1941: Rumania

Iron Guard Revolt.

Rumania was not only involved in 1941 in all the great military developments staged by the Germans in the Balkan Peninsula and in Russia, but also continued to seethe with internal discontent and disorder. At the beginning of the year the country was the scene of a violent outburst of revolt organized by the extremist Fascist Rumanian group, the Iron Guard. In September 1940 the Iron Guard had forced the abdication of King Carol and the complete adhesion of Rumania to the Axis. The government which followed represented a coalition between the Iron Guard and certain reactionary elements of the army under the leadership of General Ion Antonescu, who became the prime minister and 'Führer' of Rumania. The country was proclaimed a 'national legionary state,' from the fact that the name of the Iron Guard was 'Legion of the Archangel Michael.' In the second half of January Iron Guardists revolted against their own government, alarmed by the fact that Germany had forced Rumania to cede a large part of Transylvania to Hungary. They clung as much to their Fascist idea as to the idea of the Rumanian nation, and they accused General Antonescu of selling out Rumania to the Germans. Many of the leading men of the régime, high officers and officials, supported the revolt, among them the vice-premier Horia Sima, the head of the Iron Guard, and Gen. George Petrovicescu, the minister of the interior.

The revolt lasted for several days, before it could be put down by General Antonescu's troops. Street fighting occurred with the greatest violence; the number of dead amounted into the thousands; great material damage was done, and with special savagery many Jews were butchered and their quarters pillaged. It was only at the end of January that General Antonescu restored a semblance of order and formed a new cabinet, mostly consisting of generals and high officers, without any representatives of the Rumanian parties. Although the Iron Guard, to which the majority of the nationalistic youth belong, was forbidden and driven underground, the discontent continued and was increased by the sharply rising prices, by the scarcity of food which was all carried away to Germany, and by the complete dislocation of the entire economic life. All the leading industries of the country were requisitioned by the army and put under its control. The new government, in which General Antonescu was also foreign minister, followed an even more outspoken pro-German policy, turning Rumania, politically, militarily and economically into a German vassal state.

German Troops Based in Rumania.

Meanwhile German troops occupied Rumania in ever-growing numbers, and it became obvious that Rumania was destined to become the principal base for further German advances into the Balkans. As a result of this situation the British decided, on Feb. 10, to break off diplomatic relations with Rumania, because 'Rumanian territory is being used by Germany as a military base in furtherance of her plans for prosecuting the war and because these measures are being taken without a word of dissent from the Rumanian government.' While Rumania became more and more deeply attached to Germany, some leading Rumanians in London and Washington decided to form a Free Rumania movement at the head of which was Viorel Virgil Tilea, former Rumanian minister to London, who declared that most of his countrymen favored a British victory. But the Rumanian government in Bucharest meanwhile took a number of steps tying Rumania irrevocably to the Axis. It was the occupation of Rumania by German troops which allowed the Germans at the beginning of March to cross into Bulgaria and there establish a base for attack against Greece and Yugoslavia by the beginning of April. Rumanian troops even participated in the dismemberment of Yugoslavia and occupied a small eastern part of the Banat which was in dispute between Hungary and Rumania. A reorganization of the Rumanian army was carried through, and, as a result of German pressure, Premier Antonescu tried to win some popular support for his régime after the elimination of the Iron Guard which had originally supported it. But the negotiations with Ion Mihalache, one of the leaders of the Nationalist Peasants, and George Bratianu, a leader of the former Liberal Party, did not bring any results, while a rapprochement between the government and Dr. Juliu Maniu, the popular leader of the democratic peasant forces, was out of the question. The month of June brought trials against the leaders of the Iron Guard revolt, but before they were entirely over, the sudden German invasion of the Soviet Union involved Rumania in a war of great dimensions.

Internal Disorder.

