Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Iron Guard
Iron Guard
Iron Guard
Description
Ideology
Stamp bearing the symbol of the Iron Guard over a white cross
that stood for one of its humanitarian ventures
Background
2.2
Style
Its members wore dark green uniforms (meant as a symbol of renewal, and the origin of the occasional reference to them as the Greenshirts Cmile verzi),
and greeted each other using the Roman salute. The
main symbol used by the Iron Guard was a triple cross (a
variant of the triple parted and fretted one), standing for
prison bars (as a badge of martyrdom), and sometimes
referred to as the Archangel Michael Cross (Crucea
Arhanghelului Mihail).
The mysticism of the Legion led to a cult of death, martyrdom and self-sacrice. They had an action squad that
was called Echipa morii, or Death Squad who had the
mission to go everywhere in Romania and to sing. It was
called Death Squad because its members had to accomplish their mission even with the risk of being killed by the
police, communist or any other enemies of the Legion.
The members of it were: Ion Dumitrescu-Bora (who
was a Christian Orthodox priest), Sterie Ciumetti, Petre
ocu, Tache Savin, Traian Clime, Iosif Bozntan, Nicolae Constantinescu.[5] A chapter of the Legion was called
a cuib, or nest, and was arranged around the virtues
of discipline, work, silence, education, mutual aid, and
honor.
2.3
HISTORY
3 History
3.1 Founding and rise
In 1927, Corneliu Zelea Codreanu left the number two
position (under A.C. Cuza) in the Romanian political
party known as the National-Christian Defense League
(NCDL). It was then he founded the Legion of the
Archangel Michael.[17] Its name appears to have been inspired by the Black Hundreds, an anti-semitic group in
the Russian Empire (particularly the regions bordering
Romania) who often used the name of the archangel.[18]
The Legion also diered from other fascist movements
in that it had its mass base among the peasantry and students, rather than among military veterans. However, the
legionnaires shared the general fascist respect for the war
veterans idea. Romania had a very large intelligentsia
relative to its share of the population with 2.0 university
students per one thousand of the population compared
to 1.7 per one thousand of the population in far wealthier
Germany, while Bucharest had more lawyers in the 1930s
than did the much larger city of Paris.[19] Even before the
Great Depression, Romanian universities were producing
far more graduates than the number of available jobs and
3.2
3
Francophile elite who preferred to dress in the style of the
latest fashions of Paris. [28] The fact that much of the Romanias elite were often corrupt and that very little of the
vast sums of money generated by Romanias oil found its
way into the pockets of ordinary people, further enhanced
the appeal of the Legion who denounced the entire elite
as irredeemably corrupt.
With Codreanu as a charismatic leader, the Legion was
known for skillful propaganda, including a very capable
use of spectacle. Utilizing marches, religious processions, patriotic and partisan hymns and anthems, along
with volunteer work and charitable campaigns in rural
areas, in support of Anti-communism, the League presented itself as an alternative to corrupt parties. Initially,
the Iron Guard hoped to encompass any political faction,
regardless of its position on the political spectrum, that
wished to combat the rise of communism in the USSR.
Unlike other fascist movements of the time, the
Iron Guard was purposely anti-Semitic, promoting the
idea that Rabbinical aggression against the Christian
world in unexpected 'protean forms: Freemasonry,
Freudianism, homosexuality, atheism, Marxism, Bolshevism, the civil war in Spain, were undermining
society.[29]
On December 10, 1933, the Romanian Liberal Prime
Minister Ion Duca banned the Iron Guard. After a
brief period of arrests, beatings, torture and even killings
(twelve members of the Legionary Movement were murdered by the police force). Iron Guard members retaliated on December 29, 1933, by assassinating Duca on
the platform of the Sinaia railway station.
