''Cercetașii României'' (

Romanian Romanian may refer to: *anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Romania **Romanians, an ethnic group **Romanian language, a Romance language ***Romanian dialects, variants of the Romanian language **Romanian cuisine, traditional ...

for "Romania's Scouts" or "Romanian Scouts"; in full ''Organizația Națională Cercetașii României'' - "National Organization of Romanian Scouts") is the primary national

Scouting Scouting or the Scout Movement is a youth social movement, movement which became popularly established in the first decade of the twentieth century. It follows the Scout method of informal education with an emphasis on practical outdoor activi ...

organization of

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 ...

. Founded in 1913, it became a member of the

World Organization of the Scout Movement The World Organization of the Scout Movement (WOSM ) is the largest and, after the Order of World Scouts (formed in 1911), is the second-oldest international organization in the Scout Movement, having been established in 1922. It has 176 members. ...

(WOSM) in 1993. The coeducational ''Cercetașii României'' has 3,500 members as of 2014.

History

Romania was a founding member of the WOSM, having formally had Scouts between 1913 and 1937. Influenced by reading Baden-Powell's "Scouting for Boys", the first informal patrol of Boy Scouts was established in Romania in 1913 at Gheorghe Lazăr High School by Dimitrie Dimăncescu, his brother,

Ioan Ioan is a variation on the name John (first name), John found in Aromanian language, Aromanian, Romanian language, Romanian, Bulgarian language, Bulgarian, Russian language, Russian, Welsh language, Welsh (), and Sardinian language, Sardinian. It ...

, and classmates. Prince Carol would become the first formal troop leader. Others joined in broadening awareness of the Scout movement ( Gheorghe Munteanu-Murgoci, Alexandru Borza, Vladimir Ghidionescu, Constantin Costa-Foru,

Nicolae Iorga Nicolae Iorga (17 January 1871 – 27 November 1940) was a historian, politician, literary critic, memoirist, Albanologist, poet and playwright. Co-founder (in 1910) of the Democratic Nationalist Party (PND), he served as a member of Parliament ...

, Ion G. Duca and Colonel Grigore Berindei) who became familiar with the Scout movements in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...

, and

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

. The translation of

Baden-Powell Lieutenant-General Robert Stephenson Smyth Baden-Powell, 1st Baron Baden-Powell, ( ; 22 February 1857 – 8 January 1941) was a British Army officer, writer, founder of The Boy Scouts Association and its first Chief Scout, and founder, with ...

's book ''

Scouting for Boys ''Scouting for Boys: A handbook for instruction in good citizenship'' is a book on Boy Scout training, published in various editions since 1908. Early editions were written and illustrated by Robert Baden-Powell with later editions being exten ...

'' into

was published in 1915. That same year saw the official founding of the ''Cercetaşii României''; on the occasion, Lord Baden-Powell sent a message of congratulations, with the admonition that Scouting should be adapted to the local situation. Membership grew quickly across Romania. During

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 ...

, Romanian Scouts were very active in defense activities.

Ecaterina Teodoroiu Ecaterina Teodoroiu (; formal rendition of Cătălina Toderoiu; 14 January 1894 – 3 September 1917) was a Romanians, Romanian woman who fought on the front and died in World War I, and is regarded as a heroine of Romania. A Cercetaşii Românie ...

guided a patrol of Scouts and Guides and was employed as a nurse, before joining 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 dying a heroine. Many Scouts who helped the transporting of the wounded were killed during the air attacks. On September 29, 1916, Baden-Powell sent a message expressing regret to the Scouts for the death of their fellows. At the end of the war, the Boy Scouts marched in the front of the Victory Train, under the

Triumphal Arch A triumphal arch is a free-standing monumental structure in the shape of an archway with one or more arched passageways, often designed to span a road, and usually standing alone, unconnected to other buildings. In its simplest form, a triumphal ...

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 ...

. In 1920, 67 Romanian Boy Scouts and their leaders were present at the first

World Jamboree The World Scout Jamboree is a Scouting jamboree of the World Organization of the Scout Movement, typically attended by several tens of thousands of Scouts from around the world, aged 14 to 17. At the jamboree, many scouts swap badges. The firs ...

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

. Before

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, the Scout Movement developed further: many patrols were formed in towns and in villages, many camps, socials, expeditions and spectacles were organized, and a great number of magazines, literary writings and pedagogical studies were published for Scouts and their Chiefs. At the time, one of the devoted Boy Scouts was the philosopher

Mircea Eliade Mircea Eliade (; – April 22, 1986) was a Romanian History of religion, historian of religion, fiction writer, philosopher, and professor at the University of Chicago. One of the most influential scholars of religion of the 20th century and in ...

. In 1930, the first Romanian Scout Jamboree took place, in the presence of Hubert Martin and many delegations of Scouts and Guides from other countries. ''Cercetașii României'' had 45,000 members at that point, and the Guides Movement had 14,000. The organizer and Chief of the Guides Movement was Princess Ileana, the daughter of Queen Marie. With the growing influenced of

fascism Fascism ( ) is a far-right, authoritarian, and ultranationalist political ideology and movement. It is characterized by a dictatorial leader, centralized autocracy, militarism, forcible suppression of opposition, belief in a natural social hie ...

in the 1930s, Romanian Scouting officially preserved its apolitical character, only to be replaced in 1937 by a

totalitarian Totalitarianism is a political system and a form of government that prohibits opposition from political parties, disregards and outlaws the political claims of individual and group opposition to the state, and completely controls the public sph ...

organization, '' Străjeria (Straja Țării)'', as part of the dictatorial measures initiated by

King King is a royal title given to a male monarch. A king is an Absolute monarchy, absolute monarch if he holds unrestricted Government, governmental power or exercises full sovereignty over a nation. Conversely, he is a Constitutional monarchy, ...

