Source Book for Romanian Postal History Don Heller first draft, Jan. 1981 current draft, Jan. 1996 Table of Contents General Introduction Geographical Sketch A Brief History of the Territory of Present Romania Military Occupations of Romania Since 1800 Military Occupations by Romania Since 1800 General Historical Overview Political Organization Railway Lines Air Lines Orthographic History Essential Vocabulary Exchange Rates General References Documents Summary of the Postal Data International Exchange Points Postal Rates PTT Organization General Introduction Information about the structure and history of the Romanian postal system appears in many scattered sources, often inaccessible to philatelists. This "Source Book" is an attempt to accumulate such information into a single publication. Emphasis is on the period 1881 - 1947, as a supplement to the book by the late Grigore Racoviceanu, which covered the period up to 1881. This project had its genesis in correspondence between Racoviceanu, Robert Bell, and the author, beginning in 1976. Desiring completeness and clarity on all points (we do not claim to be realistic, or that the goal is achieved), we began to collect as much official information as possible, albeit without access to documentary material in Romania itself. We have used resources at several universities, the Library of Congress, the Universal Postal Union, and the Swiss PTT. Our original plans, which were directed toward postal markings, will be left for a later publication. Postal history studies the written record of communication between people, business and government. By concentration on individual items we may lose sight of larger trends. We study the postal markings on a letter, trace its rates, route and provenance, but may fail to read the letter itself. And, we may not connect events on our small scale with events on a larger scale. To correct, or at least adjust, this imbalance, we have tried to include as much general historical information as is necessary to place the postal service in its proper context. In some cases, we have included information which might lead to fur- ther research, but for which no obvious need is seen at present. Philately and postal history are often footnotes to political history, and often only miniscule parts of economic history. The influences of political and economic events are considerable - new governments create new stamps, with new heroes to commemorate; inflation and currency reform cause postal rates to be altered; political and military treaties may induce special rates between the parties. In wartime there are delays of all kinds, censorship, suspension of service between belligerents, emergency routing of mail, and transfers of territory. Language can become a means of political ends, as towns change names and names change spelling. There are two important points to be made about the historical context. First, the author is not a professional historian, nor are the readers expected to be interested in voluminous footnotes and citations. Therefore, we have not indicated references except in a general way, and where further reading would be of interest to the postal history collector. Second, we find it prudent to leave the interpretation of larger events and trends to the professionals. Our enjoyment of philately and the thrill of a good find should be tempered but not destroyed by our knowledge that we see only a small, personal part of the world's history. We have therefore tried to steer clear of interpretations of history which are biased by political, economic or ethnic positions. There are many events which are seen differently by the affected parties at the time, by the Communist government of Romania, and by a western capitalist attempting to be even-handed. If the reader feels that an improper or unwarranted interpretation has been made, please notify the author promptly. After all, this book is still a "draft", and can be altered if your arguments are convincing. The facts presented here are believed to be correct, but are known to be incomplete. Your additions are welcome, if you provide enough information or evidence for me to become convinced. All contributions will be acknowledged in succeeding drafts and the final publication. Geographical Sketch This description is at best cursory - the reader is advised to find a good map, of which there are several modern roadmaps published in Europe, and a good geography textbook or travel guide. The main geographical features dominating Romanian history are the Danube River and the great arc of the eastern Carpathians and Transylvanian Alps. The fertile soil of the Wallachian plain and Moldavian plateau between the mountains and the Danube/Prut river system led to an agrarian society trying to keep its warlike, and hungry, neighbors at bay. The forests of Transylvania provided a different atmosphere, with somewhat greater protection. Within the arc of the mountain range is the Transylvanian basin, to its west the Bihor massif and then the portion of the Hungarian plain (Pannonian basin) known as the Banat. South and east of the Danube is the Dobrudja, long cut off from the rest of the country by the river; it was a dusty steppe with little surface water, and historically less well developed than the other regions. Invasion pressures have come from the Ottoman Empire from the south, the Russian Empire from the east, and the Austrian Empire from the west. The moun- tains helped to limit the Austrians to Transylvania, and found the Turks and Russians frequently marching across Moldavia and Wallachia; in the last 200 years, mostly the Russians. The Danube is subject to severe flooding in Wallachia, and silting in the Delta. Control of the Delta has been long-standing European problem. Communi- cation systems (roads, rail, etc.) across the mountains were difficult, but poorly developed more for political than geographic reasons. Modern agricultur- al methods changed the face of many areas, as has the discovery of oil and the recent move to an industrial economy. Earthquakes are not uncommon. Moldavia is known in Romania as Moldova, and Wallachia is called Muntenia, or T!ara Roma#neasca@ (literally, Romanian Land). Its western part is Oltenia, for the Olt River. Muntenia sometimes also refers only to the eastern part of Wallachia. Moldavia and Wallachia were known collectively as the Danubian Principalities, a term which very occasionally included Serbia. Transylvania is known in Romanian as Ardeal or Transilvania, in German as Siebenburgen, and in Hungarian as Erde%ly. Dobrudja in Romanian is Dobrogea. We refuse to enter into a discussion of Romania vs. Rumania vs. Roumania; the Romanians themselves use Roma#nia. For convenience in the introduction, we use the name Bucharest, otherwise Bucures!ti is correct. Some other familiar forms of names such as Galatz (Galat!i) and Jassy (Ias!i) also appear. Maps to be provided: Romania's position in Europe Regional geography from Budapest to the Bug River, from Bulgaria to Galicia mountain ranges, river systems, present national boundaries Political subdivisions, major towns Territorial changes International exchange points, airports Railroad system Historic Regional Limits (this needs more work, and a map) Moldavia Wallachia Muntenia Oltenia West of the Olt River (Aluta), also known as the Banat of Craiova. Sometimes referred to as Little Wallachia. Transylvania N. Transylvania (Vienna Award) Batska, or Ba%cska, or Bac&ka North and east of the Danube, west of the Tisza, south of Szeged. The Banat, or the Ba%na%t of Temesva%r Bounded by the Mures! River on the north, the Tisza River on the west, the Danube River on the south, to about 40 km east of Timis!oara (Temesva%r). West of Oltenia. Cris!ana roughly, the historic Hungarian Partium the plains around Oradea, between the Mures! and Somes! rivers Maramures! north of the Somes! river, to the present border with Hungary Dobrudja Between the northward course of the Danube and the Black Sea S. Dobrudja - 1913, 1940 transfers Bucovina N. Bucovina - 1940, 1944 transfers Bessarabia S. Bessarabia - 1856, 1878 transfers Transnistria (1941 occupation) Eastern Galicia / Western Ukraine (1919 occupation) Hungary (1919 occupation) present borders of Romania, Moldova, "Trans-Dniester Republic" map should show dates of transfer or occupation of territory River names 1938 1957 Romanian Hungarian German length, km. (length of river in or along Romanian territory) Dunarea Donau 1075 1075 (Danube) Nistru 924 - (Dniester) Mures! Maros 883 769 Prut Pruth 860 707 Olt 560 706 Siret Seret Sereth 535 556 Ialomit!a 330 398 Arges! 290 322 Bistrit!a 280 266 Somes! Szamos 260 Somes!ul Mare 387 Somes!ul Mic 162 Da#mbovit!a 250 253 Jiu Zsil 220 331 Buza@u 200 316 Ba#rlad 180 234 Prahova 130 178 Timis! Temes 266 Vedea 255 Ta#rnava Mare Kokel 229 Jijia 220 Cris! Ko^ro^s Cris!ul Alb 200 Oltet! 190 Bega 178 Ta#rnava Mica 169 Aries! Aranyos 161 Suceava Suczawa 148 Neajlov 144 Teleorman 127 Tisa Tisza Theiss Trotus! Tratos Oituz Ojtosz Moldova Sabarul Ca@lma@t!ui river lengths from Anuarul Statistic, 1938, 1957 but should not be taken seriously! other publications give different lengths, even without change of borders. Area Population Romania, 1860-1878 123,335 sq. km. (with S. Bessarabia) 1879 114,641 (without S. Bessarabia) 1880-1912 130,177 (with Dobrudja) 1913-1915 137,903 (with S. Dobrudja) 1918-1940 295,049 (Greater Romania) [all above are official Romanian numbers] Regat, 1912 130,177 sq. km. 7,160,682 Dec. 19, 1912 129,567 7,234,919 (census returns) 1914 137,903 7,897,000 approx. 1913-1918 137,092 7,897,311 (estimate, 1915) Moldavia 41,382 Romania Mare, 1920 295,049 15,541,424 1920 15,532,652 1930 295,049 18,057,028 (census returns) (a variety of population figures were issued from preliminary reports, also seen are 18,052,896, 18,057,074, 17,888,992) Apr. 1941 195,259 13,524,833 (census returns) post WW2 237,500 Hungary -> Romania, 1919, 102,787 sq.km., or 103,093 sq.km. (Hungarian figure) or 102,125 Bessarabia -> Romania, 1918, 44,422 sq.km. [ok] Bucovina -> Romania, 1918, 10,442 sq.km. [official Austrian number] Bulgaria -> Romania, 1913, 1918, 23,262 sq.km. Bulgaria -> Romania, 1913, 7,525 sq.km. (Bulgarian figure) Romania -> USSR, 1940, 50,135 sq.km. (recovered, 1941-4) (or 49,823) Romania -> Hungary, 1940, 42,243 sq.km. [ok] Romania -> Bulgaria, 1940, 7,412 sq.km. or 7,726 Transnistria, 39,733 sq.km., prewar population 3.4 million, wartime population 2.2 million assorted census figures (these are ok) 12/29/1930 14,280,729 (postwar boundaries) 4/ 6/1941 16,126,063 (postwar boundaries) 4/ 6/1941 13,524,833 (contemporary boundaries) 2/21/1956 17,489,450 3/15/1966 19,103,163 1/ 5/1977 21,559,416 population by census, from Buletin Statistic General al Romaniei, 1859 3,864,848 1884 4,648,123 1889 5,038,342 1894 5,406,249 1899 5,912,520 population by year, quoted by Roberts, p. 355 (these are ok) 1860 3,917,541 census 1899 5,956,690 census 1912 7,160,682 census 1920 15,541,424 estimate based on 1930 census 1930 18,057,028 census 1939 19,933,802 estimate based on 1930 census 1941 13,535,757 census 1948 15,872,624 preliminary census data (census, 1/25/48) provincial areas, from Le Guide Bleu, 1933 Moldova, 38,058 sq. km. 2,413,535 Muntenia, 52,505 4,016,403 Oltenia, 24,078 1,513,897 Dobrogea, 23,262 814,322 Basarabia, 44,422 2,848,714 Bucovina, 10,442 854,237 Banat, 18,393 932,675 Ardeal, 57,807 4,630,486 Cris!ana, 17,717 included Maramures!, 8,283 above other figures Transylvania, 62,229 sq.km.; 57,804 Banat, 18,715; 28,523 Cris!ana-Maramures!, 21,338 Cris!ana, 20,825 Maramures!, 16,213 land area, from UPU Statistique Ge%ne%rale 1875 120,973 1876 153,774 1879 160,150 1901 131,353 1913 137,786 1915 139,079 1920 304,132 1925 294,967 1928 294,987 1940 195,259 National population figures, interpolated from census returns, probable population as of July 1: 1860 3,917,541 1870 4,294,201 1880 4,545,821 1890 5,318,341 1900 6,045,481 1910 6,965,383 1920 15,541,421 1930 18,057,028 1940 19,933,802 source: Anuarul Statistic al Roma#niei, 1939-1940, p. 41 urban percentages 1912 18.4 1930 20.1 (contemporary boundary) or 21.4 (postwar boundary) 1941 24.3 (contemporary boundary) or 23.6 (postwar boundary) 1948 23.4 1956 31.3 1960 32.1 1964 33.4 1966 38.2 1970 40.8 1975 43.2 1977 47.5 Urban concentration in Romania is a relatively recent phenomenon: the urban- rural distribution remained relatively constant between 1860 and 1945 (in the ranges of 15-25 and 85-75%). The towns themselves were usually not large: in 1912, only Bucharest had a population over 100,000, and only 14 towns were over 20,000. Only six cities (Bucharest, Ias!i, Galat!i, Bra@ila, Ploes!ti, Craiova) had a population over 50,000 before 1916, and only five cities (Bucharest, Cluj, Timis!oara, Ploes!ti, and Ias!i) had a population of 100,000 or more before 1945, of which Bucharest was by far the largest. Of 13,500 towns and communes in Romania at the end of World War II, fewer than 200 had a population above 5,000, while nearly 10,000 had a population less than 1,000. The literacy rate was quite low (22% above age 7 in 1899, 57% above age 7 in 1930), and showed only slow improvement until 1945. Regional variation was considerable (1930 figures): the old kingdom, 56%; Transylvania, 67%; Bucovina, 66%, S. Dobrudja, 46%; Bessarabia, 38%. It was estimated in 1881 that the average Romanian wrote a letter once every 300 days. population groups [needs more work] Romanian - descendents of the original Dacians and their Roman invaders and colonizers (101-271); later Slav invaders (6th - 13th centuries) were also integrated. The extent and continuity of ethnic Romanian settlements, particularly in Transylvania, has been a topic of hot political dispute in some circles. Magyar - in Transylvania since the 900's Saxon - German colonists invited to Transylvania in the 1100's, given certain rights of local autonomy as an inducement. Szekler - in Transylvania since the 1300's, originally invited to improve defenses, given rights of local autonomy Swabian Jews Russian Ruthenian Bulgarian Turkish Serbs etc. A Brief History of the Territory of Romania The principalities of Moldavia, Wallachia and Transylvania existed with various degrees of independence and territorial extent since the Middle Ages. The Turkish invasion of Europe, begun in 1353, eventually led to their subju- gation as tributary states of the Ottoman Empire. Unlike some other parts of conquered Europe, such as Bulgaria, the three principalities were not completely absorbed into the Empire, but were able to maintain a high degree of local autonomy. Transylvania became part of the Austrian Habsburg Empire in 1699, as did the Banat in 1718. Oltenia, the western part of Wallachia, was part of the Austrian Empire from 1718 to 1739. Bucovina, previously part of Moldavia, became part of the Austrian Empire in 1775. Bessarabia, also previously part of Moldavia, became part of the Russian Empire in 1812. The Dobrudja was part of the Turkish Empire since 1417. Between 1711 and 1821 Moldavia and Wallachia were ruled by princes, mostly of Greek origin, appointed by the Turks (the Phanariot period); afterward native princes were appointed or elected. The Crimean War further lessened Turkey's control, and Moldavia and Wallachia were united as Romania in 1859-62. After 1867 Transylvania and the Banat were under Hungarian control in the Austro-Hungarian Empire, and Bucovina under Austrian control. Additions to and subtractions from Moldavia and Wallachia since the Crimean War are as follows: March 30, 1856 (Treaty of Paris, Crimean War) Southern Bessarabia to Moldavia from Russia (counties Bolgrad, Cahul, Ismail) October 20, 1878 (Congress of Berlin, Russo-Turkish War) Dobrudja and Danube Delta from Turkey (counties Constant!a, Tulcea) Southern Bessarabia to Russia August 10, 1913 (Peace of Bucharest, Second Balkan War) Southern Dobrudja from Bulgaria (counties Caliacra, Durostor) April 9, 1918 (popular declaration) Bessarabia from Russia November 28, 1918 (popular declaration) Bucovina from Austria December 1, 1918 (popular declaration) Transylvania and Banat from Hungary June 28, 1940 (Soviet ultimatum) Bessarabia, Northern Bucovina to USSR (recaptured, 1941-4) August 30, 1940 (Second Vienna Award) Northern Transylvania to Hungary (returned on Sept. 12, 1944 as part of the Romanian armistice with the USSR, but not put under Romanian control until March 6, 1945, formalized May 17, 1946) September 7, 1940 (Treaty of Craiova) Southern Dobrudja to Bulgaria The peace treaties of 1919-20 ratified the unions pronounced in 1918, except for that with Bessarabia which was never recognized by the USSR. The peace treaty of 1947 ratified the changes of 1940-4. As part of the General Historical Overview to follow, we consider in some detail the events of 1918 and 1940, as this will be useful to collectors of postal history material. Military Occupations of Romania Since 1700 including troops stationed in Romania on a "friendly" basis By Ottoman Turkey, at various times and extents, from the late 1300's to 1830. Great Northern War (1700 to 1721) Swedish army retreated to Moldavia, June 1709 Austrian-Turkish Wars 1683-1699 [Hungary, Transylvania -> Austria], Treaty of Karlowitz 1716-1718 [Oltenia, Banat -> Austria], Treaty of Passarowitz Russo-Turkish Wars (1696 to 1878) 1710-1711 [phanariot regimes start] Moldavia occupied by Russia, March - July 1711 1736-1739 [Oltenia -> Wallachia], Treaty of Belgrade Wallachia occupied by Austria, Jan. 1737 Moldavia occupied by Russia, Sept. 1735 - Oct. 1739 1768-1774 [Bucovina -> Austria], Treaty of Kutschuk-Kainardji Wallachia occupied by Russia, Nov. 1769 - July 1774 Moldavia occupied by Russia, Sept. 1769 - Oct. 1774 1787-1792, Treaty of Sistov, Treaty of Jassy Wallachia occupied by Austria, Nov. 1789 - July 1791 Moldavia occupied by Austria 1787 to Aug. 1792, except by Turkey, July - Aug. 1788, and by Russia Oct. 1788 - Jan. 1792 1806-1812 [Bessarabia -> Russia], Treaties of Bucharest, Akkerman (1826) Moldavia and Wallachia occupied by Russia, Nov. 1806 - May 1812 Revolution of 1821 (Tudor Vladimirescu) [end of the phanariot regimes] Wallachia occupied by Turkey, May 1821 - Sept. 1822 Moldavia occupied by Turkey, May 1821 - July 1822 Russo-Turkish War, 1828-9 [Danube Delta -> Russia], Treaty of Adrianople Wallachia occupied by Russia, Feb. 1828 - April 1834 Moldavia occupied by Russia, April 1828 - April 1834 Revolution of 1848, Treaty of Balta-Liman by Turkey, July 19/31, 1848 - /1851/; entered Bucharest Sept. 25, 1848 by Russia, June 1848 - /1851/; entered Wallachia Sept. 15/27, 1848 Crimean War, 1853-6 [Danube Delta -> Turkey, S. Bessarabia -> Moldavia], Treaty of Paris Moldavia occupied by Russia, July 3, 1853 - Sept. 1854, then by Austria up to March 1857 Wallachia occupied by Russia, Oct. 1853 - July 1854, then by Turkey, July - August 1854, then by Austria, August 1854 - March 1857 Russo-Turkish War, 1877-8 [S. Bessarabia -> Russia, Dobrudja and Danube Delta -> Romania], Treaties of San Stefano, Berlin by Russia, April 24, 1877 - April 1879 World War I, 1916-8 by Germany, Austria-Hungary, Bulgaria, Turkey, Sept. 1916 - Nov. 1918 by France (Oct. 16, 1916 - /1919/), Great Britain (small military missions) by Russia, /Sept. 1916 - Dec. 1917/ World War II by Germany, Oct. 10, 1940 - Oct. 25, 1944 by USSR, Aug. 20, 1944 - June 1958 Military Occupations by Romania Since 1800 Russo-Turkish War, 1877-8 Turkish Bulgarian territory, July 31, 1877 - /February 1878/ Second Balkan War, June - July 1913, Treaty of Bucharest Bulgarian territory, July 10 - Aug. 10 (afterward annexed) World War I, 1916-8 Hungarian territory, August 27 - October 8, 1916 post World War I, 1919 Hungarian territory, July - November Eastern Galicia / Western Ukraine (former Austrian territory), May - June 1919 World War II USSR territory, June 22, 1941 - March 1944 (Bessarabia and Transnistria) Hungarian territory, Oct. 8, 1944 - Jan. 19, 1945 V. Atanasiu, "Din luptele Armatei I Roma#ne in ra@zboiul antihitlerist (24 August 1944 - 18 Ianuarie 1945)", Academia R.P.R., Studii: Revista@ de Istorie, Anul XI (1958), no. 2, pp. 27-43. Aurel Petri, "Participarea armatei roma#ne la act!iuniile militare desfas!urate pe teritoriul Ungariei," ibid, 1965, no. 3, pp. 547-564. Czechoslovakian territory, Dec. 18, 1944 - May 12, 1945 V. Atanasiu, "Luptele Armatei I Roma#ne pe teritoriul Cehoslovaciei," ibid, Anul XII (1959), no. 4, pp. 205-222. note - dates marked /.../ require further verification or detail. General Historical Overview emphasizing events related to the postal service since 1700 The new style (Gregorian) calendar was adopted by the postal service on Jan. 1/13, 1865 (see Tebeica), and by the nation on April 1/14, 1919. Dates given here are new style, unless given as old/new. The difference in dates was 12 days before 1900, 13 days after. The Romanian church did not switch to the Gregorian calendar until Oct. 1/14, 1924. by the 1400's. Trading privileges in Moldavia and Wallachia were extended to the merchants of Bras!ov, in Transylvania, citing the road from Bras!ov to Bra@ila. by the 1600's. The Ottoman Empire made its first attacks across the Danube in 1369, and began to collect annual tribute from Wallachia in 1393, at which time Bulgaria became a pashalik. The Dobrudja, which had been part of Wallachia up to this point, was held by the Turks from 1397 to 1404, and thence from 1417 to the 1800's. Continuing its military drive northward, the Ottoman Empire began to collect annual tribute from Moldavia in 1456, acquired suzerainty over Wallachia (1460), Moldavia (1512) and Transylvania (1541), and preferential trading rights for the produce of the principal- ities. The preference developed into a monopoly, and the tribute into bribes to assure princes' appointments. The regions of Bra@ila (since 1542), Giurgiu and Turnu-Ma@gurele (since 1417) were Turkish rayahs (military zones) up to 1830, and then rejoined with Wallachia. 1634. Treaty between Vasile Lupu (Prince of Moldavia, 1634-1653) and Sultan Mohammed IV: Article 8. Commerce in Moldavia shall be open to all trading nations. However, the Turks shall have preference over all other nations in the purchase of the produce of the Country, by free bargain, commerce being transacted by common agreement between the parties in the ports of Galatz, Ismail and Chilia; nevertheless, the Turks shall not be permitted even to enter the Country without the express permission of the Prince. Article 10. Turkish messengers sent by the Porte with letters addressed to the Prince shall not cross the Danube. They shall stop on the opposite bank of this river, entrust the messages to the Governor of Galatz for transmission to the Prince and receive from him the answer. Jan. 26, 1699. Treaty of Karlowitz between Austria and Turkey, by which Austria obtained Transylvania, Hungary and Croatia-Slavonia. From this point on, the Ottoman Empire was seen to be in decline, and the European powers variously sought to dismantle or preserve it. by the 1700's. Commercial trading privileges in the Ottoman Empire had been extended to the Italian city states (1365-1400's), France (1508), England (1593), Holland (1598), Austria (1617), Sweden (1737), Denmark (1756), Prussia (1761), Spain (1782), and Russia (1783). Governmental couriers were allowed to pass without interference. Navigation privileges along the Danube River and on the Black Sea were granted with severe limits in 1718 to the Russians and Austrians and without limits in 1774 (to the Russians) and 1784 (to the Austrians). 1711 - 1714. Following an attempt by Moldavia to ally with Russia, and no longer be a tributary state of the Ottoman Empire, the right of the prin- cipalities to elect their own rulers was removed. Until 1821, princes were appointed by the Turks from the leading Greek families. The "Phanariot period" was characterized by increased subservience to Constantinople, and the princes, formerly called domn or voivode, were now called hospodar, or governor. July 21, 1718. By a commerce and navigation treaty with the Peace of Passar- owitz, Austria acquired free trading rights in the Ottoman Empire. Free navigation along the Danube was granted to Austria, but with transshipment to the Black Sea. Wallachia was allowed only small fishing boats along the Olt. July 10/21, 1774. Treaty of Kutchuk Kainardji. Russia acquired certain rights of representation (or interference) by the appointment of consuls and vice- consuls in the principalities and the Ottoman Empire. Free rights of navi- gation on the Danube and Black Sea were granted as for the other powers, especially Britain and France. Treaty ratified Feb. 1775. May 7, 1775. Loss of Bucovina to Austria by a convention with the Turks. [See 1918, Union with Bucovina.] Oct. 1775. Decree of voivode Alexander Ypsilanti, hospodar of Wallachia, by which all the post horses became the property of the hospodar. As part of a general improvement of the system, post houses were built, and drivers hired at 90 bani per month. Operations of the post were handled by "captains" who were responsible for the station and passengers. (A few items survive with the seals of these captains, from the 1830's.) late 1700's and 1800's. Foreign governmental and private posts operating in Moldavia, Wallachia, and portions of the Ottoman and Austrian Empires now included in Romania: Austria, Austria-Hungary, Hungary France Greece Russia, including Zemstvos in Bessarabia Turkey Danube Steam Navigation Co. (DDSG) Austrian Lloyd Mesageries Maritimes Danube and Black Sea Railway T.B. Morton & Co. Hungarian hotel posts Russian navigation companies Russian Company of Trade and Navigation (ROPiT) 1782. Russian consul appointed in Bucharest. In Jan. 1781, Russia and Turkey signed a convention concerning Russia's right to establish consulates in Moldavia and Wallachia, further clarified in 1783. An overland mail route through the principalities to Constantinople was opened in 1781. For the history of the Russian post in Romania, see: Tchilinghirian and Stephen Rossica British Journal of Russian Philately 1783. Austrian consulate opened, with postal service in 1785 to Ias!i and Bucharest on the route Sofia - Bucharest - Ias!i - Cerna@ut!i (Czernowitz). For the history of the Austrian post in Romania, see: Tchilinghirian and Stephen 1785. Prussian consulate opened. Aug. 4, 1791. Treaty of Sistov (S!is!tova). In exchange for withdrawal of its troops from the principalities, Austria received the Danube port of Ors!ova from Wallachia. A new Austrian postal route was opened in October through Giurgiu - Bucharest - Pites!ti - Sibiu (Hermannstadt), connecting Constan- tinople and Vienna, as the Serbian route had been interrupted by the war. 1796. French consulate opened; a temporary agent in Bucharest, with regular representatives in 1797. A vice-consulate was also opened in Ias!i, 1798. The French acquired free trading privileges on the Black Sea in 1802. For the history of the French post in Romania, see: M. Langlois and L. Franc!ois, Les Oblite%rations des Bureaux Franc!ais a l'E%tranger, Amiens, 1924. 