the emperor Napoleon wrote personally to Prince Charles, protesting against the persecution. The country could not afford to lose the goodwill of the emperor of the French, at that time one of the most powerful factors in Europe—in July 1869 Bratianu, although immensely popular, found it necessary to resign office, and with him fell the rest of the cabinet.
On the 15th of September 1869, Prince Charles married Princess Elizabeth of Wied, afterwards celebrated under her literary name of Carmen Sylva.[1] In the same year the army was reorganized, and a rural police created. Every able-bodied citizen was rendered liable to give three days' work yearly towards the construction of roads, or to pay a small tax as an equivalent. An important railway concession, which subsequently caused grave political complications, was granted to the German contractors Strausberg and Offenheim.
Much excitement was aroused in Rumania by the outbreak of the war between Prussia and France. The sympathies of The rebellion of 1870. the Rumanians were entirely on the side of the French, whom they regarded as a kindred Latin race, while those of the prince were naturally with his native country. The excitement culminated in a revolutionary outbreak at Ploesci, where a hot-headed deputy, Candianu Popescu, after the mob had stormed the militia barracks, issued a proclamation deposing Prince Charles and appointing General Golescu regent. Owing to the loyalty of the regular army the insurrection was speedily quelled. But the feeling in the country was strong against the German sovereign, who seriously thought of abdicating when a jury acquitted the accused rebels. On the 7th of December he wrote confidentially to the sovereigns whose representatives had signed the treaty of Paris, suggesting that the future of Rumania should be regulated by a European congress.
A few days subsequently the prince learned that the German railway contractor Strausberg was unwilling or unable to pay The railway crisis of 1871. the coupons of the railway bonds due on the 1st of January 1871, which were mostly held by influential people in Germany. This threw the responsibility of payment on Rumania, and was a severe blow to the prince, through whose instrumentality the loan had been placed. Matters were brought to a crisis by the Prussian government threatening to force the Rumanian government to provide for the unpaid coupons. The country was financially in no condition to comply. Bitter indignation prevailed against everything German, and culminated in an attack on the German colony in Bucharest on the 22nd of March 1871. On the following morning the prince summoned the members of the council of regency of 1866, and informed them of his intention to place the government in their hands. Lascar Catargiu and General Golescu, the only two members present, as well as Dimitrie Sturdza and other influential persons, declined to accept the responsibility. Catargiu offered to unite the different sections of the Conservative party in order to deal with the crisis. The prince accepted his offer. The elections took place early in May 1871, and the government, to which all the most respectable elements in the country had rallied, obtained a large majority. When parliament met in May the prince had a most enthusiastic reception. The anti-German feeling in the country had greatly subsided, in consequence of the crushing defeat of France; and in January 1872 the chambers passed a law by which Rumania undertook to pay the railway coupons. The German syndicate was satisfied, and the railway crisis ended.
Catargiu's ministry was the tenth that had held office in the five years since the prince's arrival, but it was the first one that The Catargiu ministry, 1871-75. was stable. In March 1875 the budget for 1876, amounting to £4,000,000, nearly double in amount that of the year 1866, was passed without difficulty, and on the 28th of the month the parliamentary session closed. It was the first occasion in Rumania that the same chamber had sat for the whole constitutional period of four years, and also the first time that the same ministry had opened and closed the same parliament.
Only the fall of the Catargiu ministry saved the country from revolution. The leading Liberals had promoted a conspiracy for the arrest and expulsion of the prince, and the formation of a provisional government under General Dabija. The prospect of a return to power put an end to these machinations. Catargiu's ministry was succeeded by an administration under General Florescu, known as the “cabinet of the generals,” and, a month later, by the so-called “ministry of conciliation” under M. Jepureanu. A commission of the chambers drew up an indictment against Catargiu and his late colleagues, accusing them of violating the constitution and the public liberties, squandering the state revenues, and other abuse of power. Unable to stem the tide of popular passion, which was crying for the impeachment of Catargiu, Jepureanu resigned office, and Bratianu formed a new Liberal cabinet, destined to guide the country through many eventful years.
But the re-opening of the Eastern Question was destined to bring to a climax the great struggle of Rumania for existence The Russo-Turkish War of 1877-78. and independence, and temporarily to throw into the shade all domestic questions. The insurrection in Bulgaria, with its accompanying horrors, followed by the deposition of sultan Murad and the succession of the sultan Abdul Hamid, contributed to indicate the near approach of a Russo-Turkish war. Russia had shown symptoms of anger against Rumania for not having taken up a decided attitude in the approaching struggle, and the Russian ambassador Ignatiev had some months previously threatened that his government would seize Rumania as a pledge as soon as the Turks occupied Servia and Montenegro. Prince Charles decided to send a mission, composed of Bratianu and Colonel Slaniceanu (the minister of war), to the imperial headquarters at Livadia. They were well received by the emperor (October 1876), but in spite of mixed threats and cajoleries on the part of Gorchakov, Ignatiev and others, Bratianu returned without having definitively committed his country to active measures.
On the 14th of November six Russian army corps were mobilized to form the army of the south under the grand duke
