Gheorghe Mironescu
Encyclopedia
Gheorghe G. Mironescu, commonly known as G. G. Mironescu (January 29, 1874 – 1949), was a Romania
n politician, member of the National Peasants' Party
(PNŢ), who served as a Prime Minister of Romania for two terms.
, Mironescu joined the PNŢ and became one of most its recognizable leaders, the main figure of a pro-authoritarian
faction bitterly opposed to left-wing groups such as those of Nicolae L. Lupu
, Petre Andrei, Mihai Ralea, and Armand Călinescu
. After 1928, he served as Foreign Minister in Iuliu Maniu
's first cabinet.
In 1930, Carol II of Romania
returned incognito to Romania (with a fake passport). On the morning of June 7, 1930, the Government convened Parliament
in order to cancel the act of January 4, 1926, through which Carol had renounced the throne. Carol was proclaimed the new King of Romania
, replacing his own son Michael
. Maniu resigned, and a new PNŢ government was formed, under the leadership of Gheorghe Mironescu, restoring Carol II to the throne on June 8, 1930. The cabinet was welcomed by regent
Nicholas
with the words:
The PNŢ subsequently repealed the 1926 laws preventing Carol from inheriting the Crown, and faced a constitutional crisis after Constantin Sărăţeanu and Patriarch
Miron Cristea
resigned from the regency in protest. The impass was quickly prevented, as the two chambers of parliament passed legislation awarding Carol the crown and awarding Michael the honorary dignity of Grand Voivode of Alba Iulia
. That same evening, Mironescu resigned in order for the king to name a new government.
The king's project for a broad-coalition government was not accomplished: Carol offered the appointment to Maniu (who cited health reasons in his refusal, but was in fact disappointed by Carol's ongoing scandalous relationship with Magda Lupescu
) and then to General Constantin Prezan
(who was rejected by the National Liberal Party
). Eventually, the king renounced the project, recognized the mandate of Maniu as majority leader, and conceded to a regular cabinet. Mironescu was Foreign Minister in the first two Maniu cabinets, and remained in office in the ministry for the duration of his premiership.
His second time in office, with Ion Mihalache
as Minister of Internal Affairs and Carol's supporter Mihail Manoilescu
as Minister of the Economy, was marked by the outlawing of the far right
movement known as the Iron Guard
and the arrest of its leader Corneliu Zelea Codreanu
(who was later tried and acquitted
). Nevertheless, Mironescu was to contribute to the appeal of fascism
: his was the first in a series of governments that, faced with the Great Depression
, reduced salaries
for state employees, who soon began supporting the revolutionary solutions advanced by Codreanu. The cabinet was ultimately ousted by the king himself, who nominated an attempted technocracy
under Nicolae Iorga
(aiming to provide a mask for Carol's camarilla
).
In early 1943, during World War II
, Mironescu was given a mandate to approach the leadership of Miklós Horthy
's Hungary
, in an attempt by Romania's Ion Antonescu
to have both countries achieve a new territorial settlement and a common withdrawal from the Axis Powers
(see also Romania during World War II
); he began talks with Miklós Bánffy
's delegation in Bucharest
(June 9), but these negotiations ended when the two sides could not agree on a future status for Northern Transylvania
, a region held by Hungary at the time.
He died in Bucharest in 1949.
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...
n politician, member of the National Peasants' Party
National Peasants' Party
The National Peasants' Party was a Romanian political party, formed in 1926 through the fusion of the Romanian National Party from Transylvania and the Peasants' Party . It was in power between 1928 and 1933, with brief interruptions...
(PNŢ), who served as a Prime Minister of Romania for two terms.
Biography
Born in VasluiVaslui
Vaslui , a city in eastern Romania, is the seat of Vaslui County, in the historical region of Moldavia.The city administers five villages: Bahnari, Brodoc, Moara Grecilor, Rediu and Viişoara.-History:...
, Mironescu joined the PNŢ and became one of most its recognizable leaders, the main figure of a pro-authoritarian
Authoritarianism
Authoritarianism is a form of social organization characterized by submission to authority. It is usually opposed to individualism and democracy...
faction bitterly opposed to left-wing groups such as those of Nicolae L. Lupu
Nicolae L. Lupu
Dr. Nicolae Lupu was a Romanian politician and medical doctor, active in the National Peasants' Party....
, Petre Andrei, Mihai Ralea, and Armand Călinescu
Armand Calinescu
Armand Călinescu was a Romanian economist and politician, who served as Prime Minister between March 1939 and the time of his death.-Early life:...
