The Crown Prince Charles.—At the end of Dec. 1925 the heir to the throne, the Crown Prince Charles left Rumania abruptly. At Venice he renounced all his rights, including that of bringing up his little son Prince Michael, and repeated his inten tion of disassociating himself from his country. Meanwhile, a Crown council had met at Sinaia. The king insisted that the party leaders recognize the situation created by the Prince's action. After some hesitation, the National Peasant opposition abstaining from voting, the chamber and senate, in view of the precarious state of the king's health, appointed (Jan. i 1, 1926) a provisional council of regency, consisting of the Patriarch Miron Cristea, the president of the Supreme Court of Appeal, Buzdugan, and Prince Nicholas, the king's second son.
The Parliamentary Situation.—When the chambers re assembled, Bratianu forced through an electoral law of the Fascist type. Any party which received 4o% of the total votes cast, the other votes being divided among several political bodies, was rewarded with half the number of seats, without counting what it got on the scrutiny (March 1926). The local elections in February, despite the Government's methods, showed the growth of feeling in favour of the Nationalist and Peasant Coalition, which had been joined by Averescu's party. Accordingly, after much hesitation, the king in March asked Averescu to form a cabinet, which also included four seceding members from the Transylvanian faction.
Averescu Government, 1926-27.—Elections, held in May, gave General Averescu's party four-fifths of the seats in the cham ber, a result largely due to great pressure exercised at the polls.
The Liberals returned only 16 deputies ; yet it was clear that the Government existed largely only on Liberal sufferance. In foreign policy, Averescu followed the course marked out by his predeces sors, at the same time showing his own sympathies by initiating a marked leaning towards Italy. The defensive treaties with Yugoslavia and Czechoslovakia were renewed in June, and on June io a treaty of alliance and non-aggression was signed with France, with a supplementary protocol and arbitration convention.
France undertook to respect the existing frontier in Bessarabia.
With Italy, an agreement for the funding of the Rumanian war debt to Italy was reached on June 15, when arrangements were also made for supply of Italian capital to the Rumanian oil-fields.
In August Averescu visited Italy, and on Sept. 16 Rumania signed with Italy a treaty of friendship and arbitration. These
measures were severely criticized by the Opposition, principally on the ground that they failed to achieve the much-desired ratifi cation by Italy of the Bessarabian treaty. Meanwhile, this policy, which was simultaneous with Italy's activity in Albania, somewhat decreased the cordiality between Rumania and Yugoslavia within the Little Entente, although co-operation continued through a re newed crisis with Bulgaria, occasioned by a recrudescence of comitadji (q.v.) activity. In this crisis Rumania played to some extent the part of mediator. In financial and economic policy, Averescu's Government took a line directly opposite to its pred ecessors', increasing the fiduciary circulation, encouraging the ad mission of foreign capital and initiating negotiations for a much needed foreign loan. Some members of the Cabinet were also said to favour stabilization of the lei, rather than Bratianu's policy of deflation.
Averescu's policy won a signal success, admitted even by the Opposition, when Italy agreed to recognize the Bessarabian Treaty (March 14, 1927). Yet his increasing independence alarmed the Liberals, particularly in view of the very precarious state of the king's health. The Nationalist and Peasant parties had definitely coalesced on Sept. 16, 1926, forming a bloc which commanded the sympathies of a large proportion of the population. The Nation alist wing of this group had opened up communications with the exiled Prince Charles, who appeared to be repenting his renun ciation of the throne. On Feb. 1, 1927, the National Peasants Party publicly urged that the renunciation be repealed. This was, however, strongly opposed by Averescu. It was clear that the situation would become very critical on the king's death.
Before this event occurred, however, Averescu, having failed to reach an agreement with the National Peasants, resigned (June 4). Striberg, a friend of the king's, took over a temporary Coalition Government, with the declared object of holding "legal and open elections." Internal party difficulties proved, however, too great, and on June 21 Striberg gave way to J. Bratianu, who, by tradi tional methods adapted to the new electoral law, secured 70% of the votes in the country. The National Peasants, despite uni versal popularity, polled only 2o% of the votes, and Averescu's party, whose fall from power was succeeded by scandalous revela tions of ministerial corruption and wholesale venality, secured not a single mandate.