1803. British consulate opened in Bucharest, its initial purpose to facilitate overland communication between England and Turkey. For the history of the British consular post, see the Documents section to follow, and: Don Heller, "The British Post Through Bucharest, 1800-1807", Romanian Philatelic Studies, vol. 1, no. 3, 1977, pp. 5-6, which is based on W.G. East, The Union of Moldavia and Wallachia, 1859, Cambridge Univ. Press, 1929, pp. 170-181. For a more scholarly study, though with little mention of the consular post, see: Paul Cernovodeanu, "The Setting up of the English Consulate in the Romanian Principalities (1803) and its Activity until 1807," Revue Roumaine d'Etudes Internationales, vol. 5, 1971, pp. 181-201. Sept. 9/21, 1804. Fire in Bucharest leads to modernization of the streets. May 16/28, 1812. Loss of Bessarabia to Russia. The region between the Pruth and Dniester Rivers was taken by Moldavia in the fourteenth century. The Turks established rayahs around the fortresses of Cetatea Alba@ (1484), Tighina (1538) and Hotin (1712), and took control of the southern part of the region from Moldavia. The name Bessarabia originally referred only to the southern part (sometimes also called the Bugeac), but the name was expanded for Russia's benefit when the entire region was taken in 1812. At that point there were also rayahs at Ismail and Chilia. By acquiring Bessarabia, Russia gained direct access to the left bank of the lower Danube River. As part of its occupation since 1806, Russia had attempted to annex Moldavia and Wallachia, and had some agreement to this from Napoleon in 1808, concerning spheres of influence in Europe (secret treaty of Erfurt). But the Turks were able to prevent complete annexation, and the Russians settled for Bessarabia. At the time, the Russians were also aware of Napoleon's invasion plans, and needed to withdraw their army. Under the Russian administration of Bessarabia, there were postage stamps issued by the Zemstvos of Jassy, Orgeev and Soroki, and postal stationery issued by Soroki and Ismail. Feb. 22 / March 6, 1821. Alexander Ypsilanti, son of a former hospodar, and now leading the Greek revolutionary army of the Hetaeria Phileke, entered Moldavia from Odessa. By the end of March he was on the outskirts of Bucharest, but by June he had been driven into Austria by the Turks. Ypsilanti conflicted with the native Romanian revolt begun in Jan. 1821 by Tudor Vladimirescu against the phanariot regimes, and he had Vladimirescu assassinated in June. Sept. 2/14, 1829. Treaty of Adrianople, ending the Russo-Turkish war of 1828- 1829. Russian evacuation of the principalities was made contingent upon Turkey's payment of 11,500,000 ducats, an enormous sum; the Russians stayed until 1834. Turkey recognized the internal administrative autonomy of Moldavia and Wallachia, and abolished its monopoly on trade from the prin- cipalities. Moldavia and Wallachia were allowed to establish their own sanitary cordons and quarantines (the plague had struck Wallachia fourteen times from 1784 to 1829). The right of Danube navigation under their own flags was recognized. Russia acquired the Danube Delta (on condition it remain unoccupied), but over succeeding years allowed it to silt up, causing innumerable complaints from the exporters of Wallachian grain. The Russian goal may have been to promote grain shipments from Odessa, but it was not all intrigue, as there were actual technical difficulties. 1830-32. The Organic Regulations, drawn up by Russia (March 30, 1830) and essentially a constitution for the principalities, go into effect (Wallachia on July 1/13, 1831, Moldavia on Jan. 1/13, 1832). Recognized by Turkey under the Treaty of St. Petersburg, Jan. 29, 1834; remained in use until 1858. Sanitary quarantine stations were to be established along the borders and Danube (from 14 to 40 days, depending on plague conditions). "In the 1830's there were some forty German and Magyar newspapers in Transyl- vania, whereas the only Romanian newspapers to be had were occasional issues of Curierul Roma#nesc (Romanian Courier) of Bucharest and Albina Roma#n- easca@ (Romanian Bee) of Ias!i, both founded in 1829. Even these did not circulate freely, but were subject to a kind of censorship in that they could be sent through the mails only from the office of the Austrian agent in their respective city. In addition, postal fees made a single copy too expensive for most prospective subscribers." Keith Hitchins, The Romanian National Movement in Transylvania, 1780 - 1849, Harvard Univ. Press, 1969, pp. 153-4. 1831. Danube Steam Navigation Company (DDSG) starts service; see Hurt and Kelly. 1834. Austrian steamship service begins on the Danube. 1834. Ottoman postal service established, for official use. 1836. Austrian Lloyd mail service begun. 1834-49. Prince Michael Sturdza of Moldavia initiates road and bridge building and the postal service. 1837. Ottoman Porte recognizes right of sea navigation for Moldavian and Wallachian vessels. 1838-1840. Bucharest-Bras!ov road improved. Nov. 11, 1840. Ottoman Imperial Post initiated, for public use. See John H. Coles, Howard E. Walker, Postal Cancellations of the Ottoman Empire, part 1: Europe, London, 1984, pp. 102-3. Turkish post offices were in Galat!i (from 1841) and the Dobrudja (from 1867-77). 1844. An excerpt from J.A. Vaillant, La Roumanie, Paris, 1844, vol. 3, pp. 98-99, translated from the original French: There are three letter posts: Moldo-Wallachian, Austrian and Russian. The first, for the interior; the second, for the west; the third, for Russia and the east. Letters from Wallachia to Moldavia are unfortun- ately confined to the latter; it is not that M. Iacovinko, who is the director, is not one of the most honorable men I know; but it does not depend on him that the secrecy of letters is not violated. It is at Sculeni that such an offence was committed against which I myself pro- tested to the French consulate at Ias!i. I also have it from a good source that it is not always prudent to entrust money letters to the Wallachian post. Finally, I am assured that the most upright of the three is the Austrian, and while they may open letters for the formality of quarantine, they are rarely read. Leaving Bucharest - Wallachian post - for the interior twice weekly, Monday and Friday, at 6 in the evening Austrian post - for Austria, Germany, Italy, France and England: Monday and Friday at 7 in the evening Russian post - for Moldavia and Russia, Tuesday noon; for Constantinople, twice monthly Arriving at Bucharest - Wallachian post - twice weekly, Saturday and Wednesday Austrian post - Tuesday and Saturday Russian post - from Moldavia and Russia, Tuesday and Saturday; from Constantinople, the first and fifteenth of each month. (extracted from l'Annuaire Vallaquie, by Col. Blaremberg) 1845. DDSG abandons Black Sea service. 1846. Building of a new road system is started in Wallachia, to link Bucharest with Ors!ova, Sibiu, Bras!ov, Focs!ani and Bra@ila. For a discussion of the post roads and stations of this period, see O harta@ a t!arii Roma#nes!tii din deceniul al 4-lea al secolului al XIX-lea (A map of Wallachia from the fourth decade of the 19th century), Liuba Iancovici, Revista Arhivelor, anul 50, vol. 35, no. 4, 1973, pp. 653-668. Jan. 1/13, 1848. End of Customs barrier between Moldavia and Wallachia, as agreed in a convention signed Jan. 30, 1846. May 29, 1848. Under the revolutionary government in Hungary, Transylvania is made part of Hungary, from its separate position within the Austrian Empire. June 27, 1848 - Sept. 25, 1848. Revolutionary government takes control of Buch- arest with a few interruptions. The revolt in Moldavia was quickly suppressed in March/April. The revolt in Wallachia began with a proclamation at Islaz on June 9/21, against the Russian protectorate. Russian troops entered Moldavia June 25 / July 7, and Turkish troops entered Wallachia Sept. 13/25. The Russians entered Bucharest on Sept. 16/28. These occupations lasted until 1851. Oct. 17, 1849. Having suppressed the Hungarian revolutionary government, Tran- sylvania became an Austrian province. 1849. The Treaty of Balta Liman between Russia and Turkey put the principal- ities under a Russian protectorate, lasting until the Crimean war. 1851. Moldavia and Wallachia participate in "The World Exhibition for Industry and Trade" in London. Feb. 2/13, 1853. Telegraph line from Ias!i to Vienna opened. More lines opened during the Crimean War, and in the following years. July 1853. The Crimean War began with Russian occupation of Moldavia and Wallachia. The Turks declared war in Oct. 1853, France and Britain joined in March 1854. Little actual fighting occured in the principalities. June 14, 1854. Convention of Boyadji Keuy, between Austria and Turkey, concerning occupation of the principalities by Austria, to achieve the evacuation of the principalities by Russia. The Austrian occupation brought about improvements to the roads, the first telegraphs, and plans for the first railways. Jan. 20/Feb. 1, 1855. Convention between Britain and France to construct a telegraph from Bucharest to Varna. March 10/22, 1855. Telegraph line Bucharest-Giurgiu opened, begun in 1854. Jan. 2, 1856. Telegraph convention between Moldavia and Austria (German- Austrian telegraph union). Feb. 13/25 - March 18/30, 1856. Congress of Paris, end of the Crimean War. The Treaty of Paris laid the basis for the European Danube Commission, to maintain and control the shipping channels of the Danube Delta. By granting S. Bessarabia to Moldavia, Russia's direct access to the Danube was removed. In essence, the principalities were placed under a protectorate of the European powers. Also, the Black Sea was neutralized and demilitarized. An additional protocol was signed Jan. 6, 1857. 1856-58. The first discussions of Moldavian postage stamps arose under the administrations of Teodor Bals! and Nicolae Vogoride. Bals! was appointed caimacam of Moldavia in June 1856, confirmed in July 1856 by the Congress of Paris. As defined in the Treaty of Akkerman (1826), the caimacam (regent or lieutenant) ruled when the hospodar (prince) had abdicated or died, pending replacement by the Divan (assembly). The ad hoc Divans required by the Congress of Paris were finally called to be convened in a firman of Jan. 13, 1857; the Austrians were to leave by March 30. Bals! died March 1, and was succeeded as caimacam by Vogoride. Vogoride had been finance minister under Bals!; he had married into the wealthy Conachi family, and sometimes used the name Nicolae Conachi-Vogoride. Politically, he was an ultra-conservative and anti-unionist. Vogoride forged the Assembly's election returns of July 19, 1857, by rigging the election lists, and when Turkey did not void the election, France, Russia, Prussia and Sardinia broke diplomatic relations with the Porte on August 4 (their ambassadors had been charged with supervising the election). By August 9 a compromise was reached, annulling the election, and a new one was held soon after, on Sept. 20. The majority of those elected were in favor of the union of the princi- palities, which Vogoride was not; his fear of this result was what prompted the affair. Vogoride was thrown out in October 1858, about the time the second issue of Moldavian stamps appeared. July 9, 1857. Greece announced that it would open post offices in Galat!i, Bra@ila, Bucharest and Ias!i. The first two opened in 1857. The Galat!i office did not open until 1859, as Cuza had not given permission. The Ias!i office did not open at all, as Vogoride would not grant permission. The Bucharest office was closed in 1863, the others in 1866 or 1867. See A.G. Argyropoulos, "Greek Post Offices Abroad," 17th American Philatelic Congress, 1951, pp. 120-128; 22nd A.P.C., 1956, pp. 56-59. The latter des- cribes a much earlier Bucharest office from the 1840's. Also, S.G. Nico- laides, Historical Details of the Greek Post Offices in Moldavia-Wallachia and Sulina, Athens, 1972. Sept. 1857. Telegraph line, Ias!i to Botos!ani. Nov. 6/18, 1857. Agreement between the European Danube Commission and Moldavia concerning the Galat!i-Sulina telegraph, amended July 3/15, 1858. Nov. 1857. French post offices opened in Bra@ila, Galat!i, Sulina, Tulcea, and later in Constant!a (Sept. 1869). May 10/22 - Aug. 7/19, 1858. Paris Convention, authorizing formation of the United Principalities of Moldavia and Wallachia, each with its own government, legislature and prince, but still under Turkish suzerainty, and with a Central Commission at Focs!ani to coordinate laws of common interest, such as for the post and telegraph. Remained in force until 1864. July 15, 1858. Postage stamps introduced in Moldavia. Jan. 5/17, 1859. Alexandru Ioan Cuza elected Prince of Moldavia. Jan. 24 / Feb. 5, 1859. Cuza elected Prince of Wallachia also. May 10/22, 1859. Central Commission opened at Focs!ani. Sept. 1859. European powers reconfirm the separate principalities, but accept a personal union for the lifetime of Cuza. Firmans of investiture issued for Cuza, Sept. 24, 1859. 1860, before Sept. Moldavian and Wallachian post and telegraph administrations unified, with headquarters in Bucharest. Oct. 4, 1860. The Danube and Black Sea Railway opens, built to circumvent the Danube Delta, hoping to profit from the grain trade. In 1867 this railway issued its own local postage stamp. Dec. 3/15, 1860. Telegraph convention between United Principalities and Russia, effective Feb. 1/13, 1862. April 19 / May 1, 1861. The Ottoman government gives Cuza permission to unite the ministries and assemblies, and dissolve the Central Commission, but limited to the reign of Cuza himself. Nov. 20 / Dec. 2, 1861. Union of principalities granted by a firman of the Sultan, proclaimed Dec. 11/23, 1861 by Cuza under the name of Romania. Jan. 22 / Feb. 3, 1862. Establishment of a unified government at Bucharest. Parliament opened Jan. 24 / Feb. 5. Central Commission dissolved. June 26, 1862. First stamp issue of the united principalities. June 4/16, 1862. Telegraph convention between Romania and Austria, Turkey and Serbia. Separate convention with Austria, June 26. June 4/16, 1863. Telegraph convention with Serbia. Feb. 17, 1864. Stamps of Lombardy-Venetia first used in the principalities by the Austrian postal service. May 1864. Cuza's coup d'etat: parliament dismissed, and a new constitution es- tablished by plebiscite, giving the prince greater powers. Many of Cuza's reforms were opposed by the wealthy landowners, who controlled the legis- lature, and by the European powers, as they violated parts of the Paris Convention of 1858. June 16/28, 1864. Agreement between Turkey and Cuza (with the support of the European powers) relative to the administration of the United Principalities, confirming Romania's right to change internal laws without prior approval of the Ottoman government. This did not extend to international relations. 1864. Establishment of the post and telegraph. See Ioan M. Bujoreanu, Bibliotheca de legislat!iune, Collect!iune de Legiuirile Romaniei, 1873, vol. 1, p. 969. 1864-5. As in many countries, the postal system was a prize plum for political corruption: Especially active in the intrigues against [Prime Minister Mihail] Koga@lniceanu were the wagging tongues of Prince Cuza's so-called "camarilla." This group of cronies, relatives, and foreign advisors slowly began taking an increasingly larger share in Romanian political affairs during 1865, much to Cuza's disadvantage. Its most notorious member was Cezar Librecht, a Belgian adventurer promoted by Cuza to director of the Post and Telegraph Department where he amassed an amazing fortune and became a symbol of greed and corruption. When Cuza was ousted, the British consul reported that Librecht's safe contained L50,243 in specie and securities, he owned a new L15,000 house (the most elaborate in Bucures!ti), and a small estate. "Singular savings on a salary of about L700 a year for 6 years." [there follows a reference to the British Foreign Office archives] Paul E. Michelson, Conflict and Crisis: Romanian Political Development, 1861-1871, Garland, N.Y., 1987, pp. 78-79, 262. Koga@lniceanu resigned in January 1865. It was estimated that Librecht misappropriated over one million lei during his time in the government. [Michelson, pp. 111, 272] Jan. 1/13, 1865. Gregorian calendar adopted by the Romanian postal service; decree of 18 Dec. 1864, promulgated 29 Dec. 1864, o.s. May 10/22, June 12/24, 1865. Telegraph convention with Austria. June 1865. In an exchange of notes with the Turkish Foreign Ministry, the Romanian government proposed that a postal convention be concluded between Romania and Turkey. The request was acknowledged to be important, but no action was taken. [Mitilineu, pp. 118-121] July 27 / Aug. 8, 1865. Romania joined the International Telegraph Union (founded in Paris on May 17, 1865, renamed the International Telecommuni- cation Union in 1934). Convention effective Jan. 1, 1866. Dec. 1865. Transylvania incorporated into Hungary (voted in Nov. 1863). Dec. 14/26, 1865. Telegraph convention with Russia, effective Jan. 1, 1866. Dec. 18/30, 1865. Telegraph convention with Serbia. Jan. 1/13, 1866. Metric system introduced (law of Sept. 15/27, 1864). Not completely adopted until 1881. Feb. 11/23, 1866. Cuza forced to abdicate, having alienated almost every powerful faction in the country. An interim government was established with a regency pending selection of a foreign prince. May 10/22, 1866. Carol of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen (born April 20, 1839) proclaimed Prince of Romania, having been elected by a carefully controlled plebiscite from April 2/14 to 8/20. Recognized by the Ottoman government on October 11/23, and given the right to issue his own coinage, but with Ottoman insignia. From the firman of investiture (the Sultan is addressing Carol): 3. Coinage - Authority having been granted on our part to the United Principalities to have a special coin bearing a mark of our Government, which shall be hereafter decided between my Sublime Porte and you, to consider that authority as of none effect so long as that decision has not been come to. For the first decade of Carol's reign, the Romanian government sought to assert its autonomy by various actions, such as obtaining international recognition of the name Romania in place of the United Principalities of Moldavia and Wallachia, the right to mint coins with a national emblem, and to make postal and consular conventions without the involvement of the Ottoman government. The right to mint coins was considered to apply only to independent states, and Turkey would not permit this of Romania without restrictions. We must note that the early postage stamps, though inscribed Romania, were valid only within the country itself, and therefore brought no objection from the Turks. By Feb. 1870, Turkey and the European powers had recognized the name change. June 1866. Rates set for telegraph exchange between Romania and Turkey, effec- tive June 19/July 1, 1866. Terminal charge in Romania, 6 1/2 centimes, transit charge through Bulgaria, 4 centimes, terminal charge in Turkey in Europe, 14 1/2 centimes, Turkey in Asia, 30 centimes. July 1/13, 1866. First constitution of modern Romania. Altered 1879, 1884, 1917, operated until 1923. Feb. 5/17, 1867. Creation of the Austro-Hungarian Dual Monarchy. The six Austrian post offices in Romania, at Bucures!ti, Giurgiu, Ploes!ti, Bra@ila, Focs!ani and Galat!i, were transferred to Hungarian administration, under control of the Hungarian head post office in Sibiu (Nagyszeben). The new Hungarian postal administration was effective May 1, 1867. Austrian stamps were withdrawn May 31 and demonetized June 15, 1867; a simultaneous Austrian and Hungarian issue was in use until June 20, 1868, when the first Hungarian stamps were issued. See [H2] for additional details. Nov. 25 / Dec. 7, 1867. Postal Convention with Russia, closing its offices in Romania. [Effective date of closures?] Jan. 1/13, 1868. New monetary system, 100 bani = 1 leu = 1 French franc, set up by law of April 22 / May 4, 1867. Previously, 40 parale = 1 piastre, on the Turkish system, converted as 25 new bani = 27 old parale. Bronze coins were issued, 1, 2, 5, 10 bani, the first by modern Romania (dated 1867); these were inscribed Romania, and showed the Romanian coat of arms. Silver and gold coins were also authorized. Cuza had only made a few coinage essays in 1860 and 1864. 1868-1870. The Romanian post office received help in the reorganization of its domestic and international postal service from three Swiss experts: Edmond Ho^hn, later Director General of the Swiss posts and Director of the UPU International Bureau; Paul Jeanrenaud, Director of the Neucha#tel postal district; and Joseph-Karl Schneider, Comptroller of the St. Gallen postal district. July 9/21, 1868. Vienna conference of the International Telegraph Union con- cluded, the new convention effective Jan. 1, 1869. July 12/24, 1868. Postal conventions with Austria-Hungary and Germany (North German Confederation). The conventions were signed for Romania by Ion I. Falcoianu, Director-General of Posts and Telegraphs. The Austrian treaty was amended Dec. 29, 1868, and Feb. 25, 1869; it went into effect January 1, 1869, though not fully ratified by Romania until July 29 / Aug. 10 (or Aug. 18/30), 1869. Portions were abrogated by the UPU convention of 1878, except for parcel posts. The Austrian (now Hungarian) offices in Romania were to be closed. The German treaty went into effect January 1, 1869; though not fully ratified until June 2/14, 1869; portions were abrogated by the UPU convention of 1878, except for newspaper subscriptions, express (special delivery) and commercial papers. The express fee was set at 30 bani, and the letter was to be marked "a remettre par express" ("a se remite prin expres"). Aug. 8/20, 1868. Telegraph convention with Russia; rates and exchange points set. For 20 words, for European Russia, 5 francs, for Caucasus, 8 francs; for Romania, 1 franc. Dec. 1868. Transylvania incorporated into Hungary. Mar. 20 / Apr. 1, 1869. Austrian (now Hungarian) and Russian post offices in Romania closed, Romanian foreign mail service begun. [I am not clear about when the French offices in Bra@ila and Galat!i closed; Langlois and Francois say Jan. 16, 1875. What might have allowed them to stay open so much longer than the Austrian and Russian offices?] Nov. 15, 1869. Prince Carol marries Princess Elizabeth of Wied (born Dec. 29, 1845). She wrote poetry, etc., under the pen name Carmen Sylva. Feb. 24 / March 8, 1870. State Mint inaugurated, first gold and silver coins. These coins carried Carol's portrait and title "Prince of Romania" but no indication of the Ottoman Empire, as had been required by previous agree- ments. This raised the protest of Turkey and the European powers. In 1868, a 20 lei gold coin inscribed Carol I Domnulu@ Roma#niloru@ (Prince of the Romanians) was minted in 200 copies. In 1870, a 1 leu silver coin (400,000) and a 20 lei gold coin (5,000 copies) were minted, inscribed Carol I Domnul Romaniei (Prince of Romania). Further mintings in 1872-6 were simply inscribed Romania and showed the Romanian crown and coat of arms. Only in 1879 were coins with Carol's portrait resumed, as he evidently had yielded to the pressure concerning the 1870 coins. Jan. 27 / Feb. 8, 1871. Convention on navigation of the River Pruth, with Austria and Russia. Aug. 8/20, 1871. Telegraph convention with Austria-Hungary, effective May 3/15, 1872. Oct. 27 / Nov. 8, 1871. Postal convention with Serbia. Exchanges were to take place between Cladova and Turnu-Severin, across the Danube. Signed for Romania by A.T. Zisso, Director-General of Posts and Telegraphs, but not ratified until March 1874. French and Romanian texts: Djuvara, pp. 17-32; "while not yet denounced [1888], this convention has fallen into disuse, since, in the absence of a direct line, all the postal relations between Romania and Serbia are carried through Austro-Hungarian territory." 