View source for 1907 Romanian peasants' revolt

{{Short description|Peasant revolt}}
{{Infobox military conflict
|conflict=1907 Romanian peasants' revolt
|partof=
|image=A cavalry patrol sabring the rioters in the streets of Comanesti.jpg
|caption=A cavalry patrol sabring rioters in the streets of [[Comănești]] (Illustrated London News)
|date=21 February – 5 April 1907
|place=[[Kingdom of Romania]]
|result=Creation of the [[Siguranța]]
|combatant1={{flagicon|Romania}} [[Kingdom of Romania]]
*Romanian Army
*Romanian police and Gendarmerie
Large landowners and their intermediaries
|combatant2=Disaffected peasants
|commander1=[[Carol I of Romania|Carol I]]<br/>[[Gheorghe Grigore Cantacuzino|Gheorghe Cantacuzino]]<br/>[[Dimitrie Sturdza]]<br/>[[Alexandru Averescu]]<br>[[Ion I. C. Brătianu]]
|commander2=Trifan Roman Grosu<br/>Ion Dolhescu<br/>Grigore Roman (the initiators and leaders of the [[Flămânzi]] revolters)<br>'''Supported by:'''<br/>[[Constantin Mille]]<br>[[Constantin Dobrogeanu-Gherea]]<br/>[[Octav Băncilă]]<br>[[Christian Rakovsky]]<br/>[[Ștefan Gheorghiu (trade unionist)|Ștefan Gheorghiu]]
|units1=
|units2=
|casualties1=Army: 10 killed, 4 wounded<br/>Unknown numbers of landowners and lessors killed or wounded
|casualties2=Official count: 419 killed<br/>1,786 (Dabija) to 11,000 (Chirot et Ragin) killed<br/>10,000 arrested
|notes=
}}
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|image2=Infantry escorting prisoners through Piatra Neamtu.jpg
|alt2=
|caption2=Infantry escorting prisoners through [[Piatra Neamț]] (Illustrated London News)
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|caption3=Monument to the 1907 Romanian Peasants' Revolt in [[Buzău]]
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The '''Peasant Uprising of 1907''' ({{Langx|ro|Răscoala țărănească din 1907}}) took place in Romania between 21 February and 5 April 1907. It started in northern [[Moldavia]] and, after three weeks in which it was localized in that area, it quickly spread, reaching [[Wallachia]], including as far as [[Oltenia]]. The main cause was the discontent of the peasants over the inequity of land ownership, which was mostly in the hands of just a few large landowners.

Following the fall of the [[Conservative Party (Romania, 1880–1918)|Conservative Party]] government on March 12, the new [[National Liberal Party (Romania, 1875)|Liberal]] government crushed the revolt violently with the help of the [[Romanian Land Forces|Romanian Army]], killing thousands of peasants in the process.

==Background==
The [[Land reform in Romania#1864 reform|1864 land reforms]] gave the peasants full ownership rights for part of the land for which they previously had only the right to use.<ref name="Eidelberg80">Eidelberg, p.80</ref> However, the peasants remained even after these reforms dependent on the local landlords.<ref name="Eidelberg80"/> Additionally, the peasant population was rising fast, leading to rapidly shrinking properties: from an average family property of {{convert|3.42|ha}} in 1896 down to {{cvt|3.27|ha}} in 1905 and {{cvt|3.06|ha}} in 1907.<ref name="Eidelberg81">Eidelberg, p.81</ref> The state was also a big landholder; however, its policies for selling the land often did not favor poorer peasants, who were in the greatest need for land.<ref name="Eidelberg80"/>

Needing to supplement their shrinking properties, the peasants were forced to use land owned by the landlords, who owned large estates.<ref name="Eidelberg82">Eidelberg, p.82</ref> As population grew, the peasants became more and more desperate for land, leading to rapidly rising rents.<ref name="Eidelberg82"/> At that time, peasants formed up to 80% of the [[Romanians|Romanian]] population and about 60% of them owned small plots, or no land at all, while the large landowners owned more than half of the [[arable land]].

