Gheorghe Magheru
Encyclopedia
Albeni
Albeni is a commune in Gorj County, Romania. It is composed of six villages: Albeni, Bârzeiu de Gilort, Bolboceşti, Doseni, Mirosloveni and Pruneşti....
, Gorj County
Gorj County
Gorj is a county of Romania, in Oltenia, with its capital city at Târgu Jiu.- Demographics :In 2002, it had a population of 387,308 and its population density was 69/km².* Romanians – over 98%* Rromas, others.- Geography :...
—March 23, 1880) was a Romanian
Romanians
The Romanians are an ethnic group native to Romania, who speak Romanian; they are the majority inhabitants of Romania....
revolutionary and soldier from 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...
, and political ally of Nicolae Bălcescu
Nicolae Balcescu
Nicolae Bălcescu was a Romanian Wallachian soldier, historian, journalist, and leader of the 1848 Wallachian Revolution.-Early life:...
.
A Pandur and radical conspirator
Magheru began his activities as an OlteniaOltenia
Oltenia is a historical province and geographical region of Romania, in western Wallachia. It is situated between the Danube, the Southern Carpathians and the Olt river ....
n Pandur
Pandur
Pandur can refer to:* Pandurs, Balkan Slavic guerrilla fighters* Pandur, an armoured personnel carrier:* Pandur I 6x6* Pandur II 8x8* The Sumerian term for long-necked lutes...
and hajduk
Hajduk
Hajduk is a term most commonly referring to outlaws, highwaymen or freedom fighters in the Balkans, Central- and Eastern Europe....
in the area around Băileşti
Bailesti
Băileşti is a city in Dolj County, Oltenia, Romania, with a population of 22,231. One village, Balasan, is administered by the city.The Romanian actor and comedian Amza Pellea and Romanian actor and theatre actor Marcel Iureş were born here and also Adriana Nechita-Olteanu.-External links:*The...
, and led his group into volunteering for the Imperial Russian side in the Russo-Turkish War
Russo-Turkish War, 1806-1812
The Russo-Turkish War was one of many wars fought between Imperial Russia and the Ottoman Empire.- Background :The war broke out in 1805–1806 against the background of the Napoleonic Wars...
- playing a part in the capture of Băileşti during the maneuvers. For his personal contribution, Magheru was decorated with the Order of Saint Anne
Order of St. Anna
The Order of St. Anna ) is a Holstein and then Russian Imperial order of chivalry established by Karl Friedrich, Duke of Holstein-Gottorp on 14 February 1735, in honour of his wife Anna Petrovna, daughter of Peter the Great of Russia...
by Tsar
Tsar
Tsar is a title used to designate certain European Slavic monarchs or supreme rulers. As a system of government in the Tsardom of Russia and Russian Empire, it is known as Tsarist autocracy, or Tsarism...
Alexander I
Alexander I of Russia
Alexander I of Russia , served as Emperor of Russia from 23 March 1801 to 1 December 1825 and the first Russian King of Poland from 1815 to 1825. He was also the first Russian Grand Duke of Finland and Lithuania....
himself.
He was one of the first Pandurs to join the Wallachian uprising
Wallachian uprising of 1821
The Wallachian uprising of 1821 was an uprising in Wallachia against Ottoman rule which took place during 1821.-Background:...
of 1821 under the leadership of Tudor Vladimirescu
Tudor Vladimirescu
Tudor Vladimirescu was a Wallachian Romanian revolutionary hero, the leader of the Wallachian uprising of 1821 and of the Pandur militia. He is also known as Tudor din Vladimiri or — occasionally — as Domnul Tudor .-Background:Tudor was born in Vladimiri, Gorj County in a family of landed peasants...
. After the latter's assassination and the rebellion's failure, he returned to life as a local outlaw
Outlaw
In historical legal systems, an outlaw is declared as outside the protection of the law. In pre-modern societies, this takes the burden of active prosecution of a criminal from the authorities. Instead, the criminal is withdrawn all legal protection, so that anyone is legally empowered to persecute...
, only to join the Wallachian Army after a few years.
A competent soldier, Magheru went through several ranks in quick succession; at the same time, his past and career made him an important asset for the young radicals, who quickly won him for their side. He joined the Freemasonry
Freemasonry
Freemasonry is a fraternal organisation that arose from obscure origins in the late 16th to early 17th century. Freemasonry now exists in various forms all over the world, with a membership estimated at around six million, including approximately 150,000 under the jurisdictions of the Grand Lodge...
