National Liberal Party-Bratianu
Encyclopedia
The National Liberal Party-Brătianu ' onMouseout='HidePop("86364")' href="/topics/Gheorghe_I._Bratianu">Gheorghe I. Brătianu
) was a right-wing political party
in Romania
, formed as a splinter group from the main liberal
faction, the National Liberals
. For its symbol, PNL-Brătianu chose three vertical bars, placed at equal distance from each other. The Georgists' official voice was Mişcarea, a journal that supported an eponymous publishing house; notably, Mişcarea published art chronicles contributed by the writer Tudor Arghezi
.
The National Liberal Party-Brătianu was active between June 15, 1930 and January 10, 1938. Notable members of the group, other than its founder Brătianu, included the historians Ştefan Ciobanu
, Constantin C. Giurescu
, Scarlat Lambrino, Constantin S. Nicolăescu-Plopşor
, Petre P. Panaitescu, Victor Papacostea, and Aurelian Sacerdoţeanu, the geographer Simion Mehedinţi
, the novelist Mihail Sadoveanu
, the actor and poet Mihail Codreanu, the linguist Alexandru Rosetti, the jurist Paul Negulescu, the Romanian Army general Artur Văitoianu
, and the lawyer Mihai Antonescu
; it was primarily intellectual
in appeal, and was especially involved in recruiting members of social and cultural elite
s, whom it placed at the top of its political hierarchy.
Unlike the main PNL's program of protectionism
and selective interventionism
, Gheorghe I. Brătianu's party advocated economic liberalism. It fused these ideals with nationalist
demands, including, in reference to belonging to the many businesses owned by ethnic minority
businessmen, the Romanianization
of industry
. However, as the Great Depression
began to affect Romania, it recommended a government monopoly
over the financial market
; Its nationalist discourse was itself tempered from inside the group: while welcoming minorities inside its structures, it condemned the far right
and anti-Semitic
doctrines (including, notably, the Jewish quota
proposed by Romanian Front
and the National Christian Party
).
and at the start of Vintilă Brătianu
's leadership, the party had lost power to the most important opposition group — the National Peasants' Party
(PNŢ) —, being crushed in the elections of 1928 (when it obtained only 6.5% of the vote). The PNL had become factionalized over issues related to policy, with the most radical of the new currents being Jean Th. Florescu's Free Man Grouping (after openly attacking Vintilă Brătianu, the latter split in 1931 to create the Liberal Democratic Party).
In Gheorghe I. Brătianu's case, the cause for conflict was his uncle Vintilă's decision to stand by his commitment to the rule of King
Mihai I
and the Regency
(formed around Prince Nicholas of Romania
), at the moment when the PNŢ Premier Gheorghe Mironescu
had ensured the unexpected return of Carol II
(who replaced his son on the throne during the month of June); Gheorghe I. Brătianu, who was head of the Iaşi County
section of the PNL, voiced his full support for the new monarch, and, despite his energetic protests, was soon after excluded from the party. Nevertheless, Vintilă Brătianu and Carol normalized their relations in July, just a six months before the former's unexpected death. The main PNL was subsequently led by Ion G. Duca
, who was assisted by the future leader of the so-called "young liberals" (supporting both free trade
and an authoritarian
rule over the country around the king's person), Gheorghe Tătărescu
.
came to power in Germany
, Gheorghe I. Brătianu publicly declared his admiration for him — this partial assimilation of fascism
was a discourse also present with several other intellectual
s (the historian Nicolae Iorga
and the poet Octavian Goga
). Duca's premiership, begun in November of the same year, saw an exodus of Georgists back to the PNL, after a failed attempt to have the party itself reunite with the latter. At around the same time, PNL-Brătianu began moving away from supporting the king, as its leader refused to compromise with the camarilla
forming around Carol. Gheorghe I. Brătianu turned down multiple offers to become premier, at a time when Carol sought new solutions to combat the rise in popularity of the fascist
Iron Guard
.
After 1934, Brătianu visited Berlin
several times, and began talks with Nazi
authorities over the guidelines of Romanian external policies, which he wanted to divert from their focus on a Franco
-British
alliance (and its Eastern European reflections - the Little Entente
and the Polish-Romanian Alliance
). He was also suspicious of the planned appeasement between Romania and the Soviet Union
, and claimed that the Foreign Minister Nicolae Titulescu
was campaigning in favour of a pact with Joseph Stalin
, which potentially threatened the territorial gains (Greater Romania
) by failing to guarantee for Bessarabia
and Bukovina
. Although he was initially received with interest, Brătianu's plans were ultimately rejected by the Germans, who chose to maintain a closer relationship with Hungary
, Romania's rival.
