The 1907 Romanian Peasants' Revolt took place in March 1907 in Moldavia

Moldavia

Moldavia is a geographic and historical region and former principality in Eastern Europe, corresponding to the territory between the Eastern Carpathians and the Dniester river...

 and it quickly spread, reaching Wallachia

Wallachia

Wallachia or Walachia is a historical and geographical region of Romania. It is situated north of the Danube and south of the Southern Carpathians...

. The main cause was the discontent of the peasants about the inequity of land ownership, which was in the hands of just a few large landowners.

Background

Most large landowners preferred to live in the cities and did not want to bother with the administration of their properties. Therefore, they leased their domains to intermediaries ("arendators"), in exchange for a fixed rent (arenda). The arendators in turn would administer the land and try to make a good profit in a short time. At that time, peasants formed up to 80% of the Romanian

Romanians

The Romanians are an ethnic group native to Romania, who speak Romanian; they are the majority inhabitants of Romania....

 population and about 60% of them held very little or no land at all, while the large landowners owned more than half of the arable land

Arable land

In geography and agriculture, arable land is land that can be used for growing crops. It includes all land under temporary crops , temporary meadows for mowing or pasture, land under market and kitchen gardens and land temporarily fallow...

.
The anti-Semitic propaganda sought to blame the revolt on Jewish intermediaries. Many of these "arendators" were indeed Jewish, especially in Northern Moldavia. However, anti--Semitism does not explain the magnitude of the uprising, which rapidly spread to areas where there were very few or no Jewish intermediaries at all. In fact, the height of the uprising was in Oltenia (South-West of the country), where Jewish presence was minimal and where most of the intermediaries were Romanians.

Course of events

The revolt began on the lands administered by one arendator, Mochi Fischer, in the village of Flămânzi

Flamânzi

Flămânzi is a town in Botoşani County, Romania. It administers five villages: Chiţoveni, Flămânzi , Nicolae Bălcescu, Poiana and Prisăcani....

 (the name seems predestined, as it literally means "hungry men"). He refused to sign the contracts with the local peasants. The Austrian-Jewish family of 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. Mochi Fischer was scared and fled to a friend of his in Cernăuţi, leaving the peasants without signed contracts. The fear of remaining out of work, combined with the activities of some alleged Austro-Hungarian

Austria-Hungary

Austria-Hungary , more formally known as the Kingdoms and Lands Represented in the Imperial Council and the Lands of the Holy Hungarian Crown of Saint Stephen, was a constitutional monarchic union between the crowns of the Austrian Empire and the Kingdom of Hungary in...

 instigators, led the peasants to revolt. The revolt soon spread across most of Moldavia, with several landowners' properties destroyed and many arendators killed or wounded. The Conservative government (Partidul Conservator

Conservative Party (Romania, 1880-1918)

The Conservative Party was between 1880 and 1918 one of Romania's two most important parties, the other one being the Liberal Party...

) couldn't handle the situation and resigned, so the Liberals (Partidul Naţional-Liberal

National Liberal Party (Romania)

The National Liberal Party , abbreviated to PNL, is a centre-right liberal party in Romania. It is the third-largest party in the Romanian Parliament, with 53 seats in the Chamber of Deputies and 22 in the Senate: behind the centre-right Democratic Liberal Party and the centre-left Social...

) of Dimitrie Sturdza

Dimitrie Sturdza

Dimitrie Sturdza was a Romanian statesman of the late 19th century, and president of the Romanian Academy between 1882 and 1884.-Biography:Born in Iaşi, Moldavia, and educated there at the Academia Mihăileană, he continued his studies in Germany, took part in the political movements of the time,...

 assumed power.

On 18 March a state of emergency

State of emergency

A state of emergency is a governmental declaration that may suspend some normal functions of the executive, legislative and judicial powers, alert citizens to change their normal behaviours, or order government agencies to implement emergency preparedness plans. It can also be used as a rationale...

 was declared, then general mobilization, with 140,000 soldiers being recruited by 29 March. The Romanian Army began firing on the peasants; thousands of peasants perished and more than 10,000 were arrested.

The number of victims is not really known; in fact, the entire historical record of the revolt is unclear, because King Carol I of Romania

Carol I of Romania

Carol I , born Prince Karl of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen was reigning prince and then King of Romania from 1866 to 1914. He was elected prince of Romania on 20 April 1866 following the overthrow of Alexandru Ioan Cuza by a palace coup...

 ordered all documents pertaining to these events destroyed, so that the Liberal government could not be held accountable by an eventual Conservative government.

The death toll reported by diplomats who were in Romania

Romania

Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeastern Europe, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian arch, bordering on the Black Sea...

 at the time is as follows: between 3,000 and 5,000 (Austrian diplomats' figures), and between 10,000 and 20,000 (French diplomats' figures). Historians put the number at between 3,000 and 18,000, with the most commonly used figure being 11,000.

The events continued to resonate in the Romanian conscience, and were the subject of one of the best novels of the interwar period, Răscoala ("The Revolt"), by Liviu Rebreanu

Liviu Rebreanu

Liviu Rebreanu was a Romanian novelist, playwright, short story writer, and journalist.- Life :Born in Târlișua , Transylvania, then part of Austria-Hungary, he was the second of thirteen children born to Vasile Rebreanu, a schoolteacher, and Ludovica Diuganu, descendants of peasants...

, published in 1932. It also formed the subject of a painting by Octav Băncilă

Octav Bancila

Octav Băncilă was a Romanian realist painter and left-wing activist. He was the brother of Sofia Nădejde, a feminist journalist, and the brother-in-law of Ion Nădejde .-Biography:...

, and of a monumental statue which can still be seen in Bucharest.