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The '''Iron Guard''' ([[Romanian language|Romanian]]: ''Garda de Fier'') was a [[Kingdom of Romania|Romanian]] pro-[[Nazi Germany|Nazi]]<ref>{{cite magazine |magazine=Time Magazine |title=RUMANIA: Again, Chaos |url=https://time.com/archive/6764567/rumania-again-chaos |date=February 3, 1941 |access-date=November 5, 2024}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |journal=Journal of Contemporary History |title=An Eyewitness Note: Reflections on the Rumanian Iron Guard |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/260662 |last=Yavetz |first=Zvi |year=1991 |volume=26 |issue=3 |pages=597–610 |publisher=Sage Publications, Ltd. |jstor=stable/260662 |access-date=November 5, 2024}}</ref> militant group founded by [[Romanians|Romanian]] ultranationalist Corneliu Zelea Codreanu in 1930 during the [[Great Depression]] and rise of [[Fascism|fascism]] in [[Europe]].<ref name="IG1">{{cite book |chapter=Fascism and Terrorism: The Iron Guard in Interwar Romania |title=The Oxford Handbook of the History of Terrorism |url=https://academic.oup.com/edited-volume/40692/chapter-abstract/348402865 |last=Iordachi |first=Constantin |date=September 2, 2020 |pages=384–402 |isbn=9780199858569 |publisher=[[University of Oxford|Oxford University]] Press |doi=10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199858569.013.40 |access-date=November 4, 2024}}</ref><ref name="IG2">
The '''Iron Guard''' ([[Romanian language|Romanian]]: ''Garda de Fier'') was a [[Kingdom of Romania|Romanian]] pro-[[Nazi Germany|Nazi]]<ref>
* {{cite magazine |magazine=Time Magazine |title=RUMANIA: Again, Chaos |url=https://time.com/archive/6764567/rumania-again-chaos |date=February 3, 1941 |access-date=November 5, 2024}}
* {{cite journal |journal=Journal of Contemporary History |title=An Eyewitness Note: Reflections on the Rumanian Iron Guard |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/260662 |last=Yavetz |first=Zvi |year=1991 |volume=26 |issue=3 |pages=597–610 |publisher=Sage Publications, Ltd. |jstor=stable/260662 |access-date=November 5, 2024}}
* {{cite journal |journal=Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe |title=The Romanian Iron Guard: Fascist Sacralized Politics or Fascist Politicized Religion? |url=https://digitalcommons.georgefox.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1995&context=ree |last=Meale |first=Jordan |volume=36 |issue=5 |publisher=George Fox University |year=2016 |access-date=November 5, 2024}}</ref> militant group founded by [[Romanians|Romanian]] ultranationalist Corneliu Zelea Codreanu in 1930 during the [[Great Depression]] and rise of [[Fascism|fascism]] in [[Europe]].<ref name="IG1">{{cite book |chapter=Fascism and Terrorism: The Iron Guard in Interwar Romania |title=The Oxford Handbook of the History of Terrorism |url=https://academic.oup.com/edited-volume/40692/chapter-abstract/348402865 |last=Iordachi |first=Constantin |date=September 2, 2020 |pages=384–402 |isbn=9780199858569 |publisher=[[University of Oxford|Oxford University]] Press |doi=10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199858569.013.40 |access-date=November 4, 2024}}</ref><ref name="IG2">
* {{cite web |website=[[Encyclopedia Britannica]] |title=Corneliu Codreanu {{!}} Romanian nationalist, anti-Semite, leader |url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/Corneliu-Codreanu |access-date=November 4, 2024}}
* {{cite web |website=[[Encyclopedia Britannica]] |title=Corneliu Codreanu {{!}} Romanian nationalist, anti-Semite, leader |url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/Corneliu-Codreanu |access-date=November 4, 2024}}
* {{cite web |website=[[Encyclopedia Britannica]] |title=Iron Guard {{!}} Fascist Movement, Antisemitism & Nationalism |url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/Iron-Guard |access-date=November 4, 2024}}
* {{cite web |website=[[Encyclopedia Britannica]] |title=Iron Guard {{!}} Fascist Movement, Antisemitism & Nationalism |url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/Iron-Guard |access-date=November 4, 2024}}

