THE INTERNATIONAL CRISIS OF 1914 AND THE GREAT DIPLOMATIC BATTLE FOR ROMÂNIA. PART II
THE INTERNATIONAL CRISIS OF 1914 AND THE GREAT DIPLOMATIC BATTLE FOR ROMÂNIA. PART II

Summary/Abstract: The international crisis of July 1914 and the great diplomatic battle for Romania. The study used diplomatic documents as the base for a thorough analysis of the great confrontation that took place between the two military and political groups – the Central Power and the Entente, during the international crisis of July 1914. Their intentions were to attract Romania, according to their own interests, in the world war that was under way. Entente would prove to be the winner in this diplomatic battle, for whom Romania’s decision to be neutral represented a success. Due to space restrictions, this study is structured in two parts. Part I presents the aforementioned diplomantic events, starting with the crisis of July 1914 up until the outbreak of the war between the Serbia and the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Part II continues this presentation with an analysis of the facts and events that led to the decision adopted by the Romanian government, as the conflict was spreading and transforming into a world war. The study highlights that, although Romania’s diplomatic treaties with the Allied Powers influenced the decision adopted by the Romanian state to a certain extent, they did not play a leading role in it. The decision adopted by the Crown Council in Sinaia on August 3rd 1914 was based exclusively on an analysis of the opportunity to apply the treaty of alliance with the Austro-Hungarian Empire. It not take into account the possibility of a political affinity with the Entente, and to an even lesser extent that going to war on the same side. Romania’s relationship with the Entente had not been discussed given the circumstances in which the option of King Carol I was to enter war alongside the Central Powers. The solution of army standby, supported by prime-minister I. I. C Bratianu and adopted by the Romanian government, was a solution that reflected Romania’s real interests. At the same time, it served as a premise for a policy which supported – even if only partially – the ideal of national unity. As a consequence, Romania’s foreign policy, which had taken shape in the previous period, continued on a new basis, formed by the decision of leaving the alliance with the Central Powers.

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