Alexandru Averescu (; 9 March 1859 – 2 October 1938) was a Romanian marshal, diplomat and populist politician. A Romanian Armed Forces Commander during World War I, he served as Prime Minister of three separate cabinets (as well as being interim Foreign Minister in January–March 1918 and Minister without portfolio in 1938). He first rose to prominence during the peasants' revolt of 1907, which he helped repress with violence. Credited with engineering the defense of Moldavia in the 1916–1917 Campaign, he built on his popularity to found and lead the successful People's Party, which he brought to power in 1920–1921, with backing from King Ferdinand I and the National Liberal Party (PNL), and with the notable participation of Constantin Argetoianu and Take Ionescu.
His controversial first mandate, marked by a political crisis and oscillating support from the PNL's leader Ion I. C. Brătianu, played a part in legislating land reform and repressed communist activities, before being brought down by the rally of opposition forces. His second term of 1926–1927 brought a much-debated treaty with Fascist Italy, and fell after Averescu gave clandestine backing to the ousted Prince Carol. Faced with the People Party's decline, Averescu closed deals with various right-wing forces and was instrumental in bringing Carol back to the throne in 1930. Relations between the two soured over the following years, and Averescu clashed with his fellow party member Octavian Goga over the king's attitudes. Shortly before his death, he and Carol reconciled, and Averescu joined the Crown Council.
Averescu, who authored over 12 works on various military topics (including his memoirs from the frontline),Petre Otu, "Mareșalul Alexandru Averescu (1859–1938)" ("Marshal Alexandru Averescu"), in Dosarele Istoriei, 2(30)/1999, p.22-23 was also an honorary member of the Romanian Academy and an Order of Michael the Brave recipient. He became a Marshal of Romania in 1930.
Early life and career Averescu was born in Babele, United Principalities of Moldavia and Wallachia (later renamed to Alexandru Averescu, today , a village northwest of Izmail, Ukraine). The son of Constantin Averescu, who held the rank of sluger, he studied at the Romanian Orthodox seminary in Izmail, then at the School of Arts and Crafts in Bucharest (intending to become an engineer). Ioan Parean, Mareșalul Averescu, conducător militar de excepție ("Marshal Averescu, Outstanding Military Leader") at the Sibiu Land Forces Academy; retrieved 16 October 2007 He had partial Gagauz ancestry. In 1876, he decided to join the Gendarmes in Izmail.
Seeing action as a cavalry sergeant with the Romanian troops engaged in the Russo-Turkish War of 1877–1878, he was decorated on several occasions, but was later moved to reserve (after failing his medical examination due to the effects of frostbite). He was, however, reinstated later in 1878, and subsequently received a military education in Romania, at the military school of Târgoviște (Dealu Monastery), and in Italy, at the Military Academy of Turin.Constantin Argetoianu, "Memorii" ("Memoirs"; fragment), in Magazin Istoric, March 1968, p.71-76, 79-81 Ion Bulei, "Suntem cu toții cuprinși de grija cea mare" ("We Are All Overwhelmed by the Greatest of Concerns") , in Magazin Istoric, October 1997; retrieved 16 October 2007 Averescu married an Italian opera singer, Clotilda Caligaris, who had been the prima donna of La Scala. His future collaborator and rival Constantin Argetoianu stated that Averescu "chose Mrs. Clotilda at random".
Upon his return, Averescu steadily climbed through the ranks. He was head of the Bucharest Military Academy (1894–1895), and, in 1895–1898, Romania's military attaché in the German Empire; a colonel in 1901, he was advanced to the rank of brigadier general and became head of the Tecuci regional Army Command Center in 1906.
Before the First World War, he led the troops in crushing the 1907 peasants' revolt — where he engaged in using very harsh means of repression, especially when dealing with soldiers who refused to fight against the rebels — and was subsequently Minister of War in Dimitrie Sturdza's National Liberal Party (PNL) cabinet (1907–1909).Keith Hitchins, România, 1866–1947, Humanitas, Bucharest, 1998 (translation of the English-language edition Rumania, 1866–1947, Oxford University Press, USA, 1994), p.184-185, 270, 290-291, 389, 392, 402-403, 406-407 According to the recollections of Eliza Brătianu, a split occurred between him and the PNL after Averescu attempted to advance various political goals — the conflict erupted when he sought support with King Carol I and then, as the National Liberals deeply resented Romania's alliance with the Central Powers, he approached the Germans for backing. Eliza Brătianu, Averescu - 1918 at the Memoria Virtual Library; retrieved 16 October 2007
Subsequently, he was commander of the First Infantry Division (stationed in Turnu Severin) and, later, of the Second Army Corps in Craiova. In 1912, he became a major general, and, in 1911–1913, he was Chief of the General Staff. In the latter capacity, Averescu organized the actions of Romanian troops operating south of the Danube in the Second Balkan War (the campaign against Bulgaria, during which his troops met no resistance).