1871. Horse-drawn streetcars introduced in Bucharest. Dec. 4, 1871 - Jan. 14, 1872. Rome conference of the International Telegraph Union, convention effective July 1, 1872. Feb. 6/18, 1872. Law for the initiation of the government's tobacco monopoly. March 1/13, 1872. Law for the initiation of stamp taxes (revenue or fiscal stamps). Regulations issued Aug. 26 / Sept. 7, 1872. April 6/18, 1872. Law for the rural post offices. Regulations issued April 13/25, 1872. Feb. 17 / March 1, 1873. Postal Convention with Russia. Portions abrogated by the UPU convention of 1878, except for parcel posts. Signed for Romania by George I. Lahovary, Director-General of Posts and Telegraphs. March 17, 1873. Postal cards introduced in Romania. Sept. 15 - Oct. 9, 1874. Formation of the General Postal Union (since 1878, the Universal Postal Union) at Bern, with Romania as a founding member. The Romanian delegation served on the special committee to draft detailed regulations to implement the general provisions of the convention. The treaty went into effect July 1, 1875. Various goals of the postal union included reduction and simplification of international postal rates (typi- cally 25 centimes for 15 grams), an international registration system, and established rules for handling the mail, including the cancellation of stamps. Signed for Romania by George F. Lahovari (Director General of Posts and Telegraphs); note that Turkey sent its own representative to the conven- tion. Ratified Dec. 16, 1874, ratification exchanged May 3, 1875. The UPU convention consists of the main convention and several agreements, with detailed regulations, which were ratified separately by each member country (we give the year of introduction of each part): the main convention itself (1874), insured letters (1878) and boxes (1891), postal money orders (1878), parcel post (1880), collection orders (1885, revised 1947), subscriptions to newspapers and periodicals (1891), postal checking accounts (1920), and an international savings bank service (1957). The postal identity card agreement begun in 1885 was moved into the main convention in 1920. Postal traveler's checks were added to the postal money orders agreement in 1934. Jan. 6/18, 1875. Agreement between the Romanian post and telegraph administra- tion and the "Societatea act!ionarilor Ca@ilor ferate roma#ne" for the provision of telegraph services by the railway stations. March 18/30, 1875. Agreement between the Romanian post office and the DDSG for the transport of Romanian mail and parcels on the company steamers. The steamers were to call at Va#rciorova, T. Severin, Calafat, Bechet, Islaz, T. Magurele, Zimnicea, Giurgiu, Oltenit!a, Calaras!i, Bra@ila and Galat!i. Signed for Romania by G.I. Lahovary. May 20 / June 1, 1875. Romania agreed to provide a free daily telegram for the Vienna Meteorological Institute's station at Sulina to make its reports. June 10/22, 1875. A commercial convention with Austria-Hungary was signed. Romania's prime objective was to assert its political independence of Turkey; Austria's objective was the economic benefits of trade with Romania. A similar convention was signed with Russia in October 1875. July 10/22, 1875. International Telegraph Convention signed at St. Petersburg, effective Jan. 1, 1876. Romania did not attend the conference, but did adhere to the convention Dec. 10/22, 1875. This was the last diplomatic convention held until 1932, but administrative conferences were held in 1879, 1885 (when issues of the telephone were first discussed), 1890, 1896, 1903 (when detailed telephone regulations were first included), 1908, 1925 (which see), and 1928. The 1885 conference established fixed rates within Europe, of 10 centimes per word, at origin and destination, plus 8 centimes per word in transit. However, Romania and some other countries were allowed to charge at most 6 1/2 and 4 centimes. Rates could be lowered at any time. This system remained until 1925, when the rates became (for Romania) 9 and 7 centimes within Europe. A minimum charge of 20 words (within Europe) held from 1865 to 1885. Oct. 31, 1875. Agreement between Romania and Austria concerning the forwarding of the Vienna-Constantinople mails via Bucharest and Varna. Jan. 6/18, 1876. Telegraph convention with Austria and Hungary, effective Feb. 1/13, 1876. Similar convention signed March 14/26, 1880, effective Jan. 1881. Jan. 18-27, 1876. Bern conference of the G.P.U., concerning membership of colonies. June 4/16, 1876. "Societatea de Cruce Ros!ie a Roma#niei" (Romanian Red Cross) is founded. June 16/28, 1876. Foreign Minister Koga@lniceanu sent a memorandum to the Ottoman Foreign Minister, requesting recognition of various rights of the Romanian government, including the conclusion of post and telegraph conven- tions with Turkey, and use of the name Romania. The memorandum received no international support. Dec. 11/23, 1876. Turkey proclaimed a new constitution under which the "United Principalities" were designated an "integral part" and a "privileged province" of the Ottoman Empire. Romania protested, and the European powers held a meeting to try to improve the situation throughout the region. April 4/16, 1877. Romanian-Russian convention on free passage of Russian troops through Romania, to go into effect April 17/29. Article 1. The Romanian Government accords to the Russian Army the use of the railways, rivers, roads, Romanian posts and telegraphs, ... Article 17. The Romanian Government accords to the Russian Army the use of the State posts and telegraphs, and those of the railway companies, on the same footing as the Romanian authorities whose expenses do not enter into the State Budget. Thus Russian official despatches will have priority over private correspondence. [The remainder of Art. 17 concerns the telegraph service.] April 10/22, 1877. Romania broke relations with Turkey. April 12/24, 1877. Russia declared war on Turkey, and began to move troops ahead of schedule into Romania on their way to attack Bulgaria. The con- vention on passage was not ratified until April 14/26. May 10/22, 1877. The Romanian government, taking advantage of the situation in the Russo-Turkish War, declared its independence of Turkey. June 12, 1877. "Bilete hypothecar" paper currency issued by Finance Ministry; withdrawn Sept. 1880, and overprinted "Banca Nat!ionala a Romaniei." Literally translated, "mortgage notes." Feb. 19 / March 3, 1878. The Treaty of San Stefano recognizes Romania's independence. The Dobrudja and the Danube Delta were ceded by Turkey to Russia, then exchanged with Romania for southern Bessarabia. Further recognition of Romania was provided by the Congress of Berlin (July 13, 1878), which was convened to re-examine the San Stefano treaty. The Dobrudja and the Danube Delta officially joined with Romania on Oct. 8/20, 1878, though the Romanian administration did not function until Nov. 23. Romania was now able to join the European Danube Commission, whose privi- leges were extended up to Galat!i. Russian troops remained in Dobrudja until April 1879. May 2 - June 4, 1878. Second UPU congress, at Paris. The effective date of the new postal convention was to be April 1, 1879. International money order exchanges and a provision for insured articles were created. Sea transit rates were reduced. The Paris UPU conference in 1880 allowed uninsured parcels not exceeding 3 kg. Signed for Romania by C.F. Robescu (D.G. of P.T.), Nov. 3, 1880. Ratified March 1, 1879, ratification exchanged March 6/18, 1879. Romania withdrew from the agreement on insured letters on March 8/20, 1886. Specimen stamps: In Dec. 1878, the UPU International Bureau began to require each postal administration to supply sets of stamps for distribution to other member administrations. Bendon lists "SPECIMEN" overprints only for the 1885-6 issue (7 stamps) and notes that all others were distributed unmarked. Postal stationery with the SPECIMEN overprint were also distri- buted at this time. Similar postage due specimens exist. There would have been 345 copies required of each item submitted, as of Dec. 1885. For details on the distribution system, see James Bendon, UPU Specimen Stamps, Limassol, Cyprus, 1988. Nov. 13/25, 1878. Law for the organization of the Dobrudja, as the counties of Tulcea, Ku^stenge and Silistra-Noua@. April 1879. French post offices closed in Constant!a, Sulina, Tulcea. March 9/21, 1880. Law for the organization of the Dobrudja, amended March 30 / April 11, 1886. The border was not finally settled until July 29, 1880. This law primarily established the two counties of Tulcea and Constant!a from the three counties established in 1878. April 11/23, 1880. Ca@ile Ferate Roma#ne, the state railway system, is created; it took over operation of the existing lines and the new construction. All private railway lines were purchased by January 1889 (1,377 km). Germany had made its recognition of Romania's independence contingent on purchase of the Va#rciorova-Roman railway line (the Strousberg concession), which was accom- plished through a mortgage on the tobacco monopoly. April 17/29, 1880. National Bank of Romania founded, with the exclusive right to mint coins and issue notes. Cuza had set up the Bank of Romania, with the right to mint coins. July 17, 1880. Agreement between Austria-Hungary and the German states concern- ing postal cards with paid reply, joined by Romania on Sept. 17, 1880. Oct. 9 - Nov. 3, 1880. Paris convention of UPU on parcel post. Romania signed the convention, ratified it May 3, 1881, withdrew on March 8/20, 1886, then rejoined it May 23, 1888. Nov. 12/24, 1880. Arrangements with Germany to allow enclosure in the mails of receipts, invoices, commercial bills, etc., of values up to 750 francs (600 marks). Effective March 1, 1881. May 10/22, 1881. Carol I crowned King of Romania (had been declared King by Parliament March 14/26, 1881). Aug. 14/26, 1881. Arrangements with Belgium to allow enclosure in the mails of commercial papers, of values up to 1000 lei (1000 francs). Insurance rates were to be 10 bani per 20 lei, up to 50 bani. Money order exchanges allowed up to 1000 lei (francs). Effective Sept. 15/27, 1881. 1881. Stock Exchange opens in Bucharest. Oct.-Nov. 1882. Telegraph convention with France. March 10, 1883. The Kilia branch of the Danube Delta was removed from the jurisdiction of the European Danube Commission, and the Danube from Galat!i to Bra@ila was added (Treaty of London). The former was done at Russia's insistence, and they applied customs taxes. March 6/18, 1883. Romania adheres to International Metric Convention (Paris, May 8/20, 1875), effective Aug. 20, 1884. Oct. 18/30, 1883. Secret treaty of alliance signed with Austria-Hungary, Germany and Italy (the latter on May 3/15, 1888). Remained in force until World War I. Renewed July 13/25, 1892; Sept. 18/30, 1896; April 4/17, 1902; Jan. 21 / Feb. 3, 1913. This was known only to the King and a few govern- ment ministers, until August 1914; of course, such secrets are hard to keep, and rumors of the treaty always met with no comment from the government. The Triple Alliance itself was formed in 1882 under Bismarck; Romania's involvement was to provide assistance in the event of Russian aggression. 1883. Electric street lights installed in Timis!oara, the first in Europe. 1884. First telephone installation in Bucharest, between the Interior Minstry and the postal headquarters. Feb. 4 - March 21, 1885. Third UPU congress, at Lisbon. New features included international use of express delivery service (special delivery service; 30 centimes), reply-paid postal cards, private post cards, collection orders, payment on delivery, and identity cards. Parcels containing gold, silver, jewels and other valuables were allowed if not prohibited by the individual countries. Effective date, April 1, 1886. Signed for Romania by Ion Ghica; also attended by Constantin Jean Manu, a high postal official. Ratified Feb. 7, 1886. The UPU convention replaced various agreements such as those concerning commercial papers, with Belgium (Aug. 14/26, 1881) and France (May 9/21, 1880). Romania did not sign the UPU conventions on insured letters or parcel post, but did sign the conventions on money orders, C.O.D. and identity cards. The parcel post convention was later signed May 23, 1888, ratified May 3, 1890, with the ratification exchanged March 18/30, 1891. March 13/25, 1885. Postal Convention with Bulgaria. Reduced rates for border localities - simple letters up to 15 grams: 15 centimes prepaid, 30 centimes if not prepaid; otherwise, as for the UPU, which would be 25 or 50 centimes. Return receipt, 25 centimes. Effective 10 days after ratification. Signed for Romania by Col. Mihai Pastia, Director-General of Posts and Telegraphs. Ratified March 5/17, 1886. March 30 / April 11, 1885. State mint, postage stamp factory and storehouse reorganized by new law. Sept. 5/17, 1885. Detailed regulations of the international telegraph, signed at Berlin. Dec. 12/24, 1885. Telegraph convention with Austria-Hungary. Apr. 1886. Telegraph agreement with Turkey, same as the June 1866 agreement. May 1886 to Dec. 1893. "Customs War" with Austria-Hungary, over protective tariffs. Started by Romania's denunciation (in June 1885) of the highly unfavorable (to Romania) June 1875 trade agreement, and passage of a protective tariff in May 1886. July 2/14, 1886. Agreement with Russia, setting telegraph rates, amending the agreement of March 17/29, 1880. Effective June 19 / July 1, 1886. Feb. 13/25, 1887. Telegraph convention with Serbia, replacing the agreement of March 30, 1880. Feb. 28 / March 12, 1887. State tobacco monopoly established; postage stamps were commonly sold in the tobacco shops. There were also state monopolies for friction matches, salt and vegetable oil. 1887. Serviciul Maritim Roma#n (S.M.R.) established, but its first regular sailings were not until 1895. For ocean-going vessels. Jan. 9/21, 1888. Law creating fluvial and maritime navigation office. 1889. Telephone system introduced throughout Bucharest. March 17/29, 1890. Gold standard adopted for currency. (Law of May 29 / June 10, 1889) April 1890. Navigat!iunea fluviala@ Roma#na@ (N.F.R.) established, to administer river boat traffic; started with a few tugboats and barges. May 20 - July 4, 1891. Fourth UPU congress, at Vienna. Collect-on-delivery added to international mail, reply-paid postal cards now required (pre- viously optional). Unpaid postal cards could be sent under the same rules as unpaid letters. The International Bureau of the UPU was to initiate an alphabetic dictionary of all post offices in the world. An agreement on newspaper subscriptions and another on insured parcels were added. Effec- tive date, July 1, 1892. Signed for Romania by Col. A. Gorjan (Dir. Gen. of P. and T.) and S. Dimitrescu (Division Chief at P. and T.). All six parts were ratified May 29, 1892. 1894. Electric streetcars introduced in Bucharest. 1895. N.M.R. agency started. (maritime) Sept. 19 / Oct. 1, 1895. Railway bridge over the Danube from Fetes!ti to Cernavoda opened; construction began in October 1890. Improvements to the Constant!a harbor were contracted in July 1895, begun in April 1899, completed over ten years, forming a major trade route to the Black Sea. 1895-1915. The S.M.R. ran 5 mail steamers, with a bi-weekly service between Constant!a and Alexandria, Egypt, with calls at Constantinople, Smyrna and Piraeus. It connected with the Orient Express line Ostend (Belgium) - Berlin - Bucharest - Constant!a. The mail and cargo service (7 boats) were operated at a loss. Up to 1897, only letters were carried, then letters and parcels. From 1895 to Feb. 1896, the service was twice per week, then thrice per week until 1898, when it returned to twice per week. Also on the Constant!a - Constantinople route, letters would be carried by Austrian steamer (twice weekly) or Italian steamer (once weekly), from 1894 to 1905. The mail steamer Imperatul Traian was attacked in June 1910 at Piraeus by a mob of 2,000. Service prior to this had been halted owing to an interrup- tion of relations between Greece and Romania. Service was again suspended in 1912 owing to the Balkan War. March 16 - May 25, 1896. Postage stamps for the Romanian shipboard post office in Constantinople, on the route to Constant!a. In early 1896 the Romanian government attempted to establish a postal agency in Constantinople, on the same basis as other European powers, but was refused. So, without the per- mission of the Ottoman government, a post office was opened on March 15 on board a SMR steamer docked at Constantinople. Current postage stamps and postal stationery were overprinted in Turkish currency, and a few others were used without overprint. On May 25, the Turkish police raided the steamer, seized the mails, and closed the post. May 3/15, 1896. Postal and telegraph arrangement with Bulgaria, modifying the 1885 convention. Lowered rates: 15 centimes for a simple letter, 30 if not prepaid; registry and return receipt, 25 centimes each. Ratified March 20 / April 1, 1897. July 8/20, 1896. Telegraph arrangement with Serbia, and another with Germany. July 9/21, 1896. Telegraph arrangements with Spain and Italy. March 6/18, 1897. Parliament makes Sundays (morning only) and holidays (14) legal days of rest. Law replaced April 14/27, 1910 and June 18, 1925. May 5 - June 15, 1897. Fifth UPU congress, at Washington. Effective date January 1, 1899. Parcels up to 5 kg. now permitted, with higher values. Transit rates were lowered. A convention concerning subscriptions to newspapers and periodicals was signed. Signed for Romania by Constantin Chiru (Dir. Gen. of P. and T.) and Romulus Preda (Chief of the financial service). All six parts ratified Dec. 14, 1898. Dec. 1897. The Hungarian parliament passed a law for the compulsory Magyar- ization of all the place names in Hungary. Government employees were also instructed to adopt Magyar family names. All post office and railway maps, signs and notices were henceforward to be written only in Magyar. The use and control of language is an aspect of postal history too often neglected. The spoken languages in the lands of interest to this study are (alphabetically) German, Hungarian (Magyar), Romanian, Ruthenian (Ukrainian), Serbo-Croatian, Slovak and Yiddish. The Austrian Empire had used Latin as its official language, which had the merit (for the Empire's benefit) of not being spoken by anyone except the educated. Turkish, and Slavonic and Greek, played similar roles for the Ottoman Empire and the Orthodox Church. In the 1780's, Emperor Joseph II established German as the official language of the Austrian Empire, but by personal decree and not with the consent or tolerance of any other language group. This awoke within the Magyars the notion that they could establish their language over all the others in Hungary. In turn, the Romanians began a cultural awakening, at first to improve the standing of the large but unprivileged peasant class in Transylvania, but which also came to affect the position of Moldavia and Wallachia in the Ottoman Empire. By the 1830's Magyar was required knowledge for Hungarian officials, and in the 1840's it became the only official language. Education in Magyar was encouraged at the time, and made compulsory in 1879. In 1863, owing to the temporary absence of Magyar delegates to the Transylvanian Diet, a law was passed recognizing the equality of the Magyar, German and Romanian languages. This came to be ignored and then replaced by the so-called Law of Equal Rights of the Nationalities in 1868. Nevertheless, the placement of Magyar as a language with political privilege did not necessarily require eradication of the other languages, as was the intent of the 1897 laws. We shall see parallel sequences of events in Romania, with respect to the Romanianization of place names in Transylvania, and to a lesser extent in the recent re-introduction of ancient Dacian town names. Feb. 17 / March 1, 1899. Postal and telegraph convention with Germany. Having established a daily fast train on the Bucharest-Berlin route, arrangements were made to coordinate the train with the steamer service from Constant!a to Constantinople. Ratified March 2/14, 1899. March 20 / April 1, 1899. Postal arrangements with Russia, effective June 19 / July 1, 1899. Replaced the 1873 convention. July 2-5, 1900. Celebration in Bern for the UPU's 25th anniversary, attended by George Jean Lahovary, former Dir. Gen. of P. and T., Constantin Manu, Sub- Director of P. and T., and Demetre Bratescu, Inspector of P. and T. Feb. 15, 1903. Postal agreement with Austria, signed at Czernowitz. [Post- und Telegraphen-verordnungsblatt des K.k. Handelsministiriums, Wien, 1903, p. 111, n. 29] April 7 - May 26, 1906. Sixth UPU congress, at Rome. New features included international reply coupons (the only workable alternative to a universal postage stamp), picture postcard rates identical to postal card rates, and the franking privilege for prisoners of war (letters, post cards, money orders, parcels, insured articles). Effective date October 1, 1907. Transit rates were again lowered. The weight units on single letters were raised from 15 grams to 20 grams (25 centimes for the first, 15 centimes for each additional). Signed for Romania by Grigore Cerkez (Dir. Gen. of P. and T.) and Georges Gabrielescu (section chief at P. and T.). All six parts ratified April 28, 1907. June 6/19, 1906. Romanian General Exhibition opens in the park on Filaret Hill in Bucharest (today, Liberty Park). Oct. 3 - Nov. 3, 1906. Berlin conference organizing the International Radio- telegraph Union, with Romania's participation. March 1907. Peasant revolt in Moldavia. May 20 / June 2, 1908. Telegraph arrangement with Austria, effective July 1, 1909. Nov. 19 / Dec. 2, 1909. Telegraph arrangement with Hungary. Sept. 26 / Oct. 9, 1912. First Balkan War begins (Bulgaria, Serbia, Greece and Montenegro vs. Ottoman Turkey); Romania remains neutral. War ends May 17/30, 1913. June 16/29, 1913. Second Balkan War begins (Greece, Serbia and Montenegro vs. Bulgaria), joined by Romania (June 27 / July 10) and Turkey. July 16/29 to July 28 / Aug. 10, 1913. Peace conference in Bucharest, ending Second Balkan War. Treaty ratified Aug. 30. Romania obtains Southern Dobrudja. Dec. 5/18, 1913. Postal convention with Serbia. Inland rates between the two countries for telegrams and letters, effective Jan. 1, 1914. Dec. 15/28, 1913. Postal and telegraph convention with Greece, effective March 1, 1914 (n.s.). Dec. 20, 1913 / Jan. 2, 1914. Postal and telegraph convention with Montenegro, effective Jan. 1, 1914 (n.s). Reduced rates: letters (20 grams), 10 centimes; postal cards, 5 centimes; printed matter, 5 centimes per 100 grams; parcels, 15 centimes terminal fee, 25 centimes transit fee. Tele- graph rates 5 centimes per word. Jan. 9/22, March 1/14, 1914. Postal and telegraph convention with Bulgaria, modifying the 1896 agreement. Telegraph rates 5 centimes per word. June - Aug. 1914. World War I begins, Romania remains neutral. Carol argued in favor of intervention on the side of the Central Powers, but was not supported by the Crown Council. Sept. 11, 1914. Turkey renounces the Capitulations, which gave the European powers extra-territorial rights in the Empire, including the power to maintain postal services. Sept. 27 / Oct. 10, 1914. King Carol I dies, succeeded the next day by his nephew Ferdinand (born Aug. 24, 1865). Ferdinand had been declared heir presumptive in 1889, as the only child of Carol and Elizabeth had died at age four; he married Princess Marie of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha on Jan. 16, 1893. Marie was closely related to the royal houses of Britain and Russia. Their children were Carol (b. Oct. 15, 1893, m. 1921 to Princess Helen of Greece, divorced 1928), Elisabeta (b. 1894, m. 1921 to King George of Greece), Maria (b. 1900, m. 1922 to King Alexander of Yugoslavia), Nicolae (b. 1903), Ileana (b. 1909), and Mircea (b. 1913, d. 1916). March 3, 1916. Queen Elizabeth dies. Aug. 14/27, 1916. Romania declares war on Austria-Hungary, and in the next few days, Germany, Turkey and Bulgaria. Nov. 12/25, 1916. Romanian government evacuates Bucharest for Ias!i. Nov. 23 / Dec. 6, 1916. Bucharest occupied. Dec. 1/14, 1916. German Military Administration in Romania established. Feb. / March 1917. Russian revolution, Tsar overthrown, Kerensky government established. July 1, 1917. German occupation postal service begins. Austrian and Bulgarian postal services also functioned, the Bulgarians having begun much earlier. Nov. 22 / Dec. 6, 1917. Treaty of Brest-Litovsk; Russia withdraws from the war. Nov. 26 / Dec. 9, 1917. Armistice, Jan. 28 / Feb. 10, 1918. Romanian request for peace, March 5/18, 1918. Preliminary peace treaty (Buftea), and April 24 / May 7, 1918. Peace treaty (Bucharest) with the Central Powers, but never ratified by Romania. The Dobrudja was placed under joint control of the Central Powers, and the border with Hungary was altered to a small but strategic extent. The economic conditions placed on Romania were quite severe, as far as long-term exploitation was concerned. Article V. ... Means of communication - railroads, mails, telegraph, telephone, etc., remain until new orders under the military administration of occupation. The associated economic treaty provided for a postal convention with Germany, placing it on a basis no less favorable than that of other countries. Sept. 16/29, 1918. Bulgaria surrenders, after success of the Allied invasion from Macedonia. Oct. 30, 1918. Turkey surrenders. Nov. 3, 1918. Austria-Hungary surrenders, after Allied success on the Italian front. Nov. 10, 1918. German armies begin to evacuate Romania, which has rejoined the war. Nov. 11, 1918. Germany surrenders, renounces the Treaty of Bucharest. Nov. 13, 1918. Belgrade armistice between Hungary and the French general Franchet d'Esperey; actually a military convention, signed without specific sanction of the Allied Supreme Command. The military demarcation line was determined between the Hungarian army and the French, Serbian and Romanian armies. The main part of the line was along the Maros River from Szeged, jumping northwest to the Szamos at its junction with the Besterce River. Civil administration of the evacuated territory was to remain with the Hungarians, though this was not respected by the Serbs or Romanians. Article XIV: "The Hungarian post, wireless telegraph, telephone, telegraph and railway service shall be placed under control of the Allies." Postal and telegraph communication with Germany was placed under Allied Military control. Nov. 18, 1918. Allied army enters Bucharest. General Berthelot, the French commander, issued a proclamation which we excerpt: With the permission of the king, I order all the military and civil authorities to fulfill the following measures: ... All traces of the late occupation must be removed. All German, Hungarian and Bulgarian inscriptions will be destroyed. All postal and fiscal stamps of the late German occupation will be taken from circulation. ... There will be established in the shortest possible time all communications (railroads, telegraph and telephone lines). ... A service of daily couriers will be immediately established between all the prefectures and the headquarters of the army at Giurgiu. ... Charles J. Vopicka, Secrets of the Balkans, Chicago, Rand McNally, 1921, pp. 283-4. Dec. 1, 1918. King Ferdinand returns to Bucharest from Ias!i. Dec. 2-3, 1918. Romanian troops cross demarcation line into Hungary. 