Carol II Carol II (4 April 1953) was King of Romania from 8 June 1930, until his forced abdication on 6 September 1940. As the eldest son of Ferdinand I of Romania, King Ferdinand I, he became crown prince upon the death of his grand-uncle, King Carol I, ...

(alongside the creation of the

National Renaissance Front The National Renaissance Front (, FRN; also translated as ''Front of National Regeneration'', ''Front of National Rebirth'', ''Front of National Resurrection'', or ''Front of National Renaissance'') was a Romanian political party created by King Ca ...

). Straja Țării withdrew from the International Scout Conference the same year. John S. Wilson signed and agreement in March 1939 of interchange of visits and permit the ''Straja Țării'' participate in Scout Conferences as observers and to attend courses at

Gilwell Park Gilwell Park is The Scout Association's principal camp site and Scout Activity Centre, activity centre in the United Kingdom. It is a site, located in Essex in the Sewardstonebury area of Waltham Abbey within Epping Forest near the border with ...

but subsequent events cancelled this agreement.S. Wilson, John (1959). ''Scouting Round the World''. London: Blandford Press Ltd. p. 158. After World War II, there were attempts to restore the Scout Movement in Romania, but the emergence of the

communist regime A communist state, also known as a Marxist–Leninist state, is a one-party state in which the totality of the power belongs to a party adhering to some form of Marxism–Leninism, a branch of the communist ideology. Marxism–Leninism was ...

brought a ban on all alternative

youth movement The following is a list of youth organizations. A youth organization is a type of organization with a focus upon providing activities and socialization for minors. In this list, most organizations are international unless noted otherwise. ...

s, replaced by the Pioneer Organization and

Union of Communist Youth The Union of Communist Youth ( Romanian: '; UTC) was the Romanian Communist Party's youth organisation. Like many Young Communist organisations, it was modelled after the Soviet Komsomol. It aimed to cultivate young cadres into the party, as ...

. After the Revolution of 1989, former Scouts and others acted for the revival of Scouting in Romania. ''Cercetașii României'' was again established in 1991, and in 1993 gained recognition by the World Bureau of the WOSM. But in 2006, there are only 2,000 registered Scouts.

Program and ideals

*''Lupișori'': Wolf Cubs-7 to 10 *''Temerari'': Pioneers/Scouts-12 to 14 *''Exploratori'': Explorers/Venturers-15 to 18 *''Seniori'': Seniors/Rovers-18 to 24 *''Lideri'': Leaders-24+ The

Scout Motto The Scout Motto of the Scout movement is, in English, "Be Prepared", with most international branches of the group using a close translation of that phrase. These mottoes have been used by millions of Scouts around the world since 1907. Most of t ...

is ''Gata Oricând'', translated as ''Always Ready'' in English; the Romanian noun for a single Scout is ''Cercetaș''. The membership badge of Cercetașii României features stylized

fir Firs are evergreen coniferous trees belonging to the genus ''Abies'' () in the family Pinaceae. There are approximately 48–65 extant species, found on mountains throughout much of North and Central America, Eurasia, and North Africa. The genu ...

branches.

Scout Oath

''Promit pe onoarea mea să fac tot ce este posibil pentru: a servi patria mea România și credința mea, a ajuta pe aproapele meu în orice moment, a mă supune Legii Cercetașului.'' :''I promise on my honour to do all that is in my power in order to: Serve my country, Romania, and my belief, Help my fellow man in any moment, Respect the Scout Law.''

Scout Law

''Cercetașul își iubește patria sa, România și pe toți cei care trăiesc in ea''
''Cercetașul este loial, își respectă cuvântul dat, nu minte, este curat în gând, în vorbă și în faptă''
''Cercetașul este util și își ajută semenii în orice situație, este un prieten pentru toți și frate cu toți Cercetașii''
''Cercetașul este econom și cumpătat, este îngăduitor cu alții și sever cu sine, își îngrijește corpul și duce o viață sănătoasă''
''Cercetașul iubește și ocrotește natura și este bun cu animalele''
''Cercetașul își respectă și ascultă părinții, șefii si profesorii și este disciplinat în tot ceea ce face''
''Cercetașul este credincios şi respectă credinţa celorlalţi''
''Cercetașul este curajos și încrezător în puterile sale, vioi și plin de însuflețire''
''Cercetașul se străduiește să facă în fiecare zi o faptă bună, oricât de neînsemnată ar părea ea'' :''The Scout loves his country, Romania and all the people who live in it'' :''A Scout is loyal, trustworthy, he never lies; his mind and actions are clean'' :''A Scout makes himself useful; he helps others in any situation; he is every ones friend and the brother of all the Scouts'' :''A Scout is thoughtful and moderate, he is tolerant with others and severe with himself, he takes care of his body and leads a healthy life'' :''A Scout loves and protects nature and he is good to animals'' :''A Scout loves and obeys his parents, his chiefs and his teachers and he is disciplined in everything he does'' :''A Scout is faithful and he respects other's faith/religion'' :''A Scout is courageous and he trusts his own powers; he is joyful and full of life'' :''A Scout likes to study and he teaches others'' :''A Scout strives to do a good deed every day, however small it might seem''

References

External links