Ask the boundless earth, who is responsible for the ups and downs! Hello everyone, I am Echo of Qingshi, interpreting thousands of years of history. Today I am going to tell you about the humiliating history of Romania, a small country, during World War II.
If I say there is such a person, his family is quite rich, but he has no ability to guard this wealth, so he becomes a eldest brother. I thought that the eldest brother will protect him, but he didn’t expect that the eldest brother not only has no protection, Instead of loving him, he sold half of his house to another younger brother. What was even more deceiving was that he was asked to contribute money and effort to work for his elder brother! What is this! How could this person do such a stupid thing? Alas, there really are such people, no, not recognition, but a country!
This weird country is Romania (as he calls himself), which claims to be the "descendant of the ancient Roman Empire".
Romania Now
Since we want to talk about Romania’s history of humiliation, we must first talk about its “glorious” history (where there is humiliation, of course there is glory). Romania’s “glorious” history begins with World War I. Where should I start? Let’s start here:
In World War I, Romania was on the right team. Before the outbreak of World War I, it joined the British, French and Russian Allied Powers. After the outbreak of World War I, Romania was waving the flag behind it. As the main "spokesperson" of Britain and France in Central Europe, Romania was unparalleled in the limelight after the end of World War I!
As one of the victorious countries, Romania also reaped some benefits from behind Britain and France: the Austro-Hungarian Empire, as a defeated country at that time, was split into Austria and Hungary, and Germany was also in chaos. Due to the impact of the October Revolution, the country was in a state of affairs and had no time to take into account international disputes. Therefore, Romania has gained a lot of prestige in Central Europe! First, while Russia (still the Soviet Union at the time) was still dealing with domestic affairs, he forcefully grabbed the "piece of meat" Bessarabia into his own hands. He dares to mess with Russia, let alone other small countries in Central Europe! Bulgaria, one of the defeated countries, Hungary, which was split into the Austro-Hungarian Empire, and Romania also let them go and snatched Transylvania and Southern Dobroga from their lands. Since then, Romania's land area has reached its peak and it has become the most powerful country in Central Europe. (Give him a little sunshine, and he will shine!)
But there is an old saying in China: If you go out to fool around, sooner or later you will have to pay back! You have offended the three neighboring countries of Russia, Hungary and Bulgaria all at once. It's easy to say that they have lost power, but the tide is turning. If you don't keep it, they will gain power one day and come to settle the score with you! Sure enough, in less than twenty years, the situation in Europe changed instantly!
Under Hitler's dictatorship, Germany in the west had the idea of ??a bloody war, while Russia in the east (later replaced by the Soviet Union) had great national strength after implementing two five-year plans. With a sharp increase, its industrial output has ranked second in the world and first in Europe. It has not been the strongest country in Central Europe for a few years, and I am afraid that it will be driven out soon, and may even be in danger of annihilation!
Romania thought: No, Britain and France are unreliable (at the Munich Conference in 1938, Britain and France adopted an appeasement policy towards Germany and condoned German expansion), so they have to find another mountain. The Soviet Union in the east, no! Does the Soviet Union still remember the incident in Bisanabia? Will they seek refuge with him? It’s no different than sending yourself to death! Germany? After all, our royal family comes from German nobles, so they are still relatives, and there are many business transactions every year. At this time, I think we will bow to the dock in Germany, but we will wait and see the situation first.
The subsequent situation: In 1939, Germany attacked Poland, and overnight, Poland fell! In 1940, Germany bypassed the Maginot Line and attacked France from Belgium. In less than a month, France surrendered!
The European continent during World War II
At this time, the Soviet Union also came to participate.
Seeing that France, Romania's former eldest brother, was defeated and surrendered, I felt that an opportunity had come. I ordered Romania to cede its territory, otherwise I would break into your home! However, it cannot be ignored, so the Soviet Union found an excuse that has been tried and tested by many countries: in the name of taking charge of Ukraine, it asked Romania to return the indivisible territories that have been part of Ukraine since ancient times - Bisanabia and Bukovina. . In order to exercise "justice", the Soviet Union sent troops to occupy Bisanabia and Bukovina.
On the one hand, Germany was unstoppable, and on the other hand, the Soviet Union was aggressive. Romania felt that it had to make a choice: use its rich oil fields as an important strategic resource and ask Germany to allow it to join the Axis Powers.
But Romania never imagined that this would be a more humiliating road than ceding territory to the Soviet Union!
I thought that following Germany would protect me from the Soviet Union, but things were not as good as I thought. We mentioned before that Romania snatched a large area of ??Transylvania's territory after World War I, while Hungary was Germany's most loyal brother: one of the first to join the Axis powers, and they were both fascist regimes. Do you think Germany can not stand up for its little brother? You, Romania, are a small country that just joined. If it weren’t for your oil resources, I wouldn’t pay attention to you! But since there is a conflict between Hungary and Romania, so be it, I will decide for you: the territory of Transylvania is half for each of you two countries! Don't worry, the Soviet Union has a lot of land. As long as you conquer the Soviet Union, all its western territories will be yours. But don’t be too happy too early. As a condition, you must send troops to fight for me. In addition, your oil fields will temporarily belong to our Axis powers. The money occupied by your oil fields will be paid in installments first. That’s it. Let’s adjourn the meeting!
Isn’t this a clear grab, but the critical situation forced Romania to agree. Not only did it send 500,000 troops to the battlefield, but it also opened its own oil fields to members of the Axis Powers.
This is not over yet. Since you cut the land twice, you don’t mind the third time. Bulgaria, which had a territorial dispute with Romania, saw that Romania had become a "little sheep" that anyone in Europe could bully, so it also asked it to return the former South Dobroga. If not, it would directly tell the big brother Germany. How dare Romania tell Germany, so Romania ceded territory for the third time in October 1940. If the Soviet Union and Hungary asked for territory to be ceded, it would be reasonable. After all, one cannot defeat the other and the other has the support of his elder brother. But what does Bulgaria have? It's just a small country that stands still and falls wherever the wind blows. Even he pretends to be powerful and relies on Germany's power to force Romania to retreat.
So within one year of 1940, the Romanian Communist Party signed three traitorous treaties and ceded nearly 40% of the country's territory, and more than half of it was ceded to its "allies". It’s unprecedented! Is this an ally? Or friend or foe? Not only did they not get any benefits, but they cut off territory everywhere? Romania’s “ally” has done so wrong!
Romania’s ceded territory
Judging from Romania’s various humiliating deeds, it seems that a small country has been helpless in the game between big countries. But if you think about it carefully, Romania is entirely to blame for this! If he hadn't plundered the territories of neighboring countries after World War I, the subsequent situation would not have been caused. More importantly, he did not have the courage to fight against powerful countries and fascism, and was willing to surrender, resulting in displeasure for both parties. Finally, as an accomplice of fascism, the original Romanian government was overthrown. It is your own fault and you will not live!