1917 - 1918. Union with Bessarabia. With the Russian government and army deteriorating after the February 1917 (Kerensky) revolution, calls for Bessarabian autonomy began. These took the form of committees, political parties and congresses of various types, staying within the context of a Russian federation. The Ukrainian Rada at first attempted to annex Bessarabia, but dropped this approach in August. On Oct. 20 / Nov. 2, the Congress of Moldavian Soldiers, organized by the local Army Central Committee, met in Chis!ina@u and proclaimed "the territorial and political autonomy of Bessarabia." A national assembly (Sfatul T!a@rii, the Country's Council), forming a provisional representative government, declared the Moldavian Democratic Republic as an autonomous member of the Russian Democratic Federative Republic, on Nov. 19 / Dec. 2, 1917. As part of an effort to restore order, on January 13/26, 1918, the Romanian army entered Chis!ina@u at the invitation of the Bessarabian government (two infantry divisions and two cavalry divisions). At the January 22nd session of Sfatul T!a@rii, the M.D.R. proclaimed itself independent, effective January 24 (o.s.). The Ukraine tried to reassert its claim to Bessarabia, to no effect. On March 27 / April 9, Sfatul T!a@rii adopted a resolution for union with Romania, with local autonomy. The conditions attached to the resolution, for agrarian reform and political representation, indicate that the Romanian government was not entirely trusted. The Royal decree accepting union came on April 9, and full union with Romania on December 9, 1918, ratified by the Romanian parliament on Dec. 28. Bolshevik agitation in Bessarabia continued into the late 1920's. 1918. Union with Bucovina. Traditionally part of Moldavia, Bucovina was given by the Turks to Austria in May 1775, in violation of Turkish treaties with Moldavia; it had been occupied by Austria in Sept. 1774. The name Bucovina refers to the beech trees of the region, and was adopted by the Austrians when the term "Austrian Moldavia" proved unsatisfactory. From 1775 to 1786 Bucovina was under an Austrian military administration; it was merged with Galicia from 1786 to 1790, an autonomous province from 1790 to 1817, and remerged with Galicia in 1817. In March 1849 it was separated from Galicia, to which it reverted from April 1860 to March 1861. In 1850 it was divided into six districts (Bezirke), and in 1854 into 15 districts. Calls for union with Romania increased in the late 1800's and early 1900's, especially among emigre% groups in Paris and Bucharest. During the first world war, Bucovina was occupied by Russia from October 1914 to June 1915, and from June 1916 to July 1917. In the latter time it was formed into a new gubernia with Galicia. As part of the secret treaty between Romania and Russia in October 1914, to gain Romania's neutrality, Russia had promised the Romanian-inhabited part of Bucovina to Romania upon the anticipated Allied victory. This apportionment was ill-defined, but roughly speaking, the southern part of Bucovina had a Romanian majority, and the northern part a Ruthenian (Ukrainian) majority. Romania occupied the Suceava and Siret districts in 1917, but had to return them to Austria as part of its armistice with the Central Powers. Beginning April 1918, the first goal of the Romanian population of Bucovina had been cooperation with the Romanians of Transylvania for independent administration of the two provinces, within the Austro-Hungarian empire. The Austrians tried to annex Bucovina to Galicia, which provoked a call for union with Romania in October 1918. With the collapse of the empire, a Ukrainian National Council formed in Lvov (October 18), with a local committee in Cerna@ut!i (October 25), to represent the interests of the Ruthenian population. A Romanian National Council was formed on October 27, and on November 6, the Austrian Landespra^sident transferred power to the two councils. On November 7, the Romanian N.C. asked the Romanian govern- ment to occupy all of Bucovina. Beginning the next day, the Romanian army advanced from southern Bucovina to the northern part, occupying Cerna@ut!i on November 11, and all of Bucovina by November 25. A new government of Bucovina under the Romanian N.C. formed on November 12, and convened a representative congress on November 28, though the Ruthenians were not well-represented. This congress declared for union with Romania. The Romanian government decree formalizing the annexation of Bucovina was issued on December 19, 1918. 1918. Union with Transylvania. As a consequence of the Austrian-Turkish war of 1683-1699, Transylvania came under the protection of the Habsburg Empire in 1686 and became part of the Empire in 1699. In 1722 Transylvania for- mally became part of Hungary, but retained its own Diet and administration. A portion of Transylvania was under the Austrian Military Frontier district in the early 1800's, up to 1851. The Dual Monarchy established in 1867 placed it under Hungarian control; Hungarian independence of Austria took place on Nov. 2, 1918. A declaration for self-determination of the Romanian population (2/3 of Transylvania) was worked out in October 1918. A Grand National Assembly of ethnic Romanians was called to meet at Alba Iulia on Dec. 1, where it voted for union with Romania. Similar votes were taken by the Saxons (Jan. 8, 1919) and Swabians (Aug. 10, 1919). The final organi- zation of the region under Romanian government auspices, as opposed to local organizing committees, was not completed until April 1920. Technically, the regions obtained from Hungary were Transylvania, half of the Banat [of Temesva%r] and Cris!ana-Maramures!. Romanian gains from Hungary in 1918 were 103,093 sq. km. (an area larger than that retained by Hungary), and 5,257,467 people, of whom 1,661,805 were Magyars. The Banat was a Turkish pashalik after 1552, and after 1718 an Austrian Crown land, under military administration. In 1751 it obtained a civil administration, and in 1779 was incorporated into Hungary. Separated from Hungary in 1848, part of the Banat was included in the Austrian Military Frontier district, but it was all rejoined to Hungary in 1860. In 1872-3 the military frontier districts were abolished. The region was divided between Romania and Yugoslavia after World War I, but the border was not settled until Nov. 24, 1923. Dec. 11/24, 1918. Decrees of King Ferdinand for the union of Transylvania with the old kingdom, by which the Romanian government takes over the PTT services, among others. Excerpt from Decree No. 3632: Art. I. Provisionally and pending the definitive organization of reunited Romania, the Directing Council emanating from the National Assembly of Alba Iulia of November 18 / December 1, 1918 is charged with the administration of public services in the regions stipulated by decree No. 3631. Art. II. Foreign relations, the army, the railways, postal services, inclu- ding the telegraph and telephone offices, finances, customs, public loans and the general security of the State will remain under the administration of the Royal government. Similar decrees were issued for Bessarabia (Nov. 27) and Bucovina (Dec. 18). Spring, 1919. Arad was isolated between the Hungarian Soviet government and the Romanian military offensive, but still under French occupation by the Arme%e d'Hongrie, part of the Arme%e d'Orient. Hungarian stamps were overprinted "Occupation franc!aise." See ... for more details. This was before the Romanians took control of the city. April 1/14, 1919. Gregorian calendar adopted throughout Romania. April 16, 1919. Romanian troops cross latest demarcation line into Hungary; Debrecen captured Aug. 23. May 1919. Romanian occupation of Eastern Galicia (Western Ukraine). As the Austro-Hungarian empire disintegrated in November 1918, a conflict arose between Poland and the Ukraine as to the possession of Galicia. The Poles, beside wanting the entire province, wanted a link with Romania for possible aid against the Bolsheviks. During this period, Eastern Galicia was mainly occupied by the Ukrainians. The possible use of Romanian troops to aid the Poles was first raised in March 1919. Polish troops moved into Eastern Galicia on May 14, 1919, advancing quickly. Romanian troops (one infantry division, one cavalry division) occupied Kolomea on May 26, meeting the Poles on the 27th. Troops were sent out from Kolomea toward the Dniester. On June 25, the Allied Supreme Council authorized Poland to occupy Galicia up to the old Austrian border on the east, and to establish a civil adminis- tration in eastern Galicia. The Romanian occupation ended August 20, 1919. In time, the former border between Galicia and Bucovina became the Polish- Romanian border. Civilian posts did not function in the Romanian-occupied area from May 26 to June 12. Concerning the stamps issued by the Romanian occupation army in June, see the definitive history: Ivan Chernyavskyj, "Notes on the C.M.T. stamps issued during the Roumanian Occupation of Pokutia," Journal of the Rossica Society of Russian Philately, no. 75, 1968, pp. 71-81. Jan Czerniawski, "The C.M.T. issue," Romanian Philatelic Studies, v. 3, no. 1, 1979, pp. 7-10. Ivan Chernyavskyj, "Notes on the C.M.T. stamps issued during the Romanian occupation of Pokutia," Ukrainian Philatelist, no. 59, 1991, pp. 8-16. For a brief summary and a different viewpoint: John Bulat, Illustrated Postage Stamp History of the Western Ukraine Republic, 1918-1919; 1973, pp. 43-4. The stamps were issued June 28, and withdrawn August 20. June 28, 1919. Treaty of Versailles; Romania joins League of Nations (founding member). European Danube Commission reconstituted. The postwar treaties recognized the 1906 Postal Convention (Rome UPU congress) as part of inter- national law. Aug. 1 - Nov. 14, 1919. Romanian occupation of Budapest. Dec. 9, 1919. From the Minorities Treaty, Article 15: Pending the conclusion under the auspices of the League of Nations of a general convention to secure and maintain freedom of communications and of transit, Romania under- takes to accord freedom of transit to persons, goods, vessels, carriages, wagons and mails in transit to or from any Allied or Associated State over Romanian territory, including territorial waters, and to treat them at least as favorably as the persons, goods, vessels, carriages, wagons and mails respectively of Romanian or of any other more favored nationality, origin, importation or ownership, as regards facilities, charges, restrictions and all other matters. ... Freedom of transit will extend to postal, tele- graphic and telephonic services. Not ratified by Romania until Sept. 4, 1920. Dec. 29, 1919. Romanian Parliament ratifies unions with new territories. 1919. Romanian post office in Constantinople. 1919. French military airmail service between Constantinople and Bucharest. Two postmarks, Arme%es Allie%s en Orient / Poste Ae%rienne. end Jan. 1920. Civil servant's strike. I have no details about this. Was the post disrupted? March 1920. All Hungarian street signs replaced by Romanian signs throughout Transylvania. April 1920. Censorship transferred from military authorities to civil author- ities; primarily aimed at political publications and meetings. Restrictions lifted in Nov. 1928. All functions of the Transylvanian Directing Council ended. July 1920. International Conference on Postal, Railway, Telegraph, Telephone and Radiotelegraph Communications, held in Paris. Attended by 21 European nations, including Romania, to restore communications and set priorities for repair of telegraph and telephone lines. Oct. 1 - Nov. 30, 1920. Seventh UPU congress, at Madrid. Originally scheduled for 1913, postponed to 1914, then to 1920. The gold franc was adopted as the monetary standard of the UPU. Rates were to be determined by each country, within an established range (maximum of 50 centimes for a single letter plus 25 centimes each additional unit; minimum 25 plus 15 centimes, as set in 1906). Airmail service was begun. Effective date Jan. 1, 1922. Signed for Romania by Demetre G. Marinescu (Sub-Director General of the PTT) and Eugene Boukman (Inspector of the PTT). Ratified April 13, 1922; notice of ratification delivered to the UPU, April 9, 1923. Specimens of postage meters were now to be submitted to the International Bureau. Giro Transfers agreement introduced. 1920-21. Currency reforms. Up to 1914, the leu had generally been on a parity with the French franc. Serious inflation occurred after the war, exacer- bated by the Austro-Hungarian and Russian currencies in circulation after the unions, and the occupation banknotes left behind by the Germans. The Entente powers also refused to make good on their promise to pay, on Germany's behalf, for damages during the occupation. Valuables sent to Moscow for safe-keeping on Dec. 21, 1916, and July 27, 1917, including the National Bank treasury, the Crown jewels, archives, etc., were not returned. In June and July 1919, Hungarian crowns were overprinted for use in Romania, but through smuggling and forgery their number doubled. A unified paper currency came into use August 1, 1920. Foreign currencies were withdrawn from circulation between August 20 and 24, 1920, and exchanged between September 1 and 10 at the following rates: 2 Hungarian crowns = 1 leu (but salaries of state employees in Transylvania were converted at 3:1 in June 1920, so the currency exchange might be seen as generous) 1 Romanov ruble = 1 leu 1 Lvov ruble = 0.30 leu 1 General Bank (occupation) leu = 1 leu The latter were particularly notorious since they never had any backing in hard currency. Discussions concerning refunding of the occupation bank- notes by Germany continued until 1925, but nothing happened. Exchange rates with the US dollar, in lei, (pre-war, 1 dollar = 5 lei) year minimum average maximum 1919 15 18 24 1920 37 55 92 1921 57 86 140 1922 120 150 172 1923 179 203 228 1924 178 201 231 1920-21. Romania joins Little Entente with Czechoslovakia and Yugoslavia, and a defensive alliance with Poland. Jan. 1921. International Telegraph Conference, held in Prague. Attended by eight east and central European nations, including Romania. Restricted to telegraph and telephone communications. June 10, 1921. Exchange of territory with Czechoslovakia: 3 villages from Romania to Czechoslovakia (Nagy-Palad, Fertos-Almas, Acli), 8 villages from Czechoslovakia to Romania (Tamas!, Batargi, Comlus!a, Valea Seaca@, Bocicaul, Tarna, Remetea, Huta). July 1, 1921. Commercial treaty and PTT agreement with Poland, concluded at Bucharest. Ratifications exchanged, Nov. 15, 1922. Nov. 1921. At the Economic Conference between Austria, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Italy, Poland, Romania and Yugoslavia, at Porto Rosa, there was discussion of questions regarding PTT services. In the end, the proposals were not ratified. Fees for letters and postcards between the participating states were to be lowered by about a quarter of the UPU fees, and the international postal money order system was to be restarted. Fees for parcels under 20 kg. were also to be lowered. See International Conciliation, no. 176, July 1922, for texts of the agree- ments signed at the conference. April 6, 1922. Convention between Austria, Czechoslovakia, Italy, Poland, Romania and Yugoslavia, regarding the Vienna Post Office Savings Bank. Agreement signed Feb. 23, 1925; ratified June 10, 1929. In 1911, the Post Office Savings Bank had 31,800 depositors from Bucovina. Sept. 4, 1922. "An order was issued by the director of the post and tele- graph office in Temesva%r, M. Marmea: `I wish to inform all superior and inferior officials that I shall no longer tolerate the use of Hungarian in the offices. Customers must always be answered in Romanian, unless they are absolutely ignorant of the language.'" Zsombor de Sza%sz, The Minorities in Romanian Transylvania, London, 1927, p. 85. Oct. 15, 1922. Coronation of Ferdinand and Marie at Alba Iulia. Nov. 7, 1922. Agreement signed at Budapest, between Austria, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Poland, Romania and Yugoslavia, concerning transfer of property and claims deposited at the Post Office Savings Bank at Budapest. Final ratification Sept. 7, 1931. Dec. 6, 1922. Agreement with Germany regarding restitution of gold marks deposited by Romania before the war in the Reichsbank at Berlin. Refunded December 22. Dec. 15, 1922. Agreement concerning transfer of postal obligations from the Austro-Hungarian Empire to the successor states (Austria, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Romania, Yugoslavia), signed at Budapest. March 28, 1923. New constitution. July 2, 1923. "Sixty-three persons were killed and more than a hundred injured in a railway collision 35 miles north of Bucharest on July 2, when the Bucharest-Jassy mail train crashed into a freight car on a siding, owing to a misplaced switch." Current History, Aug. 1923, vol. 18, no. 5, p. 890. Nov. 24, 1923. Under a convention between Romania and Yugoslavia, to settle border disputes in the Banat, three communes in Romania were exchanged for one town in Yugoslavia, on the basis of the inhabitants' national majority. The border actually changed in April 1924. Ratified, June 6, 1924. May 1924. PTT Circular No. 36360: (to be translated) Buletinul Telegrafo-Postal, 1924, p. 212. July 4 - Aug. 28, 1924. Eighth UPU congress, at Stockholm. International rates reduced: 25 centimes for 20 gr., plus 15 centimes each additional 20 gr., but could be raised 60% or lowered 20%. Some transit rates were reduced. Airmail services were to be regulated by the individual countries and air transport companies. Effective date October 1, 1925. Signed for Romania by George Lecca. By Dec. 1928, Romania had ratified all parts except the final protocol. Sept. 14, 1924. The Bolshevik action at Tatar-Bunar, in Bessarabia, a three day "revolt," included confiscation of the cash in the post offices; 128,000 lei was distributed among the postal employees as pay for September. April 8, 1925. PTT convention signed with Yugoslavia, at Belgrade. June 3, 1925. The contract postmasters of seven postal agencies in Timis!-Torontal county were dismissed effective Aug. 1, as they did not speak Romanian. [BPTT/1925/334] This was followed in July by similar dismissals effective Oct. 1 of 64 postmasters of contract offices throughout Transylvania and the Banat. [BPTT/1925/336-8] June 24, 1925. Law for administrative unification. [June 13 date has also been seen] Oct. 7, 1925. New decree concerning administrative divisions of the country; number of counties reduced. The organization was, from large to small: judet!e pla@s!i comune urbane res!edint!e municipii comune urbane nonres!edint!e comune rurale sate Oct. 29, 1925. International Telegraph Conference, Paris. Effective Nov. 1, 1926. The Convention included provisions for delivery of telegrams by post, telegraphic money orders, paid reply, etc. March 2, 1926. PTT Circular No. 36550: (to be translated) Buletinul Telegrafo-Postal, 1926, pp. 141-2. March 19, 1926. The lawyers went on strike to protest against a bill in Parlia- ment to place a heavy stamp tax on legal transactions. July 20, 1927. King Ferdinand dies, succeeded by his grandson Mihai (Michael, born Oct. 25, 1921) under a regency. Sept. 1 - 10, 1927. UPU conference on airmail and air parcels, at the Hague. Rates and regulations established, effective Jan. 1, 1928; Romania did not participate in the conference or formally adopt its results. Some rules: "par avion" labels must be in blue; when the mail did not actually travel by air, such labels or annotations should be crossed out. Feb. 8, 1929. Currency stabilization, gold coins withdrawn from circulation (devaluation of the leu). May 10 - June 28, 1929. Ninth UPU congress, at London. Airmail conventions formally adopted, reply coupon rates reduced. Printed notice of prepayment was made acceptable, in place of postage stamps or meters, as allowed by each country. Small packet service introduced. Effective date July 1, 1930. Romania signed all parts except the postal checks section and the final protocol (ratified Nov. 21, 1930). Signed for Romania by General D. Stefan Mihail (former Director General, and member of the Directing Committee of the PTT) and Ioan Manea (Managing Director of Posts). July 14, 1929. Administrative reform, creating seven provinces intermediate between the central government and the judet!e (Bucures!ti, Cerna@ut!i, Chis!ina@u, Cluj, Craiova, Ias!i, Timis!oara). Rescinded in 1931. Aug. 3, 1929. Law for Commercialization of State Enterprises. The Post Office was converted to an Autonomous Regime (Regia Autonoma@) as of Nov. 30, 1929, and similarly for the railroads and ports. They were expected to operate on sound commercial principles, without excessive subsidies, though in practice whatever profits accrued went into the government's general revenues, and were not returned to the services for improvements. The currency stabiliza- tion earlier in the year had been accomplished with a $72 million loan from Washington, London and Paris, and a $30 million loan from Sweden against the friction match monopoly. Repayment of these loans prompted the organiza- tional changes. The government monopolies in the 1920's included tobacco (since 1872), salt (1881), playing cards (1887), matches (1898), cigarette paper (1900), gunpowder and explosives (1908); and alcohol in Bessarabia only. Revenue stamps were used to collect taxes on some of these items. 1929. First broadcast radio station opened at Baneasa. Later stations opened at Bod (1933) and Chis!ina@u (1939). March 17 (signed at London) / April 2 (signed at Bucharest), 1930. Money order agreement with Britain. [League of Nations Treaty Series, CV:235] June 8, 1930. Prince Carol, Ferdinand's son, returns from exile and is proclaimed King Carol II, with Mihai as his successor. Carol had renounced the throne in Dec. 1925, agreeing to stay abroad for ten years. July 3, 1930. The PTT contracted with the International Telephone and Tele- graph Corp. (New York) to take over administration of the telephone system, effective Jan. 1, 1931. 1930 - 1934. A series of Balkan Conferences, involving Albania, Bulgaria, Greece, Romania, Turkey and Yugoslavia, proposed methods of increased cooperation among themselves. The Commission on Communications included a subcommittee on postal services, which proposed formation of a Balkan Postal Union. Such regional unions were permitted under the charter of the Universal Postal Union. The Commission unanimously adopted a resolution for a postal union at the second conference in Istanbul, October 1931. The conference agreed that the postal union would be established as soon as two states signed the convention. By the third conference, in Bucharest, October 1932, the postal convention had been accepted only by Greece and Turkey. Nevertheless, the resolution concerning the postal union was passed unanimously. At the council meeting in Athens, Apr. 2, 1934, the Bulgarian, Romanian and Yugoslav delegations gave assurances that their governments were disposed to adhere to the Balkan Postal Union, but none of these countries ever ratified the convention. The text of the convention may be found in the Documents section to follow. 1931. An excerpt from Norman L. Forter and Demeter B. Rostovsky, The Roumanian Handbook, London, Simpkin Marshall, 1931, pp. 207-8. (edited slightly) The postal service in Romania, together with the telegraph and tele- phone services, is under the authority and control of the Ministry of Communications, with a budget independent of that of the State. A Board of Administration and a Committee of Management control the combined services. Full powers of administration are vested in a Director-General, who is assisted by an assistant Director-General and ten Directors. The organization of the PTT Service comprises: (1) A central adminis- tration divided into ten departments and (2) an external administration comprising (a) Regional Supervisory Offices, (b) District Post Offices. There are in all ten Regional Offices with head offices at Bucharest, Craiova, Timis!oara, Oradea-Mare, Cluj, Cerna@ut!i, Ias!i, Chis!ina@u, Galat!i and Constant!a. The district postmasters and all post office personnel of a region are under the direct orders of the Regional Office concerned. All matters pertaining to posts, telegraphs and telephones are dealt with by the Regional Offices in accordance with laws, regulations and current circular instructions emanating from the capital. There are also six technical inspectorates and three inspectorates for the itinerant postal services. For the training of personnel there are elementary technical schools. The period of tuition is nine months, the number of attending pupils for each school being about fifty, with the exception of the Bucharest training center, which has double that number. The four other schools are situated at Timis!oara, Oradea-Mare, Chis!inau and Roman. There is another school at Timis!oara for the training of higher grades, the courses there being of two years' duration. The school comprises admin- istrative and technical branches, where personnel may qualify for posts under the Central Administration. The sub-offices of the Romanian postal services are of two kinds: (a) State offices and (b) Offices given in concession. Communication between the sub-post-offices is secured by 330 travelling postal vans covering 45,000 kilometers of ground; while, in addition, mails are carried by the Danube steamers and stage- coaches and motor- vans serving rural districts. Foreign mails between Romania and neighboring countries are exchanged twice, and in some cases thrice, daily. Mails to and from the Near East are carried by the Romanian Maritime Service. There is a bi-weekly mail to Turkey and a weekly one to Greece and Egypt. The State steamer service is especially advantageous for the transit of mails and parcels from and for other countries. The International Air Transport Company, C.I.D.N.A., which three years ago inaugurated a daily airmail service, carries mails between Paris and Bucharest via Strassburg, Prague, Vienna and Budapest. The service is in operation from April to October, and has lately been extended to Istanbul. There is also an airmail service connecting Bucharest with Danzig via Ias!i and Warsaw. A further quote, from D.P.S. Taylor, ed., Handbook of Central and East Europe, 1932/3, Zurich, 1932, p. ???. In every rural community the mayor or his deputy is bound to execute the PTT services for a certain recompense. In accordance with a con- tract between the management of the Royal Post and the State Monopolies, the post offices sell all the products of the State monopolies and receive for that service a subsidy in proportion to the value of the goods sold. April 22, 1932 (dateline). "Some zealous loyalist in the Romanian civil service has created much amusement by issuing a notice ordering special caution not to insult King Carol. In the Temesvar Zeitung and other newspapers the fol- lowing notice to postal officials has appeared: `Instructions have been sent from Bucharest to the prefect of Arad that great care must be exercised by the post office in placing the postmark on stamps bearing the head of King Carol. Respect and submission to the authority of the ruler must lead every loyal postal clerk to abstain from allowing the postmark to appear on any part of the features of the monarch.'" New York Times, May 8, 1932. Oct. 18, Nov. 17, 1932. Postal money order convention with U.S.A., effective Jan. 1, 1933, suspended sometime before the end of 1941. [League of Nations Treaty Series; U.N. Treaty Series (1950, vol. 48, p. 76)] Dec. 9, 1932. International Telecommunication Convention signed at Madrid. Merger of the International Telegraph Union and International Radiotele- graph Union into the International Telecommunication Union. 