Following the end of the First World War, Romania experienced dramatic territorial, economic, social, and cultural changes that would affect the nation throughout the period between the world wars. Despite having initially attempted to remain neutral in the conflict, Romania was eventually dragged into the struggle facing pressure from both the Central Powers and the Entente forces, deciding to align with the latter. In spite of their military failures, Romania had chosen the correct side in the war, and campaigned aggressively to achieve their goals during the writing of the treaty of Versailles. Not only had the population of the nation doubled, resulting from newly awarded regions due to their victory in the war, but the Romanian agricultural economy, overpopulated and unproductive, faced challenges that would later lead to serious instability. These new provinces incorporated large Jewish populations into Romanian borders, causing instability and discord among the predominantly anti-Semitic Romanian population. These existing anti-Semitic sentiments, combined with the hardships faced after the First World War, and the rhetoric and propaganda produced by a variety of nationalistic, fascist organizations contributed to the growth of anti-Semitism in interwar Romania.
Historically, anti-Semitic attitudes among Romanian populations existed far before the First World War, being traced back to as early as the beginning of the 19th century. Jewish populations had been present in the territory of present day Romania since the middle ages, however, modern forms of anti-Semitic tendencies emerged during the large migration of Jews from Polish Galicia during the 18th century (Clark 13). The common image thus surfaced portraying the Jew as the “sly, deceitful, ugly, smelly, cowardly, and lazy,” Christ-killer performing satanic rituals and corrupting the purity of the Romanian man (Clark 13). As this Jewish exodus into Romanian territory assumed massive proportions, many Romanians began to see their economic prowess as a major threat to the development of their nation (Hitchins 402). The promotion of the idea of a “Jewish invasion,” and the permanent establishment of “black” Jewish settlements “darkening” Romania’s territory permeated throughout the territories (Livezeanu 194). Monopolizing commerce in Romanian territories and holding extensive influence in trade, crafts, and financial-banking, economically and socially privileged in the comfort of urban settings, and refusing to assimilate and embrace Romanian cultural traditions and heritage all contributed to the view that Jews were a serious threat that would eventually need to be dealt with(Ornea 365, Ronnett 137, Livezeanu 193). The fear of an “ethnic dilution” in Romania eventually lead to the creation of the “Jewish question.” (Livezeanu 194) With the end of the First World War, Romania would struggle to deal with a variety of new economic, ethnic, and political challenges.
Despite claiming victory in the First World War, Romania faced daunting economic challenges after the global conflict. The damage caused by the war permeated throughout every corner of Romania, affecting virtually everyone, creating the need for drastic economic changes on almost every level. Historian Keith Hitchins provides a staggering examination of the Romanian state.
The total destruction suffered by industry, agriculture, and other branches of the economy and by private property has been estimated at 72,000 million gold lei. Industry suffered the most…and production in all branches by 1918 had been drastically reduced from what it had been in 1913-14: oil to 47 percent, coal to 41 percent, and metallurgy to 19.4 percent. Rail transport had been almost completely disrupted: of 910 locomotives in 1914, only 265 were in service in 1919, and the number of freight carriages had been reduced from 53,576 to 3,511. Agriculture was in a similar state. Because of the lack of adequate manpower, draught animals, and machinery and tools, production had declined to such levels that in 1919 Romania, traditionally an exporter of grain, had to import grain and other foodstuffs in order to meet the urgent needs of the population (Hitchins 291).
Unsurprisingly, the Jewish population incorporated into “Greater Romania” was largely blamed for these economic struggles. Still seen as “a foreign element in the country,” and “foreign in spirit and in feelings” to Romanians, the sizable Jewish minority were envied for being “economically better off” in the wealthy urban centers than the destitute Romanian peasant majority in the countryside (Petreu 30). As tensions grew between the two ethnic groups, frustrations were aggravated by emerging nationalist extremist groups, manipulating the feelings of the Romanian majority to once again raise the “Jewish question”, and ask whether they would ever become “masters of the country”, or instead “slaves to the vilest tyranny”(Petreu 24, 31). One figure, Corneliu Zelea Codreanu, would eventually come to lead the Romanian defense against “Jewish Bolshevism.”
The economic recession in Romania after the First World War destabilized the nation both economically and politically. Frustrated with the failure of their parliamentary government to provide any effective economic reform, impoverished peasants instead turned to newly emerging right wing groups (Class slides). In 1923, Professor Alexandru Cuza founded the League of National Christian Defense at the University of Iasu, believing that Jews could never successfully assimilate due to their “parasitical was of life, their religion, and degraded racial mixing” (Hitchins 403). After attending several of Professor Cuza’s lectures while studying at the university, Corneliu Zelea Codreanu joined the movement, quickly rising through the ranks of the newly established organization. Despite having similar beliefs about the answer to the “Jewish question,” both men had differing views on the direction they wanted to take the movement. In 1927, Codreanu, along with several of his former classmates, established the Legion of the Archangel Michael, a new right wing fascist movement that aimed to foster a “spiritual regeneration” amongst Romanians and to create “a new type of man.” also using the Jews as a scapegoat for the hardships being faced by the Romanian people, Codreanu believed that the “mercenaries of communism” were solely responsible for Romania’s plight (Petreu 32). In 1930, Codreanu created the Iron guard, a militant political wing of the Legion designed to combat “Jewish Communism”. Over the next several years, the Iron Guard developed a mass following among peasants and students, both groups having been severely affected by the post World War economy. Codreanu’s movement glorified the Romanian peasant, believing that Romanian recovery could only be achieved by rejecting Western ideals and instead returning to traditional Orthodox values. Codreanu showed a clear disdain for “programmes”, insisting and upon the need for a “new man” to take action over the future of Romania (Hitchens 404). Despite his call for a new direction for his country, the basis of Codreanu’s ideology was virulent anti-Semitism.
“Since the Romanian nation had been contaminated by a foreign and oppressive body, the Jews, Codreanu told his Legionnaires: ‘Romania for the Romanians. For the Jews, Palestine. Justice for the Romanians and death to all traitors’.” (Petreu 37)
Cunningly using propaganda to spread the message of the Iron Guard, Codreanu’s fascist movement grew dramatically in popularity during the beginning of the 1930s. After being banned by Prime Minister Ion Duca on December 10, 1933, there followed a series of struggles between government forces and party members, resulting in several deaths. On December 29, Duca was assassinated by Iron Guard members, thus plunging Romania into a struggle for power that would last until 1940. During this struggle, Codreanu was arrested, imprisoned, and killed for his alleged role in the murder of several high ranking members of the government. Despite his death, Codreanu still remained the leader of the movement. Although the Iron Guard successfully rose to power and established itself as the most formidable political party in Romania at the beginning of the Second World War, internal problems between leaders Horia Sima and Ion Antonescu would lead to its collapse.
It is important to understand that the wave of anti-Semitic sentiments that swept across Romania after the end of the First World War had a unique origin compared to the rise of other anti-Semitic fascist political movements in other European nations in the 20th century.
Existing anti-Semitic thought established over multiple centuries, combined with the economic and social plight faced by the Romanian people after the First World War, and the rhetoric and propaganda produced by a variety of nationalistic, fascist organizations contributed to the growth of anti-Semitism in interwar Romania. Even today, important lessons can be taken from the experience of Romania, and its struggle in the beginning of the 20th century to find a national identity and place in Europe. Despite the many similarities between the Romanian fascist movement and the rise of Nazism in interwar Germany, the stark contrasts between the two examples show how effectively populations can be mobilized through effective and deceptive propaganda.