Romanian Land Forces

The Romanian Land Forces, in Romanian the Forțele Terestre Române, are the army of Romania and the main component of the Romanian Armed Forces. They were founded on 24 November 1859 in the Julian calendar, which is 12 November, and took part in the Romanian War of Independence against the Ottoman Empire, the Second Balkan War against Bulgaria, World War I against the Central Powers, where they won the decisive battles of Mărăști and Mărășești, and the Hungarian-Romanian War. For most of World War II until 1944 Romanian forces supported the Axis powers on the Eastern Front, and from August 1944 they fought against Germany under Soviet control. After the communist takeover the army was reorganized along Soviet lines, and after the Romanian Revolution of 1989 many units were disbanded for lack of funds. Since the late 1990s conscription has been abolished and the force has been professionalized.