Ion Mihalache
Encyclopedia
Ion Mihalache was a Romania
n agrarian
politician, the founder and leader of the Peasants' Party
(PŢ) and a main figure of its successor, the National Peasants' Party
(PNŢ).
, he served as a lieutenant
in the Romanian Army during World War
. Mihalache, who soon became popular among Orthodox
priests and village teachers, served as president of the local teachers' association.
He founded the PŢ in the Romanian Old Kingdom
in 1918; under his leadership, it emerged out of northern Muntenia
and became a grouping with national appeal. The PŢ had much success in the elections of November 1919, forming a coalition government with the Transylvania
n Romanian National Party
(PNR), under Alexandru Vaida-Voevod
. As a politician, Mihalache made himself known for supporting a political option that mixed traditionalist reserve towards industrialization and calls for preserving the rural base of Romanian economy through voluntary cooperative farming
(allowing for a peasant-based industry) with a vision of left-wing Corporatism
. In 1929, he wrote:
He notably took the initiative in calling for peaceful marches of peasants and members of the rural intelligentsia
, and would almost always dress in accordance with the peasant tradition of his native Muscel County.
. Despite having led a populist
movement, the People's Party, Averescu continuously opposed Mihalache's push for widespread land reform
.
The new minister found himself at odds with the political establishment over the issue of land redistribution: promised by Ion I. C. Brătianu
's National Liberal
(PNL) government during World War I
, and partly carried out in December 1918, the move viewed as incomplete - expropriations
had not led to a redefinition of peasant property, and land had remained with provisional cooperatives instead of being allocated to members. Mihalache supported the fragmentation of all land property in a country of medium to small sized landowners. The Peasants' Party calculated leaving no landowner with more than on one square kilometre, which also included expropriating land for common pasture
. At the same time, Vaida-Voevod's government created a conflict over its projects for constitutional reform, clashing with the PNL over the highly centralized government
and support for the 1866 Constitution of Romania
advocated by the latter. Mihalache is also known to have traveled incognito to various locations, as a means to observe first-hand abuse by government officials.
After a deadlock over these issues in Parliament
, Averescu's group and the National Liberals began negotiation a new parliamentary majority; advised by Nicolae Iorga
, who was president of the Chamber
, Mihalache handed in his resignation (March 12, 1920), with the expectation that the land reform project was to be endorsed by parliamentary initiative. It was advanced later in the same day by the PŢ's Grigore Iunian
. King
Ferdinand I
intervened in favor of the National Liberals, installing Averescu, who had reached an agreement with Brătianu, as Prime Minister.
A major factor in this move was pressure from the landowners to remove a threat to the system (notably, Constantin Garoflid filed a complaint with the king, while Mihalache caused scandal when he publicly assured peasants that the monarch's opposition was ultimately irrelevant. At the same time, the PŢ's politics had given way to fears that it was a Romanian equivalent of Aleksandar Stamboliyski
's Agrarian Union
of Bulgaria
, or even a parallel to Bolshevism. To the latter accusation, Mihalache once replied indicating, as other leaders of his party had done, his belief that the peasant's needs identified with the national interest
:
The land reform that was ultimately carried out did however reflect the influence of some ideas supported by Mihalache, and was itself favorable to small holdings.
. The new political group moderated many of its demands, and was not as adverse to industrialization as it had previously been. However, in 1928, Mihalache's voiced the party's call for a march on Bucharest, meant to topple Vintilă Brătianu
's PNL cabinet: in May, large crowds gathered in Alba Iulia
— despite the initial success in rallying all forces opposed to the National Liberals, the PNŢ did not capitalize on the gains, and continued instead to block activity in parliament.
He served as Minister of Agriculture in the Iuliu Maniu
's government of 1928-1930 (being seconded by Armand Călinescu
), then, between 1930 and 1933, he was the Minister of Internal Affairs (he also held the office of Foreign Minister between late 1930 and early 1931). In this latter capacity, Mihalache outlawed the fascist
Iron Guard
in January 1931 (under the premiership of Gheorghe Mironescu
), following a period of violence and agitation by the movement. The measure was to prove inefficient in time, as the new cabinet allowed Corneliu Zelea Codreanu
, leader of the Guard, to run in the 1931 elections on a new platform (the Corneliu Codreanu Grouping).
