Formation Future PNȚ leader Maniu had had its first government experience during the
union of Transylvania with Romania. In alliance with the
Transylvanian Socialists, his PNR had organized a
Transylvanian Directorate, which functioned as that region's transitional government to April 1920. This body was explicitly against regional autonomy, and its distinct initiatives were in the field of
social welfare. As regional Minister of Social Welfare, the PNR doctor
Iuliu Moldovan introduced
eugenics, which also appeared as
nativism in the political thought a PNR leader,
Alexandru Vaida-Voevod. Based in the
Romanian Old Kingdom, the
Peasants' Party was founded in December 1918 by schoolteacher
Ion Mihalache, with assistance from academics such as
Virgil Madgearu and
Dimitrie Gusti. The group soon established itself in
Bessarabia, also
recently united with Romania. This was due to it absorbing much of the
Bessarabian Peasants' Party (PȚB), under
Pan Halippa and
Constantin Stere. In 1921, the PȚ had been joined by
Nicolae L. Lupu, formerly of the
Labor Party. In 1919–1920, the PNR was able to outmaneuver the PNL, and, backed by the PȚ, formed Romania's national government, headed by Vaida-Voevod. Mihalache was personally involved in drafting the
land reform project, taking a revolutionary stand which greatly increased the proportion of
smallholders. Vaida's cabinet was brought down by
King Ferdinand I, who openly favored the National Liberals. The PNL's return to power came with the adoption of a
new constitution, and with the enactment of land reform, which massively expanded Romania's smallholding class. The latter had an unintended consequence in that it created an electoral pool for the opposition parties; it also gave Peasantists hopes that Romania's economy could still be built around peasant consumers. At this stage, both the PȚ and the PNR were opposed to the Constitution, seeing it as imposed on the Romanian public by the PNL, and arguing that it left the country open to future abuse of power. PNR absorbed another PȚB faction, led by
Ion Pelivan, in 1923. The two opposition groups embarked on a long series of negotiations, eventually producing a set of principles for merger. They began in May 1924, as informal talks between Stere and the PNR's
Vasile Goldiș, resulting in a preliminary agreement that June. During this process, the PȚ shed much of its radical platform. However, left-wing Peasantists supported their ideologue Stere, who had a controversial past, for a leadership position in the unified body. This proposal was strongly opposed by figures on the PNR's right-wing such as Vaida and
Voicu Nițescu. The unification was only made possible once Mihalache "sacrificed" Stere. The two-party collaboration was successfully tested during the August 1925 elections for the Agricultural Chambers, a professional consultative body. In the
local election of early 1926, both parties ran a United Opposition Bloc, in conjunction with
Alexandru Averescu's
People's Party (PP); also joining them was a
Peasant Workers' Bloc (BMȚ), which acted as a legal front for clandestine
Romanian Communist Party (PCdR). The PP withdrew from this pact once Averescu was called by Ferdinand to take power. Maniu was a first choice, but eventually discarded for his association with Mihalache, whom Ferdinand regarded as a dangerous radical. elections
of 1926 and
1927; regionally divided: green is
Transylvania and the
Banat; orange is the
Romanian Old Kingdom and
Bukovina; red is
Bessarabia. Lightest shade show at least one deputy elected; intermediary shade – first place in either election; darkest shade – first place in both elections (only available in green:
Alba and
Someș) Weakened when Goldiș and others defected to the PP, the PNR became "second-fiddle" to the Peasantist caucus. In the subsequent
national election of June, the PNR and PȚ formed a National–Peasant Bloc, which took 27% of the vote and 69 seats in the
Assembly of Deputies. As the PȚ agreed to a full merger, the PNR lost support from
Nicolae Iorga's semi-independent faction, who went on to reestablish itself as a
Democratic Nationalist Party. The fusion was enshrined at a PNR–PȚ congress on October 10, 1926. Also then, Maniu was voted in as chairman; Mihalache, Lupu, Vaida-Voevod and
Paul Brătășanu were vice presidents, while Madgearu became general secretary and
Mihai Popovici cashier. Its
central committee included
Constantin Stere,
Pantelimon Halippa and
Ion Pelivan. On November 21 of that year, the party was admitted into the
International Agrarian Bureau. The National–Peasantist fusion could not lead to an immediate challenge to the PNL supremacy. The party dropped to 22% and 54 deputies after the
June 1927 election. With Ferdinand terminally ill, it reluctantly backed
Barbu Știrbey's nominally independent cabinet, which was in practice a National Liberal front. Its leadership also rejected a pact with Averescu's group, pushing Averescu further into political insignificance. These events also overlapped with a dynastic crisis: after Ferdinand's death in July 1927, the throne went to his minor grandson
Michael I—Michael's disgraced father
Carol II having been forced to renounce his claim and pushed into exile. The arrangement was resented by both the PNL and the PNR. For different reasons, both groups sketched out plans to depose Michael and turn Romania into a republic. The unexpected death of PNL chairman
Ion I. C. Brătianu pushed the PNȚ back into full-blown opposition: "All hopes [...] focused on the democratic movement of renewal, outstandingly represented by Iuliu Maniu." The party withdrew its elected representatives and pushed citizens to engage in
tax resistance. In creating a web of tactical alliances, it reconfirmed its pact with the BMȚ, while still shunning the PP. The PNȚ's first general congress was held on May 6, 1928 at
Alba Iulia. It marked an early peak of PNȚ revolutionary activity, gathering between 100,000 and 200,000 supporters. Observers expected that the columns would then "march on
Bucharest", by analogy with the
March on Rome. This never happened, but the showing impressed the Regents into deposing the PNL cabinet and handing power to Maniu. Carol reportedly watched on as the events unfolded: at the time, Maniu "remain[ed] silent" as to whether he would back him for the throne. Maniu was adamant that Carol's mistress
Elena Lupescu stay exiled, and for this reason earned the Prince's eternal enmity.
