![30 years from Grivița strike of 1933](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/12/30_years_from_Grivi%C8%9Ba_strike_of_1933.jpg)
The
Great Depression
The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...
( ro, Marea Criză Economică or, rarely, ) of 1929–1933, which affected the whole world, had several consequences 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 ...
. Romania had been among the winner countries of
World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
. It received several new territories (
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 ...
,
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 BergerT ...
and
Transylvania
Transylvania ( ro, Ardeal or ; hu, Erdély; german: Siebenbürgen) is a historical and cultural region in Central Europe, encompassing central Romania. To the east and south its natural border is the Carpathian Mountains, and to the west the Ap ...
), with many
natural resource
Natural resources are resources that are drawn from nature and used with few modifications. This includes the sources of valued characteristics such as commercial and industrial use, aesthetic value, scientific interest and cultural value. O ...
s. However, the war caused heavy human and economic losses to the country. Romania had to fight
inflation
In economics, inflation is an increase in the general price level of goods and services in an economy. When the general price level rises, each unit of currency buys fewer goods and services; consequently, inflation corresponds to a reductio ...
and the non-
convertibility
Convertibility is the quality that allows money or other financial instruments to be converted into other liquid stores of value. Convertibility is an important factor in international trade, where instruments valued in different currencies must ...
of its
currency
A currency, "in circulation", from la, currens, -entis, literally meaning "running" or "traversing" is a standardization of money in any form, in use or circulation as a medium of exchange, for example banknotes and coins.
A more general def ...
, the
Romanian leu
The Romanian leu (, plural lei ; ISO code: RON; numeric code: 946) is the currency of Romania. It is subdivided into 100 (, singular: ), a word that means "money" in Romanian.
Etymology
The name of the currency means "lion", and is derive ...
(lei in plural). Romania then had a fundamentally
agrarian economy
An agrarian society, or agricultural society, is any community whose economy is based on producing and maintaining crops and Agricultural land, farmland. Another way to define an agrarian society is by seeing how much of a nation's total productio ...
, with
agriculture
Agriculture or farming is the practice of cultivating plants and livestock. Agriculture was the key development in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that enabled people to ...
accounting for 63.2% of the national
production
Production may refer to:
Economics and business
* Production (economics)
* Production, the act of manufacturing goods
* Production, in the outline of industrial organization, the act of making products (goods and services)
* Production as a stati ...
. The Great Depression affected Romania on several ways. For example, in 1933, the
net national income In national income accounting, net national income (NNI) is net national product (NNP) minus indirect taxes. Net national income encompasses the income of households, businesses, and the government. Net national income is defined as gross domestic ...
was of 172,614,000,000 lei, only 62% of that of 1929, which was of 275,180,000,000 lei. To fight the
economic crisis
An economy is an area of the production, distribution and trade, as well as consumption of goods and services. In general, it is defined as a social domain that emphasize the practices, discourses, and material expressions associated with the p ...
, the
National Bank of Romania
The National Bank of Romania ( ro, Banca Națională a României, BNR) is the central bank of Romania and was established in April 1880. Its headquarters are located in the capital city of Bucharest.
The National Bank of Romania is responsible ...
carried out various measures and the country took various
loan
In finance, a loan is the lending of money by one or more individuals, organizations, or other entities to other individuals, organizations, etc. The recipient (i.e., the borrower) incurs a debt and is usually liable to pay interest on that d ...
s. Help was also called upon from
France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...
.
