Amicii URSS
Encyclopedia
Amicii URSSAmicii URSS (Romanian
for "[The] Friends of the Soviet Union
"; amit͡ʃij u er es es, occasionally known as Prietenii URSS (prijetenij u er es es), which carries the same meaning) was a cultural association in interwar
Romania
, uniting left-wing
and anti-fascist
intellectual
s who advocated a détente
between their country and Joseph Stalin
's Soviet Union (at a time when Greater Romania
, which included Bessarabia
and all of Bukovina
, was engaged in a diplomatic conflict with the Soviets). Created in the spring of 1934 by Petre Constantinescu-Iaşi, an activist of the previously outlawed Romanian Communist Party
(PCR or PCdR), the society took its inspiration from the French
Amis de l'URSS and from the worldwide network
(led by Henri Barbusse
and Clara Zetkin
). Actively encouraged and financed by the Comintern
(under the provisions of the Popular Front
doctrine), Amicii URSS was viewed with suspicion by authorities — never officially registered, it was eventually banned on the orders of Premier Gheorghe Tătărescu
on November 25, 1934. It ceased its activity after that point, but constituted a precedent for the Romanian Society for Friendship with the Soviet Union (ARLUS).
The grouping included several early or future PCR activists. Aside from Constantinescu-Iaşi and the co-founders Ion Niculi
and Iorgu Iordan
, these were: Scarlat Callimachi
, N. D. Cocea
, Alexandru Sahia
, Stephan Roll, Mihai Beniuc
, Petre Pandrea, Teodor Bugnariu, and Mihai Popilian. Its other members were communist
sympathizers, or people with no clear political views; among others, these were: Mac Constantinescu, Demostene Botez, Haig Acterian
, Ioan Hudiţă, Zaharia Stancu
, Marcel Janco
, Şerban Cioculescu
, F. Brunea-Fox, Sergiu Dan
, Radu Cernătescu, Octav Doicescu, Constantin Motaş, and Sandu Eliad.
, in the private residence of Constantinescu-Iaşi (1932). Local circles of supporters were also set up in cities such as Iaşi
, Cluj
, and the capital Bucharest
. The latter was also the home of another nucleus, the home of sculptor Mac Constantinescu (in the area near the present-day Sala Palatului
), where correspondence and affiliations were being received.
After its creation, Amicii URSS issued a statement of purpose, publicized on July 28 as an appeal and known as Către toţi muncitorii, ţăranii, intelectualii de la oraşe şi sate ("To All Workers, Peasants, Intellectuals in Towns and Villages"). It called for an increased awareness of Soviet life, and planned to organize exhibitions, conferences, and sport events, as well as editing a magazine (which was to bear the same name as the association). Special points were made about publishing translations of Russian literature
and about showcasing Soviet cinema
and theater.
In 1932-1933, the PCR had ensured the creation of other outlets (focusing on rallying support in other areas of Romanian society); these were Comitetul Naţional Antirăzboinic (the National Anti-War Committee), Liga Muncii (the Labor League), and Comitetul Naţional Antifascist (the National Anti-Fascist Committee).
material, Siguranţa (the country's secret police
) failed to intervene immediately. According to historian Adrian Cioroianu
, this was largely due to the tendency of tolerating the more discreet, if clandestine, manifestations of support for the Soviet cause, especially in Bessarabia
(where Constantinescu-Iaşi was active). It was also at this time that the establishment itself sought a compromise with the Soviet state, largely due to the efforts of Foreign Affairs Minister Nicolae Titulescu
(1934 was the year when diplomatic relations between the two countries were agreed upon).
In short time, however, the notoriety of the organization and its tight connections with an illegal movement enlisted a response from Romania's leadership. In September, National Liberal
cabinet of Gheorghe Tătărescu
, acting through Minister of the Interior Ion Inculeţ
, refused to allow the Amicii URSS magazine to be published (either at the original location in Bucharest or in the more isolated one it found in Piteşti
).
Constantinescu-Iaşi and Alexandru Sahia
decided to visit Moscow
on the occasion of the October Revolution
17th Anniversary, thus testing Romanian legislation that made crossing the border into Soviet territory illegal. The carefully organized action implied the creation of two distinct groups, headed by Constantinescu-Iaşi and Sahia respectively; the former, supposed to cross the Dniester
, never actually left the country, while Sahia's, passing through Poland
, took part in festivities at the Kremlin
.
