The Vlad Țepeș League (, LVȚ; colloquially Țepiști, singular form: Țepist), later Conservative Party (Partidul Conservator, PC), was a political party in Romania, founded and presided upon by Grigore Filipescu. A "right-wing conservative" movement,Heinen, p. 153 it emerged around Filipescu's Epoca newspaper, and gave political expression to his journalistic quarrels. Primarily, the party supported the return of Prince Carol as King of Romania, rejecting the Romanian Regency regime, and questioning democracy itself. Filipescu stirred public controversy with his critique of democracy, drawing suspicions that he was creating a localized fascism. In its original form, the LVȚ idealized efficient government by dictatorial means, and allowed its fringes to be joined by ultra-nationalists and fascists. One of these was the youth-wing organizer, Gheorghe Beza, expelled from the group in 1930, after his assassination attempt on minister Constantin Angelescu.
The League achieved its main goal in 1930, when Carol took the throne, but failed to capitalize on the gains. LVȚ and PC monarchism was largely within the classical political spectrum, reclaiming the legacy of the old-regime Conservative Party. Its ostensive veneration of Vlad the Impaler, seen as an icon of justifiable violence against corrupt forces, was toned down by an appreciation of Toryism and of political moderates such as Iancu Flondor. Always a minor force, the PC relied on support from larger parties, beginning with the Democratic Nationalist Party (PND), which rewarded Filipescu's support by making him Prefect of Ilfov County. The League formed part of the government arc, or "National Union", during and after the parliamentary election of June 1931; by 1932, 17 members of the Assembly of Deputies were affiliated with the LVȚ. As exponents of economic liberalism, Filipescu and his followers were strongly opposed to the debt relief policies embraced by the PND and most other parties, identifying them with "Bolshevism".
The group split with the PND and sought other alliances—first the People's Party (PP), with statistically insignificant results in the December 1933 election; and later the National Peasants' Party (PNȚ), which had come to resent Carol's intrusion in national politics. During that interval, the LVȚ continued to espouse anti-communism, but also encouraged a tactical rapprochement between Romania and the Soviet Union—prioritizing opposition to Nazi Germany. While the more radical LVȚ members left to join the Iron Guard, Filipescu stated his anti-fascism. The League contested the local elections of early 1937 as a member of a PNȚ-led democratic and anti-fascist alliance, registering moderate success. It also followed the PNȚ line in the subsequent general election, when both parties had a non-aggression pact with the Iron Guard. Carol ultimately banned all political groups in early 1938, before creating his own single-party regime around a National Renaissance Front—which some former Țepiști agreed to join. The PC suspended itself in March 1938, and Filipescu's death in August put a definitive end to its activities.
History Radical beginnings The LVȚ was founded in June 1929Heinen, pp. 175, 475 by Filipescu, a former politician of the pre-World War I Conservative Party. He had later helped establish the right-wing PP, but was expelled by Alexandru Averescu, allegedly for insubordination and factionalism. Gheorghe I. Florescu, "Alexandru Averescu, omul politic (I)", in Convorbiri Literare, May 2009 In September 1919, he became associated with General Gheorghe Cantacuzino-Grănicerul, with whom he explored the possibility of forming a "Republican Party"."Informații", in Opinia, September 5, 1919, p. 1 Fluctuating between several parties and trying to revive the conservative movement, Filipescu had been affiliated with the PNȚ, ultimately returning to the PP in early 1927. Gheorghe I. Florescu, "Alexandru Averescu, omul