This entrance into the war in no way alleviated the internal situation of the country. The government of General Antonescu introduced the most drastic penalties for the expression of any discontent with the existing régime. There were no less than twenty 'crimes' made punishable by death, among them the drawing of anti-governmental cartoons or the singing of political songs. In a country normally abundant in food and in many ways a granary for other lands, the scarcity of the most necessary foodstuffs grew to such alarming proportions that the death penalty was imposed against those who illegally withheld food from the public or carried on illegal traffic in foodstuffs. General compulsory labor service was introduced except for married women, and the state was given the right of control over all occupations and vocations. When the war in Russia grew more and more costly and the privations increased with the number of the many victims on the battlefield, a wave of rioting, sabotage and bitter resistance swept Rumania at the end of October. Mass executions and the intensified persecution of Jews were powerless to stop the disorders. Even the army itself seemed to be reached by this spirit of disintegration. The lack of coal and fuel increased the misery with the approach of winter, while requisitioning by the German army stripped the country further and further of its food reserves. Under these circumstances Premier Antonescu ordered a national plebiscite on November 9, in which he referred to the great military successes of the Rumanians together with the German army in Russia and asked the Rumanian people to state whether they approved or disapproved of his régime. With the exception of Jews, who had lost the right to vote, all Rumanian citizens over 21 were obliged to participate in the referendum which allowed only the answers of yes and no. No kind of propaganda, speeches or leaflets was allowed before the referendum. In his proclamation General Antonescu said: 'Every day and every hour I have endeavored to protect the destiny of the nation by linking it to the Axis powers. Thanks to loyal and generous understanding of the great Führer, Adolf Hitler, and of Il Duce, I have secured the road leading to the nation's resurrection. The crusade opened by the great army of the Reich and the sacrifices of the German soldiers have enabled us to liberate the soil of our fathers. This we shall never forget. Only nations that are fighting uprightly will emerge in honor from the present struggle.'

Before the referendum voters were asked whether they wished to vote yes or no, and the corresponding bulletins were handed to them by the officials. Needless to say that the population unanimously demanded the right bulletins of vote. Thus strengthened by the expressed confidence of the nation, Premier Antonescu began to work out a new constitution for Rumania in line with the 'New Order,' and new national Jewish laws corresponding to the existing German legislation.

Russo-German War.

Meanwhile, beginning with June 22 the Rumanian armies had crossed the Soviet frontier in the wake of the German troops, chiefly with the intention of reconquering the lands ceded in 1940 to the Soviet Union. In his proclamation to the army, General Antonescu told them 'bring all Bessarabia and the woods of Bukovina back into the fatherland. You will fight shoulder to shoulder and heart to heart with the strongest military might on earth. Be worthy of the honor which history, the army of the great Reich, and its extraordinary leader, Adolf Hitler, have given you.' By July 26 the Rumanian armies had occupied all the territory of Bukovina and Bessarabia which had been ceded to the Soviet Union.

But the Rumanian army did not stop at the former frontiers of Rumania. It crossed the Dniester River and participated in the war for the control of the Ukraine and the port of Odessa. It was there that the Rumanian troops suffered the greatest losses. The government began to speak of the necessary strategical consolidation of its frontiers, by which it meant the annexation of territory outside the former Rumanian borders, for which the new name Transnistria was used. There seemed however much less enthusiasm in Rumania for these conquests than there would have been for the regaining of the part of Transylvania which had been lost to Hungary. The tension with Hungary grew during the fall of 1941, and had it not been for the German army, war between the two German satellites might have broken out. On Dec. 13, Rumania, as a satellite of Germany, notified the American minister at Bucharest that she considered herself at war with the United States. Thus at the end of 1941 Rumania found herself involved as an active participant in a great world conflict, while at the same time seriously weakened by internal disorders.

Decline in Oil Production.

It may be of interest to note that the Rumanian production of oil which is so vitally important to Germany declined during the first half-year of 1941, so that for 1941 the production was estimated at 5,200,000 tons against 8,700,000 in the year 1936. As Rumania has to cover its own use out of this production, less oil was available for export, though in the first six months of 1941 oil formed 72 per cent of the total Rumanian exports. It was estimated that Rumania would be able to export during 1941 a maximum of 3,100,000 tons, the value of which, however, will be as great as that of the export of 1940 and far superior to the value of the much larger export of 1938 or 1939. Of the four districts producing oil in Rumania, Prahova, Dambovitsa, Bacau and Buzau, the most important is the first, in which Ploesti is the largest city. Its productivity has suffered less than that of the other three districts. See also GERMANY; NEW WORLD ORDER.