1932. Daylight savings time adopted, for the summers. Aug. 1, 1933. Postal check system introduced, handled by Casa Nat!ionale de Economii (State Savings Bank). Feb. 1 - March 20, 1934. Tenth UPU congress, at Cairo. Uniform dimensions for letters and other small objects. A new supplementary agreement on Postal Travelers Cheques. Effective date January 1, 1935. Signed for Romania by Ilariu Ma@neanu (Director) and Constantin S!tefanescu (Sub- director for postal management). Romania ratified all portions, Nov. 5, 1935. Feb. 9, 1934. Romania joins Balkan Entente with Greece, Turkey and Yugoslavia. May 4, 1934. Law incorporating the Regia autonoma@ PTT into the Ministry of Public Works and Communications, with additional regulations on Aug. 8, 1934. June 9, 1934. Diplomatic relations established with USSR. Sept. 24, 1934. Postal agreement between Czechoslovakia, Romania and Yugo- slavia, signed at Belgrade, effective Jan. 1, 1935. Amended at Prague, Feb. 20, 1935, effective immediately. Postage rates reduced among the parties (20% below the UPU rates). French translation: Manley O. Hudson, International Legislation, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, Washington, vol. 6 (1932-1934), 1937, pp. 940-943. April 9, 1935. Postal agreement between Greece, Romania, Turkey and Yugoslavia, signed at Belgrade, effective Jan. 1, 1936. Postage rates reduced among the parties (20% below the UPU rates). French translation: Hudson, International Legislation, vol. 7 (1935-1937), 1941, pp. 44-46. March 27, 1936. Law for administrative organization. Oct. 12, 1936. Postal agreement between Czechoslovakia, Greece, Romania, Turkey and Yugoslavia, signed at Bucharest, effective March 1, 1937. Superseded the 1934 and 1935 agreements. The special rates were maintained. The agreement lapsed in November 1941. French translation: Hudson, International Legislation, vol. 7 (1935-1937), 1941, pp. 422-426. See also, Th. Bredimas, "The Restricted Union of the Balkan Entente and the Little Entente," l'Union Postale, vol. 64, 1939, pp. 43-49. March 12 (signed at Bucharest), Aug. 10 (signed at Washington), 1937. Parcel Post agreement with U.S.A., effective Sept. 1, 1937. 10 kg. limit, and other detailed regulations. [League of Nations Treaty Series, vol. 183, p. 7] Feb. 10, 1938. Royal dictatorship established. Feb. 27, 1938. New constitution (promulgated Feb. 21, plebiscite on Feb. 24). June 1938. Post Office reorganized as a General Direction (Direct!iunea Generala@) in the Ministry of Public Works and Communication. Aug. 14, 1938. Administrative reorganization: t!inuturi (territories) composed of several counties, controlled by royal appointees. Aug. 18, 1938. Romanian Government takes over many of the duties of the European Danube Commission (Sinaia agreement, with France and Great Britain, later joined by Germany and Italy). 1938. European Airmail Conference, Brussels. Romania represented by Constantin S!tefanescu (Inspector-General, Sub-director of postal management) and N. Georgescu (Inspector, Chief of postal management). March 23, 1939. Romanian-German trade agreement, resulting from German demands to monopolize Romanian foreign trade (Wohlthat Agreement). A minor feature of this agreement included construction of a canal from Cernavoda to Constanta. April 1 - May 23, 1939. Eleventh UPU congress, at Buenos Aires. Rates reduced. Effective date July 1, 1940. Signed for Romania by C. S!tefanescu and N.M. Georgescu. As of 1947, Romania had apparently not ratified the convention, but continued to be a party to it. "Phonopost" service was introduced; this consisted of a gramophone recording made by the sender on a very light disk. 1939 - 1940. Following Germany's invasion of Czechoslovakia (March 15, 1939; Hungary took the eastern part) and Italy's seizure of Albania (April 7), Great Britain and France granted unilateral warrants for the territorial integrity of Romania (April 13). The Soviet-German non-aggression treaty was signed on August 23, in which a secret clause assigned Bessarabia to the Soviets. After Germany invaded Poland (Sept. 1), Romania declared its neutrality (Sept. 6) in spite of its mutual defense treaty with Poland, and the Polish government took refuge in Romania upon the Russian invasion (Sept. 17). Germany's economic domination of Romania increased, as did its war fortunes. The USSR occupied the Baltic states (June 15-16, 1940; they were incorporated into the USSR Aug. 3-6), and France signed an armistice with Germany (June 22), after which the territorial dismemberment of Romania began. The USSR delivered an ultimatum (June 26) threatening invasion unless Bess- arabia and Northern Bucovina were turned over within 24 hours; an exchange of notes (June 27) and territory (June 28) followed. Northern Bucovina was demanded as compensation for the years of loss of Bessarabia; it had never been part of Russia or the USSR. Romania denounced the Anglo-French guaran- tee (July 1), withdrew from the League of Nations (July 11), and announced plans to join the Axis (July 13). On July 15, Hitler told Carol II to settle the Hungarians' territorial claims. These were unsuccessfully nego- tiated in August 16-24, so Hitler decided to act as arbitrator. The "Second Vienna Award" was announced August 29, and formalized the next day: 43,492 sq. km. and 2,580,372 inhabitants were given to Hungary; Germany and Italy warranted the new frontiers of Romania. The government collapsed, and Carol II abdicated on Sept. 6, succeeded by his son Mihai, age 19. The next day, additional territory was turned over to Bulgaria, by signing a treaty which had been agreed on August 21. The constitution of 1938 was then abolished, and the fascists took control of the government under General (later Mar- shal) Ion Antonescu, and the Iron Guard. On Sept. 14, a National Legionary State was created, with the Iron Guard as the only legal political party. The map provided by Soviet Foreign Minister Molotov with the Bessarabia- Bucovina ultimatum was on a 1:1,800,000 scale, with the new border drawn by a heavy stroke of a red pencil covering a band of territory seven miles wide. Thus, the town of Hert!a and the northern corner of Dorohoi county, which was always part of Moldavia, was to be turned over to the USSR. Molotov would not yield to Romanian protests, and Hert!a became part of the Ukrainian SSR, today the independent Ukraine. On October 11, 1924, the USSR had organized a Moldavian Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic on the left bank of the Dniester. The capital was first in Balta, then Tiraspol (1929). This territory had never been part of historic Moldavia, but came from the Ukraine. After taking Bessarabia and N. Bucovina, a Moldavian Soviet Socialist Republic was created on Aug. 2, 1940, from about half of the old Moldavian ASSR, and all the Bessarabian counties except Hotin, Cetatea Alba@ and Ismail. The remainder plus N. Bucovina were incorporated into the Ukrainian SSR. This gave the Ukraine access to the Kilia branch of the Danube. After the breakup of the USSR, the Moldavian SSR became independent Moldova; the strip of land east of the Dniester between Moldova and Ukraine has tried to remain part of Russia. Sept. 5, 1940. The Hungarian army entered Northern Transylvania, and formed the administration until Dec. 8, 1940, when it passed to civilian rule. Sept. 14, 1940. Following the Second Vienna Award, a meeting was held in Budapest between Hungary and Romania to discuss transfer of services, including the post and telegraph. In October, the talks were suspended for reasons unrelated to the post. As usual in such disputes, the use of language became restricted. For example, Romania did not permit the use of Magyar in government affairs, nor over the telephone or on public signs. Hungary made similar restrictions on Romanian and German. Sept. 29, 1940. Romania withdrew from the Balkan Entente. Jan. 21-23, 1941. The Iron Guard was removed from the government after an attempted coup, and replaced with the military. The National Legionary State was dissolved Feb. 15. June 22, 1941. Romania entered the war on the side of Germany against the USSR, eventually retaking Bessarabia and Northern Bucovina. July 25, 1941. Bessarabia and N. Bucovina were officially reintegrated into Romania. 1941 - 1944. Romanian administration of Transnistria. Transnistria was the Romanian name of this period for the territory between the Dniester and Bug Rivers, including Odessa; it had been acquired by Russia from Turkey in 1792. The plans for Romania to administer a portion of the occupied Soviet territory were made up by Germany in late July 1941. The Romanian govern- ment under Antonescu viewed Transnistria as a bargaining point for the post- war return of Transylvania from Hungary, and so only administered, but did not annex Transnistria. An agreement between Romania and Germany was signed at Tiraspol on Aug. 19, 1941, concerning the Romanian military administra- tion of Transnistria, but many details remained to be resolved. The terri- tory was clearly not to be annexed. Negotiations with Germany about the northern border continued for many months. The capital was first at Tiras- pol, then moved to Odessa in December 1942. Romanian troops first crossed the Dniester River on Aug. 14, 1941. Odessa was under siege from Aug. 8 until its evacuation in the second week of October; the Romanians entered the city on Oct. 16, surprised at the speed of the Soviet evacuation. Nevertheless, the army's losses were severe. Antonescu's decree-law of Aug. 19, establishing the government of Transnis- tria, was made public on Oct. 17, and the Odessa municipal government began functioning on Oct. 22. A campaign of "Romanization" was carried out, including name changes of streets and towns. As in Romania, postage stamps and other government mono- poly items could be purchased at the tobacco shops. The currency in Trans- nistria was initially a mixture of rubles, marks and lei, but soon only marks were legal tender under an exchange for rubles. Use of lei alternated between legal and illegal. As perspective on the postal rates, the Romanian soldiers were paid 2 lei per day, but occasionally went unpaid. Going well beyond the Bug River, Romanian troops participated in the siege of Stalingrad from Sept. 4, 1942 to Feb. 2, 1943, with very heavy losses; 30 divisions took part, with 300,000 casualties. By 1944, the German and Romanian advances into the Soviet Union had been turned to rapid retreats. On Feb. 1, 1944, the civilian governor of Transnistria was replaced by a Romanian military governor, the region to be called "Military Government between Dniester and Bug." The Red Army crossed the Bug in February, and soon took back Balta. On March 16, the remaining part of Transnistria in Romanian hands was given over to German military control. The German mili- tary instructions of March 20 included: "Postal, telegram and telephone service for the civilian population is not to be continued." On April 10, Odessa was recaptured by the Red Army, Tiraspol on the 12th, and all of Transnistria by the 16th. References: Alexander Dallin; Odessa, 1941-1944: A Case Study of Soviet Territory under Foreign Rule; Santa Monica, Calif., RAND Corp., 1957, Report RM-1875. Sources differ as to whether or not Transnistria was actually annexed by Romania; Castellan refers to Antonescu's decree of Nov. 17, 1941 to support this position. In the philatelic press, the articles by C.M. Trevers in The Post-Rider (Canadian Society of Russian Philately), no. 6, 1980, pp. 64-5; and, "Transnistria - Some notes on the cancellations and markings used under the Romanian administration," The New South Wales Phil- atelist, vol. 3, no. 2, May 1981, pp. 19-33. The three issues of Romanian postage stamps for Transnistria were not used in Romania itself. See also J. Posell, "The War Issues of Romania,", 16th American Philatelic Congress, 1950, pp. 157-161. On the so-called local stamps overprinted for use in Odessa (listed in the Michel catalog), see The Post-Rider, no. 10, 1982, p. 50, where these are stated to be bogus. Oct. 12-24, 1942. European Postal Conference in Vienna, under German sponsor- ship, to form a European Postal and Telecommunications Union. Agreement signed Oct. 19, effective April 1, 1943. Rates between the countries were to be lowered and simplified, based on German internal rates. See l'Union Postale, vol. 67, 1942, pp. 290-295; for French and German texts, see Hudson, vol. 9 (1942-1945), 1950, pp. 43-48. Signed by Albania, Bulgaria, Croatia, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Holland, Hungary, Italy, Norway, Romania, San Marino, and Slovakia; signed for Romania by Col. G. Teodorescu. Aug. 21, 1944. Soviet troops enter Ias!i, having recaptured Transnistria, Bucovina and Bessarabia. Aug. 23, 1944. Fascist military dictatorship overthrown, Romania joins Allies against Germany, accepting the armistice terms offered by the Soviets. Aug. 30, 1944. Soviet troops enter Bucharest, German forces in Romania retreating. Aug. 31, 1944. Constitution of 1866/1923 restored. Sept. 12, 1944. Armistice signed with USSR, acting for the Allies. Bessarabia and N. Bucovina returned to USSR. Onerous provisions for reparations begin Soviet domination of the Romanian economy. It is agreed that Northern Transylvania will eventually be returned to Romania. Article 16. ... the work of wireless stations, post, telegraph and telephone shall be carried out in agreement with the Allied (Soviet) High Command. Annex to Article 16. The Romanian Government undertakes that wireless communication, telegraphic and postal correspondence, correspondence in cypher and courier correspondence, as well as telephonic communication with foreign countries of Embassies, Legations and Consulates situated in Romania, will be conducted in the manner laid down by the Allied (Soviet) High Command. Oct. 25, 1944. Entire Romanian territory evacuated by German army. 1944. Currency issued by Soviet Red Army for use in Romania; exchanged in late 1944 or early 1945. 1944-5. Northern Transylvania local posts. late 1944. After the appointment of a Romanian Communist as Interior Minister, "internal and external postal censorship was so intensified that postal services came almost to a standstill. Letters within the city [Bucharest] took three weeks from the time of mailing to delivery." Robert Bishop and E.S. Crayfield, Russia Astride the Balkans, N.Y., Robert M. McBride & Co., 1948, p. 91. [The authors were American intelligence agents in Bucharest at the time, operating more or less openly. They were occasionally asked to send and receive private letters through the American army despatches, and did so in order to extract return favors and information.] January 1945, and later. The Soviets deported a large number of Romanian- Germans (Saxons and Swabians) to labor camps in the USSR. "For a long time nothing was known of the fate of the thousands of people deported into the Russian winter or of the labor terms imposed upon them. ... There was a clamoring for news and a wave of protest. [The Soviet authorities] announ- ced that packages could be sent and that deportees were permitted to write home. Some mail, real or faked, trickled through. Postcards were displayed in the windows of the Bras!ov Communist headquarters. All contained uniform phrases: `I am well. The Russians are fine people. We are well fed and comfortably housed.' One card carried the peculiar addition: `But I have no red ink to write this with.' There was a story behind this message. A Bras!ov school-teacher, when he was arrested for deportation, had told his aged mother: `I shall make every effort to get a message to you, but the Russians will censor what we write. If I write in black ink everything I say is true. If I write in red ink the contrary is true.'" Bishop & Crayfield, pp. 139-40. [See Romanian Philatelic Studies for a similar anecdote. I wonder if it's true.] Jan. 20, 1945. Armistice with Hungary, which relinquishes all territorial gains since Dec. 31, 1937. March 6, 1945. New government led by Dr. Petru Groza of the Communist-dominated National Democratic Front. Northern Transylvania restored to Romanian administration by the occupying Soviet Army (announced March 9). May 9, 1945. Germany surrenders to Allies. May 1945. Sovromtransport (part of a series of Soviet-Romanian joint enter- prises) absorbs S.M.R. and N.F.R. TARS (Societatea de Transporturi Aeriene Romano-Sovietica, originally Sovromaer), absorbs the airlines. The Soviet- Romanian conventions setting up these agencies were signed July 19 and Oct. 26, 1945, respectively. Aug. 6, 1945. Diplomatic relations with USSR resumed. Feb. 4-5, 1946. Diplomatic relations with USA, Britain resumed. Dec. 20, 1946. National Bank of Romania nationalized as of Jan. 1, 1947. Feb. 10, 1947. Peace treaty with Allies, ratified Aug. 23, 1947. May 7 - July 5, 1947. Twelfth UPU congress, at Paris. Improvements to the airmail system, and establishment of the UPU as a specialized agency of the United Nations. New agreement on COD items. Postal convention effective July 1, 1948. Signed for Romania by R. Rosca and I. Nicolau. Aug. 15, 1947. Monetary reform, one new leu nominally = 20,000 old lei, one Soviet ruble = 28.3 lei, one US dollar = 150 lei. All old currency and coin withdrawn and exchanged unequally according to the relative wealth of the holder. The amounts allowed to be exchanged were severely limited. Prior to the conversion, the government paid off all internal government debt at par. There had been a slight inflation during the war, but the exchange with Germany was held at 60 lei to the Reichsmark. The black market rate was about 300 lei to the dollar. When the Red Army first occupied the country they set the exchange at 100 lei to the ruble, as opposed to the previous rate of about 10 lei. This was one of the inducements to the subsequent inflation. Postage on a foreign letter went from the earlier 15 lei to 14,000 then 35,000. The dollar exchange went from 300 before August 1944 to 5,000 two months later, to 33,000 in June 1946, 100,000 in November 1946, 255,000 in December 1946, and 8,000,000 in August 1947. Starting August 15, 1947, people had six days to deposit old money in the banks, after which it would be worthless. Currency would be converted up to 5,000,000 old lei for peasants and workers, 3,000,000 for white-collar workers, and 1,000,000 for professionals and businessmen. The balance had to be deposited without interest in blocked accounts. The workers and peasants were given 240 new lei for 1,000,000 old; business firms were given 170, and all others 94. Afterward, foreign currency, gold, foreign stocks and bonds were exchanged, which gave start to a new inflation. [this information from Bishop and Crayfield, pp. 231-234] Another source reports: Apparently the top party members and Communist institutions were exempt. All sums of money, including savings, were ex- changed for 125 lei, about US$3.50. Gold and some other valuables could be further exchanged for new currency. Official rates, 1 Reichsmark = prior to 1938, 37.5 lei; 1938, 39 lei; Dec. 1939, 50 lei; April 1941, 60 lei. Some official cost-of-living figures: (quoted in Alexandre Cretzianu, ed., Captive Romania, 1956, p. 103, from a May 1947 Bucharest newspaper) August 1939, 100 August 1944, 944 April 1947, 440,869 The dollar exchange was 150 lei in 1938, 4,200,000 in August 1947 prior to the reform, and reset to 150 new lei. The currency exchange limits were, for farmers, 250 new lei, for salaried workers, 150, everyone else, 75. Nicholas Spulber, The Economics of Communist Eastern Europe, MIT, 1957, pp. 112-116. Quotas were 5,000,000 old (250 new) per peasant family, 7,500,000 (375) if crop delivery quotas were met, 3,000,000 (150) per worker, employee, pensioner, war widow, war orphan, 1,500,000 (75) per person without profession and per soldier. Petroleum companies' valuation: one US dollar = July 1945 6,673.64 lei Jan. 1946 20,651.67 July 1946 33,179.82 Jan. 1947 57,395.84 July 1947 858,483.33 Maurice Pearton, Oil and the Romanian State, Oxford Univ. Press, 1971, p. 308 R.H. Markham, Romania under the Soviet Yoke, 1949. Nominally US$1.00 = 150 new lei, but on the open market 250 new lei bought only $1.25. Cost of Living index, Bucharest, 1929 = 100, from B.R. Mitchell, European Historical Statistics, 1750-1975, Facts on File, N.Y., 1981. 1920's 1930's 1940's 0 - 99 99 1 31 71 142 2 40 59 209 3 59 55 282 4 70 53 423 5 77 57 2,506 6 84 60 15,416 7 91 65 197,464 8 93 68 9 100 73 Dec. 30, 1947. King Mihai abdicates under pressure from the Communists, the monarchy is abolished, and the People's Republic of Romania established. April 13, 1948. New constitution. Approved at the Party Congress in February. June 11, 1948. Main industrial, mining, banking, insurance and transport companies nationalized. June 30 - Aug. 18, 1948. European Danube Commission reorganized. Aug. 20, 1948. Agreement between Romania and USSR concerning establishment of postal, telegraph and telephone communications. Effective upon signature. A parcel post agreement was also signed, effective Sept. 20, 1948; modified Jan. 7, 1952 and Aug. 26-Sept. 10, 1953, the latter to lower the unit of insurance from 300 to 200 francs. Sept. 6, 1950. New administrative divisions - 28 regions, reduced to 18 in 1952 (Sept. 27) and 16 in 1960 (Dec. 24). 1950. The Serpents' Island (Insula Serpilor), a large rock in the Black Sea, 45 km. east of the Danube Delta, was turned over to the USSR by Romania. It had been claimed by the Ottoman Turks, and was Romanian since 1856. Romania maintained a lighthouse and small garrison there, which the Soviets modernized. Jan. 27, 1952. Monetary reform, one new leu = 20 - 400 old lei, depending on the owner (individual, cooperative, state agency, etc.). Prices and wages were converted at 5 new lei to 100 old lei; some postal rates were reduced. Currency in the hands of the people was converted at 1 new leu per 100 old lei, for small amounts, and 1/4 new lei per 100 old lei for large amounts. The gold content of the leu was increased, and again on Feb. 1, 1954. Currency based on 1 Soviet ruble = 2.8 lei (1952), 1 ruble = 1.5 lei (1954), 1 ruble = 6.67 lei (1961, gold content of ruble changed). One US dollar = 11.20 lei (1952), 6 lei (1954). Special tourist rates are also available. May 14 - July 11, 1952. Thirteenth UPU congress, at Brussels. Former require- ments on stamp color (blue for letters, red for postal cards, green for printed matter) were dropped. Agreements on insured letters and boxes, and newspaper and periodical subscriptions, rewritten. Free postage now allowed for literature for the blind. Effective date July 1, 1953. Ratified Aug. 3, 1954. Sept. 24, 1952. New constitution. March 5, 1953. Death of Stalin. April 3, 1953. Death of former King Carol II in Portugal. A portion of his stamp collection was auctioned in New York (Harmer, Rooke & Co., March 29-30, 1951; total realization $35,850.75; additional rarities were sold privately), but the Romanian portion has not yet surfaced. The auction catalog notes "the majority of the stamps in the collection bear His Majesty's special identifying mark lightly applied to the back of the stamp." Carol's biography by his grandson Paul (published in 1988) notes that part of the collection was sold by Carol in 1950 for $56,000. Jan. 31, 1954. The leu was revalued against the ruble (see above); its foreign exchange value decreased but its internal value did not. June 20, 1954. Opening of Danube bridge (railway and automobile) from Giurgiu to Rustchuk. Sept. 25, 1954. Sovromtransport becomes NAVROM (Navigat!ia Maritima@ s!i Fluviala@ Roma#na@), TARS becomes TAROM (Transporturi Aeriene Roma#ne), ending the joint Soviet-Romanian ownership. March 7, 1955. State of war with Germany officially ended. Dec. 14, 1955. Romania joins United Nations. June 1956. First Romanian television station, in Bucharest. Aug. 1, 1956 (effective date). Postal agreement with Yugoslavia. Among additional clauses, a 25% discount vs. the normal international fees on postage for correspondence between the two countries. [U.N. Treaty Series, 1959, vol. 342, p. 265] Aug. 14 - Sept. 27, 1957. Fourteenth UPU congress, at Ottawa. Some rates were raised, some lowered. Effective April 1, 1959. The Consultative Committee for Postal Studies was created, of which Romania was a member of the Manage- ment Council, up to 1964. Since 1969 this group has been the Consultative Council for Postal Studies. Romania again served from 1979 to 1984. June 1958. Soviet troops withdrawn from Romania. May 29 - July 9, 1964. Fifteenth UPU congress, at Vienna. Effective date January 1, 1966. UPU Convention reorganized into Constitution, General Regulations, Convention and Detailed Regulations. Aug. 21, 1965. Nation renamed Socialist Republic of Romania; new constitution. Feb. 16, 1968. New administrative divisions, 39 counties (list follows). October 1, 1969. Sixteenth UPU congress, at Tokyo. Rates simplified. Romania was elected to the Executive Council of the UPU (until 1979). Effective date of the conventions ??? April 8, 1970. Otopeni airport opened in Bucharest. Dec. 22, 1970. Opening of Danube Bridge from Giurgeni to Vadul Oii (roadway). Dec. 23, 1971. Dollar-lei evaluation changed to US$1 = 5.53 lei (devaluation of the dollar). May 22, 1974. Seventeenth UPU congress, at Lausanne. Oct. 26, 1979. Eighteenth UPU congress, at Rio de Janeiro. Convention approved by Romanian Council of Ministers April 12, 1983. 