HISTORY
leader from the Banat, which was the most pragmatic and
least Orthodox in its orientation; the group composed of
Codreanus father, Ion Zelea Codreanu, and his brothers
(who despised Sima); and the Moa-Marin group, which
wanted to strengthen the movements religious character. After a long period of confusion, Sima, representing the Legions less radical wing, overcame all competition and assumed leadership, being recognised as such
on 6 September 1940 by the Legionary Forum, a body
created at his initiative. On 28 September the elder Codreanu stormed the Legion headquarters in Bucharest
(the Green House) in an unsuccessful attempt to install
himself as leader.[32] Sima was close to SS Volksgruppenfhrer Andreas Schmidt, a volksdeutsch (ethnic German) from Romania, and through him become close to
Corneliu Zelea Codreanu, the founder of the Iron Guard
Schmidts father-in-law, the powerful Gottlob Berger who
headed the SS Main Oce in Berlin.[33] The British hisnancial support from the NSDAP, especially from the SS torian Rebecca Haynes has argued that nancial and orand Alfred Rosenberg's Foreign Political Oce.[30] For ganizational support from the SS was an important factor
[34]
much of the interwar period, Romania was in the French in Simas rise.
sphere of inuence, and in 1926, Romania signed a treaty
of alliance with France. Following the Remilitarization
of the Rhineland in March 1936, Carol started to move 3.3 Simas ascendancy
away from the traditional alliance with France as the fear
See also: Romania during World War II and The
grew within Romania that the French would do nothing
in the event of German aggression in Eastern Europe, Legionnaires Rebellion and the Bucharest Pogrom
but Carols regime was still regarded as essentially proFrench. From the German viewpoint, the Iron Guard was In the rst months of World War II, Romania was ofregarded as far preferable to King Carol. The royal dic- cially neutral. However the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact
tatorship lasted just over one year. On March 7, 1939, of August 23, 1939, stipulated, among other things, Soa new government was formed with Clinescu as prime viet interest in Bassarabia. When Nazi Germany, and
minister; on September 21, 1939, he, in turn was assassi- later, the Soviet Union invaded Poland, Romania granted
nated by legionnaires avenging Codreanu. Clinescu fa- refuge to members of Polands eeing government and
vored a foreign policy where Romania would maintain a military, and even after the assassination of Clinescu,
pro-Allied neutrality in World War II, and as such, the King Carol tried to maintain neutrality, but Frances surSS had a hand in organizing Clinescus assassination.[31] render and Britains retreat from Europe rendered them
Further rounds of mutual carnage ensued.
unable to full their assurances to Romania. A lean toIn addition to the conict with the king, an internal bat- ward the Axis Powers was probably inevitable.
tle for power ensued in the wake of Codreanus death.
Waves of repression almost completely eliminated the
Legions original leadership by 1939, promoting secondrank members to the forefront. According to a secret report led by the Hungarian political secretary
in Bucharest in late 1940, three main factions existed:
the group gathered around Horia Sima, a dynamic local
5
one of the few prominent legionnaires to survive the car- ferent sides in Romania with the SS supporting the Iron
nage of the preceding years.
Guard while the military and the Auswrtiges Amt supported General Antonescu. Baron Otto von Bolschwing
of the SS who was stationed at the German embassy in
Bucharest played a major role in smuggling arms for the
4 In power
Iron Guard.[36]
On September 4, 1940, the Legion formed a tense alliance with General (later Marshal) Ion Antonescu. Using
popular outrage at Romania being forced to return a large
block of land as a result of the Second Vienna Award, the
alliance forced the abdication of Carol II in favour of his
son Michael, and leaned even more strongly toward the
Axis. (Romania would formally join the Axis in June
1941.) Romania was proclaimed a "National Legionary
State, with the Legion as the countrys only legal party.
As part of the deal, Antonescu was named the Legions
honorary leader, while Sima became deputy premier.
Once in power, from September 14, 1940, until January 21, 1941, the Legion ratcheted up the level of already harsh anti-Semitic legislation and pursued, with impunity, a campaign of pogroms and of political assassinations. On the 27th November 1940 more than 60 former dignitaries or ocials were executed in Jilava prison
while awaiting trial; historian and former prime minister Nicolae Iorga and economic theorist Virgil Madgearu,
also a former government minister, were assassinated the
following day. Assassination attempts on the lives of
former Prime Ministers and Carol supporters Constantin
Argetoianu, Gu Ttrescu and Ion Gigurtu were also
carried out, but failed, as the before mentioned politicians
were freed from the hands of the Legionary Police and put
under military protection.
Main article:
pogrom
7 NOTES
5.1
Legacy
The name Garda de Fier is also used by a small, Romanian nationalist group, active in the post-communist
era.
