128 CHAPTER 6 CRISIS with GERMANY It Was Shortly After New Year's Day, 1939. I Was Sitting at My Desk at the Foreign Ministry, G

128 CHAPTER 6 CRISIS WITH GERMANY It was shortly after New Year's day, 1939. I was sitting at my desk at the Foreign Ministry, going through the routine chores of a Secretary General, a post to which I had just been appointed. Suddenly the door opened without the ' customary knock. I raised my eyes; my eyebrows went up. The unannounced intruder was a slim, youngish, remarkably hand- some man. He was wearing a magnificent uniform, the like of which I had never seen before: royal blue, with red facings and pipings, and gold epaulettes and insignia. I started to rub my un- believing eyes. Was this a dream? What stage apparition was this? Would this gay musical comedy star break out in a song- and-dance act? But no. It was none other than the newly appointed Foreign Minister, my good friend Grigore Gafencu. Very far from sing- ing and dancing, he felt atrociously self-conscious in this fancy uniform, which King Carol had suddenly decided to impose on his cabinet ministers, and which shortly would become obligatory for all state officials without exception. Gafencu had decided to enter the government after some hesi- tation, yielding to the pressing requests of Carol whose intimate friend he had been in their youth. He had no part in the estab- lishment of the king's dictatorial regime.We were at a perilous crossroads: a grave crisis had broken out with Hitler, and Romania was under bereft of the effec- . direct threat, seemingly tive support of her allies and friends. Gafencu must have accepted this burden against his better judgment; but once he had done so, he had resolutely shouldered the load. And indeed there was great need for resolute courage as that fateful year of 1939 dawned upon the world. The account of our foreign relations displayed a balance-or rather a lack of balance-that was far from encouraging. The Little Entente had foundered beyond hope of salvage. Our alliance with Poland seemed to totter, ever since Beck had left the meeting at Galats, hurt and angry. At Munich, France and Britain had shown that they acknowledged Hitler's preponderance in Europe. From the East blew the chilling wind of Soviet displeasure: the Kremlin had not replaced its minister to Bucarest, and once again voiced 129 its covetous claims to one of our provinces. Hungary and Bulgaria, taking advantage of the prevailing turmoil, agitated their several territorial claims against us. Dark indeed was the horizon whichever way our eyes turned. But the most serious and urgent menace of all came from the Third Reich: King Carol-and, by repercussion, our country- had incurred the wrath of Hitler himself. The crisis had been provoked by the execution of Codreanu, the chief of the Iron Guard. This had taken place right after Carol's return from his official visit to London, where he had been received in a sumptuous and friendly manner, though the visit-as was only to be expected-had brought forth no positive results politically or even economically. The official propa- ganda, frantic and not a little ridiculous, with which the . Romanian press and radio had surrounded the royal trip, had succeeded in enraging the Iron Guard, which considered that this state visit to London, on the very morrow of Munich, was a direct challenge to Hitler. Had it not been amply demonstrated that it was the Fuhrer and not His Majesty's Government of London . whose word was law in our parts? A series of acts of violence and of assassinations had broken . out, and the terrorist wave was on the increase. It seemed most dangerous in certain districts of Transylvania and Bucovina, where Hungarian and German minority circles afforded it support. Returning from London, Carol had unofficially passed through Germany and had been received by Hitler at Berchtesgaden. He had had a long talk with the Fihrer. To mark the unofficial character of this visit, Petrescu-Comndne, who was still Foreign Minister at the time, and who had accompanied the king to London, had returned to Bucarest without assisting at the Berchtesgaden interview. Carol had deemed it prudent to make this gesture-unofficial though it was-of meeting Hitler, in at- tempt to offset to some extent the political bearing of his visit to London. But Carol's precaution was nullified by the decision he saw fit to take on the day following his return to Bucarest. Armand Calinescu had met him with a detailed report on the menacing activities of the Iron Guard during his absence abroad and had advised strong measures to put them down. This was just what was needed to convince Carol to carry out the plan which he had vainly tried to put through with the aid of Goga: the suppres- . .

Load more