The [[National Liberal Party (Romania, 1875)|National Liberal Party]]'s policy to encourage peasant cooperatives was not successful, as many landlords feared the organization of the peasants, preferring to lease to individual peasants rather than to cooperatives. According to [[Ioan Lahovary]], the Conservative Minister of Domains, a landlord could drive out a peasant refusing to pay his rent, but noted that for driving out a cooperative of 500 peasants, a regiment would be needed and the government may refuse to put it at the landlord's disposal.<ref>Eidelberg, p.84</ref> As such, by the end of 1907, there were only 103 village cooperatives having a membership of 11,118 leasing {{convert|37344|ha}}, most of it leased from the state.<ref>Eidelberg, p.91</ref>

By 1900, most large landowners preferred to live in the cities and did not want to bother with the administration of their properties. Therefore, the peasants no longer leased directly from the landowner, but sub-leased it from an intermediary lessor (''arendaș'', or [[Arendator]]s).<ref name="Eidelberg82"/> The fall of the price of grain on the world markets meant that the lessors would demand ever greater rents in order to make ends meet.<ref name="Eidelberg82"/>

The blame for the revolt was initially put on [[History of the Jews in Romania|Jewish]] intermediaries, given that many of the lessors were of Jewish background, especially in Northern Moldavia. The revolt quickly spread southward, losing some of its anti-Semitic character and becoming basically a protest against the existing system of land tenure.<ref>Daniel Chirot, Charles Ragin, ''The Market, Tradition and Peasant Rebellion: The Case of Romania in 1907''. American Sociological Association, 1975, Vol. 40, No. 4, pp. 428-444.</ref>

==Course of events==
 {{Unreferenced section|date=March 2017}}
[[File:A cavalry patrol watching the burning of farmhouses by the rioters near Bujeu.jpg|thumb|left|A cavalry patrol watching the burning of farmhouses by the rioters near [[Buzău]].]]
The revolt began on the lands administered by one lessor, Mochi Fischer, in the village of [[Flămânzi]] by Trifan Roman Grosu, Ion Dolhescu, and Grigore Roman, due to Fischer's refusal to renew the leases of the local peasants. Fischer used to lease about 75% of the arable land in three Romanian counties in Moldavia (the so-called "Fischerland").

The peasants, fearing that they would remain without work and, more importantly, without food, began to act violently. Scared, Fischer fled to a friend in [[Chernivtsi|Cernăuți]], leaving the peasants without signed contracts. The fear of remaining out of work, combined with the activities of alleged [[Austria-Hungary|Austro-Hungarian]] instigators, led the peasants to revolt. The revolt soon spread across most of Moldavia, with several landowners' properties destroyed and many lessors killed or wounded. The Conservative government (''[[Conservative Party (Romania, 1880–1918)|Partidul Conservator]]''), led by [[Prime Minister of Romania|Prime Minister]] [[Gheorghe Grigore Cantacuzino]], couldn't handle the situation and resigned, and the Liberals (''[[National Liberal Party (Romania, 1875)|Partidul Național-Liberal]]'') of [[Dimitrie Sturdza]] assumed power, with [[Ion I. C. Brătianu]] as [[Ministry of Internal Affairs (Romania)|Minister of the Interior]] and General [[Alexandru Averescu]] as [[Ministry of National Defence (Romania)|Minister of War]].<ref name="RL"/>

On 18 March a [[state of emergency]] was declared, and then a general [[mobilization]], with 140,000 soldiers being recruited by 29 March. The [[Romanian Land Forces|Romanian Army]] began firing on the peasants; thousands of peasants perished and more than 10,000 were arrested.

==Casualties==

===Peasants===
[[File:A vedette waiting on the highway at Braila for an expected outrage by the peasants.jpg|thumb|right|A [[Vedette (sentry)|vedette]] waiting on the highway at [[Brăila]] for an expected attack by peasants.]]
The exact number of peasant deaths is unknown, and even the course of events are not clear, because the government, to hide the size of the massacre, ordered the destruction of all documents relating to the uprising.