PNȚ cabinets Maniu was sworn in as Prime Minister on October 10, 1928, leading the first of eight PNȚ government teams. This saw an extension of the
welfare state and the regulation of labor through
collective bargaining. Maniu's first cabinet had Moldovan as
Labor Minister, using this position to advance his program in "
biopolitics". His tenure saw the adoption of laws which set the working day at a maximum 10 hours and limited
child labor; the effort to unify
social insurance was completed in 1933. Endorsed by the
Social Democratic Party (PSDR), this government team was put to the test during the
December 1928 elections, which are often recognized as free from abuse and government interference, and which it still won in a landslide—with almost 78% of the vote. This result was partly owed to its alliance with the PSDR, the
Jewish National People's Party, the
German Party, and the
Ukrainian Nationalists. At this early stage, the PNȚ was fully controlled by Maniu, who ordered PNȚ members of
Parliament to sign resignations that he would file and enact upon in case of insubordination. In June 1930, a trans-party group of Carlist supporters engineered a coup against the Regency, which ended with Carol's return and enthronement. The PNȚ briefly divided itself into backers of the coup and those who, like Maniu, remained more cautious. From July 1930, Carlist ideologue
Nae Ionescu proposed a National Peasantist "mass dictatorship", which implied dissolving all other parties. Such ideas were contained by Maniu, who spoke out in favor of maintaining and cultivating electoral democracy, and by Carol, who would have rather formed a multi-party coalition. Ionescu's dictatorial optimism was published just as the Carol was antagonizing the PNȚ mainstream. Soon after his victory, the new King informed Maniu that he did not intend to honor his promises, causing a rift between monarch and government; Maniu resigned, was persuaded to return within days, and then resigned for good in October, handing the premiership to party colleague
Gheorghe Mironescu. Historian
Barbara Jelavich sees Maniu's resignation as "ill-considered", effectively leaving Romania's electorate without an administration that "best represented [its] option". Carol ultimately asked Mironescu to resign in April 1931, and replaced him with Iorga, who led a minority cabinet. The National Peasantists were defeated by their PNL rivals in the
election of June 1931, taking just 15% of the vote. Again called to power, with Vaida at the helm, they had a comeback with the
early election of 1932, taking 40%. Carol persuaded Maniu to become Prime Minister in October. He resigned again in January 1933, after a row with Carol, who wanted Mihalache stripped of his post at
Internal Affairs. Vaida returned as PNȚ Prime Minister, holding on to that position until November 13. Maniu had stepped down as PNȚ leader in June 1931, leaving Mihalache in charge to July of the following year; he then returned and held on to his seat to January 1933, when he was replaced by Vaida. Maniu and his supporters were now in the minority, issuing reprimands against Vaida's alliance with Carol. Despite its unprecedented success, the party was pushed into a defensive position by the
Great Depression, and failed to enact many its various policy proposals; its support by workers and left-wing militants was affected during the strike actions of
Lupeni and
Grivița, which its ministers repressed with noted expediency. The former incident in particular was received as a shock by working-class voters, and led journalist
Romulus Cioflec to hand in his resignation from the party, in what became a public scandal. All PNȚ cabinets were also confronted by the rise of revolutionary fascism, heralded by the
Iron Guard. The latter's "Captain",
Corneliu Zelea Codreanu, took up elements from the PNȚ program and planned ahead for its downfall. In 1932, PNȚ enjoys approached the newly formed
National Socialist Party with an offer to share electoral lists; the offer was rejected. National Peasantism also met competition from a hard-right version of itself: the
National Agrarian Party, formed by
Octavian Goga (a poet and activist, once affiliated with the PNR). From 1931, PNȚ ministers issued regulations banning the Guard, but these proved unsuccessful. This interval witnessed the first clashes between the PNȚ and the Guardists, including one at
Vulturu. A first effort at organizing a self-defense force for PNȚ politicians resulted in the 1928 "civic guards". In 1929, the party had begun organizing another set of squads, called
Voinici ("Braves"). Originally integrated with the youth organization, they later became a nucleus for the paramilitary
Peasant Guards. By that time, Maniu's guidelines had eroded left-wing support for the party. In February 1927, Lupu and
Ion Buzdugan founded a rival group, the
Peasants' Party–Lupu. Stere was finally expelled from the PNȚ after a heated controversy in 1930. In 1931, he established an
agrarian socialist group called
Democratic Peasants' Party–Stere. Another left-wing dissidence broke away with
Grigore Iunian in late 1932, establishing itself as a
Radical Peasants' Party (PȚR) in 1933. Schisms and competition were compensated by recruitment, including in the intellectual sphere. Writer
Șerban Cioculescu, who entered in early 1928, described the PNȚ as "the only political factor which may democratize Romania". In the early 1930s, new arrivals included philosophers
Petre Andrei and
Constantin Rădulescu-Motru, linguist
Traian Bratu, and painter
Rudolf Schweitzer-Cumpăna; also joining were leaders of the
Romanian Army, including
Nicolae Alevra and
Ioan Mihail Racoviță. as well as from lawyer
Haralambie Marchetti, known as a protector of the communists. The PNȚ's more leftist youth published the magazine
Stânga, which attracted collaborations from
Petru Comarnescu and
Traian Herseni. A highly visible left-wing cell was formed at the
University of Iași by Bratu and Andrei, gathering new members and sympathizers:
Constantin Balmuș,
Octav Botez,
Iorgu Iordan,
Andrei Oțetea, and
Mihai Ralea. Unable to obtain a reduction of the foreign debt, and harangued by an increasingly confident PNL, the Vaida cabinet fell in November 1933. A PNL team under
Ion G. Duca took over. The
election of December 1933 was a National Liberal sweep, leaving the PNȚ with less than 15% of the votes cast. Duca took on the task of dissolving the Iron Guard, and was murdered by a
death squad on December 29; the premiership passed to another PNL man,
Gheorghe Tătărescu. The PNȚ viewed Tătărescu's appointment as arbitrary, and protested on the issue. The spread of credible rumors according to which Maniu was slated for assassination by Carol's partisans rekindled the Peasant Guards (now also known as the "Maniu Guards"); they continued to be active throughout most of 1934, until the party leadership asked them to dissolve. though the king's maneuvering permanently damaged the reputation of PNȚ-ists such as
Romulus Boilă. Under his watch, the PNȚ adopted a new statute in 1934, and a new program at the second party congress in April 1935. These pledged the party to a careful selection of cadres from the ranks of peasantry and youth, fully committing them to the project of establishing a "peasant state". The architects were figures on the left of the party—Ralea, Andrei,
Mihail Ghelmegeanu, and
Ernest Ene—, who worked from drafts first presented in Ralea's
Viața Românească. During their ascendancy, in March 1934, From May 1935, the PNȚ held massive rallies, showcasing Mihalache's ambition of forming a new cabinet. Party unity was enforced by the decision of centrist Transylvanians such as
Corneliu Coposu to side with democratic traditions and reject Vaida's penchant for far-right authoritarianism. In 1935, Coposu became leader of the national youth wing, called
Tineretul Național Țărănesc (TNȚ), proceeding to purge Vaidists from the various party organizations. Maniu's nephew and potential successor,