During the period, he also became a noted opponent of Carol II
: as heir apparent
, the latter had been denied the right of ascension after the war, and returned to the throne with Maniu's backing in 1930. The relations between the PNŢ and the monarch soured, however, especially after Vaida-Voevod's second cabinet fell in 1932, due to disagreement over several policies — as Minister of the Interior, Mihalache was directly involved in the dispute, as the scandal erupted when Gavrilă Marinescu, the prefect of police in Bucharest, refused to hand in his resignation, and instead called for the king's verdict. In 1935, Mihalache briefly took charge of the party upon Maniu's resignation, and steered it to the Left, charging Mihai Ralea and the PNŢ's Study Circle (Constantin Rădulescu-Motru
, Mihail Ghelmegeanu, Ernest Ene, and Petre Andrei) with drafting a new party program that adapted Poporanist
ideals.
After 1938, when, faced with the rise of the Iron Guard, Carol imposed his authoritarian
regime, the PNŢ party refused collaboration and merger into the National Renaissance Front
. According to the leading party member Ioan Hudiţă, Mihalache, together with Virgil Madgearu
and Mihai Popovici, continued to display support for the king and even considered joining the Front.
, he opposed the National Legionary State
created by the Iron Guard, and complained to the Guard's rival partner, Conducător
Ion Antonescu
, that Horia Sima
and his grouping had assumed control of his cooperative organization in Muscel County. Antonescu refused to mediate; Sima replied to Mihalache that the measure had been partly taken as compensation for the Legionaries' "suffering at the hands of Mihalache [in 1930-1931]", but offered to allow some of the Muscel cooperative's former administrators structure to regain their positions. Attacks and threats towards Mihalache in the Guard's press became widespread, and Mille Lefter singled him out as a former persecutor of the movement in a conference aired on Romanian Radio
.
Following Antonescu's defeat of the Guard during the Legionary Rebellion
of 1941, Mihalache forwarded a congratulatory message to the former. In time, he also objected to Antonescu's Nazi Germany
-allied dictatorship of (although pressured by the latter to join a War Cabinet
). He did, however, support the recovery of Bessarabia
from the Soviet Union
during Operation Barbarossa
, and offered his services as a volunteer in the Romanian Army (June 1941) — he served for only a few days, and was discharged on orders from Antonescu himself.
He eventually joined a semi-clandestine opposition, and then supported the PNŢ's entry into the underground liberation movement, as well as King Michael
's pro-Allied
August 1944 coup.
The appearance of the Iron Curtain
and Joseph Stalin
's plans for Romania singled out the PNŢ, the main supporter of cooperation with the Western Allies
, as an adversary of growing Soviet influence over the country (see Soviet occupation of Romania
). Consequently, he and Maniu were branded "fascists" by the Romanian Communist Party
press, and Mihalache was especially attacked for his supposedly good relations with Antonescu; the 1941 episode was used against him during the rigged 1946 elections
, when Communists prevented him from running for office based on a law forbidding candidatures of former Eastern Front
volunteers. It is possible, however, that just before the elections, the PNŢ had attempted to resist and profit from a foreseen insurrection against the Petru Groza
government, by forming Cercul Militar Professional (the "Professional Military Circle") — grouping generals and other officers, it was led by Mihalache himself.
The Communist regime
which was installed in late 1947 outlawed the PNŢ altogether, alleging that Mihalache and Maniu had been trying to flee the country from the airfield in Tămădău, and had planned to give Romania a capitalist
government-in-exile. Their capture (see Tămădău Affair
) and trial by a kangaroo court
led to sentences of life imprisonment
with requirements of penal labour
, effectively death sentences; Mihalache, after having passed through Sighet prison
, died in custody at Râmnicu Sărat
.
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 agrarian
Agrarianism
Agrarianism has two common meanings. The first meaning refers to a social philosophy or political philosophy which values rural society as superior to urban society, the independent farmer as superior to the paid worker, and sees farming as a way of life that can shape the ideal social values...
politician, the founder and leader of the Peasants' Party
Peasants' Party (Romania)
The Peasants' Party was a political party in post-World War I Romania that espoused a left-wing ideology partly connected with Agrarianism and Populism, and aimed to represent the interests of the Romanian peasantry. Through many of its leaders, the party was connected with Romanian populism , a...
(PŢ) and a main figure of its successor, 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).
