Lothar Radaceanu
Encyclopedia
Lothar or Lotar Rădăceanu (born Lothar Würzer or Würzel; 1895—1955) was a Romania
n journalist and linguist, best known as a socialist
and communist
politician.
family in Rădăuţi
, Bukovina
(part of Austria-Hungary
at the time), he trained in German studies
and eventually became a professor at the University of Bucharest
.
From early on, Rădăceanu was a member of the Romanian Social Democratic Party
(PSDR), one of its main ideologists and representatives in the Chamber of Deputies
, as well as a regular contributor to the socialist journals Libertatea and Lumea Nouă.
In the early 1930s, he shared his party's concerns regarding the predominant agricultural
character of Romanian economy. He contributed to the Poporanist
paper Viaţa Românească
an article which stated that:
He supported his party's alliance with the National Peasantists
(PNŢ) during the late 1920s, and their collaboration in the 1928 election, but later criticized the PNŢ government for "proceeding with too little energy with the abolition of reactionary
institutions". Like his fellow PSDR member Şerban Voinea, Rădăceanu advocated the thesis of Constantin Dobrogeanu-Gherea
regarding the special conditions for socialism inside the Romanian economical framework; he accepted the views on Romanian economic history as formulated by Ştefan Zeletin, an advocate of economic liberalism
, but disagreed with his conclusions regarding the fundamental role of the bourgeoisie
.
In late January 1933, the pro-democracy
Rădăceanu had criticized the steps taken by King
Carol II
to institute a more authoritarian
regime after the fall of Iuliu Maniu
's PNŢ) cabinet. Alluding to the event which had been used by Carol — the disagreement between Gavrilă Marinescu, the police prefect of Bucharest
and a favourite of the king, and Ion Mihalache
, the Minister of the Interior —, he stressed that:
Equally opposed to Bolshevism, he wrote several analytical articles which criticized Stalinism
and the Soviet Union
. In 1935, he expressed his views on the risks of the Popular Front
tactic as proposed by the Soviets:
However, he was staunchly opposed to the authorities' crackdown on the outlawed Romanian Communist Party
(PCR), and wrote pieces in defence of communist activists prosecuted for their activities. In 1936, when Ana Pauker
and other PCR members were being tried, he argued in favour of:
soured, and he approached the Comintern
-backed alliance created by minor parties around the PCR. In 1943, during Ion Antonescu
's dictatorship (see Romania during World War II
), he was, with Mihai Ralea, founder and leader of the Socialist Peasants' Party; Rădăceanu soon after returned to his original party, which he probably infiltrated as a secret PCR affiliate. His political adversaries gathered proof that, during the period, he was also benefitting from good relations with Nazi German
officials present in Romania.
In 1944, the August 23 royal coup overthrew Antonescu, taking Romania out of its alliance with the Axis Powers
and into the Allied bloc
and leading to the reestablishment of pluralism in political life. On November 4 of that year, Rădăceanu joined the Petru Groza
cabinet, supported by the PCR, as Minister of Labor.
Romania under Soviet occupation
witnessed a growth in influence for the PCR, which sought to impose its domination on the left-wing portion of the political spectrum. Rădăceanu and Ştefan Voitec
stood out inside the PSDR as advocates of close collaboration with the communists: in March 1946, a conflict erupted between those two and Titel Petrescu, splitting the party into respective wings. After several clashes inside the party, Titel Petrescu left to form an Independent Social Democratic Party, while Rădăceanu and Voitec became leaders of a PSDR that had grown to 753,000 members by July 1947. The party, which remained in the National Democratic Front created around the PCR, ran on a single platform with the latter in the 1946 general election
(carried by the bloc through widespread electoral fraud
), and Rădăceanu stayed on as Minister of Labor in the second Groza government.
of Communist Romania
(it was to rename itself Communist in 1965); Rădăceanu held a seat in the Politburo
and was a secretary of its Central Committee
until his death. In 1946-1947, Rădăceanu was among the delegates to the Paris Peace Conference
(a group led by Gheorghe Tătărescu
). He was admitted to the Romanian Academy
in 1955.
Throughout his later years, he held the position of a left-wing social democrat inside the PMR, notably contributing articles for the Cominform
magazine For Lasting Peace, for People's Democracy! which advised Eastern Bloc
social democratic parties (in those countries were these were kept as decorative groups around the ruling communists) to be leary of right-wing
deviationism
. He died in Stockholm
, while attending an international peace congress
.
