National Day of Romania commemorates the Great Union of 1918, when Transylvania, Bessarabia, and Bukovina united with the Kingdom of Romania. It symbolizes national unity, freedom, and pride, marked by parades, ceremonies, and cultural festivities.

When is National Day?

National Day of Romania is celebrated on December 1 every year.

The following is the list of National Day from 2020 to 2049.

The History of National Day?

Before unification, the territories that now form Romania (Wallachia, Moldavia, Transylvania, Bessarabia, and Bukovina) were politically separate and often under foreign domination by the Ottoman, Austro-Hungarian, and Russian Empires. Despite political division, these regions shared a common language, culture, faith (Eastern Orthodoxy), and national identity, which became the foundation of the Romanian unification movement in the 19th and early 20th centuries.

The first step toward national unity came with the Union of the Romanian Principalities in 1859, when Wallachia and Moldavia united under Prince Alexandru Ioan Cuza, forming the basis of the modern Romanian state. Romania gained independence from the Ottoman Empire in 1877–1878 and became a kingdom in 1881 under King Carol I.

However, large Romanian populations still lived outside the kingdom's borders, particularly in Transylvania, Bukovina, and Bessarabia, under foreign rule. The national dream of unification, the "Great Union", became a defining goal for Romanians at the dawn of the 20th century.

During World War I (1914–1918), Romania joined the Allied Powers (in 1916) with the promise of uniting all territories inhabited by Romanians. As the war ended and the Austro-Hungarian and Russian Empires collapsed, nationalist movements across Eastern Europe gained momentum.

In 1918, a series of unification declarations occurred:

– March 27, 1918, Bessarabia united with Romania.
– November 28, 1918, Bukovina joined Romania.
– December 1, 1918, Transylvania proclaimed its union with Romania at the Great National Assembly of Alba Iulia, attended by over 100,000 people.

On December 1, 1918, delegates representing the Romanian population of Transylvania, Banat, Crișana, and Maramureș gathered in Alba Iulia, a city with deep historical and symbolic importance. They adopted a resolution of union, declaring their desire for all Romanians to live within one national state. This moment is regarded as the birth of modern Romania and December 1, 1918, became its most significant national milestone.

The unifications of 1918 were later recognized by international treaties, including the Treaty of Trianon (1920), which confirmed Transylvania's union with Romania. By 1920, the Kingdom of Romania had more than doubled in size, becoming one of the largest states in Eastern Europe. The period between the two world wars is often referred to as "Greater Romania", symbolizing national unity and cultural flourishing.

After World War II, Romania lost some territories (Bessarabia and Northern Bukovina to the USSR) and came under communist rule (1947–1989). After the fall of communism in 1989, the Romanian Parliament officially reinstated December 1 as National Day in 1990, recognizing its historical significance.