World War II and the dictatorship of Antonescu In Tuscany, Helen found real stability, despite the absence of her son most of the year. However, the outbreak of
World War II again disrupted her daily routine. In accordance with the
Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact, the
Soviet Union forced Romania to
cede Bessarabia and Northern Bukovina to them on 26 June 1940, and a few weeks later, the country was also forced to surrender
Northern Transylvania to
Hungary (
Second Vienna Award, 30 August 1940) and the
Southern Dobruja to
Bulgaria (
Treaty of Craiova, 7 September 1940); these territorial losses ended the
Greater Romania, created at the end of
World War I. Unable to maintain the territorial integrity of his country and under pressure from the
Iron Guard, a fascist party supported by
Nazi Germany, Carol II became increasingly unpopular and finally was forced to abdicate on 6 September 1940. His son Michael, aged 18, became king while General
Ion Antonescu established a dictatorship with the support of members of the Iron Guard. Eager to obtain the favor of the new sovereign (and some legitimation to his dictatorship), Antonescu granted Helen the title of "Queen Mother of Romania" (
Regina-mamă Elena) with the style "Her Majesty" on 8 September 1940 and sent the diplomat
Raoul Bossy to Fiesole to persuade her to return to Bucharest (12 September 1940). Back in Romania (14 September 1940), Helen found herself, however, subject to the whim of the dictator, determined to keep the royal family in a purely ceremonial role. Indeed, in the years that followed, Antonescu systematically excluded the king and his mother from political responsibility and didn't even bother to warn them of his decision to declare war on the Soviet Union in June 1941. In this difficult context, Michael I was at times prone to bouts of depression and Helen then concentrated all of her efforts to make him more active. Aware of his shortcomings, the queen mother appealed to historians of the right to train her son in his role as sovereign. She also guided the king in his talks and pushed him to oppose Antonescu when she deemed that his policies endangered the crown. Alerted by the Rabbi
Alexandru Șafran about the anti-Jewish persecutions, Helen personally appealed to the German ambassador
Manfred Freiherr von Killinger and Antonescu to convince them to halt the deportations, being supported in her efforts by
Patriarch Nicodim. For his part, the king vigorously protested to the
Conducător at the time of the
Odessa massacre and notably obtained the release of
Wilhelm Filderman, president of the Romanian Jewish community. Despite these few attempts of emancipation, Helen and her son spent most of the conflict playing as hosts of the German officers passing through Bucharest. The queen mother even met
Hitler twice: firstly informally, with her sister Irene, to discuss the fate of Greece and Romania within the
new Europe (December 1940) and secondly formally with Michael I during a trip in Italy (winter of 1941). Above all, Helen and her son had no choice but to officially support the dictatorship of Antonescu. Thus, it was Michael I who gave the
Conducător the title of Marshal (21 August 1941) after the reconquest of
Bessarabia by the
Romanian Army. In the fall of 1942, Helen played a major role in stopping Antonescu from his plans to deport all of the Jews of the
Regat to the
German death camp of Bełżec in
Poland. According to SS
Hauptsturmführer Gustav Richter, the counselor for Jewish Affairs at the German legation in Bucharest in a report sent to Berlin on 30 October 1942:
Coup of Michael I and end of the war From 1941, the participation of the Romanian army in the
invasion of the Soviet Union further damaged the relations between Antonescu and the royal family, who disapproved of the
conquests of Odessa and
Ukraine. However, it was the
Battle of Stalingrad (23 August 1942 – 2 February 1943) and the losses incurred by the Romanian side that finally forced Michael I to organize around him a resistance against the dictatorship of the
Conducător. During an official speech on 1 January 1943, the sovereign publicly condemned the participation of Romania in the
war against the Soviet Union, triggering the wrath of both Antonescu and the
Nazi Germany, who accused Helen of being behind the royal initiative. In retaliation, Antonescu tightened his control over Michael I and his mother, and threatened the royal family with the abolition of the monarchy if any further provocation were to occur. Over the next few months, the suspicious death of Tsar
Boris III of Bulgaria (28 August 1943) and the successive arrests of princesses
Mafalda of Savoy (23 September 1943) and
Irene of Greece (October 1943) after the
overthrow of Mussolini by King
Victor Emmanuel III of Italy (25 July 1943), proved to Michael I and his mother just how dangerous opposition to the
Axis powers was. The
return of the Soviets in Bessarabia and the American bombing over Bucharest forced the king, despite everything, to break with the regime of Antonescu. On 23 August 1944 Michael I organized a
coup d'état against the
Conducător, who was imprisoned. In the process, the king and his new government declared war on the Axis powers and asked the Romanian forces not to resist the
Red Army, which nevertheless continued its invasion into the country. In retaliation against this betrayal, the
Luftflotte bombed Bucharest and
Casa Nouă, the main residence of the sovereign and his mother since 1940, which was largely destroyed (24 August 1944). Nevertheless, the Romanian forces gradually managed to push the Germans out of the country and also attacked Hungary in order to liberate
Transylvania (
Siege of Budapest, 29 December 1944 – 13 February 1945). However, the
Allies did not immediately recognize the reversal of Romania and the Soviets entered the capital on 31 August 1944. An armistice was finally signed with Moscow on 12 September 1944, which forced the kingdom to accept the
Soviet occupation. A climate of uncertainty swept the country while the Red Army increased their demands. Visiting
Sinaia at the time of the royal coup d'état, Helen found her son the next day at
Craiova. Back in Bucharest on 10 September 1944, the king and his mother moved into the
residence of
Princess Elizabeth, whose relations with Helen remained tense despite their reconciliation in 1940. With the increased instability in Romania, the queen mother was extremely concerned about the safety of her son, fearing that he could eventually be killed, like
Prince-Regent Kiril of Bulgaria, shot by the Communists on 1 February 1945. The queen mother also disapproved of the influence of Ioan Stârcea over the sovereign and, following information from one of the palace servants, accused him of espionage on behalf of Antonescu. She was also concerned about the machinations of Carol II, who apparently waited for the end of the war to return to Romania, and observed with anxiety the political crisis that prevented King
George II from regaining power in
Greece. In this difficult context, Helen had the joy of learning that her sister Irene and her little nephew
Amedeo were alive, although still in German hands. Despite these political and personal concerns, the queen mother continued her charitable activities. She provided support to Romanian hospitals, and managed to save some of the equipment of the Red Army requisitions. On 6 November 1944 she inaugurated a
soup kitchen in the ballroom of the Royal Palace, which served not less than 11,000 meals to children in the capital over the next three months. Finally, despite Moscow's opposition, the queen mother sent aid to
Moldavia, where a terrible epidemic of
typhus was raging.
