Romania

Romania is a Balkan kingdom situated between Russia and Bulgaria. It signed the Treaty of Azov in 1941 and is thus a founding member of its successor, the SARPAC.

## History

### The Rise of the Iron Guard

#### Growing Pains

While the deal with King Carol II to turn the Iron Guard from a minor party to controlling a slight majority of the Romanian parliament, this sudden explosion in popularity lead to problems. One particular problem was Mihai Stelescu.

Mihai Stelescu was a founding member of the Iron Guard's Moldovan branch as a teenager, who rose to being one of Codreanu's lieutenants. However, after being elected to parliament in 1933, he started to move away from the Iron Guard. Particularly he criticized that Codreanu's proposed economic reforms as being too moderate to truly revive Romania.

This attitude and criticism got Stelescu kicked out of the party in 1934. The next year he formed an organization called the White Eagle with like-minded former Legionaries.

### Standoff Against Germany

The Chaos caused in the wake of Black Monday gave the Romanian Prime Minister Corneliu Zelea Codreanu enough breathing room to try and enact his long-standing goal of curbing German influence in Romania by enforcing heavy taxation on German oil companies, leading them to sell their stakes in oil fields of Romania. These stakes would be used to form the Romanian National Oil Company.

This successful subversion of German economic influence caused Codreanu to become a top target for the Abteilung. This concern was out of fear that Cordeanu's forcible acquisition of the Bessarbian Oil Fields would lead to similar acts elsewhere in Mitteleuropa.

The Initial method of trying to force Codreanu out of power through economic sanctions against Romania failed, thanks to Romania deciding to break ties fully with the Mitteleruopa and signing a trade deal with the Russian government. In fact Cordeanu and the Iron Guard standing up to the Germans lead to the party gaining a stronger majority in Parliament, after the 1937 elections.

### The First Curățarea

Of course, Germany was not gonna to just take this slight and prepare to try and subvert Codreanu. The most successful operation was to forge ties with the White Eagle organization. While German intelligence plan was simply to fund the White Eagle to gain them enough popularity to divide the Iron Guard's electoral base, Stelescu has other plans.

### The Legionary Coup

#### The Lead-up

The Romanian King, Carol II, always looked towards his Prime Minister with disdain but never attempted any action against him, until Carol became aware that the Iron Guard was funneling arms and funds to right-wing resistance groups in Transylvania . Such a reckless action would have inevitably resulted in a war with the Austrian Empire and threatened the kingdom's integrity. This led Carol to openly disavow the Iron Guard and to withdraw his support from the government. He eventually made preparations alongside the leaders of the LANC, the People's Party, and the National Liberal Party to have the Iron Guard ousted from power by a military coup during the summer of 1941.

However, Codreanu became aware of the king's plan and organized a private reunion with his right-hand man, Ion Antonescu, and other high ranking Iron Guard members, to organize a counter-coup against Carol and his allies. Horia Sima convinced Codreanu and the rest of the Guard to try and drive a wedge between Carol and the people as trying to depose him as quickly as possible could very well fracture their own support base. Afterwards, Codreanu sent agents of the *Siguranța* to sow negative sentiments against Carol II among the lower classes.

These efforts would begin to bear fruit in the weeks leading up to April 20, as growing discontent among peasants and small farmers lead them to start protests against the king. *Siguranta* agents added fuel to these protests by spreading the rumor that Carol wasn't King Ferdinand's legitimate heir. Various leaders of the Iron Guard also encouraged the protests by publicly blaming Carol and the nobility for the government's lack of success when it came to implement the long-promised land reforms. Despite the fact that these protests were mostly apolitical in nature, most Romanian Socialists refused to participate in what they saw as a set up. This behavior was used by Codreanu to claim that Carol's failings as king had made the nation vulnerable to "Socialist agitators who acted with the blessing of the Kaiser".

#### The coup

On April 20, 1941 , armed members of the Iron Guard's paramilitary wings seized the Cotroceni Palace, along the offices of the all opposition parties in Bucharest. They quickly succeeded in securing the Royal family and having Carol arrested on the suspicion of treason. Similar operations also were conducted in provincial capitals throughout the kingdom in the days that followed, notably resulting in the capture of A.C. Cuza and Petre P. Negulescu. However, many other opposition leaders were able to avoid capture by escaping into Greece and/or Bulgaria .

#### The Founding of the Legionary Kingdom

With Carol overthrown, Codreanu declared himself "regent" of Carol's son, Michael, until he turned 18 in 1945. Codreanu also declared that the 1923 Constitution was nothing more than Germany forcing its rule over Romania and called for a new constitution. This new constitution, which has already been formulated by Codreanu and his inner circle before the coup was quickly ratified by the parliament.

This new constitution achieved several things. One was weaken the monarchy to the point that Michael I was left nothing more than a figure head. Another was restructuring the electoral process to make it neigh-impossible for anyone to run against an Iron Guard aligned candidate. The constitutions also reorganized Romania's many providence into six (later eight) states to streamline regional governance. Finally the constitution expanded the power of Prime Minister.

