Churchill and Romania: The myth of the October 1944 ‘betrayal’

Abstract

Churchill has been criticised in contemporary Romania for allegedly ‘selling’ the country to Stalin by the October 1944 percentages agreement. The importance of the agreement has, however, been exaggerated because of the lack of a clear explanation of its meaning in official documents and because the idea of Churchill and Stalin carving up Europe has appealed as a simple explanation for the division of the continent, while fitting the political agenda of some circles in Greece and Romania. The agreement was quoted as a justification for Britain's lack of intervention in some aspects of Romanian affairs in 1944 and 1945, but the presence of the Red Army in the country meant that Moscow could impose its will regardless, making British restraint irrelevant to Romania's fate. Moreover, Britain had important commercial interests in Romania which it sought to protect and did not accept the inevitability of communist rule until December 1945.