The Role of the Romanian Army in the Act of August 23, 1944

By Nicolae Sfetcu

From the interwar period until the end of the Second World War, Romania was in a kind of geopolitical labyrinth, in which it seemed to have multiple possibilities, but they all went in the same direction: the alliance with Germany at the beginning of the Second World War, the act of August 23, 1944 as it stood, and the status subsequently established by the Treaty of Paris.
Throughout this period, the Romanian Army played a major role through its leaders and the sacrifice of the Romanian soldiers, and the act of August 23, 1944 was a legitimate and legal act, in which King Mihai I and the Army were the main decision makers.
After a presentation of the context of Romania's entry into the Second World War, follows the description of Romania's evolution during the war, with emphasis on the attempts to conclude an armistice with the Western Allies and the role of the Army during this period. The act of August 23, 1944 is then detailed separately, highlighting the diversity of opinions on this event. The last section presents the implications of this act on Romania, after the end of the Second World War.

CONTENTS:

Abstract
1. The context of Romania's entry into the Second World War
2. Second World War
3. The act of August 23, 1944
4. Implications of the act of August 23, 1944
Bibliography
Notes

DOI: 10.13140/RG.2.2.31080.55040

• Language: English
• Publisher: Nicolae Sfetcu
• Release date: Apr 9, 2022
• ISBN: 9786060337089

Nicolae Sfetcu

Owner and manager with MultiMedia SRL and MultiMedia Publishing House. Project Coordinator for European Teleworking Development Romania (ETD) Member of Rotary Club Bucuresti Atheneum Cofounder and ex-president of the Mehedinti Branch of Romanian Association for Electronic Industry and Software Initiator, cofounder and president of Romanian Association for Telework and Teleactivities Member of Internet Society Initiator, cofounder and ex-president of Romanian Teleworking Society Cofounder and ex-president of the Mehedinti Branch of the General Association of Engineers in Romania Physicist engineer - Bachelor of Science (Physics, Major Nuclear Physics). Master of Philosophy.

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The Role of the Romanian Army in the Act of August 23, 1944

Nicolae Sfetcu

Published by MultiMedia Publishing

ESSAYS Collectiov

© 2022 Nicolae Sfetcu

Sfetcu, Nicolae, The Role of the Romanian Army in the Act of August 23, 1944, MultiMedia Publishing (2022), ISBN: 978-606-033-708-9, Telework (April 9, 2022), DOI: 10.13140/RG.2.2.31080.55040, URL = https://www.telework.ro/en/e-books/the-role-of-the-romanian-army-in-the-act-of-august-23-1944/

This book is under Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International license. To see a copy of this license, please visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/

Abstract

From the interwar period until the end of the Second World War, Romania was in a kind of geopolitical labyrinth, in which it seemed to have multiple possibilities, but they all went in the same direction: the alliance with Germany at the beginning of the Second World War, the act of August 23, 1944 as it stood, and the status subsequently established by the Treaty of Paris.

Throughout this period, the Romanian Army played a major role through its leaders and the sacrifice of the Romanian soldiers, and the act of August 23, 1944 was a legitimate and legal act, in which King Mihai I and the Army were the main decision makers.

After a presentation of the context of Romania's entry into the Second World War, follows the description of Romania's evolution during the war, with emphasis on the attempts to conclude an armistice with the Western Allies and the role of the Army during this period. The act of August 23, 1944 is then detailed separately, highlighting the diversity of opinions on this event. The last section presents the implications of this act on Romania, after the end of the Second World War.

1. The context of Romania's entry into the Second World War

Romania's strategy in the 19th century and in the first half of the 20th century was to unite all the territories inhabited by Romanians into a single state and to maintain its unity. In this context, Romania had three main enemies during this period: 1) Hungary, for the control of Transylvania, assigned to Romania by the Treaty of Trianon, Northern Transylvania being offered to Hungary in 1940 by the Vienna Dictate (Second Arbitration of Vienna) and returned to Romania in 1945; 2) Bulgaria, for the control of the Quadrilateral (South Dobrogea), taken by Romania after the Second Balkan War, regained by Bulgaria in the First World War together with North Dobrogea by the Treaty of Bucharest and a secret protocol with the other Central Powers in September 1918 , ceding the territory back to Romania in 1919 by the Treaty of Neuilly, and regaining it in World War II by the Treaty of Craiova in September 1940; and 3) Russia, which occupied Bessarabia and Northern Bukovina in 1940, and this occupation was confirmed by the 1947 Paris Peace Treaty.

During the period between the two World Wars, the form of government was a parliamentary constitutional monarchy until 1938, but with great political instability: between 1928-1938, 25 governments succeeded each other in leading Romania. With the 1923 Constitution, the king was able to dissolve parliament and hold early elections. On February 11, 1938, the Royal Dictatorship of Charles II was established, with the installation of a government led by Patriarch Miron Cristea and the elaboration of a new Constitution, which entered into force on February 27, with all powers concentrated in the hands of the king. Parliamentary political parties were grouped in a National Renaissance Front and a consultative crown council was formed, several legionary leaders being arrested, including Corneliu Zelea Codreanu, shot on November 30, 1938 on the pretext of "Escape