Early life
A schoolteacher born into a peasant family of TopoloveniTopoloveni
Topoloveni is a town in Argeş County, Romania on the Cârcinov River. The town administers four villages: Boţârcani, Crinteşti, Gorăneşti and Ţigăneşti....
, he served as a lieutenant
Lieutenant
A lieutenant is a junior commissioned officer in many nations' armed forces. Typically, the rank of lieutenant in naval usage, while still a junior officer rank, is senior to the army rank...
in the Romanian Army during World War
World war
A world war is a war affecting the majority of the world's most powerful and populous nations. World wars span multiple countries on multiple continents, with battles fought in multiple theaters....
. Mihalache, who soon became popular among Orthodox
Romanian Orthodox Church
The Romanian Orthodox Church is an autocephalous Eastern Orthodox church. It is in full communion with other Eastern Orthodox churches, and is ranked seventh in order of precedence. The Primate of the church has the title of Patriarch...
priests and village teachers, served as president of the local teachers' association.
He founded the PŢ in the Romanian Old Kingdom
Romanian Old Kingdom
The Romanian Old Kingdom is a colloquial term referring to the territory covered by the first independent Romanian nation state, which was composed of the Danubian Principalities—Wallachia and Moldavia...
in 1918; under his leadership, it emerged out of northern Muntenia
Muntenia
Muntenia is a historical province of Romania, usually considered Wallachia-proper . It is situated between the Danube , the Carpathian Mountains and Moldavia , and the Olt River to the west...
and became a grouping with national appeal. The PŢ had much success in the elections of November 1919, forming a coalition government with the Transylvania
Transylvania
Transylvania is a historical region in the central part of Romania. Bounded on the east and south by the Carpathian mountain range, historical Transylvania extended in the west to the Apuseni Mountains; however, the term sometimes encompasses not only Transylvania proper, but also the historical...
n Romanian National Party
Romanian National Party
The Romanian National Party , initially known as the Romanian National Party in Transylvania and Banat , was a political party which was initially designed to offer ethnic representation to Romanians in the Kingdom of Hungary, the Transleithanian half of Austria-Hungary, and especially to those in...
(PNR), under Alexandru Vaida-Voevod
Alexandru Vaida-Voevod
Alexandru Vaida-Voevod or Vaida-Voievod was a Romanian politician who was a supporter and promoter of the union of Transylvania with the Romanian Old Kingdom; he later served three terms as a Prime Minister of Greater Romania.-Transylvanian politics:He was born to a Greek-Catholic family in the...
. As a politician, Mihalache made himself known for supporting a political option that mixed traditionalist reserve towards industrialization and calls for preserving the rural base of Romanian economy through voluntary cooperative farming
Cooperative farming
An agricultural cooperative, also known as a farmers' co-op, is a cooperative where farmers pool their resources in certain areas of activity....
(allowing for a peasant-based industry) with a vision of left-wing Corporatism
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...
. In 1929, he wrote:
"Many have thought that [economic success] was only possible for the large-scale agricultural entrepreneur. And this is why they have supported that only on the basis of large-scale property can there be carried out a wise and lucrative agriculture, and that dividing the land leads to a decrease in production.
Perhaps it would be this way, if the small-scale agricultural entrepreneur will not 'organize' himself and will not enlighten himself.
But the cure was found: the association of peasants into agricultural cooperatives, which bring: money, as well as utensils, as well as regulated sales, as well as industrialization."
He notably took the initiative in calling for peaceful marches of peasants and members of the rural intelligentsia
Intelligentsia
The intelligentsia is a social class of people engaged in complex, mental and creative labor directed to the development and dissemination of culture, encompassing intellectuals and social groups close to them...
, and would almost always dress in accordance with the peasant tradition of his native Muscel County.
1919-1920
Mihalache became Vaida-Voevod's Minister of Agriculture on December 16, 1919, in a cabinet replacing that of General Artur VăitoianuArtur Vaitoianu
Artur or Arthur Văitoianu was a Romanian general who served as a Prime Minister of Romania for about two months in 1919...
. Despite having led a populist
Populism
Populism can be defined as an ideology, political philosophy, or type of discourse. Generally, a common theme compares "the people" against "the elite", and urges social and political system changes. It can also be defined as a rhetorical style employed by members of various political or social...
movement, the People's Party, Averescu continuously opposed Mihalache's push for widespread land reform
Land reform
[Image:Jakarta farmers protest23.jpg|300px|thumb|right|Farmers protesting for Land Reform in Indonesia]Land reform involves the changing of laws, regulations or customs regarding land ownership. Land reform may consist of a government-initiated or government-backed property redistribution,...
