Alexandru Marghiloman - about the Romanian army at the beginning of the 20th century

The year 1906 was marked by the 40th anniversary of King Carol I reign. It was a time to analyze the progress made by the Kingdom of Romania, with its inherent achievements and failures. Alexandru Marghiloman, as deputy (1884-1914), presented a situation of the Army and the allocated budget for the year 1906/1907, comparing it with that of the armies of neighboring and Western European states. Starting with the previous achievements - the establishment of shooting schools, the endowment or the remuneration of the personnel - the proposed budget was evaluated taking into consideration the amounts allocated for combat training and services. Alexandru Marghiloman discovered that no steps had been made for the soldier to improve his situation, identifying serious deficiencies in terms of the number of combatants, training, sanitary conditions, food and the condition of the accommodation. The solution proposed by the politician: the allocation of a War Ministry budget to assure the remedy of all deficiencies.