The Ghimeș-Palanca Pass () is a

mountain pass A mountain pass is a navigable route through a mountain range or over a ridge. Since mountain ranges can present formidable barriers to travel, passes have played a key role in trade, war, and both Human migration, human and animal migration t ...

in the

Eastern Carpathians Divisions of the Carpathians are a categorization of the Carpathian mountains system. Below is a detailed overview of the major subdivisions and ranges of the Carpathian Mountains. The Carpathians are a "subsystem" of a bigger Alps-Himalaya Sy ...

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 ...

, situated at an altitude of and located between the

Tarcău Mountains The Tarcău Mountains (, ) are a mountain range, part of the Moldavian-Muntenian Carpathians of the Outer Eastern Carpathians. The range is located between the latitudes 46°25′ and 46°57′ N and between the longitudes 25°52′ and 26°28 ...

to the northeast and the

Ciuc Mountains Ciuc Mountains (Romanian ''Munții Ciucului'', Hungarian ''Csíki-havasok'') are a mid-high range of mountains of Harghita County in Transylvania, Romania. Geologically they belong to the Căliman-Harghita Mountains group of the Inner Eastern ...

to the southwest. The Pass is traversed by

national road The National Road (also known as the Cumberland Road) was the first major improved highway in the United States built by the federal government. Built between 1811 and 1837, the road connected the Potomac and Ohio Rivers and was a main tran ...

, which connects Ghimeș and Palanca, in

Bacău County Bacău County () is a county (județ) of Romania, in Western Moldavia, with its capital city at Bacău. It has one commune, Ghimeș-Făget, in Transylvania. Geography This county has a total area of . In the western part of the county there a ...

. Parallel with the road runs the CFR railway line 501, which connects

Adjud Adjud (; ) is a city in Vrancea County, Western Moldavia, Romania. It has a population of 15,178 inhabitants (as of 2021). It lies at a railway junction which has a classification yard and a passenger station. Adjud, situated north of the poin ...

Vrancea County Vrancea () is a county (județ) in Romania, with its seat at Focșani. It is mostly in the historical region of Moldavia but the southern part, below the Milcov (Siret), Milcov River, is in Muntenia. Demographics At the 2021 Romanian census, 2 ...

Siculeni Siculeni (, Hungarian pronunciation: ) is a commune in Harghita County, Romania. It lies in the Székely Land, an ethno-cultural region in eastern Transylvania. The Siculicidium took place here. The commune is composed of a single village, Sicu ...

Harghita County Harghita County (, and , ) is a county () in the center of Romania, in eastern Transylvania, with the county seat at Miercurea Ciuc. Demographics 2002 census In 2002, Harghita County had a population of 326,222 and a population density of ...

History

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 ...

, there were sustained battles between Romanian and

Austro-Hungarian Austria-Hungary, also referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Dual Monarchy or the Habsburg Monarchy, was a multi-national constitutional monarchy in Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. A military and diplomatic alliance, it consist ...

forces for control of the Ghimeș-Palanca Pass. On August 27, 1916 — the day Romania entered the war on the side of the

Allies An alliance is a relationship among people, groups, or states that have joined together for mutual benefit or to achieve some common purpose, whether or not an explicit agreement has been worked out among them. Members of an alliance are calle ...

— Romanian soldiers surprised the Austro-Hungarian troops stationed at the Ghimeș railway station, and quickly took control of the pass. Another battle occurred in October 1916, when the Romanian Fourth Army, under the command of

Constantin Prezan Constantin Prezan (January 27, 1861 – August 27, 1943) was a Romanian general during World War I. In 1930 he was given the honorary title of Marshal of Romania, as a recognition of his merits during his command of the Northern Army and of th ...

defeated Defeated may refer to: * "Defeated" (Breaking Benjamin song) * "Defeated" (Anastacia song) *"Defeated", a song by Snoop Dogg from the album ''Bible of Love'' *Defeated, Tennessee Defeated is an unincorporated community in Smith County, Tennessee ...

the Austro-Hungarian 1st Army, under the command of

Arthur Arz von Straußenburg Generaloberst Arthur Freiherr Arz von Straußenburg (; 16 June 1857 – 1 July 1935) was an Austro-Hungarian colonel general and last Austro-Hungarian General Staff, Chief of the General Staff of the Austro-Hungarian Army. At the outbreak of the F ...

. In May 1917,

Emil Rebreanu Emil Rebreanu (December 17, 1891 – May 14, 1917) was an Austro-Hungarian Romanian military officer executed during World War I. The protagonist in '' Forest of the Hanged'', a 1922 novel by his brother Liviu Rebreanu, is influenced by his ex ...

, an ethnic Romanian officer in the Austro-Hungarian Army, tried to cross the front near Ghimeș to the Romanian side. He was found and arrested by a patrol of imperial officers; tried by a military court on a charge of desertion and espionage, he was sentenced to death and executed by

hanging Hanging is killing a person by suspending them from the neck with a noose or ligature strangulation, ligature. Hanging has been a standard method of capital punishment since the Middle Ages, and has been the primary execution method in numerou ...

. The protagonist in '' Forest of the Hanged'', a 1922 novel by his brother

Liviu Rebreanu Liviu Rebreanu (; November 27, 1885 – September 1, 1944) was a Romanian novelist, playwright, short story writer, and journalist. Life Born in Felsőilosva (now Târlișua, Bistrița-Năsăud County, Transylvania), then part of the King ...

, is influenced by his experience. In 2012, a monument in Emil Rebreanu's memory was unveiled at the border between Ghimeș-Făget and Palanca, around the place where the hanging is believed to have occurred.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ghimes-Palanca Pass Mountain passes of Romania Mountain passes of the Carpathians