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Treaty of Bucharest

Romanian Prime-Minister Alexandru Marghiloman signing the treaty
Signed	7 May 1918
Location	Buftea, Romania
Condition	Ratification by Romania and the Central Powers
Signatories	German Empire Austria-Hungary Ottoman Empire Bulgaria Romania
Languages	German, Romanian, Hungarian, Bulgarian, Ottoman Turkish[1]

The Treaty of Bucharest was a peace treaty between Romania on one side and the Central Powers on the other, following the stalemate reached after the campaign of 1916–17 and Romania's isolation after Russia's unilateral exit from World War I (see Treaty of Brest-Litovsk). It was signed at Buftea, near Bucharest, on 7 May 1918.

Terms

• Romania had to return Southern Dobruja (the Cadrilater) and to cede the southern part of Northern Dobruja (see the maps) to Bulgaria, while the rest of the province (starting south of Cernavodă-Constanța railroad up to the Danube and the Sfântu Gheorghe branch, thus leaving the Danube Delta to Romania) remained under the joint control of the Central Powers. The Central Powers would take care of a guaranteed commercial road to the Black Sea for Romania by way of Cernavodă and Constanța.^[2]
  


• Romania had to give Austria-Hungary control of the passes of the Carpathian Mountains (see the maps).


• Romania had to lease its oil wells to Germany for 90 years.^[3]
  


• The Central Powers recognized the Union of Bessarabia with Romania^[4]
  


• German civil servants with the power to veto decisions by Romanian cabinet ministers and to fire Romanian civil servants were appointed to oversee every Romanian ministry, in effect stripping Romania of its independence.^[5]
  

Aftermath

Alexandru Marghiloman signed the treaty at Buftea (near Bucharest) on 7 May 1918 and it was ratified by the Chamber of Deputies on 28 June and by the Senate on 4 July 1918. However, King Ferdinand I of Romania refused to sign and promulgate it.

The treaty put Romania in a unique situation compared to other German occupied countries. It completely respected Romanian de jure independence, as it did not impose any form of vassalage or protectorate over Romania, and even though the country had to cede land, it still emerged bigger than before entering the war, thanks to the Union with Bessarabia.

Although Bulgaria received a part of Northern Dobruja, it continued to lobby Germany and Austria-Hungary for the annexation of the whole province, including the condominium established by the Treaty of Bucharest. After negotiations, a protocol regarding the transfer of the jointly administered zone in Northern Dobruja to Bulgaria was signed in Berlin, on 25 September 1918, by Germany, Austria-Hungary, the Ottoman Empire and Bulgaria. In compensation, Bulgaria agreed to cede the left bank of the Maritsa river to Turkey. However, this agreement was short-lived: four days later, on 29 September, Bulgaria capitulated in the face of the advancing Allied forces (see also the Armistice of Salonica).

The treaty was denounced in October 1918 by the Alexandru Marghiloman government and subsequently nullified by the terms of the Armistice of 11 November 1918.

In 1919, Germany was forced in the Treaty of Versailles to renounce all the benefits provided by the Treaty of Bucharest in 1918.^[6] The territorial transfers to Austria-Hungary and Bulgaria were annulled by the Treaty of Saint-Germain-en-Laye (1919), and the Treaty of Neuilly-sur-Seine (1919), respectively; and the Treaty of Trianon (1920) settled Romania's border with Hungary.

Maps

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  Map of Dobruja (areas in light blue, orange and pink were annexed by Bulgaria, area in yellow was to be administered jointly by the Central Powers)
  

  
  

  
  


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  Romanian territories ceded to Austria-Hungary (purple), Bulgaria (blue) and the Central Powers (green) through the Treaty of Bucharest. These changes were reversed by the Treaty of Versailles
  

  
  

  
  


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  The situation on the Eastern Front in March 1918 (after the completion of the Operation Faustschlag)
  

  
  

  
  

Image gallery

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  Foreign Minister of Austria-Hungary, Stephan Burián von Rajecz, signing the treaty
  

  
  

  
  


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  Picture taken at the signing of the treaty (Bulgarian State Archives)
  

  
  

  
  


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  Delegates at the treaty
  

  
  

  
  


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  French caricature on the Romanian-German peace: Kaiser Wilhelm II pointing a dagger at a woman (Romania), while showing her the terms of the treaty and stepping on the corpse of a man (Russia)
  

  
  

  
  

See also

• Romania during World War I


• Treaty of Bucharest (1812)


• Treaty of Bucharest (1913)


• Treaty of Bucharest (1916)

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Treaty of Bucharest (1918).

• Full text of the Treaty of Bucharest


• The Treaty of Bucharest on FirstWorldWar.com


• Territory which was ceded to the Austro-Hungarian Empire by Romania following the Treaty of Bucharest, 1918

v t e Bulgaria during World War I
Prelude	South-western front Serbian Campaign, Macedonian Front	Romanian front • Outcome • Others	Important persons
Balkan Wars 1912–1913 First Balkan War 1913 Treaty of London Second Balkan War Treaty of Bucharest Treaty of Constantinople Neutrality 1914 Ottoman–Bulgarian alliance 1915 Negotiations of Bulgaria with the Central Powers and the Entente Bulgarian–German treaty Secret Bulgarian–German agreement Military convention between Germany, Austria-Hungary and Bulgaria Bulgarian–Ottoman convention Mobilization	Commanders  Bulgaria Nikola Zhekov • Kliment Boyadzhiev • Dimitar Geshov • Georgi Todorov • Ivan Lukov • Stefan Nerezov • Vladimir Vazov Entente:  Serbia: Radomir Putnik • Živojin Mišić • Stepa Stepanović • Petar Bojović • Pavle Jurišić Šturm;  France: Maurice Sarrail • Adolphe Guillaumat • Louis Franchet d'Espèrey;  United Kingdom: Bryan Mahon • George Milne;  Kingdom of Greece: Panagiotis Danglis Field Armies + Eleventh Army First Army Second Army Fourth Army Battles 1915 Morava Offensive • Ovče Pole Offensive • Kosovo Offensive (1915) • Battle of Krivolak 1916 First battle of Doiran • Battle of Florina (Lerin) • Struma operation • Monastir Offensive 1917 Second battle of Doiran • 2nd Crna Bend • Second battle of Monastir 1918 Battle of Skra-di-Legen • Battle of Dobro Pole • Third battle of Doiran	Commanders  Bulgaria Nikola Zhekov • Panteley Kiselov • Stefan Toshev • Todor Kantardzhiev • Ivan Kolev Entente:  Romania: Constantin Prezan • Alexandru Averescu;  Russia: Andrei Zayonchkovski • Vladimir Sakharov Field Armies Third Army Battles 1916 Battle of Turtucaia • Battle of Dobrich • First Cobadin • Flămânda Offensive • Second Cobadin • Battle of Bucharest Outcome 1918 Treaty of Brest-Litovsk • Armistice of Focșani • Treaty of Bucharest • Protocol of Berlin Outcome Armistice of Salonica Vladaya revolt Treaty of Neuilly-sur-Seine Others Bulgarian administration in Kosovo Anti-military propaganda	Ferdinand Vasil Radoslavov Aleksandar Malinov Aleksandar Stamboliyski Aleksandar Protogerov August von Mackensen Boris Drangov Vladimir Vazov Georgi Todorov (general) Ivan Kolev Kliment Boyadzhiev Dimitar Geshov Ivan Lukov Konstantin Zhostov Krastyu Zlatarev Nikola Zhekov Panteley Kiselov Stefan Toshev Stefan Nerezov Todor Kantardzhiev