Ion I. C. Brătianu | |
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| 22ndPrime Minister of Romania | |
| In office 21 June 1927 – 24 November 1927 | |
| Monarchs | Ferdinand I Michael I |
| Preceded by | Barbu Știrbey |
| Succeeded by | Vintilă Brătianu |
| In office 19 January 1922 – 27 March 1926 | |
| Monarch | Ferdinand I |
| Preceded by | Take Ionescu |
| Succeeded by | Alexandru Averescu |
| In office 29 November 1918 – 27 September 1919 | |
| Monarch | Ferdinand I |
| Preceded by | Constantin Coandă |
| Succeeded by | Artur Văitoianu |
| In office 4 January 1914 – 26 January 1918 | |
| Monarchs | Carol I Ferdinand I |
| Preceded by | Titu Maiorescu |
| Succeeded by | Alexandru Averescu |
| In office 27 December 1908 – 28 December 1910 | |
| Monarch | Carol I |
| Preceded by | Dimitrie Sturdza |
| Succeeded by | Petre P. Carp |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1864-08-20)20 August 1864 |
| Died | 24 November 1927(1927-11-24) (aged 63) |
| Resting place | Vila Florica, Ștefănești |
| Political party | National Liberal Party |
| Spouses | |
| Children | Gheorghe I. Brătianu |
| Parents |
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| Relatives | Brătianu family |
| Alma mater | École nationale des ponts et chaussées |
| Occupation | |
Ion I. C. Brătianu (Romanian pronunciation:[iˈonbrətiˈanu], also known asIonel Brătianu; 1 September [O.S. 20 August] 1864 – 24 November 1927) was aRomanian politician, leader of theNational Liberal Party (PNL), Prime Minister of Romania for five terms, andForeign Minister on several occasions; he was the eldest son of statesman and PNL leaderIon Brătianu, the brother ofVintilă andDinu Brătianu, and the father ofGheorghe I. Brătianu. Ion I. C. Brătianu's political activities afterWorld War I, including part of his third and fourth term, saw the unification of theOld Romanian Kingdom withTransylvania,Bukovina andBessarabia (see:Greater Romania). In 1923, he was elected an honorary member of theRomanian Academy.
Born atFlorica, his father's estate inȘtefănești,Argeș County, he completed his secondary education at theSaint Sava National College inBucharest (1882). He then volunteered for theRomanian Army'sartillery, serving for six months before becoming aSecond lieutenant. During his military service, Brătianu studiedengineering. He left forParis in 1883, and attended theCollège Sainte-Barbe, then took classes (without being a registered student) at theÉcole Nationale des Ponts et Chaussées (1884–1889). Brătianu received an engineer's diploma, but not alicence to practice.
In 1889, he returned to the country and was assigned orders by the Army, being promoted toLieutenant. Later in that year, he joined theRomanian Railways as an engineer, working under the leadership ofAnghel Saligny.
He became a member of the PNL in 1895, the same year he ran in elections and was elected to theParliament of Romania by theIst College (of thelanded gentry) inGorj County. In early 1899, he was in the majority that voted in favor of the entry of former members of theRomanian Social-Democratic Workers' Party into the PNL. He served as Minister of Public Works (31 March 1897-March 30, 1899; 14 February 1901-July 18, 1902) andMinister of the Interior (12 March 1907-December 27, 1908) - the latter assignment was prompted by the effects of the1907 Peasants' Revolt. In 1909, he was elected head of the National Liberals, a position he was to hold until his death; he first became prime minister in January 1909, and kept the office until 28 December 1910.
Brătianu's policies moved the PNL towards an acceptance ofland reform, but deliberations over the project continued until afterWorld War I, with Brătianu himself showing reserves over projects that aimed to replace the1866 Constitution of Romania with a fullydemocratic one. In 1913, he convinced his party to accept a moderate version of land reform, as well as the creation of a single electoral college - a measure which would have given more accurate representation to the peasant majority. Over the following months, these policies were approved on principle byKingCarol I, and even by theConservative Party.
