The island was part of Romania until the start of the Second World War. In the fall of 1940, the Romanian Danube islands of Tătaru Mare, Dalerul Mic, Dalerul Mare, Maican and Limba were occupied by the Soviet Union. All of the five islands were re-occupied by Axis-aligned Romania in July 1941 ("Operation München"), only to be lost again in 1944 after King Michael's Coup. In early 1948, the Soviet Union agreed to return Tătaru Mare Island back to Romanian rule, the only one of the five Danube islands ultimately recovered by Romania.