Pressures increased, with the Tribunal of Ilfov County
refusing to allow the group's registration, and with several employees of universities, such as Mihai Beniuc
and Teodor Bugnariu, receiving semi-official criticism for their Amicii membership. The Siguranţa began routine searches
at the organization headquarters, and eventually arrested Constantinescu-Iaşi on November 25. King
Carol II
also reacted against clandestine PCR activities, and drafted a Decree banning 31 political associations suspected of sedition
, including Amicii URSS, Comitetul Naţional Antirăzboinic, Comitetul Naţional Antifascist, and Liga Muncii.
(organized by the Amis de l'URSS, with the noted participation of Fernand Grenier
and André Malraux
, as well as Victor Basch
) and a formal protest of Czechoslovakian
intellectuals (it was signed, among others, by Karel Čapek
). In early 1935, a "Committee for the Defense of Romanian Anti-Fascists" was formed in Paris
under the leadership of Henri Mineur
, which monitored the situation of detained communists. Aside from this intervention, Romania became a target for the activities of the International Red Aid
.
Sahia's visit to Moscow was the inspiration for a reportage, URSS azi ("The USSR of Today"), in which he praised Stalinist
policies at length. He died of tuberculosis
in 1937.
Soon after 1934, several of the grouping's former members came to reject communism. They included Haig Acterian
, who adopted fascist ideas and joined the Iron Guard, and Mac Constantinescu, who was already active inside the Criterion group, and who later became official artist for the National Renaissance Front
corporatist
regime.
Although the PCR did not resurrect Amicii URSS in its illegal structure, it attempted to prolong its influence by creating a succession of organizations, all of which replicated its goals; the first of these, known as Societatea pentru întreţinerea raporturilor culturale dintre România şi Uniunea Sovietică (the Society for Maintaining Cultural Links between Romania and the Soviet Union), was created on May 22, 1935, and notably drew support from the musician George Enescu
and linguist Alexandru Rosetti. Alongside these and various former members of Amicii URSS, signers of its founding document included, among others, the lawyer Radu R. Rosetti, the academics Eugen Heroveanu and Traian Săvulescu, the visual artists Nicolae Tonitza
and Jean Niţescu, the writers Victor Eftimiu
and Radu Boureanu, the composers Matei Socor and Constantin Silvestri
, the operatic artists Ionel Perlea and Jean Athanasiu, the architect Octav Doicescu, the theater director Soare Z. Soare, the actors Tony Bulandra, Gheorghe Timică and Ion Iancovescu, as well as the musical critics Emanoil Ciomac and Traian Şelmaru. The new organization was based in Bucharest, on Dr. Victor Poloni Street.
Among its main purposes was popularizing Soviet cinema
, which it showcased in the Marconi and Trianon film theaters. During one of the shows in February 1936, the Communist Party reportedly dropped leaflets with agitprop
messages. In anniversaries of the October Revolution from 1935 to 1936, the Society attempted to send representatives to the Soviet Union — notably, the 1937 project Communist activist Constantin David
and workers for the Romanian Railways
in Griviţa
. Several organized groups did leave Romania on other occasions (on May Day
1936 and later in the same year). Societatea pentru întreţinerea raporturilor culturale was outlawed in February 1938.
During the early stages of World War II
, when government in Romania was taken over by the Iron Guard
fascist
and pro-Nazi Germany
movement (see National Legionary State
), PCR leaders Teohari Georgescu
and Lucreţiu Pătrăşcanu
worked together to reactivate the society, profiting from friendly relations between the new authorities and the Soviet Union; their attempt came to an abrupt end in 1941, when Ion Antonescu
's triumph against the Guard provoked a collateral move against communist activists (see Legionnaires' Rebellion and Bucharest Pogrom
).
Romanian language
Romanian Romanian Romanian (or Daco-Romanian; obsolete spellings Rumanian, Roumanian; self-designation: română, limba română ("the Romanian language") or românește (lit. "in Romanian") is a Romance language spoken by around 24 to 28 million people, primarily in Romania and Moldova...
for "[The] Friends of the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
"; amit͡ʃij u er es es, occasionally known as Prietenii URSS (prijetenij u er es es), which carries the same meaning) was a cultural association in interwar
Interwar period
Interwar period can refer to any period between two wars. The Interbellum is understood to be the period between the end of the Great War or First World War and the beginning of the Second World War in Europe....