Ionel Pop, also took a stand against antisemitism, expressing horror at any attempt to align Romania with
Nazi Germany. Anti-Nazism was likewise voiced by
Facla, causing its editorial offices to be stormed by the
National-Christian Defense League (LANC). Only some 10% or 15% of PNȚ cadres were attracted by Vaida's group. Overall, however, the National Peasantist failure to address the economic needs of its own constituents resulted in a steady decrease of its voting share—many peasants switched to supporting the Iron Guard or any of the other far-right parties. The explicitly fascist
National Christian Party (PNC), founded as a merger of the LANC and Goga's National Agrarians, was especially adept at canvassing the peasant vote in Bessarabia, veering it toward antisemitism. Alongside the FR, it earned Carol's blessing to establish a "nationalist parliamentary bloc", specifically designed to keep the PNȚ out of power. The danger was sensed by Mihalache, who presided over massive anti-fascist rally in November 1935, amassing a reported 500,000 participants nation-wide. Following an audience with Carol, he claimed that the PNȚ would be called to power. In December 1935, the PNȚ reinforced discipline against left-wing dissent, expelling from its ranks
Dem. I. Dobrescu, who went on to create his own movement, the "Citizen Committees". Communist support and endorsement by the
Ploughmen's Front were relevant in ensuring victories for PNȚ candidates Lupu and
Ghiță Pop in the Assembly by-elections of
Mehedinți and
Hunedoara (February 1936). While the PNȚ elite took measures to downplay its far-left connection, left-wingers such as Dobrescu openly celebrated it as a winning combination. As summarized by historian Armin Heinen, PNȚ leftists also refrained from calling it a "
popular front", and only viewed socialist groups as subordinate. , used for the
general election of 1937. Image shows a stereotypical Jewish man maneuvering democratic politics, depicted as a
Star of David festooned with heads of PNȚ leftists Mihalache,
Virgil Madgearu, and
Nicolae L. Lupu, alongside
Grigore Iunian of the
Radical Peasants' Party The PNȚ, PSDR, PCdR and PȚR created a de facto united front during the
county elections of 1936 and
early 1937; also signing up where satellite parties: the Ploughmen's Front, the
Hungarian People's Union, the
Popovici Socialists, the
Conservative Party, and Dobrescu's Committees. In Bessarabia, the PCdR made noted efforts of reconciling the PNȚ and PȚR. Wherever the PNC appeared stronger, pacts also involved local PNL chapters. Similar pacts were signed in mid 1936 with the
Magyar Party, although the latter withdrew, fearful of association with the communists. Many PNȚ sections also resisted alliances with far-leftist groups, but, even in such cases, the PCdR urged its followers to vote National Peasantist. Mihalache's solution was to impose and vet a single platform for the alliance, which prevented the PCdR from using it as a means to popularize socialism. From 1936, Beza was a card-carrying PNȚ man, assigned leadership over the Peasant Guards, following their reactivation by Mihalache. The Guards were supervised by a Military Section, comprising Army officials: Admiral
Dan Zaharia was a member, alongside generals
Ștefan Burileanu,
Gheorghe Rujinschi,
Gabriel Negrei, and
Ioan Sichitiu. Zaharia was directly involved with the Peasant Guards of
Muscel County, whom he used to quell violence by the LANC militia, or
Lăncieri. Clashes also occurred at
Faraoani, where PNC men ambushed a PNȚ column, and at
Focșani, where the Peasant Guards were called in to break up an Iron Guard rally. Codreanu's followers were especially incensed by the Guards' creation, and resorted to kidnapping and threatening Madgearu in order to have them called off. At
Iași, Bratu narrowly survived a stabbing, for which he blamed the Iron Guard.
1937 crisis The mid 1930s also consolidated a PNȚ "centrist" wing, represented by
Armand Călinescu, and supported by Ghelmegeanu. This faction favored a full clampdown on the Iron Guard, but hoped to achieve its defeat in close alliance with Carol. At the third general congress of April 4–5, 1937, which was to be the PNȚ's last, inner-party stability appeared to be threatened by "intrigue and ambition", although shows of unity were made in various rallies. During that interval, prosecutors brought R. Boilă to trial for his participation in the "Škoda Affair". He and all other defendants were acquitted. Coposu, who attempted to show that the case was instrumented by Carol as revenge against his PNȚ opponents, was found guilty of
lèse-majesté and spent three months in prison. Ahead of
legislative elections in December 1937, Carol invited Mihalache to form a cabinet, but also tried to impose some of his own selections as ministers; Mihalache refused to comply. As a result of this failure, Maniu returned as chairman of the PNȚ—he would serve as such uninterruptedly, to July 1947. His return also allowed the formation of a right-wing section in Bucharest. Its leader,
Ilariu Dobridor, openly argued for Lupu to be expelled from the party. The PNȚ completely revised its alliances, agreeing to limited cooperation with the Iron Guard and the
Georgist Liberals. The three parties agreed to support "free elections" and still competed against each other; however, the pact's very existence shocked the liberal mainstream, especially after revelations that PNȚ cadres could no longer criticize the Guard. Călinescu and Ghelmegeanu's group was alienated, openly describing the pact as morally unsound, and preferring full cooperation with Carol; Mihalache also dissented, but on democratic grounds. The events caught the PCdR underground by surprise: in November, its leader
Ștefan Foriș had urged his colleagues to vote PNȚ, even in preference to the PSDR. A "workers' delegation", made up of PSDR and PCdR activists, visited Maniu and insisted that he should revise the "non-aggression pact". The scandal divided Romania's left-wing press: newspapers such as
Adevărul remained committed to Maniu, though communist sympathizers such as
Zaharia Stancu and
Geo Bogza went back on their support for a PNȚ-led popular front, and switched to endorsing the PȚR. By contrast, Dobrescu and his Committees deserted Iunian on December 1, and were folded back into the PNȚ. The election marked a historic impasse, whereby the PNL failed to clearly win elections organized under its watch. It dropped to 152 parliamentary seats, with the PNȚ holding on to 86 (and 20% of the vote); this was just 20 seats ahead of the Guard, which had emerged as Romania's third party. Carol opted to use his
royal prerogative and bypassed all groups opposing his policies, handing power to a PNC minority cabinet, under Goga. Goga's arrival signaled Romania's rapprochement toward Germany, which had emerged as a key regional player following the
Munich Agreement. Concerns about
German re-armament also pushed Maniu into "demand[ing] an alignment with Berlin". However, he punished attempts by other PNȚ figures to collaborate with Goga, and expelled Călinescu, who had accepted a ministerial position. This move lost the PNȚ its party organization in
Argeș County, which obeyed Călinescu. Maniu had a return as the opposition leader, speaking out against Carol and Goga, and promising a "national revolt" against their regime—while making note of his intention to form an "opposition bloc" alongside the Iron Guard. During the early days of 1938, the PNȚ was negotiating with the PNL to also join this alliance. The project was vetoed by Tătărescu, whose "Young Liberals" supported Carol's policies, and by Mihalache, who resented the Maniu–Codreanu rapprochement. Though Mihalache rallied with the party line in calling out the PNC ministers as "scoundrels", he secretly collaborated with Călinescu against Maniu. The latter viewed himself and his fellow defectors as a "pro-government" splinter of the PNȚ, and counted on Mihalache's contextual support.