When Duca was assassinated by the Iron Guard on December 30, 1933, Tătărescu's succession to the premiership effectively led to a change in political programs, as the new executive was open to collaboration with Carol. In the new context, Brătianu became an opponent of the monarch, and, in front of Carol's attempts to have the 1923 Constitution
amended by authoritarian legislation, was a supporter of legal traditions; the Georgists also expressed reserve towards the outlawing of the Iron Guard, viewing it as a dangerous precedent. The PNL-Brătianu found itself in a bitter rivalry with the "young liberals", whose presence in the forefront blocked all negotiations between the two.
). With just 14 to 16 representatives to the Chamber of Deputies
throughout its existence, the Georgists still ranked consistently as the fourth or sixth most successful party in the country. In 1934, together with Alexandru Averescu
's People's Party, it created the Constitutional Front, which soon (but briefly) included Mihai Stelescu
's Crusade of Romanianism
(emerged as an offshoot of the Iron Guard, it disappeared a short while after its leader was assassinated) and Grigore Forţu's minor Citizen Bloc. It disbanded it 1936.
In elections of November 1937, the Georgists joined with the National Peasants' Party
and the Iron Guard in the electoral pact that was meant to protect the opposition from all possible interference of the Tătărescu government in the results of the voting. The uniquely undecisive results of the voting allowed Carol to form a loyal executive around the far right
National Christian Party
and its leaders, Octavian Goga
and A. C. Cuza
; the Georgists remained in opposition to the new government, and began talks for a reconciliation with the PNL, after the defeated Tătărescu lost ground to the "old liberal" leadership around Dinu Brătianu
(the second brother of Ion I. C.
and the uncle of Gheorghe). The reunion occurred exactly a month before Carol dismissed the Goga government and, nominally outlawing all parties to create the National Renaissance Front
, established his own dictatorship. When Tătărescu chose to back the regime and was expelled, Gheorghe I. Brătianu became replaced his rival as the second most important figure of the semi-clandestine party, and agreed to join the National Peasants' Party in voicing criticism of Carol's authoritarian policies.
, Romania was, despite its neutrality, a target for the hostility of both Germany and the Soviet Union after the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact
(se Romania during World War II
). Gheorghe I. Brătianu attempted to determine more Axis
sympathy towards Greater Romania's borders by discussing the matter with the German Foreign Minister Joachim von Ribbentrop
— consequently, he was placed under surveillance by Siguranţa Statului, on Carol's direct orders. In 1940, Greater Romania was disestablished through the Soviet annexation of Bessarabia
and Northern Bukovina, the cession
of Northern Transylvania
to Hungary, and that of Southern Dobruja
to Bulgaria
. Although being, as himself later pointed out, "a Germanophile
", Gheorghe I. Brătianu signed his name to a protest regarding the German-enforced Arbitration, and later stated that he had "preferred Germany's hostility to its scorn".
In September 1940, the newly-created Iron Guard regime (the National Legionary State
) offered the PNL places in the government, upon the pressures of Ion Antonescu
(who had become Conducător
, sharing power with the Guard) and of his assistant, the former Georgist Mihai Antonescu
; talks failed due to Brătianu's excessive ambitions, amounting to virtual Liberal control over the executive (according to Z. Ornea, his demand was merely a procedure through which he intended to politely avoid all association with the Guard). When Antonescu's regime joined Germany in its invasion of the Soviet Union
(1941), Brătianu was drafted in the Romanian Army, serving as an officer for several months under General Nicolae Mazarini. Supportive of the Bessarabian expedition, he expressed criticism of Romania's Transnistrian
conquests.
Starting in 1944, when Romania was placed under Soviet influence
, Brătianu's early platform was attacked by the Romanian Communist Party
as a sign of fascist
influences, and the issue of his support for an alliance with Germany was interpreted in the same sense; it was also alleged that he had been, in fact, an anti-communist
volunteer in the war against the Soviets. These accusations were partly the basis for his arrest, and contributed to his death in custody at Sighet prison
after the establishent of the Romanian communist regime
.
Gheorghe I. Bratianu
Gheorghe I. Brătianu was a Romanian politician and historian. A member of the Brătianu family and initially affiliated with the National Liberal Party, he broke away from the movement to create and lead the National Liberal Party-Brătianu.Born in Ruginoasa, Baia County to Ion I.C...
) was a right-wing political party
Political party
A political party is a political organization that typically seeks to influence government policy, usually by nominating their own candidates and trying to seat them in political office. Parties participate in electoral campaigns, educational outreach or protest actions...
in Romania
Romania
Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeastern Europe, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian arch, bordering on the Black Sea...
, formed as a splinter group from the main liberal
Liberalism and radicalism in Romania
This article gives an overview of Liberalism and Radicalism in Romania. It is limited to liberal parties with substantial support, mainly proved by having had a representation in parliament. The sign ⇒ denotes another party in this scheme...
faction, the National Liberals
National Liberal Party (Romania)
The National Liberal Party , abbreviated to PNL, is a centre-right liberal party in Romania. It is the third-largest party in the Romanian Parliament, with 53 seats in the Chamber of Deputies and 22 in the Senate: behind the centre-right Democratic Liberal Party and the centre-left Social...
