Ion C. Brătianu | |
|---|---|
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| 14thPrime Minister of Romania | |
| In office 9 June 1881 – 20 March 1888 | |
| Monarch | Carol I |
| Preceded by | Dumitru Brătianu |
| Succeeded by | Theodor Rosetti |
| In office 24 July 1876 – 9 April 1881 | |
| Monarch | Carol I |
| Preceded by | Manolache Costache Epureanu |
| Succeeded by | Dumitru Brătianu |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1821-06-02)June 2, 1821 |
| Died | May 4, 1891(1891-05-04) (aged 69) |
| Resting place | Vila Florica, Ștefănești |
| Political party | National Liberal Party |
| Spouse | |
| Children | 8, includingIonel,Dinu, andVintilă |
| Parents |
|
| Relatives | Dumitru Brătianu (brother),Ion Pillat (grandson) |
| Occupation | Politician |
Ion Constantin Brătianu (Romanian pronunciation:[iˈonbrətiˈanu]; June 2, 1821 – May 4, 1891) was one of the major political figures of 19th-centuryRomania. He was the son ofDincă Brătianu and the younger brother ofDumitru, as well as the father ofIonel,Dinu, andVintilă Brătianu.
Born to wealthyboyars based inPitești, the main town ofArgeș region in the Principality ofWallachia, he entered the Wallachian Army in 1838, and in 1841 started studying inParis. Returning to his native land, Brătianu took part, with his friendC. A. Rosetti and other young politicians including his brother, in the1848 Wallachian Revolution, and acted aspolice prefect in the provisional government formed that year.[1]
The restoration of Russian and Ottoman authority shortly afterwards drove him into exile. He took refuge in Paris and endeavoured to influence French opinion in favor of the proposed union and autonomy of the RomanianDanubian Principalities. In 1854, however, he was sentenced to a fine and three months' imprisonment forsedition and later confined in alunatic asylum; in 1856, he returned to Wallachia with his brother – afterwards one of his foremost political opponents.[1]
As a member of the National Party orPartida Naţională, he was in favor of the union of theDanubian Principalities, Wallachia's andMoldavia. In 1875, during the reign ofAlexander Ioan Cuza (r. 1859–1866), Brătianu founded theNational Liberal Party (PNL), which became a major political formation until the Communist takeover and again after the1989 overthrow of their regime. Opposition to theland reform united the emerging Liberals and Conservatives against theDomnitor (ruling prince) and his inner circle. Both parties comprised mainly landowners who allied to block legislation in the Chamber, causing Cuza to impose an authoritarian government in May 1864. The two-party alliance, remembered asthemonstrous coalition, opted for the removal of Cuza. Brătianu took part in the deposition of 1866 and in the subsequent election ofPrince Carol of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen, under whom he held several ministerial appointments throughout the next four years.
Nonetheless, his very sinuous relationship with the new Prince was the source of several crisis situations. Notably, Brătianu would point to the benefits of aRepublican project (which Rosetti and his left wing of the Liberal Party had never ceased advocating). Thus, when the experimentalRepublic of Ploiești was created in 1870 around a Liberal group, Ion Brătianu was arrested as the inspirational figure, but was soon released.
In 1871, the Liberals organized protests in favor of France – just defeated in theFranco-Prussian War – and implicitly against theGerman Empire, the Conservatives, and Prince Carol himself. The weight of the moment showed the weaknesses of the Liberals, as well as Carol's resolution: the Prince called onLascăr Catargiu to form a stable and reliable government. The change in tactics forced the Liberals to form their loose tendency as a real party[clarification needed] in 1875. Alongside several liberal tenets, the new formation took a further step towards advocatingprotectionism and persecution ofJewish Romanians (seeHistory of the Jews in Romania). In 1876, aided by C. A. Rosetti, Brătianu formed aLiberal cabinet, which remained in power until 1888; this marked his coming to terms with Carol.
The government took steps at taking the country out of its Ottoman vassalage; however, it differed from Conservatives in that they saw the main threat posed to Romania inAustria-Hungary. Liberals were of the generation that had truly brought Romanians inTransylvania to the country's attention; on the other hand, Catargiu had signed an agreement with the Austrian Monarchy that awarded it commercial privilege in Romania – while quieting its suspicion towards Romanianirredentism. Brătianu's government did not disturb this climate after the Russian alliance proved unsatisfactory, and the two parties resorted to assisting Romanian cultural ventures in Transylvania (untilWorld War I).
He aligned the country with Russia as soon as theRusso-Turkish War of 1877–1878 began, which included a campaign against Ottoman strongholds south of the Danube known in Romania as theRomanian War of Independence. While Romania did emancipate itself from Ottoman tutelage, Brătianu, who remained as the head of asecond cabinet in 1878-79, had to accommodate a prolonged Russian occupation, and theCongress of Berlin saw Russia seizingSouthern Bessarabia, the only part of Bessarabia still under Romanian control (Romania was awardedNorthern Dobruja in return).[citation needed] After the war, thePrincipality of Bulgaria appeared and began a search for a prince. According toNikolay Pavlovich Ignatyev, Brătianu supported the election of Prince Carol I as monarch of Bulgaria. Ignatyev said the intention of the Romanian officials was to establisha personal union with Bulgaria.[2] In 1881, Romania proclaimed itself aKingdom.
The Congress also pressured the Liberals to discard the discrimination policies, and the government agreed to allow Jews andDobrujan Muslims to apply for citizenship (with a 10-year probation), but continued forbidding foreign-born people or non-citizens from owning land. However, he had anti-Semitic views, publishing a lot of discriminatory laws, being responsible for the exile of various Jewish Romanian intellectuals.[3][4][5] The most famous Jewish intellectual exiled by Brătianu wasMoses Gaster, at the initiative ofDimitrie A. Sturdza.[6]
The Brătianu government introduced most modern reforms in the administrative, educational, economical, and military fields. It celebrated its main success in 1883, when the Liberals managed to have the1866 Constitution of Romania amended – enlarging the number ofelectors and establishing a thirdelectoral college, one that gave some representation to peasants and the urban employees. The move was not radical, and it served to obtain the Liberals political ascendancy: the very first elections under the new law brought them an overwhelming majority.
In 1886, after a meeting with Carol I and the Bulgarian princeAlexander of Battenberg, Brătianu informed the Bulgarian diplomatGrigor Nachovich that Alexander had requested a Balkan confederation under the leadership of Carol I. This turned out to be a misunderstanding.[2]
After 1883 Brătianu acted as sole leader of the party, owing to a quarrel with Rosetti, his friend and political ally for nearly forty years. His long tenure of office, without parallel in Romanian history, rendered Brătianu extremely unpopular, and at its close hisimpeachment appeared inevitable. But any proceedings taken against the minister would have involved charges against the king, who was largely responsible for his policy, and the impeachment was averted by a vote of parliament in February 1890.[1]
Besides being the leading statesman of Romania during the critical years 1876–1888, Brătianu attained some eminence as a writer. HisFrench language political pamphlets,Mémoire sur l'empire d'Autriche dans la question d'Orient ("Account of the Austrian Empire in the Oriental Issue", 1855),Réflexions sur la situation ("Musings on the Situation", 1856),Mémoire sur la situation de la Moldavie depuis le traité de Paris ("Account on Moldavia's Situation After theTreaty of Paris", 1857), andLa Question religieuse en Roumanie ("The Religious Issue in Romania", 1866), were all published in Paris.[1]
Many places, schools, streets, etc. in Romania are named after him, including:
This article incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Bratianu, Ion C.".Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 4 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 436.| International | |
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