Romania
Romania
Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeastern Europe, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian arch, bordering on the Black Sea...
, uniting left-wing
Left-wing politics
In politics, Left, left-wing and leftist generally refer to support for social change to create a more egalitarian society...
and anti-fascist
Anti-fascism
Anti-fascism is the opposition to fascist ideologies, groups and individuals, such as that of the resistance movements during World War II. The related term antifa derives from Antifaschismus, which is German for anti-fascism; it refers to individuals and groups on the left of the political...
intellectual
Intellectual
An intellectual is a person who uses intelligence and critical or analytical reasoning in either a professional or a personal capacity.- Terminology and endeavours :"Intellectual" can denote four types of persons:...
s who advocated a détente
Détente
Détente is the easing of strained relations, especially in a political situation. The term is often used in reference to the general easing of relations between the Soviet Union and the United States in the 1970s, a thawing at a period roughly in the middle of the Cold War...
between their country and Joseph Stalin
Joseph Stalin
Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin was the Premier of the Soviet Union from 6 May 1941 to 5 March 1953. He was among the Bolshevik revolutionaries who brought about the October Revolution and had held the position of first General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union's Central Committee...
's Soviet Union (at a time when Greater Romania
Greater Romania
The Greater Romania generally refers to the territory of Romania in the years between the First World War and the Second World War, the largest geographical extent of Romania up to that time and its largest peacetime extent ever ; more precisely, it refers to the territory of the Kingdom of...
, which included Bessarabia
Bessarabia
Bessarabia is a historical term for the geographic region in Eastern Europe bounded by the Dniester River on the east and the Prut River on the west....
and all of Bukovina
Bukovina
Bukovina is a historical region on the northern slopes of the northeastern Carpathian Mountains and the adjoining plains.-Name:The name Bukovina came into official use in 1775 with the region's annexation from the Principality of Moldavia to the possessions of the Habsburg Monarchy, which became...
, was engaged in a diplomatic conflict with the Soviets). Created in the spring of 1934 by Petre Constantinescu-Iaşi, an activist of the previously outlawed Romanian Communist Party
Romanian Communist Party
The Romanian Communist Party was a communist political party in Romania. Successor to the Bolshevik wing of the Socialist Party of Romania, it gave ideological endorsement to communist revolution and the disestablishment of Greater Romania. The PCR was a minor and illegal grouping for much of the...
(PCR or PCdR), the society took its inspiration from the French
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
Amis de l'URSS and from the worldwide network
Friends of the Soviet Union
Friends of the Soviet Union was an organization formed on the initiative of the Communist International in 1927, with the purpose of coordinating solidarity efforts with the Soviet Union around the world...
(led by Henri Barbusse
Henri Barbusse
Henri Barbusse was a French novelist and a member of the French Communist Party.-Life:...
and Clara Zetkin
Clara Zetkin
Clara Zetkin was a German Marxist theorist, activist, and fighter for women's rights. In 1910, she organized the first International Women's Day....
). Actively encouraged and financed by the Comintern
Comintern
The Communist International, abbreviated as Comintern, also known as the Third International, was an international communist organization initiated in Moscow during March 1919...
(under the provisions of the Popular Front
Popular front
A popular front is a broad coalition of different political groupings, often made up of leftists and centrists. Being very broad, they can sometimes include centrist and liberal forces as well as socialist and communist groups...
doctrine), Amicii URSS was viewed with suspicion by authorities — never officially registered, it was eventually banned on the orders of Premier Gheorghe Tătărescu
Gheorghe Tatarescu
Gheorghe I. Tătărescu was a Romanian politician who served twice as Prime Minister of Romania , three times as Minister of Foreign Affairs , and once as Minister of War...
on November 25, 1934. It ceased its activity after that point, but constituted a precedent for the Romanian Society for Friendship with the Soviet Union (ARLUS).
The grouping included several early or future PCR activists. Aside from Constantinescu-Iaşi and the co-founders Ion Niculi
Ion Niculi
Ion Niculi , Romanian communist politician, served as vice president of the Presidium of the Romanian People's Republic .-Underground activist:...
and Iorgu Iordan
Iorgu Iordan
Iorgu Iordan was a Romanian linguist, philologist, diplomat, journalist, and left-wing agrarian, later communist, politician. The author of works on a large variety of topics, most of them dealing with issues of the Romanian language and Romance languages in general, he was elected a full member...