His wife Eugenia was actively promoted to Party offices under Nicolae Ceauşescu
, benefiting from the support of Elena Ceauşescu
(as part of a campaign of introducing women activists in the higher echelon).
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 journalist and linguist, best known as a socialist
Socialism
Socialism is an economic system characterized by social ownership of the means of production and cooperative management of the economy; or a political philosophy advocating such a system. "Social ownership" may refer to any one of, or a combination of, the following: cooperative enterprises,...
and 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...
politician.
Early life and politics
Born to an ethnic GermanGermans of Romania
The Germans of Romania or Rumäniendeutsche were 760,000 strong in 1930. They are not a single group; thus, to understand their language, culture, and history, one must view them as independent groups:...
family in Rădăuţi
Radauti
Rădăuţi is a municipality in Suceava County, Romania with a population of 27,759 inhabitants.-Geography and demographics:Rădăuţi is situated in Bucovina, northern Moldavia, on a plain between the Suceava and Suceviţa rivers, north from Suceava, at 375 m altitude...
, 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...
(part of Austria-Hungary
Austria-Hungary
Austria-Hungary , more formally known as the Kingdoms and Lands Represented in the Imperial Council and the Lands of the Holy Hungarian Crown of Saint Stephen, was a constitutional monarchic union between the crowns of the Austrian Empire and the Kingdom of Hungary in...
at the time), he trained in German studies
German studies
German studies is the field of humanities that researches, documents, and disseminates German language and literature in both its historic and present forms. Academic departments of German studies often include classes on German culture, German history, and German politics in addition to the...
and eventually became a professor at the University of Bucharest
University of Bucharest
The University of Bucharest , in Romania, is a university founded in 1864 by decree of Prince Alexander John Cuza to convert the former Saint Sava Academy into the current University of Bucharest.-Presentation:...
.
From early on, Rădăceanu was a member of the Romanian Social Democratic Party
Romanian Social Democratic Party (defunct)
The Romanian Social Democratic Party was a social-democratic political party in Romania. It published the magazine România Muncitoare, and later Socialismul, Lumea Nouă, and Libertatea.-Early party:...
(PSDR), one of its main ideologists and representatives in the Chamber of Deputies
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...
, as well as a regular contributor to the socialist journals Libertatea and Lumea Nouă.
In the early 1930s, he shared his party's concerns regarding the predominant agricultural
Agriculture
Agriculture is the cultivation of animals, plants, fungi and other life forms for food, fiber, and other products used to sustain life. Agriculture was the key implement in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that nurtured the...
character of Romanian economy. He contributed to the 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...
paper Viaţa Românească
Viata Româneasca
Viaţa Românească, originally Viaţa Romînească , is a monthly literary magazine published in Romania...
an article which stated that:
"Working in community and cooperative farmingCooperative farmingAn agricultural cooperative, also known as a farmers' co-op, is a cooperative where farmers pool their resources in certain areas of activity....
are the conditions for survival in peasant-based agriculture.
The Social-Democratic Party [...] commits itself to carrying out a campaign of enlightenment in this direction and appeals to all enlightened peasants and all village intellectualIntellectualAn 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 for help in this respect."
He supported his party's alliance with the National Peasantists
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) during the late 1920s, and their collaboration in the 1928 election, but later criticized the PNŢ government for "proceeding with too little energy with the abolition of reactionary
Reactionary
The term reactionary refers to viewpoints that seek to return to a previous state in a society. The term is meant to describe one end of a political spectrum whose opposite pole is "radical". While it has not been generally considered a term of praise it has been adopted as a self-description by...
institutions". Like his fellow PSDR member Şerban Voinea, Rădăceanu advocated the thesis of Constantin Dobrogeanu-Gherea
Constantin Dobrogeanu-Gherea
Constantin Dobrogeanu-Gherea was a Romanian Marxist theorist, politician, sociologist, literary critic, and journalist....
regarding the special conditions for socialism inside the Romanian economical framework; he accepted the views on Romanian economic history as formulated by Ştefan Zeletin, an advocate of economic liberalism
Economic liberalism
Economic liberalism is the ideological belief in giving all people economic freedom, and as such granting people with more basis to control their own lives and make their own mistakes. It is an economic philosophy that supports and promotes individual liberty and choice in economic matters and...
, but disagreed with his conclusions regarding the fundamental role of the bourgeoisie
Bourgeoisie
In sociology and political science, bourgeoisie describes a range of groups across history. In the Western world, between the late 18th century and the present day, the bourgeoisie is a social class "characterized by their ownership of capital and their related culture." A member of the...
.