FRN and National Legionary regimes ; from the left:
Armand Călinescu,
Grigore Gafencu,
Mihai Ralea. To their right is
Mitiță Constantinescu, formerly of the PNL An international backlash against Goga's staunch antisemitism had also made Carol reconsider his choices. Initially, he favored creating a new majority coalition with the Iron Guard and the PNȚ (though demanding that Maniu be kept out of any such formula). Goga was deposed on February 10, 1938, when all political groups prepared for repeat elections. The Peasant Guards had been revived in January, taking the name of "Maniu Guards", and were divided into two main commands: Lazăr took over in Transylvania, and General Rujinschi in the Old Kingdom. The project also involved
Victor Jinga, tasked by Maniu with supervising the Guards' expansion into the provinces. Beza had left the project and, in January 1938, was attempting to form his own "Workers and Peasants' Party". At the height of the electoral campaign, the PNȚ and the PNL sought to obtain a new understanding with Carol, fearing that the PNC and the Iron Guard would form a powerful fascist alliance, and then a totalitarian state. Under pressure from the PNȚ base, Maniu revoked the pact with the Iron Guard, leaving that group entirely isolated on the political scene. He had instead initiated talks with the PȚR. This produced a "common constitutional front" before January 18, with negotiations continuing for the PNL's adherence to it. The PNȚ again sought grassroots communist support: in
Vâlcea County, it shared a list with the "Democratic Union", assigning eligible positions to a PCdR militant
Mihail Roșianu and a communist-sympathizing priest,
Ioan Marina. Carol rejected Maniu's proposals, and used the opportunity for an anti-democratic
self-coup. Despite vocal protests by Maniu and the PNL's
Dinu Brătianu, he inaugurated a royal dictatorship, leading to the creation of a catch-all
National Renaissance Front (FRN). The PNȚ attempted to sabotage the
authoritarian Constitution, instructing members to cast a negative vote in the
February 24 plebiscite. The attempt was unsuccessful, and the party continued to lose ground over the following months. On March 30, it was outlawed together with all other traditional parties. The new government integrated much of the PNȚ's center, with Călinescu at Interior Affairs; Andrei, Ghelmegeanu, and Ralea, alongside
Grigore Gafencu and
Traian Ionașcu, became prominent FRN dignitaries, as did Moldovan. More junior PNȚ-ists such as
Adrian Brudariu abandoned the National Peasantist cause, allegedly joining the FRN for material benefits. Maniu and Popovici could still count on their core Transylvanian constituency, which helped them circulate a December 1938 memorandum calling on Carol to restore civil liberties. Coposu was arrested and detained for distributing copies of that document. Călinescu tacitly allowed the PNȚ and PNL to preserve parts of their infrastructures, including some local offices. In early 1939, the regime proposed allowing the PNȚ a share of parliamentary mandates, to which Mihalache responded: "Mr Carol would do best to leave us alone." During the
sham election of June 1939, the FRN administration took care to prevent interference by "intermediary groups" such as the PNȚ, PNL, PNC and Iron Guard. In May, the PNȚ, PNL and PCdR engaged in talks to form an "opposition parliament" and "united front"; authorities subsequently reported that protest votes had been cast for PNȚ leaders, whereas candidacies of PNȚ defectors such as
Alexandru Mîță had been publicly booed. Maniu, Mihalache, Lupu and Iunian still qualified as lifetime
Senators, but refused to wear the FRN uniform, and were expelled. By then, Călinescu had masterminded a nation-wide clampdown against the Iron Guard, including Codreanu's physical liquidation. This resulted in a series of retaliatory attacks, peaking in September 1939, when a Guardist death squad managed to assassinate Călinescu. During November, Carol made one final attempt to establish a "national alliance" around the FRN, inviting Maniu to join in; the offer was dismissed. Mihalache held a seat in the
Crown Council in early 1940, possibly because doing so toned down pressures on his friend Madgearu, whom Carol had placed under arrest. A political crisis began in Romania during June 1940, when the FRN government gave in to a
Soviet ultimatum and
withdrew its administration from Bessarabia. Maniu referred to this as a Soviet invasion, and believed that the Army should have resisted. In August 1940, after reassurances from both Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union,
Regency Hungary asked Romania to negotiate territorial cessions in Transylvania. Maniu issued a public protest, demanding no reduction of territorial integrity. The same month, Carol's regime yielded to Nazi pressures and Romania signed the
Second Vienna Award, which divided the region roughly in half, with
Northern Transylvania assigned to Hungary. This sparked major unrest, with "huge protest rallies" asking for Maniu to establish a cabinet of "national resistance", which Maniu refused to do. One such proposal came from the PCdR and the Soviet Union, and promised Romania military assistance from the
Red Army; Maniu was outraged by the proposal, arguing that the Soviet Union was "
imperialistic by definition". Carol assigned the task of forming a cabinet to General
Ion Antonescu, who obtained backing from both the PNȚ and the PNL. Both groups insisted that Antonescu could take over only after Carol agreed to abdicate. This put an end to Carol's rule, bringing the country under an Iron Guard regime—the
National Legionary State, with Antonescu as
Conducător; though still neutral to 1941, Romania was now openly aligned with the
Axis powers. Widely seen as a German arrangement, the Legionary State was in fact a result of Maniu's refusal to follow Antonescu's ideological command; the Nazis had repeatedly called for a multiparty alliance.
