ONE LAND · 15 ATLASES
History of Romania in maps
Romania as it appears in 15 interactive history atlases, from 264 BC to 2015: Dacia, Wallachia & Transylvania, Romania. Each era below lists who ruled the land and when control changed, linked to the dated map that shows it.
WW2 is free — every chapter. No sign-up.
What was Romania before it was Romania? Below, every era of this land in the Maps of History atlases — who ruled it, what it was called, and when control changed — each line linked to the dated map that shows it. Modern borders stand in as an honest approximation; every atlas says so on the map itself.
Dacia (mod. Romania) · Ancient Rome
Dacia: Decebalus’ gold-rich kingdom, conquered by Trajan in two wars (101–106) and colonized so intensively that its Latin survives as Romanian — despite Rome holding it only 165 years. Aurelian’s orderly abandonment in 271–275 (Ch. 8) made it the empire’s first amputation, and the map’s proof that language can outlast the legions that planted it.
| 264 BC | Tribal peoples & confederations — the opening position |
| Roman territory | |
| Tribal peoples & confederations |
ANCIENT ROME: EVERY CHAPTER AND MAP →
Romania · Norse and Aztecs
| Other peoples and states — the opening position |
NORSE AND AZTECS: EVERY CHAPTER AND MAP →
The Cuman steppe (mod. Romania) · Crusades
CRUSADES: EVERY CHAPTER AND MAP →
Wallachia & Transylvania (mod. Romania) · Mongol Empire
| Other settled powers (Jin China, Christendom, Delhi) — the opening position | |
| The Mongol Empire | |
| Other settled powers (Jin China, Christendom, Delhi) |
MONGOL EMPIRE: EVERY CHAPTER AND MAP →
Romania (the Danubian principalities) · Industrial Revolution
INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION: EVERY CHAPTER AND MAP →
Romania · Age of Revolutions
| Neutral / uncommitted — the opening position |
AGE OF REVOLUTIONS: EVERY CHAPTER AND MAP →
Romania · Meiji Japan and post-Soviet Russia
Romania under Nicolae Ceaușescu kept its distance from Moscow in foreign policy while running one of the bloc’s harshest regimes, imposing severe rationing in the 1980s to repay foreign debts. It was the only bloc state where the revolution of 1989 was violent: Ceaușescu was overthrown and executed in December after more than a thousand people had been killed in the fighting.
| Soviet-bloc states — the opening position | |
| Independent neighbours |
MEIJI JAPAN AND POST-SOVIET RUSSIA: EVERY CHAPTER AND MAP →
Romania · Russian Revolution
Moldavia and Wallachia, the principalities that united as Romania under one prince in 1859 and became fully independent in 1878, held southern Bessarabia between 1856 and 1878. Romania fought in the World War, collapsed, and then profited from Russia’s dissolution by annexing Bessarabia in 1918 — a gain Moscow never accepted. A monarchy on the Soviet Union’s new south-western flank, and a permanent grievance.
| Neutral or independent — the opening position |
RUSSIAN REVOLUTION: EVERY CHAPTER AND MAP →
Romania · WWI
Romania timed its 1916 entry to Brusilov’s success and was overrun in four months (Ch. 7) — then re-declared war on 10 November 1918, one day before the armistice, and collected at the peace: Transylvania and Bessarabia doubled the country. From worst-beaten belligerent to greatest territorial winner — timing, twice.
| The Entente & Allies — the opening position | |
| The Entente & Allies | |
| Under Central Powers occupation | |
| The Entente & Allies | |
| Under Central Powers occupation | |
| The Entente & Allies |
Romania · Stalin’s Soviet Union
Romania lost Bessarabia and northern Bukovina to a Soviet ultimatum in June 1940 and joined Hitler’s invasion in 1941 to recover them, also occupying the region between the Dniester and the Bug. When the Red Army arrived in August 1944 the king changed sides. Soviet pressure installed a communist-dominated government in March 1945, and the king was forced to abdicate in December 1947.
| Nazi Germany & its allies — the opening position | |
| Nazi Germany & its allies | |
| Satellites & communist allies |
STALIN’S SOVIET UNION: EVERY CHAPTER AND MAP →
Romania · Road to WW2
| Neutral & unaligned — the opening position | |
| Aggressor clients & partners |
ROAD TO WW2: EVERY CHAPTER AND MAP →
Romania · WW2
Axis ally with Europe’s third-largest Axis army — until August 1944, when a royal coup flipped it overnight to the Allies (the war’s fastest side-switch). Its Ploiești oil fields were Germany’s single most vital resource; watch how much Allied effort aims at them.
| Axis allies & puppets — the opening position | |
| Axis allies & puppets | |
| Soviet Union |
Romania · Cold War
| Soviet-aligned states — the opening position | |
| In upheaval / changing sides | |
| Non-aligned & neutral | |
| In upheaval / changing sides | |
| Non-aligned & neutral |
COLD WAR: EVERY CHAPTER AND MAP →
Romania · Feminism and the Tunisian Revolution
| Partial or unequal; treaty signed only; transition — the opening position | |
| Right won in law | |
| No reform yet / outside this story | |
| Right won in law |
FEMINISM AND THE TUNISIAN REVOLUTION: EVERY CHAPTER AND MAP →
Romania · Refugee crises
| Soviet-occupied or communist — the opening position |
REFUGEE CRISES: EVERY CHAPTER AND MAP →
Related
THE FREE PRINTABLE STUDY GUIDE
Join the Dispatch — a short welcome series, then a letter when a new atlas opens — and a printable atlas study guide of your choice is yours now, free.
NO TRACKING · YOUR ADDRESS IS USED FOR THE DISPATCH AND NOTHING ELSE · UNSUBSCRIBE ANYTIME