50% increase in basic rates. June 28, 1980. Agreement with Cuba for postal and telecommunications coopera- tion, signed at Bucharest. Approved Oct. 22, 1980, for five years, with five year renewals. Aug. 16, 1982. Accord with Czechoslovakia for postal and telecommunications cooperation, signed at Bucharest, approved Feb. 3, 1983. May 9, 1984. Accord with Pakistan for postal and telecommunications coopera- tion, signed at Rawalpindi, approved Jan. 7, 1985. May 26, 1984. Danube River - Black Sea canal opened to traffic, 64 km long. This project required the largest single investment in Romanian history, about $2 billion, half borrowed from the World Bank. Runs from Cernavoda@ - Medgidia - Basarabi - Agigea (south of Constant!a). The first proposal for such a canal was in the 1850's, abandoned in favor of the Danube and Black Sea Railway. The first actual attempt at construction was in the early 1950's, also abandoned (cf. the 1951 five year plan stamp issue); only 7 of 75 km. had been excavated when the project was stopped in 1953. July 27, 1984. Nineteenth UPU congress, Hamburg. Convention approved by Romanian Council of Ministers Dec. 25, 1986. Effective Jan. 1, 1986. Romania was again elected to the Executive Council of the UPU. December 1989. Overthrow of the Communist dictatorship, the start of a new and as yet uncertain era. Political Organization Local administration in Romania is divided into counties (singular judet!, plural judet!e), districts (plasa@, pla@s!i), municipalities, towns, communes, villages and hamlets. County names frequently occur in postmarks, district names less frequently. We have translated judet! as if it was like a British county (certainly it was not like an American county), but the administration was more like a French de%partement. For additional historical background, see Ronald A. Helin, "The Volatile Administrative Map of Romania," Annals of the Association of American Geographers, vol. 57, 1967, pp. 481-502; the maps in this article are especially useful. The "Old Kingdom" Wallachia - 17 counties As of 1848, the counties were Arges!, Bra@ila, Buza@u, Da@mbovit!a, Dolj, Gorj, Ialomit!a, Ilfov, Mehedint!i, Muscel, Olt, Prahova, Romanat!i, Slam Ra#mnic (later renamed Ra#mnicul Sa@rat), Teleorman, Va#lcea, Vlas!ca. The old Sa@cuieni (or Saacu) county was dissolved in 1845 and merged with Prahova and Buza@u. Bra@ila county was formed sometime between 1820 and 1835, while the others existed prior to 1820. Sometimes divided into Muntenia (Arges!, Bra@ila, Buza@u, Da#mbovit!a, Ialomit!a, Ilfov, Muscel, Olt, Prahova, Ra#mnicul-Sa@rat, Teleorman, Vlas!ca) and Oltenia (Dolj, Gorj, Mehedint!i, Romanat!i, Va#lcea). Moldavia - 13 counties As of 1812 there were 16 districts (t!inut), 13 of which survived: Baca@u, Botos!ani, Covurlui, Dorohoi, Fa@lciu, Ias!i, Neamt!u, Putna, Roman, Suceava, Tecuci, Tutova, Vaslui, and three of which were dissolved in 1831: Ca#rliga@tura, Ha#rla@u, Hert!a (joined with Ias!i, Botos!ani and Dorohoi, resp.). The Bessarabian districts lost by Moldavia in 1812 were Codrul, Greceni, Hota@rniceni, Bender, Hotin, Ismail, Tomarova, Akkerman, Ca@us!ani, Chilia (the last three making up the Bugeac region), Orheiu, Soroca, part of Ca#rliga@tura, and the greater part of Ias!i. Additional territory obtained prior to World War I Southern Bessarabia - 3 counties, 1856 - 1878 Bolgrad, Cahul, Ismail Dobrudja - 2 counties, added 1878 Constant!a, Tulcea; a third county, Silistra-Noua@, existed from 1878 to 1880 only The Turkish organization was as the Sanjak of Tulcea, in districts (cazas) of (using the French spelling of the time) Kilia, Soulina, Mahmoudie%, Issaktcha, Toultcha, Matchine, Babadagh, Hirsovo, Kustendje%, Medjidie%. Southern Dobrudja - 2 counties, 1913 - 1940 Caliacra, Durostor The counties of Silistra and Dobrici were acquired under the treaty of Aug. 10, 1913 with Bulgaria; they were renamed Caliacra and Durostor on April 1, 1914. Their borders were modified in 1925. The new territories, 1919, giving a total of 76 counties: Bessarabia - 8 counties Akkerman (Cetatea Alba@) Hotin Ba@lt!i Ismail Bender (Tighina) Orhei, or Orheiu Chis!ina@u Soroca The districts established in 1818 by the Russians were Akkerman, Bender, Ias!i (capital Belts, or Ba@lt!i), Ismail, Khotin, Orgeev (capital Kishinev, or Chis!ina@u). Up to 1829, Bessarabia was administered as an autonomous province, then as a gubernia (1871). The Russian districts before union with Romania were Akkerman, Byeltsy, Bendery, Kishinev, Khotin, Izmail, Orgyeev, and Soroki. Zemstvo stamps were issued by Byeltsy (Yassy), Orgyeev and Soroki, postal stationery was issued by Soroki, and special stationery was issued by Ismail. The zemstvo system of local government had been introduced in 1869. Bucovina - 11 counties Ca#mpulung Gura-Humorului Storojinet! Vijnit!a Cerna@ut!i Ra@da@ut!i Suceava Zastavna Cot!mani Siret Va@sca@ut!i Note the duplication of the county name Suceava with that of Moldavia, which was later renamed Fa@lticeni. The old Austrian counties were, up to 1890: Kimpolung, Czernowitz, Kotzmann (or Kotzman), Radautz, Sereth, Storozynetz, Suczawa and Wisnitz. Gurahumora was added by 1900, and Waschkoutz am Czeremosch and Zastawna by 1910, for a total of eleven. Some alternate spellings: Ca#mpu-Lung, Cot!man, Cotmani, Vas!caut!i, Vis!nit!a For the former Hungarian territories, we also give the old Hungarian county names, and the approximate fraction of the old county which was transferred to Romania, if not 100%. The number of these counties is variously given as 23 or 24 under Romanian administration, and 26 counties under Hungarian administration. Banat - 3 counties Caras!-Severin Krasso%-Szo^re%ny (9/10) Timis! Temes (4/5) Torontal Toronta%l (1/5) by 1922, joined as Timis!-Torontal Cris!ana - 3 counties Arad Arad (7/8) Bihor Bihar (4/5) Salajiu Szil%agy (5/6) or, Salaj, or Salagiu, or Sa@lagiu Maramures! - 2 counties Maramures! Ma%ramaros (1/3) Satu-Mare Szatma%r (2/3) or, Satmar, or Satul Mare Transylvania - 15 counties (Before 1848, Transylvania was divided into 25 counties or districts.) Alba de Jos Also%-Fehe%r or, Alba Inferioara@ Bistrit!a Besztercze-Naszo%d or, Bistrit!a-Na@usa@d Bras!ov Brasso% Ciuc Csi%k Cojocna Kolozs Fa@ga@ras! Fogaras Hunedoara Hunyad Mures!-Turda Maros-Torda or, Mura@s!-Turda Odorhei Udvarhely or, Odorheiu Sibiu Szeben Solnoc-Doba#ca Szolnok-Doboka Ta#rnava-Mare Nagy-Ku^ku^llo%% or, Ta#rnavele-Mare Ta#rnava-Mica@ Kis-Ku^ku^llo%% or, Ta#rnavele-Mici Trei-Sca@une Ha%romsze%k (both names = Three Chairs) Turda-Aries! Torda-Aranyos, Aranyossze%k There were also a few towns from other Hungarian counties: from Be%ke%s (Bichis!) and Csana%d (Cenad): Ketegyhaza, Magyarcsanad, Nagylak, Sajteny from Ugocsa (Ugocea): Batarcs, Bocsko, Kisgercze, Komlossello, Nagygercze, Nagytarna, Szarazpatak, Turcz Reference - Buletin Statistic al Roma#niei, 1919 In June 1925, reduced to 71 counties total, and some boundaries redrawn: Bessarabia - 9 counties Ismail county, which consisted of the three former Southern Bessarabian counties, was split into Cahul and Ismail counties, sometime prior to 1922. Ba@lt!i, Cahul, Cetatea-Alba@, Hotin, Ismail, La@pus!na (formerly Chis!ina@u), Orhei, Soroca, Tighina Bucovina - 5 counties, a complete reorganization Ca#mpulung, Cerna@ut!i, Ra@da@ut!i, Storojinet!, Suceava Dobrudja - 4 counties Caliacra, Constant!a, Durostor, Tulcea Moldavia - 13 counties Baca@u, Baia (formerly Suceava and Fa@lticeni), Botos!ani, Covurlui, Dorohoi, Fa@lciu, Ias!i, Neamt!, Putna, Roman, Tecuci, Tutova, Vaslui Transylvania, Banat, Cris!ana-Maramures! - 23 counties Alba (formerly Alba de Jos), Arad, Bihor, Bras!ov, Caras!, Ciuc, Cluj (formerly Cojocna), Fa@ga@ras!, Hunedoara, Maramures!, Mures! (formerly Mures!-Turda), Na@sa@ud (formerly Bistrit!a), Odorhei, Sa@laj, Satu-Mare, Severin, Sibiu, Somes! (formerly Solnoc-Doba#ca), Ta#rnava-Mare, Ta#rnava-Mica@, Timis!-Torontal, Trei-Scaune, Turda (formerly Turda-Aries!) Wallachia - 17 counties Arges!, Bra@ila, Buza@u, Da#mbovit!a, Dolj, Gorj, Ialomit!a, Ilfov, Mehedint!i, Muscel, Olt, Prahova, Ra#mnicul-Sa@rat, Romanat!i, Teleorman, Va#lcea, Vlas!ca reference: Monitorul Oficial, no. 220, October 7, 1925 [but note that N28 refers to Fa@lticeni instead of Baia, and Mus!cel instead of Muscel] Caras!-Severin was split into Caras! and Severin effective 1 Jan. 1927 [BPTT/1927/140]. Counties as used in the post office lists here, circa 1935 (71 counties) county capital [N28] Alba Aiud [previously Alba Iulia?] Arad Arad Arges! Pites!ti Baca@u Baca@u Ba@lt!i Ba@lt!i Baia Fa@lticeni Bihor Oradea Botos!ani Botos!ani Bra@ila Bra@ila Bras!ov Bras!ov Buza@u Buza@u Cahul Cahul Caliacra Balcic [previously Bazargic?] Ca#mpulung Ca#mpulung Moldovenesc Caras! Oravit!a Cerna@ut!i Cerna@ut!i Cetatea-Alba@ Cetatea Alba@ Ciuc Mercurea Ciuc Cluj Cluj Constant!a Constant!a Covurlui Galat!i Da#mbovit!a Ta#rgovis!te Dolj Craiova Dorohoi Dorohoi Durostor Silistra Fa@ga@ras! Fa@ga@ras! Fa@lciu Hus!i Gorj Ta#rgu Jiu Hotin Hotin Hunedoara Deva Ialomit!a Ca@la@ras!i Ias!i Ias!i Ilfov Bucures!ti Ismail Ismail La@pus!na Chis!ina@u Maramures! Sighet Mehedint!i Turnu Severin Mures! Ta#rgu Mures! Muscel Ca#mpulung Na@sa@ud Bistrit!a Neamt! Piatra Neamt! Odorhei Odorhei Olt Slatina Orhei Orhei Prahova Ploes!ti Putna Focs!ani Ra@da@ut!i Ra@da@ut!i Ra#mnicul-Sa@rat Ra#mnicul Sa@rat Roman Roman Romanat!i Caracal Sa@laj Zala@u Satu-Mare Satu Mare [previously Baia Mare?] Severin Lugoj Sibiu Sibiu Somes! Dej Soroca Soroca Storojinet! Storojinet! Suceava Suceava Ta#rnava-Mare Sighis!oara Ta#rnava-Mica@ Diciosa#nma@rtin Tecuci Tecuci Teleorman Turnu Ma@gurele Tighina Tighina Timis!-Torontal Timis!oara Trei-Scaune Sfa#ntu Gheorghe Tulcea Tulcea Turda Turda Tutova Ba#rlad Va#lcea Ra#mnicul Va#lcea Vaslui Vaslui Vlas!ca Giurgiu The regions and number of counties in 1937: Oltenia - 5 Bucovina - 5 Muntenia - 12 Transilvania - 16 Dobrogea - 4 Banat - 3 Moldova - 13 Cris!ana-Maramures! - 4 Basarabia - 9 total - 71 Aug. 1938. T!inutori (territories) created of several counties, to increase royal control. These super-county organizations lasted only until Carol's abdication in 1940. territory capital counties Bucegi (Arges!) Bucharest Arges!, Bras!ov, Buza@u, Da#mbovit!a, Ilfov, Muscel, Prahova, Teleorman, Trei Sca@une, Vlas!ca Duna@rea-de-Jos Galat!i Bra@ila, Cahul, Covurlui, Fa@lciu, (Duna@rea) Ismail, Putna, R. Sa@rat, Tecuci, Tulcea, Tutova Marea (Ma@rii) Constant!a Caliacra, Constant!a, Durostor, Ialomit!a Mures! Alba-Iulia Alba, Ciuc, Fa@garas!, Mures!, Odorhei, (Alba Iulia) Sibiu, Ta#rnava Mare, Ta#rnava Mica@, Turda Nistru Chis!ina@u Cetatea Alba@, Lapus!na, Orhei, Tighina Olt Craiova Dolj, Gorj, Mehedint!i, Olt, Romanat!i, Va#lcea Prut Ias!i Baca@u, Ba@lt!i, Botos!ani, Falticeni, Ias!i, Neamt!, Roman, Soroca, Vaslui Somes! (Cris!uri) Cluj Bihor, Cluj, Maramures!, Nasa@ud, Salaj, Satu-Mare, Somes! Suceava Cerna@ut!i Ca#mpulung, Cerna@ut!i, Dorohoi, Hotin, Rada@ut!i, Storojinet!, Suceava Timis! Timis!oara Arad, Caras!, Hunedoara, Severin, Timis!-Torontal Transfers to USSR and Bulgaria in 1940 Bessarabia - Ba@lt!i, Cahul, Cetatea Alba@, Hotin, Ismail, La@pus!na, Orhei, Soroca, Tighina N. Bucovina - Cerna@ut!i, Storojinet! S. Dobrudja - Caliacra, Durostor (some parts remained with Constanta judet!) As a result of the transfer to Hungary of Northern Transylvania, The following counties were totally ceded: Ciuc, Na@sa@ud, Sa@laj, Somes!, Maramures!, Satu Mare. The following counties were partially ceded: Cluj, Mures!, Odorhei, Trei-Scaune, Bihor, Ta#rnava-Mare, Ta#rnava-Mica@. Bras!ov county took the part of Trei-Scaune that remained, Ta#rnava-Mare took the part of Odorhei that remained, Turda took the parts of Cluj and Mures! that remained, and changed its name to Cluj-Turda. Some towns that were ceded: Dra@us!eni (Ta#rnava-Mare), Ba@la@us!eri (Ta#rnava-Mica@), Chendul-Mare (Ta#rnava-Mica@). Some towns that were transferred: Cerghid, Cerghizel (Mures! to Ta#rnava-Mica@). 1940 - Hungarian county names in Northern Transylvania: Beszterce-Naszo%d, Bihar, Csi%k, Ha%romsz%ek, Kolozs, Ma%ramaros, Maros-Torda, Szatma%r, Szila%gy, Szolnok-Doboka, Udvarhely In Sept. 1940, the powers of all local authorities were taken over by the Minister of the Interior. 1941. County names in April 1941, from the census returns: Alba Dolj Ra#mnicul-Sa@rat Arad Dorohoi Roman Arges! Fa@ga@ras! Romanat!i Baca@u Fa@lciu Severin Baia Gorj Sibiu Bihor Hunedoara Suceava Botos!ani Ialomit!a Ta#rnava-Mare Bra@ila Ias!i Ta#rnava-Mica@ Bras!ov Ilfov Tecuci Buza@u Mehedint!i Teleorman Ca#mpulung Muscel Timis! Caras! Neamt! Tulcea Cluj-Turda Olt Tutova Constant!a Prahova Va#lcea Covurlui Putna Vaslui Da#mbovit!a Ra@da@ut!i Vlas!ca Counties in Bessarabia and Bucovina recovered as of Autumn 1941: Ba@lt!i Chilia Orhei Cahul Hotin Soroca Cerna@ut!i Ismail Storojinet! Cetatea-Alba@ La@pus!na Tighina Also, the Herta! district of Dorohoi county was recovered and two districts of Ra@da@ut!i county. Prefectures in Transnistria, October 1941 (from a German map): Ananiew, Balta, Bierozovca, Crivoie Oziero, Dubos!ari, Jampol, Mohila@u (Mogilew), Ociacov, Odessa, Ovidiopol, Ra#bnit!a, Tiraspol, Tulcin. Other spellings also seen: Anan'ev, Balta, Berezovka, Golta, Dubosary, Jugastru (Iampol'), Mogilev-Podol'ski, Ochakov, Odessa, Ovidiopol', Ra#mnit!a (Rybnitsa), Tiraspol', Tulchin. The 13 districts were divided into 64 raions, two municipalities, 15 townships, 1261 rural communes. Feb. 10, 1942 - by decree, 11 provinces Alba Iulia, Bras!ov, Bucures!ti, Buza@u, Constant!a, Craiova, Galat!i, Ias!i, Pites!ti, Sibiu, Timis!oara Nov. 1944 - 58 counties The following list of 55 counties existing in 1944 is given by Iordan in his chart of the 1950 regions. Alba, Arad, Arges!, Baca@u, Baia, Bihor, Botos!ani, Bra@ila, Bras!ov, Buza@u, Ca#mpulung, Caras!, Ciuc, Cluj, Constant!a, Covurlui, Da#mbovit!a, Dolj, Dorohoi, Fa@lciu, Gorj, Hunedoara, Ialomit!a, Ias!i, Ilfov, Maramures!, Mehedint!i, Mures!, Muscel, Na@sa@ud, Neamt!, Odorhei, Olt, Prahova, Putna, Ra@da@ut!i, R.-Sa@rat, Roman, Romanat!i, Sa@laj, Satu-Mare, Severin, Somes!, Ta#rnava-Mare, Ta#rnava-Mica@, Tecuci, Teleorman, Timis!-Torontal, Trei-Scaune, Tulcea, Turda, Tutova, Va#lcea, Vaslui, Vlas!ca What happened to these other three? Fa@gara@s, Sibiu, Suceava 1946 [N46] - 58 counties, above list Sept. 30, 1950 - UPU Dictionnaire des Bureaux de Poste (1951 ed.), 58 counties, above list. Sept. 6, 1950. The existing 53 (58?) counties were changed to 28 regions (regiune). Arad Bucures!ti Hunedoara Severin Arges! Buza@u Ialomit!a Sibiu Baia Mare Cluj Ias!i Stalin (Bras!ov) Baca@u Constant!a Mures! Suceava Bras!ov Dolj Prahova Teleorman Bihor Galat!i Putna Timis!oara Botos!ani Gorj Rodna Va#lcea reference: Buletinul Oficial, no. 77, Sept. 8, 1950. Sept. 24, 1952 - 18 regions defined by new constitution (Articles 18, 19), by absorbtions and redrawn boundaries. Arad Baca@u Baia Mare absorbed Rodna Ba#rlad absorbed Putna Bucures!ti absorbed Teleorman and Ialomit!a Cluj Constant!a Craiova merger of Gorj and Dolj Galat!i Hunedoara (may also have been known as Deva, for its capital) Ias!i Oradea formerly Bihor Pites!ti merger of Va#lcea and Arges! Ploes!ti merger of Prahova and Buza@u Regiunea Autonoma Maghiara@ formerly Mures! Stalin absorbed Sibiu Suceava absorbed Botos!ani Timis!oara absorbed Severin Magyar Autonomous Region (capital Ta#rgul-Mures!) The districts defined by the constitution: Ciuc, Gheorgheni, Odorhei, Reghin, Sa#ngeorgiu de Pa@dure, Sf. Gheorghe, Ta#rgu-Mures!, Ta#rgu- Sa@cuesc, Toplit!a. These were from Mures! (Gheorgheni, Reghin, Sa#ngeorgiu de Pa@dure, Ta#rgu-Mures!) and Stalin (Ciuc, Odorhei, Sf. Gheorghe, Tg.-Sa@cuiesc) and a new raion (Toplit!a). March 29, 1956 - 16 regions Arad absorbed into Timis!oara and Oradea, Ba#rlad absorbed into Baca@u, Galat!i and Ias!i. Add Cristure Secuiesc district to M.A.R. (up to 1961). Dec. 1960 - Magyar Autonomous Region Sf. Gheorghe, Ta#rgu-Secuiesc districts transferred to Bras!ov region; Ludas! added from Cluj, Ta#rna@veni added from Stalin. Sa#ngeorgiu de Pa@dure did not continue. Dec. 1960 - name changes old name new name Baia Mare Maramures! Constant!a Dobrogea Craiova Oltenia M.A.R. Mures!-Magyar Autonomous Region (Mures! Autonoma Maghiara) Oradea Cris!ana Pites!ti Arges! Stalin Bras!ov Timis!oara Banat Bucures!ti and Constant!a cities had their own administrations (Constant!a no longer does) See Iorgu Iordan, Toponima Romi#neasca@, Editura Academiei R.P.R., Bucures!ti, 1963, for a table showing the transfer of districts between regions, 1950-61. It is not as simple as we have indicated. The constitution of Aug. 20, 1965 specified the then-current list of regions. Feb. 16, 1968 - 39 counties plus Bucures!ti municipality we give the county seat and postal code abbreviation (two letters) [the same abbreviations are used on automobile license plates] Alba (Alba Iulia) AB Arad (Arad) AR Arges! (Pites!ti) AG Baca@u (Baca@u) BC Bihor (Oradea) BH Bistrit!a-Na@sa@ud (Bistrit!a) BN Botos!ani (Botos!ani) BT Bras!ov (Bras!ov) BV Bra@ila (Bra@ila) BR Buza@u (Buza@u) BZ Caras!-Severin (Res!it!a) CS Cluj (Cluj) CJ Constant!a (Constant!a) CT Covasna (Sf. Gheorghe) CV Di#mbovit!a (Ti#rgoviste) DB Dolj (Craiova) DJ Galat!i (Galat!i) GL Gorj (Tg. Jiu) GJ Harghita (Miercurea-Ciuc) HR Hunedoara (Deva) HD Ialomit!a (Slobozia) IL Ias!i (Ias!i) IS Ilfov (Bucures!ti) IF Maramures! (Baia Mare) MM Mehedint!i (T. Severin) MH Mures! (Ti#rgu-Mures!) MS Neamt! (Piatra-Neamt!) NT Olt (Slatina) OT Prahova (Ploes!ti) PH Satu Mare (Satu Mare) SM Sa@laj (Zala@u) SJ Sibiu (Sibiu) SB Suceava (Suceava) SV Teleorman (Alexandria) TR Timis! (Timis!oara) TM Tulcea (Tulcea) TL Vaslui (Vaslui) VS Vi#lcea (R. Vi#lcea) VL Vrancea (Focs!ani) VN Bucures!ti municipality B (8 sectors, 10 suburban communes) Jan. 23, 1981 - 40 districts plus Bucures!ti municipality Ilfov and Ialomit!a counties reorganized: delete Ilfov, add Calaras!i (capital Calaras!i), Giurgiu (capital Giurgiu) and Ilfov Farming Sector (subject to Bucures!ti). Bucures!ti is divided into 6 sectors. The current postal zone system: Bucures!ti = 7xxxx, x = street denotation others = xyzz, x = postal zone, y = subzone, z = 00, 25, 50, 75 = major sorting centers Railway Lines The first railway line on present Romanian territory was from Oravit!a to Bazias!, opened 1854. The network in Transylvania became quite extensive, but will not be detailed here. Integration of the systems after union in 1918 was difficult, as they were oriented to different centers, principally Bucharest and Budapest, and connections between the systems were few, and built on military, not economic considerations. See Turnock, pp. 239-267, for a more extensive discussion. Jimbolia - Timis!oara, begun 1857. Oct. 4, 1860. Constant!a - Cernavoda, begun 1857. Danube and Black Sea Railway and Kustendje Harbour Company, built by John Trevor Barkley. Purchased by the Romanian government in 1881. In Turkish Bulgaria at the time of its construction. Sept. 22 / Oct. 4, 1868. Strousberg concession, for the building of an extensive railway system. This group's bankruptcy in Dec. 1870 created a national crisis, not fully resolved until 1880. The Romanian government canceled the contract with Strousberg in July 1871, and settled with the bondholders in 1872. The lines to be built were Roman - Tecuci - Galat!i - Bra@ila - Buza@u, Buza@u - Focs!ani - Adjud, Tecuci - Ba#rlad - Buza@u - Ploes!ti - Bucures!ti - Pites!ti - Slatina - Craiova - T. Severin - Va#rciorova. Dec. 18, 1868. Concession granted to Offenheim, for the It!cani - Pas!cani - Ias!i and Veres!ti - Botos!ani lines. The 1868 concessions required the railroad company to carry the mail on a daily basis, and to provide a mail car for the use of the postal administra- tion. Oct. 19/31, 1869. Bucharest (Filaret station) - Giurgiu. Built by John Trevor Barkley and John Staniforth, under contract to the Romanian government; contract signed Sept. 2/14, 1865, modified Aug. 7/19, 1866, work begun 1866. In Nov. 1864, Barkley and Staniforth also contracted with Cuza to build 23 iron bridges in Romania. Both contracts were guaranteed by a mortgage on the salt mines. May 6/18, 1872. Convention with Russia relative to junction of railways, from Ias!i to Chis!ina@u. Article 16 provided for postal transport and exchange of letters, parcels and telegrams. Oct. 27 / Nov. 8, 1872. Convention with Hungary relative to junction of railways. There were special conventions for each junction point in succeeding years. Feb. 10/22, 1873. Convention with Austria-Hungary relative to stations at Suceava - It!cani - Burdujeni. Junction of the Cerna@ut!i - Suceava and Suceava - Roman - Ias!i lines. The post and telegraph administrations were to make suitable arrangements (article 13). Jan. 8/20, 1874. Convention between the Romanian government and the Lemberg- Czernowitz-Jassy Railway Co. concerning telegraph services to be supplied by the company. For delivery of telegrams arriving at the station, these would be turned over to the state telegraph office, else to the post office, else held at the station as a "bureau restante." The stations involved were Suceava, Roman, Veres!ti, Pas!cani, Botos!ani, Liteni, Ias!i, T. Frumos, Dolhasca, Lespezi, Ha@la@uces!ti, Mirces!ti, Ruginoasa, Podul-Iloaei, Cucuteni, Bucecea, Leverda (Leorda). By the law of June 12, 1874, these provisions also applied to the Bucharest - Giurgiu line. May 19/31, 1874. Convention with Austria-Hungary concerning junction of railways to be built at Verciorova and Predeal; postal arrangements were to be made later. An additional agreement was signed March 24, 1879. Oct. 18/30, 1881. Buza@u - Ma@ra@s!es!ti, begun 1879. First railway built by Romanian engineers, first railway undertaken directly by the Romanian government. Oct. 30, 1888. By this time, all the private railways had been purchased by the state. 1898-9. Railway junctions between Oltenia and Transylvania at Turnu Ros!u (Vo^ro^storony), and between Moldavia and Transylvania at Ghimes! (Gyimes), to Palanca. Conventions signed Feb., March, 1891. Railways constructed 1918 - 1940 in Transylvania Ilva Mica@ - Vatra Dornei, 1919-38 Caransebes! - Res!it!a, 1934-38, 41 km. Bras!ov - Intorsura Buza@ului, 1923-31 Carpinis! - Ionel, 1935-37 Ucea de Jos - Ucea Fabrica@, 1939 Deva - Brad, 1939 Salva - Vis!eu, 1937 Telciu - Moisei, 1939-40 Salonta - Chis!ineu, 1921-23 The Bessarabian lines were on the Russian wide gauge, not converted until 1923. In 1918: Bendery - Kishinev - Korneshti - Ungeni; Bendery - Kainari - Kulinskaya - Trajan's Wall - Reni (288 km., built in 1877 for the war, the portion Reni - Galatz was later removed by the Romanians); Ribnitsa - Byeltsy - Oknitsa - Novosselizy (built 1892-4). Ungheni - Chis!ina@u - Tighina - Rasdelnaia, 224 km. Noua-Sulit!a - Ocnit!a - Ba@lt!i - Slobozia, 400 km. Ocnit!a - Smerinka ( - Mighilev), 40 km. 1922. Salonta - Chis!ineu Cris!, completing the Arad - Oradea line. 1939. Lines to Mangalia and Tulcea. 1940's, by Hungary. Deda - Saratel. 1948. Bumbes!ti - Livezeni, linking Ta#rgu-Jiu and Petros!ani, begun in early 1940's. 1950's. Tecuci - Urziceni, Bucharest, Ros!iori de Vede and Craiova. Salva - Viseu de Sus. 1964. Suceava - Gura Humorului. Air Lines date of opening, route ... 1919. French military air service, began Athens to Larissa to Salonica in the summer of 1918, expanded in Sept. 1919 to Dedeagach - Istanbul - Burgas - Bucharest - Galatz - Chis!ina@u. The sections from Athens to Salonica and Istanbul to Bucharest ran two flights per week, the other sections ran irregularly. April 23, 1920. Compagnie Franco-Roumaine de Navigation Aerienne (Companiei franco-roma#na@ de navigat!ie aeriana@) (CFRNA), founded, on the route Paris - Prague - Vienna - Budapest - Belgrad - Bucharest - Constantinople. Opening dates: Paris - Strassburg, Sept. 20, 1920; to Prague, Oct. 7, 1920; to Warsaw vi Breslau, Apr. 12, 1921; to Budapest via Vienna, May 1, 1922; to Belgrade and Bucharest, Sept. 21, 1922; to Istanbul, Oct. 15, 1922. The Balkan service ran irregularly due to political problems and bad weather. Company name changed to Compagnie Internationale de Navigation Aerienne (CIDNA), Jan. 1, 1925. Spring 1922. Buzias! - T. Severin - Craiova - Bucharest - Giurgiu. 1922. Danzig - Warsaw - Lvov - Ias!i - Bucharest - Constantinople. 1923-4. CFRNA route, Paris - Strassbourg - Innsbruck - Prague - Warsaw, Innsbruck - Vienna - Budapest - Belgrade - Bucharest - Istanbul. June 24, 1926. Bucharest - Galat!i. (first national civilian airline) 1926-29. Flights from Bucharest to Constant!a, Cluj, Oradea, Craiova, Ias!i. LARES (National Air Transport Company) set up in 1926. (another reference says 1933) Asociat!iei roma#ne pentru propaganda aviat!iei (ARPA) formed March 30, 1927. Compagnie Internationale de Navigation Aerienne (Cidna) in 1933, Paris - Strassburg - Nuremberg - Prague - Vienna - Budapest - Belgrade - Bucharest (Ba@neasa) S.A.R.T.A = Romanian Aerial Transport Co. principal airports today - International Bucharest (Otopeni), Constant!a (Mihail Koga@lniceanu), Suceava, Timis!oara Domestic Arad, Baca@u, Baia Mare, Bucharest (Ba@neasa), Caransebes, Cluj-Napoca, Craiova, Deva, Ias!i, Oradea, Satu Mare, T. Mures!, Tulcea LAR = Liniile Aeriene Romani, set up in 1975 for charter flights. Orthographic History Romanian is derived from Latin, introduced during the Roman occupation of Dacia. Elements of other languages later entered the language. For a long period Slavonic was the official language of the church and government, and Romanian was written with a modified Cyrillic alphabet. This alphabet at first had 43 characters plus diacritical signs, reduced to 33 by about 1800, then 28 in 1828, and 27 in 1835. The written language at that time was almost exclusively phonetical. In 1860 the Latin alphabet was officially adopted; it had been introduced into the schools in 1858-9. Between 1780 and 1880 there were over forty different orthographic reforms proposed. Standard Romanian is based on the Wallachian dialect. Sept. 1869 - Official statement of the Romanian Academy, which had been created in 1866 as the Romanian Literary Society for the express purpose of determining the orthography and grammar of the Romanian language, and to publish a dictionary. The Academy published dictionaries in 1873-7 based on an etymological orthography, and an attempt to eliminate words and letters (a@, i#, s!, t!, z, j) of non-Latin origin. 1881 - Official statement of the Romanian Academy (Ortografia limbei roma#ne). Based on moderated phoneticism, abandoned the excessively latinized spellings of the 1869 system. 1895 - Official statement of the Romanian Academy. June 1904 - Official statement of the Romanian Academy. Reestablished the phonetic system, abandoning the etymological system. Published in Buletinul Telegrafo-Postal 1904/202, and as a separate pamphlet. 