General elections were held in the Kingdom of Romania from March 1 to March 14, 1911, confirming a majority for the Conservative Party (PC) under Petre P. Carp. The united opposition was constituted of the National Liberal (PNL) and Conservative-Democratic (PCD) parties, with Ion I. C. Brătianu and Take Ionescu as the leaders. The PCD, founded in 1908 from a middle-class Conservative splinter group, was making its first appearance nationally. A quickly rising third-party, its alliance with the PNL helped the latter survive and consolidate. The elections were also contested by two other new political actors: the right-wing Democratic Nationalist Party, and the left-wing Social Democratic Party. Both failed to win any seats.
The elections were held under census suffrage with all-male electors—although both the smaller parties and a left-wing faction of the PNL had begun pressing for universal male suffrage. The PC countered these demands, and the PNL's expected return to power, by running on a platform of sweeping social and economic reforms, including support for labor rights. The campaign and ballot count were touched by controversy, with Minister of the Interior Alexandru Marghiloman being widely accused of intimidation and fraud.
The Conservatives' surprisingly large win was counterbalanced by their inner factionalism, with major disputes taking place before, during, and after the campaign. Once reconfirmed, Prime Minister Carp was repeatedly pressured by King Carol I into resuming talks with the PCD, in order to achieve stability and secure popular backing. That project was hampered by Carp's refusal to compromise over larger issues of policy, and more particularly by scandals such as the "Tramcar Affair", which helped solidify the opposition to Carp. Carp resigned in early 1912, and the king appointed Titu Maiorescu to lead a new Conservative cabinet, which sealed a deal with the PCD and held new elections in November.
Context Following the 1907 election, Romania had been under a PNL administration, with Ion I. C. Brătianu as Prime Minister. The cabinet had been formed shortly after the large-scale peasants' revolt, and saw the Conservatives and the National Liberals entangled in a debate about land reform. Carp, as the PC doctrinaire, was against giving land and voting rights to the peasants, and favored tax cut for activities of self-improvement. The negotiations, also involving landowner advocate Ioan Lahovary on the Conservative side, stalled.Ornea, pp. 364–370 Under Carp, the Conservatives blocked out their democratizing wing, by expelling Take Ionescu from the party in January 1908. This clash led to the creation of the PCD, as Ionescu's own party. The new group rose rapidly on the political scene, earning pledges from an intellectual and political class that included Alexandru and Nicolae Xenopol, Ion Luca Caragiale, Ovid Densusianu, and Constantin Rădulescu-Motru.Ornea, pp. 370–374
The PCD had a good electoral record, having won 9 of 18 by-elections held from 1907 to 1911—the PNL had 8 such victories, and the PC only one.Corespondent, "In fața urnei", and "Alegerile de Miercuri", in Tribuna, March 4, 1911, pp. 3–4 Ionescu's rise worried Carp and his supporters. Carp reportedly authorized his right-hand man, Alexandru Marghiloman, to use any means necessary in preventing the PCD from winning more electoral advantages.Ornea, pp. 372–373 At the time, Carp counted not on electoral gains, but on the graces of King Carol I. He explained to his followers that it was enough for the monarch to appoint him prime minister, and "the number [of electors] would follow suit."Ornea, p. 373
The immediate cause of the 1911 election was a prolonged campaign against Brătianu, accused by the Conservatives of running a spoils system. These accusations were backed by the Conservative-Democrats, who expected that King Carol would call upon them, the third force, to form government.Bacalbașa, pp. 6–7, 9–10, 92–93 On December 22, Brătianu announced his cabinet's resignation to Parliament, despite criticism from his own ranks; he thus forfeited his chance of organizing recall elections on his terms. Brătianu reassured his constituents that he felt confident the PNL would win under any scenario.Bacalbașa, pp. 7–10 As he put it at the time, the withdrawal was one of both moral high ground and electoral tactics: "we decided that, as higher politics dictate, we would retire in such manner as to make our adversaries witness [it] not just with a feeling of respect, but also with fear. Others may hold government, but power belongs to us still."Bacalbașa, p. 7
Also in December, the king appointed Carp to form a Conservative cabinet, bypassing the PCD altogether. He insisted, however, that Carp would not overturn the PNL's agrarian legislation, and (less categorically) that Carp and Ionescu begin reconciliation talks.Ornea, p. 374 The controversial appointment pushed the PCD into an alliance with the PNL. However, it may have been intended by Carol as a subtle attack on Carp: although he favored the PC, he felt that Carp was arrogant and incapable of forging a governing coalition. He may also have believed that Carp would lose his own elections.Bacalbașa, pp. 8–9 Nevertheless, the new administration reflected an understanding between the various factions of the party. Carp represented the Junimea club, as did his ministers Marghiloman, Constantin C. Arion and Titu Maiorescu. Mihail G. Cantacuzino and Dimitrie S. Nenițescu were followers of the aristocrat Gheorghe Grigore Cantacuzino, while Nicolae Filipescu and Barbu Ștefănescu Delavrancea stood for the PC's national-conservative pole.Bacalbașa, pp. 7–8 Lahovary, the Minister of Agriculture, represented traditional conservatism.Bacalbașa, pp. 7–8, 10
