MARSHALL ION ANTONESCU AND THE “LATIN AXIS” (1942 – 1944)
Antonescu’s Romania entered World War II on the side of the fascist Axis, seeking to recover the territories lost in June–September 1940 to its neighbors: the USSR, Hungary, and Bulgaria, supported by fascist Germany and Italy. Forced to cross the Nistru, the eastern border of Unified R...
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| Main Authors: | , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Editura Academiei Oamenilor de Ştiinţă din România
2025-08-01
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| Series: | Annals: Series on History and Archaeology (Academy of Romanian Scientists) |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://aos.ro/doi/history-2025-1-49-marshall-ion-antonescu-and-the-latin-axis-1942-1944 |
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| Summary: | Antonescu’s Romania entered World War II on the side of the fascist Axis, seeking to recover the territories lost in June–September 1940 to its neighbors: the USSR, Hungary, and Bulgaria, supported by fascist Germany and Italy.
Forced to cross the Nistru, the eastern border of Unified Romania sanctioned at the Paris Peace Conference (1919-1920), in 1942, after Germany’s defeat at Stalingrad and Al-Alamein, she finds herself forced to think about a bleak political future that would bring the Red Army to Romania.
Romanian diplomacy will make special efforts, both the democratic Opposition (the Royal House, the historical parties) and the Government of Ion Antonescu, through official and unofficial diplomatic channels, to get Romania out of Hitler’s war.
The paths initiated by the Antonescu regime with a view to establishing the “Latin Axis” around Mussolini are detailed, which would force Hitler to accept a divorce from his allies, in order to avoid the occupation of Romania by the Red Army. Even if the attempt fails, it turns out that Stalin would have preferred an armistice with Ion Antonescu, in whom he had more confidence than in the historical bourgeois political parties. The coup d’état of August 23, 1944 and the arrest of Marshall Ion Antonescu cancel the “Latin Axis” option. |
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| ISSN: | 2066-8597 2067-5682 |