"Dac-am plecat, Ardealule, din tine" () is a

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 ...

n patriotic song. It is also simply known as "Ardealul" (). It appeared after the cession of

Northern Transylvania Northern Transylvania ( ro, Transilvania de Nord, hu, Észak-Erdély) was the region of the Kingdom of Romania that during World War II, as a consequence of the August 1940 territorial agreement known as the Second Vienna Award, became part of ...

Hungary Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia a ...

in 1940. At the time,

was also forced to give up

Bessarabia Bessarabia (; Gagauz: ''Besarabiya''; Romanian: ''Basarabia''; Ukrainian: ''Бессара́бія'') is a historical region in Eastern Europe, bounded by the Dniester river on the east and the Prut river on the west. About two thirds of Be ...

Northern Bukovina Bukovinagerman: Bukowina or ; hu, Bukovina; pl, Bukowina; ro, Bucovina; uk, Буковина, ; see also other languages. is a historical region, variously described as part of either Central or Eastern Europe (or both).Klaus Peter Berger ...

and the

Hertsa region The Hertsa region, also known as the Hertza region ( uk, Край Герца, Kraj Herca; ro, Ținutul Herța), is a region around the town of Hertsa within Chernivtsi Raion in the southern part of Chernivtsi Oblast in southwestern Ukraine, ne ...

to the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...

, as well as

Southern Dobruja Southern Dobruja, South Dobruja or Quadrilateral (Bulgarian: Южна Добруджа, ''Yuzhna Dobrudzha'' or simply Добруджа, ''Dobrudzha''; ro, Dobrogea de Sud, or ) is an area of northeastern Bulgaria comprising Dobrich and Silistra ...

Bulgaria Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Macedon ...

. The

Second Vienna Award The Second Vienna Award, also known as the Vienna Diktat, was the second of two territorial disputes that were arbitrated by Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy. On 30 August 1940, they assigned the territory of Northern Transylvania, including all ...

of 30 August, which caused the loss of Northern Transylvania, caused great consternation among the Romanian public. Its author is unknown, although it is thought to have been a contemporary soldier. It is recorded that demobilized soldiers from Northern Transylvania went to

Șiria Șiria (german: Hellburg; hu, Világos) is a commune in Arad County, Romania. According to the 2002 census it had 8,140 inhabitants. The commune is situated at from Arad, its administrative territory covers , and it lies in the contact zone o ...

and sung the first

stanza In poetry, a stanza (; from Italian language, Italian ''stanza'' , "room") is a group of lines within a poem, usually set off from others by a blank line or Indentation (typesetting), indentation. Stanzas can have regular rhyme scheme, rhyme and ...

of the song. Here, it quickly became popular among the inhabitants. It was also sung in 1944 during the Budapest Offensive when Romanian troops attacked Hungary to recover the region. Nowadays, it can be found in the

repertoire A repertoire () is a list or set of dramas, operas, musical compositions or roles which a company or person is prepared to perform. Musicians often have a musical repertoire. The first known use of the word ''repertoire'' was in 1847. It is a l ...

of the Romanian Army Choir or the male choir of the village of Finteușu Mare. From the latter, the folk singer Veta Biriș took the song and added it to her repertoire, with different lyrics written by a collaborator of her. These refer to the emigration of Romanians abroad since 1989. Another folk singer who has made his own version is Felix Gălan. Furthermore, it is a song used by

legionnaires The French Foreign Legion (french: Légion étrangère) is a corps of the French Army which comprises several specialties: infantry, cavalry, engineers, airborne troops. It was created in 1831 to allow foreign nationals into the French Army. It ...

in the country.

Lyrics

The lyrics of the original version (and their English translation) are the following:

References

External links

* {{Authority control Romanian patriotic songs 1940 songs Anti-Hungarian sentiment Songs of World War II Romanian-language songs