page_title: Great Union Day
section_title: National Military Parade
hierarchical_section_title: Great Union Day / National Military Parade
caption_attribution_description: A detachment of the Counter-Terrorism Brigade (part of the Romanian Intelligence Service) during rehearsals for the National Day of Romania (2008).
context_page_description: Great Union Day is a national holiday in Romania, celebrated on 1 December, marking the unification of Transylvania, Bessarabia, and Bukovina with the Romanian Kingdom in 1918. This holiday was declared after the Romanian Revolution and commemorates the assembly of the delegates of ethnic Romanians held in Alba Iulia, which declared the Union of Transylvania with Romania.
  Prior to 1948, until the abolition of the monarchy, the national holiday was on 10 May, which had a double meaning: it was the day on which King Carol I set foot on Romanian soil, and the day on which the prince ratified the Declaration of Independence in 1877. From 1948, during the period of Communist administration, the national holiday was on 23 August, Liberation from Fascist Occupation Day, to mark the 1944 overthrow of the pro-fascist government of Marshal Ion Antonescu, with parades held on Charles de Gaulle Square.
context_section_description: Every year, an annual military parade known officially as the National Military Parade (Romanian: Parada Militară Națională) of the Romanian Armed Forces either on the grounds of Piața Constituției (Constitution Square) or on Șoseaua Kiseleff just within metres of the Arcul de Triumf in central Bucharest is held in honor of the occasion. A parade is also held in the city of Alba Iulia and within other major cities.
  With the President of Romania being the guest of honor at the Bucharest parade in his/her constitutional role as Commander in Chief, he/she  receives the report by the Chief of the Romanian General Staff upon their arrival on the square to a bugle call fanfare being played by a lone trumpeter. After receiving the salute, the president walks to salute the color guard provided by the Michael the Brave 30th Guards Brigade before inspecting and greeting the guard of honor. After this, Deșteaptă-te, române! is then performed by the Massed Bands of the Bucharest Garrison, made partly from musicians of the Michael the Brave 30th Guards Brigade and a combined military and civilian choir as a 21-gun salute is fired in the background. Following this, in the Kiseleff Road parade, the president lays a wreath at the Arcul de Triumf before heading back to the grandstand. After this, the parade commander, who is a general-ranked officer of the Armed Forces, then orders the start of the parade in the following manner:
  Parade... attention! Ceremonial pass in review!
  Eyes to the right, by the left, forward, quick march!
  The parade proper then begins at this point which is usually led by a massed color guard and foreign troops before the active personnel of the armed forces march on the parade route as the Massed Bands play music led by its Senior Director. A historical segment of servicemen in First World War uniforms usually forms part of the march past. After this, the ground mobile column, which are composed of tanks, APCs, IFVs, the field and air defense artillery and logistics vehicles of the Armed Forces, police vehicles, and emergency vehicles follow, accompanied by the occasional flypast of the Armed Forces and Police. Foreign troops have included delegations from Turkey, the United Kingdom, Moldova and the United States, with specific units including the Slovenian Guards Unit, the United States Marine Corps and the Honor Guard Company of the Moldovan National Army.
  The parade is then ended with the Honour Guard Company of the 30th Guards Brigade and then followed by the massed bands marching off the square.
caption: A Counter-Terrorism Battalion of the Romanian Intelligence Service on parade in 2008.
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