-inspired Frăţia ("Brotherhood") secret society, founded in 1834 by Bălcescu, Christian Tell
Christian Tell
Christian Tell was a Transylvanian-born Wallachian and Romanian politician.-Early life:Born in Braşov, Tell studied at Gheorghe Lazăr's school, and then at the Saint Sava Academy in Bucharest, and became close to Ion Heliade Rădulescu's version of Radicalism...
, and Ion Ghica
Ion Ghica
Ion Ghica was a Romanian revolutionary, mathematician, diplomat and twice Prime Minister of Romania . He was a full member of the Romanian Academy and its president for four times...
, one which aimed to counter the arbitrary rule of Alexandru Ghica
Alexandru Ghica
Alexandru Ghica was Voivode of Wallachia from 1766 to 1768....
, and then plotting against Gheorghe Bibescu
Gheorghe Bibescu
Gheorghe Bibescu was a hospodar of Wallachia between 1843 and 1848. His rule coincided with the revolutionary tide that culminated in the 1848 Wallachian revolution.-Early political career:...
.
Râureni
After the outbreak of the 1848 Wallachian Revolution, Magheru served in the Provisional governmentProvisional government
A provisional government is an emergency or interim government set up when a political void has been created by the collapse of a very large government. The early provisional governments were created to prepare for the return of royal rule...
formed by the radicals.
He is noted for organizing the revolutionary and Pandur army camp in Râureni—on the grounds belonging to the Schitu Troianu Monastery, at the time near Râmnicu Vâlcea
Râmnicu Vâlcea
Râmnicu Vâlcea is the capital city of Vâlcea County, Romania .-Geography and climate:Râmnicu Vâlcea is situated in the central-south area of Romania...
(and now part of the city).
Magheru intended to use the army camp as a base for opposing threats to the Revolution, as early as the summer of that year. However, when the Ottoman
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...
troops swept into Bucharest
Bucharest
Bucharest is the capital municipality, cultural, industrial, and financial centre of Romania. It is the largest city in Romania, located in the southeast of the country, at , and lies on the banks of the Dâmbovița River....
in September, he ordered his troops to disband. In this, he probably followed the advice of the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
consul
Consul (representative)
The political title Consul is used for the official representatives of the government of one state in the territory of another, normally acting to assist and protect the citizens of the consul's own country, and to facilitate trade and friendship between the peoples of the two countries...
in the Wallachian capital. The pro-Ottoman attitude remained prevalent among revolutionaries: they had been well received by the Turks, who saw them as a means to oppose the overwhelming Russian influence over the Danubian Principalities
Danubian Principalities
Danubian Principalities was a conventional name given to the Principalities of Moldavia and Wallachia, which emerged in the early 14th century. The term was coined in the Habsburg Monarchy after the Treaty of Küçük Kaynarca in order to designate an area on the lower Danube with a common...
, and were probably right in seeing the Turkish move as prompted exclusively by Russian requests (with Abd-ul-Mejid I careful not to leave the countries opened to the full force of Russian repression, which soon joined the Turkish armies in the occupation). This created the paradox
Paradox
Similar to Circular reasoning, A paradox is a seemingly true statement or group of statements that lead to a contradiction or a situation which seems to defy logic or intuition...
of Russia enforcing conservative
Conservatism
Conservatism is a political and social philosophy that promotes the maintenance of traditional institutions and supports, at the most, minimal and gradual change in society. Some conservatives seek to preserve things as they are, emphasizing stability and continuity, while others oppose modernism...
policies in Wallachia and 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...
, while most revolutionaries were taking refuge in Istanbul
Istanbul
Istanbul , historically known as Byzantium and Constantinople , is the largest city of Turkey. Istanbul metropolitan province had 13.26 million people living in it as of December, 2010, which is 18% of Turkey's population and the 3rd largest metropolitan area in Europe after London and...
. Magheru was very likely aware of such nuances, and he probably thought it best not to provoke a violent response.
