List of wars involving Romania

This is a list of wars fought by Romania since 1859:

The United Principalities of Moldavia and Wallachia (1859–1862)

The United Principalities of Moldavia and Wallachia did not participate in any wars.

Romanian United Principalities (1862–1866)

The Romanian United Principalities did not participate in any wars.

Principality of Romania (1866–1881)

ConflictBelligerentsResultRomanian commanders
DateNameAlliesEnemiesOutcomeLossesPrincePrime MinisterDefense MinisterGeneral Chief of Staff
24 April 1877 – 3 March 1878Romanian War of Independence or Russo-Turkish War (1877–78)  Russian Empire
Principality of Romania
Principality of Serbia
 Principality of Montenegro

Co-belligerents
Bulgarian volunteers
Serb rebels of Bosnia

 Ottoman EmpireVictory
  • due to the reestablishment of the Bulgarian state, Ottoman Empire lost its common border with Romania
4,302 dead and missing
3,316 wounded
19,904 sick
Carol IIon C. BrătianuAlexandru CernatGheorghe Slăniceanu
(until Aug. 1877)
Constantin Barozzi
(Aug. – Oct. 1877)
Ştefan Fălcoianu (from Oct. 1877)

Kingdom of Romania (1881–1947)

ConflictBelligerentsResultRomanian commanders
DateNameAlliesEnemiesOutcomeLossesPrincePrime MinisterDefense MinisterGeneral Chief of Staff
21 February – 5 April 19071907 Romanian Peasants' Revolt
  • Uprising peasants
Victory
  • Crushing of the rebellion
10 dead and 5 wounded (military)

3,000 civilian casualties

Carol IGheorghe Grigore Cantacuzino
(until 24 March 1907)
Dimitrie Sturdza
(from 24 March 1907)
Alexandru AverescuNicolae Tătărăscu
(until 1 April 1907)
Grigore C. Crăiniceanu
(from 1 April 1907)
29 June – 10 August 1913

Romania entered: 10 July 1913

Second Balkan War  Serbia
 Greece
 Romania
 Montenegro

Co-belligerent
 Ottoman Empire

 BulgariaVictorynegligible combat casualties
6,000 dead of disease
Titu MaiorescuConstantin HarjeuAlexandru Averescu
28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918

Romania entered: 27 August 1916


Romania temporary exited: 9 December 1917


Romania re-entered: 10 November 1918

World War ITriple Entente

France

 United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland

Russia (1914–1917)


Italy (1915–1918)
Japan
 Romania (1916–1918)
 Serbia
 Belgium
 Greece (1917–1918)
Portugal (1916–1918)
 Montenegro (1914–1916)
China (1917–1918)
Siam (1917–1918)


Co-belligerents

United States (1917–1918)
Central Powers
 Germany

 Austria-Hungary
 Ottoman Empire
 Bulgaria (1915–1918)


Defeat535,706Ferdinand IIon I. C. BrătianuConstantin IancovescuVasile Zottu
(until Oct. 1916)
Dumitru Iliescu
(Oct. – Dec. 1916)
Constantin Prezan
(from Dec. 1916)
VictoryConstantin CoandăEremia GrigorescuConstantin Prezan
1 November 1918 – 17 July 1919

Romania entered: 11 November 1918


Romania exited: 11 June 1919

Polish–Ukrainian War  Poland

 Romania


Only police troops

Czechoslovakia (1918–1919)

Hungarian Democratic Republic (1919)
West Ukrainian People's Republic

 Ukrainian People's Republic


Co-belligerents

Hutsul Republic (1919)
Komancza Republic


Active neutrality

Czechoslovakia (1919)
Victory
negligibleConstantin Coandă
(until Nov. 1918)
Ion I. C. Brătianu
(from Nov. 1918)
Eremia Grigorescu
(until Nov. 1918)
Artur Văitoianu
(from Nov. 1918)
15 April – 6 August 1919Hungarian–Romanian War  Romania

Co-belligerents
Czechoslovakia
 Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes

 Hungarian Soviet Republic

Active neutrality
Soviet Russia

Victory
3,610 dead
11,666 total
Ion I. C. BrătianuArtur Văitoianu
27–28 May 1919Bender Uprising

Active neutrality
Soviet Russia

Victory
  • Crushing of the rebellion
unknown
20–28 October 19201920 Romanian General StrikeVictory
  • Crushing of the rebellion
unknownAlexandru AverescuIoan RășcanuConstantin Cristescu
15–18 September 1924Tatarbunary Uprising