.
The new minister found himself at odds with the political establishment over the issue of land redistribution: promised by Ion I. C. Brătianu
Ion I. C. Bratianu
Ion I. C. Brătianu was a Romanian politician, leader of the National Liberal Party , the Prime Minister of Romania for five terms, and Foreign Minister on several occasions; he was the eldest son of statesman and PNL leader Ion Brătianu, the brother of Vintilă and Dinu Brătianu, and the father of...
's 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...
(PNL) government during World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
, and partly carried out in December 1918, the move viewed as incomplete - expropriations
Nationalization
Nationalisation, also spelled nationalization, is the process of taking an industry or assets into government ownership by a national government or state. Nationalization usually refers to private assets, but may also mean assets owned by lower levels of government, such as municipalities, being...
had not led to a redefinition of peasant property, and land had remained with provisional cooperatives instead of being allocated to members. Mihalache supported the fragmentation of all land property in a country of medium to small sized landowners. The Peasants' Party calculated leaving no landowner with more than on one square kilometre, which also included expropriating land for common pasture
Pasture
Pasture is land used for grazing. Pasture lands in the narrow sense are enclosed tracts of farmland, grazed by domesticated livestock, such as horses, cattle, sheep or swine. The vegetation of tended pasture, forage, consists mainly of grasses, with an interspersion of legumes and other forbs...
. At the same time, Vaida-Voevod's government created a conflict over its projects for constitutional reform, clashing with the PNL over the highly centralized government
Centralized government
A centralized or centralised government is one in which power or legal authority is exerted or coordinated by a de facto political executive to which federal states, local authorities, and smaller units are considered subject...
and support for the 1866 Constitution of Romania
1866 Constitution of Romania
The 1866 Constitution of Romania was the fundamental law that capped a period of nation-building in the Danubian Principalities, which had united in 1859. Drafted in a short time and using as its model the 1831 Constitution of Belgium, then considered Europe's most liberal, it was substantially...
advocated by the latter. Mihalache is also known to have traveled incognito to various locations, as a means to observe first-hand abuse by government officials.
After a deadlock over these issues in 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...
, Averescu's group and the National Liberals began negotiation a new parliamentary majority; advised by 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...
, who was president of the Chamber
Chamber of Deputies of Romania
The Chamber of Deputies is the lower house in Romania's bicameral parliament. It has 315 seats, to which deputies are elected by direct popular vote on a proportional representation basis to serve four-year terms...
, Mihalache handed in his resignation (March 12, 1920), with the expectation that the land reform project was to be endorsed by parliamentary initiative. It was advanced later in the same day by the PŢ's Grigore Iunian
Grigore Iunian
Grigore Iunian was a Romanian left-wing politician and lawyer. A member of the National Liberal Party during the 1910s, he rallied with the Peasants' Party after World War I, and followed it into the National Peasants' Party , before leaving in 1933 to create the Radical Peasants' Party-Grigore...
. 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....
Ferdinand I
Ferdinand I of Romania
Ferdinand 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...
intervened in favor of the National Liberals, installing Averescu, who had reached an agreement with Brătianu, as Prime Minister.
A major factor in this move was pressure from the landowners to remove a threat to the system (notably, Constantin Garoflid filed a complaint with the king, while Mihalache caused scandal when he publicly assured peasants that the monarch's opposition was ultimately irrelevant. At the same time, the PŢ's politics had given way to fears that it was a Romanian equivalent of Aleksandar Stamboliyski
Aleksandar Stamboliyski
Aleksandar Stamboliyski was the prime minister of Bulgaria from 1919 until 1923. Stamboliyski was a member of the Agrarian Union, an agrarian peasant movement which was not allied to the monarchy, and edited their newspaper...
's Agrarian Union
Bulgarian Agrarian People's Union Alexander Stambolijski
The Agrarian Union "Aleksandar Stamboliyski" , is a progressive agrarian political party in Bulgaria.It was founded in 1993 by members of the Bulgarian Agrarian People's Union. Until 2005 it was known as the Bulgarian Agrarian People's Union "Aleksandar Stamboliyski"...
of Bulgaria
Bulgaria
Bulgaria , officially the Republic of Bulgaria , is a parliamentary democracy within a unitary constitutional republic in Southeast Europe. The country borders Romania to the north, Serbia and Macedonia to the west, Greece and Turkey to the south, as well as the Black Sea to the east...