Campaign Brătianu and the PCD's Take Ionescu sealed a pact to form the united opposition. This tactic was highly advantageous to the then-waning PNL: Ionescu agreed to allow the National Liberals an equal share of the eligible positions, including in areas that voted all-PCD.Bacalbașa, pp. 9–11, 12 Immediately after being appointed, Carp visited Brătianu and Ionescu. He promised not to overuse his power to influence the election, allowing the PNL and PCD together a total of 55 parliamentary seats, 35 of them in ChamberBacalbașa, p. 9. See also Ornea, pp. 374–375 (from 295 and 183 respectively). Both of his opponents refused.Bacalbașa, p. 9
While striking a deal with the PCD, the PNL leadership was challenged by the party's own democratizing wing, unsatisfied with the pace of post-1907 reforms. Coalesced around by Spiru Haret,Sorin Radu, "Liberalii și problema reformei electorale în România (1866 — 1914) (I)", in Annales Universitatis Apulensis, Series Historica, Nr. 4–5, 2000–2001, pp. 142–143 it comprised agrarian "Poporanists" and former socialists such as the anthropologist George Diamandy. The latter produced timid calls for the introduction of universal (male) suffrage,M., "Noutăți. Svonul despre revizuirea Constituției", in Noua Revistă Română, Nr. 8/1910, pp. 105–106 and openly proposed a merger with the PCD.A.C.C., "Noutăți. Doi copii teribili în politica noastră", in Noua Revistă Română, Nr. 7/1911, p. 97 Brătianu was able to reassert control over this tendency, for instance by not putting Diamandy up for reelection in Chamber.
To this background, radical-right forces, having established in 1910 the Democratic Nationalist Party (PND), also began "strong electoral agitation." They also demanded the extension of electoral rights, but wanted these limited to ethnic Romanian males.Coresp., "Scrisori din București", in Tribuna, March 12, 1911, pp. 3–4 Led by academics Nicolae Iorga and A. C. Cuza, this group negotiated an alliance with the PC, but later denounced it."Cronici bucureștene", in Unirea, Nr. 6/1911, p. 70 Their campaign was touched by significant controversy: Cuza was allegedly prevented by the authorities from running in Prahova,Coresp., "Scrisori din București", in Tribuna, March 2, 1911, pp. 4–5 then in Dorohoi, "with maneuvers unbecoming of a decent administration." He eventually ran alongside Ion Zelea Codreanu in Baia County, where their electoral agents included the athlete-spy and future assassin Ilie Cătărău, whose impressive size struck fear in the electorate."Atentatul dela Dobrițin. 4 Martie", in Românul (Arad), Nr. 41/1914, p. 5
Just shortly before the election, Carp had caused public uproar by challenging some of the core tenets of radical Romanian nationalism, outlining his respect for Austria-Hungary, and his overall sympathy for the Jewish Romanian community. On the left, the Social Democratic Party (PSDR) was consolidating in and around Galați, after having been repressed by a PNL administration.Petrescu, pp. 209–215, 229–231, 236–241, 244–246 Its absentee leader was the Bulgarian-born Christian Rakovsky, who only obtained his citizenship rights under the new laws of the Carp government.Bacalbașa, pp. 42, 45, 74; Petrescu, pp. 205–206
The PC reached out to a non-conservative electorate by adopting a reformist program with attractive promises: tax cuts for small and medium rural property, to favor peasants; and the introduction of guilds, workers' compensation, and social insurance, to address issues of labor.Bacalbașa, pp. 10–11 These were denounced by the PNL–PCD as demagoguery,Ornea, p. 375 but agreed upon by most Conservative leaders—with the notable exception of Lahovary, who found them unpalatable.Bacalbașa, p. 10 Their impact on the public was first tested during a set of local elections, which the PC won easily at Giurgiu and more narrowly at Constanța and Sulina.Bacalbașa, p. 11
Results The general elections were convened for , and were carried out in four stages, to March 14 [February 24]. Overall, 91,678 of 126,912 registered voters, or 72.6%, cast their vote. The turnout was highest in the upper-class 1st College of Chamber, where 78.4% of the total 15,298 voters showed up.Anuarul Statistic, pp. 10–12 The Conservatives received 133,287 votes, or 61.4% of the general total. The remainder 81,139 votes, or 37.8%, went to the PNL–PCD camp, and 2,486 votes were invalidated. During the first stage of voting, Conservatives secured 82 parliamentary seats in the 1st and 2nd Colleges for Chamber, with the PNL and PCD only managing 18 between them.Bacalbașa, p. 13 Chairman Brătianu failed to win a Chamber seat for Botoșani County, and the PCD's Constantin Dissescu lost at Olt, although Ion G. Duca was elected for Vâlcea. Support for government peaked in the 3rd (and last) Electoral College of Chamber, representing the lower-middle class, where it had 77.6% of the ballots (39,633 of 51,048)Anuarul Statistic, p. 12 and 38 of 40 possible seats.