Conservative-Democratic Party Partidul Conservator-Democrat | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Leader | Take Ionescu |
| Founded | 3 February 1908 |
| Dissolved | 21 November 1922 |
| Split from | Conservative Party |
| Merged into | Romanian National Party |
| Newspaper | Ordinea Acțiunea Evenimentul Românimea |
| Ideology | Liberal conservatism |
| Political position | Centre-right |
The Conservative-Democratic Party (Romanian: Partidul Conservator-Democrat, PCD) was a political party in Romania. Over the years, it had the following names: the Democratic Party, the Nationalist Conservative Party, or the Unionist Conservative Party.
The Conservative-Democratic Party was established on November 21, 1908, by the separation of a wing from the Conservative Party led by Take Ionescu, having the goal of creating the third ruling party, meant to interrupt the cycle of "governmental rotation" between conservatives and liberals. The electoral base of the party was made up of representatives of the small bourgeoisie (traders, small and medium-sized real estate and movable property owners, industrialists, wealthy peasants, etc.) and liberal professions (lawyers, teachers and doctors. Another important party's supporters led by Take Ionescu was the state officials and the "urban intellectual proletariat" – high school graduates who could not be absorbed by an insufficiently developed labor market.
The core of the new party's political program was, as its only president, Take Ionescu, said, "putting conservative ideas on the democratic ground of the country." In practice, this political vision materialized in the adoption of contextual solutions, oscillating between conservative and liberal ideas. The party's political program, adopted at the congress held in 1908, was revised several times: in 1910, and then, in 1913 when the Liberals' proposal to revise the constitution was accepted, including the expropriation and extension of the right to vote, and in 1919 when it was adapted to the new post-war political realities.
The party was indissolubly linked to its leader Take Ionescu, who led it throughout his life. First, the party progressed very fast, when it succeeded to win the vast majority of the partial elections held between 1908 and 1910, ahead of the detached Conservative Party from which it split. However, King Carol I refused to recognize this new political reality and abandon the system of liberal-conservative alternative at the government, and thus, never entrusted the task of forming the government to the Conservative-Democratic Party.
In 1912–1914, the party has participated in the government, within the coalition governments, together with the conservatives, and in 1916–1918 with the liberals, and in 1919–1920, with the League of Nations. The only time when the Conservative Democratic Party been a lone in the government was December 17, 1921 – January 19, 1922, when the presidency of the Council of Ministers was ensured by Take Ionescu.
The death of Take Ionescu on June 21, 1922, led to the party disappearance, which at that time was rather a group of friends than a true political formation. On November 21, 1922, the party officially ceased its activity when its merging by absorption, with the National Party led by Iuliu Maniu was announced.
The most important leaders of the party were Take Ionescu, Nicolae Titulescu, Alexandru Bădărău, Constantin Dissescu, Toma Cămărăşescu, Gheorghe Derussi, Stelian Popescu, Gheorghe Mironescu, Mihail Vladescu, Mihail Oromolu, Nicolae Xenopol or Constantin Xeni. The Conservative-Democratic Party has also attracted leading intellectuals such as Professor Thoma Ionescu or writer Ion Luca Caragiale.
Over the years, the party had following publications: "Order" (January 27, 1908 – January 30, 1913), "The Action" (31 January 1913 – 14 November 1916), "The Event" November 1916 – December 1, 1918) and "Romania mea" (December 2, 1918 – June 22, 1922).