, or even a parallel to Bolshevism. To the latter accusation, Mihalache once replied indicating, as other leaders of his party had done, his belief that the peasant's needs identified with the national interest
National interest
The national interest, often referred to by the French expression raison d'État , is a country's goals and ambitions whether economic, military, or cultural. The concept is an important one in international relations where pursuit of the national interest is the foundation of the realist...
:
"Thus — after so many years of 'harmony', we arrive today as the 'agitators of social order' and clearly state:
Enough with the lie about social harmony. There is a conflict between social classesClass conflictClass conflict is the tension or antagonism which exists in society due to competing socioeconomic interests between people of different classes....
. We do not deny it, but rather bring it to light. We wish to take part in the fight in the name of an underprivileged working classWorking classWorking class is a term used in the social sciences and in ordinary conversation to describe those employed in lower tier jobs , often extending to those in unemployment or otherwise possessing below-average incomes...
, the peasantry. We wish to rally it in a class party. We shall not ask anybody for power, we shall fight to have the fair number of representatives of the peasant class in Parliament. May each class fight for this [that is, for their respective seats] and parliament will give itself the government it sees fit.
As for "social harmony" — as this has been up to now — we demand a particular balance between producing classes and wish for the abolition of parasiteParasitism (social offense)Social parasitism is a charge that is leveled against a group or class in society which is considered to be detrimental to the whole by analogy with biologic parasitism .-General concept:...
classes such as that of untrained politicians.
[...]'Bolshevism', cry the parasite politicians, accustomed to govern together with the highest power and their cries also alert the gentle folk, whose political judgment is chained in 'harmony'-related prejudice.
— 'Truth is not anarchyAnomieAnomie is a term meaning "without Law" to describe a lack of social norms; "normlessness". It describes the breakdown of social bonds between an individual and their community ties, with fragmentation of social identity and rejection of self-regulatory values. It was popularized by French...
' — we reply."
The land reform that was ultimately carried out did however reflect the influence of some ideas supported by Mihalache, and was itself favorable to small holdings.
PŢ-PNR union
Mihalache became vice-president of the National Peasants' Party (PNŢ) in 1926, when the PNR and PŢ groups decided to unite in order to combat the effective monopoly the PNL had ensured after the voting of the 1923 Constitution1923 Constitution of Romania
The 1923 Constitution of Romania, also called the Constitution of Union, was intended to align the organisation of the state on the basis of universal male suffrage and the new realities that arose after the Great Union of 1918. Four draft constitutions existed: one belonging to the National...
. The new political group moderated many of its demands, and was not as adverse to industrialization as it had previously been. However, in 1928, Mihalache's voiced the party's call for a march on Bucharest, meant to topple Vintilă Brătianu
Vintila Bratianu
Vintilă Brătianu was a Romanian politician who served as Prime Minister of Romania between 24 November 1927 and 2 November 1928.Vintilă and his brothers Ion and Dinu were the leaders of the National Liberal Party of Romania...
's PNL cabinet: in May, large crowds gathered in 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...
— despite the initial success in rallying all forces opposed to the National Liberals, the PNŢ did not capitalize on the gains, and continued instead to block activity in parliament.
He served as Minister of Agriculture in the 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 government of 1928-1930 (being seconded by 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:...
), then, between 1930 and 1933, he was the Minister of Internal Affairs (he also held the office of Foreign Minister between late 1930 and early 1931). In this latter capacity, Mihalache outlawed the 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...
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...
in January 1931 (under the premiership of Gheorghe Mironescu
Gheorghe Mironescu
Gheorghe G. Mironescu, commonly known as G. G. Mironescu , was a Romanian politician, member of the National Peasants' Party , who served as a Prime Minister of Romania for two terms.-Biography:...
), following a period of violence and agitation by the movement. The measure was to prove inefficient in time, as the new cabinet allowed 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...
, leader of the Guard, to run in the 1931 elections on a new platform (the Corneliu Codreanu Grouping).
During the period, he also became a noted opponent of 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...
: as heir apparent
Heir apparent
An heir apparent or heiress apparent is a person who is first in line of succession and cannot be displaced from inheriting, except by a change in the rules of succession....
