King of the Romanians (in Romanian: Regele Românilor), rather than King of Romania (in Romanian: Regele României), was the official title of the ruler of the Kingdom of Romania from 1881 until 1947, when Romania was proclaimed a republic.
The state had been called the Principality of Romania (in French "Roumanie") since 1862, after the Ottoman vassal states of Wallachia and Moldavia had been united in 1859 under Alexander John Cuza (Alexandru Ioan Cuza) as Prince of Romania, or Domnitor. Cuza had become the prince of the separate principalities in 1859. He was deposed in 1866 by an ad hoc coalition of the main political parties, which then officially offered the throne of the United Principalities to the German Prince of the Royal family, Carol (Charles) of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen, to become the new Prince of Romania.
Romania's independence from the Ottoman Empire was recognized in 1878 at the Congress of Berlin; the principality became a sovereign kingdom in 1881, with Prince Carol as King Carol I of Romania.
Romania was a constitutional monarchy for most of its existence as a kingdom with the exception of 1938–1944, during the dictatorships of Carol II (1938–1940) and of Marshal Ion Antonescu (1940–1944). On 23 August 1944, King Michael restored the last democratic royal Constitution of 1923. However, during his second reign (1940–1947), King Michael reigned as an unconstitutional king, without an oath on the Constitution and without a vote of the Parliament, initially suspended and reinstated only later, in 1946. Michael was instead crowned and anointed King by the Orthodox Patriarch of Romania, Nicodim Munteanu, in the Patriarchal Cathedral of Bucharest, on the very day of his second accession, 6 September 1940. Michael, thus, reigned the second time as an absolute, unconstitutional King, solely "by the Grace of God"
In 1927, King Ferdinand I died, and the country was left in the care of Michael despite Carol II being his father. Carol II, unlike King Carol I, in the beginning had no desire to rule Romania, and was frequently out of the country exploring the rest of Europe with his mistress. Michael's first term of reign would be short lived at a span of only three years, until his father Carol II came back to contest the title at the behest of a dissatisfied political faction that staged a sudden 'coup d'état'
(in spite of the fact that only a few years earlier he had renounced in official documents, written and signed in front of his own father, all his future claims to the throne of Romania).
After a ten years rule, King Carol II gave up his royal title and all accoutrements attached in order to be able to leave Romania and marry his mistress Elena Lupescu. The couple ultimately settled in Portugal, and the 'playboy king' was never recalled back to Romania.
In August 1944, with the Soviet troops already deep inside Romania's territory, King Michael deposed the Nazi-allied dictator Ion Antonescu at the urge of the opposition parties, and aligned the country with the Allied forces. Helped by the presence of Soviet forces, Communist gradually took control of the administration. In December 1947 King Michael abdicated and left Romania at the request of the Communist-dominated government, while the Parliament proclaimed the country a republic.
After the Revolution of 1989, the former King Michael visited Romania to an enthusiastic reception of a large crowd in the streets of Bucharest, however the country preserved its republican character.
List of Kings of the Romanians (1881–1947)
For the list of rulers prior to 1866 see List of rulers of Wallachia, List of rulers of Moldavia and List of rulers of Transylvania. See Presidents of Romania for the list of presidents after 1947.
{|class="wikitable"
! width=2% | #
! width=8% | Picture
! width=24% | Name
! width=10% | Monarch from
! width=10% | Monarch until
|-
|align="center"| 1
|align="center"|
|align="center"| Carol I
|align="center"| 26 March 1881
|align="center"| 10 October 1914
|-
|align="center"| 2
|align="center"|
|align="center"| Ferdinand I
|align="center"| 10 October 1914
|align="center"| 20 July 1927
|-
|align="center"| 3
|align="center"|
|align="center"| Michael (1st reign)
|align="center"| 20 July 1927
|align="center"| 8 June 1930
|-
|align="center"| 4
|align="center"|
|align="center"| Carol II
|align="center"| 8 June 1930
|align="center"| 6 September 1940
|-
|align="center"| 5
|align="center"|
|align="center"| Michael (2nd reign)
|align="center"| 6 September 1940
|align="center"| 30 December 1947
|-
|}
Although King Michael I of Romania is not the head of state, he continues to speak out on Romanian affairs.
Footnotes
See also
List of Romanian consorts
History of Romania
Lists of Incumbents
Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen
Line of succession to the Romanian throne
External links
Category:Lists of monarchs
Category:House of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen
