The 1918 Romanian typographers' strike was a

labor strike Strike action, also called labor strike, labour strike in British English, or simply strike, is a work stoppage caused by the mass refusal of employees to work. A strike usually takes place in response to employee grievances. Strikes became co ...

Bucharest Bucharest ( , ; ) is the capital and largest city of Romania. The metropolis stands on the River Dâmbovița (river), Dâmbovița in south-eastern Romania. Its population is officially estimated at 1.76 million residents within a greater Buc ...

Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...

. The strike began on December 6, 1918, when the city's typographers went on strike for higher salaries, an 8-hour work day, and recognition of their union. The striking workers declared a second protest the following week, and on December 13, they were joined by various

left-wing Left-wing politics describes the range of Ideology#Political ideologies, political ideologies that support and seek to achieve social equality and egalitarianism, often in opposition to social hierarchy either as a whole or of certain social ...

groups, who demanded the abolition of the

Romanian monarchy The King of Romania () or King of the Romanians () was the title of the monarch of the Kingdom of Romania from 1881 until 1947, when the Romanian Workers' Party proclaimed the Romanian People's Republic following Michael I's forced abdication. H ...

. It is estimated that over 15,000 participated in the December 13th demonstrations. The strike was violently put down by the Romanian military, resulting in the deaths and injuries of dozens of workers, although the death toll has been disputed.

Context

Following the end of

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

and the

Bolshevik Revolution The October Revolution, also known as the Great October Socialist Revolution (in Soviet historiography), October coup, Bolshevik coup, or Bolshevik revolution, was the second of two revolutions in Russia in 1917. It was led by Vladimir L ...

in the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

, much of Europe saw various communist uprisings. Over 700,000 Romanian soldiers and civilians were killed during the war. Compounding this, working conditions amongst the urban population were poor at the time, with children as young as six working, and workdays lasting from 12 to 16 hours per day. Previous protests during World War I were violently suppressed via emergency powers granted to the government. Increasingly,

groups began making themselves more visible, with typographers printing large amounts of left-wing material. When Ferdinand I returned from exile on December 1, 1918, 6,000 railway workers went on strike in Bucharest. On December 3, 5,000 civil servants went on strike.

Events

On December 6, 1918, typographers in the city on

had gone on

strike Strike may refer to: People *Strike (surname) * Hobart Huson, author of several drug related books Physical confrontation or removal *Strike (attack), attack with an inanimate object or a part of the human body intended to cause harm * Airstrike, ...

, demanding higher salaries, an 8-hour work day, and recognition of their union. During this strike, the protestors announced a second protest the following Friday. On the 13th, protestors marched down Calea Victoriei, near the royal palace. The protestors then approached a military general, asking for permission to protest, which the military did not approve. The military then began shooting the protestors with four machine guns. One military official at the time noted that such shootings went against regulations placed upon the military, which required a military prosecutor to be present to approve such shooting, and that the guidance stated that warning shots should have been fired instead.

Aftermath and death toll

Initially, the government reported a low death tolls, with figures ranging from 6 to 16 strikers that had been killed, although subsequent figures suggest that perhaps 87 or 102 strikes may have been killed. Socialist organizer Ion Frimu was among those wounded by the military officers, and died from his wounds weeks later. Other prominent figures who were arrested at the march included

Alecu Constantinescu Alexandru "Alecu" Constantinescu (March 10, 1872 – March 28, 1949) was a Romanian trade unionist, journalist and socialist and pacifist militant, one of the major advocates of the transformation of the Romanian socialist movement into a communi ...

and

Alexandru Bogdan Alexandru is the Romanian form of the name Alexander. Common diminutives are Alecu, Alex, and Sandu. Origin Etymologically, the name is derived from the Greek "Αλέξανδρος" (Aléxandros), meaning "defending men" or "protector of men", ...

Constantin Titel Petrescu Constantin Titel Petrescu (5 February 1888 – 2 September 1957) was a Romanian politician and lawyer. He was the leader of the Romanian Social Democratic Party. He was born in Craiova, the son of an employee of the National Bank in Buchar ...

and

N. D. Cocea N. D. Cocea (common rendition of Nicolae Dumitru Cocea, , also known as Niculae, Niculici or Nicu Cocea; November 29, 1880 – February 1, 1949) was a Romanian journalist, novelist, critic and left-wing political activist, known as a major but c ...

were some of the lawyers who defended those arrested.

Legacy

Under the

Socialist Republic of Romania The Socialist Republic of Romania (, RSR) was a Marxism–Leninism, Marxist–Leninist One-party state, one-party socialist state that existed officially in Romania from 1947 to 1989 (see Revolutions of 1989). From 1947 to 1965, the state was ...

, December 13 became a national holiday, known as "Typographers' Day". A large mausoleum for Ion Frimu was erected in

Tineretului Park ''Tineretului'' Park (, "Youth's Park") is a large public park in southern Bucharest ( Sector 4). History The park, which was created in 1965 and finished in 1974, was planned by the architect . It was designed as the main recreational space for ...

, and a commemorative statue and plaque was built at the site of the protest. One of the streets the protestors marched down, Ion Câmpineanu Street () was renamed to December 13, 1918 Street (), but reverted to Ion Câmpineanu Street following the fall of the Socialist Republic of Romania.

References

{{Riots, protests and civil disorder in Romanian territory Communism in Romania Typographers' strike Romanian typographers' strike Labor disputes in Romania Massacres in Romania Protests in Romania Romanian typographers' strike Socialism in Romania 20th century in Bucharest