Active neutrality
 Soviet Union

Victory
  • Crushing of the rebellion
3,000 civilian casualtiesIon I. C. BrătianuGeorge MărdărescuAlexandru LupescuAlexandru Gorski
5–6 August 1929Lupeni Strike
  • Coal miners
Victory
  • Crushing of the rebellion
10 soldiers wounded
15 gendarmes wounded

22 miners dead
23 miners gravely wounded
30 miners lightly wounded

Michael IIuliu ManiuHenry CihoschiNicolae Samsonovici
12–16 February 1933Grivița StrikeVictory
  • Crushing of the rebellion
2 soldiers dead

7 workers dead
20 workers wounded

Carol IIAlexandru Vaida-VoevodNicolae SamsonoviciConstantin Lăzărescu
21–23 January 1941Legionnaires' Rebellion and Bucharest PogromVictory
  • Crushing of the rebellion
30 soldiers dead
200–800 legionnaires dead or wounded
125 Jews dead in pogrom
Michael IIon AntonescuAlexandru Ioaniţiu
1–2 September 1945

Romania entered: 22 June 1941


Romania switched sides: 23 August 1944


Romania exited: 9 May 1945

World War IIAxis

 Germany
 Italy (1940–1943)

 Japan


Affiliate states
 Romania (1941–1944)
 Hungary (1941–1945)
 Bulgaria (1941–1944)
 Thailand (1942–1945)


Co-belligerents
 Finland (1941–1944)
 Vichy France (1940–1944)
Iran (1941)
 Iraq (1941)


Client states


Active neutrality
 Soviet Union (1939–1940)
 Spanish State
 Denmark (1940–1945)
 Monaco

French Morocco (1940–1942)
Allies

 United States (1941–1945)

 Soviet Union (1941–1945)

 United Kingdom

 France (1939–1940, 1944–1945)
 China


Poland (1939)
 Denmark (1940)
 Norway (1940)
 Belgium (1940)

 Luxembourg (1940)
 Netherlands (1940)

 Greece (1940–1941)
 Kingdom of Yugoslavia (1941)

 Egypt (1940–1945)


 Nepal
Cuba (1941–1945)
Brazil (1942–1945)
 Mexico (1942–1945)
 Ethiopia (1942–1945)
 Portuguese Timor (1942–1945)
 Colombia (1943–1945)


Co-belligerents
 Italy (1943–1945)
 Romania (1944–1945)
 Finland (1944–1945)
Bulgaria (1944–1945)


Mongolia (1939)
 Finland (1939–1940)
 Estonia (1940)
 Latvia (1940)
 Lithuania (1940)
 Romania (1940)


Client state
 Tuvan People's Republic (1941–1944)


Supply only
Bahrain
 Haiti (1941–1945)
 Honduras (1941–1945)
 Dominican Republic (1941–1945)
 Nicaragua (1941–1945)
 Iraq (1942–1945)
 Bolivia (1943–1945)
 Liberia (1944–1945)


Diplomatic only
Oman
 Panama (1941–1945)
 Costa Rica (1941–1945)
 El Salvador (1941–1945)
 Guatemala (1941–1945)
Iran (1943–1945)


Governments in exile
Poland (1939–1945)
Norway (1940–1945)
Belgium (1940–1944)
 Free France (1940–1944)
Luxembourg (1940–1944)
Netherlands (1940–1945)
Greece (1941–1944)
Yugoslavia (1941–1945)
Czechoslovakia
Korea


Active neutrality
 Iceland
French Morocco (1939–1940, 1942–1945)
 Tonga

Defeat300,000 soldiers dead

64,000 civilians dead


469,000 Jews died in Holocaust

Ion Antonescu
(until Aug. 1944)
Iosif Iacobici
(until Sep. 1942)

Ion Antonescu
(Sep. 1941 – Jan. 1942)

Constantin Pantazi (Jan. 1942 – Aug. 1944)
Alexandru Ioaniţiu
(until Sep. 1941)
Iosif Iacobici
(Sep. 1941 – Jan. 1942)
Ilie Șteflea
(Jan. 1942 – Aug. 1944)

Romanian People's Republic (1947–1965)

