The President of Romania, Mr. Klaus Iohannis, was the first head of state to commemorate the heroes at the Mărăști Mausoleum. A century after the battles on the Mărăști Battlefield, on July 18, 2017, Klaus Iohannis participated in a military ceremony held on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the victorious battles fought by the Romanian Army in the First World War at Mărășești, thus also marking a premiere – the first head of state to come to Mărăști to commemorate the 5,342 heroes who sleep their eternal sleep here.
Alongside the President of Romania, the military ceremony was attended by the Minister of Defense, Mr. Adrian Țuțuianu, the President of the Vrancea County Council, Mr. Marian Oprișan, and the Mayor of Răcoasa commune, Mr. Vladimir Păun.
Here is the address delivered by the President of Romania, Mr. Klaus Iohannis, at Mărăști:
“One hundred years ago, the place where we are located witnessed the first great victory of the Romanian Army in the War for the Unification of the Nation. It was achieved through the blood sacrifice of the Romanian soldiers, animated by the orders of the great soldiers of the country who sleep their eternal sleep in the Mărăști Mausoleum: Marshal Alexandru Averescu, Generals Arthur Văitoianu, Alexandru Mărgineanu, and Nicolae Arghirescu.
In the name of the Romanian state, I have come here to show our gratitude and to honor the memory of these heroes. The Romania of today, a united, dignified, and respected state, rests upon their sacrifice.
It has been 100 years since the great battles of the summer of 1917, a very good opportunity to remember what the profound explanations are for the victories at Mărăști, Mărășești, and Oituz.
The first of them is, without a doubt, the strength of the national ideal. The unification of the nation, this was the duty with which the Romanian Army entered the Great War alongside the Entente and which it fulfilled with honor and sacrifice.
An important role – which it is fitting to evoke with gratitude – was played by the support of the allies, especially the French military mission under the command of General Berthelot, which contributed significantly to the victories of the summer of 1917.
But the glorious campaign of July – August 1917 is also explained by the hope and popular energies generated by the commitment of the political class to build a new Romania, more inclusive, more democratic.
The amendment of the Constitution in June 1917 gave vision to a country not only aspiring to national unity, but also oriented towards the values of Western democracy.
Around these hopes – at Mărăști, as well as at Mărășești and Oituz – the Romanians were joined, in battle, in sacrifice, and in victory, for the country that was increasingly becoming their homeland too, by Jews, Roma, and Armenians.
In the year that shook the world through the revolution in the Tsarist Empire, the victory at Mărăști announced not only the summer of glory of the Romanian Army, but also the determined resistance against Bolshevism.
The place where we are today was rebuilt from the foundations after the Great Union and is an example of rebirth from the ashes of sacrifice.
It is a symbol of the fact that nothing can stand in the way of fulfilling the important projects of the nation, when its energy is harnessed through the responsibility of the political class and, especially, when the sacrifices of each generation are not hijacked by demagoguery and populism.
Ladies and gentlemen,
At the cost of millions of lives, the Great War reminds us what hatred and division meant and how important unity, solidarity, and peace are for our continent.
On the frontispiece that guards the eternal sleep of the heroes at Mărăști it is written: “In eternal memory and gratitude to the heroes who sacrificed themselves for the unification of the Romanian nation”.
The most sincere expression of thanks for this legacy left by our predecessors is to contribute, together, to the materialization of a country project that consolidates Romania as a European state. A state where the law is equal for all, a homeland for all its citizens, a tolerant and inclusive country.
Dear inhabitants of Mărăști,
People of Vrancea and citizens of Romania,
For Romania, the European project is the guarantor of a future of security, prosperity, and peace.
I call upon you to unite our efforts to strengthen this project, which implicitly means the development and progress of our country as a whole, but also of each local community.
Let us mark the Centenary of the Great Union through a concrete commitment, not a festive or declarative one, for a united and prosperous, strong and educated Romania!
Let us transform the plains of sacrifice from 100 years ago into places of fulfillment for the descendants of the heroes we have honored today! Thank you!”
