Rumania's New Government
In Rumania General Antonescu has constructed a Cabinet in which he himself holds the positions of Leader of the State, Prime Minister, and Minister of Defence, whilst M. Horia Sima, Chief of the Iron Guard, is Deputy Prime Minister. The other officers in the Cabinet are divided between members of the Iron Guard and personal friends of the Prime Minister, whilst among the Under-Secretaries five members of the Iron Guard of pronounced Germanophil sympathies are included. General Antonescu and his friends are still ostensibly the controlling elements in the Government, but the fact that the Iron Guard is now declared to be the only legal political party shows that they are deeply committed to it and possibly that their existence depends on it. If there were any doubts about the German tendencies of the now predominant party they must be laid aside. It may be Rumanian first and German afterwards, but the distinction under the totalitarian system which is being established is slight, and it is significant that the German element in the population is almost acquiring the position of a State within a State. Germany has imposed her will on Rumania, and the only party which has always been Nazi in character appears to be the power behind King Michael's throne and General Antonescu's dictatorship.
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