The National Renaissance Front (, FRN; also translated as Front of National Regeneration, Front of National Rebirth, Front of National Resurrection, or Front of National Renaissance) was a Romanian political party created by King Carol II in 1938 as the sole legally permitted party in the country following his decision to ban all other political parties and suspend the 1923 Constitution, and the passing of the 1938 Constitution of Romania. It was the party of Prime Ministers Armand Călinescu, Gheorghe Argeșanu, Constantin Argetoianu, Gheorghe Tătărescu, and Ion Gigurtu, whose regimes were associated with corporatism and antisemitism. Largely reflecting Carol's own political views, the FRN was the last of several attempts to counter the popularity of the fascist and antisemitic Iron Guard. In mid-1940, Carol reorganized the FRN into the more radical Party of the Nation ( or , PN), designed as a "totalitarian unity party". The party's anthem was "Pe-al nostru steag e scris Unire".Gheorghe Stoica, "Agârbiceanu la Tribuna – Cluj. 1938–1940", in Tribuna Documenta, Issue 1, 2004, p. VII It effectively ceased to function the following year when the Parliament of Romania was dissolved.
History Founding Members Portfolio as of 16 December 1938 Incumbent Cabinet Ministers Portfolio Name Party before 16 Dec. 1938 PatriarchPresident of the Council of MinistersCrown Councillor Miron Cristea Minister of the Interior Armand Călinescu PNȚ Minister of Finance PNL Minister of Justice Victor Iamandi PNL Minister of the National EconomyGovernor of the National Bank of Romania Mitiță Constantinescu PNL Minister of Agriculture, Property, and Cooperation Gheorghe Ionescu-SiseștiPND Minister of National Education Petre Andrei PNȚ Minister of Labour Mihai Ralea PNȚ Minister of Public Works and Communications Mihail Ghelmegeanu PNȚ Undersecretary of Stateat the Ministry of National Education Dumitru V. ȚoniPNDIncumbent Politicians Grigore Gafencu PNȚ Victor Slăvescu PNL PNL Constantin C. Giurescu PNL PND N. MiclescuPND PND PND Nicolae Vasilescu-KarpenPND FR Viorel Tilea FRIndustrialists Ion Gigurtu Generals Chief of the General Staff Gen. Nicolae SamsonoviciArmy Gen. Gen. Chief of the General Staff Gen. People of Culture Gheorghe Manu Constantin Rădulescu-Motru Ion Petrovici Dimitrie Gusti Iuliu Hațieganu Victor Vâlcovici Lucian Blaga Crown Council Members Chief of the General Staff Crown Councillor Mareșal Constantin Prezan Army President of the Council of Ministers Crown Councillor Gen. Artur Văitoianu PNL President of the Council of Ministers Crown Councillor Alexandru Vaida-Voevod FR President of the Council of Ministers Crown Councillor Gheorghe Mironescu PNȚ President of the Council of Ministers Crown Councillor Nicolae Iorga PND President of the Council of Ministers Crown Councillor Constantin Angelescu FR President of the Council of Ministers Crown Councillor Gheorghe Tătărescu PNL Crown Councillor Constantin Argetoianu PUA Marshal of the Court Crown Councillor Gen.
Individuals who did not join was: Iuliu Maniu (former Prime Minister 1928–1930, 1930, 1932–1933, PNȚ), Virgil Madgearu, Mihai Popovici, Grigore Iunian, Nicolae L. Lupu, Dinu Brătianu and Gheorghe I. Brătianu
Context The conflict between Carol II and the Iron Guard became noted during the election of December 1937, when the monarch backed the National Liberal Party (PNL) of incumbent Premier Tătărescu, expecting it to carry the vote; in effect, the result was inconclusive, with none of the parties receiving enough of a percentage to be awarded a majority bonus, and with political rivalries preventing any single coalition. Faced with this outcome, Carol chose to back the antisemitic National Christian Party (PNC) of Octavian Goga and A. C. Cuza, appointing Goga as the new Prime Minister on December 26, 1937—effectively, this led the two main traditional parties, the PNL and the National Peasants' Party (PNȚ), to become marginalized.Veiga, pp. 245–46. Instead, the new regime's establishment caused a migration of politicians from the PNȚ, comprising Armand Călinescu, who chose to support the new policies and joined the Goga cabinet.Veiga, p. 246.
A paramilitary grouping, the blue-shirted Lăncieri, was established as the new arm of the regime, and soon began acting against both groups of Iron Guard agitators and members of the Jewish community.Veiga, pp. 246–47. The incidents had negative effects on Romanian society: the Jewish middle class boycotted the system by withdrawing their investments and refusing to pay taxes (to the point where the National Bank of Romania declared the regime's insolvency), while France and the United Kingdom threatened Romania with sanctions, and the Soviet Union withdrew its embassy from Bucharest.
Clash with the Iron Guard
After an initial violent confrontation with the Iron Guard, Goga, assisted by the Polish envoy Mirosław Arciszewski, signed a pact with its leader Corneliu Zelea Codreanu (February 8, 1938), a move which threatened to topple Carol's original designs. Two days later, the PNC was deposed and the monarch created a national government around Miron Cristea, Patriarch of the Romanian Orthodox Church, backed by right-wing figures such as Tătărescu, Alexandru Averescu, Alexandru Vaida-Voevod, Nichifor Crainic, and Nicolae Iorga.110 ani de social-democrație în România, pp. 22–23.Butnaru, p. 64.Veiga, p. 247.
