The Interruption of the British-Romanian Relations in 1941

Abstract

The study analyses the withdrawals of the British Legation from Bucharest and of the Romanian Legation from London. The research was undertaken at the Central Historical National Archives of Romania in Bucharest where the author studied the microfiches of the Public Record Office of the Great Britain, Foreign Office, Political, 371/29992, 371/29993 and 371/29994.The United Kingdom declared war on Germany on September 3, 1939. The British Legation could not gather military, political and economical information as the new regime in Romania had invited the troops of Nazi Germany in the country. As the British found themselves implied only in formal activities, they decided to withdraw the Legation on February 15, 1941 and the Romanian Government acted on reciprocal basis but few Romanians returned from the London staff. The study deals with the preparations needed to withdraw the two Legations and the modalities required for the British and Romanian staffs for departure.General Ion Antonescu, Romanian Prime-Minister and de facto ruler of the country, was more than pleased with the British proposal of the interruption of bilateral relations.