Artur or Arthur Văitoianu (14 April 1864 in

Izmail Izmail (, ; ; , or ; ) is a List of cities in Ukraine, city and List of hromadas of Ukraine, municipality on the Danube river in Odesa Oblast in south-western Ukraine. It serves as the administrative center of Izmail Raion, one of seven distr ...

– 17 June 1956) was a

Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...

n general who served as a

Prime Minister of Romania The prime minister of Romania (), officially the prime minister of the Government of Romania (), is the head of the Government of Romania, Government of Romania. Initially, the office was styled ''President of the Council of Ministers'' (), when ...

for about two months in 1919 (27 September – 30 November). During his mandate, the first elections of

Greater Romania Greater Romania () is the Kingdom of Romania in the interwar period, achieved after the Great Union or the related pan-nationalist ideal of a nation-state which would incorporate all Romanian speakers.Irina LivezeanuCultural Politics in Greate ...

were held.

Career

He was born in Izmail, then part of the United Principalities of Moldavia and Wallachia. His father, Teodor Weithoffer Văitoianu, was a Bessarabian German, while his mother, Maria Missir, was Romanian. He rose through the ranks of the

Romanian Army The Romanian Land Forces () is the army of Romania, and the main component of the Romanian Armed Forces. Since 2007, full professionalization and a major equipment overhaul have transformed the nature of the Land Forces. The Romanian Land Forc ...

and, during the

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

Battle of Mărăști, he commanded the Second Corps. Earlier in the War, during the Romanian Campaign of 1916, he commanded the 10th Infantry Division at the Battle of Predeal Pass, in defense of Prahova Valley. He managed to block the

Central Powers The Central Powers, also known as the Central Empires,; ; , ; were one of the two main coalitions that fought in World War I (1914–1918). It consisted of the German Empire, Austria-Hungary, the Ottoman Empire, and the Kingdom of Bulga ...

from reaching

Bucharest Bucharest ( , ; ) is the capital and largest city of Romania. The metropolis stands on the River Dâmbovița (river), Dâmbovița in south-eastern Romania. Its population is officially estimated at 1.76 million residents within a greater Buc ...

via the shortest way, thus preventing them from cutting off and surrounding the Romanian Army and by implication knock the country out of the war. It was a decisive victory that enabled Romania to wage war until 1918, when it had to surrender after Russia did the same, leaving Romania alone on the Eastern Front and surrounded by the Central Powers, a situation that far surpassed its military capacities. A War and Interior Minister in Ion I. C. Brătianu's cabinet, he came to lead the executive upon the latter's resignation over the Allied Powers' refusal to recognize the territorial awards promised to Romania upon its 1916 entry into the conflict (on the basis of Romania having signed a separate peace with the Central Powers, the Treaty of Bucharest, in the previous year); in the short hiatus, no Romanian authority was present at the signing of the Treaty of Saint-Germain with

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

.Hitchins, p.289 Văitoianu took office as Romanian troops were engaged in an expedition to

Hungary Hungary is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning much of the Pannonian Basin, 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 and ...

, where they were fighting against the newly proclaimed Hungarian Soviet Republic. The Supreme War Council of Allied Powers gave Romania an 8-day

ultimatum An ; ; : ultimata or ultimatums) is a demand whose fulfillment is requested in a specified period of time and which is backed up by a coercion, threat to be followed through in case of noncompliance (open loop). An ultimatum is generally the ...

to retreat its troops from

Budapest Budapest is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns of Hungary, most populous city of Hungary. It is the List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, tenth-largest city in the European Union by popul ...

to the provisional border settled by the Paris Peace Conference and to cease confiscation of Hungarian property, as well as to sign the peace with Austria and agree to guarantee

minority rights Minority rights are the normal individual rights as applied to members of racial, ethnic, class, religious, linguistic or gender and sexual minorities, and also the collective rights accorded to any minority group. Civil-rights movements oft ...

throughout Greater Romania. Văitoianu's government refused to comply, and handed in its resignation on 30 November, leaving room for the bloc formed in

Parliament In modern politics and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...

by the

Romanian National Party The Romanian National Party (, PNR), initially known as the Romanian National Party in Transylvania and Banat (), was a political party which was initially designed to offer ethnic representation to Romanians in the Kingdom of Hungary, the Tran ...

Transylvania Transylvania ( or ; ; or ; Transylvanian Saxon dialect, Transylvanian Saxon: ''Siweberjen'') is a List of historical regions of Central Europe, historical and cultural region in Central Europe, encompassing central Romania. To the east and ...

and the Peasants' Party of the Regat to form the

Alexandru Vaida-Voevod Alexandru Vaida-Voevod or Vaida-Voievod (27 February 1872 – 19 March 1950) was an Austro-Hungarian-born Romanian politician who was a supporter and promoter of the union of Transylvania (before 1920 part of Hungary) with the Romanian Old K ...

cabinet, one which soon agreed to the Allies' demands. He was a high-ranking member of the

National Liberal Party-Brătianu National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, ce ...

for much of his political career. Artur Văitoianu was buried in the World War I heroes'

crypt A crypt (from Greek κρύπτη (kryptē) ''wikt:crypta#Latin, crypta'' "Burial vault (tomb), vault") is a stone chamber beneath the floor of a church or other building. It typically contains coffins, Sarcophagus, sarcophagi, or Relic, religiou ...

in Mărăști. In 2007, the local authorities claimed that Văitoianu's and Averescu's remains were stolen from their crypts, asking for the Prosecution Office to investigate.

Gallery

Image:Sfatul Tarii, 10 December 1918.jpg, Sfatul Țării Palace, 10 December 1918

Notes

References

* Keith Hitchins, ''România, 1866-1947'',

Humanitas (from the Latin , "human") is a Latin noun meaning human nature, civilization, and kindness. It has uses in the Enlightenment, which are discussed below. Classical origins of term The Latin word corresponded to the Greek concepts of (loving ...

, Bucharest, 1998 (translation of the English-language edition ''Rumania, 1866-1947'',

Oxford University Press Oxford University Press (OUP) is the publishing house of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world. Its first book was printed in Oxford in 1478, with the Press officially granted the legal right to print books ...

, USA, 1994) {{DEFAULTSORT:Vaitoianu, Artur 1864 births 1956 deaths Bessarabia-German people People from Izmail Prime ministers of Romania Ministers of communications of Romania Ministers of defence of Romania Ministers of foreign affairs of Romania Ministers of interior of Romania Ministers of justice of Romania Members of the Chamber of Deputies (Romania) Members of the Senate of Romania Romanian Land Forces generals Romanian Army World War I generals Romanian people of German descent Romanian people of the Hungarian–Romanian War People from the United Principalities of Moldavia and Wallachia Prisoners and detainees of Romania