Tudor Vladimirescu: Encyclopedia II - Tudor Vladimirescu - The uprising

Tudor Vladimirescu - The uprising

Prince Alexandru Suţu's death in January 1821 led to the forming of a temporary Comitet de Ocârmuire ("Governing Comitee"), three regents -all members of the most representative indigenous boyar families. The Comitet, motivated against competition and denied Phanariote rulers' favours, decided to quickly manoever anti-boyar and anti-Phanariote sentiment in Wallachia (and especially in Oltenia), acting before the newly appointed Scarlat Callimachi could claim his throne. Therefore, an agreement between it and the Pandurs was reached on the 15th: Dimitrie Macedonski was awarded the post of lieutenant to Tudor.

The very same day, Vladimirescu sent a letter to the Ottoman Court, stating that his objective was not the rejection of Turkish rule, but that of the Phanariote regime, and showing his willingness for preservation of the traditional institutions. The statements were meant to buy Tudor time against Turkish response, as he was already in negotiations with the Greek Anti-Ottoman revolutionary society Philikí Etaireía (having probably been in contact with it from around 1819). Together, they produced a plan for insurrection, with the two Eterist representatives (Iordache Olimpiotul and Ioan Farmache) assuring the Wallachians of Russian support for the common cause. It is important to note that Tudor was not himself a member of the Etaireía: the rigid command structure of the Brotherhood would have excluded the need for any negotiations.

After fortifying monasteries in Oltenia (Tismana, Strehaia) that were to serve him in the event of Turkish intervention, Tudor travelled to Padeş where he issued his first proclamation (January 23). It included references to Enlightenment principles (notably: resistance to oppression), but was also an almost millenarianist appeal to peasants, promising a "spring" to follow "winter".

In February, the demands were detailed by more documents. They included: the elimination of purchased offices in the administration, with the introduction of meritocratic promotion, the suppression of certain taxes and taxing criteria, the reduction of the main tax, the founding of a Wallachian army, and an end to internal custom duties. In line with these, Tudor asked for the banishment of some Phanariote families and forbidding future Princes to hold a retinue that would compete with local boyars for offices.

The army, swelled up in numbers as it advanced, occupied Bucharest on March 21 - here, Tudor issued another important proclamation, one that expessed yet again his commitment to peace with the Ottomans. Previously, the Philikí Etaireía under Alexander Ypsilanti had emerged in Moldavia, proclaiming a liberation from Ottoman rule that was backed by the then Moldavian Prince Mihai Suţu. However, this coincided with Russian reaction against Greek rebellion, with the Russian army entering Moldavia and enforcing Holy Alliance policies. Ypsilanti's army headed south, reaching Pandur-occupied Bucharest.

Tudor's actions in the meanwhile had destroyed his alliance to local boyars. He had started wearing the kalpak (a tall, cilindrical, black leather hat; see Ottoman Clothing) reserved for the Prince, and demanded to be adressed as Domn ("Master", "Prince") - moving away from subordination to the landowners' cause.

The meeting between Ypsilanti and Tudor brought a new compromise. Tudor considered himself liberated from the provisions of the January agreement, as Russia was now an enemy of the Etaireía; Ypsilanti tried to persuade him that Russian support was still possible. The country was divided into a Greek administration and a Wallachian one, with Tudor's declaring itself neutral in the face of large Ottoman armies preparing to cross the north of the Danube. Turkish actions had been prompted by Russian threat of intervention in Wallachia.

Tudor's army retreated towards Oltenia in May, as the Turks occupied Bucharest without meeting resistance. Tudor was no longer capable of maintaining the discipline and cohesion of his own troops, and an attempt to ensure these through selective hangings only served to win him the fear of his subordinates. There was general apathy when his willingness for a compromise with Turkey caused him to be arrested (by the same Olimpiotul and Farmache, on June 1st, in Goleşti), tried and executed by the Etaireía. He was tortured, killed, and his mutilated body was thrown into a latrine.

The Etaireía did not succed in its goal to assume command of Vladimirescu's army: most of it disbanded on the spot, with only a handful opposing Turkish presence, and only up to August.

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "The uprising", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki