History
Main article: History of Bucharest
The legend says that Bucharest was founded by a shepherd named Bucur, another variant, more likely, is that it was established by Mircea cel Bătrân in the 14th century after a victory won over the Turks (bucurie means joy in Romanian, for this reason Bucharest is often called "The City of Joy.").
Like most ancient cities of Romania, its foundation has also been ascribed to the first Walachian prince, the half-mythical Radu Negru (1290-1314). More modern historians declare that it was originally a fortress, erected on the site of the Daco-Roman Thyanus, then it was used to command the approaches to Târgovişte, formerly the capital of Walachia.
Bucharest is first mentioned under its present name as a residence in 1459 of the Walachian prince Vlad Ţepeş (Vlad the Impaler).
It soon became the summer residence of the court. In 1595 it was burned by the Turks; but, after its restoration, continued to grow in size and prosperity, until, in 1698, Prince Constantin Brāncoveanu chose it for his capital and of the united provinces of Walachia and Moldavia from February 1859 (renamed Romania in December 1861 while still nominally subject to the Ottoman Empire).
During the 18th century the possession of Bucharest was frequently disputed by the Turks, Austrians and Russians. In 1812 it gave its name to the treaty by which Bessarabia and a third of Moldavia were ceded to Russia. In the war of 1828 it was occupied by the Russians, who made it over to the prince of Walachia in the following year. A rebellion against Prince Bibescu in 1848 brought both Turkish and Russian interference, and the city was again held by Russian troops in 1853-1854. On their departure an Austrian garrison took possession and remained till March 1857. In 1858 the international congress for the organization of the Danubian principalities was held in the city; and when, in 1861, the union of Walachia and Moldavia was proclaimed, Bucharest became the Romanian capital. Alexandru Ioan Cuza, the first ruler of the united provinces, was driven from his throne by an insurrection in Bucharest in 1866.
In the second half of the 19th century, the population of the city increased dramatically. The extravagant architecture and cosmopolitan high culture of this period won Bucharest the nickname of The Paris of the East (or Little Paris, "Micul Paris"), with Calea Victoriei as its Champs Elysées or Fifth Avenue, but the social divide between rich and poor was described at the time by Ferdinand Lasalle as "a savage hotchpotch."
On December 6 1916 the city was occupied by the German forces, the capital being moved to Iaşi, but it was liberated in November 1918, becoming the capital of the new united Kingdom of Romania.
Bucharest suffered heavy loses during WWII due to the English and American bombardments. On November 8 1945, the king's day, the communists suppressed pro-monarchist rallies.
During Nicolae Ceauşescu's communist dictatorship, most of the historical part of the city, including old churches, was destroyed, to be replaced with the grandomanic socialist buildings of the Centru Civic, notably the Palace of the People. Some historic districts remain, but Bucharest is certainly no longer the Paris of the East.
Treaties signed in Bucharest
- May 28 1812, at the end of the Russian-Turkish war, Romania losses Bessarabia
- March 3 1886, at the end of the war between Serbia and Bulgaria
- August 10 1913, at the end of the Second Balkan War
- August 4 1916, the treaty of alliance between Romania and Entente (France, England, Russia and Italy)
- May 6 1918, the treaty between Romania and the Central Powers, which was never ratified
Population
The population greatly increased in the last two centuries with Bucharest growing importance, partialy due to urbanization of Romanians, who, until the 19th century were mostly farmers, predominantly living in rural areas.