1942: Rumania

Rumania, aligned with the Axis and completely under German control, lived in 1942 through a year of great strain in domestic and in foreign affairs. King Mihail is a pure figurehead, all power is in the hands of Marshal Ion Antonescu, who is Prime Minister and at the same time bears the title Conducator, the Rumanian equivalent of Fuehrer or Duce. In spite of the fact that the war against Russia on the side of Germany had brought to Rumania not only the reconquest of Bessarabia and northern Bukovina — territories which Rumania had been forced to cede to Russia in 1940 — but even beyond her old frontiers the conquest of territory between the Dniester and Bug rivers with the important port of Odessa as the capital, the war against Russia was felt more and more as a tremendous burden upon the resources of the country. The Rumanians had believed, as the Germans had promised them, that the defeat of Russia would be easy and that the war would be over in a few months. They were in no way prepared for the bitter resistance of the Soviet army and for the very great sacrifices which two winter campaigns in Russia would exact. The number of Rumanian casualties was very great, especially in view of the fact that the German high command used the Rumanian army frequently for tasks which were especially costly in life. Rumanian troops had a great share in the siege of Sebastopol in the Crimea and later in the difficult operations on the lower Don and in the Caucasian Mountains. Confidence in an easy victory, and finally in a German victory at all, began to wane, and it was reported from reliable sources that many Rumanian officers opposed Rumania's participation in a war which brought with it complete subservience of the country to Germany and to her military and economic needs.

Internal Affairs.

The war-weariness of the Rumanian population was increased by the difficult internal situation. In spite of the fact that Rumania is one of the most fertile countries of Europe, prices for food stuff and for all goods have risen to astronomical figures, so that Rumania, where the income of the average citizen is extremely low, has become one of the most expensive countries in Europe. Goods and food are not only expensive, but they can be obtained only with greatest difficulty. Their scarcity is to be explained not only by decrease in production but also by the great obstacles in the way of transportation and by the growing need of the army which is fighting hundreds of miles away. The government was unable to maintain stability of prices; meat, sugar, flour, bread and edible oil have been rationed; Rumania has five meatless days a week, and during the great cold in the winter the houses could not be heated, as the result of transportation difficulties.

The large majority of the population accepts the situation with apathy, but there is also much active opposition, partly from extremist youth which can not forget that Marshal Antonescu turned against the Iron Guard in 1941 and that many of its foremost leaders were killed or exiled. On the other hand, many members of Rumanian high society were sent to concentration camps for 'leading a dissolute life of pleasure at a time when the Rumanian army is fighting for justice and honor and a united country is making sacrifices.' Wide-spread unrest led to the arrest of a great number of persons who protested against the anti-British and anti-American policy of Marshal Antonescu which they regarded as a danger for Rumania's future. Thus the external and internal situation combined to keep the country from any internal cooperation. Germany's demands for additional divisions for the Russian front aggravated the situation. The Rumanian army was completely coordinated with the German army, and German officers and experts went to Rumania to convert the Rumanian army into an integral part of the German army. Marshal Antonescu visited Hitler's headquarters in February and conferred with him and other high ranking German officials on questions of closer political, economic and military collaboration. German economic experts tried to reorganize Rumanian economic life and industry in view of the growing demands of war production.

Tension with Hungary.

The situation in Rumania was further aggravated by the growing tension with Hungary. In 1940 Rumania had been forced by the Axis to cede the northern part of Transylvania to Hungary. Yet among the territories acquired after the first World War there was none dearer to the Rumanians than Transylvania. They regarded this land with its majority of Rumanian inhabitants who before 1918 had lived under Hungarian domination, as the birth place of the Rumanian national renaissance. In many ways Transylvania had been the most progressive part of Rumania and the Transylvanian peasants had formed the backbone of whatever existed of Rumanian democracy. Thus it is understandable that while Rumania tried to reach cordial relations with Bulgaria in spite of the loss of the southern Dobruja to that country in 1940, no cordial relations could be established with Hungary. There had remained a large Rumanian population in the part of Transylvania ceded to Hungary. The Rumanians complained that this population was oppressed by the Hungarians, and the Hungarians retorted by similar accusations concerning the Hungarian minority in southern Transylvania under Rumanian rule. The Rumanian government had hoped that the reconquest of Bessarabia and the conquest of other lands to the east might reconciliate the Rumanians to the loss of Transylvania. But the Rumanian youth and leading Rumanian statesmen like Julius Maniu, the leader of the democratic peasant party in Transylvania, reminded the Rumanians always so much of their loss, that the government had to take this into account. The resolve of the Rumanian people not to abandon Transylvania to Hungary found its expression in the speech which the Vice Premier and Acting Foreign Minister of Rumania Mihail Antonescu delivered on March 19 in Bucharest. 'During the last year,' he said, 'we have been the victims of grave offenses and provocations that wounded not only our sentiments as Rumanian citizens, but also our pride as Europeans. Northern Transylvania, cradle of our country, was submitted to a régime of oppression and humiliation. Its population has been jeered and tortured, its churches destroyed, the land which they received as a result of the policy of social justice followed by Rumania, was taken away from the peasants.' He assured the Rumanians in Transylvania of all sympathy and declared that their sufferings could no longer go on. Rumania had shown restraint, because the countries were involved in a dangerous struggle with Russia. The Hungarian government showed great concern, as did Germany over the threat of an open split between the two Axis satellites. It was only with great effort that Rumania could be persuaded to postpone the issue for the time being and to leave its settlement until after the war. Yet the incident shows clearly that in the 'new order' imposed by the Axis powers, the difficult problems of Central Europe have in no way been solved and that the latent conflicts were prevented from breaking out into the open only by German threats.