Bucharest Peace Treaty of 1918

a treaty between the states of the Fourfold Alliance of 1915 (Germany, Austria-Hungary, Bulgaria, and Turkey) on one side and Rumania on the other. It was signed on May 7, 1918. Under the terms of the treaty, Rumania was obliged to cede strategically important borderlands (approximately 6,000 sq km) rich in lumber and minerals to Austria-Hungary. Southern Dobruja was returned to Bulgaria, and a condominium of the powers of the German coalition was established over northern Dobruja. Thus, Rumania was deprived of access to the sea. Rumania, which was occupied by German forces, was required to redeem the banknotes issued by the occupation authorities and to pay the expenses for the maintenance of the occupation forces. The Rumanian government was obligated to provide complete support to the Austro-German forces sent through Rumanian territory in order to participate in the intervention against the Soviet state. For its part, the German bloc sanctioned the occupation of Bessarabia by Rumania; in opposition to the will of the people, the Rumanian government staged the “annexation” of Bessarabia at the end of 1918. The Bucharest Treaty granted Germany exclusive rights to the prospecting, extraction, and refining of Rumanian oil, as well as a monopoly of trade in oil products; it obligated Rumania to supply the central powers with “surpluses” of agricultural produce.

After the defeat of the Fourfold Alliance in World War I, Rumania refused to ratify the Bucharest Treaty. It was abolished by the Versailles Peace Treaty of 1919.