Resisting Antonescu by Maniu and
Dinu Brătianu, January 1942 The PNȚ continued to exist semi-clandestinely, obtaining repeated assurances from Antonescu that the various territorial chapters would not be harassed by the Iron Guard, and complaining whenever he failed to keep them. According to
Siguranța reports, it was always more active than the PNL. Its quarters were informally acknowledged as being Ciulei House, an apartment complex located at Sfinților Street 10, Bucharest. From late 1940, Maniu channeled anti-Nazi discontent by forming an association called
Pro Transilvania and a newspaper,
Ardealul, both of which reminded Romanians that Antonescu was not interested in a reversal of the Vienna Award. The Guardist takeover also pushed some National Peasantists into exile: facing a
death sentence at home, Beza made his way to
Cairo, where he formed a Free Romania Movement under British supervision. Towards the end of 1940, Antonescu became dissatisfied with the Guard partnership. The Guard organized the
Jilava Massacre and various other murders of old-regime politicians, including Madgearu. This caused alarm for other figures of the PNȚ, in particular Mihalache and Lupu;
Ghiță Pop took Madgearu's position at the party secretariat. In the aftermath, Maniu pleaded with the
Conducător that he should reinstate order and individual security. After a
brief civil war in January 1941, the Guard was removed from power and again repressed. German reports identified PNȚ-ist generals as most active in destroying the National Legionary regime; armed PNȚ civilians, including Lupu, assisted the Army at various locations in Bucharest. Following the events, Antonescu had renewed hopes that he could co-opt the PNȚ and then PNL on his cabinet. Both parties refused the offer. During February, Maniu openly criticized Antonescu for abandoning Northern Transylvania and for previously condoning Guardist abuse. He also argued that a legalized PNȚ would have been a more efficient and legitimate actor in purging the Guard. In April, he attempted to organize a rally against the
invasion of Yugoslavia, but called it off when Antonescu warned him that demonstrators would be fired upon. Later that year, Maniu and Coposu engaged in encrypted correspondence with the Western Allies, preparing for an anti-Nazi takeover in Romania; they aligned themselves closely with Britain, seeking to obtain direct advice from
Winston Churchill. The PNȚ and the PNL welcomed Romania's participation in the
Nazi attack on the Soviet Union, since it returned Bessarabian lands to Romania. However, both parties protested when Antonescu gave the order to advance beyond interwar borders and annex
Transnistria. This period also signaled
Romania's participation in the Holocaust, heralded by the
Iași pogrom. These crimes were also vocally condemned by the PNȚ and the PNL in letters to Antonescu. Maniu still refused to believe that Antonescu had a genocidal agenda and, when interviewed by American diplomats, played down the pogrom's importance. By 1942, having been informed that Britain and the US intended to assess and punish all antisemitic crimes, he told Romanian ministers that the deportation of
Bessarabian Jews risked destroying Romania; Mihalache also added his input, describing deportations as "alien to the humanitarian traditions of our people." Antonescu largely tolerated such insubordination, but also curbed it at regular intervals. In August 1942, he threatened to "castigate in due course" Maniu and others who opposed "cleansing this nation totally of the [Jewish] blight." In November 1941, Maniu also publicized his complete opposition to
war in the East, prompting Antonescu to order a clampdown against
Anglophile resistance centers. Communist sources noted a discrepancy in repression statistics: while the elites were allowed to carry out a "paper war" with the regime, regular PNȚ militants risked imprisonment for expressing anti-fascist beliefs. From 1942, the
camp in Târgu Jiu accommodated various PNȚ-ists, including
Nicolae Carandino, who had published an article critical of Antonescu, and
Anton Alexandrescu, who, as leader of the TNȚ, had been approached by the PCdR. Detainees also included a selection of militants from all party factions: Lazăr,
Zaharia Boilă,
Radu Cioculescu,
Victor Eftimiu,
Augustin Popa, and
Emanoil Socor. Released before May 1943, these men became vocal supporters of an understanding between Romania and the Soviets. Boilă, Coposu,
Ghiță Pop and
Virgil Solomon were also rounded up and threatened for having maintained contacts with the Iron Guard on behalf of Maniu. In 1944, government agents caught
Augustin Vișa and Rică Georgescu, who had handled radio communications between Maniu and the Allies. Both were imprisoned, with Vișa being put on trial for high treason. The
Conducător dismissed Nazi suggestions that he should have Maniu killed, noting that doing so would only push Romania's peasantry into anti-fascist rebellion. By 1944, he was tolerating the transit through Romania of Northern Transylvanian Jews fleeing
extermination in Hungary, some of whom were assisted on their journey by a PNȚ-ist network. By early 1942, Maniu and Brătianu had come to favor an anti-Nazi coup, and had asked for direct British support. The Soviets were informed of this, but fully rejected Maniu's demands for a restoration of Greater Romania. In January 1943, with over 100,000 Romanian soldiers
trapped at Stalingrad, PCdR members approached Maniu with concrete offers for collaboration. Hoping to obtain full peace without a
Soviet occupation, Maniu still counted on direct contacts with the West, sending
Constantin Vișoianu to negotiate with them in Cairo. These "feelers" were again tolerated by Antonescu. However, a "stumbling-block in all subsequent negotiations" was the demand for Romania's unconditional surrender, which Maniu found unpalatable. The PNȚ advised against toppling Antonescu in February 1944, as had been proposed by the pro-Allied King
Michael I—Maniu feared that doing so would leave Romania exposed to Nazi retribution. "
Operation Autonomous", a British attempt to mediate between Maniu and the Soviets, ended abruptly when
Alfred Gardyne de Chastelain and
Ivor Porter were captured in Romania. In the aftermath, Antonescu again protected Maniu, reassuring the Axis that the Romanian opposition had no real contact with the Allies. During March 1944,
Voice of America implied that, if PNȚ leaders still refused to take up armed opposition to the regime, they could expect to be bypassed or deposed. In April, Maniu was finally ready to accept Soviet promises that Romania would be allowed to fight the Germans as an equal partner, and that its territory would not be occupied militarily. The same month, Antonescu was sent a peace protest signed by 69 academics, which was "overtly pro-Soviet in sentiment".