Revision as of 23:47, 5 November 2024

The Iron Guard (Romanian: Garda de Fier) was a Romanian pro-Nazi[1] militant group founded by Romanian ultranationalist Corneliu Zelea Codreanu in 1930 during the Great Depression and rise of fascism in Europe.[2][3]

Founding

When Codreanu was at university in 1922, he co-founded the Association of Christian Students with some schoolmates. The association was allied with the League of National Christian Defense (Romanian: Liga Apărării Național Creștine, LANC) between 1923 and 1927. In 1927, Codreanu broke with the LANC to create the Legion of the Archangel Michael, later renamed as the Legionary Movement, the military wing of which became the Iron Guard.[2][3]

Violent antisemitism and mystical Christian nationalism are the hallmark of the Iron Guard,[4][5] earning them backing from radical nationalist peasants, intellectuals[3][5] and the Romanian Orthodox Church.[6] Student mobilization played a considerable role in the Iron Guard's rise,[5] which coincided with the rise of fascism in Europe catalyzed by the economic hardship and social tension from the Great Depression.[5]

Flag of the Iron Guard of Romania.
A 1940 Romanian stamp with the face of the Iron Guard founder Corneliu Zelea Codreanu.

Rise

In 1937, the Iron Guard became the third-largest party in Romania's parliament after winning 15.81% of votes and 66 out of 387 seats in the general election. It also became the third-largest far-right movement in Europe, with 200,000 members.[2][3] Due to the Iron Guard's violent extremism, it faced crackdown twice in 1938 and 1941 respectively, the first time under King Carol II, in which its founder Corneliu Codreanu was executed, and the second time under the Nazi-backed Ion Antonescu.[7]

Antonescu was an Iron Guard member appointed by King Carol II as the Prime Minister on 5 September 1940.[2][3] He recruited some Iron Guard members into his cabinet and ran the short-lived totalitarian National Legionary State (Romanian: Statul Național-Legionar, SNL) from 14 September 1940 until 14 February 1941.[8] After the SNL ended, Antonescu ruled Romania as a tyrant[8] and killed as many as 400,000 Jews[9] until 23 August 1944, when he was overthrown in a coup led by King Michael I.[10]

Romanian Prime Minister Ion Antonescu and Iron Guard leader Horia Sima saluting the Iron Guard founder Corneliu Zelea Codreanu (overhead portrait) in October 1940.
Iron Guard members marching with Nazi salutes in downtown Bucharest, the Romanian capital, c. 1940.

Antisemitism

The Grand Spanish Temple, an Orthodox Jewish synagogue, was burned down by the Iron Guard in the Bucharest pogrom and Legionnaires' rebellion.

As mentioned, the Iron Guard was violently antisemitic. They believed the Jews to be Freemasons who controlled everything. They instigated various antisemitic riots, one of which was the Bucharest pogrom on 21–23 January 1941, which killed 125+ Jews.[11]

Downfall

Photo of the Iron Guard leader Horia Sima.

Horia Sima, the Iron Guard leader, had a strained relationship with the Nazi-backed Prime Minister Ion Antonescu. Antonescu was wary of the Iron Guard's influence and militarized force.[7][8] He persuaded Sima to transfer him the Iron Guard's leadership. However, not only did Sima refuse, but also he demanded all major offices to be held by Iron Guard members, which angered Antonescu.[12]

On the same day as the Bucharest pogrom, the Iron Guard launched the Legionnaires' rebellion against Antonescu. Antonescu suppressed the rebellion and outlawed the Iron Guard. 9,000 Iron Guard members were sentenced to jail.[7][8] Some of them, including the Iron Guard leader Horia Sima, fled to Nazi Germany and received protection from Hitler's regime.[3][12]

Many jailed members were later released by Antonescu to participate in the Iași pogrom and the broader Holocaust in Romania.[13]

Jewish dead bodies in public on 29 June 1941 during the Iași pogrom.
Jewish dead bodies dumped from a train along the route from Iași to either Călărași or Podul IIoaei.

