FROM GREATER ROMANIA TO THE PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC OF ROMANIA. A JOURNEY THROUGH THE ROUGH TERRAIN OF ROMANIAN DEMOCRACY.

THE PERIOD BETWEEN 1918 AND 1948 IS ONE OF THE MOST COMPLEX AND DRAMATIC OF THE LAST TWO CENTURIES IN ROMANIAN HISTORY. IN THIRTY YEARS, ALL THE EFFORTS OF WESTERNIZATION AND MODERNIZATION THAT ROMANIAN SOCIETY HAD ACHIEVED SINCE THE BEGINNING OF THE 19TH CENTURY WERE UNDONE. THE DEMOCRATIZATION OF ROMANIA BEGAN WITH THE ADOPTION OF THE 1866 CONSTITUTION, WHICH REMAINED IN FORCE UNTIL 1923 WHEN A NEW FUNDAMENTAL LAW WAS PASSED, WITH ONLY SLIGHT CHANGES FROM ITS PREDECESSOR. THE SECOND CONSTITUTION WOULD HAVE A MUCH SHORTER LIFESPAN, BEING REPEALED AT THE BEGINNING OF 1938 WITH THE ADOPTION OF A NEW CONSTITUTION THAT MARKED THE START OF KING CAROL II'S PERSONAL REGIME. THIS CONSTITUTION REMAINED IN FORCE UNTIL SEPTEMBER 5, 1940, WHEN KING CAROL II SIGNED ROYAL DECREE NO. 3052 SUSPENDING THE 1938 CONSTITUTION. THEN, ON AUGUST 31, 1944, ROYAL DECREE NO. 1626 REINSTATED PROVISIONS FROM BOTH THE 1866 AND 1923 CONSTITUTIONS (THE RIGHTS OF ROMANIANS WERE RECOGNIZED BY THE PROVISIONS OF THE 1866 ACT, WHILE THE POWERS OF THE STATE WERE EXERCISED ACCORDING TO THE CONSTITUTIONAL NORMS OF 1923). THIS SITUATION LASTED UNTIL DECEMBER 30, 1947, WHEN KING MICHAEL I ABDICATED UNDER DURESS, AND LAW NO. 363 WAS ADOPTED, ESTABLISHING THE ROMANIAN STATE AS THE PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC OF ROMANIA. THE NEW CONSTITUTIONAL VOID WAS MUCH SHORTER, AS THE FIRST CONSTITUTION OF COMMUNIST ROMANIA WAS VOTED ON BY THE GREAT NATIONAL ASSEMBLY ON APRIL 13, 1948. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]