RRI Live!

Listen to Radio Romania International Live

The Vienna Arbitration

An outlook on the proceedings of the First Vienna Arbitration.

The Vienna Arbitration
The Vienna Arbitration

, 08.09.2014, 13:13

In the 1940s Romania promoted a foreign policy that was supposed to guarantee the integrity of its borders. As of 1938 Germany stood out as the European power calling the shots in Europe, while France and Great Britain adopted a more defensive policy. Therefore Romania decided to come closer to Germany, the only country that could guarantee its borders. However, the rapprochement took place later, after France capitulated in the summer of 1940. Hungary and Bulgaria, Germany’s allies, that had territorial claims over Romania, took advantage of their favorable status and asked to have their claims met. Gheorghe Barbul participated in the negotiations following which Romania had to concede northern Transylvania to Hungary in the summer of 1940. He recalled in an interview given in 1995 to the Center for Oral History of the Romanian Radio Broadcasting Corporation the circumstances of Romania’s rapprochement to Germany:



I remember Hitler’s letter dated July 15, 1940, which was an answer to a letter sent by King Carol in which he offered Germany Romania’s friendship. It writes about territorial problems saying that Romania, at a time when it had a position of strength, annexed territories from its neighbors. Having lost that position, Hitler found it normal to negotiate an arrangement between Romania and Hungary, on the one hand, and between Romania and Bulgaria on the other. Romania had already lost Bessarabia. Hitler said that if an agreement was not reached, Germany would no longer show interest in what was going on in southeastern Europe, since Germany was strong enough to not need Romania’s oil. It was a kind of ultimatum, in the sense that Romania would remain on its own if it didn’t want to negotiate with its neighbors. And the threats from Russia, Hungary and Bulgaria were looming.”



Under these circumstances, Romania showed willingness to start negotiations with Hungary and Bulgaria. On August 16, 1940 negotiations were started in Turnu Severin (in the southern county of Mehedinti) between Romania and Hungary. The Hungarian delegation asked the Romanian delegation led by Valer Pop to concede a territory of 69 thousand square kilometers, with a population of 3.9 million inhabitants. The secretary of the Romanian delegation, Gheorghe Barbul, recalls the atmosphere during the talks:



We were on a ship anchored in the port of Turnu Severin and were heading for the town hall headquarters or the prefect’s office to meet with the Hungarian delegation led by Count Hory. Talks lasted for 3 or 4 days, if I’m not mistaken. Each day was the same. The Hungarians would ask: What territories are you willing to surrender? To which Valer Pop, the head of the Romanian delegation, would give the same answer: it’s not a territorial dispute between Romania and Hungary, it’s rather a matter of nationalities. We surrender as much territory as needed for the exchange of population that could be made between Romania and Hungary. That is the Hungarians in central Transylvania, in Targu Mures or elsewhere would be transferred to the western Romanian border, in Crisana, and the Romanians would go to those territories from where the Hungarians left. The Hungarians would not accept Romania’s proposal and talks were protracted without an agreement being reached. Then the talks in Targu Mures were suspended with no positive result being obtained”.



Unhappy with the failure of the meeting, Hungary called on Germany and Italy to intervene to settle the conflict. On August 26, 1940, the German and Italian foreign ministers, Ribbentrop and Ciano, asked the two countries to come at a mediation meeting. Convened in Vienna, for the meeting with the Hungarian representatives, Romania was represented in the negotiations by its then foreign minister, Mihail Manoilescu. Gheorghe Barbul is back at the microphone with more:



This was not a negotiation. Manoilescu, who headed the Romanian delegation, was presented with the new map of Romania. Seeing it, Manoilescu fainted and he needed medical care. There was nothing else to be done than informing the authorities in Bucharest, who hesitated to approve the new map. It took quite a while for the approval from Bucharest to reach Vienna. Meanwhile the Germans exerted a lot of pressure saying that there was an understanding between the Soviets and Hungarians, according to which, in case of failed negotiations in Vienna, they would undertake common military action against Romania. The rumor went that the Russians would go as far as the eastern Carpathians and the Hungarians would go deep into the heart of Transylvania. On August 24th the Germans had already told Romania that Soviet troops had been deployed on the Prut River. That seemed to be true, but not even today could one surely tell whether it was just blackmail or the mere truth”.



