Chapter 156 A Visit To Romania



156 A Visit To Romania

Romania was a nation whose contributions to the Great War in Bruno's past life were less than significant. In fact, what it was most well known for was losing about one tenth of its population during the entire conflict.

By the time they entered the war in 1916, Romania had a population of roughly 7 million, and by the time the Armistice of Focşani was signed roughly a year later, over 700,000 soldiers and civilians had died due to causes related to the war.

It was an unmitigated disaster for the Romanians who had entered the war on behalf of the Allied Powers for the sake of seizing many lands that belonged to the Kingdom of Hungary as part of their ambitions to untie "Greater Romania."

Of course, the victory the Central Powers gained over the Kingdom of Romania in 1917, much like the one they gained over the Russian Empire that same year was nullified when the war finally ended in the Allied Powers favor a year after these treaties were signed.

Frankly speaking, if the Kingdom of Romania was not currently one of the world's largest producers of oil, and if it didn't lie on the eastern borders of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, then Bruno would have no interest in the region.

But... Bruno had already made substantial investments into Romania oil infrastructure as far back as 1901 when he came home from the war in the far east, and found himself with a large fortune which his family paid him for the patents of his more modern weaponry.

He was, of course, not the only one, with wealthy investors from the United States, Great Britain, and the Netherlands competing for these shares. And Bruno had ultimately walked away with the smallest number of these shares when compared to his competitors because his wealth at the time was not as vast as it was today. However, currently the German Empire, Austro-Hungarian Empire, and the Russian Empire were investing heavily into their nations infrastructure, and Bruno's construction corporations that he either owned directly, or had substantial portions of ownership in indirectly, were reaping the benefits of these projects.

Because of this, Bruno wanted to connect the Romanian oil fields he had invested in to this transportation network that was being established. However, there were several problems with this.

For starters, Bruno's influence over the Kingdom was purely as a foreign investor into their oil industry. He had no close ties to the Romanian Royal Family like he did to the three great powers.

But whether it was in this life, or his past one, long after the Empire had faded into the annals of history. Bruno had never stepped foot into Hungary.

While Austria was a German state that, for political reasons had never unified with the German Reich, Hungary and the other regions of the Empire were distinctively different. Both in terms of culture and heritage, which was evident by the very architecture which was on display in the region.

For those who were uninitiated when it came to the beauty and diversity of European architecture, they may look at the many beautiful chapels, palaces, and other grand buildings which stood proudly among the Hungarian landscape, and assume they were no different from the Austrian portion of the Empire.

But they would be wrong. There were some similar styles due to the proximity which Hungary had with Germany. But there were also both subtle and overt differences even from the styles that were similar to those in Austria.

There were even a few Ottoman style buildings spread throughout southwest Hungary and Transylvania, which had been constructed during a brief era of the Turkish occupation. In this regard, Hungary was perhaps one of a handful of nations in Europe. where old Islamic architecture still stood.

Especially when one considered the fact that most of the European nations who had been subjected to such a dark history had torn down the structures built by the invaders after gaining their impendence. As was common in any land occupied by a foreign aggressor.

Either way, Bruno never found himself bored while he was travelling through Europe. Many of these buildings, beautiful and magnificent as they were, would not survive the 20th century, or at least had not done so in his past life.

Some were rebuilt, but there was a bit of sadness in witnessing a restoration. As one

never knew whether it was truly faithful to the original or not. But many others were lost to history, only seen in photographs and paintings that had been made in the era which preceded their ruin.

And it was perhaps because he could enjoy gazing upon the glory of pre-war Europe, even those nations outside boundaries of the fatherland, that Bruno was in a rather exceptional mood upon finally stepping foot in the city of Bucharest, where he immediately stuck out as a foreigner.

Luckily for Bruno he was well versed in a variety of languages. Having spent his childhood mastering them to a level of proficiency that only a native speaker would normally be able to pronounce. As language was a valuable tool, especially in a time of war. Which was ultimately what Bruno had been preparing for ever since he first reincarnated into this life.

Hence, despite his distinctly foreign appearance, Bruno was able to get along well enough with the locals as he prepared for his stay in Bucharest. Where he was eventually led to the Royal Palace to be greeted by King Carol I and his wife.