The Great Depression led to a drop of 50% in
industrial production
Industrial production is a measure of output of the industrial sector of the economy. The industrial sector includes manufacturing, mining, and utilities. Although these sectors contribute only a small portion of gross domestic product (GDP), the ...
and an increase of 300,000 persons in
unemployment
Unemployment, according to the OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development), is people above a specified age (usually 15) not being in paid employment or self-employment but currently available for Work (human activity), w ...
in Romania. By the early 1930s, the price of a
quintal
The quintal or centner is a historical unit of mass in many countries which is usually defined as 100 base units, such as pounds or kilograms. It is a traditional unit of weight in France, Portugal, and Spain and their former colonies. It is com ...
of
wheat
Wheat is a grass widely cultivated for its seed, a cereal grain that is a worldwide staple food. The many species of wheat together make up the genus ''Triticum'' ; the most widely grown is common wheat (''T. aestivum''). The archaeologi ...
had fallen below the cost of harvesting it; agricultural goods, unprotected by any
customs
Customs is an authority or agency in a country responsible for collecting tariffs and for controlling the flow of goods, including animals, transports, personal effects, and hazardous items, into and out of a country. Traditionally, customs ...
measures, were left to the discretion of international competition, which contributed to the decrease of their prices by 60–70% compared to those of 1928 and 1929.
Landowners went bankrupt and the
peasant
A peasant is a pre-industrial agricultural laborer or a farmer with limited land-ownership, especially one living in the Middle Ages under feudalism and paying rent, tax, fees, or services to a landlord. In Europe, three classes of peasants ...
s had little left to eat or pay
tax
A tax is a compulsory financial charge or some other type of levy imposed on a taxpayer (an individual or legal entity) by a governmental organization in order to fund government spending and various public expenditures (regional, local, or n ...
es to the state. By 1932, some 2.5 million farmers had unpaid debts to banks, worth 52 billion lei.
Between October 1929 and July 1931, more than 17 billion lei were withdrawn from Romanian
bank
A bank is a financial institution that accepts deposits from the public and creates a demand deposit while simultaneously making loans. Lending activities can be directly performed by the bank or indirectly through capital markets.
Because ...
s. As a result, the banking system collapsed, and several banks, including the Romanian Peasantry Bank and the Bercovici Bank, went
bankrupt
Bankruptcy is a legal process through which people or other entities who cannot repay debts to creditors may seek relief from some or all of their debts. In most jurisdictions, bankruptcy is imposed by a court order, often initiated by the debt ...
. The banking crisis, announced as early as 1930, created a panic among
depositor
A deposit account is a bank account maintained by a financial institution in which a customer can deposit and withdraw money. Deposit accounts can be savings accounts, current accounts or any of several other types of accounts explained below.
...
s, as people began to withdraw their money en masse.
The peak of the financial disaster was reached in 1931, when one of the most important banks in Romania, the of
Aristide Blank
Aristide or Aristid Blank, also spelled Blanc or Blanck (January 1, 1883 – January 1, 1960), was a Romanian financier, economist, arts patron and playwright. His father, Mauriciu Blank, an assimilated and naturalized Romanian Jew, was manager o ...
, declared bankruptcy.
On 28 January 1933, the
Grivița strike of 1933
Grivița () is a district of Bucharest, Romania, centered on the Grivița Railway Yards (''Atelierele CFR Grivița''), which were and still are an important landmark within the manufacturing landscape of the city. Located near Gara de Nord, thei ...
was started at the Grivița Workshops in
Bucharest
Bucharest ( , ; ro, București ) is the capital and largest city of Romania, as well as its cultural, industrial, and financial centre. It is located in the southeast of the country, on the banks of the Dâmbovița River, less than north of ...
by workers of
Căile Ferate Române
Căile Ferate Române (; abbreviated as the CFR) is the state railway carrier of Romania. As of 2014, the railway network of Romania consists of , of which (37.4%) are electrified. The total track length is , of which (38.5%) are electrifie ...
(CFR). The strike was brought about by the increasingly poor working conditions of railway employees in the context of the Great Depression in Romania.
See also
*
Economy of Romania
An economy is an area of the production, distribution and trade, as well as consumption of goods and services. In general, it is defined as a social domain that emphasize the practices, discourses, and material expressions associated with the ...
*
History of Romania
This article covers the history and bibliography of Romania and links to specialized articles.
Prehistory
34,950-year-old remains of modern humans with a possible Neanderthalian trait were discovered in present-day Romania when the ''Peș ...
References
Economic history of Romania
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 ...
1920s in Romania
1930s in Romania
Poverty in Romania
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