Union of Patriots (Romania)

The National Popular Party ( ro, Partidul Național Popular, PNP) was an antifascist 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." 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. He had also been registered as a member of the Social Democratic Party (PSDR). 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).

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''. 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. 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, whereas Crăciun notes that its circulation was exceedingly small. 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.

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. 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. 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). 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".

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. 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. 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). All these records obscure the participation of the PNȚ which, through Ioan Hudiță, also claimed to have established this intellectual opposition movement.

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. 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. 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, 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. 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. 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.

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." On August 31, UP members were on hand at the rally held to greet the Red Army upon its entrance into Bucharest, Alexandra Bellow
"Asclepios versus Hades în România (II)"
in '' Revista 22'', Nr. 755, September 2004 the effective start of Soviet occupation.

By October 1944, when it had established chapters in all of sectors of Bucharest, the UP had moved its headquarters on Spătarului Street. This was a former hospice of the Wehrmacht, evacuated during the street fighting, and reportedly vandalized "beyond belief" by the UP's own members. Alexandru George
"Revenind la vechi cuvinte noi"
in ''România Literară'', Nr. 8/2011 While assuming a public face, the Union had to abandon its political newspaper: ''România Liberă'' was seized by the PCdR, and its first issue of this new series, presumed lost, was falsified by the PCR after 1972. Lavinia Betea, Cristina Vohn
"Inedit. Primul ziar legal al PCdR a fost falsificat"
in '' Jurnalul Național'', October 25, 2005 In its stead, on September 15, the UP inaugurated ''Tribuna Poporului'', which was entrusted to George Călinescu, the literary historian and novelist. The UP also sponsored Călinescu's foreign-policy review, ''Lumea''.

Following negotiations at the beginning of September, the Union absorbed the rump Socialist Party led by Vasile Anagnoste. On September 27, the UP and its former Patriotic Antihitlerite colleagues formed a political alliance called National Democratic Front (FND), which also comprised the PSDR. As UP envoys, Vlădescu-Răcoasa, Bagdasar and Stoilow held a seat each on the FND National Council. The new pact, comprising forces that were vastly unequal to each other, was sealed only after the communists had resumed their pressures on the PNL and PNȚ, both of which refused to join a long-term alliance. According to anticommunist diplomat Emil Ciurea, it pitted one of the PCdR's alliances (Antihitlerites, "enriched by the arrival of he PSDRsocialists") against the other (BND).Ciurea, p. 872

Throughout October, the UP was a participant in the PCdR-organized public rallies against the independent Premier, General Constantin Sănătescu, and his PNȚ and PNL ministers, accusing the cabinet of playing protector to war criminals. Vlădescu-Răcoasa was active in the intrigue, and, at a public rally held in Călărași, discussed the imperative of creating "the new Romania at all costs". On November 4, following a Soviet intervention, Sănătescu reshuffled his cabinet, with a third of the ministerial mandates, and sizable portions of provincial administrative offices, going to FND politicians. In newly liberated Northern Transylvania, this meant the UP's integration at the highest level of local government. The FND, cooperating with MADOSZ, contemplated making the region into an autonomous entity, and organized an executive Northern Transylvanian Committee that included two UP activists. This body was in conflict with the PNȚ and PNL, its rallies allegedly broken up by the Maniu Guards. Finally joining the UP, Beniuc was sent into the region, organizing new chapters for both the Union and the Ploughmen's Front.

FND alliance and 1945 turmoil

Vlădescu-Răcoasa was briefly appointed Minister for Minority Affairs (renamed by him "for Nationalities"), serving until February 1945, after which he was demoted to Undersecretary. During December 1944, the FND was co-opted into the new cabinet formed by General Rădescu, but continued to air its tensions with the two liberal parties with which it shared power. The UP followed suit. Involved with Groza in Northern Transylvanian affairs, statistician Sabin Manuilă, a former PNȚ supporter and participant in the August 1944 Coup, was also welcomed into the UP, then appointed Undersecretary of State for Stately Organization. The party's reservoir of cadres expanded to include many intellectuals associated with Constantinescu-Iași, for instance Balmuș and Zevedei Barbu. The latter served as UP recruiter in Sibiu County. With Constantinescu-Iași, Balmuș served as a UP representative to assemblies commemorating Antonescu's antisemitic crimes. Also joining the UP was physicist Ilie G. Murgulescu, who edited the daily a UP regional mouthpiece in Banat.Păiușan (2012), p. 389

During that period, the UP involved itself in the campaign against Rădescu, headlined by the Communist Party (which was now known as PCR, rather than PCdR). They agitated for land reform and organized the campaign against price gouging. In Jiu Valley and Hunedoara County at large, the UP carried out "democratic work" in favor of miners' welfare, distributing food and setting up price control committees. Throughout the country, its activists joined hands with the Ploughmen's Front, redistributing to the peasants most of the plots that were over 50 hectares.Moisa, p. 108 At the time, the UP also organized its religious wing for "highly conscious" Orthodox priests, called Union of Democratic Priests (''Uniunea Preoților Democrați'', UPD) and led by the UP's Minister of Religious Affairs, Constantin Burducea.

