General elections were held in the

Kingdom of Romania The Kingdom of Romania ( ro, Regatul României) was a constitutional monarchy that existed in Romania from 13 March ( O.S.) / 25 March 1881 with the crowning of prince Karl of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen as King Carol I (thus beginning the Romanian ...

in February–March 1892, ending in a major victory for the incumbent

Conservative Party The Conservative Party is a name used by many political parties around the world. These political parties are generally right-wing though their exact ideologies can range from center-right to far-right. Political parties called The Conservative P ...

cabinet. The elections reunited the mainstream Conservatives, under

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is not ...

Lascăr Catargiu, with the breakaway ''

Junimea ''Junimea'' was a Romanian literary society founded in Iași in 1863, through the initiative of several foreign-educated personalities led by Titu Maiorescu, Petre P. Carp, Vasile Pogor, Theodor Rosetti and Iacob Negruzzi. The foremost personali ...

'' faction. The cabinet which organized and won the election, then governed to 1895, reunited three doyens of Romanian conservatism: Catargiu,

Petre P. Carp Petre P. Carp (; also Petrache Carp, Francized ''Pierre Carp'', Ioana Pârvulescu"O adresă high-life", in ''România Literară'', Nr. 25/2010 occasionally ''Comte Carpe''; 28 Mircea Dumitriu"Petre P. Carp – un suflet, un caracter, o idee", in ...

, and Take Ionescu. All three represented the political line most favored by

Carol I Carol I or Charles I of Romania (20 April 1839 – ), born Prince Karl of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen, was the monarch of Romania from 1866 to his death in 1914, ruling as Prince (''Domnitor'') from 1866 to 1881, and as King from 1881 to 1914. He w ...

, King of Romania. The elections for both

Assembly Assembly may refer to: Organisations and meetings * Deliberative assembly, a gathering of members who use parliamentary procedure for making decisions * General assembly, an official meeting of the members of an organization or of their representa ...

and

Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

were unusually free in their historical context, but still noted for their various irregularities. The Opposition, led by the National Liberal Party (PNL), was poorly prepared for the race, having failed to reunite around a common platform. The years 1891–1893 witnessed the defeat and passing of a liberal founders' generation, under brothers

Ion An ion () is an atom or molecule with a net electrical charge. The charge of an electron is considered to be negative by convention and this charge is equal and opposite to the charge of a proton, which is considered to be positive by conven ...

and

Dimitrie Brătianu Dimitrie Brătianu (1818–1892) was the Prime Minister of Romania from 22 April to 21 June 1881 and Minister of Foreign Affairs from 10 April 1881 until 8 June 1881. He was the son of Dincă Brătianu and the older brother of Ion C. Brătianu. ...

, and the ascendancy of a new party elite, under

Dimitrie Sturdza Dimitrie Sturdza (, in full Dimitrie Alexandru Sturdza-Miclăușanu; 10 March 183321 October 1914) was a Romanian statesman and author of the late 19th century, and president of the Romanian Academy between 1882 and 1884. Biography Born in Iași, ...

. This interval was used by Carp for the advancement of various fiscal and administrative reforms, some of which were violently resisted by the middle- and lower-class population. The period also rekindled debates about the

census suffrage Suffrage, political franchise, or simply franchise, is the right to vote in public, political elections and referendums (although the term is sometimes used for any right to vote). In some languages, and occasionally in English, the right to v ...

, contributing to the emergence of a small Social Democratic Workers' Party in 1893.

Context

During most of 1891, Romania had a "Liberal Conservative Party" cabinet headed by

Ion Emanuel Florescu Ion Emanuel Florescu (7 August 1819, Râmnicu Vâlcea, Wallachia – 10 May 1893, Paris, France) was a Romanian army general who served as Prime Minister of Romania for a short time in a provisional government in 1876 (4 April – 26 Ap ...

, but maneuvered by Catargiu, the

Interior Minister An interior minister (sometimes called a minister of internal affairs or minister of home affairs) is a cabinet official position that is responsible for internal affairs, such as public security, civil registration and identification, emergency ...