, these were: Scarlat Callimachi
Scarlat Callimachi (communist activist)
Scarlat Callimachi or Calimachi was a Romanian journalist, essayist, futurist poet, trade unionist, and communist activist, a member of the Callimachi family of boyar and Phanariote lineage...
, N. D. Cocea
N. D. Cocea
N. D. Cocea was a Romanian journalist, novelist, critic and left-wing political activist, known as a major but controversial figure in the field of political satire...
, Alexandru Sahia
Alexandru Sahia
Alexandru Sahia was a Romanian communist journalist and short story author.-Early life:...
, Stephan Roll, Mihai Beniuc
Mihai Beniuc
Mihai Beniuc was a Romanian proletcultist poet, dramatist and novelist. He graduated from the University of Cluj in 1931 majoring in psychology, philosophy and sociology. This was reflected in his writing, particularly the novels...
, Petre Pandrea, Teodor Bugnariu, and Mihai Popilian. Its other members were communist
Communism
Communism is a social, political and economic ideology that aims at the establishment of a classless, moneyless, revolutionary and stateless socialist society structured upon common ownership of the means of production...
sympathizers, or people with no clear political views; among others, these were: Mac Constantinescu, Demostene Botez, Haig Acterian
Haig Acterian
Haig Acterian was a Romanian film and theater director, critic, dramatist, poet, journalist, and fascist political activist...
, Ioan Hudiţă, Zaharia Stancu
Zaharia Stancu
Zaharia Stancu was a Romanian prose writer, novelist, poet, and philosopher.Stancu was born in 1902 in Salcia, a village in Teleorman County, Romania. After leaving school at the age of thirteen he worked at various jobs. In 1921, with the help of Gala Galaction, he became a journalist...
, Marcel Janco
Marcel Janco
Marcel Janco was a Romanian and Israeli visual artist, architect, art theorist and cultural promoter, known as the co-inventor of Dadaism and a leading exponent of Constructivism in Eastern Europe. His first contribution came in the 1910s, when he joined up with poets Tristan Tzara and Ion Vinea...
, Şerban Cioculescu
Şerban Cioculescu
Şerban Cioculescu was a Romanian literary critic, literary historian and columnist, who held teaching positions in Romanian literature at the University of Iaşi and the University of Bucharest, as well as membership of the Romanian Academy and chairmanship of its Library...
, F. Brunea-Fox, Sergiu Dan
Sergiu Dan
Sergiu Dan was a Romanian novelist, journalist, Holocaust survivor and political prisoner of the communist regime. Dan, the friend and collaborator of Romulus Dianu, was noted during the interwar period as a contributor to Romania's avant-garde and modernist scene, collaborating with poet Ion...
, Radu Cernătescu, Octav Doicescu, Constantin Motaş, and Sandu Eliad.
Creation and goals
Although a PCR section was represented at international meetings of Friends of the Soviet Union as early as 1930, the initiative to create a Romanian branch was delayed until four years after — a period during which an appeal launched by the delegation won approval in several locations throughout the country. The first meeting took place in ChişinăuChisinau
Chișinău is the capital and largest municipality of Moldova. It is also its main industrial and commercial centre and is located in the middle of the country, on the river Bîc...
, in the private residence of Constantinescu-Iaşi (1932). Local circles of supporters were also set up in cities such as Iaşi
Iasi
Iași is the second most populous city and a municipality in Romania. Located in the historical Moldavia region, Iași has traditionally been one of the leading centres of Romanian social, cultural, academic and artistic life...
, Cluj
Cluj-Napoca
Cluj-Napoca , commonly known as Cluj, is the fourth most populous city in Romania and the seat of Cluj County in the northwestern part of the country. Geographically, it is roughly equidistant from Bucharest , Budapest and Belgrade...
, and the capital Bucharest
Bucharest
Bucharest is the capital municipality, cultural, industrial, and financial centre of Romania. It is the largest city in Romania, located in the southeast of the country, at , and lies on the banks of the Dâmbovița River....
. The latter was also the home of another nucleus, the home of sculptor Mac Constantinescu (in the area near the present-day Sala Palatului
Sala Palatului
Sala Palatului in Bucharest, Romania is a conference centre and concert hall immediately behind the National Museum of Art of Romania, the former royal palace in the heart of the city. It was built between 1959 and 1960, during the communist era...
