The Romanian Monarchy, seen by the officers of the French Republic. From distrust to brotherhood in arms, 1914-1922
La Monarchie roumaine sous le regard des officiers de la République française. De la méfiance à la fraternité d’armes
Monarhia românească sub privirea ofiţelor Republicii franceze. De la neîncredere la fraternitatea de arme
Abstract
The initial distrust of the French officers and diplomats towards the Romanian Monarchy was mostly a precautionary attitude, not against the nature of this regime, but against the nationality of a sovereign whose name, Hohenzollern, gave the impression of a whole political programme. After the death of King Carol I, the self-transformation assumed by his successor, King Ferdinand I, his own loyalty to the cause of the Entente, would transform this new monarch, and even more his English born wife, Queen Mary, into reliable partners for the Entente, and in particular for France, represented in Romania during the Great War mainly by General Henri Berthelot, chief of the French Military Mission (1916-1918). For the French officers, the royal couple embodied the strength and the stability of the Romanian State in various and difficult circumstances: neutrality, war, defeat, resurrection, absorption of new territories and new populations. until today, the Romanian Monarchy symbolizes the victory of 1918 and the creation of Great Romania.