Radio România Internațional

Tag: First World War

  • The Palace of Culture in Iasi

    The Palace of Culture in Iasi


    Today we make a short foray into the history of
    the Palace of Culture in Iasi, a city in north-eastern Romania and a former
    capital of the historical principality of Moldavia. Our guide is Lacramioara
    Stratulat from the Moldavia Museum Complex:


    This was the site of the former
    princely court and after the Union of 1859 and the forced abdication of
    Alexandru Ioan Cuza and the arrival of Carol I at the helm of the country,
    during his first visit to Iasi, the latter promised the people of Iasi that a
    number of monumental structures would be built in their city, including a
    justice and administrative palace. Building works took 19 years, having begun
    during Carol I and having been finished during his successor, Ferdinand I. The
    reason it took so long was because of the first world war, including the
    difficult years of the refuge in Iasi between 1916 and 1918, so the designer of
    the palace, the famous architect I.D. Berindei had to start all over again a
    number of times. Each time, the money would run out and Berindei had to re-draw
    the plans.


    The architect Ioan D. Berindei was an important
    name in the history of Romanian architecture in the second half of the 20th
    century. One of the proponents of the neo-Romanian style in architecture,
    Berindei took it upon himself to finalize the construction of the palace in
    Iasi. Lacramioara Stratulat tells us more:


    He was the second in his family to
    study architecture at the prestigious University of Paris. He was the man who
    designed a building of 36 thousand square meters as a light structure, in spite
    of being so large, located on the premises of an archaeological site. What makes
    this building so special and proves that he was a brilliant architect is the
    fact that he succeeded in making this building resilient to earthquakes, such as
    those of 1940 and 1977 and also the next ones. The building was not severely
    damaged by earthquakes, but in WWII a part of it was destroyed by the
    bombardments of the Soviet and German armies. The building was repaired in
    quite a short time, after the war. Berindei designed this building in a
    flamboyant, neo-Gothic style, with numerous features specific to the Romanesque
    style at the interior.


    Lacramioara Stratulat has also described the
    architectural styles used for the construction of the Palace of Culture:


    The building is a mixture of two
    different styles, one sober and another one less sober, and it has the mark of
    two important kings. The sober style is specific to King Carol I, and the less
    sober one was influenced by Ferdinand I and especially Queen Marie, who imposed
    trends that were in high fashion in the early 20th century. I refer
    to the two entrance doors and the door to the biggest hall in the Palace,
    namely, the Princes’ Hall, built in the art nouveau style. Queen Marie was a
    fan of the art nouveau style and this can be seen in several areas of the
    Palace of Culture. The building first served as a palace of justice, an
    administrative palace. Hence the sumptuousness of the main halls. As of 1955,
    the building served as palace of culture, a venue for four national museums and
    a Cultural Heritage Conservation and Restoration Centre. The four museums are the Moldavia History
    Museum, The Stefan Procopiu Museum of Science and Technology, the Ethnographic
    Museum of Moldavia and the Art Museum.


    Building the palace was difficult, with
    obstacles brought about by the historical events of that time. Lacramioara
    Stratulat is back at the microphone with more:


    The building of the palace started
    in 1906, but the project suffered several modifications in time. Construction
    works ceased during WWI, the building being used as hospital and as shelter for
    the Romanian troops, given that it was the largest building in town. For the
    architect, changing the destination of a building that was still under
    construction was not a good thing. So, after the troops withdrew to Bucharest,
    he rethought some of the elements of artistic architecture, which had been
    deteriorated. Given the fact that Berindei counted on a budget that was soon
    exhausted, he started looking for friends who could help him replace certain
    construction materials, at smaller prices, without affecting their quality.
    Worth mentioning is Henri Coanda’s invention, a sort of special cement. As
    restoring a building means bringing it to its initial shape, we have managed to
    recreate, with the help of experts, that bois cement, and make it look
    perfect, like oak tree wood, just as Berindei and Coanda wanted.


    The Palace of Culture in Iasi dominates the
    center of Moldavia’s former capital. It is, as you may have already guessed,
    one of the places worth visiting.