. After 1928, he served as Foreign Minister in Iuliu Maniu
Iuliu Maniu
Iuliu Maniu was an Austro-Hungarian-born Romanian politician. A leader of the National Party of Transylvania and Banat before and after World War I, he served as Prime Minister of Romania for three terms during 1928–1933, and, with Ion Mihalache, co-founded the National Peasants'...
's first cabinet.
In 1930, Carol II of Romania
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...
returned incognito to Romania (with a fake passport). On the morning of June 7, 1930, the Government convened Parliament
Parliament of Romania
The Parliament of Romania is made up of two chambers:*The Chamber of Deputies*The SenatePrior to the modifications of the Constitution in 2003, the two houses had identical attributes. A text of a law had to be approved by both houses...
in order to cancel the act of January 4, 1926, through which Carol had renounced the throne. Carol was proclaimed the new King of Romania
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....
, replacing his own son Michael
Michael I of Romania
Michael was the last King of Romania. He reigned from 20 July 1927 to 8 June 1930, and again from 6 September 1940 until 30 December 1947 when he was forced, by the Communist Party of Romania , to abdicate to the Soviet armies of occupation...
. Maniu resigned, and a new PNŢ government was formed, under the leadership of Gheorghe Mironescu, restoring Carol II to the throne on June 8, 1930. The cabinet was welcomed by regent
Regent
A regent, from the Latin regens "one who reigns", is a person selected to act as head of state because the ruler is a minor, not present, or debilitated. Currently there are only two ruling Regencies in the world, sovereign Liechtenstein and the Malaysian constitutive state of Terengganu...
Nicholas
Prince Nicholas of Romania
| style="float:right;"|Prince Nicholas of Romania was the second son of King Ferdinand I and Queen Marie of Romania.- Biography :Born in Peleş Castle, Sinaia, Nicholas was the younger brother of Carol, heir apparent, who renounced his rights of succession on 12 December 1925...
with the words:
"You are called on to fulfill King FerdinandFerdinand I of RomaniaFerdinand was the King of Romania from 10 October 1914 until his death.-Early life:Born in Sigmaringen in southwestern Germany, the Roman Catholic Prince Ferdinand Viktor Albert Meinrad of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen, later simply of Hohenzollern, was a son of Leopold, Prince of...
's dream, and you are the most qualified to do it."
The PNŢ subsequently repealed the 1926 laws preventing Carol from inheriting the Crown, and faced a constitutional crisis after Constantin Sărăţeanu and Patriarch
Patriarch of All Romania
The Patriarch of All Romania is the title of the head of the Romanian Orthodox Church. As of September 12, 2007, the chair is occupied by Daniel Ciobotea.-Metropolitans of Ungro-Wallachia:* Maxim * Macarie II * Ilarion II...
Miron Cristea
Miron Cristea
Miron Cristea, was an Austro-Hungarian-born Romanian cleric and politician....
resigned from the regency in protest. The impass was quickly prevented, as the two chambers of parliament passed legislation awarding Carol the crown and awarding Michael the honorary dignity of Grand Voivode of Alba Iulia
Alba Iulia
Alba Iulia is a city in Alba County, Transylvania, Romania with a population of 66,747, located on the Mureş River. Since the High Middle Ages, the city has been the seat of Transylvania's Roman Catholic diocese. Between 1541 and 1690 it was the capital of the Principality of Transylvania...
. That same evening, Mironescu resigned in order for the king to name a new government.
The king's project for a broad-coalition government was not accomplished: Carol offered the appointment to Maniu (who cited health reasons in his refusal, but was in fact disappointed by Carol's ongoing scandalous relationship with Magda Lupescu
Magda Lupescu
Elena Lupescu , better known as Magda Lupescu, was the mistress of King Carol II of the Romanians and later , his wife.-Parents and siblings:...
) and then to General Constantin Prezan
Constantin Prezan
Constantin Prezan was a Romanian general during World War I and after the war a Marshal of Romania....
(who was rejected by the National Liberal Party
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...
). Eventually, the king renounced the project, recognized the mandate of Maniu as majority leader, and conceded to a regular cabinet. Mironescu was Foreign Minister in the first two Maniu cabinets, and remained in office in the ministry for the duration of his premiership.
