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Soviet Demands on Romania and the Second Vienna Arbitration

Contributor: C. Peter Chen

ww2dbaseAfter WW1, the Treaty of Trianon of 1920 forced Hungary, a successor state to the defeated Austro-Hungarian Empire, to cede territory to Czechoslovakia. The First Vienna Award of 2 Nov 1938, arbitrated by Germany and Italy, forced Czechoslovakia to return an area 11,927 square kilometers in size to Hungary, and Hungary was only temporarily satisfied in terms of regaining former territory of Hungarian influence.

ww2dbaseOn 23 Jun 1940, the Soviet Union indicated to Germany that it was about to demand Bessarabia and Bukovina from Romania, which greatly alarmed Germany as the German military was dependent on Romania for oil and fodder. The Soviet ultimatum was issued to Romania on 26 Jun. While the Germans noted Bukovina was not included in the Soviet sphere of influence per the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact of 1939, Germany chose not to contest the Soviet demands, instead advising Romania to concede to prevent giving the Soviet Union a reason to occupy the entire country.

ww2dbaseSeeing this as a sign of weakness on the part of Romania, Hungary made a further demand for Transylvania in Aug 1940. Romania rejected the demand during the negotiation of 16 Aug, and offered only a small region for Hungarian consideration. After the first negotiation attempt failed, they turned to Germany and Italy for arbitration. On 30 Aug 1940, Italian Foreign Minister Galeazzo Ciano and German Foreign Minister Joachim von Ribbentrop presided over the Second Vienna Arbitration at Belvedere Palace in Vienna, Austria. Once again, Germany and Italy ruled in favor of Hungary, awarding it 43,104 square kilometers of territory (Northern Transylvania, Maramures, and part of Crisana). Romania was given 14 days to evacuate the territory. The result was the arbitration was known as the Second Vienna Award.

ww2dbaseOn 5 Sep 1940, Hungarian troops crossed the borders and occupied the territory; Hungarian Regent Miklós Horthy was also among the first to arrive. The occupation completed on 13 Sep. Hungarian troops were accused of murdering many Romanians during the initial occupation period.

ww2dbaseIn order to further secure the Romanian resources that Germany was dependent upon, a German military mission was set up in the Romanian capital of Bucharest; ostensibly to help train the Romanian military, this mission was actually set up to safeguard the Romanian oil fields and to deter further Soviet infringement of Romanian territory.

ww2dbaseAfter the war, the Allies declared both the First and Second Vienna Awards null and void, and the territories lost by Romania were returned; article 19 of the Armistice Agreement with Romania of 12 Sep 1944 specifically noted so.

ww2dbaseSources:

William Shirer, The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich

Wikipedia



Last Major Update: Oct 2010

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