National Liberal Party (Romania, 1875–1947)
국민자유당 (루마니아)
The first organised political party of modern Romania, founded on 24 May 1875 under Ion C. Brătianu, Mihail Kogălniceanu, Ion Ghica and C. A. Rosetti to represent the rising urban middle class and local bourgeoisie. Dominated by the Brătianu family, it formed a two-party system with the Conservatives, led Romania into the war on the Entente side in 1916 and designed the 1923 Constitution. Formally dissolved with all parties under Carol II in 1938, it was suppressed by the communist regime in 1947.
In depth
The National Liberal Party grew out of the "Coalition of Mazar Pașa" of May 1875 in Bucharest, which joined the radicals Ion C. Brătianu and C. A. Rosetti with the moderate liberals. Under Carol I it was the left-leaning pole against the landowners' Conservative Party, representing the small bourgeoisie and property owners, and its economic nationalism ("Through ourselves alone!") built up local industry through protection and state subsidies while party elites controlled much of finance, including the National Bank of Romania. Its platform long opposed citizenship for Romanian Jews, and a National Liberal government violently suppressed the Peasants' Revolt of 1907.
Under Ion I. C. Brătianu the party led Romania into the First World War on the Entente side in 1916, which brought Bessarabia, Bukovina and Transylvania. Unlike its rivals it kept its prominence after universal male suffrage, designed the 1923 Constitution that bound Greater Romania into a centralised state, rejected autonomy for the new provinces and took a hard line against the labour movement and socialist organisations. The favour of King Ferdinand and Queen Marie and control of elections sustained its dominance.
In the 1930s its relationship with Carol II split it. In 1930 Gheorghe I. Brătianu challenged Vintilă Brătianu's opposition to the king and set up a rival party claiming the name; the main wing under Ion G. Duca and then Gheorghe Tătărescu realigned with the Crown and headed several governments. The two groups reunited just before all parties were dissolved in 1938, and many members moved into Carol's National Renaissance Front.
During the Second World War the leadership supported the war against the Soviet Union while keeping back-channel contacts with the Western Allies, and joined King Michael I, the National Peasants, the Social Democrats and the Communists in the coup of 23 August 1944 against Antonescu. After the war it split between the anti-communist majority under Dinu Brătianu and the faction of general secretary Tătărescu, who allied with the Communist Party. The Brătianu wing effectively dissolved in late 1947, Tătărescu was ousted from the foreign ministry in November 1947, and his faction ceased activity by 1950. Survivors of the party re-founded it under the same name in 1990.