His second time in office, with Ion Mihalache
Ion Mihalache
Ion Mihalache was a Romanian agrarian politician, the founder and leader of the Peasants' Party and a main figure of its successor, the National Peasants' Party .-Early life:...
as Minister of Internal Affairs and Carol's supporter Mihail Manoilescu
Mihail Manoilescu
Mihail Manoilescu was a Romanian journalist, engineer, economist, politician and memoirist, who served as Foreign Minister of Romania during the summer of 1940...
as Minister of the Economy, was marked by the outlawing of the far right
Far right
Far-right, extreme right, hard right, radical right, and ultra-right are terms used to discuss the qualitative or quantitative position a group or person occupies within right-wing politics. Far-right politics may involve anti-immigration and anti-integration stances towards groups that are...
movement known as 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...
and the arrest of its leader Corneliu Zelea Codreanu
Corneliu Zelea Codreanu
Corneliu Zelea Codreanu was a Romanian politician of the far right, the founder and charismatic leader of the Iron Guard or The Legion of the Archangel Michael , an ultra-nationalist and violently antisemitic organization active throughout most of the interwar period...
(who was later tried and acquitted
Acquittal
In the common law tradition, an acquittal formally certifies the accused is free from the charge of an offense, as far as the criminal law is concerned. This is so even where the prosecution is abandoned nolle prosequi...
). Nevertheless, Mironescu was to contribute to the appeal of fascism
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...
: his was the first in a series of governments that, faced with the Great Depression
Great Depression
The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...
, reduced salaries
Salary
A salary is a form of periodic payment from an employer to an employee, which may be specified in an employment contract. It is contrasted with piece wages, where each job, hour or other unit is paid separately, rather than on a periodic basis....
for state employees, who soon began supporting the revolutionary solutions advanced by Codreanu. The cabinet was ultimately ousted by the king himself, who nominated an attempted technocracy
Technocracy (bureaucratic)
Technocracy is a form of government where technical experts are in control of decision making in their respective fields. Economists, engineers, scientists, health professionals, and those who have knowledge, expertise or skills would compose the governing body...
under Nicolae Iorga
Nicolae Iorga
Nicolae Iorga was a Romanian historian, politician, literary critic, memoirist, poet and playwright. Co-founder of the Democratic Nationalist Party , he served as a member of Parliament, President of the Deputies' Assembly and Senate, cabinet minister and briefly as Prime Minister...
(aiming to provide a mask for Carol's camarilla
Camarilla (history)
A camarilla is a group of courtiers or favourites who surround a king or ruler. Usually, they do not hold any office or have any official authority but influence their ruler behind the scenes. Consequently, they also escape having to bear responsibility for the effects of their advice...
).
In early 1943, during 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...
, Mironescu was given a mandate to approach the leadership of Miklós Horthy
Miklós Horthy
Miklós Horthy de Nagybánya was the Regent of the Kingdom of Hungary during the interwar years and throughout most of World War II, serving from 1 March 1920 to 15 October 1944. Horthy was styled "His Serene Highness the Regent of the Kingdom of Hungary" .Admiral Horthy was an officer of the...
's Hungary
Hungary
Hungary , officially the Republic of Hungary , is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is situated in the Carpathian Basin and is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine and Romania to the east, Serbia and Croatia to the south, Slovenia to the southwest and Austria to the west. The...
, in an attempt by Romania's 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...
to have both countries achieve a new territorial settlement and a common withdrawal from the Axis Powers
Axis Powers
The Axis powers , also known as the Axis alliance, Axis nations, Axis countries, or just the Axis, was an alignment of great powers during the mid-20th century that fought World War II against the Allies. It began in 1936 with treaties of friendship between Germany and Italy and between Germany and...
(see also Romania during World War II
Romania during World War II
Following the outbreak of World War II on 1 September 1939, the Kingdom of Romania officially adopted a position of neutrality. However, the rapidly changing situation in Europe during 1940, as well as domestic political upheaval, undermined this stance. Fascist political forces such as the Iron...
); he began talks with Miklós Bánffy
Miklós Bánffy
Count Miklós Bánffy de Losoncz was a Hungarian nobleman, politician, and novelist. His books include The Transylvanian Trilogy , and The Phoenix Land.The Bánffy family emerged in 15th century Transylvania and established itself among the foremost dynasties of the...
's delegation in 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....
(June 9), but these negotiations ended when the two sides could not agree on a future status for Northern Transylvania
Northern Transylvania
Northern Transylvania is a region of Transylvania, situated within the territory of Romania. The population is largely composed of both ethnic Romanians and Hungarians, and the region has been part of Romania since 1918 . During World War II, as a consequence of the territorial agreement known as...
, a region held by Hungary at the time.
He died in Bucharest in 1949.