On romanian assertiveness in navigation on the black sea (Fourteenth-late nineteenth century)

Abstract

The article presents the beginning of navigation in the Black Sea in the early Antiquity, especially on the west coast. We will highlight the role of Thracian-Getae, the ancient Greeks, Romans, Byzantium and Italians. Since the fourteenth century, Romanians asserted their interests in the Black Sea through the institution of the rulers of the principalities. The leaders in Moldavia and Wallachia included among their titles the control of the maritime coast and of the ports, had ships built and extended navigation and trading in the region. The establishment of the Ottoman Empire diminished the Romanian navigation in the Black Sea after 1848 with the transformation of the Black Sea into “a Turkish lake”, but there is proof that it continued on a smaller scale. The change of the navigation regime in the Black Sea after 1829 gave the Romanian principalities new opportunities for sailing and after 1859, Romania created its own naval juridical system. The union of Dobrogea with Romania in 1878 brings an important section of the coast and Constanța port. In this context, the Romanian Maritime Service is created as a state institution with the role to develop Romanian opportunities on seas and oceans.