As a witness to the political crisis, King Michael probably contemplated replacing Rădescu with the old UP associate, General Avramescu. The latter had earned distinction in the Siege of Budapest, and was respected by the Red Army, but evidently resented Soviet interference. Vlădescu-Răcoasa noted Avramescu's acceptance of the FND program, but the PCdR refused to take him into consideration. By then, Nicu Rădescu and Levente were directly involved in the effort to create and illegally arm a communist-controlled paramilitary force, the Patriotic Combat Formations (''Formațiunile de Luptă Patriotică'', FLP). Literary critic Niculae Gheran, who was involved with the UP paramilitary as a teenager, recalls that the atmosphere was still largely apolitical, and that the formations were set out to eradicate criminality. The "game of cops and robbers" ended when Eugen Alimănescu of the Bucharest Police took control of the situation, with crude but effective methods.

Meanwhile, the demonstrations turned violent on February 24, 1945, when communists staged an assault on the Internal Affairs Ministry. The seminal event of this confrontation was a public rally, with Bagdasar and the UPD's Dumitru Popescu-Moșoia as guest speakers. During the push-back, several protesters were killed by gunshot; later investigation uncovered that the bullets were not of the standard caliber used in the Ministry. Nicu Rădescu, who was hiding out at the UP's headquarters, participated in the propaganda effort, publicly accusing his father of murder. On March 6, 1945, Groza eventually managed to topple Premier Rădescu, who escaped to British Cyprus, and set up a communist-dominated cabinet, with Constantinescu-Iași as the new Information Minister. Also joining the cabinet as the UP's appointee was Grigore Vasiliu Rășcanu, the Minister of War. Bagdasar became the Minister of Health, and, as a technocrat tasked with managing the nationwide health crisis, earned the respect of his political adversaries. General Avramescu, meanwhile, was killed in an air raid on the Slovakian front, reportedly shortly after being arrested by the Soviets. The UP resumed its orthodox political stance. Rădescu's son, by then a card-carrying communist, was tasked with purging the Union of political undesirables, then assigned over to the ''Siguranța'', which he helped transform into the Securitate.

On November 8, 1945, Groza's military and paramilitary forces repressed a popular demonstration marking the anniversary of Michael I, who was still the reigning monarch. As noted by historian Ioan Lăcustă, these events ended in "a bloodbath", ordered by Groza's Interior Minister, Teohari Georgescu. According to PNȚ investigators such as Corneliu Coposu, the UP was directly involved, asking its activists to stage a counter-manifestation in Palace Square, and to prevent the monarchists from reaching the Square. The UP's press made ample reference to the events, reinterpreting them according to communist guidelines, whereas the independent newspapers were barred from even reporting on them.

PNP creation

On January 12–13, 1946, the UP held a national congress at Trianon Cinema, Bucharest, after which it reemerged as the ''National Popular Party''.Oana Soare, Cristina Balinte, Andrei Terian, Mihai Iovănel
"În obiectiv: G. Călinescu"
in ''Cultura'', Nr. 211, February 2009 Also at that meeting, it elected itself a new president, the economist Mitiță Constantinescu. He was seconded by Vlădescu-Răcoasa, Bagdasar, and Oțetea. On March 19 or 20, the National Populars inaugurated their own official news outlet, '' Națiunea''. Editorship was assigned to Călinescu, who was in the process of adapting his work to Marxist doctrines, and was by then a member of the PNP Executive Committee. It heralded radical attacks against the political opposition, from the disgraced far-right to the PNȚ. For a while, the newspaper still preserved a nominal independence in the selection of its literary staff, publishing the essays of Adrian Marino and Alexandru Piru, which were still untouched by the communist style. Elvira Sorohan
"Damnarea cărturarului"
in ''Convorbiri Literare'', October 2007 Ioan Stanomir
"G. Călinescu și totalitarismul castrator"
in ''Observator Cultural'', Nr. 592, September 2011

With assistance from its communist backers, the PNP soon began a large recruitment campaign. Among those who signed up were several famous literary and scientific figures, including poet Alexandru A. Philippide, historian Andrei Oțetea, and biologist Traian Săvulescu; literary critic Mihai Gafița, a former PNL man, was its students' wing representative. In Murgulescu's Banat sections, new recruits included General Teodor Șerb (President of the PNP Chapter in Timiș-Torontal County), physicist Valeriu Novacu (who went on to serve as County Prefect), poet Alexandru Jebeleanu, and industrialists Jacques Hellmann and Anton Hollander.

