King Carol's New Ministers King Carol's solution of the political
crisis in Rumania has every element of risk. No doubt, from his own point of view, there was no alternative to his choice of M. Goga as successor to M. Tatarescu. The unpopularity of the latter's Liberal Government was decisively shown by its failure to secure a majority in the elections, despite the advan- tages given to the party in power by the Rumanian electoral system ; M. Codreanu's Iron Guard is bitterly hostile to Mme. Lupescu, who is a Jewess ; M. Maniu, leader of the National Peasant Party, is equally hostile to the King. M. Goga's National Christian Party, with some 35 seats in Parliament, will govern without a majority, probably in coalition with a right-wing section of the National Peasant Party. It is believed that the influence of this section will be sufficient to restrain M. Goga from applying the anti-semitic, totalitarian, pro-German policies to which his party, like the Iron Guard, is committed. We have seen elsewhere what the results of putting confidence in the moderating influence of coalitions on Fascist movements are, but in fact it hardly seems that M. Goga has sufficient power to give full effect to his policies. In foreign as in home affairs their result would be' disastrous. An alliance with Berlin would be of great value to Germany, by giving full access to the Rumanian oil wells and facilitating pene- tration of the Balkans, an invaluable source of raw materials ; it would disrupt the Little Entente, and complete the en- circlement of Czechoslovakia. No doubt what King Carol wants is a moderately Fascist internal policy and personal control of foreign affairs ; but there is an inherent contra- diction in the conception of a " moderate Fascism " in such countries as Rumania.
Previous page