1932 - A reform by Sextil Pus!cariu in the name of the Romanian Academy. Based on the phonetic system, but retained that aspect of the etymological system which differentiated between i# and a#, and the uses of apostrophes in elisions and hyphens in joining words. 1953 (law of 1952) - Further reforms on phonetic principles, mostly to replace a# by i#, except in the country's name since 1965, as defined by the new consti- tution. The political motivation is said to have been to de-Latinize the alpha- bet, and obscure Romanian's relationship to Western languages. For political reasons in the former Soviet Union, the Romanian language in Bessarabia was called Moldavian and was written in the Cyrillic alphabet (from 1940 to the establishment of the new state of Moldova). Claims were made that Moldavian was distinct from Romanian, but these are without merit. While much earlier documents exist refering to activity in Romania, the earliest written and dated document in Romanian to have been preserved is a letter of June 29-30, 1521, from Neacs!u, a merchant from Ca#mpulung-Muscel, addressed to Hana@s! (Johannes) Benkner, Magister of Bras!ov, informing him about the movement of the Turks. letter reproduced: Din Tezaurul Arhivelor, Album de Documente, Bucharest, 1976, p. 45. text transliterated: Documenta Romaniae Historica, B. T!ara Romaneasca@, vol. 2, Bucharest, 1972, pp. 402-3, 596. Also, A. Rosetti, Bre`ve Histoire de la Langue Roumaine des Origines a` nos Jours, Mouton, The Hague, 1973, pp. 112-3, with French translation. Moldavian and Wallachian coins commenced in the 1300's, and were inscribed in Slavonic or Latin, sometimes both. Transylvanian coins were all inscribed in Latin. Essential Vocabulary Pronunciation (for the English speaker) a a in father a@ e in brother a# u in cur (replaced by i# in current usage) b c c in country, but before e and i as ch in chin, and before h like k in king d e e in hen f g g in gate, but before e and i as g in gem, before h as g in get h almost kh i i in machine; as a suffix, unsounded i# o in lesson, but more stressed j s in measure l m n o o in soft p r as the Scottish r in farm s s in six s! sh in shelf t t in ten t! ts in hats u oo in wood v z z in maze Compound vowels ai y in by ea ya in yarn ei ay in day eu eh-oo oi oy in boy au ow in how a@u o in go iu you ia ya in yap ie ye in yesterday oa, ua wa in waft ii The following appear only in foreign words and a few proper or family names - k, q, w, x, y Obsolete letters - (most changes occurred in 1904) d! changed to z e% changed to ea (1904) e@ changed to a@ (1904) e# changed to a# -i@ changed to -i (1904) o% changed to oa (1904) o@ changed to a@ -u@ changed to -u or dropped (1904) u# changed to a# -sce changed to -s!te (1904) -sci@ changed to -s!ti (1904) Gender Masculine, feminine, neuter. Generally, neuter singular agrees with masculine, neuter plural agrees with feminine. Pronouns and adjectives agree with nouns in gender and quantity; adjectives are usually placed after the noun. Articles definite (the) singular plural (noun suffix) masculine -l, -le, -ul -i feminine -a -le indefinite singular plural (before the noun) masculine un (a) nis!te (some) feminine o nis!te demonstrative singular plural masculine acesta (this) aces!tia (these) feminine aceasta acestea masculine acela (that) aceia (those) feminine aceea acelea Possessives placed after the noun, which also takes a definite article singular plural masc. fem. masc. fem. my meu mea mei mele your ta@u ta ta@i tale his \ hers | sa@u sa sa@i sale its / our nostru noastra@ nos!tri noastre your vostru voastra@ vos!tri voastre their lor lor lor lor Plurals (word endings) masculine feminine neuter singular plural singular plural singular plural consonant -i -a@ -e consonant -e, -i -a@ -i -e -i -i -uri -e -i -ie -i -u -e -i -i -ea -le -e (no pl.) -u -i -a -le -i -le Verb infinitive: a ajuta, to help Numbers zero zero one un, unu, unul, una two doi [doui], doua# [old spelling] three trei four patru five cinci six s!ase seven s!apte [s!eapte] eight opt nine noua@ ten zece eleven unsprezece twelve doisprezece, doua@sprezece thirteen treisprezece fourteen paisprezece [patrusprezece] fifteen cincisprezece twenty doua@zeci twenty one doua@zeci s!i unu thirty treizeci hundred suta@ (plural sute) one hundred o suta@ thousand mie (plural mii) million milion (plural milioane) billion miliard (plural miliarde) whole i#ntreg half juma@tate third treime quarter sfert first i#nta#iul, i#nta#ia; primul, prima second al doile(a), a doua third al treile(a), a treia last ultimul, ultima twofold i#ndoit threefold i#ntreit only numai both ama#ndoi, ama#ndoua@ all three tustrei all four tuspatru single singura@ double dublu, dubla@ once odata@ twice de doua@ ori the first time i#nta#ia oara@ the second time adoua oara@ often des seldom rar Months January ianuarie July iulie February februarie August august March martie September septembrie April aprilie October octombrie May mai November noiembrie June iunie December decembrie Days Sunday duminica@ Thursday joi Monday luni Friday vineri Tuesday mart!i Saturday sa#mba@ta@ Wednesday miercuri Seasons spring prima@vara@ autumn toamna@ summer vara@ winter iarna@ Time minute minut sunrise ra@sa@rit hour ora@, ceas dawn zori day zi morning dimineat!a@ the day ziua noon, midday amiaza@, pri#nzului days zile afternoon dupa@ masa@ week sa@pta@ma#na@ sunset apus month luna@ evening seara@ year an tonight deseara@ the year anul night noapte century secol midnight miezul nopt!ii yesterday ieri early devreme today asta@zi, azi late ti#rziu tomorrow mi#ine Directions east est, ra@sa@rit north nord, miaza@-noapte west vest, apus south sud, miaza@-zi center centru right drept, dreapta left sti#nga up sus down jos above deasupra below sub, dedesubt over peste under sub, subt top vi#rf bottom fund front fat!a back spate open deschis closed i#nchis (these might refer to whether a letter is sealed or not) opened i#nfiint!a closed desfiint!a (these might refer to when a post office began operating) near aproape far departe on the right la dreapta on the left la sti#nga yes da no nu Colors light deschis dark inchis ashen, gray cenus!iu black neagra@, negru blue albastru brown brun, maro golden auriu gray sur, gri green verde (pl. verzi) orange portocaliu pink roz red ros!u, ros!ie silvery argintiu white alb yellow galben Connectives, prepositions, etc. al, a of, of the (masc., fem.) alt other altfel otherwise apoi then, afterwards aproape almost, near astfel thus ca@tre to, about cel, cea the (masc., fem.) cu with, by dar but de of de pe off din, de la from, out, of dinspre from dintre among, from, between fa@ra@ without i#n in, into i#nsa@ but, however i#ntre between la at li#nga@ near, by nis!te some pe on pentru for peste over pi#na@ until prin through printre among s!i and sau or spre towards sub under un, o a (masc., fem.) -lui (suffix) of -ul the -ului of the, to the (plural, -ilor) Terms encountered in geography and the mail system We have also incorporated elements of the philatelic dictionaries from Ernest Morgenstern, Manualul Filatelistului I#ncepa@tor, Bucures!ti, Editura Transporturilor s!i Telecomunicat!iilor, 1964; and from Marcel Danescu, Filatelia de la A la Z, Bucures!ti, Editura Sport-Turism, 1987. Some of the Romanian terms are taken from the corresponding French terms, and the English translations might make more sense if we added the French, or even German. --> not properly alphabetized! abonament (newspaper) subscription abonat subscriber achitarea achitat paid act oficial official paper acte de procedura@ court papers adeverire de primire confirmation of receipt administrat!ia pos!telor postal authorities adresa@ address adresant adressee aerograma@ aerogram aeroport airport afacere business afara@ outside agent!ie agency agent!ie pos!tala@ postal agency ajutor help alba@ white album album ambasada@ embassy Anglia England anomalie anomaly, irregularity antreprenor pos!tal postal contractor antrepriza@ pos!tala@ postal enterprise anulare cancellation anulat cancelled anunt!are apa@, apa water, the water arama@ copper Ardeal Transylvania argint silver armata@ army asigurare insurance asistent!a@ sociala@ social assistance aur gold aurelaj network autotipie half-tone process, autotype avion airplane avis de plata@ advice of payment (for a money order) aviz de primire advice of receipt avocat lawyer bagaj baggage baia, ba@i, ba@ile bath (e.g., hot springs) balta@ marsh, pool, lake banca@, banca bank, the bank bancnota@ banknote ba@rbat husband barca@ boat ba@tra#n old bazin basin biblioteca library bilet, bilete ticket, tickets birou office, section (of an office) birou de cenzura@ militara@ military censorship office birou de schimb exchange bureau birou pos!tal post office birou pos!tal feroviar railway post office birou autorizat authorized post office biserica@ church bogat, -a@ rich bon bill (invoice) bou ox brat! branch bucata@ piece buletin de expediere way bill (accompanies a parcel) bulevard boulevard (abbrev. bd.) bun good bursa@ stock exchange cadru frame caimacam regent for the hospodar cal, cai horse, horses ca@la@tori travel cale avenue cale ferata@ railway Calea Victorie Avenue of the Victory calitate quality camera@ room, chamber, Chamber (parliament) ca#mpie plain, field canal channel, canal ca#nd when cap head, cape carantina@ quarantine carnet booklet cartare sorting (office) carte, ca@rt!i book, books carte pos!tala@ postal card carte pos!tala@ i#nchise letter card ca@rt!i pos!tale postal cards ca@rut!a@ carriage casa the house casa@ house; cashier casier cashier casierie treasury castel castle ca@sut!a@ pos!tala@ post office box catalog catalogue Ca#t? How much? ca@tun hamlet ceatal fork (in a river) cec check, cheque (Brit.) cecuri postale postal checks cel mai most cel mai bun best cel mai put!in least cenzura@ censorship cer sky cerneala@ ink de tipar printing ink cetate citadel chibrit, chibrite match, matches chibrituri matches chitant!a@ receipt cine who circulat!ie circulation Ci#t costa@? How much? citat!ie judiciara@ summons, subpoena cla@dire building clasor stockbook clis!eu cliche%, negative coala@ sheet (of stamps) coasta@ coast cod pos!tal postal code codru, codri forest, forests codrul, codrii the forest, the forests colect!ie collection colect!ionar collector colet parcel colet expres express parcel colet pos!tal postal parcel colina@ hill colit!a@ small sheet (of stamps) colorat colored colt! corner comemorativ commemorative comuna@ village condica@ pos!tala@ postal book consulat consulate copil, copii child, children corespondent correspondent corespondent!a@ correspondence corn pos!tal post horn cotidiene daily (newspaper) cretata@ (ha#rtie) chalky paper Crucea Ros!ie Red cross culme ridge, summit, peak culoar passage culoare color cumpa@ra buy cupon de ra@spuns internat!ional international reply coupon cuprinde include cuprins included curat clean curier pos!tal postal courier curiozitate curiosity cursa@ pos!tala@ auto postal motor coach cutie box cutie de chibrituri box of matches cutie de scrisori letter box cutie pos!tala@ post office box cuva#nte, cuvinte word, words dantelat perforated dantelura@ perforation data@ (calendar) date, time data emisiunii date of issue de ca@tre, li#nga@ by de-jos lower de-mijloc middle de-sus upper deal foothill deca#t only, but declarat!ie vamala@ customs form defect defect, fault deosebit unusual deplasat displaced desen design despre about destinator addressee devreme early diligent!a@ stage coach din deal on the hill din padure of the woods din vale in the valley doamna the mistress (cf. domnul) doamna@ lady; Mrs. docuri docks domeni domains domn gentleman; Mr. domni(i) (the) gentlemen domnilor of, to the gentlemen domnis!oara@ Miss domnul the gentleman domnului of, to the gentleman drept, dreapta@ right; straight drum road Duna@re Danube River dupa@ after dupa@ plecare too late (after departure) emisiune emission, release emisiune (data) date of issue englez English eroare error eseu essay etichet de recomandare registration label expediere dispatch expeditor sender expert expert expertiza@ examination, experization expozit!ie exhibition expres express, special delivery ezero, ezerul lagoon, lake fabrica@ factory factaj carriage of the mail from post office to address factor pos!tal postman, letter carrier fals fake fa#nta#na@ fountain fa@ra@ without farmacie pharmacy, chemist (Brit.) felicita@ri congratulations fer, fier iron fiecare each, every fierbinte hot filatelie philately filatelist philatelist filigran watermark fluviu river, stream foarte very foarte mult very much forma@ de tipar printing format formular vamal customs form fraht way bill (accompanies a parcel) francare franking franco prepaid, free francez French frate brother frateli brothers frumos!i beautiful frumoasa@ (fem., sing.) frumoase (fem., pl.) frumos (masc., sing.) frumos!i (masc., pl.) galvanoplastie electroplating gara@ railway station garaj garage garant!ie guarantee ghid guide ghis!eu counter ghis!eul booking office, ticket window ghis!eu pos!tal post office counter gratata@ (ha#rtie) ribbed paper (vertically and horizontally) gra#u wheat gra@dina@ garden gratuita@ free (of charge) greu, grea heavy (weight) greutate weight grind levee gros, groasa@ thick, heavy gropuri guma@ gum gumare gumming gura@ mouth ha#rtie paper ha#rtii de afaceri commercial papers hala@ market-hall halt railway halt harta@ map heliogravura@ intaglio printing, engraving hi#rtie paper hi#rtie de scris writing paper hotar frontier ieftin cheap ilustrata@ picture postcard imagine image imitat!ie imitation (nachdruck) i#mpreuna@ together imprimate printed matter i#nchisoare enclosure, prison i#nma#narea i#ntre between i#n timpul during i#na@untru inside i#nainte before i#nalt high, tall i#ngust narrow i#ntreg whole i#ntreg pos!tal postal stationery indigena@ (ha#rtie) native paper inferior inferior inscript!ie inscription insul, insula@ island i#nt!epa@tura@ de ac prick of needle interzisa@ not permitted inversat negative design isvor spring jos down, low juca@rii toyshop judet! county jurnal newspaper la at, to, in lac lake lampa@ de cuart! quartz lamp la#nga@ near legat!ie legation lemn wood leu lion liber free (vacant, permitted) libra@rie bookshop liman marsh limba@ language, tongue linie aeriana@ airline lista@ de pret!uri price catalog litografie lithography livrare delivery livret booklet luna@ moon lunar monthly lunca@ meadow lung long lupa@ magnifying glass ma@ rog please macheta@ design, dummy magazin shop ma@gura@ hill mai more mai bun better mai jos lower mai mult much more mai put!in less mai ti#rziu later mama@ mother ma#na@ hand ma#na@stire monastery, convent mandate money order mandate pos!tale postal money order mandate telegrafic telegraphic money order marca@, ma@rci (postage) stamp, stamps marca@ fantezista@ bogus stamp, cinderella marca@ jubilara@ jubilee stamp marca@ locala@ local stamp marca@ oficiala@ official stamp marca@ uzuala@ common stamp ma@rci de ziare newspaper stamps mare great, large mare, marea sea Marea Neagra@ Black Sea Marele Cartier General General Headquarters (army) cf. the French, Grand quartier ge%ne%ral marfa@, ma@rfuri goods, merchandise marina@ navy masa@ table mas!ina@ automobile mas!ina@ de francat postmarking machine mas!ina@ de sortat sorting machine ma@tus!e aunt mersul trenurilor railway timetable mesagerie parcel post office mesagerie pos!tala parcel post mesagerii parcel post service mic, mica@ small, little mijloc middle mijloc de comunicat!ie means of communications mitoc moara@ mill moftin moneda@ coin movila@ knoll, hillock mult much mult!i, multe many mult!umesc thank you munte, munt!i mountain, mountains neamt! German nedentelat imperforate negru black nevasta@ wife nelimitata@ unlimited nimic nothing noastra our nota@ de plata@ bill to pay nou, noua@ new (m., f.) numai only nume, numele name, the name numerar cash obis!nuita@ usual, ordinary obliterare cancellation ocupat busy, engaged odontometru perforation gauge oficial official oficiu pos!tale post office oficiu pos!tal ambulat travelling post office oficiu pos!tal de tranzit transit post office oficiu pos!tal militar military post office opri to stop oprire stop (traffic sign) oprit stopped orar timetable oras!, oras!ul town, the town oras! mare city ostrov river island pachet packet, parcel pa@dure, -a wood, forest pagina@ page (of a book) palat palace Palatul Pos!telor main post office, Bucharest pa@ma#nt earth papeta@rie stationer par avion airmail pa@ra#u, pa#ra@u brook parc park parchet pa@rinte parent particular private -pe- upon (as in Stratford-upon-Avon) pecete seal penseta@ tweezers pereche pair perforat!ie perforation peron railroad station platform pes!tera@ cave piat!a@ (town) square; market piatra@ stone pisc peak, top, summit piua@ fulling-mill, mortar plaiu plateau plaja beach pla@tit(a@) paid plecare departure(s) plic(uri) envelope(s) poarta@ door poate perhaps pod bridge podis! plateau poian, -a glade, clearing port harbor porto postage, postage due pos!ta@ post (office) pos!ta centrala@ main post office pos!ta@ aeriana@ airmail pos!ta@ de campanie military field post pos!ta militara@ military post pos!ta us!oara@ light mail (service) pos!ta rurala@ rural post pos!talion mail coach pos!ta@rit!a@ postwoman pos!tas! postman poste restante general delivery, will call prea mult too much presentarea pret! price pret!uri curente prices current primar mayor primi receive primirea prim zbor first flight proba@ proof probe de marfa@ manufacturer's samples (samples of merchandise) punct point pune put put well put!in little (amount) ramburs collect-on-delivery rapid fast raritate rarity ra@spuns pla@tit reply paid ra@sturnat inverted ra@u bad ra#u river, stream (pl. ra#uri) ra@zboi war recepisa@ receipt reclama@ pos!tala@ post advertisement recomandata@ registered recomandate registered recuvrement collection order regat kingdom regatul Roma#niei the Kingdom of Romania rege, regele king, the king regina@ queen reimprimare reprint (neudruck) retur return ripsata@ (ha#rtie) ribbed paper (vertically or horizontally) roata@ wheel roma#n, roma#na@ Romanian (noun) roma#nesc, roma#neasca@ Romanian (adjective) rus, rusesc, ruseasca@ Russian sa@rat(a@) salty sare salt sat village sau or scaun(e) chair(s) schimb change, exchange s!coala@ school scrie write scrisoare letter scrisoare simpla@ surface mail scrisori recomandate registered letter scump expensive scurt short seaca@ sect!ia de milit!ie police station s!ef de gara@ railway station master select!ionare selection, sorting semne marks, signs semne de recunoas!tere signature senat Senate (parliament) serie set (of stamps) sfa#nt saint, holy sigur sure, certain Sigurant!a secret police simplu, simpla@ simple, plain soare sun sora@ sister s!osea road, highway sosire arrival(s) sosit arrived sot! husband sot!ie wife speculativ speculative spital hospital splaiu quai stat!ie station stea, steaua, stele star, the star, stars s!tiri news stra@ina@tate foreign, abroad strada@ street (abbrev. str.) stra@puns rouletted (perforation) stra@zi streets subt!ire thin sucursala@ branch office supratipar surcharge surs!arj surcharge sus up, high s!arniera@ hinge s!tafeta@ courier s!tampila@ handstamp t!ara@, t!a@ri country, countries tare hard ta#rg market tarif pos!tale postage rate tata@ father taxa@ tax taxa@ de plata@ postage due taxa@ de ramburs reimbursement charge teatru theater telefon telephone telegraf telegraph telegrama@ telegram tepe peak, hill timbru, timbre (revenue) stamp(s) ti#mp time t!inut region tipar printing tipar adinc recess printing tipar i#nalt typography tipar ofset offset printing tipar plan planography, flat printing tipar i#n relief embossed printing tipa@rite printed tipuri types tiraj impression ti#rziu late tot, toata@ everything tot!i everybody tot, tot!i, toate all tramvai street car trecuta@ past, old, former tren train (railroad) tren accelerat fast train tren rapid very fast train tren expres very fast train, international tren personal slow passenger train tren local, cursa@ slow local train tren de marfa@, ma@rfar goods train trimiteri pos!tale mail turn, turnu tower tutun tobacco tutungerie tobacconist ulit!a country road ultima last ultimul the last umed damp unchi(u) uncle unde where ungur Hungarian urgent urgent urma@ta next us!or, us!oara@ light (weight) uscat(a@) dry utilaj pos!tal postal equipment vaca@ cow vadul the ford, crossing, road vagon railroad car vagon pos!tal postal railway coach valabil valid va#lcea valley vale, valea valley, the valley (pl. va@i) valoare value valoare faciala@ face value valoare declarata@ declared value valoros, valoroasa@ valuable valuta@ currency vama@ customs vames! customs officer vapor (steam) boat varietate variety varianta@ variant va#rf summit, top vechiu, veche old (m., f.) vederi views, picture postcards vi#ndut(a@) sold viza@ visa vizita@ visit voda@ prince voivode duke (originally), prince (later) vorba@ word vreme time; weather zaha@r sugar zbor flight ziare newspaper ziarist journalist zilnic daily Here are some useful translations from Hungarian (Magyar), for pre-union town names and terms encountered in the postal service. More extensive lists are given in [H1], [H2] and especially [H6]. Hungarian English German noon mittag evening abend fort festung border grenze monastery kloster market town markt district kreis east ost aja%nlott registered einschreiben, recommandiert al, also% lower unter, nieder aranyos golden golden bal left links ba%nya mine (minerals) bergwerk be%lyeg stamp briefmarke be%lyegzo%% postmark stempel be%rment paid frankiert ci%m, czi%m address adresse, anschrift cseh Czech de%l, de%li south su^d de%lelo%%tt morning fru^h dolni lower unter Duna Danube River Donau egyha%z church, community kirche, gemeinde elu%% erdo%% forest wald e%szak north nord falu, falva village dorf fehe%r, feje%r white wei\b fekete black schwarz felado% sender absender felso%% upper ober fu^rdo%% spa, bath bad hadifogoly prisoner of war kriegsgefangener ha%z house haus ha%za home hegy mountain berg hely place hid bridge bru^cke hi%rlap, u%jsa%g newspaper zeitung hosszu% long lang ke%k blue blau kereszt cross kreuz kira%ly king ko^nig kis little klein ko%% stone stein ko^ze%p central ku%t well Brunnen le%giposta airmail flugpost, luftpost lengyel Polish leve%l letter brief levelezo%%lap postcard postkarte magyar Hungarian ungarisch mali little klein megye county comitat mezo%% field feld mozgo%posta travelling post office fahrende post nagy great, large gro\b nemes noble adelig ne%met German Deutsch novi new neu nyomtatva%ny printed matter drucksache nyugat west west o% old alt ola%h Romanian (Wallachian) Ruma^nisch pa%lyaudvar railway station bahnhof patak creek bach per over ober piros red rot postahivital post office postamt re%t meadow wiese re%z copper kupfer so%s salty salzig sa%rga yellow gelb stara old alt su^rgo^ny telegram telegramm szabad free frei sza%sz Saxon Sachsen sze%k seat stuhl szent saint heilig sze%p nice, beautiful scho^n sziget island insel Szombat Saturday Samstag ta%bori posta field post feldpost ta%vi%rda telegraph telegraf telek, telke to% lake see to%t Slovak to^ro^k Turkish Tu^rkisch u%j new neu u%jsa%g newspaper zeitung u%jva%ros new town neustadt u%t way weg va%r, va%rad castle, (small) town festung, burg va%rmegye county comitat va%ros (large) town, city stadt va%sa%r(hely) market(place) markt vaspa%lya, vasut railway eisenbahn velki great gross vo^lgy valley tal vo^ro^s red rot zo^ld green gru^n egy one ein ketto%% two zwei ha%rom three drei ne%gy four vier o^t five fu^nf hat six sechs he%t seven sieben nyolc eight acht kilenc nine neun tiz ten zehn sza%z hundred hundert ezer thousand tausend Exchange Rates from various sources, we have not tried to be careful about this. year $US 1 = ... lei US cents per leu 1913 19.30 1919 2.17 1920 54.81 1.97 1921 88.90 1.23 1922 148.09 0.70 1923 209.56 0.49 1924 203.12 0.50 1925 208.43 0.48 1926 236.74 0.46 1927 167.18 0.60 1928 163.74 0.61 1929 0.60 1930 0.60 1931 0.60 1932 0.60 1933 0.73 1934 0.98 1935 0.90 1936 0.73 1937 0.73 1938 0.71 1939 0.71 1946 0.006 As of Feb. 1929, the leu was fixed at 0.5982 US cents (10 mg. of 9/10 pure gold). This lasted until May 1932, when the gold exchange was replaced by foreign currency controls through the National Bank. In Nov. 1936, the leu was devalued to 72% of its previous value. General References While not a complete list of sources consulted, these may be of interest to those wanting more historical detail. Preference is given to works in English. Broad references: Enciclopedia Roma#niei Bucharest, 1938-1943, 4 vol. Romania Yearbook 1977 (and other years) Bucharest, Editura S!tiint!ifica@ s!i Enciclopedica@, 1977 Histories of Romania itself: Robert W. Seton-Watson A History of the Romanians Cambridge Univ. Press, 1934; reprinted 1963 Mircea Mus!at and Ion Ardeleanu From Ancient Dacia to Modern Romania Bucharest, Editura S!tiint!ifica@ s!i Enciclopedica@, 1985 S!tefan Pascu A History of Transylvania Detroit, Wayne State Univ. Press, 1982 (these go up to 1920 only) Georges Castellan A History of the Romanians Boulder, East European Monographs, 1989 (up to 1965) Andrei Ot!etea, ed. The History of the Romanian People New York, Twayne, 1973 Constantin C. Giurescu et al. Chronological History of Romania Bucharest, Editura Enciclopedica@ Roma#na@, 1972 (up to 1971) Mircea Mus!at and Ion Ardeleanu Political Life in Romania 1918-1921 Bucharest, Editura Academiei Republicii Socialiste Roma#nia, 1982. David Turnock An Economic Geography of Romania London, G. Bell & Sons, 1974 Histories of Southeastern Europe: the projected eleven-volume History of East Central Europe, published by the University of Washington Press: Peter E. Sugar, Southeastern Europe under Ottoman Rule, 1354-1804 (vol. 5, 1977) Robert A. Kann and Zdene&k V. David, The Peoples of the Eastern Habsburg Lands, 1526-1918 (vol. 6, 1984) Charles and Barbara Jelavich, The Establishment of the Balkan National States, 1804-1920 (vol. 8, 1977) Joseph Rothschild, East Central Europe between the Two World Wars (vol. 9, 1974). John R. Lampe and Marvin R. Jackson Balkan Economic History, 1550 - 1950 Bloomington, Indiana University Press, 1982 M.C. Kaser, ed. The Economic History of Eastern Europe, 1919 - 1975 Oxford Univ. Press, 1985-6, 5 vol. (only the first two volumes refer to 1919-1950) International Affairs: Michael Hurst, ed. Key Treaties for the Great Powers, 1814-1914 New York, St. Martin's Press, 1972, 2 vol. J.A.S. Grenville The Major International Treaties 1914-1973 London, Metheun, 1974. Ion Ionas!cu, Petre Ba@rbulescu, Gheorghe Gheorghe Tratatele internat!ionale ale Roma#niei, 1354 - 1920 Bucures!ti, Editura S!tiint!ifica@ s!i Enciclopedica, 1975 (Romania's International Treaties, 1354 - 1920) Gheorghe Gheorghe Tratatele internat!ionale ale Roma#niei, 1920 - 1944 Bucures!ti, Editura S!tiint!ifica@ s!i Enciclopedica, 1975 (need to recheck title and dates) T.G. Djuvara Traite%s, Conventions et arrangements internationaux de la Roumanie Bucures!ti, Degenmann, 1888 (simultaneous French and Romanian) Additional References of interest to philatelists George Buzdugan and Gheorghe Niculit!a@ Medalii s!i plachete roma#nes!ti (Romanian Medals and Plaques) Bucharest, Editura S!tint!ifica@, 1971 George Buzdugan, Octavian Luchian and Constantin C. Oprescu Monede s!i bancnote roma#nes!ti (Romanian Coins and Banknotes) Bucharest, Editura Sport-Turism, 1977 Paul G. Partington Who's Who on the Postage Stamps of Eastern Europe Metuchen, N.J., Scarecrow Press, 1979 W. Raife Wellsted and Stuart Rossiter The Stamp Atlas New York, Facts on File, 1986. Summary of the Postal Data The following documents, reports and histories of the postal service have been consulted; reference symbols are given in brackets. [BTP] Buletinul Telegrafo-Postal. 