1944 revival (middle) greeting foreign journalists outside
Ardealul newspaper headquarters, September 1944; also pictured is a newly unveiled bust of Maniu In June 1944, the PNȚ and PNL agreed to form a Bloc of Democratic Parties (BPD) alongside the PCdR and Social Democrats, preparing for the "
King Michael Coup" of August 23. By then, Coposu and
Cezar Spineanu were stockpiling firearms in PNȚ buildings, preparing for a BPD confrontation with the authorities. The Bloc existed largely because Maniu believed he could obtain Soviet lenience toward Romania following an armistice, and "only stood to enhance [the communists'] position". The plot involved statistician
Sabin Manuilă, who acted as a PNȚ representative; a disciple of Moldovan, he had been involved with Antonescu's project to persecute Jews and deport
Romanies, but also protected some 5,000 Jewish specialists working under his watch. Shortly before the coup, Maniu clashed with PCdR envoy
Lucrețiu Pătrășcanu, who had wanted the BPD to be joined by Ralea and other FRN eminences. Though largely unaware about any conspiracy, the PNȚ's lower echelons organized a pro-Allied rally at
Bellu cemetery on August 20. Meeting with its leaders, Maniu expressed the hope that Antonescu himself would take Romania out of the Axis. Some 2,000 people were allegedly involved in this demonstration, but not all members would commit to a publicized protest: those from the Old Kingdom feared that they would lose their jobs, while Transylvanians pushed for radicalization. The coup achieved its immediate goals.
Dreptatea, which had been banned in 1938, reentered print on August 27, 1944. Openly active from September, the PNȚ moved office to Clemenceau Street 6, which would remain its headquarters until dissolution. Maniu was initially offered the premiership, but opted out, arguing that the position should go to a military man for the war's duration. Historian
Vlad Georgescu singles this out as Maniu's "real mistake": "[It] deprived the country of the only leadership that could have been strong and popular, the only party that could have rallied the people around a truly democratic program. In refusing to take over in 1944, Maniu [...] caused a power vacuum into which the Communist Party moved." A military-civilian cabinet was formed by General
Constantin Sănătescu. Since the National Peasantists and PCdR envoys could not agree on a list of ministers, these were recruited from Michael I's courtiers, with party men serving only as ministers without portfolio; Leucuția and Solomon were the PNȚ's representatives. The promotion of such comparatively minor figures was criticized by the party's youth, leaving Maniu to acknowledge the
brain drain which had affected National Peasantism ever since Călinescu and Ralea's defections. As described by scholar
Lucian Boia, from 1945 the PNȚ emerged from the coup "believing itself the country's great party", which made it adopt a policy of "political and moral intransigence". By 1947, it had 2.12 million card-carrying members; as noted by Georgescu, it ranked ahead of all other parties, albeit "neither numbers nor popularity could bring it to power." Maniu preserved regional influence in reconquered Northern Transylvania, organized from September 1944 under a Committee of the Liberated Regions. This was presided upon by Ionel Pop. Commissariat rule often veered into an
antimagyarism that was only ever curbed by the
Red Army after a "six-week killing spree". Various reports, including oral testimonies by Peasant Guard members and volunteers who answered calls printed in
Ardealul, suggest that local
Hungarians were victims of numerous lynchings, either tolerated of encouraged by the Commissariat. By then, the PCdR had sparked a government crisis over Maniu's rejection of its
communization programs; in the aftermath, communists spuriously claimed that Maniu had personally masterminded the killing of Transylvanian Hungarians. Upon taking over at Internal Affairs, PNȚ-ist
Nicolae Penescu found himself accused of stalling democratization, and was pushed into resigning. After Maniu was again offered the premiership, and again declined, power went to General
Nicolae Rădescu. Maniu and his followers agreed with the PCdR on the need for "de-fascization" in Romania, overseeing a purge of Romania's police agencies and appointing Ghiță Pop as PNȚ representative on the Special Committee for the investigation of war crimes. Noted Guardists who were accepted as PNȚ members include
Horațiu Comaniciu and
Silviu Crăciunaș. National Peasantists in Transylvania no longer screened against the Iron Guard, whose affiliates joined into the effort to terrorize Hungarians into leaving the area. Any such recruitment drive was curbed by the PCdR, which obtained assurances from leading Guardists that they would prevent their followers from entering the PNȚ. The PNȚ's vice presidents in the coup's aftermath were Mihalache, Lupu, and
Mihai Popovici. Ghiță Pop was a fourth member of this team, but has to resign upon taking up a position in Sănătescu's cabinet. Maniu was additionally assisted by a Permanent Delegation, whose members included Halippa, Hudiță, Lazăr,
Teofil Sauciuc-Săveanu,
Gheorghe Zane, as well as, with the introduction of women's suffrage,
Ella Negruzzi. Noted militants included young academics—among them Radu and Șerban Cioculescu, as well as
Vladimir Streinu. The party lost its control over the TNȚ, with Alexandrescu favoring a PCdR alliance. Consequently, Maniu ordered Coposu to establish a loyalist youth group, called
Organizația M. On February 3, 1945, While Alexandrescu's group remained exceedingly small, the PCdR also revived the
Ploughmen's Front. This move was specifically intended to destabilize the PNȚ by recruiting smallholders. In November 1944, it absorbed the
Socialist Peasants' Party, a small group established by Ralea and Ghelmegeanu. In order to counteract such moves, Maniu also established a PNȚ Workers' Organization, with Lazăr as its overseer. This body was successful in countering FND propaganda. As part of this conflict, the Printers' Syndicate, which was under communist control, imposed censorship on the opposition press: in February 1945, the PNȚ could only print nine newspapers, whereas the PCdR had thirty-one.
Against Groza leaflet, published ahead of the
November 1946 election: Maniu as an effete gentleman, who has lost contact with the peasants Rădescu was toppled following a massacre of communist-and-allied protesters, later revealed as a
false flag operation carried out by PCdR militias. In early March 1945, the FND took over in government, with
Petru Groza, of the Ploughmen's Front, as Prime Minister. The PNȚ remained in the opposition, viewing the takeover as a coup. Although it sent representatives when Groza celebrated the full recovery and pacification of Northern Transylvania, these were purposefully selected from among the party youth. Groza engineered a takeover of all local administration, only failing to do so in six counties. These were progressively made to submit by selective arrests among the opposition activists and by the institution of
political censorship, resulting in the closure of other PNȚ newspapers.
Emil Hațieganu reported that 40 party newspapers had been shut down since 1944;
Dreptatea itself was banned in March, and could only briefly reemerge in January 1946. A standoff between the King and Groza was saluted by the National Peasantists, who participated in a massive monarchist rally in November 1945. Many, including Coposu, were arrested during the clampdown. During May 1945, while organizing Antonescu's trial by a
Romanian People's Tribunal (with which it hoped to discredit Maniu as a Nazi collaborator), the government also ordered massive arrests among its cadres. A large number of PNȚ regional activists, as well as PNȚ youth who had participated in the November rally, were detained at camps in
Caracal and
Slobozia, but ultimately released in December 1945. While Maniu dissociated himself from the movement, Groza was supported by the communists' "popular assemblies", which openly called for the PNȚ and PNL to be outlawed and repressed.