politic (V)", in Convorbiri Literare, September 2009; Popescu, p. 28 This was the period of a Regency regime, which looked after public affairs for the child-King Michael I, and which Filipescu resented. He revived the old Bucharest Conservative daily Epoca, directing it against establishment politicians and, in particular, against Barbu Știrbey, his lover Queen Marie, and the domineering National Liberal Party (PNL)."Où va la Roumanie?", pp. 14–15; Popescu, pp. 20, 29 Unlike the political mainstream of Greater Romania, he expressed a tolerant view of communism: appearing as a defense witness for Boris Stefanov, jailed leader of the Romanian Communist Party, he argued that "in today's difficult economic situation, [communists] should be asked to provide their input.""Mára várják az ítéletet Stefanov Boris kommunista perében. Vaida-Voivod Sándor, Grigore Filipescu és Mihalache tanúvallomása a tegnapi tárgyaláson", in Brassói Lapok, February 11, 1928, p. 4
Although widely tipped as a PP front-runner, Filipescu left the party when Averescu asked him to stop attacking Știrbey,Popescu, p. 29 being closely followed by his disciples Nicolae Enescu-Fierbinți, who had led the PP organization in Ilfov County, and N. Popescu, former head of the PP lodge in Pantelimon."Ultima Oră. Alte demisii din partidul poporului", in Adevărul, March 3, 1929, p. 6 The League, whose offices were at his home on Nicolae Filipescu Street 26,"Cuvântul în țară. Congresul 'Ligii Vlad Țepeș'", in Cuvântul, November 7, 1931, p. 6 was centered on Epoca, but also put out two political newspapers in the provinces: Timpul (Râmnicu Sărat) and Tribuna Liberă (Râmnicu Vâlcea).Ileana-Stanca Desa, Dulciu Morărescu, Ioana Patriche, Cornelia Luminița Radu, Adriana Raliade, Iliana Sulică, Publicațiile periodice românești (ziare, gazete, reviste). Vol. IV: Catalog alfabetic 1925-1930, pp. 360, 947–948, 961. Bucharest: Editura Academiei, 2003. Founded to appeal to centrist conservatives and monarchists, it grouped some members of the old landowning class,Heinen, p. 376 including the wealthy Nicolae Mareș;Mihai Sorin Rădulescu, "Autour de la généalogie de Ion Antonescu", in Muzeul Național, Vol. XVIII, 2006, pp. 336–337 they were joined with industrialists such as the Armenian-Romanian Alfred Cerchez. "Armenii în masoneria românească (III)", in Ararat, Issue 9/2007, p. 3 Other major figures were Alexandru Periețeanu (as the economic doctrinaire), Henric Oteteleșeanu (as adviser on cultural issues), and Nicolae Miclescu."Congresul Ligii Vlad Țepeș", in Adevărul, November 10, 1931, p. 4 The League was nevertheless an eclectic movement: existing alongside "a plethora of 'leagues' and 'guards', more or less secretive, more or less prone to violence","Où va la Roumanie?", p. 18 it also hosted national conservatives and fascist sympathizers, including Cantacuzino-Grănicerul and Amos Frâncu.Heinen, pp. 175, 255, 370, 376 The latter had previously organized the ultra-nationalist and antisemitic Cross Brotherhood of Transylvania,Roland Clark, Sfîntă tinerețe legionară. Activismul fascist în România interbelică, pp. 35–36. Iași: Polirom, 2015. ; Heinen, pp. 98, 99 as well as an episodic National Radical Peasants' and Workers' Party.Mihai-Octavian Groza, "Alba de Jos", in Bogdan Murgescu, Andrei Florin Sora (eds.), România Mare votează. Alegerile parlamentare din 1919 "la firul ierbii", p. 126. Iași: Polirom, 2019. The League's youth wing, Tineretul Țepist, was organized by the Aromanian Gheorghe Beza, who also had flirtations with the local far-right.Gheorghe Beza, "Demascarea mișcării de dreapta prin ea însăși. Gardistul Beza despre Garda de Fier", in Țara de Mâine, Vol. II, Issues 2–3, February–March 1936, p. 44 The first conference of this subgroup was held in November 1929, with Beza lecturing on the choice between democracy and dictatorship."Carnetul zilei. Teatru–Muzică. Dictatură sau democrație?", in Curentul, November 3, 1929, p. 2 He was a violent and intolerant figure, who reportedly slapped another LVȚ affiliate, Radu Budișteanu, prompting the latter to leave the group in June 1930.Radu Budișteanu, "Polemică în jurul atentatului", in Adevărul, July 26, 1930, p. 3