1903-1904. [SW] Swiss PTT Bulletin No. 14, various titles and dates: October 15, 1876, Tarif de Messagerie pour la Roumanie (Moldavie et Valachie). April 26, 1880, similar April 25, 1888, similar June 1, 1892, Fahrpost-Tarif fu^r Ruma^nien, Serbien, Bulgarien, Montenegro, die Tu^rkei, Griechenland und Egypten. Dec. 1, 1895, similar Lists of post offices, incomplete but useful in a few cases for establishing an earlier date compared to other lists. [DS96] Darea de Se%ma@ a Direc!tiunei Generale a Telegrafelor s!i Postelor pe Anii 1888 - 1894, Impreuna cu Statistica Acestor Ani. Bucuresci, Imprimeria Statului, 1896. [IP97] Direct!iunea Generala@ a Telegrafelor s!i Postelor. Instruct!iuni privito%re la Manipularea Serviciului Postal de ca@tre Stat!iunile de Ca@i Ferate Roma#ne. Bucures!ti, Imprimeria Statului, 1897. [N00] Direct!iunea Generala@ a Telegrafelor s!i Postelor. Nomenclatura Ca@tunelor s!i Comunelor Rurale s!i Urbane a Garilor cari fac Serviciul Postal s!i a Biurourilor Vamale din Romania. Bucures!ti, Thoma Basilescu, 1900. [TI900] Direct!iunea Generala@ a Pos!telor, Telegrafelor s!i Telefoanelor. Tarifele s!i Instruct!iunile, Obiectelor de Mesagerii, Interne s!i Internationale. Bucures!ti, T. Basilescu, 1900. [DS906] Direct!iunea Generala@ a Pos!telor, Telegrafelor s!i Telefoanelor - Serviciul Statistic. Dare de Seama@ asupra mersului serviciilor de Posta@, Telegraf s!i Telefon dela 1(14) Aprilie 1894 pa#na@ la 1(14) Aprilie 1905. Bucures!ti, Imprimeria Statului, 1906. [N06] C. Birmanescu, St. Chiperiu, din Direct!iunea Generala@ a Postelor, Telegrafelor s!i Telefoanelor. Tarifele postale, telegrafice s!i telefonice i#nsot!ite de nomenclatura localita@t!ilor din Roma#nia alca@tuite dupa@ documentele oficiale in vigoare. Bucures!ti, Clement!a, 1906. [N08] Direct!iunea Generala@ a Postelor, Telegrafelor s!i Telefoanelor. Nomenclatura comunelor urbane s!i rurale, ca@tunelor s!i satelor, ga@rilor cari fac serviciul postal, biurourilor vamale s!i pichetelor de gra@niceri din Roma#nia. Bucures!ti, Albert Baer, 1908. [UPU09] Bureau International de l'Union Postale Universelle. Dictionnaire des Bureaux de Poste. Lausanne, Nov. 1909, 2nd ed. Two types of offices are listed: those capable of handling insured letters, postal and telegraphic money orders, parcel post and payment- on-delivery (recouvrements); and those limited to insured letters and parcel post. The former are usually regular post offices (noted as .09+ in our list), and the latter are usually railway stations (noted as .09VC in our list). The special agencies do not seem to be listed. The offices are listed as of March 1, 1909. [entered A-K only, as of 1990] Supple%ment au Dictionnaire des Bureaux de Poste. Lausanne, Aug. 1912. Offices added and deleted, up to June 1, 1912. [UT14] Bureau International de l'Union Te%le%graphique. Nomenclature Officielle des Bureaux Te%le%graphiques, ouverts au service international. Bern, May 1914, 13th ed. Approximately 540 Romanian telegraph offices are listed, but here we have included entries only for those cases where the function of the post may be illuminated. [M] Constantin Minescu. Istoria Postelor Romane. Bucures!ti, 1916. The most important secondary source on the subject. [A17] Direktion des K.k. O^sterreichisches Handelsmuseums. Ruma^nien, Landes- und Wirtschaftsstatistische sowie Topographische U^bersichten. Vienna, L.W. Seidel & Sohn, 1917, 2nd ed. Mentions post offices as part of its description of each township, but not considered reliable, and so not used for postal data. [C19] Ministerul Industriei s!i Comert!ilor, Direct!iunea Generala@ a Statisticei, Serviciul Regional de Statistica@ din Cerna@ut!i. ion Ionas!cu, s!eful. Dict!ionarul statistic al Bucovinei, intocmit pe baza rezultatelor recensa@ma@ntului populat!iei din 28 Fevruarie 1919. Bucures!ti, Tipografia Gutenberg, 1922. Mentions post offices and railway stations as part of the description of each town, for Bucovina. [N21] C. Martinovici and N. Istrati. Dict!ionarul Transilvaniei, Banatului s!i Celorlalte T!inuturi Alipite. Cluj, 1921. Gazetteer of the territories annexed from Hungary after World War I. [B24] Direct!iunea Generala@ a Pos!telor, Telegrafelor s!i Telefoanelor. Supliment la Buletinul Telegrafo-Pos!tal, no. 1, 1924; Instruct!iuni relative a efectuarea serviciului de mandate. Bucures!ti, 1924. To improve operations of the money order service, each office was given a numbered seal to be applied to the forms, effective 1 Oct. 1924. This reference is the initial list of offices and seal numbers; it was updated as offices changed status. Many typographical errors occur in this list. A similar list was published as a supplement to BTP, no. 21, 1926. [PTT24] Ministerul Comunicat!ilor, Direct!iunea Generala@ P.T.T. Raport asupra activita@t!ii. Administrat!iei Pos!telor, Telegrafelor s!i Telefoanelor in cursul anului 1924. Bucures!ti, 1925. [UPU26] Bureau International de l'Union Postale Universelle. Dictionnaire des Bureaux de Poste. Lausanne, Nov. 1926, 3rd ed. (data accurate to 1 June 1926) Supple%ment no. 1 au Dictionnaire des Bureaux de Poste. Lausanne, Sept. 1928. Supple%ment no. 2 au Dictionnaire des Bureaux de Poste. Lausanne, Sept. 1930. [N28] A. Mocianu. Nomenclatura Oficiilor s!i Agent!iilor Pos!tale din Roma#nia, cu indicat!ii de indrumarea corespondent!ei. Cluj, Cartea Romaneasca, 1928. All the post offices, with type of service and route information. [N35] Ministerul Lucra@rilor Publice s!i al Comunicat!iilor, Direct!iunea Speciala@ P.T.T. Nomenclatura Oficiilor s!i Agent!iilor Pos!tale din T!ara@ s!i Ga@rilor care fac Serviciu Pos!tal, existente la 1 Iulie 1935. Bucures!ti, Imprimeria Centrala@, 1935. All the post offices, with type of service and number of households served. [PTT36] Direct!iunea Generala@ a Postelor, Telegrafelor s!i Telefoanelor. Statistica PTT pe anul 1936. Bucures!ti, 1938. [UPU37] le Bureau International de l'Union Postale Universelle. Dictionnaire des Bureau de Poste. Bern, Switzerland, April 1937, 4th ed., 2 vol. (data accurate to 1 July 1936) [ER] D. Gusti, ed. Enciclopedia Roma#niei, vol. 2. Bucures!ti, Editura Nat!ionala@, 1938. Descriptive data for each county; one of four volumes published 1938-1943. [B] Bulgarian PTT Directorate Sixty Years of the Bulgarian Post, Telegraph and Telephone, 1879 - 1939 Sofia, 1939. [in Bulgarian] pp. 391-418, list of post offices, district, date of establishment, current status. Includes occupation post offices in Thrace, Macedonia, Greece, Turkey, Yugoslavia and Romania. [ZA] Direct!iunea Generala@ P.T.T. 1939-40, Zece Ani de Activitate. Bucures!ti, Imprimeria Nat!ionala@, 1940. (has many photographs of post office buildings) [WG] Jacques Wertheimer-Ghika. Documentele Pos!tei Roma#ne. Bucures!ti, Cartea Romaneasca, 1944. 2 vol. (interesting but untrustworthy) [N46] Direct!iunea Generala@ a Pos!telor, Telegrafelor s!i Telefoanelor, Direct!ia Pos!tala@. Nomenclatura Pos!tala@ a Tutoror Localita@t!ilor din Roma#nia. Bucures!ti, 1946. [Teb] Val. Tebeica. Les premiers timbres-poste roumains, 1858-1865. Bucures!ti, Meridien, 1962. [R] Grigore Racoviceanu. S!tampilele pos!tale folosite i#n t!a@rile romi#ne pi#na@ i#n anul 1881. Bucures!ti, Editura Transporturilor s!i Telecomunicat!iilor, 1963. (the standard reference on early postmarks) [SF] Cornel Spineanu, Ernest Morgenstern and George Florescu. Studii de Filatelie. Bucures!ti, 1965. [CMPR] Kiriac Dragomir and Aurel Surpa@t!eanu. Catalogul Ma@rcilor Pos!tale Roma#nes!ti. Bucures!ti, 1974. (a good general reference on early history, rates and postmarks) [CP74] Ministerul Transporturlior s! Telecomunicat!iilor, Direct!ia Generala@ a Pos!telor s!i Telecomunicat!iilor, Direct!ia de Transporturi Pos!tale Bucures!ti Codul Pos!tal Localita@t!ilor din R.S.R. Bucures!ti, 1974 (postal codes of all offices in Romania) [AF77] Cornel Spineanu. Studiu asupra celor doua@ emisiuni de ma@rci pos!tale "principatele unite" s!a "postei de scrisori" din perioada anilor 1862-1864. in Almanahul Filatelic '77, Bucures!ti, 1977. (list of offices which received these stamps) [Art 1] Calin Marinescu, "An introduction to the Romanian postal service in the Cadrilater, 1913-1916 and 1918-1940" New South Wales Philatelist, Nov. 1991, vol. 13, pp. 116-123, and Feb. 1992, vol. 14, pp. 25-29. [Art 2] Andrew Cronin, "The Bulgarians in Roumania, 1916-1918" Stamp Collecting, 14 Sept. 1962, vol. 99, pp. 49, 51. Data concerning each post office has been organized according to the following scheme: post office name (judet!) (rail line) alternate spellings, alternate names former name and country predecessor office, date of transfer post office type, opened --, existed --, closed -- < repeated as necessary > UPU and Nomenclatura listings < office type not given in these > successor office, date of transfer present name and country post office statistics postal markings see also -- additional notes and references References, where appropriate, are given in square brackets. Not all of the above information is currently included, however. Remaining are descriptions of postal markings (including earliest reported use, etc.); data from the Postal Bulletins; information on postal routes, international exchanges and mobile post offices; Hungarian and German equivalent names; and a few hundred other things. In addition, typographical errors abound in the sources; when possible the corrected information is given here, without special mention. Alphabetization of town names ignores accent marks, though they are given. In order to make the listings more compact, the following abbreviations and symbols are used: Abbreviation Meaning op. opened cl. closed ex. existed bef. before aft. after betw. between f. formerly pre. predecessor suc. successor l. railway line nl. near railway line alt. alternate sp. spelling fy. fiscal year (1 April to 31 March) pm. postal marking(s) pmk. postmark pop. population (from the 1930 census, as reported in ER) pu. pos!ta us!oara@ ordinary letter mail, literally light mail mpu. mesagerii s!i pos!ta us!uara@ ordinary letter mail and parcel post As given in DS96 and DS906 for oficii telegrafo-postal, type of service. Smaller offices had various limitations on parcel post services; see DS906 for more detail. It may be assumed that an office having parcel service also had money order service; this is true of the DS906 lists. P. Permanent (open 24 hours) C. Complete (open extended business hours) L. Limited (open normal business hours) As given in DS96 and DS906, these are classifications of offices according to the number of hours that the telegraph desk was open. There seems to be little relevance to the postal service, however. The classi- fication system was devised by the Berlin telegraph convention of Sept. 17, 1885. Similar information is given in UT14, but is not included here; typically, the railway stations accepted telegrams on the same basis as "poste restante." N. Neamt! or Neamt!u R. Ra#mnicu or Ra#mnicul Sf. Sfa#ntu T. Turnu Tg. Ta#rgu G. gara@ (railway station) H. halta (railway stop) Symbol Meaning .94 existed 31 March 1894 [DS96] .97 existed 1897, able to execute internal money orders [IP97] .05 existed 31 March 1905 [DS906] N08 existed 1908 [N08] .09 existed 1 March 1909 [UPU09], class of service + or VC +: insured letters, postal and telegraphic money orders, parcel post, payment-on-delivery VC: insured letters, parcel post .09a existed 1 June 1912, opened after 1 March 1909 [UPU09 suppl.] .09x closed by 1 June 1912, but existed 1 March 1909 [UPU09 suppl.] N35 existed 1 July 1935 [N35], followed by the number of households served by the post office, if given .26 [UPU26] .26a [UPU26 suppl. 1] .26b [UPU26 suppl. 2] .36 existed 1 July 1936 [UPU37] .er existed mid 1930's [ER] May 1938 (book publication date) or 1 July 1937 (used in several places for population estimates) x... not listed in ... under this name or similar name ...? listing in ... is unclear ?? information may be untrustworthy ??? information is missing M, ddd Minescu, page ddd (similar for other sources) WG, d/dd Wertheimer-Ghika, vol. d, page dd BTP d/dd Buletinul Telegrafo-Postal, year d, page dd BPTT/m/n Buletin PTT, year m, page n -> ... under the direction of the office in ... <> ... post office or railway station with which mail is exchanged (if not the railway station in the town itself) < ... for railway station offices with limited postal services, external money orders, COD delivery and payments may be made at the office in ... * refers to the post office under current consideration arrangement for .94 and .05 entries town spelling judet! urban or rural -> pu, mpu P, L, C anything else Symbol Post Office type .op oficiu PTT de Stat (state-run PTT office); for older sources, oficiu telegrafo-postal or biroul telegrafo-postal .oa oficiu autorizat (authorized office) .oc oficiu contractuala@ (contract office) oficiu postal contractual .os oficiu special (special office) .ob oficiu balnear (seasonal office) oficiu climaterice .ot telegraph office, no postal services .om oficiu postale militare (military post office) complete list for War of 1877-78, in [R, 24, 72-73], not entered here .ba birou autorizat (authorized bureau) .bm birou de magistri postala@ .aa agent!ie autorizata@ (authorized agency) .ac agent!ia contractuala@ (contract agency) agent!ia cu contract, agent!ia postala cu contract, agent!ia postala@ contractuala@ .as agent!ie speciala@ (special agency) pos!ta us!oara@ s!i colete postale rurale The usual practice after 1918 was for special agencies in the old kingdom, and authorized agencies in the other parts of the country. .sp stat!ie postale (postal station) in 1860's, capable of accepting letters only on a postage-due basis .ga gara@ cu serviciu pos!tal (railway station with postal service); see IP97, p. 3, for list of services these offices performed .ha ha@lta cu serviciu pos!tal (railway stop with postal service) .gt railway station with telegraph service only .gn railway station with no postal or telegraph service .uo urban office, telegrafo-postal .ro rural office, telegrafo-postal .ra railway ambulant office .ma maritime .fl fluvial .su sucursala@ .tp township office, rural post of 1860's to 1880's complete list in [R, 22-23, 74-82], not entered here Notes 1) Distinctions between rural and urban offices are not always made in the sources, and we have presented such information when available. Authorized bureaus were mainly located in rural communities. 2) Offices without postal service (i.e., with only telegraph or telephone service) are not listed in detail except when it would help to clarify some point about the post. 3) The listings from [N46] include the post office and railway introduction point for the locality. This data is included to show the movement of mail from the town to the post office and railway system. In some cases this also suggests whether the locality's post office remained open after World War II. 4) All data, in particular the opening dates, refer to the Romanian post, and never to foreign posts operating in Romania (as in the cases of Austria or Russia before 1869) or to foreign posts preceding Romanian sovereignty (as in the case of Hungarian posts in Transylvania before 1918) or to military occupation posts. These and similar topics may be dealt with elsewhere. For opening dates of Hungarian post offices, see the two works by Ryan. [this is no longer true - dates for Hungarian and Bulgarian offices have been added] 5) When the postal sources do not state the judet! for an office, this information has been surmised from non-postal sources such as [UT14], the 1899 and 1912 censuses, [ER], etc. 6) We have used the town names as they were current in the period before 1947, taking the listings in ER as the primary guide. Since then the most important change (1953) has been to use only i# instead of a# or i#, except more recently in the country's name, Roma#nia. For more information, see the Orthographic History section above. We use the name Bucharest in the introductory chapter only for its familiarity, otherwise the name Bucures!ti is correct. Judet! (county) names are given as in [ER] when possible; previous and present political subdivisions are often different. International Exchange Points 1868 [R, 19; CMPR, 63; SF; Djuvara] with Austria-Hungary, established by postal convention of 1868, which went into effect January 1, 1869 Miha@ileni - Sinoutz (Unter-Sinoutz) Fa@lticeni - Suceava (Suczawa) via Nemericeni Adjud - Soo%smezo%% (Poiana Sarata@), via Filipes!ti (jud. Baca@u) Bucharest - Bras!ov (Kronstadt), via Predeal and Timis!ul de Sus (Ober-To^mo^s) R. Va#lcea - Sibiu (Hermanstadt), via Ca#ineni and Turnu Ros!u (Rothenturm) T. Severin - Ors!ova, via Va#rciorova Danube ports: (last four for Austrian post in Turkey) Galat!i - Ors!ova Calafat - Vidin Giurgiu - Rustchuk Galat!i - Tulcea Ca@la@ras!i - Cernavoda 1873 [by postal convention; Djuvara] with Russia, existing exchange points will continue at Jassy - Sculeni Bolgrad - Coubey (or Cubey) 1885 [by postal convention; Djuvara] with Bulgaria Calafat - Vidin Giurgiu - Rustchuk Silistra-Noua@ - Silistra 1894 [DS96] for the west Burdujeni - It!cani Miha@ileni - Unter-Sinoutz Adjud - Soo%smezo%% Predeal Ri#ul-Vadului - Turnu-Ros!u Va#rciorova - Ors!ova for Russia Ungheni for Bulgaria Calafat - Vidin Giurgiu - Rustchuk Ostrov - Silistra for the east Constant!a - Constantinople 1900 [TI900] with Austria-Hungary Burdujeni - Itzkany Predeal - Predeal Bahnhof Ra#u-Vadului - Vo%%rostorony Va#rciorova - Ors!ova with Bulgaria Giurgiu - Rustchuk T. Magurele - Nikopol Calafat - Vidin Ca@la@ras!i and Ostrov - Silistra with Russia Ungheni roma#ni - Ungheni rus!i with Turkey Constant!a - Constantinople 1905 [DS906] for the west Va#rciorova - Ors!ova Burdujeni gara@ - Itzkany bahnhof Predeal - Bras!ov for Transylvania Palanca - Gymes Ca#ineni - Ve^ro^storony Prisecani - To^lgyes for Bessarabia Chilia Veche - Chilia Rusa@ for Bucovina Miha@ileni - Unter-Sinoutz for Bulgaria Calafat - Vidin Giurgiu - Rustchuk for the east Constant!a - Constantinople Sulina for Russia and Persia Ungheni roma#ni - Ungheni rus!i for Petro^szeny area Livezeni - Petro^szeny for Cladova area Severin - Cladova 1924 [BPTT/1924/495] Arad 2, oficiul postal de va@muire Bucures!ti, Cerna@ut!i 2, Constant!a, Giurgiu, Ias!i pos!ta, Oradea-Mare 2, Satul-Mare 2, Timis!oara 2 1925 - border crossings Curtici (between Arad and Lo^ko^shaza) Episcopia Bihor (between Oradea and Szolnok) Grigore Ghica Voda (between Cerna@ut!i and Lemberg (Lvov)) Halmei (between Oradea and Kiralyhaza) Jimbolia (between Timis!oara and Agram) (not a complete list) 1935 [N35] (Biurourilor pos!tale de schimb internat!tional) Arad 2, Bazias!, Cerna@ut!i 2, Constant!a Port, Giurgiu Port, Jimbolia, Oradea 2, Satu-Mare 2, Timis!oara 2 1936 [PTT36] Constant!a port, Decebal, Episcopia Bihor, Giurgiu port, Grigore Ghica Voda@, Halmeu (to Czechoslovakia), Jimbolia (to Stamora Moravita, Yugoslavia), Obora#s!te, Tighina 1940 [ZA] Arad aeroport, Ba@neasa aeroport, Bazias!, Boteni, Cerna@ut!i aeroport, Constant!a, Curtici, Episcopia Bihorului, Giurgiu, Halmeu, Jimbolia, Ora@s!eni, Tighina Exchanges at Halmeu, Ora@s!eni and Cerna@ut!i aeroport were suspended in 1939 "due to international events." In 1936, Romania shared borders with Black Sea 454 km Bulgaria 601 km Yugoslavia 557 km Hungary 428 km Czechoslovakia 201 km Poland 347 km USSR 812 km In 1939, Romania shared borders with Black Sea 454 km Bulgaria 601 km Yugoslavia 557 km Hungary 629 km (including the old Czech frontier) Poland 365 km USSR 812 km there was also a shared border with the Republic of Slovakia Since 1948 Black Sea 245.0 km Bulgaria 590.9 km Yugoslavia 546.2 km Hungary 442.0 km USSR 1328.8 km Postal Rates year class of service, rate ... see separate section on parcel post 1868 postal convention with Austria-Hungary reduced rate from Romania to Bucovina, Bistrit!a and Nasaud districts, Transylvania up to the Maros River, and parts of the Military Border District, effective January 1, 1869. for simple letters, 15 bani prepaid, 25 bani not prepaid express charge, 40 bani return receipt, 25 bani parcel cards, at ordinary letter rates 1871 postal convention with Serbia (all in units of 15 grams) simple letter - 15 bani prepaid, 30 bani not prepaid printed matter, samples - 5 bani registry - 25 bani return receipt - 25 bani approx. 1910 bani letter postal card in town 10 internal 15 5 external 25 10 registration 25 delivery to the address, for insured letters, 20 bani for payment of money orders at the address, no charge up to 10 lei, 10 bani for 10 to 100 lei, 20 bani above 100 lei approx. 1933 lei letter postal postal tax card (aviation) in town 5 3 1 internal 6 4 1 external 10 * 6 - * 7.50 to Austria, Italy, Poland, Czechoslovakia registry, 13 lei approx. 1967 1970 Romania Europe letter (20 gr.) 1.60 lei 0.55 2.40 postal card 1.00 0.40 1.50 registered letter 2.40 1.75 6.00 express mail 3.20 3.25 10.80 return receipt 1.60 (these to any country) airmail extra: neighboring countries 0.40 Europe 0.60 Africa 2.00 Asia; N., C. America 4.00 S. America 5.00 Oceania 7.00 PTT Regional Organization 1892, still effective in 1907 I. Craiova: Mehedint!i, Gorj, Dolj, Romanat!i, Va#lcea, Olt, Arges!. II. Bucures!ti: Ilfov, Da#mbovit!a, Prahova, Ialomit!a, Vlas!ca, Teleorman, Muscel. III. Focs!ani: Buza@u, R. Sa@rat, Putna, Tecuci, Tutova, Baca@u, Neamt!. IV. Ias!i: Ias!i, Dorohoi, Botos!ani, Suceava, Roman, Vaslui, Fa@lciu. V. Tulcea: Bra@ila, Covurlui, Constant!a, Tulcea. 1913 [Legea de Organizare, 1913] I. Craiova: Mehedint!i, Dolj, Gorj, Romanat!i, Va#lcea. II. Pites!ti: Olt, Arges!, Teleorman, Da#mbovit!a, Muscel. III. Bucures!ti: Vlas!ca, Ilfov, Prahova, Ialomit!a, Constant!a, ambulant post offices, postal routes. IV. Bra@ila: Buza@u, Bra@ila, Covurlui, Tulcea, R. Sa@rat. V. Focs!ani: Putna, Baca@u, Tecuci, Tutova, Fa@lciu, Vaslui. VI. Ias!i: Ias!i, Botos!ani, Dorohoi, Suceava, Roman, Neamt!. 1920 - directorates in Cerna@ut!i, Cluj, Oradea, Timis!oara, plus the 43 counties in the Regat and Bessarabia. effective 1 Nov. 1924, jud. Arad transferred to Inspectorate IV PTT, Oradea [BPTT/1924/560] 1928, 1935 [N28, N35] I. Bucures!ti: Bras!ov, Ciuc, Da#mbovit!a, Fa@ga@ras!, Ilfov, Prahova, Trei-Scaune, Vlas!ca. II. Cerna@ut!i: Baia, Botos!ani, Ca#mpulung, Cerna@ut!i, Dorohoi, Hotin, Ra@da@ut!i, Storojinet!, Suceava. III. Chis!ina@u: Ba@lt!i, Cetatea-Alba@, La@pus!na, Orhei, Soroca, Tighina. IV. Cluj: Alba, Cluj, Mures!, Na@sa@ud, Odorhei, Somes!, Ta@rnava-Mare, Ta#rnava-Mica@, Turda. V. Constant!a: Caliacra, Constant!a, Durostor, Ialomit!a, Tulcea. VI. Craiova: Arges!, Dolj, Gorj, Muscel, Olt, Romanat!i, Sibiu, Teleorman, Va#lcea. VII. Galat!i: Bra@ila, Buza@u, Cahul, Covurlui, Ismail, Putna, Ra#mnicul- Sa@rat, Tecuci. VIII. Ias!i: Baca@u, Fa@lciu, Ias!i, Neamt!, Roman, Tutova, Vaslui. IX. Oradea: Bihor, Maramures!, Sa@laj, Satu-Mare. X. Timis!oara: Arad, Caras!, Hunedoara, Mehedint!i, Severin, Timis!- Torontal. The postal administration for each county was at the county seat, except that in 1935 Ca#mpulung was administered jointly with Suceava, Caras! with Severin, and Storojinet! with Cerna@ut!i. 1946 [N46] 1. Capitalei: Bucures!ti 2. Bucures!ti: Arges!, Da#mbovit!a, Ialomit!a, Ilfov, Muscel, Prahova, Teleorman, Vlas!ca 3. Craiova: Dolj, Gorj, Mehedint!i, Olt, Romanat!i, Va#lcea 4. Bra@ila: Bra@ila, Buza@u, Constant!a, Covurlui, Putna, R.-Sa@rat, Tecuci, Tulcea 5. Ias!i: Botos!ani, Dorohoi, Fa@lciu, Ias!i, Tutova, Vaslui 6. Baca@u: Baca@u, Baia, Ca#mpulung, Neamt!, Ra@da@ut!i, Roman, Suceava 7. Timis!oara: Arad, Caras!, Hunedoara, Severin, Timis!-Torontal 8. Sibiu: Alba, Bras!ov, Fa@ga@ras!, Sibiu, Ta#rnava-Mare, Ta#rnava-Mica@, Turda 9. Cluj: Ciuc, Cluj, Mures!, Na@sa@ud, Odorhei, Somes!, Trei-Scaune 10. Oradea: Bihor, Maramures!, Sa@laj, Satu-Mare For more information on the postal service in Hungary, see the following: [H3] A. Be%r, L. Makkai, E%. Makkai, L. Sura%nyi, Handbook of the Hungarian Pre-Stamp Mail, Budapest, TE%KA, n.d. (1988?) [H1] Gary S. Ryan, The Cancellations of Hungarian Post Offices on the First Five Issues of Austrian Stamps 1850-67 during the Austrian Administration, London, Royal Philatelic Society, 1980. [H2] Gary S. Ryan, The Cancellations of Hungarian Post Offices on the First Issue of Hungary 1867-1871, London, Royal Philatelic Society, 1988, 2 vol. [H5] Kostya%n A%kos et al., A Magyar Be%lyegek Monogra%fia%ja, vol. 2, Osztra%k Posta Magyarorsza%gon, Budapest, 1966. [1752 - 1867] [H4] Kostya%n A%kos, A Magyar Be%lyegek Monogra%fia%ja, vol. 6, A Magyar Postaigazgata%s Be%lyegzo%%i 1867 - 1967, Budapest, 1973. We have included the post office opening and closing dates from these references, for the convenience of those collecting forerunners of the Romanian post offices. However, the identification of the present Romanian name of a former Hungarian town is not always satisfactory in these works, and we have tended to rely more on Romanian sources in case of a conflict. The best current Hungarian stamp catalog is also of interest: [H6] Sura%nyi La%szlo% and Visnyovszki Ga%bor, A Magyar Be%lyegek Ke%ziko^nyve, Budapest, Gondolat, 1986. The Hungarian administration of Northern Transylvania from 1940 to 1944 is described by [H7] Mervyn Benford, The Visszate%rt Period in Hungarian Philately, Essex, Magyar Philatelic Society of Great Britain, 1989. and also [H4].