a "Latinist" movement in the homeland in the late eighteenth century,
which produced many adherents among the Transylvanian Romanians. It was
the efforts of this group that led to the replacement of the Cyrillic
alphabet, then in common use, with the Latin, the writing of the first
latinized Romanian grammar and, later, the introduction of the first
dictionary that traced the full historical development of the Romanian
language. These reforms helped to create a uniform literary language as
an essential basis for the broad development of Romanian culture (see
ch. 7).

During their long experience under the Habsburgs and Hungarians, the
Transylvanian Romanians also became intimately associated with the
events of central and western Europe. Opportunities for travel and
cultural contacts that later developed were also predominantly within
Western areas and intensified the political consciousness of the
Romanians along Western lines.

Meanwhile, in Walachia and Moldavia interest in Western ideas and
affairs was provided by French influences introduced initially by the
Greek Phanariot princes, who were in power during most of the eighteenth
century. These rulers established French as the court language, and many
of the Greek merchants, clergymen, and teachers who followed them into
the areas helped spread the use of French among the urban population in
Bucharest and Iasi, the respective capital cities. Gradually, French was
introduced into Romanian schools, and eventually Romanian students from
the principalities were sent abroad in considerable numbers to study at
French universities.

In addition to Romanian students, many of the young sons of Romanian
nobles traveled in France. These two groups gradually formed the nucleus
of an intellectual class, which favored French philosophy and thought
and which became receptive to the liberal ideas of the French Revolution
and later periods.

NATIONAL INDEPENDENCE

A phase of major significance and a turning point in Romanian history
began in 1821 with a revolt led by Tudor Vladimirescu, a Romanian and
former officer in the Russian army. This uprising against the harsh
Phanariot rule was the first with a national character, and it attempted
to give expression to the revolutionary ideas of emancipation and
independence. Although the outbreak was suppressed by the Turks, it did
achieve the objective of bringing about the early abolition of the
Phanariot regime and the restora