  • The Palace of Culture in Iasi

    The Palace of Culture in Iasi


    Today we make a short foray into the history of
    the Palace of Culture in Iasi, a city in north-eastern Romania and a former
    capital of the historical principality of Moldavia. Our guide is Lacramioara
    Stratulat from the Moldavia Museum Complex:


    This was the site of the former
    princely court and after the Union of 1859 and the forced abdication of
    Alexandru Ioan Cuza and the arrival of Carol I at the helm of the country,
    during his first visit to Iasi, the latter promised the people of Iasi that a
    number of monumental structures would be built in their city, including a
    justice and administrative palace. Building works took 19 years, having begun
    during Carol I and having been finished during his successor, Ferdinand I. The
    reason it took so long was because of the first world war, including the
    difficult years of the refuge in Iasi between 1916 and 1918, so the designer of
    the palace, the famous architect I.D. Berindei had to start all over again a
    number of times. Each time, the money would run out and Berindei had to re-draw
    the plans.


    The architect Ioan D. Berindei was an important
    name in the history of Romanian architecture in the second half of the 20th
    century. One of the proponents of the neo-Romanian style in architecture,
    Berindei took it upon himself to finalize the construction of the palace in
    Iasi. Lacramioara Stratulat tells us more:


    He was the second in his family to
    study architecture at the prestigious University of Paris. He was the man who
    designed a building of 36 thousand square meters as a light structure, in spite
    of being so large, located on the premises of an archaeological site. What makes
    this building so special and proves that he was a brilliant architect is the
    fact that he succeeded in making this building resilient to earthquakes, such as
    those of 1940 and 1977 and also the next ones. The building was not severely
    damaged by earthquakes, but in WWII a part of it was destroyed by the
    bombardments of the Soviet and German armies. The building was repaired in
    quite a short time, after the war. Berindei designed this building in a
    flamboyant, neo-Gothic style, with numerous features specific to the Romanesque
    style at the interior.


    Lacramioara Stratulat has also described the
    architectural styles used for the construction of the Palace of Culture:


    The building is a mixture of two
    different styles, one sober and another one less sober, and it has the mark of
    two important kings. The sober style is specific to King Carol I, and the less
    sober one was influenced by Ferdinand I and especially Queen Marie, who imposed
    trends that were in high fashion in the early 20th century. I refer
    to the two entrance doors and the door to the biggest hall in the Palace,
    namely, the Princes’ Hall, built in the art nouveau style. Queen Marie was a
    fan of the art nouveau style and this can be seen in several areas of the
    Palace of Culture. The building first served as a palace of justice, an
    administrative palace. Hence the sumptuousness of the main halls. As of 1955,
    the building served as palace of culture, a venue for four national museums and
    a Cultural Heritage Conservation and Restoration Centre. The four museums are the Moldavia History
    Museum, The Stefan Procopiu Museum of Science and Technology, the Ethnographic
    Museum of Moldavia and the Art Museum.


    Building the palace was difficult, with
    obstacles brought about by the historical events of that time. Lacramioara
    Stratulat is back at the microphone with more:


    The building of the palace started
    in 1906, but the project suffered several modifications in time. Construction
    works ceased during WWI, the building being used as hospital and as shelter for
    the Romanian troops, given that it was the largest building in town. For the
    architect, changing the destination of a building that was still under
    construction was not a good thing. So, after the troops withdrew to Bucharest,
    he rethought some of the elements of artistic architecture, which had been
    deteriorated. Given the fact that Berindei counted on a budget that was soon
    exhausted, he started looking for friends who could help him replace certain
    construction materials, at smaller prices, without affecting their quality.
    Worth mentioning is Henri Coanda’s invention, a sort of special cement. As
    restoring a building means bringing it to its initial shape, we have managed to
    recreate, with the help of experts, that bois cement, and make it look
    perfect, like oak tree wood, just as Berindei and Coanda wanted.


    The Palace of Culture in Iasi dominates the
    center of Moldavia’s former capital. It is, as you may have already guessed,
    one of the places worth visiting.