ConflictBelligerentsResultRomanian commanders
DateNameAlliesEnemiesOutcomeLossesPrincePrime MinisterDefense MinisterGeneral Chief of Staff
Summer 1948–1962Romanian anti-communist resistance movement
  • Romanian anti-communists
Defeat
  • Crushing of the rebellion
official number estimates 2000Constantin Ion Parhon
(until Jun. 1952)
Petru Groza
(Jun. 1952 – Jan. 1958)
Ion Gheorghe Maurer
(Jan. 1958 – Mar. 1961)
Gheorghe Gheorghiu-Dej
(from Mar. 1961)
Petru Groza
(until Jun. 1952)
Gheorghe Gheorghiu-Dej
(Jun. 1952 – Oct. 1955)
Chivu Stoica
(Oct. 1955 – Mar. 1961)
Ion Gheorghe Maurer
(from Mar. 1961)
Emil Bodnăraș
(until Oct. 1955)
Leontin Sălăjan
(from Oct. 1955)
Constantin Gh. Popescu
(until Mar. 1950)
Leontin Sălăjan
(Mar. 1950 – Apr. 1954)
Ion Tutoveanu
(from Apr. 1954)

Socialist Republic of Romania (1965–1989)

ConflictBelligerentsResultRomanian commanders
DateNameAlliesEnemiesOutcomeLossesPrincePrime MinisterDefense MinisterGeneral Chief of Staff
15–16 November 1987Brașov Rebellion
  • Romanian anti-communists
Defeat
  • Crushing of the rebellion
no casualtiesNicolae CeaușescuConstantin DăscălescuVasile MileaȘtefan Gușă
16–27 December 1989Romanian RevolutionVictory1,104 dead

3,352 wounded

Nicolae Ceaușescu
(until 22 Dec. 1989)
Council of the National Salvation Front
(22–26 Dec. 1989)

Ion Iliescu
(from 26 Dec. 1989)
Constantin Dăscălescu
(until 22 Dec. 1989)
Petre Roman
(from 26 Dec. 1989)
Vasile Milea
(until 22 Dec. 1989)
Nicolae Militaru
(from 22 Dec. 1989)

Post-communist Romania (since 1989)

ConflictBelligerentsResultRomanian commanders
DateNameAlliesEnemiesOutcomeLossesPrincePrime MinisterDefense MinisterGeneral Chief of Staff
March 2003 – 23 July 2009Iraq War

Iraqi National Congress
New Iraqi government

 Iraqi Kurdistan

Ba'athist Iraq
Ansar al-Islam

Supreme Command for Jihad and Liberation
Army of the Men of the Naqshbandi Order


Sunni insurgents


Shia insurgents


For fighting between insurgent groups, see Civil war in Iraq (2006–07).

Victory3 soldiers killed.Ion Iliescu
(until Dec. 2004)
Traian Băsescu
(from Dec. 2004)
Adrian Năstase
(until Dec. 2004)

Călin Popescu-Tăriceanu
(Dec. 2004 – Dec. 2008)
Emil Boc
(from Dec. 2008)
Ioan Mircea Pașcu
(until Dec. 2004)
Teodor Atanasiu
(Dec. 2004 – Oct. 2006)
Sorin Frunzăverde
(Oct. 2006 – Apr. 2007)
Teodor Meleșcanu
(Apr. 2007 – Dec. 2008)
Mihai Stănișoară
(from Dec. 2008)
Mihail Eugen Popescu
(until Oct. 2004)
Eugen Bădălan
(Oct. 2004 – Sep. 2006)
Gheorghe Marin
(from. Sep. 2006)
Ștefan Dănilă
(from Jan. 2011)
Nicolae Ciucă
(from Jan. 2015)
Daniel Petrescu
(from Nov. 2019)
7 October 2001 – 16 August 2021War in Afghanistan (2001–2021)Defeat
  • Defeat of the Taliban government in Afghanistan and fall of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan.
  • Destruction of al-Qaeda camps.
  • Establishment of new Afghan government and creation of the new Afghan National Army.
  • Fall of Kabul.
  • Ongoing Taliban insurgency.
23 soldiers killed.Ion Iliescu
(2001–2004)
Traian Băsescu
(2004–2014)
Klaus Iohannis
(2014–)
Adrian Năstase
(2001–2004)
Călin Popescu Tăriceanu
(2004–2008)
Emil Boc
(2008–2012)
Victor Ponta
(2012–)
Ioan Mircea Pașcu
(2001–2004)
Teodor Atanasiu
(2004–2006)
Sorin Frunzăverde
(2006–2007)
Teodor Meleșcanu
(2007–2008)
Mihai Stănișoară
(2008–2009)
Gabriel Oprea
(2009–2012)
Corneliu Dobrițoiu
(2012)
Mircea Dușa
(2015–)
19 March – 23 October 20112011 military intervention in LibyaVictory
  • Overthrow of the Gaddafi government.
no casualties.

References