National Legionary State

Ion Antonescu (left) and Horia Sima, leaders of the National Legionary State.

The National Legionary State (Romanian: Statul Naţional Legionar) 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 Army, who had been named prime minister only two days before King Carol II's September 6 resignation.

King abdicates

The National Legionary State took power upon the abdication of King Carol II. Carol was forced to step down largely as the result of a series of humiliating losses of territory. The first was on June 28, 1940 when Romania had to withdraw its military and administration from Bessarabia and northern Bukovina to avoid open war with the Soviet Union that issued two ultimata on the 26th and 27th. Romania lost over 50,000 km². The Second Vienna Award, August 30, 1940, passed 43,492 km² in Northern Transylvania to Hungary. Also, the Treaty of Craiova, looming at the time of Carol's resignation, was signed September 7, 1940 and gave the southern part of Dobrudja (the Cadrilater) to Bulgaria.

Short-lived

The first Romanian government to be overtly aligned with Nazi Germany and the Axis, the National Legionary State was marked by uneasy relations between the Guard's leader Horia Sima and prime minister Antonescu. The regime lasted 131 days and ended with the widespread violence of the unsuccessful Legionary Rebellion (January 21–January 23, 1941), in which the Iron Guard attempted to seize unilateral power and were, instead, defeated. The National Legionary State was replaced by Antonescu's own dictatorship.

See also

• Romania during World War II