Irritated by the Romanians’ refusal to settle the conflict, Ribbentrop and Ciano threatened Manoilescu that a potential new refusal would have very serious consequences for Romania. The Crown Council convened in Bucharest and the participants gave 19 votes for and 10 against the arbitration of the Axis. The next day, at the Belvedere Palace, the 4 delegations concluded the arbitration act under which Hungary was granted the northern half of Transylvania. 4 years later, following tougher negotiations, northern Transylvania was returned to Romania.


Soviet prisoners in Romania
The History Show Monday, 25 November 2024

Soviet prisoners in Romania

Romania took sides with Germany in World War Two. On June 22nd, 1941, jointly with Germany, Romania began military operations against the Soviet...

Soviet prisoners in Romania
Giuseppe Mazzini and the Romanians
The History Show Monday, 11 November 2024

Giuseppe Mazzini and the Romanians

The Romanian political elites of 1848 were influenced by the ideas of the Italian Giuseppe...

Giuseppe Mazzini and the Romanians
banner-Pro-Memoria.-960x540-1.jpg
The History Show Monday, 04 November 2024

The Spark(Scanteia) communist newspaper

The press was one of the communist regime’s most powerful weapons regarding propaganda. The freedom of expression and of the press was a right that...

The Spark(Scanteia) communist newspaper
RRI
The History Show Monday, 28 October 2024

Securitate and the KGB parting ways

The most feared institution of the Romanian communist state was the political police known as Securitate, created on the model of the NKVD, which...

Securitate and the KGB parting ways
The History Show Monday, 21 October 2024

Vasile Luca

From the end of World War II in 1945 until 1989, the Red Army imposed communist party regimes in the countries of Central and Eastern Europe. They...

Vasile Luca
The History Show Monday, 14 October 2024

The Romanian Communist Party and the Agrarian Reform

According to the Marxist-Leninist theses about means of production, property had to be common, owned by all those who used it and created added...

The Romanian Communist Party and the Agrarian Reform
The History Show Monday, 07 October 2024

The Romanian military fleet in WWII

The history of the Romanian military fleet begins in the middle of the 19th century, when, after the union of the two principalities of Moldova and...

The Romanian military fleet in WWII
The History Show Monday, 30 September 2024

Ana Pauker

Ana Pauker is one of the most conspicuous figureheads in the history of the communist regime in Romania. Ana Pauker played a crucial part in the team...

Ana Pauker

Partners

Muzeul Național al Țăranului Român Muzeul Național al Țăranului Român
Liga Studentilor Romani din Strainatate - LSRS Liga Studentilor Romani din Strainatate - LSRS
Modernism | The Leading Romanian Art Magazine Online Modernism | The Leading Romanian Art Magazine Online
Institului European din România Institului European din România
Institutul Francez din România – Bucureşti Institutul Francez din România – Bucureşti
Muzeul Național de Artă al României Muzeul Național de Artă al României
Le petit Journal Le petit Journal
Radio Prague International Radio Prague International
Muzeul Național de Istorie a României Muzeul Național de Istorie a României
ARCUB ARCUB
Radio Canada International Radio Canada International
Muzeul Național al Satului „Dimitrie Gusti” Muzeul Național al Satului „Dimitrie Gusti”
SWI swissinfo.ch SWI swissinfo.ch
UBB Radio ONLINE UBB Radio ONLINE
Strona główna - English Section - polskieradio.pl Strona główna - English Section - polskieradio.pl
creart - Centrul de Creație Artă și Tradiție al Municipiului Bucuresti creart - Centrul de Creație Artă și Tradiție al Municipiului Bucuresti
italradio italradio
Institutul Confucius Institutul Confucius
BUCPRESS - știri din Cernăuți BUCPRESS - știri din Cernăuți

Affiliates

Euranet Plus Euranet Plus
AIB | the trade association for international broadcasters AIB | the trade association for international broadcasters
Digital Radio Mondiale Digital Radio Mondiale
News and current affairs from Germany and around the world News and current affairs from Germany and around the world
Comunità radiotelevisiva italofona Comunità radiotelevisiva italofona

Providers

RADIOCOM RADIOCOM
Zeno Media - The Everything Audio Company Zeno Media - The Everything Audio Company