, the latter had been denied the right of ascension after the war, and returned to the throne with Maniu's backing in 1930. The relations between the PNŢ and the monarch soured, however, especially after Vaida-Voevod's second cabinet fell in 1932, due to disagreement over several policies — as Minister of the Interior, Mihalache was directly involved in the dispute, as the scandal erupted when Gavrilă Marinescu, the prefect of police in Bucharest, refused to hand in his resignation, and instead called for the king's verdict. In 1935, Mihalache briefly took charge of the party upon Maniu's resignation, and steered it to the Left, charging Mihai Ralea and the PNŢ's Study Circle (Constantin Rădulescu-Motru
Constantin Radulescu-Motru
Constantin Rădulescu-Motru was a Romanian philosopher, psychologist, sociologist, logician, academic, dramatist, as well as centre-left nationalist politician with a noted anti-fascist discourse...
, Mihail Ghelmegeanu, Ernest Ene, and Petre Andrei) with drafting a new party program that adapted Poporanist
Poporanism
The word “poporanism” is derived from “popor”, meaning “people” in the Romanian language. The ideology of Romanian Populism and poporanism are interchangeable. Founded by Constantin Stere in the early 1890s, populism is distinguished by its opposition to socialism, promotion of voting rights for...
ideals.
After 1938, when, faced with the rise of the Iron Guard, Carol imposed his authoritarian
Authoritarianism
Authoritarianism is a form of social organization characterized by submission to authority. It is usually opposed to individualism and democracy...
regime, the PNŢ party refused collaboration and merger into 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...
. According to the leading party member Ioan Hudiţă, Mihalache, together with Virgil Madgearu
Virgil Madgearu
Virgil Traian N. Madgearu was a Romanian economist, sociologist, and left-wing politician, prominent member and main theorist of the Peasants' Party and of its successor, the National Peasants' Party...
and Mihai Popovici, continued to display support for the king and even considered joining the Front.
World War II and after
During World War IIWorld 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...
, he opposed the 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...
created by the Iron Guard, and complained to the Guard's rival partner, Conducător
Conducator
Conducător was the title used officially in two instances by Romanian politicians, and earlier by Carol II.-History:...
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...
, that Horia Sima
Horia Sima
Horia Sima was a Romanian fascist politician. After 1938, he was the second and last leader of the fascist and antisemitic para-military movement known as the Iron Guard.-In Romania:...
and his grouping had assumed control of his cooperative organization in Muscel County. Antonescu refused to mediate; Sima replied to Mihalache that the measure had been partly taken as compensation for the Legionaries' "suffering at the hands of Mihalache [in 1930-1931]", but offered to allow some of the Muscel cooperative's former administrators structure to regain their positions. Attacks and threats towards Mihalache in the Guard's press became widespread, and Mille Lefter singled him out as a former persecutor of the movement in a conference aired on Romanian Radio
Romanian Radio Broadcasting Company
The Romanian Radio Broadcasting Company , informally referred to as Radio Romania , is the public radio broadcaster in Romania. It operates four national radio channels, and, under the Radio România Regional umbrella, eleven regional radio stations. The four national radio channels are: Radio...
.
Following Antonescu's defeat of the Guard during the Legionary Rebellion
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...
of 1941, Mihalache forwarded a congratulatory message to the former. In time, he also objected to Antonescu's 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...
-allied dictatorship of (although pressured by the latter to join a War Cabinet
War Cabinet
A War Cabinet is a committee formed by a government in a time of war. It is usually a subset of the full executive cabinet of ministers. It is also quite common for a War Cabinet to have senior military officers and opposition politicians as members....
). He did, however, support the recovery of 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....
from 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....
during Operation Barbarossa
Operation Barbarossa
Operation Barbarossa was the code name for Germany's invasion of the Soviet Union during World War II that began on 22 June 1941. Over 4.5 million troops of the Axis powers invaded the USSR along a front., the largest invasion in the history of warfare...
, and offered his services as a volunteer in the Romanian Army (June 1941) — he served for only a few days, and was discharged on orders from Antonescu himself.
He eventually joined a semi-clandestine opposition, and then supported the PNŢ's entry into the underground liberation movement, as well as King 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...
's pro-Allied
Allies of World War II
The Allies of World War II were the countries that opposed the Axis powers during the Second World War . Former Axis states contributing to the Allied victory are not considered Allied states...