. For its symbol, PNL-Brătianu chose three vertical bars, placed at equal distance from each other. The Georgists' official voice was Mişcarea, a journal that supported an eponymous publishing house; notably, Mişcarea published art chronicles contributed by the writer Tudor Arghezi
Tudor Arghezi
Tudor Arghezi was a Romanian writer, best known for his contribution to poetry and children's literature. Born Ion N. Theodorescu in Bucharest , he explained that his pen name was related to Argesis, the Latin name for the Argeş River.-Early life:Along with Mihai Eminescu, Mateiu Caragiale, and...
.
The National Liberal Party-Brătianu was active between June 15, 1930 and January 10, 1938. Notable members of the group, other than its founder Brătianu, included the historians Ştefan Ciobanu
Ştefan Ciobanu
Ştefan Ciobanu is a Romanian professional football striker....
, Constantin C. Giurescu
Constantin C. Giurescu
Constantin C . Giurescu was a Romanian historian, member of Romanian Academy and professor at the University of Bucharest.Born in Focşani, son of historian Constantin Giurescu, he completed his primary and secondary studies in Bucharest...
, Scarlat Lambrino, Constantin S. Nicolăescu-Plopşor
Constantin S. Nicolăescu-Plopşor
Constantin S. Nicolăescu-Plopşor or Nicolaescu-Plopşor was a Romanian historian, archeologist, anthropologist and ethnographer, also known as a and folkorist and children's writer, whose diverse activities were primarily focused on his native region of Oltenia...
, Petre P. Panaitescu, Victor Papacostea, and Aurelian Sacerdoţeanu, the geographer Simion Mehedinţi
Simion Mehedinti
Simion Mehedinţi was a Romanian geographer and member of the Romanian Academy. A figure of importance in the Junimea literary club, he was for a while editor of its magazine, Convorbiri Literare....
, the novelist Mihail Sadoveanu
Mihail Sadoveanu
Mihail Sadoveanu was a Romanian novelist, short story writer, journalist and political figure, who twice served as acting republican head of state under the communist regime . One of the most prolific Romanian-language writers, he is remembered mostly for his historical and adventure novels, as...
, the actor and poet Mihail Codreanu, the linguist Alexandru Rosetti, the jurist Paul Negulescu, the Romanian Army general Artur Văitoianu
Artur Vaitoianu
Artur or Arthur Văitoianu was a Romanian general who served as a Prime Minister of Romania for about two months in 1919...
, and the lawyer Mihai Antonescu
Mihai Antonescu
Mihai Antonescu was a Romanian politician who served as Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister during World War II.-Early career:...
; it was primarily intellectual
Intellectual
An intellectual is a person who uses intelligence and critical or analytical reasoning in either a professional or a personal capacity.- Terminology and endeavours :"Intellectual" can denote four types of persons:...
in appeal, and was especially involved in recruiting members of social and cultural elite
Elite
Elite refers to an exceptional or privileged group that wields considerable power within its sphere of influence...
s, whom it placed at the top of its political hierarchy.
Unlike the main PNL's program of protectionism
Protectionism
Protectionism is the economic policy of restraining trade between states through methods such as tariffs on imported goods, restrictive quotas, and a variety of other government regulations designed to allow "fair competition" between imports and goods and services produced domestically.This...
and selective interventionism
Interventionism
Interventionism may refer to:*Interventionism is a political term for significant activity undertaken by a state to influence something not directly under its control....
, Gheorghe I. Brătianu's party advocated economic liberalism. It fused these ideals with nationalist
Nationalism
Nationalism is a political ideology that involves a strong identification of a group of individuals with a political entity defined in national terms, i.e. a nation. In the 'modernist' image of the nation, it is nationalism that creates national identity. There are various definitions for what...
demands, including, in reference to belonging to the many businesses owned by ethnic minority
Minorities of Romania
Officially, 10.5% of Romania's population is represented by minorities . The principal minorities in Romania are Hungarians and Roma people, with a declining German population and smaller numbers of Poles in Bucovina...
businessmen, the Romanianization
Romanianization
Romanianization or Rumanization is the term used to describe a number of ethnic assimilation policies implemented by the Romanian authorities during the 20th century...
of industry
Industry
Industry refers to the production of an economic good or service within an economy.-Industrial sectors:There are four key industrial economic sectors: the primary sector, largely raw material extraction industries such as mining and farming; the secondary sector, involving refining, construction,...