World War and first cabinet
During the First World War (which Romania entered in 1916), General Alexandru Averescu led the Second Romanian Army in the successful defense of the Predeal Pass, and was then moved to the head of the Third Army (following the latter's defeat in the Battle of Turtucaia). He commanded Army Group South in the Flămânda operation against the Third Bulgarian Army and other forces of the Central Powers, ultimately stopped by the German offensive (Averescu's forces did not register important losses, and orderly retreated to Moldavia, where Romanian authorities had taken refuge from the successful German operations).
Averescu again led the Second Army to victory in the Battle of Mărăști (August 1917); his achievements, including his brief breakthrough at Mărăști, were considered impressive by public opinion and his officers. However, several military historians rate Averescu and his fellow Romanian generals very poorly, arguing that, overall, their direction of the war "could not have been worse".Vincent J. Esposito, The West Point Atlas of American Wars: 1900-1918, United States Military Academy Dept. of Military Art and Engineering, text for map 40 Despite controlling an army of 500,000 plus 100,000 Russian reinforcements, they were defeated by a German-Austrian-Bulgarian army of 910,000 in less than four months of combat.
Averescu was widely seen as the person behind a relatively successful resistance to further offensives on Moldavia (the single piece of territory still held by the Romanian state), and he was considered by many of his contemporaries to have stood in contrast to what was seen as endemic corruption and incompetence.Lucian Boia, History and Myth in Romanian Consciousness, Central European University Press, Budapest, 2001 , p.210-211 The state of affairs, together with the October Revolution in Russia, was to be blamed for the eventual Romanian surrender to the Central Powers; promoted Premier by King Ferdinand I during the period of crisis, Averescu began armistice talks with August von Mackensen in Buftea and Focșani, but was vehemently opposed to the terms — he resigned, leaving the Alexandru Marghiloman cabinet when it signed the Treaty of Bucharest.Ion Constantinescu, "«Domnilor, vă stricați sănătatea degeaba...»" ("«Gentlemen, You're Ruining Your Health over Nothing...»"), in Magazin Istoric, July 1971, p.23, 26 Despite Averescu's talks yielding no result, he was repeatedly attacked by his political adversaries for having initiated them.
During the period, he also faced a Russian Bolshevik military action: just before Averescu came to power, as Russia's Leon Trotsky negotiated the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk with Germany, the Rumcherod administrative body in Odessa, led by Christian Rakovsky, ordered an offensive from the east into Romania. Stelian Tănase, "Cristian Racovski" (Part I) , in Magazin Istoric, April 2004; retrieved 16 October 2007 In order to prevent further losses, Averescu signed his name to a much-criticized temporary armistice with the Rumcherod; eventually, Rakovsky was himself faced with a German offensive (sparked by the temporary breakdown of negotiations at Brest-Litovsk), and had to abandon both his command and the base in Odessa.
People's Party Character Averescu quit the army in the spring of 1918, aiming for a career in politics — initially, with a message that was hostile to the National Liberal Party (PNL) and its leader Ion I. C. Brătianu.
He presided over the People's Party (initially named People's League), and he was immensely popular especially among peasants after the end of the war. His force had an appealing populist message, translated into vague promises and relying on the image of the General: peasants had been promised land at the beginning of the war (and they were being rewarded with it at the very moment, through an agrarian reform that reached its full scope in 1923); they had formed the larger part of the Army, and had come to see Averescu as the one to fulfill their expectations, as well as a figure who was still commanding their allegiance. Eliza Brătianu, the PNL leader's wife, placed Averescu's ascension in the context of Greater Romania's creation through the addition of Bessarabia, Bukovina, and Transylvania (while making use of the condescending National Liberal tone towards the Romanian National Party that was emerging triumphant in previously Austro-Hungarian Transylvania): "[The] so very harsh losses [during the war], the defeats suffered by the Old Kingdom, the traces of foreign domination in the newly acquired provinces, but most of all the state of unhealthy euphoria that had taken hold of Transylvania, who had begun, in all good faith, to believe that only she had made the union happen, all of these have created a sort of insecurity within the borders of [Greater Romania]."
As the movement initially tended to describe itself as a social trend rather than a political party, it also attracted former members of the Conservative Party (such as Constantin Argetoianu, Constantin Garoflid, and Take Ionescu), military men such as Constantin Coandă, the Democratic Nationalist Party leader A. C. Cuza, the notorious dirigisme supporters Mihail Manoilescu and Ștefan Zeletin,Z. Ornea, Anii treizeci. Extrema dreaptă românească ("The 1930s: The Romanian Far Right"), Editura Fundației Culturale Române, Bucharest, 1995, p.48, 243 the moderate nationalist Duiliu Zamfirescu, the future diplomat Citta Davila, the journalist D. R. Ioaniţescu, the left-wing agrarian Petru Groza, the Bukovinian leader Iancu Flondor, and the lawyer Petre Papacostea. Additional support came from Transylvanian activists such as Octavian Goga and Teodor Mihail, who had previously left the Romanian National Party there in protest over the policies of its president Iuliu Maniu. Nevertheless, the People's Party did attempt to approach Maniu for an alliance at various intervals after summer 1919 (according to Argetoianu, their attempts were frustrated by King Ferdinand I, whose relationship with Maniu was cordial at the time, and who allegedly stated "Maniu is no one else's! Maniu is mine!").