), where correspondence and affiliations were being received.
After its creation, Amicii URSS issued a statement of purpose, publicized on July 28 as an appeal and known as Către toţi muncitorii, ţăranii, intelectualii de la oraşe şi sate ("To All Workers, Peasants, Intellectuals in Towns and Villages"). It called for an increased awareness of Soviet life, and planned to organize exhibitions, conferences, and sport events, as well as editing a magazine (which was to bear the same name as the association). Special points were made about publishing translations of Russian literature
Russian literature
Russian literature refers to the literature of Russia or its émigrés, and to the Russian-language literature of several independent nations once a part of what was historically Russia or the Soviet Union...
and about showcasing Soviet cinema
Cinema of the Soviet Union
The cinema of the Soviet Union, not to be confused with "Cinema of Russia" despite Russian language films being predominant in both genres, includes several film contributions of the constituent republics of the Soviet Union reflecting elements of their pre-Soviet culture, language and history,...
and theater.
In 1932-1933, the PCR had ensured the creation of other outlets (focusing on rallying support in other areas of Romanian society); these were Comitetul Naţional Antirăzboinic (the National Anti-War Committee), Liga Muncii (the Labor League), and Comitetul Naţional Antifascist (the National Anti-Fascist Committee).
Repression
While tipped off about the PCR-Amicii connection from before the society's creation (probably as early as 1932) and familiar with Constantinescu-Iaşi's dissemination of agitpropAgitprop
Agitprop is derived from agitation and propaganda, and describes stage plays, pamphlets, motion pictures and other art forms with an explicitly political message....
material, Siguranţa (the country's secret police
Secret police
Secret police are a police agency which operates in secrecy and beyond the law to protect the political power of an individual dictator or an authoritarian political regime....
) failed to intervene immediately. According to historian Adrian Cioroianu
Adrian Cioroianu
Adrian Mihai Cioroianu is a Romanian historian, politician, journalist, and essayist. A lecturer for the History Department at the University of Bucharest, he is the author of several books dealing with Romanian history...
, this was largely due to the tendency of tolerating the more discreet, if clandestine, manifestations of support for the Soviet cause, especially in Bessarabia
Bessarabia
Bessarabia is a historical term for the geographic region in Eastern Europe bounded by the Dniester River on the east and the Prut River on the west....
(where Constantinescu-Iaşi was active). It was also at this time that the establishment itself sought a compromise with the Soviet state, largely due to the efforts of Foreign Affairs Minister Nicolae Titulescu
Nicolae Titulescu
Nicolae Titulescu was a well-known Romanian diplomat, at various times government minister, finance and foreign minister, and for two terms President of the General Assembly of the League of Nations . He was a member of the Freemasonry.-Early years:...
(1934 was the year when diplomatic relations between the two countries were agreed upon).
In short time, however, the notoriety of the organization and its tight connections with an illegal movement enlisted a response from Romania's leadership. In September, National Liberal
National Liberal Party (Romania)
The National Liberal Party , abbreviated to PNL, is a centre-right liberal party in Romania. It is the third-largest party in the Romanian Parliament, with 53 seats in the Chamber of Deputies and 22 in the Senate: behind the centre-right Democratic Liberal Party and the centre-left Social...
cabinet of Gheorghe Tătărescu
Gheorghe Tatarescu
Gheorghe I. Tătărescu was a Romanian politician who served twice as Prime Minister of Romania , three times as Minister of Foreign Affairs , and once as Minister of War...
, acting through Minister of the Interior Ion Inculeţ
Ion Inculet
Ion C. Inculeț was a Bessarabian politician and the president of the Moldavian Democratic Republic. Also, he was a minister in Romania.-Early career:...
, refused to allow the Amicii URSS magazine to be published (either at the original location in Bucharest or in the more isolated one it found in Piteşti
Pitesti
Pitești is a city in Romania, located on the Argeș River. The capital and largest city of Argeș County, it is an important commercial and industrial center, as well as the home of two universities. Pitești is situated on the A1 freeway connecting it directly to the national capital Bucharest,...
).
Constantinescu-Iaşi and Alexandru Sahia
Alexandru Sahia
Alexandru Sahia was a Romanian communist journalist and short story author.-Early life:...
decided to visit Moscow
Moscow
Moscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent...
on the occasion of the October Revolution
October Revolution
The October Revolution , also known as the Great October Socialist Revolution , Red October, the October Uprising or the Bolshevik Revolution, was a political revolution and a part of the Russian Revolution of 1917...
