Draft:Occupation of Romania (1940-1944)

The occupation of Romania during World War II, even prior to the Soviet occupation of Romania was a period of constant political, military, and social turmoil. Initially, Romania sought alignment with the Third Reich for purpose of regaining lost territory and securing it's sovereignty from the Soviet Union, however the alliance only led to fascist policies, the persecution of the Jewish and Romani people, alongside the exploitation of its resources for the Axis war effort. The failure of the military dictatorship at home, alongside the strain and turning tide of the war ultimately all played crucial roles in the defection of Romania to the Allied side in August of 1944.

Background and Political Context

Seizures and concessions to the Axis and Comintern

Similar to the rest of the world, the Great Depression of the 1930s threw the countries economy into turmoil and fueled reactionary and nationalist elements, specifically the Iron Guard, a religious, nationalist, and anti-semitic group. Far before foreign occupation's and the Ion Antonescu regime, Romania had come under control of a fascistic government that was comparable to Germany's for their anti-Jewish laws. The current king, Carol II of Romania, failed at suppressing the Iron Guard paramilitary organization and their notoriously violent nature. Although, the king managed to dissolve the government in 1938 following success of the fascist element in the December 1937 elections. Of which was only the third strongest party of 66 seats, compared to the Liberals 152 seats and the National Peasants 86, via an alliance with various right-wing parties, known as the 'All for the Country' Party that managed to secure 66 seats. Despite this desperate move against the right, in turning to Octavian Goga for help, formed a government with Ion Antonescu as Minister of National Defense. Seeking German assurances, King Carol II requested a military mission and renew the alliance of 1883, which desperation Berlin would go on to abuse. An internal power struggle continued until in June of 1940, when the Soviet Union seized two Romanian provinces on July 5th, 1940, which prompted an ask for German military assistance in resistance, that was denied despite being allied. By August, the ethnically diverse and historically Hungarian region of Transylvania became the topic of discussion as Hungarian-Romanian negotiations broke. Axis arbitration became a necessity as Budapest became emboldened by the Soviets move on Bessarabia and Northern Bukovina, seeking as much of Transylvania as possible. The Second Vienna Award would lead Northern Transylvania to fall into Hungarian rule, alongside the Romanian governments secession of southern Dobruja to Bulgaria on Italian request on September 7th, another axis-ally. Throughout this short period of extraordinary failure and reputation of his corrupt administration, had pushed King Carol II to consider his position, with his counsel voting on his abdication. Instead, with a couple generals devised a plan to sack power and assassinate Ion Antonescu, of which took no fruition, and with pressure of German diplomacy, unpopularity, refusal of the military to co-operate (Dumitru Coroamă, commander of all troops in Bucharest and with Guardist sympathies), abdicated in favor of his son, Michael I of Romania.

Military Occupation and Homefront

On January 7th 1941, Antonescu introduced a military dictatorship. His regime received the backing of democratic parties, and was unique in that his goal was only order and security for Romania's borders by police or the army. In his rise, promised closer relations between Nazi Germany and Romania, and in doing so bolstered defenses around vital oil regions in the vicinity of Ploesti and the Black Sea port of Constanta. Throughout the war, the oil fields were "a vital source of energy for the ships, tanks, airplane, and submarines of the Nazi war machine". According to the heads of Adolf Hitlers armed services, he supposedly said "in the era of the air force, the Romanian oil fields can be turned into an expanse of smoking debris, the life of the [Axis] depends on those oil fields", a resource extraction Romania would have to endure until the 1944 Romanian coup d'état, the harmful effects of it realized as oil production began to run dry in the 1970s despite having been for a time one of the largest producers of oil in the world. Civilians would have to endure in their war torn country from Operation Tidal Wave, further bombing in August 1944, advancing Soviet armies, and eventually their own Axis allies following the Michael I of Romania coup which caused homelessness, starvation, and medical shortages. The Siege of Budapest alone killing 76,000 civilians, with a total estimate of 500,000 deaths, 200,000 civilian, yet their population having declined by ~21% following World War II.

References

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2. Editors, History.com. “Romania Occupied by Soviet Troops | August 22, 1944.” History, A&E Television Networks, 11 Aug. 2024, www.history.com/this-day-in-history/romania-captured-by-the-soviet-union.
3. Deletant, Dennis. Hitler’s Forgotten Ally: Ion Antonescu and His Regime, Romania 1940-1944. Palgrave Macmillan, 2006.
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6. Chapple, Amos. “Romania’s Age of Oil.” RadioFreeEurope/RadioLiberty, RFE/RL, 18 Oct. 2021, www.rferl.org/a/romania-oil/31510946.html.
7. World War II Casualties by Country 2024. World Population Review. Retrieved August 12, 2024, from https://worldpopulationreview.com/country-rankings/world-war-two-casualties-by-country
8. “Demographics of Romania.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 15 July 2024, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demographics_of_Romania.