The National Popular Party (, PNP) was an anti-fascist political party in Romania, founded during World War II as the underground Union of Patriots (Uniunea Patrioților, UP). The latter had defined itself as a spontaneous movement of resistance to the dictatorial regime of Ion Antonescu, but was largely known as a front for the illegal Romanian Communist Party (PCdR, later PCR). Its founders—Dumitru Bagdasar, Gheorghe Vlădescu-Răcoasa, Simion Stoilow—were closely cooperating with PCdR men, but also with liberal opposition forces. Repressed by the authorities, the UP made a comeback after the pro-Allied August 23 Coup of 1944, when it endured as a small ally of the communists—mostly controlled directly by them, but sometimes rebellious.
Defining itself as a party for the middle classes, the PNP sought to attract into its ranks both nationalists and ethnic minorities, and was used by the Communist Party as a means of weakening the traditional parties. From 1945, it registered its most significant successes among the repenting fascists, absorbing into its ranks former members of the Iron Guard. The UP and PNP were instrumental in helping the PCR reach some of its main objectives, including the overthrow of Nicolae Rădescu and the hastening of land reform.
The PNP was nominally loyal to King Michael I, but had no longer a part to play in decision-making when Michael was overthrown on the closing days of 1947. The party itself survived the 1948 election, but was dissolved by its leaders in early 1949, reportedly under pressure from the new government. Its former activists were either integrated into the structures of the communist state or repressed and, in some cases, imprisoned by the latter.
History Wartime opposition The UP's roots were planted in a semi-clandestine intellectual movement that opposed Antonescu's regime in general and, in particular, its support for Nazi Germany and the other Axis powers, and its commitment to war against the Soviet Union. According to its own records, the UP emerged clandestinely in early 1942, centered on the activities of three left-leaning intellectuals: the brain surgeon Bagdasar, the sociologist Vlădescu-Răcoasa, and the mathematician Stoilow. As listed by historian Corneliu Crăciun, the group's explicit goals were: "sabotaging the war industry, resisting the dispatch of men on the anti-Soviet front, organizing partisans into detachments, annulling the Vienna Diktat, peace with the USA, England and the USSR."Crăciun, p. 299. The same goals are attested by Covaci (pp. 167–169) with a different emphasis Vlădescu-Răcoasa had a background in politics, initially as an affiliate of the Democratic Nationalists, then as an internationalist and antifascist with strong Marxist leanings.Rostás, in Bulgaru, pp. XI–XIII. See also Boia, p. 174; N. D. Cocea, Al. Gh. Savu, "Jurnal", in Magazin Istoric, May 1968, p. 83 He had also been registered as a member of the Social Democratic Party (PSDR).Boia, p. 175 Bagdasar was educated abroad, where he became inspired by American progressivism, Pavel Țugui, "George Ivașcu, cronicar de război, la ziarul Vremea (1941-1944). II", in România Literară, Nr. 18/2013 while Stoilow had frequented meetings of pro-Allied intellectuals, some of whom supported the mainstream National Peasants' Party (PNȚ).Boia, p. 226
One of the first notable actions of the UP was publishing, starting with January 1943, the illegal newspaper România Liberă,Crăciun, p. 299 later joined by another antifascist organ, Lupta Patriotică.Păiușan (2010), pp. 293, 295 The former was reportedly designed to appear in September–November 1942, but was discovered by the Siguranța police and could reemerge only in January of the next year.Covaci, p. 170; Crăciun, p. 299 According to various accounts, România Liberă was managed from Bucharest by George Ivașcu, on his spare time from editing the pro-Antonescu gazette Vremea and with only marginal interventions from the PCdR. Party historians claimed that the newspaper "kept the popular masses informed" on the growth of resistance,Covaci, p. 170 whereas Crăciun notes that its circulation was exceedingly small.Crăciun, pp. 299, 300 However, historian Radu Păiușan claims that the UP's history can be traced back to a propaganda operation carried out later by Romanian communists exiled on Soviet territory: in January 1943, Leonte Răutu supposedly created the newspaper România Liberă, and a radio station of the same name, with which the Soviets intended to give the impression of a rising antifascist movement in Romania.Păiușan (2010), pp. 292–293
PCdR contacts Several authors trace the original meeting between the UP and the PCdR to mid-1943. They refer to either the turn of tides on the front, after Stalingrad,Țugui (2009), p. 48 or to involvement, in 1943, of PCdR men Constantin Agiu and Petre Constantinescu-Iași, who took it upon themselves to reorganize the Union from November 1943. Paltin Sturdza, "6 martie 1945: Guvern general Avramescu sau dr. Petru Groza?", in Historia, April 2014 The two were subsequently joined by other communists or communist sympathizers, including Mihai Levente, Mihai Magheru, and Stanciu Stoian.Covaci, p. 169; Crăciun, pp. 299–300 Vlădescu-Răcoasa was the first person identified as leader of the UP, while Agiu was designated Caretaker; Constantinescu-Iași and Bagdasar were tasked with co-opting intellectuals, while Levente served as the administrator and Magheru directed work in the provinces.Bulgaru, p. XXXIII Nicu Rădescu, the estranged and ill-reputed son of General Nicolae Rădescu, Oana Demetriade, "Fiul împotriva tatălui. Securistul Nicu Rădescu vs. primul ministrul Nicolae Rădescu", in Revista 22, Nr. 1232, October 2013 was also closely cooperating with both the PCdR and the UP. Mihai Burcea, Sidonia Bogdan, "Mărturiile unui ilegalist comunist: unde conspirau să pună mână pe puterea de la București", in România Liberă, July 1, 2013