In late January 1933, the pro-democracy
Democracy
Democracy is generally defined as a form of government in which all adult citizens have an equal say in the decisions that affect their lives. Ideally, this includes equal participation in the proposal, development and passage of legislation into law...
Rădăceanu had criticized the steps taken by 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...
to institute a more authoritarian
Authoritarianism
Authoritarianism is a form of social organization characterized by submission to authority. It is usually opposed to individualism and democracy...
regime after the fall of 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 PNŢ) cabinet. Alluding to the event which had been used by Carol — the disagreement between Gavrilă Marinescu, the police prefect of 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....
and a favourite of the king, and 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:...
, the Minister of the Interior —, he stressed that:
"[The Maniu cabinet] was toppled by a police prefect, whom it could not remove from his office. It is not therefore the government who had the power to nominate and recall state officials, but an occultOccultThe word occult comes from the Latin word occultus , referring to "knowledge of the hidden". In the medical sense it is used to refer to a structure or process that is hidden, e.g...
and irresponsible power, of which the Constitution1923 Constitution of RomaniaThe 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...
makes no mention."
Equally opposed to Bolshevism, he wrote several analytical articles which criticized Stalinism
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...
and 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....
. In 1935, he expressed his views on the risks 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...
tactic as proposed by the Soviets:
"The will communism has to collaborate cannot be sincere, as long as — instead of collaborating with the Russian Social-DemocratsMenshevikThe Mensheviks were a faction of the Russian revolutionary movement that emerged in 1904 after a dispute between Vladimir Lenin and Julius Martov, both members of the Russian Social-Democratic Labour Party. The dispute originated at the Second Congress of that party, ostensibly over minor issues...
— they torture them in prisons."
However, he was staunchly opposed to the authorities' crackdown on the 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), and wrote pieces in defence of communist activists prosecuted for their activities. In 1936, when Ana Pauker
Ana Pauker
Ana Pauker was a Romanian communist leader and served as the country's foreign minister in the late 1940s and early 1950s...
and other PCR members were being tried, he argued in favour of:
"the right [of legal existence] for the communist party as well, [while we are] raising our most energetic protest against the persecution to which this party is being submitted in the country where GogaOctavian GogaOctavian Goga was a Romanian politician, poet, playwright, journalist, and translator.-Life:Born in Răşinari, nearby Sibiu, he was an active member in the Romanian nationalistic movement in Transylvania and of its leading group, the Romanian National Party in Austria-Hungary. Before World War I,...
-CuzismA. C. CuzaA. C. Cuza was a Romanian far right politician and theorist.-Early life:Born in Iaşi, after attending secondary school in his native city and in Dresden, Cuza studied law at the University of Paris, the Universität unter den Linden, and the Université Libre de Bruxelles...
[that is, the fascistFascismFascism 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...
National Christian PartyNational Christian PartyThe National Christian Party was a Romanian political party, the product of a union between Octavian Goga's National Agrarian Party and A. C. Cuza's National-Christian Defense League; a prominent member of the party was the philosopher Nichifor Crainic...
] and CodrenismCorneliu Zelea CodreanuCorneliu 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...
[that is, the fascist Iron GuardIron GuardThe 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...
] enjoy all liberties."
Communism
After 1938, during the time when the PSDR remained active in clandestinity (being banned, together with all other political parties, by King Carol), relations between Rădăceanu and the party leader Constantin Titel PetrescuConstantin Titel Petrescu
Constantin Titel Petrescu was a Romanian politician and lawyer. He was the leader of the Romanian Social Democratic Party.He was born in Craiova, the son of an employee of the National Bank in Bucharest...
soured, and he approached 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...
-backed alliance created by minor parties around the PCR. In 1943, during 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 dictatorship (see 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 was, with Mihai Ralea, founder and leader of the Socialist Peasants' Party; Rădăceanu soon after returned to his original party, which he probably infiltrated as a secret PCR affiliate. His political adversaries gathered proof that, during the period, he was also benefitting from good relations with Nazi German
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...
officials present in Romania.
In 1944, the August 23 royal coup overthrew Antonescu, taking Romania out of its alliance with 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...
and into the Allied bloc
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...
and leading to the reestablishment of pluralism in political life. On November 4 of that year, Rădăceanu joined 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....
cabinet, supported by the PCR, as Minister of Labor.