17th Anniversary, thus testing Romanian legislation that made crossing the border into Soviet territory illegal. The carefully organized action implied the creation of two distinct groups, headed by Constantinescu-Iaşi and Sahia respectively; the former, supposed to cross the Dniester
Dniester
The Dniester is a river in Eastern Europe. It runs through Ukraine and Moldova and separates most of Moldova's territory from the breakaway de facto state of Transnistria.-Names:...
, never actually left the country, while Sahia's, passing through Poland
Second Polish Republic
The Second Polish Republic, Second Commonwealth of Poland or interwar Poland refers to Poland between the two world wars; a period in Polish history in which Poland was restored as an independent state. Officially known as the Republic of Poland or the Commonwealth of Poland , the Polish state was...
, took part in festivities at the Kremlin
Moscow Kremlin
The Moscow Kremlin , sometimes referred to as simply The Kremlin, is a historic fortified complex at the heart of Moscow, overlooking the Moskva River , Saint Basil's Cathedral and Red Square and the Alexander Garden...
.
Pressures increased, with the Tribunal of Ilfov County
Ilfov County
Ilfov is the county that surrounds Bucharest, the capital of Romania. It used to be largely rural, but after the fall of communism, many of the county's villages and communes developed into high-income commuter towns, which act like suburbs or satellites of Bucharest...
refusing to allow the group's registration, and with several employees of universities, such as Mihai Beniuc
Mihai Beniuc
Mihai Beniuc was a Romanian proletcultist poet, dramatist and novelist. He graduated from the University of Cluj in 1931 majoring in psychology, philosophy and sociology. This was reflected in his writing, particularly the novels...
and Teodor Bugnariu, receiving semi-official criticism for their Amicii membership. The Siguranţa began routine searches
Search and seizure
Search and seizure is a legal procedure used in many civil law and common law legal systems whereby police or other authorities and their agents, who suspect that a crime has been committed, do a search of a person's property and confiscate any relevant evidence to the crime.Some countries have...
at the organization headquarters, and eventually arrested Constantinescu-Iaşi on November 25. King
King of Romania
King of the Romanians , rather than King of Romania , was the official title of the ruler of the Kingdom of Romania from 1881 until 1947, when Romania was proclaimed a republic....
Carol II
Carol II of Romania
Carol II reigned as King of Romania from 8 June 1930 until 6 September 1940. Eldest son of Ferdinand, King of Romania, and his wife, Queen Marie, a daughter of Prince Alfred, Duke of Edinburgh, the second eldest son of Queen Victoria...
also reacted against clandestine PCR activities, and drafted a Decree banning 31 political associations suspected of sedition
Sedition
In law, sedition is overt conduct, such as speech and organization, that is deemed by the legal authority to tend toward insurrection against the established order. Sedition often includes subversion of a constitution and incitement of discontent to lawful authority. Sedition may include any...
, including Amicii URSS, Comitetul Naţional Antirăzboinic, Comitetul Naţional Antifascist, and Liga Muncii.
Legacy
Without noticeable echo inside Romania, the crackdown became a cause for large protest rallies in FranceFrance
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
(organized by the Amis de l'URSS, with the noted participation of Fernand Grenier
Fernand Grenier
-Background:He was born on June 28, 1927 near Lac-Mégantic, Quebec and made a career in education.-Member of the legislature:Grenier ran as a Union Nationale and won a seat to the Legislative Assembly of Quebec in the 1966 provincial election in the district of Frontenac...
and André Malraux
André Malraux
André Malraux DSO was a French adventurer, award-winning author, and statesman. Having traveled extensively in Indochina and China, Malraux was noted especially for his novel entitled La Condition Humaine , which won the Prix Goncourt...
, as well as Victor Basch
Victor Basch
Basch Viktor Vilém, or Victor-Guillaume Basch was a French politician and professor of germanistics and philosophy at the Sorbonne descending vom Hungary...
) and a formal protest of Czechoslovakian
First Republic of Czechoslovakia
-Independence:The Czechoslovak declaration of independence was published by the Czechoslovak National Council, signed by Masaryk, Štefánik and Beneš on October 18, 1918 in Paris, and proclaimed on October 28 in Prague...
intellectuals (it was signed, among others, by Karel Čapek
Karel Capek
Karel Čapek was Czech writer of the 20th century.-Biography:Born in 1890 in the Bohemian mountain village of Malé Svatoňovice to an overbearing, emotional mother and a distant yet adored father, Čapek was the youngest of three siblings...