Historian Markus Bauer mentions a greatly underestimated official figure of 419 deaths,<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://cultural.bzi.ro/cauzele-si-originea-rascoalei-taranesti-din-1907-7515|title=Cauzele și originea răscoalei țărănești din 1907|date=2 December 2013|website=Bună Ziua Iași|language=ro}}</ref> while an unofficial figure, circulated by the press and widely accepted, of about 10,000 peasants killed, has never been proven to be true.<ref>{{Cite journal|title=The historical decline of fertility in Eastern Europe|last=Leasure|first=J. William|journal=European Journal of Population / Revue Européenne de Démographie|publisher=European Journal of Population|date=6 January 1992|pages=47–75|jstor=20164602|volume=8|issue=1|doi=10.1007/BF01797121|pmid=12158997|s2cid=3673626 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://jurnalul.ro/campaniile-jurnalul/un-secol-de-flamanzi/1907-2007-revolta-fara-conducatori-din-regatul-romaniei-2140.html|title=1907-2007: Revolta fără conducători din Regatul României|date=14 February 2007|website=[[Jurnalul Național]]|last=Betea|first=Lavinia|language=ro|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150618152605/http://jurnalul.ro/campaniile-jurnalul/un-secol-de-flamanzi/1907-2007-revolta-fara-conducatori-din-regatul-romaniei-2140.html|archive-date=18 June 2015|url-status=dead}}</ref> The same figure of 419 deaths was mentioned by [[Ion I. C. Brătianu]] in the [[Parliament of Romania]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.ziare.com/cultura/documentar/rascoale-romanesti-rascoala-de-la-flamanzi-1907-1043318|title=Răscoale românești: Răscoala de la Flămânzi - 1907|date=25 September 2010|website=Ziare.com|last=Dologa|first=Laurențiu|language=ro}}</ref> The data available to the Prime Minister [[Dimitrie Sturdza]] indicated 421 deaths between 28 March and 5 April 1907. Likewise, about 112 were injured and 1,751 detained. Newspapers patronized by Constantin Mille, ''[[Adevărul]]'' and ''Dimineața'', gave a figure of 12,000–13,000 victims. In a conversation with the [[United Kingdom|British]] ambassador in [[Bucharest]], [[King of Romania|King]] [[Carol I of Romania|Carol I]] mentioned a figure of "several thousand".

Prince {{ill|Johann of Schönburg-Hartenstein|cs|Johann Schönburg-Hartenstein}}, the minister plenipotentiary of Austria-Hungary in Bucharest at the time, and also General Averescu estimated the number of dead between 1,000–2,000.<ref name="RL">{{cite web|url=https://romanialibera.ro/sport/atletism/rascoala-de-la-1907-atrocitati-si-manipulare-90017/|title=Răscoala de la 1907, atrocități și manipulare|lang=ro|newspaper=[[România Liberă]]|date=March 17, 2007|access-date=August 6, 2023}}</ref> According to figures given by Austrian diplomats, between 3,000-5,000 peasants were killed, while the French Embassy mentioned a death toll ranging between 10,000–20,000. Historians put the figures between 3,000–18,000, the most common being 11,000 victims.<ref>{{Cite journal|title=The Market, Tradition and Peasant Rebellion: The Case of Romania in 1907|last1=Chirot|first1=Daniel|journal=[[American Sociological Review]]|date=August 1975|pages=428–444|jstor=2094430|last2=Ragin|first2=Charles|volume=40|issue=4|doi=10.2307/2094430 }}</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=The Great Rumanian Peasant Revolt of 1907: Origins of a Modern Jacquerie|last=Eidelberg|first=Philip Gabriel|publisher=Studies of the Institute on East Central Europe at Columbia University|year=1974|isbn=90-04-03781-0}}</ref>

Another assessment of the number of victims was made by Major {{ill|Gheorghe Dabija|ro}} who in February 1910 was appointed by General [[Grigore C. Crăiniceanu]] to analyze 32 files that referred to this event. Based on these documents, Dabija drew up a 117-page report which he submitted to the Ministry of War, from which it emerged that 1,786 peasants had been shot.<ref>Delia Bălăican, Generalul G. A. Dabija - Un reprezentant de seamă al generației sale, Analele științifice ale Universității "Alexandru Ioan Cuza", Istorie, Tom LXI, 2015, pp. 407-408.
</ref>

===Army===
Only ten members of the Army were killed in the revolt: an officer, Lt. I. Nițulescu, killed in [[Stănești, Giurgiu|Stănești]], [[Giurgiu County]],<ref>{{cite web|url=http://primaria-stanesti.ro/prezentare_locala|title=Monografia Comunei Stănești|website=primaria-stanesti.ro|language=ro|access-date=July 22, 2020}}</ref> two sergeants and seven soldiers. Four others were injured: an officer, Capt. Grigore Mareș, also wounded in Stănești, two sergeants and a soldier. Seventy-five soldiers of the Fifth Dorobanți Regiment ("Vlașca") appeared before military courts and charged with revolt; 61 were sentenced to hard labor for life and 14 to five years in prison.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.historia.ro/exclusiv_web/actualitate/articol/armata-rascoala-1907-care-este-cifra-reala-celor-ucisi|title=Armata și răscoala din 1907. Care este cifra reală a celor uciși?|date=13 January 2011|website=Historia.ro|last=Sperlea|first=Florin|language=ro|access-date=18 June 2015|archive-date=12 July 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150712235719/http://www.historia.ro/exclusiv_web/actualitate/articol/armata-rascoala-1907-care-este-cifra-reala-celor-ucisi|url-status=dead}}</ref>

==Aftermath==
Many intellectuals, among them [[Nicolae Iorga]], [[Alexandru Vlahuță]], [[Ion Luca Caragiale]], [[Constantin Stere]], [[Constantin Dobrogeanu-Gherea]], and [[Radu Rosetti]], protested against the violent intervention of the forces of repression. Others emphasized that the government had a special responsibility for the fate of the peasantry and the country in general, and therefore an urgent solution to the "peasant question" was required.