Romania under Soviet occupation
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...
witnessed a growth in influence for the PCR, which sought to impose its domination on the left-wing portion of the political spectrum. Rădăceanu and Ştefan Voitec
Stefan Voitec
Ştefan Voitec was a Romanian socialist and communist journalist, politician, and statesman of Communist Romania.-Biography:...
stood out inside the PSDR as advocates of close collaboration with the communists: in March 1946, a conflict erupted between those two and Titel Petrescu, splitting the party into respective wings. After several clashes inside the party, Titel Petrescu left to form an Independent Social Democratic Party, while Rădăceanu and Voitec became leaders of a PSDR that had grown to 753,000 members by July 1947. The party, which remained in the National Democratic Front created around the PCR, ran on a single platform with the latter in the 1946 general election
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...
(carried by the bloc through widespread electoral fraud
Electoral fraud
Electoral fraud is illegal interference with the process of an election. Acts of fraud affect vote counts to bring about an election result, whether by increasing the vote share of the favored candidate, depressing the vote share of the rival candidates or both...
), and Rădăceanu stayed on as Minister of Labor in the second Groza government.
Romanian Workers' Party
In November of the following year, the PSDR united with the PCR to form the Romanian Workers' Party (PMR), which, in the space of one year, became the sole official partySingle-party state
A single-party state, one-party system or single-party system is a type of party system government in which a single political party forms the government and no other parties are permitted to run candidates for election...
of Communist Romania
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...
(it was to rename itself Communist in 1965); Rădăceanu held a seat in the Politburo
Politburo
Politburo , literally "Political Bureau [of the Central Committee]," is the executive committee for a number of communist political parties.-Marxist-Leninist states:...
and was a secretary of its Central Committee
Central Committee
Central Committee was the common designation of a standing administrative body of communist parties, analogous to a board of directors, whether ruling or non-ruling in the twentieth century and of the surviving, mostly Trotskyist, states in the early twenty first. In such party organizations the...
until his death. In 1946-1947, Rădăceanu was among the delegates to the Paris Peace Conference
Paris Peace Treaties, 1947
The Paris Peace Conference resulted in the Paris Peace Treaties signed on February 10, 1947. The victorious wartime Allied powers negotiated the details of treaties with Italy, Romania, Hungary, Bulgaria, and Finland .The...
(a group led by 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...
). He was admitted to the Romanian Academy
Romanian Academy
The Romanian Academy is a cultural forum founded in Bucharest, Romania, in 1866. It covers the scientific, artistic and literary domains. The academy has 181 acting members who are elected for life....
in 1955.
Throughout his later years, he held the position of a left-wing social democrat inside the PMR, notably contributing articles for the Cominform
Cominform
Founded in 1947, Cominform is the common name for what was officially referred to as the Information Bureau of the Communist and Workers' Parties...
magazine For Lasting Peace, for People's Democracy! which advised Eastern Bloc
Eastern bloc
The term Eastern Bloc or Communist Bloc refers to the former communist states of Eastern and Central Europe, generally the Soviet Union and the countries of the Warsaw Pact...
social democratic parties (in those countries were these were kept as decorative groups around the ruling communists) to be leary of right-wing
Right Opposition
The Right Opposition was the name given to the tendency made up of Nikolai Bukharin, Alexei Rykov, Mikhail Tomsky and their supporters within the Soviet Union in the late 1920s...
deviationism
Deviationism
A deviationist is a person who expresses a deviation: an abnormality or departure. In Stalinist Communism deviationism is an expressed belief which is not in accordance with official party doctrine for the time and area. Accusations of deviationism often led to purges...
. He died in Stockholm
Stockholm
Stockholm is the capital and the largest city of Sweden and constitutes the most populated urban area in Scandinavia. Stockholm is the most populous city in Sweden, with a population of 851,155 in the municipality , 1.37 million in the urban area , and around 2.1 million in the metropolitan area...
, while attending an international peace congress
Peace movement
A peace movement is a social movement that seeks to achieve ideals such as the ending of a particular war , minimize inter-human violence in a particular place or type of situation, often linked to the goal of achieving world peace...
.
His wife Eugenia was actively promoted to Party offices under Nicolae Ceauşescu
Nicolae Ceausescu
Nicolae Ceaușescu was a Romanian Communist politician. He was General Secretary of the Romanian Communist Party from 1965 to 1989, and as such was the country's second and last Communist leader...
, benefiting from the support of Elena Ceauşescu
Elena Ceausescu
Elena Ceaușescu was the wife of Romania's Communist leader Nicolae Ceaușescu, and Deputy Prime Minister of Romania.-Background:She was born Elena Petrescu into a peasant family in Petrești commune, Dâmboviţa County, in the informal region of Wallachia. Her family was supported by her father's job...
(as part of a campaign of introducing women activists in the higher echelon).