The new corporatist and authoritarian Constitution of Romania, promulgated on February 20, 1938, proclaimed stately interest to be above individual ones.Majuru.Veiga, p. 247–48. According to its text, "all Romanians, regardless of their ethnicity and their religious faith" were required to "sacrifice themselves in defending [the country's] integrity, independence and dignity", while it was stipulated that "no one can consider oneself free from civil and military, public or private duties on the grounds of one's religious faith or any other kind of faith".1938 Constitution, in Majuru.
A law passed in April, defining the "defense of state order", restricted all other forms of political association, forbade political chants and paramilitary displays, banned the press organs of political parties, and condemned political contacts between Romanian forces and outside patrons."Decret-lege pentru apărarea ordinei în stat", in Scurtu et al.Veiga, p. 271.
In April, following an orchestrated conflict between Iorga and Codreanu, a large number of Iron Guard activists, including Codreanu himself, was prosecuted and jailed on orders from Călinescu, the Minister of Internal Affairs.Veiga, pp. 250–51, 255–56. As Carol witnessed the failure of European countries to defend themselves from Nazi German advances, consecrated by the Anschluss and the Munich Agreement, he met with Adolf Hitler at Berghof (November 24, 1938), and became convinced that Romania faced a similar fate.Veiga, pp. 256–57. He subsequently ordered the Iron Guard, whom he perceived as a fifth column for the Germans,Veiga, pp. 251, 254–55, 257, 271–72. to be decapitated: during the following days, Codreanu and the majority of top-ranking Guardists were assassinated, while secondary ones, led by Horia Sima, fled the country and took refuge in Germany, where they remained after the outbreak of World War II.Butnaru, pp. 62–63; Veiga, pp. 260–62. There, they began plotting a revenge against the regime's officials, including Carol.Butnaru, pp. 63–64; Veiga, pp. 261–62, 275–76.
Creation The FRN itself was created as the first monopoly party in Romania's history, through the Royal Decree of December 15, 1938."Decret-lege pentru înființarea Frontului Renașterii Naționale", in Scurtu et al. The legislation proclaimed that, ex officio, all members of the Royal Council were its members, while all citizens over the age of 20 could apply to join; by law, people who engaged in any other political activity faced being stripped of their civil rights for as long as 5 years. Writing at the time, Călinescu defined the FRN as "mainly a spiritual movement", proclaiming the FRN's goals of "re-establishing the rights of the State, its natural parts", "promoting the general interests of the collectivity" and "[giving] life a sense of moral value".Călinescu, in Majuru
In May 1939, the electoral law suffered drastic changes: the voting age was raised to 30, voters had to be literate and employed in one of three fields (agriculture and manual labor, commerce and industry, intellectual professions), and new, fewer precincts were drawn up (11 in all, standing for the 10 new ținuturi and Bucharest)."Decret-lege pentru reforma electorală", in Scurtu et al. The Senate, whose eligible members could only be voted into office by high-ranking members of corporations or guilds (bresle), comprised a number of members for life (in addition to those already holding the office by the time the law was adopted, these were religious leaders and various members of the House of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen—a seat was reserved for Mihai, the heir to the throne and "Grand-Voivode of Alba Iulia", from the date of his coming of age).
Carol's regime has generally been viewed as (if at all) superficially fascist, and endorsed by the United Kingdom and France as a means to present a line of defense against Nazism in the BalkansVeiga, p. 263. (the Western press held, overall, a sympathetic view of the FRN).Veiga, p. 265. The Front adopted fascist symbols and discourse. After January 1939, party members wore uniforms (navy blue or white in color),Bibesco, in Scurtu et al..Țurlea. with various ceremonial hats. The Roman salute was a mandatory greeting.
Ever since the years of its existence, the FRN and its government have been the target of ridicule,Boia, p. 205. and their ideology has been described as "operetta fascism". After attending a Parliament session in 1939, Marthe Bibesco mocked the sight of uniforms:
"It is a garden of lilies and daisies, a colonial parliament. […] Argetoianu looks like a white elephant. […] The old politicians […] have [thus] been whitewashed, like fruit trees or train station water-closets—like anything requiring disinfection."
Political tendencies Ideologically, the FRN took inspiration from three main sources. It fused messages borrowed from and used against the Iron Guard with those of the traditional Right, while also stressing several left-wing tenets.Veiga, p. 264. Among the far right tendencies it absorbed was the small-scale fascist-inspired feminist and racist movement formed by Alexandrina Cantacuzino (Gruparea Națională a Femeilor Române, the National Grouping of Romanian Women). Although Cantacuzino's ideology remained relatively influential for the following years, the Grouping itself was dissolved in 1939.Petrescu.
The FRN continued to make use of antisemitism, and appealed to nationalists by promising to find an answer to the "Jewish Question". Before 1940, no Antisemitic law was passed, but, as a rule, Jews were denied FRN membership.Final Report, p. 51. The arbitrary measure of the Octavian Goga cabinet, through which hundreds of thousands of Jews had been stripped of their citizenship, was continued through a requirement that all those excluded be registered as foreigners.Final Report, pp. 51–52. Members of the community were encouraged to leave the country.Final Report, p. 52. Nevertheless, violence was reduced, especially since its main agents, the Iron Guard and the National Christian Party, had been outlawed.