; it was supported in the Assembly by

George D. Vernescu George D. Vernescu (1 July 1829 – 3 July 1900) was a Wallachian-born Romanian politician. Early life Born in Bucharest, he attended school there until 1855, when he left for the University of Paris. Two years later, he obtained a doctorate in ...

and his "Sincere Liberal" group, which had torn itself off from the PNL. According to cultural historian

Z. Ornea Zigu Ornea (; born Zigu Orenstein Andrei Vasilescu"La ceas aniversar – Cornel Popa la 75 de ani: 'Am refuzat numeroase demnități pentru a rămâne credincios logicii și filosofiei analitice.' ", in Revista de Filosofie Analitică', Vol. II, N ...

, Vernescu had "poisoned his relations with the ationalliberals to such a degree that, unable to return into the fold, he made it his mission to take up a comfortable and authoritative seat on the leadership of the conservative party." The ''

'' society had by then drifted away from Catargiu's party, declaring their incompatibility with Vernescu, as well as with Catargiu's left-wing partner,

George Panu George Panu (March 9, 1848 – November 6, 1910) was a Moldavian, later Romanian memoirist, literary critic, journalist and politician. A native of Iași, educated there as well as in Paris and Brussels, he worked as a schoolteacher and lawyer, b ...

. From June 1889, the ''Junimists'' under

Titu Maiorescu Titu Liviu Maiorescu (; 15 February 1840 – 18 June 1917) was a Romanian literary critic and politician, founder of the ''Junimea'' Society. As a literary critic, he was instrumental in the development of Romanian culture in the second half of ...

where an autonomous "Constitutional Party", formed around the newspapers ''

Epoca Epoca may refer to: Media * ''Epoca'' (magazine), Italian news magazine published, 1950–1997 * ''Época'' (Brazilian magazine), Brazilian news magazine established in 1998 * ''Época'' (Spanish magazine), Spanish weekly news magazine, 1985– ...

'' and '' România Liberă''. The Catargiu–Florescu alliance had replaced another Conservative cabinet, headed by General

Gheorghe Manu Gheorghe Manu (26 July 1833, Bucharest, Wallachia – 16 May 1911, Bucharest, Kingdom of Romania) was a Romanian Army general, artillery inspector and statesman. He served as Prime Minister (1889–1891), Minister of War, Minister of the Inter ...

, and conditionally supported by ''Junimea''. The latter's fall had marked the definitive divorce between the Conservatives and ''Junimea'': as Minister of Education, Maiorescu had failed to pass his law on schooling reform, and had withdrawn the Constitutionalists from the coalition. Lacking ''Junimist'' support, Florescu's administration won the elections of April 1891 with an inconsistent majority. The PNL-led Opposition had 60 of 183 deputies, including 7 ''Junimists'' and

Vasile Morțun Vasile G. Morțun (November 30, 1860 – July 20, 1919) was a Romanian politician, playwright and prose writer. Biography Origins, journalism and political beginnings Born in Roman, he came from a wealthy Moldavian '' boyar'' family, and was o ...

, the maverick socialist. However, they also signified a defeat for prominent PNL figures: Panu,

Nicolae Fleva Nicolae Fleva (; also known as Nicu Fleva, Correspondent"Scrisoare din București" in ''Românul (Arad)'', Nr. 14/1912, p.4 (digitized by the Babeș-Bolyai Universitybr>Transsylvanica Online Library Francized ''Nicolas Fléva'';Ion Brătianu, who died soon after this personal deception. In early November, Florescu's coalition fell apart:

King King is the title given to a male monarch in a variety of contexts. The female equivalent is queen, which title is also given to the consort of a king. *In the context of prehistory, antiquity and contemporary indigenous peoples, the tit ...

and various Conservative politicians demanded Vernescu's expulsion, and a "Conservative concentration"—that is to say, an ideologically coherent government, with the inclusion of ''Junimea'' delegates. Conflicts also erupted between Catargiu and Vernescu, over the appointment of

Nicolae Moret Blaremberg Nicolae Moret Blaremberg (December 24, 1837–January 25, 1896) was a Romanian politician. He was the son of Vladimir Blaremberg, a military engineers’ officer in the Imperial Russian Army, who settled in Bucharest in 1828 and was related by ...