Under this guidance, the UP contacted a group of high-ranking soldiers who were seeking to depose Antonescu, the most active of whom was Gheorghe Avramescu—who was at once an antifascist and anticommunist. The UP also left a historical record as a member of the PCdR's Patriotic Antihitlerite Front, which also included the revived Ploughmen's Front and two other small political groups: the Socialist Peasants' Party, the Hungarian People's Union (MADOSZ). The association pact was sealed in August 1943, after a secretive meeting in which the UP was represented by Bagdasar and an N. Dinulescu.Covaci, pp. 178–179; Crăciun, pp. 299–300 Outside of the Front, the UP still maintained links with other opposition groups, and was especially close to left-wing Social Democrats (Ion Pas, Ștefan Voitec, Theodor Iordăchescu, Leon Ghelerter).Covaci, pp. 176, 177, 179 Throughout 1943, Magheru, as UP representative, held talks with the PNȚ, aiming to "create a broad coalition of the democratic and patriotic forces toward bring down the Antonescu regime".Paul Cernovodeanu, "Cronici de familii. Magherii", in Magazin Istoric, September 1977, p. 32
Subsequently, the UP's Central Committee took residence in the same building as the PCdR archive, at the Wexler residence on Crângului Street 15, Bucharest. It soon reported having some thousands of members of all ethnic backgrounds, and representation in all the main cities, with most active cells in university towns and among schoolteachers' unions.Crăciun, p. 300 It also touted its presence among the workers, especially those at the Romanian Railway Company, whom it encouraged on sabotage missions.Covaci, pp. 187–191 According to official records, the first registered members also included Iorgu Iordan and Ștefan Vencov, with outside sympathizers such as Zevedei Barbu, Constantin Balmuș, Eduard and Florica Mezincescu, Mircea Florian, David Prodan, Teodor Bugnariu, Alexandru Graur, Constantin Daicoviciu, Constantin I. Parhon, Bazil Munteanu, and Mihai Ralea.Covaci, pp. 169, 171–174. See also Boia, pp. 235–237 Another version suggests that Zevedei Barbu, who was also a PCdR man, was helped by Alexandru Roșca with establishing a UP nucleus at Cluj University (which had relocated to Sibiu).Zavarache, pp. 207–208 All these records obscure the participation of the PNȚ which, through Ioan Hudiță, also claimed to have established this intellectual opposition movement.Boia, pp. 235–236
1943–1944: repression and resurgence
In May 1943, Siguranța had captured an UP man, the statistician Mircea Biji, who was interrogated and agreed to cooperate, leading the authorities into UP safe houses. Laurențiu Ungureanu, "Apostolii lui Stalin: Petru Groza, ultimul burghez. De la tentativa eșuată de suicid la idila cu Elena Lupescu și 'divorțul decent şi elegant de monarhie'", in Adevărul, October 27, 2014 Later that year, the authorities issued an arrest warrant for psychologist Mihai Beniuc, identifying him as another UP liaison—in fact, Beniuc had yet to join the group, and was largely unaware of its activities.Zavarache, pp. 213, 216, 220 On December 15, the secret police organized its sting operation. At Crângului, it chanced upon a trove of PCdR documents, filed by Remus Koffler, with incriminating evidence about the UP. Several were arrested, including Vlădescu-Răcoasa and Magheru. The landowner Petru Groza, founder of the Ploughmen's Front, was also picked up, the documents having revealed that he was sponsoring the UP.
In all, fifty men and women suspected of UP membership or sympathies were subjected to a mass trial in first two months of 1944.Covaci, pp. 184–185; Crăciun, p. 300 While Groza's release was ordered by Antonescu himself, Vlădescu-Răcoasa found himself sentenced to 15 years of hard labor. The court found him guilty of "endangering State order and security". Similar sentences were handed to Zevedei Barbu,Boia, p. 236 to Magheru, and to Magheru's wife Anca. Bagdasar, by then also a member of the PCdR, took charge of the UP, with Agiu taking a Central Committee seat.Covaci, p. 192 Before April 1944, the movement was involved in negotiations with the PNȚ and the PCdR-backed left-leaning circles of Iași. Together, they wrote an open letter of protest to Antonescu, asking for Romania's immediate withdrawal from the Eastern Front.Boia, pp. 235–236; Covaci, pp. 186–187 On May 24, 1944, the Union also entered a "National-Democratic Coalition", alongside the National Liberal Party–Tătărescu, Groza's Front, the PSDR, the PSȚ, MADOSZ, and Petre Topa's Democratic Nationalists.Tiberiu Dumitru Costăchescu, "Partidul Național Liberal în anii regimurilor autoritare (februarie 1938 – august 1944)", in Transilvania, Nr. 2/2006, p. 85
In March 1944, the PCdR had joined a pan-resistance National Democratic Bloc (BND), which also included the PNȚ, PSDR, and the National Liberal Party (PNL). Together with King Michael I and his court, the group carried out the August 23 Coup, resulting in Antonescu's arrest and the unilateral cession of war with the Allies. Just one day after the coup, Vlădescu-Răcoasa was freed and resumed political activities in the open, introduced by the party press as "the combatant for Romanian freedom."Bulgaru, p. XXXIV On August 31, UP members were on hand at the rally held to greet the Red Army upon its entrance into Bucharest,Cioroianu, p. 172 Alexandra Bellow, "Asclepios versus Hades în România (II)", in Revista 22, Nr. 755, September 2004 the effective start of Soviet occupation.