Reminiscences of the King of RoumaniaKremnitz, Mite
History
Reminiscences of the King of Roumania
Kremnitz, Mite
Carol I, King of Romania, 1839-1914; Eastern question (Balkan); Jews -- Romania; Romania -- History -- Charles I, 1866-1914
(3) The special regulations as to the march of the Russian troops to
form the subject of a special treaty.
(4) The Roumanian Government to obtain the ratification required by
the Constitution, and to proceed at once to the execution of the
stipulations of the treaty.
The Turkish reinforcements of the forces at Rustchuk and Schumla
caused the greatest excitement in Bucharest, indeed in the whole
of Roumania. Public opinion, influenced perhaps by the recent
failure of the Servian army in the field, declined to place any
confidence in the military efficiency of the Roumanian troops. The
incessant and exaggerated rumours of Turkish raids and passages
of the Danube created something like a panic in the capital, and
several over-anxious inhabitants quitted the country rather than run
the risk of experiencing the horrors of a Turkish invasion. Prince
Charles, however, had every trust and confidence in the ability of
his army to prevent the Turks from crossing the Danube.
CHAPTER IX
THE ARMY
By no means the least of the Prince's tasks was the reorganisation
and training of the Roumanian army, which at the time of his
accession was in the most deplorable condition. Moulded on the
pattern of the French army of 1859, and trained by a French _mission
militaire_, it reproduced many of the defects of the army, which
failed so utterly in 1870, and yet missed those qualities which
saved the Imperial army of France from dishonour in the field.
The young Prince was fully aware of the potent influence for good
that a well-disciplined army exerts upon the welfare of a nation,
and determined from the first to employ the highest moral and
material resources of his country to establish an army which, if
not formidable in numbers, should at least be worthy of respect in
point of quality. His nine years' service in the Prussian artillery
and cavalry had given him a thorough knowledge of the minutiæ of
military routine and discipline, whilst his active service on the
staff of the Crown Prince in 1864, and his familiar intercourse
with the leaders of the Prussian army had helped to train him in
the art of command. Prince Charles realised that a weak State like
Roumania, surrounded by its powerful neighbours, Russia, Austria,
and Turkey, must place its army, on a thoroughly satisfactory
footing, unless it were content to play the unsatisfactory part of
being forced to side, possibly against its will, with whatever State
was first to mobilise its forces, whilst its very weakness might
be the cause of a war. The safety and welfare of Roumania, he was
firmly convinced, rested on a sound military constitution, by means
of which its independence would some day be achieved on the field
of battle. No pains, therefore, and no exertions were too great to
devote to the training of his troops, who soon learnt to look up to
him as their example in all that a soldier should be. His absolute
impartiality and justice, his care for their well-being, and his
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