French Support for the Transylvanian Cause until the Alba Iulia Union (August 1916 – December 1918)
Résumé
The alliance sealed by King Carol I of Romania with the Central Powers became dull over time due to an obstacle known as Transylvania.In fact,in1867, the Romanians of the Monarchy had been sacrificed by Vienna, on the altar of dualism, to Magyar nationalists. From that time on they were subjected to a forced political assimilation.
Rare were the French personalities who concerned themselves at that time with the fate of these populations, even if one can cite a few big names, like that of Ernest Denis, professor at la Sorbonne.
The war was going to make Transylvania known to the French public, while presenting it, in a very eloquent way, like the Alsace-Lorraine of Romania. Starting from the signing of the agreement on August 17, 1916 – which formally consecrated the alliance between Romania and the Entente – France officially supported the right of Romania to annex Transylvania.