as Minister of Justice, and over Vernescu's vetoing of Catargist candidates in the parliamentary bureaus. The government was split by other historic rivalries—Florescu and Pache Protopopescu, the Mayor of Bucharest, had both defected from Vernescu's party, and only had conditional support from Catargiu. At the time, Protopopescu resigned from his post, giving Vernescu a token victory. On November 18, Catargiu,

Iacob Lahovary Iacob N. Lahovary ( ro, Iacob N. Lahovari; 16 January 1846 – 7 February 1907) was a member of the Romanian aristocracy, a general, politician and diplomat who served as the Minister of War and Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Kingdom of ...

and

Constantin Olănescu Constantin P. Olănescu (1845–May 14, 1928) was a Wallachian, later Romanian politician. Descended from an old Oltenian ''boyar'' family, his father Pană was also in politics. He was born in Bucharest and studied at the École Centrale des A ...

resigned from the cabinet, leaving Florescu without parliamentary backing. Florescu attempted to present the king with a reformed cabinet, but was snubbed by the latter; Catargiu was given a mandate to form his cabinet, which took office nine days later. On December 9, however, a consolidated opposition of PNL and "Sincere Liberal" parliamentarians passed a

motion of no confidence A motion of no confidence, also variously called a vote of no confidence, no-confidence motion, motion of confidence, or vote of confidence, is a statement or vote about whether a person in a position of responsibility like in government or mana ...

. The king called in early elections, but obtained from Catargiu a promise to form the "Conservative consolidation" before that time. He refused to consider a PNL cabinet under

, because he felt that the party was in disarray after Brătianu's death, and also because Catargiu, unlike many of the PNL doctrinaires, fully endorsed Romania's participation in the

Triple Alliance Triple Alliance may refer to: * Aztec Triple Alliance (1428–1521), Tenochtitlan, Texcoco, and Tlacopan and in central Mexico * Triple Alliance (1596), England, France, and the Dutch Republic to counter Spain * Triple Alliance (1668), England, the ...

. On November 15, Catargiu had visited Maiorescu in his home, for the first time in over a decade of mutual antipathy.Ornea, p. 326 The consolidation pact was sealed by December 12, when the Catargiu cabinet came to include three ''Junimists'':

, Menelas Ghermani, and Alexandru Marghiloman; also joining the team, and weakening the Opposition, was a popular former PNL cadre, Take Ionescu.

Campaign and results

By February 13, the government had presented its comprehensive program: "It promises various welcome reforms, such as the improvement of fortunes for the small landowners and industrialists, the immovability of judges, the reorganization of sanitation services, a partial reorganization of the army, possibly the reduction of tariffs, and education reform." This move prompted the various liberal factions to speed up their own merger, although, as noted by Conservative journalist

Constantin Bacalbașa Constantin is an Aromanian, Megleno-Romanian and Romanian male given name. It can also be a surname. For a list of notable people called Constantin, see Constantine (name). See also * Constantine (name) * Konstantin The first name Konsta ...

, they were "taken up by surprise, disorganized, ..divided into four factions, with no single government platform." The elections were widely seen as marred by irregularities, and to some degree fraudulent. According to Bacalbașa: "as always in Romania, the administration's pressures n the votersran very high."Bacalbașa, p. 142 However, Ornea suggests that they were overall "free elections", "more relaxed" that usual, and offering genuine legitimacy to the consolidation cabinet. A total 68,295 voters were registered for the Assembly, with 57,766 (85%) in the 2nd and 3rd Colleges—of low- and medium-income electors. 46,880, or 68.6% voted, of which 2.6% were blank or invalid ballots. There were 16,406 voters registered for Senate, with 9,120 (55.5%) in the 2nd (and last) College. 11,188, or 68.1%, cast their votes, with 1.6% of these being blank or invalid ballots. The result was an uncontested majority for the Conservatives and the ''Junimists''. Following the first round of February, 137 of 183 deputies were with the Catargiu majority, and 27 with the Opposition; 19 more sections were left to settle during

ballotage The two-round system (TRS), also known as runoff voting, second ballot, or ballotage, is a voting method used to elect a single candidate, where voters cast a single vote for their preferred candidate. It generally ensures a majoritarian resul ...

in March. Writer

Radu Rosetti Radu Rosetti (Francization, Francized ''Rodolphe Rosetti''; September 14, 1853 – February 12, 1926) was a Moldavian, later Romanian, politician, historian, and novelist, father of General Radu R. Rosetti, and a prominent member of the Rosetti fa ...

