Alexandru Averescu

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Alexandru Averescu (born March 9, 1859 in Babele near Ismajil , southern Bessarabia , today Ukraine ; † October 3, 1938 , Bucharest ) was a Romanian general and multiple prime minister .

Alexandru Averescu around 1918

Life

military

Alexandru was born as the son of Constantin Averescu in the south of Bessarabia, which at that time belonged to the Principality of Moldova . Averescu joined the Romanian army in 1876 and served in the Russo-Ottoman War (1877–1878) , after which Romania gained full independence from the Ottoman Empire . He studied at the Military Academy in Turin , where he married the Italian opera singer Clotilda Caligaris. From 1895 to 1898 he was a military attaché in Berlin .

On March 25, 1907, he took over the post of Minister of War as a general . Averescu initiated the bloody suppression of a peasant uprising through massive military action . From 1911 to 1913 he was Chief of the General Staff and organized the successful campaign against Bulgaria in the Second Balkan War .

After Romania's entry into the First World War , which he strongly supported, he led the 3rd Army on the Bulgarian front in Dobruja . After a heavy defeat against Bulgarian and German troops, he led the 2nd Army on the Carpathian Front . During the counterattack by the Central Powers , he was the only military leader able to withdraw his army towards the Sereth River. The continued resistance of the rest of the Romanian army within the Russian front, with isolated successes in the battles of Mărăşti and Mărăşeşti in August 1917, was perceived by the Romanian public as a merit of Averescu.

politics

Because of this popularity, he was appointed Foreign Minister by King Ferdinand I on January 29, 1918 , and on February 9, 1918, as the successor to Ion IC Brătianu, he was also appointed Prime Minister. As a result of the Russian October Revolution , Averescu was forced to agree to an armistice with the Central Powers and, on March 5, 1918, a preliminary peace treaty signed in Buftea .

At the beginning of March, the Central Powers demanded that the Romanian government cede the Dobruja, accept the border changes in the Carpathian region demanded by Hungary and agree to appropriate economic measures as conditions for an extension of the armistice . Despite the harsh conditions, Averescu stood up at the Privy Council of March 4, 1918 for the acceptance of these conditions in order to obtain the peace that was needed to save the dynasty and secure Bessarabia . However, the Averescu government resigned on March 19, mainly because of the constantly increasing German demands in the economic and administrative fields. Averescu left it to his successor Alexandru Marghiloman to sign the Peace Treaty of Bucharest on May 7, 1918.

After the defeat of the Central Powers, all of the agreements became null and void and Romania was able to almost completely implement the desired area expansions. As the country's most successful general, Averescu became a popular hero.

In 1918 he founded the Partidul Poporului (People's Party) and subsequently won many supporters among the oppressed rural population through populist politics. From March 19, 1919 to December 18, 1921 he was again Prime Minister. During the election campaign, he had promised every farmer at least five hectares of land through a land reform, which enabled him to secure a majority in new elections in 1920. However, the king and coalition partners prevented full implementation. He was also exposed to criticism from the right because he had to vacate smaller areas as a result of the signing of the Trianon Treaty . In September he adopted measures against the strike movement initiated by Social Democrats . After 1,000 strikers were arrested, the general strike collapsed.

On April 23, 1921, Averescu concluded an alliance between Romania and Czechoslovakia , and on June 7, 1921 with the SHS state . Together the three states with the support of France and Poland , the Little Entente , as part of the cordon sanitaire against Bolshevism and the revision requests Hungary and Bulgaria .

From March 30, 1926 to June 4, 1927 he was a third and last time Romanian Prime Minister. In doing so, Romania came closer to the fascist Italy of Benito Mussolini . A friendship treaty was signed and the question of the Romanian national debt was settled in Rome . In 1930 Averescu was appointed field marshal .

In the spring of 1934, Averescu was again under discussion as head of government because of the domestic political tensions and the discontent of the army. Parliament and the press repeatedly accused the marshal of harboring dictatorial plans, even a possible civil war was in the room. He actually planned a coup and stood against the authoritarian King Carol II. In doing so, he received support from Mussolini against the fascist Iron Guard sponsored by Hitler . Despite these differences with King Carol and his advisors, he became a member of the Privy Council in 1937 in support of the Iron Guard.

Fonts

  • Notițe zilnice din război. Militară Publishing House, Bucureşti 1992, ISBN 973-32-0216-9 :
    • Volume 1: 1914-1916 (neutralitatea).
    • Volume 2: 1916-1918 (războiul nostru).

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Fritz Klein, Willibald Gutsche, Joachim Petzold (eds.): Germany in the First World War. Volume 3: November 1917 to November 1918 . Berlin / GDR 1970, pp. 209–211.
  2. ^ Mariana Hausleitner : The Romanization of Bukovina. The enforcement of the nation-state claim of Greater Romania 1918–1944. Verlag Oldenbourg, Munich 2001, ISBN 3-486-56585-0 , pp. 121 and 151.
  3. ^ Mariana Hausleitner : The Romanization of Bukovina. The enforcement of the nation-state claim of Greater Romania 1918–1944. Verlag Oldenbourg, Munich 2001, ISBN 3-486-56585-0 , pp. 198-202.
  4. ↑ Hans-Christian Maner: Parliamentarism in Romania (1930-1940). Democracy in an authoritarian environment. Verlag Oldenbourg, Munich 1997, ISBN 3-486-56329-7 , pp. 177-179 and 182.

literature

  • Petre Otu: Averescu. Marshal, politician, legend. Lektor Verlag, Hainburg 2012, ISBN 978-3-941866-02-7 . (Original edition: Petre Otu: Mareșalul Alexandru Averescu. Militarul, omul politic, legenda. Editura Militară, Bucharest 2009, ISBN 978-973-32-0793-1 .)

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Averescu, Alexandru
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Romanian general and politician
DATE OF BIRTH March 9, 1859
PLACE OF BIRTH Ismajil , Ukraine
DATE OF DEATH October 3, 1938
Place of death Bucharest