RELAŢIILE ROMÂNO-FRANCEZE ÎN LUNA MAI 1932, REFLECTATE ÎN PAGINILE COTIDIANULUI BĂNĂŢEAN VESTUL
ROMANIAN-FRENCH RELATIONS IN APRIL 1932, REFLECTED IN THE PAGES OF THE BANAT DAILY “THE WEST”

Summary/Abstract: War reparations deeply affected international relations, and attempts were made by American economic, financial and political circles to solve this thorny problem by launch‑ ing two plans (the Dawes Plan – 1929 and the Young Plan – 1930) and by establishing a general moratorium on the payment of war reparations and debts (the Hoover Moratorium - 1931). Unfortunately, the end of the First World War did not bring the much‑desired peace to Europe, as the Versailles system soon proved ineffective and short‑sighted. On the ruins of the former Central and Eastern European empires (the German Second Reich, Austro‑Hungary – derived from the Habsburg Empire, the Ottoman Empire and the Tsarist Empire), nation states emerged or existing states, which had gained their independence some time ago and had embarked on the road to modernisation, joined their territories. Some European states adopted authoritarian or totalitarian models of government relatively early on (the Soviet Union, Italy, Turkey, Bulgaria, Poland, Hungary, Germany – now the Weimar Republic, Portugal, etc.). The great global economic crisis has led to a progressive deterioration in international relations. On the European level, a number of pressing and difficult issues have emerged: war reparations; the Austro‑German customs union or the Curtius‑Schober project: disarmament; the European Union project, etc. Of particular concern were the privileged Soviet‑German relations and the successful attempt by the Weimar Republic to achieve equal rights with other states in the field of armaments. Formed on the basis of the principle of nationalities at the end of the First World War, Greater Romania will always advocate the maintenance of the territorial status quoo and collective security, strictly respecting the Covenant of the League of Nations and building a network of agreements and treaties to defend the fundamental interests of the small and medium‑sized states of Central and Eastern Europe. Dominated by four world‑renowned diplomats (Take Ionescu, Ionel Brătianu, Nicolae Titulescu and I.G. Duca), Romanina for‑ eign policy between the wars was defined by: the decisive role played within the frame‑ work of the Little Entente; the deterioration of Romanian‑Soviet relations, generated by the dispute over Bessarabia; adherence to the Briand‑Kellogg Pact, supplemented by the Hoover‑Stimson doctrine; the strengthening of relations with Poland; the initiative to convene Balkan conferences, in order to achieve a new regional defensive alliance; the hostile reaction to the Austro‑German customs union project; the favourable attitude towards the Danube Confederation plan launched by France; the Romanian‑Hungarian confrontation in the trial of the Hungarian opthonists in Transylvania; the active involvement in the work of the Disarmament Conference; the privileged relations between Romania and France; the trade agreements and the Romanian‑German cultural relations, etc.

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