By 1914, Stroescu's relations with the Austro-Hungarian authorities were noticeably strained. His sponsoring of a Christmas 1913 folk party in Beiuș almost ended with the prosecution of its organizer, Nicolae Coroiu. The outbreak of World War I caught Stroescu on the Russian side, ending all his work in Transylvania; the government of István Tisza listed him as a "public menace", suspected of wanting to incite a Romanian rebellion in Transylvania. He returned to Odessa in 1914, and managed to persuade the authorities to release his protégée Alistar, who had been arrested for sedition. In late 1916, Romania entered the war, siding with Russia against Austria-Hungary and the other Central Powers. Following the February Revolution, which inaugurated an episode of social rebellion and national emancipation throughout Russia, the Stroescus were targeted by Russian revolutionaries. Gheorghe's former manor in Bălceana was ransacked by deserters from the Romanian Front, who burned down his manuscripts, and so were other country homes owned by the family. The Brânzeni estate was spared: the peasants there, having already set up a network for trafficking Romanian books into Bessarabia, also formed a self-defense unit which protected their shared wealth.