With its choice of name, the group honored the medieval prince, Vlad the Impaler, who was ruthless against corruption. Vlad was notably the protagonist in a 1930 play by Ludovic Dauș, which documented his many violent repressions and hinted at his necessary return.Mihail Sevastos, "Cronica teatrală", in Viața Romînească, Issue 2/1931, pp. 187–188 This cultural nod was reviewed by the humorist Nae Dumitrescu Țăranu, who doubted that Filipescu cold ever fulfill the promise: even in the event that all "scoundrels" and "exploiters of the country" would find themselves impaled on Filipescu's orders, some would bribe the executioner and have their stakes fitted with "comfy stools".Nae Saltimbancu (Nae Dumitrescu Țăranu), "Opoziția se mișcă", in Furnica, Issue 39/1929, p. 8 In a June 1931 debate, George Grigorovici of the Social Democratic Party (PSDR) argued that impalement was an Ottoman practice, and hence that it reminded one of an uncomfortable time in Romanian history."Camera continuă discuția mesajului. Cuvântul partidului social-democrat. Între țepiști și socialiști", in Curentul, June 29, 1931, p. 5 As noted in 1932 by the review Le Monde Slave, the Vlad reference condensed the League's own "political romanticism": "it wants to purify public life using strong measures, if need be through blood and iron, that is to say by dictatorial means." Its violence was "a verbal violence, within the limits of legality.""Où va la Roumanie?", p. 14 As early as August 1929, journalist I. Hașegan noted that Filipescu's group had opportunities created for it by the other political players, capitalizing on their mistakes. Between the other parties' internecine "fight for extermination" and "infamies", the "reactionaries" could "garner sympathy and adhesion from all around."I. Hașegan, "Parlamentarism și partide politice. II", in Utopia, Vol. I, Issues 6–7, August–September 1929, pp. 156–157
The League's consequent demand for a ban on political parties remained particularly controversial, and caused the League to be seen as a "fascist element" in Romanian society,Bulletin Périodique..., p. 6 or, as noted by Filipescu himself, a "retrograde" faction."Intrunirea partidului conservator. D. Gr. Filipescu despre problema succesiunii și despre pericolul mișcărilor extremiste", in Adevărul, October 26, 1937, p. 5 Both attributes were raised by the PNL's Viitorul in July 1929; it reminded Filipescu that Benito Mussolini himself saw no point to "exporting" Italian fascism."Ultima oră politică. Dictatura nu e utilă vieței noastre de Stat. Regruparea elementelor conservatoare în Liga 'Vlad Țepeș'. Dela dictatura d-lui Mussolini la dictatura lui... Vlad Țepeș", in Viitorul, July 4, 1929, p. 5 On behalf of the socialists, Grigorovici assessed that "Țepist presence in our public life is the introduction of a Romanianized fascism." Despite becoming known abroad as Romania's "Baby Fascist", Filipescu openly rejected Mussolinism, which he often derided in his Epoca articles.Popescu, pp. 21, 40 Days after creating the League, he debated the issue with the anti-fascist paper Adevărul, defending himself against the label. As he explained at the time, Mussolini was superfluous, in a country that had already had its Vlad.Z., "Un program pentru Vlad Țepeș", in Adevărul, June 24, 1929, p. 5 While touring Bukovina in mid-1930, he and Constantin "Costin" G. Sturdza also invoked the local aristocrat, Iancu Flondor, as a relevant political model. This claim was criticized by the PNL's Glasul Bucovinei, which, while opposed to Flondor's deep conservatism, noted that Flondor would never have endorsed a dictatorial project."Radicalismul 'Țepiștilor'", in Glasul Bucovinei, June 8, 1930, p. 2