#look at the size of this! | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

sisididis · 2 years

Text

Romania and his relationships

La mulți ani, România! 🇷🇴

As a special treat for today, here are some headcanons about Ro and his closest relationships throughout the years. The lines stand for family, friends and tense relations.

Romania

Was "born" as a result of the Romanization of Dacia (106 - 271 CE)

And gradually became known as Wallachia even though he represented all the Romanians in the Carpato-Danubian-Pontic territory.

A troublemaker with a fatalist attitude.

He's a gourmand but regrets it because his food is heavy.

Is acutely aware of his position as a Latin "island" in a Slavic "sea” and is extra sensitive when people try to deny his heritage.

Has a complicated relationship with the Church. His faith is almost as important to his identity as his language because it kept him from assimilating with the empires which ruled him (the Catholic Austro-Hungarians and the Muslim Ottomans).

Lately, his fashion choices have become more daring and experimental.

He's very street-smart and can blend in with any crowd.

He's very superstitious and believes in old-world remedies. He’s big on conspiracies and sometimes thinks the world is plotting against him.

Is proud of the inventions his people gifted the world, like the fountain pen, the first experimental air jet, insulin and so on.

Does anything in his power to avoid staying in Bucharest and owns houses in several cities (like in Sibiu).

Still does not know what to make of communism.

He's a sweet tooth and has been known to claim ownership of his neighbors' food: "What do you mean găluște cu prune are not Romanian? Of course they are!"

He'll roll his eyes when he hears someone mention Dracula but will overlook it if it brings him 💰.

Can speak Greek thanks to being ruled by Phanariots for so long.

Wants to punch something every time Ned opens his mouth. The same goes for Hungary.

He's hardworking and eager to keep up with the rest of the world.

Romania has one of the highest emigration rates in the EU so Ro should have an episode in which he travels abroad to work just like Romano.

Romania and Bulgaria

One of Ro's closest and longest relationships.

They've seen each other at their best and worst.

Their earliest encounter occurred between the 3rd and 7th centuries when the Bulgar and Slav migratory peoples crossed Ro's territory to settle south of the Danube.

Back in the day, Bul personally taught Ro the Cyrillic alphabet. Ro went on to use it until 1862 when the then-ruler of the United Romanian Principalities decreed that the Latin alphabet must replace the Romanian Cyrillic alphabet.

That's right, kids. Romanian, a Latin language, used to be written in Slavic script.

Saw a great deal of each other during their time as Ottoman vassals.

Ro had personally sheltered Bul during his time as a revolutionary émigré. Wallachia became a safe haven for hundreds of Bulgarian revolutionaries during Ottoman rule. After Bulgaria's liberation in 1878, many chose to stay behind and settle in Romania.

Even though Ro and Bul did not always fight on the same side, they hold no resentment over their past. Only friendly jibes! Like Bul calling Ro a "shameless mămăligă eater."

Bul's seaside is very popular among Romanians, so Ro likes to visit Bul during summertime when Bul can hang out in his boxers all he wants and Ro can visit his late queen’s palace.

Nowadays, they bond over being EU’s late-bloomers and GOSSIP. Ro talks himself hoarse on the phone with Bul.

They also discuss the latest Turkish telenovelas but would rather die than admit they like them.

Ro and Russia

A very tense relationship

Have met first through Ro's little brother when Dimitrie Cantemir allied with Peter the Great to form an anti-Ottoman alliance.

Their relationship formalized during the 18th and 19th centuries when Russia demanded a say in Mol and Ro's internal affairs as the "big brother" of all Orthodox Christians in the Ottoman Empire.

Even though the Russian occupation protectorate did not benefit Ro and Mol much, it introduced the two brothers to their first government by law.

With the occupation, the Russians also brought over nobility customs, like ballroom dancing.

After Russia helped Ro gain his independence from the Ottoman Empire, the relationship got warmer (for a while).

King Carol I of Romania had even considered Tsar Nicholas's eldest daughter, Olga, a potential bride for his grandson, Carol II.

But after the Bolshevik takeover and the assassination of the Romanovs, Ro and Russia's relationship turned icy again.

One of the most sensitive topics today is the loss of Romania's national treasure, which was transported to Russia during WWI for safekeeping. Romania had to decide between sending the treasure to Great Britain or Russia. In the end, we chose to send Russia 93 tons of treasure as a display of mutual trust. After the October Revolution, the Bolsheviks seized the treasure and refused to return it. Since then, minuscule parts of the treasure have been returned as displays of "goodwill."

Their relationship hit an all-time low after the loss of Moldova and the installation of the communist regime.

Nowadays, Ro tries to keep his distance from Russia as much as geographically possible.

Ro and Hungary

Ro’s other historically tumultuous relationship

Ro has been the underdog for much of their shared history, but the tables turned after 1918 with Transylvania's independence and Romania’s unification.

