What was the Romanian Campaign, 1916-17?
The Kingdom of Romania was neutral for the first two years of World War I, entering on the side of the Allied powers from 27 August 1916 until Central Power occupation led to the Treaty of Bucharest in May 1918, before re-entering the war on 10 November 1918. It had the most significant oil fields in Europe, and Germany eagerly bought its petroleum, as well as food exports.
- King Carol favoured Germany but after his death in 1914, King Ferdinand and the nation’s political elite favoured the Triple Entente (Britain, France & Russia)
- For Romania, the highest priority was taking Transylvania from Hungary, with around 2,800,000 Romanians out of 5,000,000 people
- The Allies wanted Romania to join its side in order to cut the rail communications between Germany and Turkey, and to cut off Germany’s oil supplies
- Britain made loans to Romania
- France sent a military training mission
- Russia promised modern munitions
- The Allies also promised at least 200,000 soldiers to defend Romania against Bulgaria to the south, and help it invade Austria
The Romanian campaign was part of the Eastern Front of World War I, with Romania and Russia allied with Britain and France against the Central Powers of Germany, Austria-Hungary, the Ottoman Empire, and Bulgaria. Fighting took place from August 1916 to December 1917 across most of present-day Romania, including Transylvania, which was part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire at the time, as well as in Southern Dobruja, which is currently part of Bulgaria.
- The ethnic Romanians in Austria-Hungary entered the war from the very beginning
- Hundreds of thousands of Transylvanian / Bukovinian Romanians were mobilized
- Almost 150,000 Romanians died while fighting for the Austro-Hungarian Army
The Romanian Campaign Plan (The “Z” Hypothesis) consisted in attacking Austria-Hungary in Transylvania, while defending Southern Dobruja and Giurgiu from Bulgaria in the south. Despite initial successes in Transylvania, after German divisions started aiding Austria-Hungary and Bulgaria, the Romanian forces (aided by Russia) suffered massive setbacks, and by the end of 1916 out of the territory of the Romanian Old Kingdom only Western Moldavia remained under the control of the Romanian and Russian armies.
- It began well, with several defensive victories in 1917 at Mărăști, Mărășești & Oituz
- Russia’s withdrawal from the war changed Romania’s prospects completely
- It was almost completely surrounded by the Central Powers
- It was also forced to drop out of the war
- It signed the Treaty of Bucharest with the Central Powers in May 1918
The parliament signed the treaty, however King Ferdinand refused to sign it hoping for an Allied victory on the western front. Romania was forced to conclude the Treaty of Bucharest with the Central Powers. It imposed harsh conditions.
- Alexandru Marghiloman became the new German-sponsored prime minister
- The Germans repaired the oil fields around Ploiești and took a million tons of oil
- They also requisitioned two million tons of grain from Romanian farmers
- This oil & grain were vital in keeping Germany in the war to the end of 1918
On 10 November 1918, just one day before the German armistice and after all the other Central Powers had already capitulated, Romania re-entered the war after the successful Allied advances on the Macedonian front – a facile victory, if there ever was one!
Stamps of Romania (Austrian Occupation)
Initially, the Austrian authorities issued a set of ‘KuK Feldpost’ stamps in 1917, with the Romanian currency denominations overprinted in red ink, followed by a similar set in 1918 with the overprints in black ink.
1917 Romania (Austrian Occupation) – Short set of 14 (currency overprint in red ink).jpg
1918 Romania (Austrian Occupation) – Complete set of 19 values (currency overprint in black ink)
Collectors should note, there are also imperforate paper varieties as well as inverted overprint variations – which makes collecting this series a bit challenging.
1918 Romania (Austrian Occupation) – Imperf. & Inverted Overprints
Postal History of Romania (Austrian Occupation, 1917-18)
During World War I, Romanian territory was occupied by Austria, Germany, and Bulgaria, each of which issued stamps for the occupied areas. This brief article introduces the postal history of the Austrian-held territories.
The Austro-Hungarian military employed a total of 7.8 million men in WW1 and most of these saw action in various Balkan and Carpathian campaigns, as well as on the Eastern Front against Imperial Russia. There is, therefore, no shortage of letters and postcards coming back from the front and occupied territories. The postal history of the Romanian Campaign is rich in both quantity and quality, yielding a treasure trove of military, social and postal history for students of same.
1917 Ottoman military formular card to Prague struck by Austrian Feldpost 205, 15th Army Corps cachet + Sahra Postasi 39 datestamps. Reverse four line 15. Armeekorps Feldpost 205 cachet. FPO 39 & Feldpost 205 jointly used on Galicia (Galati) front by the 15th Army Corps of Ottoman and Austro-Hungarian Military mail.
The field post offices moved with their unit(s), therefore to pinpoint a location you need a date, an FPO number and a military unit.
1917 Austria occupation WWI Romania cover from Austrian FPO 377 to Vienna (Dragoons/Cavalry) with contents, dated 30th July 1917 and postmarked 1st August on FPO c.d.s.
1917 Austria occupation WWI Romania cover from Austrian FPO 377 to Vienna – contents 1
1917 Austria occupation WWI Romania cover from Austrian FPO 377 to Vienna – contents 2
Other Stamps / Envelopes / Postcards in this series:
- Stamps of the World – a list of stamp issuing countries (past & present)
- Irish Diaspora Letters – an A-Z list of incoming mail to Ireland from abroad
- Rare Stamps – a list of the rarest stamps in the world (old & new)
The Collectors' Shop 