20
Cosmin-Ștefan Dogaru
“since 1848 one could consider that the political parties and the differentiation of ideas
appeared” (“Istoricul Partidului Naţional-Liberal”, 1923, p. 24).
Between 1859-1866, both liberals and conservatives functioned as two political
groups, but they were not yet two modern political parties.
The project of a foreign prince was accomplished in time throughout several
stages, both internally and externally. Nonetheless, the most important event, which led to the
fulfilling of this great national wish, was the stepping down of Alexandru Ioan Cuza (1859-
1866) in February 1866. The Romanian political elite immediately applied
the politics of the
accomplished deed, choosing a foreign prince to come to the country’s throne, in a delicate
moment. The reason was simple; reflecting that at that moment, “there was a danger that the
two principalities [Wallachia and Moldavia] could separate again” (Kremnitz, 1995, p. 19);
but this wasn’t an option for the Romanian political elite.
The expression the politics of the accomplished deed “is a phrase used in the
Romanian historical specialized literature, describing the strategy used by the local elites over
time in achieving the national objectives” (Dogaru, 2016, p. 29).
In this tempestuous period, the first option was Philip of Flanders (brother of King
Leopold II of Belgium), but he declined the offer, leaving the political elite in a difficult, but
not impossible situation. After this first refusal, the second option seemed to be Charles of
Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen, who was supported from the inside – by important Romanian
leaders such as I. C. Brătianu etc., as well as from the outside – France’s emperor Napoleon
III and the Prussian chancellor Bismarck (Hitchins, 2004). However, the external involvement
was discreet and informal, taking into account the international situation (the construction of
the German state, the emerging German Empire).
Charles was thus an “emergency solution” for Romania (Dogaru, 2016) and suited
perfectly the wishes of the political elite. It is well recognized that he came from a prestigious
European family; from a rational way, he had the ability to ensure the country’s political
stability and to sustain the process of consolidation of the Romanian state, a process that was
started recently. Although the country was filled with dissensions, both the liberals and the
conservatives realized the need to unite for this
foreign prince project in order to consolidate
the political regime. From a certain perspective, “confronted with a political world which was
still searching a path, as well as modern patterns, but which, meanwhile, had benefited from a
long ruling classes’ political exercise /…/ and a special ability to adapt to the new, the ruler
was to act prudently, searching without stop to learn the new reality which stood in front of
him” (Berindei, 2007, p. 185).
It was a difficult time for the foreign prince, but not impossible to deal with; he
had to challenge the Romanians’ mentality; their customs were a little to unusual compared to
the European model that almost all political leaders wanted to attain. Gradually, the political
leaders had to get used to the new reality, and also to the Romanian society in general. Even
Charles I had to confront the new reality in doing politics and accepted this new situation.
On the domestic level, the period 1866-1871 was a stage of accommodation
between the foreign prince and the Romanian leaders, both conservatives and liberals. In
contrast, on the external level, both Charles I and the political elite militated for the
recognition of “the new state of affairs in Romania” (Berindei, 2007, p. 22) and in the end the
suzerain power (the Ottoman Empire) recognized the new situation. In that perspective,
Romania had on the throne a foreign prince, established without the direct involvement of the
suzerain power:
the politics of the accomplished dead had been fulfilled with success.
Returning to the domestic level, both Charles I and the politic leaders had to get
used to each other and the situation in the country was not at all easy; they gradually
surpassed a series of political and cultural discrepancies. Therefore, “the Romanian political
people with which [Charles I] comes into contact with were superior to him by culture and
21
The German Prince and
the Romanian Political Elite
education. But most of them are inferior in terms of civic discipline and the capacity of
restraining themselves in the public life” (Bulei, 2011, p. 71).
Once on the throne, Charles I had to get acquainted to the country and also to the
Romanian society. Likewise, the Romanians needed to get accustomed with the foreign
prince, which at the beginning had no place in the collective mentality. Thus, what can be said
about the ruler is that: “his education was very well looked after by a fine and tender mother
and disciplined by a superior father. He was of a punctuality that, from the day he entered
Bucharest, got in conflict with the non-preoccupation about time which was specific to the
Romanian society” (Cantacuzino, 2013, p. 161). The liberal politician I. G. Duca conceded
the fact that “in a country with no sense of the time /…/ Charles I was bringing the conscience
of mathematical exactitude” (Duca, 1992, p. 113).
3.1. The Romanian Constitution of 1866: a meeting point between the prince and the
political elite
The fundamental law from 1866 undoubtedly stood for the institutional and constitutional
architecture of
the new political regime, starting a series of discussions, debates, some of them
less pleasant, others maybe too tense, between the prince and the two political parties, the
liberal and the conservative ones, but also between these two groups. The dissentions
concerned mainly the way the state was organized, but finally a compromise was reached.
The development of the new Constitution established a common point, because it offered the
basis for the consolidation of the young Romanian state, a goal, which was finally
accomplished.
Dissentions also arose between the prince and the political elite in the
constitutional deliberation, as Charles I wanted to make his own point of view. He didn’t want
to have a mere ceremonial role, he wanted an active one, in the limits of the Constitution. At
the debates, the radical liberals backed up the unicameral system, whilst Charles I and the
conservatives wanted a bicameral system. In that delicate moment for our country, it was
decided by consensus that the ruler will have the right of
absolute veto, and the bicameral
system was then adopted, the Parliament being divided in: the Deputies Assembly and the
Senate (Damean, 2000). Thus, “being decided by an agreement between the national
representation and the sovereign, the new fundamental law – liberal in its body and spirit –
had installed the hereditary constitutional monarchy and the parliamentary regime” (Damean,
2000, p. 73).
Subsequently, is important to begin by mentioning that the foreign prince had
lived in a quite different environment and didn’t know much about Romania. At the same
time, both the liberals and the conservatives were used to some customs, which were still
unknown for Charles I. Thus, the creation and then promulgation of the Constitution (30
June/1 July 1866) were the first steps on a road in which Charles I and the political elite had
to overrun some political and cultural borders. On a long term, the proclamation of the
Constitution legitimized and confirmed the new regime, both internally and externally.
Nevertheless, adopting the Constitution, a liberal one for that era, placed Charles I on an
important position, on both legislative and executive level (Stanomir, 2005).
3.2. The relationship between Charles I and the political class (1866-1871)
The first part of Charles I’s reign was full of particularities connected to the politics, but also
to the mentalities. The German prince decided from the beginning to make a good example of
a constitutional monarch. According to the fundamental law, the ruler had to choose the prime