The Treaty of Bucharest (1918) was a peace treaty between Romania and the opposing Central Powers following the stalemate reached after the campaign of 1917. This left Romania isolated after Russia's unilateral exit from World War I (see the Armistice of Focșani and Treaty of Brest-Litovsk).

Following the Central Powers' ultimatum issued during the between King Ferdinand I of Romania and Austro-Hungarian Foreign Minister Ottokar Czernin on at the Răcăciuni railway station, Ferdinand summoned a on in Iași, the Romanian capital-in-exile. After long and difficult discussions, which lasted three days, and despite the strong opposition of Queen Marie and General Constantin Prezan, the Crown Council decided to accept the ultimatum and send envoys to Buftea to negotiate a preliminary peace treaty. The preliminary peace treaty was concluded on , by which Romania agreed to border rectifications in favor of Austria-Hungary, to cede the whole of Dobruja to Bulgaria, to demobilize at least eight divisions, to evacuate the Austro-Hungarian territory still in its possession, and to allow the transport of Central Powers troops through Western Moldavia and Bessarabia towards Odessa.

Alexandru Marghiloman, then Prime Minister of Romania, signed the final treaty at the Cotroceni Palace, Bucharest, on . It was ratified by the Chamber of Deputies on 28 June and by the Senate on 4 July 1918. However, King Ferdinand refused to sign or promulgate it.

Terms

  • Romania and the Central Powers declared the end of the state of war between them The military and naval personnel who in peace time was employed in the ports and in navigation were to be demobilized first, so that they could resume their former activity.
  • The Central Powers recognized the Union of Bessarabia with Romania.
  • The German and Austrian occupation of Romania was to continue until a date "later to be determined".
  • All of occupation costs were to be paid by Romania.
  • All of Romania's "surplus" agricultural production was to be handed over to Austria-Hungary and Germany, with an Austro-German commission deciding what was "surplus" and what price was paid.

Although Bulgaria received a part of Northern Dobruja, the fact that it could not annex the whole province had a strong effect on the Bulgarian public opinion. Bulgarian Prime Minister Vasil Radoslavov was forced to resign on 20 June 1918 after the failure to acquire the whole of Dobruja. In 1919, Germany was forced in the Treaty of Versailles to renounce all the benefits provided by the 1918 Treaty of Bucharest. The territorial transfers to Austria-Hungary and Bulgaria were annulled by the Treaty of Saint-Germain-en-Laye (1919), and the Treaty of Neuilly-sur-Seine (1919), respectively; and the Treaty of Trianon (1920) settled Romania's border with Hungary.

Maps

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File:Histdob.png|Map of Dobruja (areas in light blue, orange and pink were annexed by Bulgaria, while the area in yellow was to be administered jointly by the Central Powers)

File:Harta administrativa Romania 1918 05 07.PNG|Romanian territories ceded to Austria-Hungary (purple), Bulgaria (blue), and the Central Powers (green) through the Treaty of Bucharest. These changes were reversed by the Treaty of Versailles.

File:Territory taken from Roumania by Bulgaria according to the Peace of Bucharest (1918).png|The Bulgaria–Romania border in Dobruja according to the Treaty (source: US Department of State, 1918)