THE LEGIONARY REBELLION (21st-23rd OF JANUARY 1941)
THE LEGIONARY REBELLION (21st-23rd OF JANUARY 1941)

Author(s): Dorel BUȘE
Subject(s): History, Political history, Recent History (1900 till today), WW II and following years (1940 - 1949)
Published by: Carol I National Defence University Publishing House
Keywords: National Legionary State; Ion Antonescu; Legionary Movement; authoritarian governance; January 1941 rebellion.
Summary/Abstract: This article examines the establishment, functioning, and collapse of the National Legionary State in Romania between September 1940 and January 1941, focusing on the relationship between General Ion Antonescu and the Legionary Movement. It analyzes the political rationale behind the creation of the National Legionary State, the composition of its government, and the constraints imposed by Romania’s external dependence on Nazi Germany and the growing Soviet threat. Particular emphasis is placed on the structural incompatibility between Antonescu’s authoritarian, state-centered conception of governance and the Legionary Movement’s totalitarian, revolutionary, and ideologically driven agenda. The study traces the progressive deterioration of relations between the two centers of power, culminating in the assassinations of November 1940 and the Legionary rebellion of January 1941. It also highlights the decisive role of German diplomatic and political support in enabling Antonescu to suppress the rebellion and dismantle the National Legionary State. Finally, the article analyzes the transition to a military-technocratic government after January 1941, arguing that this shift marked the consolidation of Antonescu’s personal dictatorship, grounded primarily in the army and administrative efficiency rather than mass political mobilization or party structures.

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