. However, as the Great Depression
Great Depression
The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...
began to affect Romania, it recommended a government monopoly
Government monopoly
In economics, a government monopoly is a form of coercive monopoly in which a government agency or government corporation is the sole provider of a particular good or service and competition is prohibited by law...
over the financial market
Financial market
In economics, a financial market is a mechanism that allows people and entities to buy and sell financial securities , commodities , and other fungible items of value at low transaction costs and at prices that reflect supply and demand.Both general markets and...
; Its nationalist discourse was itself tempered from inside the group: while welcoming minorities inside its structures, it condemned the far right
Far right
Far-right, extreme right, hard right, radical right, and ultra-right are terms used to discuss the qualitative or quantitative position a group or person occupies within right-wing politics. Far-right politics may involve anti-immigration and anti-integration stances towards groups that are...
and anti-Semitic
Anti-Semitism
Antisemitism is suspicion of, hatred toward, or discrimination against Jews for reasons connected to their Jewish heritage. According to a 2005 U.S...
doctrines (including, notably, the Jewish quota
Jewish quota
Jewish quota was a percentage that limited the number of Jews in various establishments. In particular, in 19th and 20th centuries some countries had Jewish quotas for higher education, a special case of Numerus clausus....
proposed by Romanian Front
Romanian Front
The Romanian Front was a Fascist party created in 1935 - being led by Alexandru Vaida-Voevod as a splinter group from the National Peasants' Party.-History:...
and the National Christian Party
National Christian Party
The National Christian Party was a Romanian political party, the product of a union between Octavian Goga's National Agrarian Party and A. C. Cuza's National-Christian Defense League; a prominent member of the party was the philosopher Nichifor Crainic...
).
Emergence
The clash between Gheorghe I. Brătianu and the main party occurred in 1930, as, in the period following the death of Ion I. C. BrătianuIon I. C. Bratianu
Ion I. C. Brătianu was a Romanian politician, leader of the National Liberal Party , the Prime Minister of Romania for five terms, and Foreign Minister on several occasions; he was the eldest son of statesman and PNL leader Ion Brătianu, the brother of Vintilă and Dinu Brătianu, and the father of...
and at the start of Vintilă Brătianu
Vintila Bratianu
Vintilă Brătianu was a Romanian politician who served as Prime Minister of Romania between 24 November 1927 and 2 November 1928.Vintilă and his brothers Ion and Dinu were the leaders of the National Liberal Party of Romania...
's leadership, the party had lost power to the most important opposition group — the National Peasants' Party
National Peasants' Party
The National Peasants' Party was a Romanian political party, formed in 1926 through the fusion of the Romanian National Party from Transylvania and the Peasants' Party . It was in power between 1928 and 1933, with brief interruptions...
(PNŢ) —, being crushed in the elections of 1928 (when it obtained only 6.5% of the vote). The PNL had become factionalized over issues related to policy, with the most radical of the new currents being Jean Th. Florescu's Free Man Grouping (after openly attacking Vintilă Brătianu, the latter split in 1931 to create the Liberal Democratic Party).
In Gheorghe I. Brătianu's case, the cause for conflict was his uncle Vintilă's decision to stand by his commitment to the rule of King
King of Romania
King of the Romanians , rather than King of Romania , was the official title of the ruler of the Kingdom of Romania from 1881 until 1947, when Romania was proclaimed a republic....
Mihai I
Michael I of Romania
Michael was the last King of Romania. He reigned from 20 July 1927 to 8 June 1930, and again from 6 September 1940 until 30 December 1947 when he was forced, by the Communist Party of Romania , to abdicate to the Soviet armies of occupation...
and the Regency
Regent
A regent, from the Latin regens "one who reigns", is a person selected to act as head of state because the ruler is a minor, not present, or debilitated. Currently there are only two ruling Regencies in the world, sovereign Liechtenstein and the Malaysian constitutive state of Terengganu...
(formed around Prince Nicholas of Romania
Prince Nicholas of Romania
| style="float:right;"|Prince Nicholas of Romania was the second son of King Ferdinand I and Queen Marie of Romania.- Biography :Born in Peleş Castle, Sinaia, Nicholas was the younger brother of Carol, heir apparent, who renounced his rights of succession on 12 December 1925...
), at the moment when the PNŢ Premier Gheorghe Mironescu
Gheorghe Mironescu
Gheorghe G. Mironescu, commonly known as G. G. Mironescu , was a Romanian politician, member of the National Peasants' Party , who served as a Prime Minister of Romania for two terms.-Biography:...
had ensured the unexpected return of Carol II
Carol II of Romania
Carol II reigned as King of Romania from 8 June 1930 until 6 September 1940. Eldest son of Ferdinand, King of Romania, and his wife, Queen Marie, a daughter of Prince Alfred, Duke of Edinburgh, the second eldest son of Queen Victoria...