August 1944 coup.
The appearance of the Iron Curtain
Iron Curtain
The concept of the Iron Curtain symbolized the ideological fighting and physical boundary dividing Europe into two separate areas from the end of World War II in 1945 until the end of the Cold War in 1989...
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 plans for Romania singled out the PNŢ, the main supporter of cooperation with the Western Allies
Western Allies
The Western Allies were a political and geographic grouping among the Allied Powers of the Second World War. It generally includes the United Kingdom and British Commonwealth, the United States, France and various other European and Latin American countries, but excludes China, the Soviet Union,...
, as an adversary of growing Soviet influence over the country (see Soviet occupation of Romania
Soviet occupation of Romania
The Soviet occupation of Romania refers to the period from 1944 to August 1958, during which the Soviet Union maintained a significant military presence in Romania...
). Consequently, he and Maniu were branded "fascists" by the 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...
press, and Mihalache was especially attacked for his supposedly good relations with Antonescu; the 1941 episode was used against him during the rigged 1946 elections
Romanian general election, 1946
The Romanian general election of 1946 was a general election held on November 19, 1946, in Romania. Officially, it was carried with 79.86% of the vote by the Romanian Communist Party , its allies inside the Bloc of Democratic Parties , and its associates — the Hungarian People's Union , the...
, when Communists prevented him from running for office based on a law forbidding candidatures of former Eastern Front
Eastern Front (World War II)
The Eastern Front of World War II was a theatre of World War II between the European Axis powers and co-belligerent Finland against the Soviet Union, Poland, and some other Allies which encompassed Northern, Southern and Eastern Europe from 22 June 1941 to 9 May 1945...
volunteers. It is possible, however, that just before the elections, the PNŢ had attempted to resist and profit from a foreseen insurrection against the Petru Groza
Petru Groza
Petru Groza was a Romanian politician, best known as the Prime Minister of the first Communist Party-dominated governments under Soviet occupation during the early stages of the Communist regime in Romania....
government, by forming Cercul Militar Professional (the "Professional Military Circle") — grouping generals and other officers, it was led by Mihalache himself.
The Communist regime
Communist Romania
Communist Romania was the period in Romanian history when that country was a Soviet-aligned communist state in the Eastern Bloc, with the dominant role of Romanian Communist Party enshrined in its successive constitutions...
which was installed in late 1947 outlawed the PNŢ altogether, alleging that Mihalache and Maniu had been trying to flee the country from the airfield in Tămădău, and had planned to give Romania a capitalist
Capitalism
Capitalism is an economic system that became dominant in the Western world following the demise of feudalism. There is no consensus on the precise definition nor on how the term should be used as a historical category...
government-in-exile. Their capture (see Tămădău Affair
Tamadau Affair
The Tămădău Affair was an incident that took place in Romania in the summer of 1947, the source of a political scandal and show trial.It was provoked when an important number of National Peasants' Party leaders, including party vice president Ion Mihalache, had been offered a chance to flee...
) and trial by a kangaroo court
Kangaroo court
A kangaroo court is "a mock court in which the principles of law and justice are disregarded or perverted".The outcome of a trial by kangaroo court is essentially determined in advance, usually for the purpose of ensuring conviction, either by going through the motions of manipulated procedure or...
led to sentences of life imprisonment
Life imprisonment
Life imprisonment is a sentence of imprisonment for a serious crime under which the convicted person is to remain in jail for the rest of his or her life...
with requirements of penal labour
Penal labour
Penal labour is a form of unfree labour in which prisoners perform work, typically manual labour. The work may be light or hard, depending on the context. Forms of sentence which involve penal labour include penal servitude and imprisonment with hard labour...
, effectively death sentences; Mihalache, after having passed through Sighet prison
Sighet prison
The Sighet prison, located in the town of Sighetu Marmaţiei, Maramureş county, Romania, was used by the communist regime to hold political prisoners...
, died in custody at Râmnicu Sărat
Râmnicu Sarat
Râmnicu Sărat is a city in Buzău County, Romania. It was declared a municipality in 1439. On December 21, 1994 it celebrated its 555th anniversary....
.
Further reading
- Nicholas M. Nagy-Talavera, The Green Shirts and the Others: A History of Fascism in Hungary and Rumania , 1970, ISBN 0-8179-1851-5, ISBN 973-9432-11-5