The European powers and the Ottoman Empire ratify Cuza's election after discussions in Paris, and the United Principalities officially become Romania in 1861.

Cuza initiates a reform program almost immediately.

Encountering resistance from oligarchic boyars, the prince appeals to the masses and holds a referendum that approve constitutional provisions giving him broad powers to implement his program.

The government improves roads, founds the universities of Bucharest and Iasi, bans the use of Greek in churches and monasteries, and secularizes monastic property.

Cuza also signs an agrarian law that eliminates serfdom, tithes, and forced labor and allows peasants to acquire land.

Unfortunately, the new holdings are often too expensive for the peasants and too small to provide self-sufficiency; consequently, the peasantry's lot deteriorates.