VOLUNTARII BUCOVINENI DIN PRIMUL RĂZBOI MONDIAL
The Bukovinian Volunteers in the First World War

Summary/Abstract: On 28th June 1914, Franz Ferdinand, the presumptive heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne, was assassinated by Gavrilo Princip, a Bosnian Serb member of Young Bosnia, in Sarajevo. A month later, Austro-Hungary declared war on the Kingdom of Serbia, leading to the beginning of a conflagration, later known as World War I. From the very first days of war, Bukovina took the Austro-Hungary’s side. Romanian reservists were assigned to 23rd and 41st infantry regiments and to the 4th dragoon regiment. Public schools were closed and the services of the authority were reduced. Until 1917, Chernivtsi was to be occupied by Russians for three times. The major changes in the Bukovinians’ attitude regarding Austro-Hungary occurred gradually, after the Declaration of Neutrality of Romania in 1914, but mainly after The Kingdom of Romania entered the war. Countless young men and intellectuals from Bukovina took refuge in The Romanian Kingdom where they had carried out an intense activity regarding the entrance of Romania into the war against the Austro-Hungary. The Bukovinian and Transylvanian refugees from Romania were joined gradually by Romanian soldiers and officers from the Austro-Hungarian army who were prisoners in Russia. Here, the volunteers’ actions were amplified especially because Romania was on the same side with Russia. The activity of the Bukovinian and Transylvanian volunteers consisted in the establishment of two volunteer corps in Russia, the development of the Romanian legions in Italy and France, but also in the participation of the Romanian immigrants from The United States to the actions of the Expeditionary Force. The official establishment of the first Volunteer Corps of Transylvanians and Bukovinians took place on March 16th, 1917. On the 7th and the 8th of June 1917, the first Transylvanian and Bukovinian volunteers arrived in Iasi. After a four-weeks training, these volunteers participated in the Battle of Mărășești. The activity of the first Volunteer Corps of Transylvanians and Bukovinians has ceased its operations after the Peace Treaty of Bucharest, signed on May 7, 1918. Between the 15th and the 28th of August, the second Volunteer Corps of Transylvanians and Bukovinians was established in Chernivtsi and was active until 1919. From these two volunteer detachments, 631 soldiers were from Rădăuți, 382 from Storojineț, 319 from Suceava, 210 from Câmpulung and 232 from Chernivtsi.

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