(who replaced his son on the throne during the month of June); Gheorghe I. Brătianu, who was head of the Iaşi County
Iasi County
Iași is a county of Romania, in Moldavia, with the administrative seat at Iași.-Demographics:As of 1 July 2007, Iași County had a population of 825,100, making it the second most populous county in Romania after Bucharest, with a population density of 150/km².*Romanians - 98.1%*Roma -...
section of the PNL, voiced his full support for the new monarch, and, despite his energetic protests, was soon after excluded from the party. Nevertheless, Vintilă Brătianu and Carol normalized their relations in July, just a six months before the former's unexpected death. The main PNL was subsequently led by Ion G. Duca
Ion G. Duca
Ion Gheorghe Duca was prime minister of Romania from November 14 to December 30, 1933, when he was assassinated for his efforts to suppress the fascist Iron Guard movement.-Life and political career:...
, who was assisted by the future leader of the so-called "young liberals" (supporting both free trade
Free trade
Under a free trade policy, prices emerge from supply and demand, and are the sole determinant of resource allocation. 'Free' trade differs from other forms of trade policy where the allocation of goods and services among trading countries are determined by price strategies that may differ from...
and an authoritarian
Authoritarianism
Authoritarianism is a form of social organization characterized by submission to authority. It is usually opposed to individualism and democracy...
rule over the country around the king's person), Gheorghe Tătărescu
Gheorghe Tatarescu
Gheorghe I. Tătărescu was a Romanian politician who served twice as Prime Minister of Romania , three times as Minister of Foreign Affairs , and once as Minister of War...
.
Pro-German stance
In 1933, as Adolf HitlerAdolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler was an Austrian-born German politician and the leader of the National Socialist German Workers Party , commonly referred to as the Nazi Party). He was Chancellor of Germany from 1933 to 1945, and head of state from 1934 to 1945...
came to power in Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
, Gheorghe I. Brătianu publicly declared his admiration for him — this partial assimilation of fascism
Fascism
Fascism is a radical authoritarian nationalist political ideology. Fascists seek to rejuvenate their nation based on commitment to the national community as an organic entity, in which individuals are bound together in national identity by suprapersonal connections of ancestry, culture, and blood...
was a discourse also present with several other intellectual
Intellectual
An intellectual is a person who uses intelligence and critical or analytical reasoning in either a professional or a personal capacity.- Terminology and endeavours :"Intellectual" can denote four types of persons:...
s (the historian Nicolae Iorga
Nicolae Iorga
Nicolae Iorga was a Romanian historian, politician, literary critic, memoirist, poet and playwright. Co-founder of the Democratic Nationalist Party , he served as a member of Parliament, President of the Deputies' Assembly and Senate, cabinet minister and briefly as Prime Minister...
and the poet Octavian Goga
Octavian Goga
Octavian Goga was a Romanian politician, poet, playwright, journalist, and translator.-Life:Born in Răşinari, nearby Sibiu, he was an active member in the Romanian nationalistic movement in Transylvania and of its leading group, the Romanian National Party in Austria-Hungary. Before World War I,...
). Duca's premiership, begun in November of the same year, saw an exodus of Georgists back to the PNL, after a failed attempt to have the party itself reunite with the latter. At around the same time, PNL-Brătianu began moving away from supporting the king, as its leader refused to compromise with the camarilla
Camarilla
Camarilla may refer to:*Camarilla, an unofficial group of courtiers or favorites surrounding and influencing a king or ruler, specifically the two such groups prominent in German history....
forming around Carol. Gheorghe I. Brătianu turned down multiple offers to become premier, at a time when Carol sought new solutions to combat the rise in popularity of the fascist
Fascism
Fascism is a radical authoritarian nationalist political ideology. Fascists seek to rejuvenate their nation based on commitment to the national community as an organic entity, in which individuals are bound together in national identity by suprapersonal connections of ancestry, culture, and blood...
Iron Guard
Iron Guard
The Iron Guard is the name most commonly given to a far-right movement and political party in Romania in the period from 1927 into the early part of World War II. The Iron Guard was ultra-nationalist, fascist, anti-communist, and promoted the Orthodox Christian faith...
.
After 1934, Brătianu visited Berlin
Berlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
several times, and began talks with Nazi
Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany , also known as the Third Reich , but officially called German Reich from 1933 to 1943 and Greater German Reich from 26 June 1943 onward, is the name commonly used to refer to the state of Germany from 1933 to 1945, when it was a totalitarian dictatorship ruled by...
authorities over the guidelines of Romanian external policies, which he wanted to divert from their focus on a Franco
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
-British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
alliance (and its Eastern European reflections - the Little Entente
Little Entente
The Little Entente was an alliance formed in 1920 and 1921 by Czechoslovakia, Romania and Yugoslavia with the purpose of common defense against Hungarian revision and the prevention of a Habsburg restoration...
and the Polish-Romanian Alliance
Polish-Romanian Alliance
The Polish–Romanian Alliance was a series of treaties signed in the interwar period by the Second Polish Republic and the Kingdom of Romania. The first of them was signed in 1921 and, together, the treaties formed a basis for good foreign relations between the two countries that lasted until World...
