Why and How Did the Romanian Government Reject the Western Allies' Efforts to Explore Bilateral Solutions for Implementing the Guarantees of April 13, 1939

The present study focuses on how the Romanian government rejected Western Allies’ initiatives to sign military conventions that would complement the security guarantees of April 13, 1939, and, in fact, specify how those French and British declarations would be implemented. The study does not address Romania's equally negative attitude towards Anglo-French attempts to connect Romania to the European security architecture that the Western Powers were seeking to build, including through the westward reorientation of the 1921 Polish-Romanian Alliance and by trying to persuade Turkey to also provide security guarantees to Romania, following the Anglo-French model, and thus compelling the government in Ankara to assume, in relation to Eastern Europe, other security obligations beyond those stipulated by the Balkan Entente Treaty. The security guarantees offered by the British to Romania in April 1939 were reluctantly given and only partially aligned with British objectives. While the British government aimed for an agreement that would include Poland and Romania in a European security system against Germany, King Carol II and Gafencu refused any concrete commitments, preferring a unilateral guarantee. This “success” of Romanian diplomacy was a compromise that failed to secure genuine support from Britain and France while deepening Germany's distrust. Subsequent attempts by the Romanian government to obtain security guarantees from Germany were met with scepticism, and Romania's refusal to participate in bilateral discussions for the implementation of the guarantees undermined confidence in its ability to play an active role within Western alliances. Ultimately, the lack of a coherent foreign policy and the refusal to firmly engage alongside the Allies left Romania vulnerable to the geopolitical challenges of the ensuing period.