Horia Sima in exile

Horia Sima fled Romania with the help of the Nazi SS. Sima and his allies were resettled in Berkenbrück, Germany and monitored strictly. In 1942, he escaped to Italy, but was sent back to Nazi custody by Italy's dictator Benito Mussolini.[14]

The Nazis were discontented with the trouble caused by Sima. They placed him and his allies in the Buchenwald concentration camp.[14] Sima was later moved to the Sachsenhausen concentration camp, where he remained until August 1944, when Romania defected to the Allies. The Nazis tried to use him for setting up a pro-Nazi Romanian government-in-exile, but the Nazis were soon defeated by the Allies.[14]

After WWII, Sima fled to Spain, which was under Franscisco Franco's dictatorship. Many Iron Guard ex-members cut ties with Sima as they blamed him for their movement's failure,[15] though he continued to lead Iron Guard fronts in certain Western countries throughout the Cold War.[16]

Death

Sima lived in Spain until death in 1993.[17]

Ideology

The beliefs of the Iron Guard are classifiable as follows.[3][8]

Political

Economic

Cultural

References

  1. ↑
    • "RUMANIA: Again, Chaos". Time Magazine. February 3, 1941. Retrieved November 5, 2024.
    • Yavetz, Zvi (1991). "An Eyewitness Note: Reflections on the Rumanian Iron Guard". Journal of Contemporary History. 26 (3). Sage Publications, Ltd.: 597–610. JSTOR stable/260662. Retrieved November 5, 2024.
    • Meale, Jordan (2016). "The Romanian Iron Guard: Fascist Sacralized Politics or Fascist Politicized Religion?". Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe. 36 (5). George Fox University. Retrieved November 5, 2024.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 Iordachi, Constantin (September 2, 2020). "Fascism and Terrorism: The Iron Guard in Interwar Romania". The Oxford Handbook of the History of Terrorism. Oxford University Press. pp. 384–402. doi:10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199858569.013.40. ISBN 9780199858569. Retrieved November 4, 2024.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 3.6
  4. ↑ "Community in Romania". World Jewish Congress. 2023. Retrieved November 2, 2024.
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 Laqueur, Walter (July 30, 2009). "Towards the Holocaust". The Changing Face of Antisemitism: From Ancient Times to the Present Day. ISBN 9780195341218. Retrieved November 3, 2024.
  6. ↑ Shapiro, P.A. (2007). "Faith, murder, resurrection: The Iron Guard and the Romanian Orthodox Church". Antisemitism, Christian Ambivalence, and the Holocaust. Indiana University Press. ISBN 9780253116741. OCLC 191071016. Retrieved November 4, 2024.
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 8.3 8.4
  9. ↑ "Murder of the Jews of Romania". Yad Vashem. Retrieved October 22, 2024. Romania [...] had a Jewish population of about 757,000 before World War II. [...] In total, 380,000 – 400,000 Jews [...] were murdered in Romanian-controlled areas under the dictatorship of Antonescu.
  10. ↑
  11. ↑
  12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 Payne, Stanley G. (June 27, 1996). A History of Fascism, 1914-1945 (1 ed.). Routledge. ISBN 9781857285956. Retrieved November 5, 2024.
  13. ↑ "Jews From Iaşi (Jassy) Who Survived the Transports". JewishGen. September 15, 2005. Retrieved November 2, 2024.
  14. ↑ 14.0 14.1 14.2 Tiu, Ilarion (2010). The Legionary Movement After Corneliu Codreanu: From the Dictatorship of King Carol II to the Communist Regime (February 1938-August 1944). Columbia University Press. ISBN 9780880336598. Retrieved November 5, 2024.
  15. ↑ Bujea, Eleanor (2009). Romanians in Canada. Retrieved November 5, 2024.
  16. ↑ Cragg, Bronwyn (April 23, 2024). "Letters from Exile: Canadian Media, the Romanian Diaspora, and the Legionary Movement". Journal of Romanian Studies. 6 (1). Liverpool University Press. doi:10.3828/jrns.2024.4. Retrieved November 5, 2024.
  17. ↑ Ionescu, Șerban N. (1994). Who was who in twentieth century Romania. ISBN 0880332921. OCLC 685552068. Retrieved November 5, 2024.
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