The Liberal government began a campaign to repress any kind of political organization of the peasants.<ref name="Hitchins126">Hitchins, p. 126</ref> Many teachers, priests and other countryside intellectuals were arrested, as were pro-[[universal suffrage]] activists Vasile M. Kogălniceanu and Alexandru Vălescu, who were regarded as instigators of the revolt.<ref name="Hitchins126"/>

The government also began enacting a series of reforms in order to provide some relief to the peasantry, but without expropriating the landlords.<ref name="Hitchins179">Hitchins, p. 179</ref> The December 23, 1907 law on agricultural contracts limited the degree to which the peasants could be exploited by the landlords and lessors: it set maximum prices for land leases, it set minimum wages for peasants working on landlords' estates and it established ''Casa Rurală'', a bank which was supposed to help peasants to buy lots of {{convert|5|ha}} from landlords.<ref name="Hitchins179"/> A law passed on April 12, 1908 banned anyone leasing more than {{cvt|4000|ha}} at one time.<ref name="Hitchins180">Hitchins, p. 180</ref>

[[File:Octav Bancila - 1907.jpg|thumb|[[Octav Băncilă]]'s iconic "1907" painting]]

==Legacy==
The events continued to resonate in the Romanian conscience, and were the subject of one of the novels of the interwar period, ''Răscoala'' ("The Revolt"), by [[Liviu Rebreanu]], published in 1932. A film based on the book, [[Răscoala]], was produced in 1965. The revolt also formed the subject of a painting by [[Octav Băncilă]], and of a monumental statue which can still be seen in Bucharest.

==Notes==
{{Reflist}}

==References==
*{{Cite journal|last=Eidelberg|first=Philip|date=1970|title=The agrarian policy of the Rumanian National Liberal Party, 1900-1916|journal=Rumanian Studies: An International Annual of the Humanities and Social Studies|publisher=[[Brill Publishers]]|volume=1}}
*{{Cite book|title=Rumania: 1866-1947|series=Oxford History of Modern Europe|last=Hitchins|first=Keith|author-link=Keith Hitchins|publisher=[[Oxford University Press]]|year=1994|isbn=0-19-822126-6}}
*{{Cite book|title=The Great Rumanian Peasant Revolt of 1907: Origins of a Modern Jacquerie|last=Eidelberg|first=Philip Gabriel|publisher=[[Brill Publishers]]|year=1974|isbn=90-04-03781-0}}

==Further reading==
*{{cite web|url=https://www.scribd.com/doc/16149605/Rascoala-sau-Complot1907|title=1907: Răscoală sau complot? ("1907: Rebellion or Plot")|last1=Caragea|first1=Anton|year=2003|publisher=[[Magazin Istoric]]|access-date=22 March 2013|language=ro|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120318083203/http://www.scribd.com/doc/16149605/Rascoala-sau-Complot1907|archive-date=2012-03-18|url-status=dead }}
*{{in lang|ro}} [[Ion Luca Caragiale]], [http://ro.wikisource.org/wiki/1907_din_prim%C4%83var%C4%83_p%C3%A2n%C4%83%27n_toamn%C4%83 ''1907 din primăvară până'n toamnă''] ("1907 From Spring to Autumn")
{{Riots, protests and civil disorder in Romanian territory}}
{{European Peasant Wars (19th and 20th centuries)}}
{{Authority control}}
[[Category:20th-century rebellions]]
[[Category:1907 in Romania|Peasants' revolt, 1907]]
[[Category:Conflicts in 1907|Romanian Peasants' Revolt]]
[[Category:Emergency laws]]
[[Category:February 1907 in Europe]]
[[Category:March 1907 in Europe]]
[[Category:April 1907 in Europe]]
[[Category:Massacres in 1907]]
[[Category:Massacres in Romania]]
[[Category:Peasant revolts in Europe|Romania]]
[[Category:Rebellions in Romania]]
[[Category:Riots and civil disorder in Romania]]
[[Category:Rural community development]]