, a protégé of Catargiu's, was among those reelected, after defeating Radu Ralea in an intense campaign at

Fălciu County Fălciu County was an administrative division of Moldavia (until 1859), then a county ('' judeṭ'') in Romania between 1859 and 1950. Its capital was the town of Huși. Another important town was Fălciu. History Fălciu was a land (''ṭinut'') ...

's 3rd College. Conservative winners also included

A. C. Cuza Alexandru C. Cuza (8 November 1857 – 3 November 1947), also known as A. C. Cuza, was a Romanian far-right politician and economist. Early life Born in Iași, Cuza attended secondary school in his native city and in Dresden, Saxony, Germany, ...

, the former socialist and ''Junimist'', emerging as an antisemitic doctrinaire, who took his first mandate in the Assembly. Five more candidates of the PNL-led alliance won seats in the lower chamber during ballotage; they were joined by three independents, who caucused with the Opposition. One of these was the "peasant deputy",

Constantin Dobrescu-Argeș Constantin I. Dobrescu, better known as Dobrescu-Argeș (June 28, 1856 – December 10, 1903), was a Romanian peasant activist and politician, also noted as a teacher, journalist, and jurist. Active from his native Mușătești, in Argeș County ...

. In Senate, the government counted on 57 supporters to 17,Bacalbașa, p. 143 from a total of 112 eligible senators (8 more were appointed by the Romanian Orthodox Church). Most factional leaders, including Vernescu, Panu,

, Eugeniu Stătescu, and

Petre S. Aurelian Petre Sebeşanu Aurelian, 13 December 1833 – 24 January 1909, was a Romanian economist, politician and academic. A member of the National Liberal Party (PNL), he served as a Prime Minister of Romania between 2 December 1896 and 12 April 1897. ...

, were elected to either Assembly or Senate. An exception was George D. Pallade, who lost, for the first time in his career, at Bârlad.

Aftermath

The "Conservative concentration" was unique in its era, in that it provided political stability under a Conservative cabinet—variously described as a "barely disguised ''Junimist'' government" or a Conservative coalition "on the basis of ''Junimist'' principles." Virtually unopposed in the Assembly, the Catargiu administration was able to push through Carp's reforms. This was tested immediately by the votes for

and Senate Presidents, going to General Manu and G. G. Catacuzino, respectively. The Catargiu–Carp partnership ran a full term in office, to 1895—the first such Conservative cabinet since 1871, and the last one in history. According to Bacalbașa, it should be seen as "one of Romania's most competent and most civilized"—functioning so despite the mutual resentment between its two leaders. As noted by Ornea, the cabinet was primarily kept because it guaranteed the preservation of Carol's foreign policy. D. Brătianu, who had taken over the PNL leadership from his deceased brother, also died in June 1892, leaving the party to be run and reorganized by Sturdza. Although the Catargiu regime was unusually stable, the Opposition mustered enough support to sabotage some of Carp's laws. Carp's move to overtax rural industries and make them support administrative decentralization infuriated the populace. In April 1893, instigated by Sturdza, wagoners and artisans blocked the entrance to Parliament on

Dealul Mitropoliei Dealul Mitropoliei (, ''Metropolitanate Hill''), also called Dealul Patriarhiei (, ''Patriarchate Hill''), is a small hill in Bucharest, Romania and an important historic, cultural, architectural, religious and touristic point in the national capit ...

; by 1894, these disturbances erupted into full-blown riots in various parts of the country. Slowly turning toward

ethnic An ethnic group or an ethnicity is a grouping of people who identify with each other on the basis of shared attributes that distinguish them from other groups. Those attributes can include common sets of traditions, ancestry, language, history, ...

and

economic nationalism Economic nationalism, also called economic patriotism and economic populism, is an ideology that favors state interventionism over other market mechanisms, with policies such as domestic control of the economy, labor, and capital formation, incl ...