). In early 1935, a "Committee for the Defense of Romanian Anti-Fascists" was formed in Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
under the leadership of Henri Mineur
Henri Mineur
Henri Mineur was a French astronomer and mathematician.He was born in Lille. In 1917 he applied for the École Normale Supérieure and placed first in his class, but he decided to serve in the army during World War I. Following the war he received his degree in 1921. In addition to studying for a...
, which monitored the situation of detained communists. Aside from this intervention, Romania became a target for the activities of the International Red Aid
International Red Aid
International Red Aid was an international social service organization established by the Communist International...
.
Sahia's visit to Moscow was the inspiration for a reportage, URSS azi ("The USSR of Today"), in which he praised Stalinist
Stalinism
Stalinism refers to the ideology that Joseph Stalin conceived and implemented in the Soviet Union, and is generally considered a branch of Marxist–Leninist ideology but considered by some historians to be a significant deviation from this philosophy...
policies at length. He died of tuberculosis
Tuberculosis
Tuberculosis, MTB, or TB is a common, and in many cases lethal, infectious disease caused by various strains of mycobacteria, usually Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Tuberculosis usually attacks the lungs but can also affect other parts of the body...
in 1937.
Soon after 1934, several of the grouping's former members came to reject communism. They included Haig Acterian
Haig Acterian
Haig Acterian was a Romanian film and theater director, critic, dramatist, poet, journalist, and fascist political activist...
, who adopted fascist ideas and joined the Iron Guard, and Mac Constantinescu, who was already active inside the Criterion group, and who later became official artist for the National Renaissance Front
National Renaissance Front
The National Renaissance Front was a fascist Romanian political party created by King Carol II in 1938 as the single monopoly party of government following his decision to ban all other political parties and suspend the 1923 Constitution, and the passing of the 1938 Constitution of Romania...
corporatist
Corporatism
Corporatism, also known as corporativism, is a system of economic, political, or social organization that involves association of the people of society into corporate groups, such as agricultural, business, ethnic, labor, military, patronage, or scientific affiliations, on the basis of common...
regime.
Although the PCR did not resurrect Amicii URSS in its illegal structure, it attempted to prolong its influence by creating a succession of organizations, all of which replicated its goals; the first of these, known as Societatea pentru întreţinerea raporturilor culturale dintre România şi Uniunea Sovietică (the Society for Maintaining Cultural Links between Romania and the Soviet Union), was created on May 22, 1935, and notably drew support from the musician George Enescu
George Enescu
George Enescu was a Romanian composer, violinist, pianist, conductor and teacher.-Biography:Enescu was born in the village of Liveni , Dorohoi County at the time, today Botoşani County. He showed musical talent from early in his childhood. A child prodigy, Enescu created his first musical...
and linguist Alexandru Rosetti. Alongside these and various former members of Amicii URSS, signers of its founding document included, among others, the lawyer Radu R. Rosetti, the academics Eugen Heroveanu and Traian Săvulescu, the visual artists Nicolae Tonitza
Nicolae Tonitza
Nicolae Tonitza was a Romanian painter, engraver, lithographer, journalist and art critic. Drawing inspiration from Post-impressionism and Expressionism, he had a major role in introducing modernist guidelines to local art.-Biography:...
and Jean Niţescu, the writers Victor Eftimiu
Victor Eftimiu
Victor Eftimiu was an Albanian-Romanian poet, playwright, and a contributor to Sburătorul, a Romanian literary magazine. His works have been performed in the State Jewish Theater of Romania....
and Radu Boureanu, the composers Matei Socor and Constantin Silvestri
Constantin Silvestri
-Early life:Silvestri, born of Austro-Italian-Romanian stock, was brought up on his own by his mother, his father dying from alcoholism and his stepfather dying when the boy was 16. He had learnt how to play the piano and organ before the age of 6. He played the piano in public at 10 and was a...
, the operatic artists Ionel Perlea and Jean Athanasiu, the architect Octav Doicescu, the theater director Soare Z. Soare, the actors Tony Bulandra, Gheorghe Timică and Ion Iancovescu, as well as the musical critics Emanoil Ciomac and Traian Şelmaru. The new organization was based in Bucharest, on Dr. Victor Poloni Street.