[8] Bucur, Maria Romania pages 5778 from Women, Gender and Fascism in Europe, 19191945 edited by Kevin
Passmore, New Brunswick: Rutgers University Press,
2003 page 66.
[9] Bucur, Maria Romania pages 5778 from Women, Gen-
Since the 1970s Mircea Eliade, a prominent historian of [11] Bucur, Maria Romania pages 5778 from Women, Genreligion, ction writer and philosopher who was a profesder and Fascism in Europe, 19191945 edited by Kevin
Passmore, New Brunswick: Rutgers University Press,
sor at the University of Chicago, has been criticized for
2003 page 70.
having supported the Iron Guard in the 1930s.
See also
Iron Guard death squads
National Legionary State
Valerian Trifa
Notes
[12] Bucur, Maria Romania pages 5778 from Women, Gender and Fascism in Europe, 19191945 edited by Kevin
Passmore, New Brunswick: Rutgers University Press,
2003 page 67.
[13] Bucur, Maria Romania pages 5778 from Women, Gender and Fascism in Europe, 19191945 edited by Kevin
Passmore, New Brunswick: Rutgers University Press,
2003 page 67.
[14] Bucur, Maria Romania pages 5778 from Women, Gender and Fascism in Europe, 19191945 edited by Kevin
Passmore, New Brunswick: Rutgers University Press,
2003 pages 6768.
[15] Bucur, Maria Romania pages 5778 from Women, Gender and Fascism in Europe, 19191945 edited by Kevin
Passmore, New Brunswick: Rutgers University Press,
2003 pages 6768.
[16] Bucur, Maria Romania pages 5778 from Women, Gender and Fascism in Europe, 19191945 edited by Kevin
Passmore, New Brunswick: Rutgers University Press,
2003 page 71.
[17] Ioanid, The Sacralised Politics of the Romanian Iron
Guard.
[18] Hugh Seton-Watson, The East European Revolution,
Methuen & Co. London, 1950, p. 84
[19] Crampton, Richard Eastern Europe in the Twentieth
Century-And After, London: Routledge, 1997 page 115.
[20] Crampton, Richard Eastern Europe in the Twentieth
Century-And After, London: Routledge, 1997 page 115.
[21] Crampton, Richard Eastern Europe in the Twentieth
Century-And After, London: Routledge, 1997 page 115.
[22] Crampton, Richard Eastern Europe in the Twentieth
Century-And After, London: Routledge, 1997 page 115.
[23] Ancel, Jean Antonescu and the Jews pages 463479
from The Holocaust and History The Known, the Unknown, the Disputed and the Reexamined edited by
Michael Berenbaum and Abraham Peck, Bloomington:
Indiana University Press, 1999 page 463.
8 References
Chioveanu, Mihai. Faces of Fascism, by (University
of Bucharest, 2005, Chapter 5: The Case of Romanian Fascism, ISBN 973-737-110-0).
Coogan, Kevin. Dreamer of the Day: Francis
Parker Yockey and the Postwar Fascist International
(Autonomedia, 1999, ISBN 1-57027-039-2).
Ioanid, Radu. The Sacralised Politics of the Romanian Iron Guard, Totalitarian Movements & Political Religions, Volume 5, Number 3 (Winter 2004),
pp. 419453.
Ioanid, Radu.
The Sword of the Archangel,
(Columbia University Press, 1990, ISBN 0-88033189-5).
Iordachi, Constantin. Charisma, Religion, and Ideology: Romanias Interwar Legion of the Archangel
Michael, in John R. Lampe, Mark Mazower (eds.),
Ideologies and National Identities: The Case of
Twentieth-century Southeastern Europe, Central European University Press, Budapest, 2004
9
Weber, Eugen. Romania in The European Right:
A Historical Prole edited by Hans Rogger and Eugen Weber (University of California Press, 1965)
Weber, Eugen. The Men of the Archangel in International Fascism: New Thoughts and Approaches
edited by George L. Mosse (SAGE Publications,
1979, ISBN 0-8039-9842-2 and ISBN 0-80399843-0 [Pbk]).
