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CERCUL MILITAR NAŢIONAL
century. The auctions and the negotiations with vari-
ous contractors yielded no results, given that the Mili-
tary Club had a modest budget, so that the start of the
construction was delayed year after year.
The issue was resumed in 1910, after ample de-
bates among the military ranks in Bucharest, in which
Nicolae Filipescu, at that time the minister of war in
the conservative cabinet headed by Titu Maiorescu,
played a decisive role. In early 1911, persuaded by the
officers from the Bucharest garrison, Filipescu granted
200,000 lei to the Military Club in order to start the
construction of the building. He was also involved in
the materialization of the project, offering his support
in various forms.
After much waiting, the construction works could
finally start thanks to the support of the minister of
war. The foundation was laid in 1911, the project be-
ing granted to Blekman-Moscovici, one of the largest
and best known construction firms at that time. The
construction works unfolded not without difficulties,
caused by the disputes between the architect and the
commission appointed by the Military Club and by the
terrain itself. Towards the end of 1915, the buildingwas
almost completed. The edifice still lacked the interior
amenities and the furniture, the latter being ordered
from the Maple House in Paris and ready for shipment.
Between 1911 and 1916, a grand total of 2,760,881.03
lei was spent in order to erect the palace, a very large
sum for that period.
The Military Club Palace has immediately become
a point of reference in the urban landscape of Bucha-
rest. In the spring of 1916, the “Illustrated Magazine”,
under the title of “The Military Club Palace – the jewel
of the capital”, claimed that the new palace, whose in-
auguration was scheduled for the autumn, deserved
the name of“Romania’s architectural jewel, as its beau-
ty andmagnificence make it stand out from all the edi-
fices built in Romania during the last decades with the
science and artistry of the great Romanian and foreign
architects. The eye is immediately drawn to the majes-
tic and proud profile – which stands tall on the strip
of land bordered by Queen Elisabeta Boulevard, Vic-
toriei Road and Sărindar Street –, thanks to the much
inspired and unmatched artistic conception, outlined
by truthful and grandiose lines of the most desirable
originality”.
On August 15/28, 1916, Romania, after two years
of neutrality, entered the war on the side of the En-
tente. After an enthusiastic start, the Romanian army
suffered a series of defeats on the Danube and Car-
pathians and, on December 6, Bucharest was occupied
by the Central Powers. Previously, the royal family, the
Parliament, government, many politicians and intel-
lectuals and some of the wealthy population left the
capital for Iaşi. Under these circumstances, the activity
of the Military Club in Bucharest came to a halt.
Although unfinished, the Palace – being such an
imposing building – caught the attention of the oc-
cupying German officers, led by General August von
Mackensen. At first, it was used to confine the Roma-
nian prisoners taken by the troops of the Central Pow-
ers. Virgil N. Drăghiceanu, who witnessed those mo-
ments, described the situation like this: “Our prisoners
are taken to the Military Club. They beg from the win-
dows because of the neglect and filth, they sleep on
the cold floor. They are examined by the curious eyes
of all the subjects of the Central Powers, who watch
with delight, through the iron bars, the scene of Ro-
mania’s crushing defeat”.
Another eyewitness was Constantin Bacalbaşa,
who also recorded the episode of the incarceration of
Romanian prisoners: “In long columns, the Romanian
soldiers taken prisoner during recent battles or else-
where are taken to the Military Club. The pedestrians