Churchill's electoral defeat in July was read as an additional bad omen by Maniu, who noted that
Labour had no sympathy for Romanian
anti-communists. He asked Rațiu not to return from England, but continue to serve as his lobbyist. General
Aurel Aldea, who spoke for
Haiducii, had credentials as an adversary of the Iron Guard, but also viewed the PNȚ as inefficient and unpatriotic. In early 1945, some PNȚ members had affiliated with the National Resistance Movement, operated by a dissident Iron Guard member, George Manu. Its democratic and fascist wings remained generally hostile to one another. Maniu was still "reluctant to collaborate" with various resistance groups, "since many manifested anti-Semitic and ultra-nationalist sentiments." From April 1946, PNȚ men networked in
Suceava County between the
Sumanele Negre partisans and an American envoy, Ira Hamilton. This and various other resistance units took in members of the Peasant Guards.
Dreptatea still published regular praise of the Soviet Union, but did so on the advice of American envoys, and hoping to ensure the party's survival under occupation. During May 1946, Groza established a new BPD from FND affiliates and other parties, including Alexandrescu's. Later that year, the Border Police of
Iași County reported that the local PNȚ branch was experiencing mass desertions, with
Iorgu Iordan and
Andrei Oțetea reemerging as communists. Maniu's grip on the party was also loosened from January 1946, when Lupu led another schism. His eponymous
Democratic Peasants' Party–Lupu (PȚD-L) condemned Maniu as an
enemy of the people, but did not support Groza. As the PSDR split into anti- and pro-BPD parties, Lupu ensured contacts between the former group and the mainline PNȚ. Maniu was also able to preserve his "fiefdom" of
Sălaj, which saw members of the Ploughmen's Front quitting to join the PNȚ. Groza yielded to Western demands and included two members of the interwar democratic parties into his cabinet; the PNȚ-reserved seat went to Hațieganu. This moment marked his party's final presence in government, with the PNȚ and the BPD facing each other as adversaries in a "decisive battle" for the
general elections in November 1946. In preparation, the government proceeded to modify the electoral list, stripping as many as 80% of PNȚ members of their voting rights; in Bucharest, only 10% of party affiliates were eligible to vote. Groza also drafted legislation that suppressed the Senate, which had traditionally been the more conservative chamber. Maniu attempted to persuade King Michael not to sign it, hoping that the resulting crisis would prompt an Anglo–American intervention. The monarch disagreed, fearing that the attempt would have uncontrollable effects. On October 21, the PNȚ, PNL, and
Constantin Titel Petrescu's Independent Social Democrats signed an "agreement for the defense of democratic freedoms". However, the PNȚ was opposed to creating a single electoral alliance, confident that it could win on its own. By then, National Peasantist electoral agents had found themselves targeted by violence, with especially brutal incidents in
Arad and
Pitești; four local activists were murdered, while Penescu was heavily injured. At
Balinț, the arrival of pro-BPD hecklers to a PNȚ meeting resulted in an altercation, during which a communist was killed. The party was nearly prevented from even entering the race in
Năsăud County. Here, its attempt to form a paramilitary resistance led to a clampdown. During the backlash, Lazăr was arrested and neutralized as a threat, with Veniamin replacing him at the Workers' Organization.
1947 clampdown in November 1947 According to official records, the election was a landslide communist win. In-depth reporting suggests that the scrutiny was falsified by Groza's administration, with the PNȚ taking most votes. PCdR internal documents have the PNȚ and PNL together at 52%, with over 70% reached in
Dorohoi,
Maramureș,
Muscel,
Olt, and
Rădăuți. The PNȚ claimed 70% of the vote nationally, with the PNL at 10%. Maniu concluded that his party had been invested with full confidence by the Romanian public, and therefore that it should form government. When the official results were published, the PNȚ Central Executive Committee demanded a new vote; its effort to raise awareness was nullified by King Michael, who ratified all parliamentary mandates. The unicameral legislature assigned 377 mandates to Groza's BPD, while the opposition had 37, of which 32 were held by the PNȚ and 2 by the PȚD-L. Among those elected was
Mara Lazăr, wife of Ilie, who reportedly won by 93% in her husband's constituency. During this parliamentary strike, the BPD started its "brutal offensive" and "final assault" against the National Peasantists. In early 1947,
Pantelimon Chirilă, who had reorganized the PNȚ branch in
Rădăuți County, had to retire from politics after being beaten up. Local activists were by then being re-arrested, though the authorities agreed to spare PNȚ deputies (by then numbering 33 people) and some in the central structures, including Mihalache and Penescu. These events prompted Maniu to publicly ask for American troops to be sent to Romania on a peacekeeping mission. In that context, the regime confiscated leaflets, allegedly sent out by the Peasant Guards, which called for a popular uprising and for "death to the communists", while referring to Antonescu as "an archangel and a martyr". According to police reports, the PNȚ worked with
YMCA and the Friends of America Association to build a solid base in
Severin County, but was divided over the possibility of recruiting among the Iron Guard's clandestine networks. Groza's government then staged the "
Tămădău Affair", which centered on Mihalache's attempt to leave the country clandestinely on July 14, 1947. The party headquarters was searched by police agents, and Maniu was arrested on July 19, accused of having colluded alongside Mihalache,
Grigore Gafencu, and a number of foreign agents. The controversy offered a pretext for outlawing the PNȚ by a parliament act on July 29. Both the PNL and the PȚD-L endorsed this measure, resulting in a 294-to-1 majority. Coposu was also arrested, and held without trial until 1956, when he was sentenced for high treason. The party continued to exist clandestinely, though its structures are hard to reconstruct. A party representation was set up at
Reșița by engineer
Alexandru Popp, who proposed detonating the Assembly hall as BPD deputies were being sworn in. The Iron Guard's
Ion Gavrilă Ogoranu, who took part in the anti-communist resistance, identifies Popp as Maniu's successor, and notes that the PNȚ was thus represented on the movement's "unified command". Also according to Ogoranu, this group already maintained links with the
Romanian National Committee (RNC), formed in exile by General Rădescu. The project of merging the Iron Guard and the PNȚ into one major diaspora party was embraced and advocated by Comăniciu and Crăciunaș, who organized an anti-communist base in Austria. Crăciunaș also helped a number of PNȚ leaders to defect abroad—examples include Manuilă, Veniamin, and
Romulus Boilă. From 1947, PNȚ exiles joined