Exile
In exile in ParisParis
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
(mainly), Magheru was involved in many activities of the Wallachian émigré
Émigré
Émigré is a French term that literally refers to a person who has "migrated out", but often carries a connotation of politico-social self-exile....
s. He expressed his concern that the Transylvania
Transylvania
Transylvania is a historical region in the central part of Romania. Bounded on the east and south by the Carpathian mountain range, historical Transylvania extended in the west to the Apuseni Mountains; however, the term sometimes encompasses not only Transylvania proper, but also the historical...
n Revolution of Romanian Austrian subjects, aimed at the separatist Hungarian
Hungary
Hungary , officially the Republic of Hungary , is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is situated in the Carpathian Basin and is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine and Romania to the east, Serbia and Croatia to the south, Slovenia to the southwest and Austria to the west. The...
government, was likely to provoke the Romanian fighters under Avram Iancu
Avram Iancu
Avram Iancu was a Transylvanian Romanian lawyer who played an important role in the local chapter of the Austrian Empire Revolutions of 1848–1849. He was especially active in the Ţara Moţilor region and the Apuseni Mountains...
to side with a Russian intervention, thus making it impossible for Wallachia to negotiate or fight its way out of the occupation.
He approached the Hungarian leader Lajos Kossuth
Lajos Kossuth
Lajos Kossuth de Udvard et Kossuthfalva was a Hungarian lawyer, journalist, politician and Regent-President of Hungary in 1849. He was widely honored during his lifetime, including in the United Kingdom and the United States, as a freedom fighter and bellwether of democracy in Europe.-Family:Lajos...
in January 1849, with a project that would have replaced the tight centralization
Centralized government
A centralized or centralised government is one in which power or legal authority is exerted or coordinated by a de facto political executive to which federal states, local authorities, and smaller units are considered subject...
with a confederation
Confederation
A confederation in modern political terms is a permanent union of political units for common action in relation to other units. Usually created by treaty but often later adopting a common constitution, confederations tend to be established for dealing with critical issues such as defense, foreign...
between Hungary and a more Romanian than not Transylvania.
The project was ignored by both sides: the Transylvanian Romanians thought of themselves as loyal subjects of the Habsburg
Habsburg
The House of Habsburg , also found as Hapsburg, and also known as House of Austria is one of the most important royal houses of Europe and is best known for being an origin of all of the formally elected Holy Roman Emperors between 1438 and 1740, as well as rulers of the Austrian Empire and...
Crown, and had already suffered waves of violence after Józef Bem
Józef Bem
Józef Zachariasz Bem was a Polish general, an Ottoman Pasha and a national hero of Poland and Hungary, and a figure intertwined with other European nationalisms...
's armies marched into the region (in the very same project, Magheru asked that Kossuth renounce the politics of repression
Political repression
Political repression is the persecution of an individual or group for political reasons, particularly for the purpose of restricting or preventing their ability to take political life of society....
and revolutionary terror
Revolutionary terror
Revolutionary terror ) refers to the institutionalized application of force to counterrevolutionaries, particularly during the French Revolution from the years 1793 to 1794...
).
Later life and legacy
Magheru returned to Wallachia and was active in Partida NaţionalăPartida Nationala
The Partida Naţională was a liberal Romanian political party active between 1856 and 1859. It was a loose group which supported the union of the Danubian Principalities....
, the movement working for the Union of Moldavia and Wallachia (it was largely composed of former 1848-activists in the two countries). Their political ideal was fulfilled on January 24, 1859, when the already Prince of Moldavia Alexander John Cuza
Alexander John Cuza
Alexander John Cuza was a Moldavian-born Romanian politician who ruled as the first Domnitor of the United Principalities of Moldavia and Wallachia between 1859 and 1866.-Early life:...
was elected in Bucharest
Bucharest
Bucharest is the capital municipality, cultural, industrial, and financial centre of Romania. It is the largest city in Romania, located in the southeast of the country, at , and lies on the banks of the Dâmbovița River....
.
One of the main arteries in Bucharest bears Magheru's name (see Bulevardul Magheru
Bulevardul Magheru
Bulevardul Gheorghe Magheru is a boulevard in central Bucharest, located between Piaţa Romană and Bulevardul Nicolae Bălcescu, which leads to the University Square. It is named after General Gheorghe Magheru, a Romanian revolutionary and soldier from Wallachia.Formerly known as Bulevardul Take...
), and the campsite in Râureni is now a museum. He is honored on a postage stamp issued by the Romanian Postal Service
Posta Româna
CN Poşta Romănă SA is the national operator in the field of postal services in , sole supplier of universal service in any point on the Romanian territory, providing prices accessible to all the users thereof and at high quality standards....
.