Imposition of a communist regime With the Soviet occupation, the staff of the
Romanian Communist Party, which counted only a few thousand members during the coup of Michael I, exploded and demonstrations against the government of Constantin Sănătescu multiplied. At the same time, acts of sabotage were occurring all over the country, preventing the Romanian economy from recovering. Faced with the combined pressures of the representative of the Soviet Union,
Andrey Vyshinsky, and the
People's Democratic Front (offshoot of the Communist Party), the king needed to build a new government and named
Nicolae Rădescu as the new Prime Minister (7 December 1944). Nevertheless, the situation remained tense in the country and when the new head of the government called for municipal elections on 15 March 1945, the Soviet Union resumed its destabilizing operations in order to impose a government of their liking. The
refusal of the
United States and
United Kingdom to intervene on his behalf led the sovereign to consider abdication but he abandoned the idea on the advice of representatives of the two major democratic political forces,
Dinu Brătianu and
Iuliu Maniu. On 6 March 1945 Michael I finally called
Petru Groza, leader of the
Ploughmen's Front, as the new head of a government which had no association with any representative of either the
Peasants and the
Liberal parties. Satisfied with this appointment, the Soviet authorities were more conciliatory with Romania. On 13 March 1945 Moscow transferred the administration of
Transylvania to Bucharest. A few months later, on 19 July 1945, Michael I was decorated with the
Order of Victory, one of the most prestigious Soviet military orders. Still, the Sovietization of the kingdom was accelerated. The purge of "fascist" personalities continued while censorship was strengthened. A
land reform was also implemented, causing a drop in production which ruined agricultural exports. The king, however, managed to temporarily prevent the establishment of
People's Tribunals and the restoration of the death penalty. After the
Potsdam Conference and the reaffirmation by the Allies of the need to establish democratically elected governments in Europe, Michael I demanded the resignation of Petru Groza, who refused. Faced with this insubordination, the sovereign began a "royal strike" on 23 August 1945 during which he refused to countersign the acts of the government. With his mother, he locked himself in the
Elisabeta Palace for six weeks before departing to
Sinaia. The resistance of the monarch, however, was not supported by the West, who after the
Moscow Conference of 25 December 1945, asked Romania to allow two opposition figures to enter the government. Disappointed by the lack of courage of London and Washington, the sovereign was shocked by the attitudes of Princesses Elisabeth and Ileana, who openly supported the communist authorities. Disgusted by all these betrayals, Helen, in turn, encouraged fewer meetings with Soviet officials and worried every day for the life of her son. The year 1946 was marked by the strengthening of the Communist dictatorship, despite active resistance of the sovereign. After several months of waiting, the
parliamentary elections were held on 19 November 1946 and were officially won by the Ploughmen's Front. After that date, the situation of the king and his mother became more precarious. In their palace, they had no access to running water for three hours a day and the electricity was off most of the day. This did not prevent Helen from maintaining her charitable activities and continuing to send food and clothing to Moldavia. In early 1947, the queen mother also obtained permission to travel abroad to visit her family. She then reunited with her sister Irene, weakened after her deportation to Austria, attended the funeral of her elder brother, King George II, and participated in the marriage of her youngest sister, Princess
Katherine, with British Major Richard Brandram. The signing of the
Paris Peace Treaties, on 10 February 1947, marked a new stage in the sidelining of the royal family by the Communist regime. Deprived of any official duties, the king was found even more isolated than during the "royal strike". Under these conditions, the queen mother considered exile with more determination but she was concerned that they did not possess any foreign resources, because her son refused to save money outside of Romania. As guests to the marriage of Princess
Elizabeth of the United Kingdom with
Prince Philip of Greece and Denmark (Helen's first cousin) on 20 November 1947, Michael I and his mother were provided with an opportunity to travel together abroad. During this stay, the king fell in love with Princess
Anne of Bourbon-Parma, with whom he became engaged much to Helen's delight. This trip was also an opportunity for the queen mother to place two small paintings of
El Greco from the royal collections in a Swiss bank. ==Abolition of the Romanian monarchy and Michael I's wedding==