The outbreak of the world conflict in 1914 brought a major polemic in Romanian society. The Conservatives oscillated between aneutral stance and participation alongside theCentral Powers (to which Romania had committed itself); instead, the PNL called for an alignment with theEntente Forces. Despite the fact that Brătianu was again prime minister from 16 January 1914 to 9 February 1918, his policies in this respect were procrastinated. Initially, a decision on the matter was blocked by King Carol, until his death in September 1914. Afterwards, with the ascension ofFerdinand I (who was to remain a political ally of Brătianu for the rest of his life), the government started secret negotiations with the Entente, meant to condition Romania's participation with the granting ofAustro-Hungarian lands with a majorityRomanian population. In August 1916, Romania declared war on Austria-Hungary.
Minor advances into Transylvania were met with a Central Powers counter-offensive that swept throughOltenia andWallachia, occupied Bucharest, and forced all governmental structures to take refuge inIaşi. WhileMoldavia remained the only region under Romanian administration and the country increased its reliance onImperial Russia - and then on theRussian Provisional Government, the Romanian Army was able to block further Central Powers' offensives in the battles ofMărășești,Mărăști, andOituz. This situation was ended by theOctober Revolution in Russia and theTreaty of Brest-Litovsk between theBolshevik government and the Central Powers: Romania saw itself without reinforcements, agreed to anarmistice, and then signed theTreaty of Bucharest in May 1918.
In the meantime, Brătianu's had been replaced with the crisis government of GeneralAlexandru Averescu, and this was soon followed byAlexandru Marghiloman's (chosen to negotiate the peace, as theGerman Empire was thought to be friendly towards Marghiloman). Nonetheless, Romania never didratify the signed treaty, anddenounced it in October 1918, immediately re-entering the conflict on the Entente's side. In November, theCompiègne armistice with Germany removed all legal value of the Bucharest Treaty.
Brătianu was antisemitic and opposed the granting of Romanian citizenship to Jews.[1][2] After World War I, however, antisemitism disappeared from the Liberals' political program, even forming alliances with Jewish politicians.
The spectre ofsocialist agitation, which had led to incidents such as a majorstrike action in Bucharest in December 1918, brought about the fall of theConstantin Coandă cabinet, and Brătianu again occupied the position. He led the Romanian delegation to the1919 Paris Peace Conference, where he was a vocal supporter of the union with Transylvania and Bukovina. Although ultimately Romania received most territories it claimed, he resigned in 1919 since he would not accept a compromise on the disputed territories in Banat that had become part of theKingdom of Yugoslavia. However, Romania had registered other successes - notably, Russia's exit from the war had led to the union with Bessarabia (theMoldavian Democratic Republic).
Soon, the PNL found itself threatened by the political realities of aGreater Romania. The policy of alliances of theRomanian National Party (a mainly Transylvanian group) had brought the rapid formation of the cabinet ofAlexandru Vaida-Voevod in December 1919; this cabinet, and especially itsPeasants' Party group, supported a radical version of theland reform, leading to endless debates in parliament. At the same time, thePeople's Party, a new and strongpopulist movement under General Averescu, had begun a campaign for both an urgent land reform and for bringing about the prosecution of PNL politicians as agents of the economic hardships. Faced with a choice, Brătianu approached Averescu and offered PNL support for a People's Party cabinet in return for moderation.
The PNL retreated its backing after finding a more convenient option in aTake Ionescu-led cabinet, and Brătianu became prime minister again from 17 January 1922 to 30 March 1926. The fourth Brătianu cabinet adopted theConstitution of 1923, a document which confirmed universal male suffrage andminority rights as first defined by the laws of 1918; because of the highlycentralised model it favored, it drew suspicion from the Transylvanian politicians that it served the goal of a National Liberal-dominatedOld Kingdom (especially after the constitution was approved of through a simple vote in Parliament). At the same time, the PNL cabinet began carrying out a national-level land reform.
As theelections of 1926 confirmed the rise of theNational Peasants' Party (created as the union of the Romanian National and Peasants' parties), King Ferdinand again called onAverescu to form the government. By that moment, the general was thought by the PNL to be a convenient agent of its own policies, but Averescu's negotiations for a return of the disinheritedPrince Carol after his father's imminent death made Brătianu switch his support to abroad coalition government underBarbu Ştirbey.
On 21 June 1927, Brătianu returned with his fifth and final cabinet. He died in Bucharest, from complications oflaryngitis, and was replaced as prime minister by his brotherVintilă Brătianu until the calling ofelections.
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