). He was also suspicious of the planned appeasement between Romania and the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
, and claimed that the Foreign Minister Nicolae Titulescu
Nicolae Titulescu
Nicolae Titulescu was a well-known Romanian diplomat, at various times government minister, finance and foreign minister, and for two terms President of the General Assembly of the League of Nations . He was a member of the Freemasonry.-Early years:...
was campaigning in favour of a pact with Joseph Stalin
Joseph Stalin
Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin was the Premier of the Soviet Union from 6 May 1941 to 5 March 1953. He was among the Bolshevik revolutionaries who brought about the October Revolution and had held the position of first General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union's Central Committee...
, which potentially threatened the territorial gains (Greater Romania
Greater Romania
The Greater Romania generally refers to the territory of Romania in the years between the First World War and the Second World War, the largest geographical extent of Romania up to that time and its largest peacetime extent ever ; more precisely, it refers to the territory of the Kingdom of...
) by failing to guarantee for Bessarabia
Bessarabia
Bessarabia is a historical term for the geographic region in Eastern Europe bounded by the Dniester River on the east and the Prut River on the west....
and Bukovina
Bukovina
Bukovina is a historical region on the northern slopes of the northeastern Carpathian Mountains and the adjoining plains.-Name:The name Bukovina came into official use in 1775 with the region's annexation from the Principality of Moldavia to the possessions of the Habsburg Monarchy, which became...
. Although he was initially received with interest, Brătianu's plans were ultimately rejected by the Germans, who chose to maintain a closer relationship with Hungary
Hungary
Hungary , officially the Republic of Hungary , is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is situated in the Carpathian Basin and is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine and Romania to the east, Serbia and Croatia to the south, Slovenia to the southwest and Austria to the west. The...
, Romania's rival.
When Duca was assassinated by the Iron Guard on December 30, 1933, Tătărescu's succession to the premiership effectively led to a change in political programs, as the new executive was open to collaboration with Carol. In the new context, Brătianu became an opponent of the monarch, and, in front of Carol's attempts to have the 1923 Constitution
1923 Constitution of Romania
The 1923 Constitution of Romania, also called the Constitution of Union, was intended to align the organisation of the state on the basis of universal male suffrage and the new realities that arose after the Great Union of 1918. Four draft constitutions existed: one belonging to the National...
amended by authoritarian legislation, was a supporter of legal traditions; the Georgists also expressed reserve towards the outlawing of the Iron Guard, viewing it as a dangerous precedent. The PNL-Brătianu found itself in a bitter rivalry with the "young liberals", whose presence in the forefront blocked all negotiations between the two.
Electoral results and reunion with the PNL
Present in all but one electoral district by 1933, Brătianu's group won only 6.5% of the vote in the 1932 elections (when it chose not to form any electoral allianceElectoral alliance
An electoral alliance may take the form of a bipartisan electoral agreement, electoral agreement, electoral coalition or electoral bloc. It is an association of political parties or individuals which exists solely to stand in elections...
). With just 14 to 16 representatives to the Chamber of Deputies
Chamber of Deputies of Romania
The Chamber of Deputies is the lower house in Romania's bicameral parliament. It has 315 seats, to which deputies are elected by direct popular vote on a proportional representation basis to serve four-year terms...
throughout its existence, the Georgists still ranked consistently as the fourth or sixth most successful party in the country. In 1934, together with Alexandru Averescu
Alexandru Averescu
Alexandru Averescu was a Romanian marshal and populist politician. A Romanian Armed Forces Commander during World War I, he served as Prime Minister of three separate cabinets . He first rose to prominence during the peasant's revolt of 1907, which he helped repress in violence...
's People's Party, it created the Constitutional Front, which soon (but briefly) included Mihai Stelescu
Mihai Stelescu
-With the Iron Guard:Born in Galaţi, he joined, while still in high school, the Legion of the Archangel Michael , an ultra-nationalist, Fascist, and anti-Semitic political movement led by Corneliu Zelea Codreanu....
's Crusade of Romanianism
Crusade of Romanianism
The Crusade of Romanianism was a Romanian fascist movement that was active during the 1930s.Formed in 1935 as the White Eagles the Crusade was made up of the supporters of Mihai Stelescu who had left the Iron Guard in acrimonious circumstances the previous year...
(emerged as an offshoot of the Iron Guard, it disappeared a short while after its leader was assassinated) and Grigore Forţu's minor Citizen Bloc. It disbanded it 1936.