Ro remembers a time when both had fought against a common enemy - the Ottoman Empire.

But that alone isn't enough to get over their past.

Ro probably gatecrashed Austria and Hungary's wedding and did everything in his power to be a constant nuisance under their rule.

He sends text messages to Hungary every year on the 4th of August, saying, "you're welcome." Hungary knows to block his number on that day.

Nowadays, I see them being (somewhat) tolerant of each other (even cordial during spells of drunkenness).

Ro can speak fluent Hungarian and shares a people with Hungary.

Ro and Italy

Home to Ro's largest diaspora

One of Ro's closest relationships

Have an easy time understanding each other thanks to their common Latin heritage.

Italy is a popular holiday destination among Romanians, and Ro admires the Italy brothers' culture greatly.

Although they like to tease Ro about his Latin origins, which never fails to annoy Ro.

Ro and Spain

Home to Ro's second-largest diaspora

A generally warm relationship

Romanians are very taken with anything Spanish (see that Romania sent to Eurovision three songs in Spanish: Zaleilah, Llámame , Liubi Liubi, I Love You).

Also have an easy time understanding each other thanks to their common Latin heritage.

Both are very friendly and hospitable, but Ro tends to be more serious and pessimistic than Spain.

Ro is a big fan of Spanish telenovelas and has a romanticized image of Spain (flamenco, paella, sunshine and passionate lovers).

France and Ro

One of Ro's closest and most complicated relationships that had once resembled that between a mentor and his protégé.

Especially during Napoleon III's reign when Napoleon actively championed the unification of the Romanian Principalities (Ro and Mol) under a single ruler.

Take that Austro-Hungary, the UK and the Ottomans! 😝

Most of Ro's intellectual class during the 19th and early 20th century was educated in France or emigrated to France at some point.

In turn, plenty of important French figures contributed to Ro's modernization. French architects such as Albert Galleron built some of Romania's most symbolic landmarks, e.g., the Romanian Atheneum, while pioneers such as Carol Davila reformed Romania's national health system and founded its first ambulance system and Bucharest's School of Medicine.

Ro wanted to emulate everything French to the point that Bucharest became known as 'Little Paris' (see that we also have our own Arc de Triomphe).

Ro speaks fluent French and is an avid Francophile.

Although everyone jokes about the white-handkerchief-waving French, the opposite is true in Romania.

Much of the Romanian army's success on the Eastern Front during WWI was owed to General Henri Berthelot, who reorganized, equipped and trained the Romanian army.

After his mission here, he became so attached to Romania that upon seeing the Romanian detachment march during the 1919 Paris military parade, he told a French marshal: "Foch, saluez ! C'est la famille."

Much like Poland, Ro gave France some of his most brilliant minds and talents, like Constantin Brancuși, Emil Cioran, and Eugen Ionescu.

During the Cold War, Ro and France's relationship became colder. Yet Ro was grateful to France for sheltering his dissidents who fled the communist regime.

Nowadays, Ro still looks up to Francis but can't stand his arrogance.

Ro and Prussia

First came in contact during the Teutonic Knights' mission in Transylvania in 1211.

Maintained ties thanks to the presence of Saxons in Transylvania.

Ro and Gil became very, very close after the Romanian Parliament elected Prince Carol of the Prussian dynasty Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen to rule Romania.

Trash-talked Austria at every opportunity given the historical rivalry between the Habsburgs and the Hohenzollerns.

Had a tense relationship during WWI and WWII because Ro liked to switch sides a lot.

Ro was a neutral country until 1916, then an Entente power until 1917, then signed an armistice with the Central Powers in 1917, only to rejoin the war on the Entente's side ONE DAY before the war ended in 1918.

(Congrats Ro! You won the war out of sheer luck.)

Ro switched sides again during WWII and ended up on the Allies' side after initially joining the Axis.

You can see why Gil found Ro such a reliable ally.

Ro and Gil (then DDR) reconnected during the Cold War and maintain an amicable relationship today.

Ro speaks fluent German thanks to his Transylvanian Saxon population.

Mol and Ro

They're the cutest brothers, and I would die for them.

Their relationship holds a deep sense of loss and regret that might never disappear.

There was a time when Mol was admired by all his neighbors (like in 1497 when Ștefan cel Mare put the Polish in their place), and Ro was the proudest brother.

1859 - 1940 was perhaps the happiest time of their life because they were finally together.

Nowadays, Ro knows that Mol is not the same as he was before 1940.

After 1991, Mol found his voice, and Ro couldn't be prouder to see his little brother come into his own.

Still! His growth is so bittersweet!

Ro and Mol always give each other 12 points during Eurovision and consider it the height of betrayal if one doesn't.

Ro sometimes "forgets" to remind people that O-Zone was a Moldovan band.