## Important Figures

### Politics

**Michael I**

* King of Romania (1941-)

**Corneliu Zelea Codreanu**

* Prime Minister of Romania (1933-)
* Regent of Michael I (1941-1945)

* *Căpitanul* of the Iron Guard (1927-)
* Chief Organizer for the L.A.N.C (1923-1927)

**Horia Sima**

* Minister of the Interior (1944-)
* Director of the Siguranta (1941 - 1944)

* Căpitanul of the Iron Guard's Banat Branch (1936-1941)

* Commander of the Banat Branch of the L.R.A (1927-1936)

**Ion Moța**

* Minister of Foreign Affairs (1946-)
* Governor of Transylvania (1942-1946)
* Căpitanul of the Iron Guard's Transylvanian Branch (1936-1942)
* Commander of the L.R.A (1924-1936)

**Gheorghe Clime**

* Minister of the National Economy (1941-)
* Head of the Legionnaire Labor Crop (1936-1941)
* Deputy in Romanian Parliament (1933-1941)
* Chief Editor of *Ancestral Earth* (1927-1933)
* Vice President of L.A.N.C's Moldavian Branch (1923-1926)

**Vasile Marin**

* Minister of Justice (1944-)
* Minister of the Interior (1937-1944)
* Ambassador to Spain (1933-1937)

**Traian Herseni**

* Minister of Public Health (1946-)
* Minister of the Interior for the Transylvanian Government (1943-1946)
* Head of Propaganda for Iron Guard of Transylvania (1936-1943)
* Head of Propaganda for the L.R.A (1935-1936)

**Spiru Blănaru**

* Minister of Agriculture and Property (1948-)
* Deputy in Romanian Parliament (1946-1948)
* Member of the Iron Guard of the Banat (1940-1946)
* Head of the Cross Brotherhood's Domasnea Branch (1938-1940)

**George Murnu**

* Minister of Education (1941-)
* Secretary of History for the Ministry of Education (1933-1941)

**Alexandru Bassarab**

* Minister of Propganda (1941-)
* Deputy in Parliament (1937-1941)
* Chief Propagandist for the Iron Guard (1934-1937)

**Victor Vâlcovici**

* Minister of Public Works and Communications (1933-)

**Mihail Manoilescu**

* Minister of Finance (1941-)
* President of Romanian National Bank (1933-1937,1941-)
* Senator in Romanian Parliament (1937-1941)
* Member of the State Department (1919-1921

**Dumitru Groza**

* Minister of Labor (1941-)
* Head of the Legionnaire Labor Crop (1941-)

**Nicolae Colan**

* Minister of Religious Affairs (1946-)
* Archbishop of Vad, Feleac and Clu (1936-)

**Vasile Iasinschi**

* Director of the Siguranta (1944-)

**Constantin Petrovicescu**

* Vice-Director of the Siguranta (1941-)
* Director of the Siguranta (1938-1941)
* Royal Commissioner of the Bucharest Military Omission (1934-1938)

**Mihail Antonescu**

* Romania's Ambassador to Russia (1946-)
* Minister of Foreign Affair (1941-1946)

**Mircea Eliade**

* Head of the Romania Writer Society (1946-)
* Romania's Ambassador to Portugal (1941-1946)

**Aurelian Pană**

* Head of the Ministry of Disturbing Land (1938-)

**Ilie Gârneață**

* Secular Head of the Ministry of Public Morals (1942-)

### Governors

**Radu Mironovici**

* Governor of Bukovina (1946-)
* Commander of the Iron Guard's Bukovina Branch (1936-1946)
* Commander of the Bukovina Branch of the L.R.A (1925-1936)

**Dumitru Carlaonț**

* Military Governor of Transylvania (1946-)
* Commander of the Bukovina Liberation Force (1944-1946)
* Commander of the Iasi Garrison (1941-1944)

**Dimitrie I. Popescu**

* Military Governor of Crisana (1946-)

**Nicolae Rădescu**

* Military Governor of Banat (1946-)

**Alexandru Cantacuzino**

* Governor of Muntenia (1941-)
* Minister of Foreign Affair (1937-1941)
* Head of Cabinet of Ministry of Foreign Affairs (1933-1937)
* Ambassador to Poland (1927-1933)

**Michel Sturdza**

* Governor of Moldova (1941-)
* Ambassador to Germany (1936-1941)
* Ambassador to Russia (1932-1936)

**Nichita Smochină**

* Govenor of Bessarabia (1941-)
* Chief Editor of Moldova Nouă (1935-1941)

**Vasile Noveanu**

* Governor of Oltenia (1941-)

### Military

**Ion Antonescu**

* Minister of National Defense (1941-)
* Joint Chief Of Staff (1941-)
* Chief of Staff of the Romanian Army (1939-1941)

**Constantin Constantinescu-Claps**

* Chief of Staff of the Romanian Army (1941-)

**Horia Macellariu**

* Minister of Marine Defense (1941-)
* Chief of Staff of the Romanian Navy (1940-)

**Ermil Gheorghiu**

* Minister of Aerial Defense (1941-)
* Chief of Staff of the Romanian Air Force (1940-)