Like the Alexandrescu Peasantists, the PNP was specifically dedicated to undermining the PNȚ, that is to say the PCdR's most powerful opponent. Constantinescu-Iași recalled that, even in 1943, the UP was working to "set up opposition groups within the PNȚ", but "in such a manner that no group would be torn away from the party". As noted by political scientist Ioan Stanomir, the party was later a tool used by the PCdR "to gnaw at the PNȚ before they ultimately dissolved it". This campaign was sparked in 1944 by a broadcast on Radio Moscow.Păiușan (2010), p. 300 By 1946, the PNP had only managed to absorb remnants of the interwar Radical Peasants' Party, who had refused to rejoin the PNȚ.Păiușan (2013 I), p. 511

The recruitment drive was punctuated by episodes of dissent. Jebeleanu was almost removed from the party after he was found to be an insubordinate propagandist. More embarrassingly, the PNP failed to enlist Lucian Blaga, the celebrated poet-philosopher. Blaga admitted feeling terrorized by direct threats to his artistic independence, and, at the risk of marginalization, opted not to join (or, according to another version, joined, was immediately made a member of the PNP Central Committee, and just as immediately resigned). Burducea, perceived by Groza as a political liability, was also sacked from his ministerial position, and the UPD chairmanship was assigned to an Ion Vască.

On March 22–24, 1946, the PNP held its annual reunion in Bucharest, culminating in a popular assembly presided upon by Oțetea. On May 16, the PNP was co-opted by a communist-led electoral alliance, the Bloc of Democratic Parties (BPD). In early November, its representative in the Assembly of Deputies and PNP General Secretary, a Mihail Dragomirescu, played a central part in the sessions which condemned and pushed aside a minor PCR ally, the National Liberal Party–Tătărescu. However, there were notable setbacks for the PNP, including the sudden disappearance of Călinescu's ''Lumea''. Also in May, Bagdasar resigned as Health Minister and took a diplomatic posting, but died of cancer before he could take office. In September of that year, his widow Florica Bagdasar made history by becoming the first ever Romanian woman minister, after being assigned the Health portfolio. Mitiță Constantinescu also died at that time, prompting the PNP executive to elect Vlădescu-Răcoasa in his place.

1946 election and 1947 takeover

In the general election of November 1946, which was rigged through fraud and voter intimidation, the Bloc claimed a decisive victory. However, the PNP only had a minor role to play in the campaign, with a reported 7% of the BPD candidates. The BPD and MADOSZ had counted 79.86% of the vote in its favor, obtaining 378 of the 414 total Assembly of Deputies seats,Terteci, p. 173 of which the PNP held 26. Constantinescu-Iași ran and won as head of the electoral list in Tutova County, returning to serve as Information Minister; Florica Bagdasar was elected in Tulcea County, and continued to serve as the Health Minister until August 1948. She sat in the Assembly next to Călinescu, who had been elected in Botoșani County. Other PNP deputies included Vlădescu-Răcoasa, Oțetea, historian Dumitru Almaș, and General Secretary Dragomirescu, who represented Timiș-Torontal.

The PNP withdrew from the Groza cabinet on November 29, 1946, in protest at what it felt was its under-representation. It found itself in an unusual situation as the loyal opposition to the BPD, stating its refusal to attack any of the Bloc's politicians. Both Bagdasar and Săvulescu continued to serve in the cabinet, the latter as Agriculture Minister. The PNP's withdrawal from power, and its general subservience to the BPD, were noted factors of stress at a local level. However, it was able to attract more followers with the dissolution of Constantin Argetoianu's National Union of Labor and Rebirth (UNMR). Two of the latter's pro-communist wings were absorbed at the time: the UNMR tradesmen wing, under Petre Misale, and the formerly independent National Agrarian Action, directed by Paul Iliescu and Max Schapira.

In July 1947, after the Tămădău Affair and news of an anti-communist partisan movement, PNP representatives supported the communist motion to outlaw the PNȚ. Moreover, ''Națiunea'' and Călinescu himself joined in the denunciation campaign, publishing propaganda pieces that maligned the imprisoned PNȚ-ists. Other party members used their last opportunity to escape the country: Manuilă settled in the United States, Zevedei Barbu defected in Scotland. During the following months, the PNP was in favor of a bill that politicized and de-professionalized the justice system, introducing juries selected from among the "workers and toiling peasants" by their respective trade unions and corporate bodies.

In November, Vlădescu-Răcoasa became Ambassador to Moscow, which was perceived as a "posting of overwhelming importance" in that context. Still the PNP president, he was abroad when the communists imposed abdication on King Michael and proclaimed the People's Republic. On February 1, 1948, the PNP resumed its activities in the new republic: the Bucharest branch of the PNP elected Balmuș as its chairman. While still serving abroad, Vlădescu-Răcoasa was appointed by the Assembly of Deputies, reformed into the rubber-stamp Great National Assembly, to a committee drafting a socialist constitution.

Dissolution and aftermath

The PNP remained closely aligned with the Romanian Workers' Party (PMR), as the PCR styled itself after absorbing the Social Democrats. From February 1948, it was part of the People's Democratic Front (FPD), an electoral alliance formed with the PMR, the Ploughmen's Front, and MADOSZ. Constantinescu-Iași, Dragomirescu, and Alexandru Șteflea were its delegates on the FPD National Council. The subsequent elections were advertised by PMR leader Gheorghe Gheorghiu-Dej as a consolidation of "democratic conquests against imperialism", destined to "nip in the bud all attempts by the reaction to rear its head". Two decorative opposition forces were allowed to survive outside the FPD: the (reorganized) Tătărescu Liberals and the Democratic Peasants' Party–Lupu

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