Among its main purposes was popularizing Soviet cinema
Cinema of the Soviet Union
The cinema of the Soviet Union, not to be confused with "Cinema of Russia" despite Russian language films being predominant in both genres, includes several film contributions of the constituent republics of the Soviet Union reflecting elements of their pre-Soviet culture, language and history,...
, which it showcased in the Marconi and Trianon film theaters. During one of the shows in February 1936, the Communist Party reportedly dropped leaflets with agitprop
Agitprop
Agitprop is derived from agitation and propaganda, and describes stage plays, pamphlets, motion pictures and other art forms with an explicitly political message....
messages. In anniversaries of the October Revolution from 1935 to 1936, the Society attempted to send representatives to the Soviet Union — notably, the 1937 project Communist activist Constantin David
Constantin David
Constantin David is a Romanian boxer who competed in the 1936 Summer Olympics.In 1936 he was eliminated in the first round of the lightweight class after losing his fight to Mario Facchin.-External links:* *-References:...
and workers for the Romanian Railways
Caile Ferate Române
Căile Ferate Române is the official designation of the state railway carrier of Romania. Romania has a railway network of of which are electrified and the total track length is . The network is significantly interconnected with other European railway networks, providing pan-European passenger...
in Griviţa
Grivita
Griviţa is an area of Bucharest, Romania, centered on the Griviţa Railway Yards , which were and still are an important landmark within the manufacturing landscape of the city...
. Several organized groups did leave Romania on other occasions (on May Day
May Day
May Day on May 1 is an ancient northern hemisphere spring festival and usually a public holiday; it is also a traditional spring holiday in many cultures....
1936 and later in the same year). Societatea pentru întreţinerea raporturilor culturale was outlawed in February 1938.
During the early stages of World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, when government in Romania was taken over by the Iron Guard
Iron Guard
The Iron Guard is the name most commonly given to a far-right movement and political party in Romania in the period from 1927 into the early part of World War II. The Iron Guard was ultra-nationalist, fascist, anti-communist, and promoted the Orthodox Christian faith...
fascist
Fascism
Fascism is a radical authoritarian nationalist political ideology. Fascists seek to rejuvenate their nation based on commitment to the national community as an organic entity, in which individuals are bound together in national identity by suprapersonal connections of ancestry, culture, and blood...
and pro-Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany , also known as the Third Reich , but officially called German Reich from 1933 to 1943 and Greater German Reich from 26 June 1943 onward, is the name commonly used to refer to the state of Germany from 1933 to 1945, when it was a totalitarian dictatorship ruled by...
movement (see National Legionary State
National Legionary State
The National Legionary State was the Romanian government from September 6, 1940 to January 23, 1941. It was a single-party regime dictatorship dominated by the overtly fascist Iron Guard in uneasy conjunction with the head of government and Conducător Ion Antonescu, the leader of the Romanian...
), PCR leaders Teohari Georgescu
Teohari Georgescu
Teohari Georgescu was a high-ranking member of the Romanian Communist Party.-Life:Born in Bacău, he was the third of seven children of Constantin and Aneta Georgescu. Georgescu, whose formal education ended after the fourth grade, began his career as an assistant in his father's store...
and Lucreţiu Pătrăşcanu
Lucretiu Patrascanu
Lucreţiu Pătrăşcanu was a Romanian communist politician and leading member of the Communist Party of Romania , also noted for his activities as a lawyer, sociologist and economist. For a while, he was a professor at Bucharest University...
worked together to reactivate the society, profiting from friendly relations between the new authorities and the Soviet Union; their attempt came to an abrupt end in 1941, when Ion Antonescu
Ion Antonescu
Ion Victor Antonescu was a Romanian soldier, authoritarian politician and convicted war criminal. The Prime Minister and Conducător during most of World War II, he presided over two successive wartime dictatorships...
's triumph against the Guard provoked a collateral move against communist activists (see Legionnaires' Rebellion and Bucharest Pogrom
Legionnaires' Rebellion and Bucharest Pogrom
The Legionnaires' rebellion and the Bucharest pogrom occurred in Bucharest, Romania, between 21 and 23 January 1941.As the privileges of the Iron Guard were being cut off by Conducător Ion Antonescu, members of the Iron Guard, also known as the Legionnaires, revolted...
).