  • Romanian Economy During the Reign of King Carol the 1st

    Romanian Economy During the Reign of King Carol the 1st

    Carol I of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen, the ruling prince of the United Romanian Principalities starting 1867 and the first king of Romania as of May 10, 1881, is still described as the most important state personality in Romanian history. During his 48-year reign, Romania gained its independence and became a constitutional monarchy: at that time, the foundation was also laid for the modern Romanian state. In terms of domestic policy, Carol I tried to strike a balance between various factors, favoring a climate of discipline and rigor, two qualities he acquired tanks to his Prussian-style upbringing, in a family with a strong dynastic tradition.



    King Carol I gave his support for all economic structures to become modern, in a country whose political structures were still very much backward halfway through the 19th century. The capital city Bucharest itself resembled a country-side town. Yet Carol’s disciplined mind, a feature typical of all Germanic monarchs, as well as his experience as a King, were instrumental to speeding up Romania’s modernization. A politically astute personality, the King succeeded in having both liberal and conservative governments come to power, so that none of the two sides could have the possibility to undermine his authority.



    Immediately after his arrival in the country, Carol I introduced an extremely important monetary reform, bringing the Leu on the money market. Although at that time it had not been an independent country, Romania managed to impose its own currency in 1867. Initially, only the metal coin was issued. Later, however, once Romania’s National Bank was founded, and also with the boost of private capital, in 1880 bank notes had also started being issued. With the help of the National Bank, but also through private capital, by early 20th century no less than 24 banks had been founded, while by 1914 an additional 210 were founded in Romania.



    During the reign of Carol I, Romanian economy was predominantly agrarian. More than half of the peasants held plots of farmland with a surface area smaller than 5 hectares, while between 5 and 10 hectares of farmland were required for the support of one single family. It was a time of uncertainty for Romanian agriculture, so the so-called “people’s banks” were established. Such banks developed mainly because their managers were locals who were familiar with the circumstances of the local economy, and knew those who would take out loans. Most of the agricultural production was provided by the great landowners and for its most part was export-bound.



    During the first forty years of Carol I’s reign, the country’s farming production grew six times. Agriculture provided a strong foundation for the entire economy, which had a strong bearing on Romanian industry. Crude oil extraction and refining saw a strong progress. Textile and foodstuff factories doubled their numbers. The influence of foreign capital on Romanian industry, however, led to the country’s industrial potential being clustered in certain regions, while other regions across the country were lagging behind. The Germans controlled 35% of the industry; following them were the British with 25%, the Dutch with 13%, the French with 10% and the Americans with 5.5%. The Romanian capital accounted for a meagre 5.5%. Between 1903 and 1914, most of the companies were founded, which later on would dominate Romania’s oil industry until the outset of the Second World War. Associate Professor Alin Ciupala, of the University of Bucharest’s History Faculty, has the details.



    “During the reign of Carol I, Romanian economy remained an agrarian one, just as it used to be until 1866 and just as it would be in the interwar period. Yet a certain amount of change did occur. Late into the 19th century, a couple of resources were being put to good use, such as the crude oil deposits. For Romania, crude oil was an extraordinary opportunity and shortly afterwards the world’s biggest oil companies started doing business in Romania. Crude oil revitalized the country’s economy, since it was exploited by joint venture companies the Romanian state had set up with foreign companies. Profits, therefore, soon started coming in and the Romanian Government used the money primarily to develop infrastructure. Also, in 1887, the first important industry-boosting law was promulgated, aimed at stepping up the development of that sector of Romanian economy. However, as I said before, despite the fact that lots of new elements would appear until the First World War, Romanian economy was a predominantly agrarian one, and the main revenues were provided by the exploitation of the farmland. That also posed a big social problem, since the Romanian village was dominated by the existence of the large-scale land ownership. There were no small-time landowners, capable of representing the biggest part of land ownership, quite the contrary — in Romania there were big farmland estates, and that led to a rather low rate of agricultural progress. There was little to no interest in investing significant amounts of money in the development of agriculture, as long as big landowners were in need of cheap workforce.”



    Quite unlike industrialized European states, urban areas could not absorb Romania’s large rural population given the country’s still weak industry. So strong was the mounting social pressure that in 1907 an unprecedented social movement broke out. The peasants’ uprising got the whole world witness the failures of King Carol I’st reign, within a year since the opening of the 1906 Jubilee Exhibition, which was meant to showcase Romania’s economic progress during King Carol I’s 40-year reign.