In elections of November 1937, the Georgists joined with the National Peasants' Party
National Peasants' Party
The National Peasants' Party was a Romanian political party, formed in 1926 through the fusion of the Romanian National Party from Transylvania and the Peasants' Party . It was in power between 1928 and 1933, with brief interruptions...
and the Iron Guard in the electoral pact that was meant to protect the opposition from all possible interference of the Tătărescu government in the results of the voting. The uniquely undecisive results of the voting allowed Carol to form a loyal executive around the far right
Far right
Far-right, extreme right, hard right, radical right, and ultra-right are terms used to discuss the qualitative or quantitative position a group or person occupies within right-wing politics. Far-right politics may involve anti-immigration and anti-integration stances towards groups that are...
National Christian Party
National Christian Party
The National Christian Party was a Romanian political party, the product of a union between Octavian Goga's National Agrarian Party and A. C. Cuza's National-Christian Defense League; a prominent member of the party was the philosopher Nichifor Crainic...
and its leaders, Octavian Goga
Octavian Goga
Octavian Goga was a Romanian politician, poet, playwright, journalist, and translator.-Life:Born in Răşinari, nearby Sibiu, he was an active member in the Romanian nationalistic movement in Transylvania and of its leading group, the Romanian National Party in Austria-Hungary. Before World War I,...
and A. C. Cuza
A. C. Cuza
A. C. Cuza was a Romanian far right politician and theorist.-Early life:Born in Iaşi, after attending secondary school in his native city and in Dresden, Cuza studied law at the University of Paris, the Universität unter den Linden, and the Université Libre de Bruxelles...
; the Georgists remained in opposition to the new government, and began talks for a reconciliation with the PNL, after the defeated Tătărescu lost ground to the "old liberal" leadership around Dinu Brătianu
Dinu Bratianu
Dinu Brătianu , born Constantin I. C. Brătianu, was a Romanian politician, who led the National Liberal Party starting with 1934.-Early career:...
(the second brother of Ion I. C.
Ion I. C. Bratianu
Ion I. C. Brătianu was a Romanian politician, leader of the National Liberal Party , the Prime Minister of Romania for five terms, and Foreign Minister on several occasions; he was the eldest son of statesman and PNL leader Ion Brătianu, the brother of Vintilă and Dinu Brătianu, and the father of...
and the uncle of Gheorghe). The reunion occurred exactly a month before Carol dismissed the Goga government and, nominally outlawing all parties to create the National Renaissance Front
National Renaissance Front
The National Renaissance Front was a fascist Romanian political party created by King Carol II in 1938 as the single monopoly party of government following his decision to ban all other political parties and suspend the 1923 Constitution, and the passing of the 1938 Constitution of Romania...
, established his own dictatorship. When Tătărescu chose to back the regime and was expelled, Gheorghe I. Brătianu became replaced his rival as the second most important figure of the semi-clandestine party, and agreed to join the National Peasants' Party in voicing criticism of Carol's authoritarian policies.
Legacy
After the outbreak of World War IIWorld War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, Romania was, despite its neutrality, a target for the hostility of both Germany and the Soviet Union after the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact
Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact
The Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact, named after the Soviet foreign minister Vyacheslav Molotov and the German foreign minister Joachim von Ribbentrop, was an agreement officially titled the Treaty of Non-Aggression between Germany and the Soviet Union and signed in Moscow in the late hours of 23 August 1939...
(se Romania during World War II
Romania during World War II
Following the outbreak of World War II on 1 September 1939, the Kingdom of Romania officially adopted a position of neutrality. However, the rapidly changing situation in Europe during 1940, as well as domestic political upheaval, undermined this stance. Fascist political forces such as the Iron...
). Gheorghe I. Brătianu attempted to determine more Axis
Axis Powers
The Axis powers , also known as the Axis alliance, Axis nations, Axis countries, or just the Axis, was an alignment of great powers during the mid-20th century that fought World War II against the Allies. It began in 1936 with treaties of friendship between Germany and Italy and between Germany and...
sympathy towards Greater Romania's borders by discussing the matter with the German Foreign Minister Joachim von Ribbentrop
Joachim von Ribbentrop
Ulrich Friedrich Wilhelm Joachim von Ribbentrop was Foreign Minister of Germany from 1938 until 1945. He was later hanged for war crimes after the Nuremberg Trials.-Early life:...
