Great Union Day (Romanian: Ziua Marii Uniri, also called Unification Day[1] or National Day) occurring on December 1 and celebrates the Union of Transylvania with Romania in 1918
History of Great Union Day
Romania had declared its independence from the Ottoman Empire in 1877, with the country comprised of the principalities of Moldova and Wallachia. Following the end of World War I, during the reign of King Ferdinand I, Romania almost doubled in size when Transylvania and the provinces of Bessarabia and Bukovina unified with Romania. The declaration of unification happened in Alba Iulia on 1 December 1918. The declaration was read by Vasile Goldis, Romanian academician and politician, during a public event which was attended by over 100,000 Romanians.
How is Great Union Day celebrated?
Great Union Day is marked by a large military parade in the capital, Bucharest. Speeches will be made in Bucharest and Alba Iulia, where the declaration of union was first read out. Elsewhere, local events will remember the Romanians who lost their lives in World War I. To commemorate the centenary of Great Union Day, 4807 people gathered to recreate the silhouette of Romania in Alba Iulia on 29 September 2018, making it the Largest human image of a country/ continent ever as ratified by Guinness World Records.