, especially so during the ''

Transylvanian Memorandum The ''Transylvanian Memorandum'' ( ro, Memorandumul Transilvaniei) was a petition sent in 1892 by the leaders of the Romanians of Transylvania to the Austro-Hungarian Emperor-King Franz Joseph, asking for equal ethnic rights with the Hungarians, ...

'' affair of 1892, Sturdza put up "a sustained effort ..to overturn the Conservative government. The next three years were by all accounts one of the most tumultuous periods in the history of Romanian political parties between the achievement of independence and the First World War." The PNL, meanwhile, became more open toward proposals for electoral reform, which came from the party's left-wing. In November 1892, promises for a gradual change in this area were included in the new PNL program, published at

Iași Iași ( , , ; also known by other alternative names), also referred to mostly historically as Jassy ( , ), is the second largest city in Romania and the seat of Iași County. Located in the historical region of Moldavia, it has traditionally ...

. Overall, however, the PNL's leadership rejected the concept of

universal suffrage Universal suffrage (also called universal franchise, general suffrage, and common suffrage of the common man) gives the right to vote to all adult citizens, regardless of wealth, income, gender, social status, race, ethnicity, or political stanc ...

, and looked into more moderate alternatives. As historian Sorin Radu argues: "the PNL was agitating for electoral reform especially when it was in the opposition, when it could promise a lot of things, but once in power it found reasons not to live up to such promises." The opportunity was seized in 1893 by a smaller anti-establishment group, the

Romanian Social Democratic Workers' Party The Social Democratic Workers' Party of Romania (, PSDMR), established in 1893, was the first modern socialist political party in Romania. A Marxist organization, the PSDMR was part of the Second International and sent its representatives to the ...

(PSDMR), which introduced universal suffrage among its core demands. With Morțun among its founders, the PSDMR emerged from the fusion of socialist clubs, adopting a localized variant of the Erfurt Program as its platform. Two years later, Dobrescu-Argeș also set up his very own "Peasants' Party", the first entirely agrarian political group in Romanian history, and significant for opposing both the National Liberals and the Conservatives.Bacalbașa, pp. 177–178; Hitchins, p. 122

Notes

References

*''Anuarul Statistic al României'', 1912. *

, ''Bucureștii de altădată. Vol. II: 1885 — 1901''. Bucharest: Editura Ziarului ''Universul'', 1928. *

Keith Hitchins Keith Arnold Hitchins (April 2, 1931 – November 1, 2020) was an American historian and a professor of Eastern European history at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, specializing in Romania and its history. He was born in Schenect ...

, ''Rumania, 1866–1947''. Oxford etc.:

Oxford University Press Oxford University Press (OUP) is the university press of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world, and its printing history dates back to the 1480s. Having been officially granted the legal right to print books ...

, 1994. *

, ''Junimea și junimismul'', Vol. I. Bucharest: Editura Minerva, 1998. * Constantin Titel Petrescu, ''Socialismul în România. 1835 – 6 septembrie 1940''. Bucharest: Dacia Traiana, . y.*Sorin Radu, "Liberalii și problema reformei electorale în România (1866 — 1914) (I)", in ''Annales Universitatis Apulensis, Series Historica'', Nr. 4–5, 2000–2001, pp. 131–144. *

Radu R. Rosetti Radu R. Rosetti ( – June 2, 1949) was a Romanian brigadier general, military historian, librarian, and a titular member of the Romanian Academy. Biography Early years Born in Căiuți, Bacău County, he was part of the old ''boyar'' Rosetti fam ...

, ''Mărturisiri, I''. Bucharest:

Convorbiri Literare ''Convorbiri Literare'' ( Romanian: ''Literary Talks'') is a Romanian literary magazine published in Romania. It is among the most important journals of the nineteenth-century Romania. History and profile ''Convorbiri Literare'' was founded by ...

, 1933. {{Romanian elections

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, S ...

1892 Events January–March * January 1 – Ellis Island begins accommodating immigrants to the United States. * February 1 - The historic Enterprise Bar and Grill was established in Rico, Colorado. * February 27 – Rudolf Diesel applies for ...

1892 in Romania February 1892 events March 1892 events