Maniu (1)

Who was Iuliu Maniu, and why should anyone care. First the "who". He was a prominent Romanian politician between the wars. Born in Transylvania, under Austro-Hungarian rule. Educated by Jesuits. Became an activist for Romanian rights -- back in those days, before 1918, Romanians were an oppressed majority in Transylvania. Then after the First World War, he got active in politics in the new Greater Romania, as head of the Peasants Party. Blah blah, so what. Okay, some interesting things about Maniu.

1) He was honest. Rigorously, seriously honest. Didn't take bribes, didn't strive to make himself or his family rich, didn't even lie much. This was very unusual in interwar Romania. That was a deeply and flagrantly corrupt period; in those days, everyone was for sale, political power was universally viewed as a path to personal gain, and an honest politician was one who would stay bribed. 2) He was a liberal democrat. He truly believed in democracy, checks and balances, a free press, human rights, and all that good stuff. Again, a little weird in interwar Romania, where everyone paid lip service to democracy but in practice the country wobbled between various forms of corrupt authoritarianism. In the 1930s in Romania, it was said that there were only three men in political life who couldn't be bribed. These three "incorruptibles" were Codreanu, the leader of the Green Shirts, who was a fascist with mystical tendencies; Antonescu, the "Red Dog", who was the fierce and stern general who eventually became Romania's military dictator; and Maniu, the lonely democrat. Maniu had a roller-coaster career marked by an unfair share of horribly bad luck. For instance, he became Prime Minister in 1928, breaking the decade-long grip of the deeply corrupt Liberal Party... just in time to lead the country into the Great Depression. Then in 1930, he helped organize the return of King Carol II from exile. Maniu knew that Carol was tricky and untrustworthy, but he extorted a list of promises from him (that he'd govern as a constitutional monarch, put aside his hated mistress and take back the Queen, etc.) in the hopes that Carol would keep at least some of them. Maniu sentimentally hoped that Carol the sly, nasty boy might have matured into a responsible, decent man and monarch. In fact, he had just gotten slyer and nastier. The adult Carol was lecherous, greedy, corrupt, and utterly selfish. The restored King broke all the promises within days, leaving Maniu heartbroken. Maniu spent most of the next 15 years in opposition: to the wretched King Carol, to the growing power of fascism, and finally to the military dictatorship of Antonescu. Throughout the dark years of the '30s and the darker ones of WWII, he never stopped trying to stand up for human rights, human dignity, and the common people of Romania. In 1943, when it became obvious that Romania was losing the war, he entered into a strange sort of alliance with Antonescu. The two men cordially loathed each other, but the relationship was tempered by grudging mutual respect and a common desire to serve their country. Maniu wanted to get Romania out of the war -- he had always opposed it, viewing the alliance with Hitler as a hideous mistake -- while Antonescu wanted to use Maniu to talk to the Allies about a "soft landing" for Romania. To make a long and complicated story short, it didn't work out; the Allies had already given the USSR a veto power over negotiations with Romania, and the Soviets were determined to impose a Communist government. Antonescu ended up arrested -- locked in room with the royal stamp collection -- and Romania switched sides, joining the Allies, while accepting a Soviet occupation. And Maniu? The Communists put him on trial, in 1947, for a bunch of entirely imaginary crimes against the state. He was convicted and sentenced to life in prison. They sent him to Sighet prison, the special "prison of the ministers". After five years of misery and solitude, he died there; the circumstances are unclear, but it was probably from some combination of exposure and pneumonia. The Communists buried him in an unmarked mass grave. It's a sad story. But that's not quite the end of it. More in another post, shortly.

Comments

[Bernard Guerrero]

Please do go on.

[Andy H]

Have you ever had the chance to visit Sighet prison Doug? It's a museum nowadays - and a very fine one at that. It has a website at http://www.memorialsighet.ro

Definitely worth a visit if you're ever up in Maramures.

Andy

[Eduard]

Indeed, from what I read in Florin Constantiniu, Maniu was as you described him. I don't know if the entire 30's are to be described as "dark", certainly Romania enjoyed democracy, an enlarged territory and got over the early 30's economic crisis. Consequently, even during WWII many people remained ignorant of the political changes that were to come.

Also, the point is made in the book I read, that the return of Carol II was undesirable to Maniu not just because of Carol's ethical issues, but because it signified the end of liberal democracy and the restauration of authoritative monarchy. Maniu was truly a democrat, and often criticized any attempt to limit civic liberties.

[Martin Wisse]

Interesting.

I first read about Maniu in Misha Glenny's book on the Balkans; that whole book is not the most uplifting work ever written...

[rosurfer]

douglas, u really surprise me... in a pleasant way.

study the history of romania over a stretched period, and you will have plenty to read and wonder.
I can't describe it better than being quite a rough, agitated and intense history. Well,sometimes, being in a geostrategic position, this doesn't offer you only advantages. In the middle ages and beyond,the romanian prinicipates were quite at the crossroads of the religoius, cultural and economic wars (otoman invasion, etc.). Maybe that's why there are many multicultural particularities around the country...

You won't get bored by our history.

[Fred]

Great info, thanks. Been visiting your pages frequently and found alot of great tips. Keep up the great work!