8.1
Primary sources
8.2
In German
External links
Inuential Sicilian Traditionalist rightist Julius
Evola's analysis of the Iron Guard: The Tragedy of
the Romanian Iron Guard: Codreanu
Website about the Iron Guard, produced as a class
project at Claremont College. Essays on that site
provide a detailed picture of the growth of the
Iron Guard and the legionary movement, the cultural aspects of the movement, and the involvement
of the Iron Guard in the Holocaust, as well as a
year-by-year chronology of the Iron Guard, its antecedent groups and rival fascist and proto-fascist
movements, beginning in 1910.
Facing the Past. Information on the Holocaust in
Romania, including the role of the Iron Guard, from
a report commissioned and accepted by the Romanian government.
EXTERNAL LINKS
10
10.1
Iron Guard Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iron_Guard?oldid=703515689 Contributors: IZAK, KAMiKAZOW, Iulianu, Bogdangiusca, GCarty, John K, Gutza, Mackensen, Jmabel, Naddy, Sam Spade, HangingCurve, Bobblewik, Beland, Cberlet, Neutrality, Pjacobi,
TerraFrost, Mentatus, Duk, Pearle, Goodoldpolonius2, Velella, BDD, Woohookitty, Morning star, Lapsed Pacist, Steinbach, Deansfa,
Rjwilmsi, Dcheng, The wub, Paul foord, Str1977, YurikBot, A.S. Brown, RussBot, Okedem, Gaius Cornelius, Rjensen, AdiJapan, Zwobot,
TimK MSI, Ccgrimm, Resigua, SFH, Capt Jim, Orioane, Clocke, Petri Krohn, Voievod, Curpsbot-unicodify, Anonimu, Qero, Mercer66,
Sardanaphalus, SmackBot, Herostratus, Vald, Hu Gadarn, Eskimbot, Anthonysenn, Chris the speller, Bluebot, Dahn, Radufan~enwiki,
Kenjiro~enwiki, Zsinj, Tsca.bot, Writtenright, Apostolos Margaritis, Khoikhoi, Axi, Valkotukka, Vanished User 03, Iridescent, ES Vic,
Snoopdog1, CmdrObot, BeenAroundAWhile, Skybon, Cydebot, GANDALF1992, R-41, BetacommandBot, Kacen, Thijs!bot, Biruitorul,
Political Mind, The Fat Man Who Never Came Back, PaulVIF, Credema, Matthew Fennell, B.0wn, Manuelch10, Dc76, Miaers, CommonsDelinker, Robertgreer, Bozkurt88xxx, VolkovBot, Je G., Andreas Kaganov, Steven J. Anderson, Ninja138, Pruxo, Saint gold, SieBot,
Yone Fernandes, Venatoreng, Ramung, Gr8opinionater, Iron Guard, PipepBot, Plastikspork, EoGuy, Drmies, TheOldJacobite, Solar-Wind,
Lotusisrael, Alexander Tendler, UNSC Trooper, Addbot, Sebastian scha., Lightbot, Otrfan, Luckas-bot, Yobot, Amirobot, AnomieBOT,
Jim1138, ArthurBot, Xqbot, Estlandia~enwiki, Khajidha, Males, Anotherclown, RibotBOT, Sayerslle, Cipslim, WebCiteBOT, Erik9,
Surv1v4l1st, CaptainFugu, D'ohBot, HCPUNXKID, Masterknighted, SISPCM, JIK1975, Full-date unlinking bot, Lotje, Dinamik-bot,
Vrenator, EmausBot, Dewritech, Makingedits, 3mnaPashkan, Transnistriei, Netsurfer123, RJFF, Kasirbot, CopperSquare, Helpful Pixie
Bot, Curb Chain, Gob Lofa, BG19bot, Heidi.sweet, The Almightey Drill, G.M. Sir Lawrence, Mediran, Mogism, Makecat-bot, Hilmorel,
Crislia, Seedisilver, Monochrome Monitor, Blondeguynative, Carol Karl, Dan Mihai Pitea, Oiyarbepsy, Bohemian Baltimore, Absolute98,
Roth Cristian 97, KasparBot, Panzerwerfehr, CristiRoth, Connor Machiavelli and Anonymous: 144
10.2
Images
10.3
Content license