Stanisław Mikołajczyk's International Peasants' Union, which, from early 1948, had
Grigore Niculescu-Buzești on its Central Committee. Their party's affiliation to the RNC was only formalized in April 1949, when Niculescu-Buzești,
Cornel Bianu, and
Augustin Popa were included on its leadership board; Vișoianu and Gafencu also joined, but as independents. Unlike Rădescu, Vișoianu and Niculescu-Buzești remained opposed to any alliance with the Iron Guard. Vișoianu would serve as RNC chairman to 1975, when the Committee had dissolved; by then, Manuilă had also been inducted into the RNC. With the inauguration of
Communist Romania in early 1948, and before the formal introduction of a single-party state, the PȚD-L was still allowed to organize, with
Nicolae Gh. Lupu as its new president. It ran in the
sham election of March 1948, which also saw reports of "reactionary propaganda" in favor of the outlawed PNȚ. Persecution of National Peasantists came in successive waves. In its early months, the regime captured armed PNȚ cells led by Silvestru Fociuc of Iași and
Ion Uță of
Teregova. In late 1949, a lot comprising A. Popa and
Gabriel Țepelea was tried and jailed for "subverting the social order"; Beza was also caught in 1951. In the
Apuseni Mountains, a resistance cell of PNȚ and Guardists was organized by Ioan Bogdan, until being finally put down by the
Securitate in 1952. This rapprochement had a utilitarian purpose for the Iron Guard: while in confinement, Ghiță Pop and
Ioan Bărbuș assisted Guardist prisoners by transferring them food and medicine, without realizing that the Guardist cells were actually informing the regime on their activities. The PNȚ had a sizable representation in both armed resistance and the prison population. According to official estimates, at least half of the anti-communist partisans had never had a political affiliation; of the remainder, a plurality were PNȚ-ists. From August 1952, all those who had served as city or county leaders in four traditional parties, including the PNȚ and PNL, were automatically deported to penal colonies; some, like Șerban Cioculescu, were tacitly excepted, while an explicit pardon was granted to all of Alexandrescu's followers. One count suggests that, overall, 272,000 PNȚ members spent time in communist prisons. The PMR's own estimates suggest that, even after an early wave of expulsions in 1950, its cadres still comprised 5.6% undesirables, including former PNȚ-ists.
Final resurgence ,
Corneliu Coposu, and
Ion Rațiu attending a rally of the
Christian Democratic National Peasants' Party in 1990 From 1954, with the advent of
national communism and Romania's interest in joining the
United Nations, violent repression was toned down by unprecedented clemency. As noted at the time by Premier
Gheorghe Gheorghiu-Dej, the release of political prisoners was a dogwhistle to the National Peasantist diaspora that "they should return home [and] no harm will come to them." Government agencies were by then directly probing into RNC activities. After capturing Crăciunaș, who became a communist
double agent, they had direct access to the PNȚ Central Committee; they likewise blackmailed Veniamin into becoming their informant. PNȚ cells had continued to be formed in Romanian prisons. One such group was animated by Coposu and reportedly envisaged a democratic cabinet, with
Gheorghe Zane as Premier. Although integrated into professional and social life, survivors of political repression were sometimes vocal dissidents. The
Bucharest student movement of 1956 came with slogans such as "Down with the communists" and "Long live the National Peasants' Party". During the following year, the regime resumed its persecution, targeting more minor National Peasantists, including a 7-man cell in
Ploiești, and arresting on charges that he was plotting to reestablish the party. Though he had been active in the Ploughmen's Front,
Adrian Brudariu was arrested in December 1956, and sentenced for his earlier involvement with the PNȚ.
Securitate agents noted that a Bessarabian wing of the PNȚ, which included an aged Halippa, was actively networking with other exiles and discussing plans for a
post-Soviet Moldova. Also in 1957,
Aiud Prison witnessed a hunger strike organized by PNȚ-ist and Guardist prisoners. Towards the end of the decade, the Securitate gathered evidence that a group of
Bărăgan deportees, including
Cezar Spineanu, were working on a new PNȚ platform. Under
Nicolae Ceaușescu, the PMR, renaming itself Romanian Communist Party (PCR), began extending recognition for interwar underground activists, or "illegalists", who were allowed to join its
nomenklatura. Ceaușescu's guidelines resulted in scores of PNȚ leftists being honored with that title. Such overtures were not welcomed by the PNȚ-ist mainstream. Party cells were still being organized by former prisoners after that moment, often resorting to forms of
passive resistance. From 1968, the National Peasantist exile recognized Coposu as a leader of the internal underground; his attempt to reorganize the party in the open was curbed by the Securitate in 1970. Meanwhile, Beza, having caused a series of embarrassments for the PCR regime, was allowed to emigrate in 1971. Later that decade, Carandino issued his memoirs of party life in
samizdat form, managing to have them published abroad in 1986. The 1980s saw the "reappearance of activists of the old political parties that had been banned in 1947", now involved in efforts to expose the communist regime's duplicity on the human rights' issue: "Former leaders of the National Peasant Party managed to recruit some young people, including workers, and to establish a human rights association with mostly young members in Bucharest and in Transylvania." During the
election of 1985, with candidacies vetted by the PCR through its
Front of Socialist Unity and Democracy, Puiu issued a PNȚ platform calling for political reforms. Puiu also attempted to run, and was consequently imprisoned. Placed under Securitate surveillance, Coposu denied claims that he was the party's new chairman, and even that there was such a thing as an "inner opposition" to the PCR. In 1986, together with Puiu and Carandino, he wrote a manifesto marking the 30th anniversary of the
Hungarian Revolution. In other contexts, Coposu also acknowledged the PNȚ's existence and, in February 1987, obtained its recognition and induction by the
Christian Democrat World Union. This affiliation was kept secret for almost three years. Coposu was a direct participant in the
Romanian Revolution of 1989, at the end of which democratic rule was formally restored. On December 22, the day of Ceaușescu's toppling, Coposu, Bărbuș, Diaconescu, Puiu and others signed an appeal to the population, as the "
Christian Democratic National Peasants' Party", which was distributed the following day. It was registered on January 8, 1990, and viewed itself as a re-legalization or reestablishment of Maniu and Mihalache's movement. In February 1990, Carandino also relaunched
Dreptatea as a new series of the pre-1947 newspaper. In 1995, the
Supreme Court of Romania overturned all verdicts of treason passed against the PNȚ's defunct leadership. ==Ideology==