— consequently, he was placed under surveillance by Siguranţa Statului, on Carol's direct orders. In 1940, Greater Romania was disestablished through the Soviet annexation of Bessarabia
Bessarabia
Bessarabia is a historical term for the geographic region in Eastern Europe bounded by the Dniester River on the east and the Prut River on the west....
and Northern Bukovina, the cession
Second Vienna Award
The Second Vienna Award was the second of two Vienna Awards arbitrated by the Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy. Rendered on August 30, 1940, it re-assigned the territory of Northern Transylvania from Romania to Hungary.-Prelude and historical background :After the World War I, the multi-ethnic...
of Northern Transylvania
Northern Transylvania
Northern Transylvania is a region of Transylvania, situated within the territory of Romania. The population is largely composed of both ethnic Romanians and Hungarians, and the region has been part of Romania since 1918 . During World War II, as a consequence of the territorial agreement known as...
to Hungary, and that of Southern Dobruja
Southern Dobruja
Southern Dobruja is an area of north-eastern Bulgaria comprising the administrative districts named for its two principal cities of Dobrich and Silistra...
to Bulgaria
Bulgaria
Bulgaria , officially the Republic of Bulgaria , is a parliamentary democracy within a unitary constitutional republic in Southeast Europe. The country borders Romania to the north, Serbia and Macedonia to the west, Greece and Turkey to the south, as well as the Black Sea to the east...
. Although being, as himself later pointed out, "a Germanophile
Germanophile
A Germanophile is a person who is fond of German culture, German people, and Germany in general, exhibiting as it were German nationalism in spite of not being an ethnic German or a German citizen. Its opposite is Germanophobia...
", Gheorghe I. Brătianu signed his name to a protest regarding the German-enforced Arbitration, and later stated that he had "preferred Germany's hostility to its scorn".
In September 1940, the newly-created Iron Guard regime (the National Legionary State
National Legionary State
The National Legionary State was the Romanian government from September 6, 1940 to January 23, 1941. It was a single-party regime dictatorship dominated by the overtly fascist Iron Guard in uneasy conjunction with the head of government and Conducător Ion Antonescu, the leader of the Romanian...
) offered the PNL places in the government, upon the pressures of Ion Antonescu
Ion Antonescu
Ion Victor Antonescu was a Romanian soldier, authoritarian politician and convicted war criminal. The Prime Minister and Conducător during most of World War II, he presided over two successive wartime dictatorships...
(who had become Conducător
Conducator
Conducător was the title used officially in two instances by Romanian politicians, and earlier by Carol II.-History:...
, sharing power with the Guard) and of his assistant, the former Georgist Mihai Antonescu
Mihai Antonescu
Mihai Antonescu was a Romanian politician who served as Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister during World War II.-Early career:...
; talks failed due to Brătianu's excessive ambitions, amounting to virtual Liberal control over the executive (according to Z. Ornea, his demand was merely a procedure through which he intended to politely avoid all association with the Guard). When Antonescu's regime joined Germany in its invasion of the Soviet Union
Operation Barbarossa
Operation Barbarossa was the code name for Germany's invasion of the Soviet Union during World War II that began on 22 June 1941. Over 4.5 million troops of the Axis powers invaded the USSR along a front., the largest invasion in the history of warfare...
(1941), Brătianu was drafted in the Romanian Army, serving as an officer for several months under General Nicolae Mazarini. Supportive of the Bessarabian expedition, he expressed criticism of Romania's Transnistrian
Transnistria (World War II)
Transnistria Governorate was a Romanian administered territory, conquered by the Axis Powers from the Soviet Union during Operation Barbarossa, and occupied from 19 August 1941 to 29 January 1944...
conquests.
Starting in 1944, when Romania was placed under Soviet influence
Soviet occupation of Romania
The Soviet occupation of Romania refers to the period from 1944 to August 1958, during which the Soviet Union maintained a significant military presence in Romania...
, Brătianu's early platform was attacked by the Romanian Communist Party
Romanian Communist Party
The Romanian Communist Party was a communist political party in Romania. Successor to the Bolshevik wing of the Socialist Party of Romania, it gave ideological endorsement to communist revolution and the disestablishment of Greater Romania. The PCR was a minor and illegal grouping for much of the...
as a sign of fascist
Fascism
Fascism is a radical authoritarian nationalist political ideology. Fascists seek to rejuvenate their nation based on commitment to the national community as an organic entity, in which individuals are bound together in national identity by suprapersonal connections of ancestry, culture, and blood...
influences, and the issue of his support for an alliance with Germany was interpreted in the same sense; it was also alleged that he had been, in fact, an anti-communist
Anti-communism
Anti-communism is opposition to communism. Organized anti-communism developed in reaction to the rise of communism, especially after the 1917 October Revolution in Russia and the beginning of the Cold War in 1947.-Objections to communist theory:...
volunteer in the war against the Soviets. These accusations were partly the basis for his arrest, and contributed to his death in custody at Sighet prison
Sighet prison
The Sighet prison, located in the town of Sighetu Marmaţiei, Maramureş county, Romania, was used by the communist regime to hold political prisoners...
after the establishent of the Romanian communist regime
Communist Romania
Communist Romania was the period in Romanian history when that country was a Soviet-aligned communist state in the Eastern Bloc, with the dominant role of Romanian Communist Party enshrined in its successive constitutions...
.