1821 – Russia oversees the administration of Moldavia and Wallachia. Phanariot rule ends, and native Romanian rulers steadily gain influence.
1834 – Moldavia and Wallachia adopt a unified basic constitution, the Reglamentul Organic, which provides for their eventual unification.
1856 – Russian control over Moldavia and Wallachia ends with Moscow’s defeat in the Crimean War.
Independence
1859 – Prince Alexandru Ioan Cuza is proclaimed prince of both Moldavia and Wallachia, which unite as Romania in 1862.
1866 – Landed interests and disgruntled liberal politicians force the increasingly authoritarian Prince Cuza’s abdication. Parliament invites the German prince Karl of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen to succeed him.
1877-1878 – Romania wins full independence from the Ottoman Empire by siding with Russia in the Russo-Turkish War. It also acquires a coastline on the Danube delta.
1881 – Romania becomes a kingdom.
1904 – The oil industry takes off with the opening of the first refinery.
1914 – King Carol’s death ends Romania’s alliance with the Central Powers – Germany and Austria. His nephew Ferdinand takes Romania into World War I on the Allied side in 1916.
1918 – As part of the peace settlement at the end of the war, Romania virtually doubles in size and population.