Armand Călinescu
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Armand Călinescu (4 June 1893 – 21 September 1939) was a Romanian politician and the 39th Prime Minister of Romania from March 1939 to his assassination by members of the Iron Guard six months later. Călinescu was responsible for ruthless crackdowns on opposition movements in Romania, chiefly the communist and fascist movements, and is believed to have been the real power behind the dictatorship of King Carol II.
Biography edit
Călinescu was a member of the National Peasant's Party. After the party came to power in 1928, Călinescu was appointed Minister of the Interior, a capacity in which he oversaw the suppression of the Romanian Communist Party, and ordered the arrest of those suspected of participating in the miner's strike of 1929. Călinescu also ordered Romanian troops to fire on demonstrators during the 1933 miner's strike, leading to the deaths of 7 protestors. However, the government of which Călinescu was a member was voted out of power in 1933, in part due to Călinescu's hardline stance towards the Iron Guard, which was growing in popularity at the time.
The following government was more tolerant towards the Iron Guard, although Prime Minister Ion Duca later attempted to suppress them, leading to his assassination. Călinescu used this to promote his opposition to the group, and was eventually appointed Minister of the Interior after joining the National Christian Party in defiance of his party, which expelled him. During the following election, Călinescu used his powers to limit the Guard's ability to propagandize.
During the dictatorship of King Carol II, Călinescu remained in office, later becoming Prime Minister, and has been described as the real power behind the dictatorship. After realizing the power of Nazi Germany which supported the Iron Guard, was growing, he ordered the arrest of Corneliu Zelea Codreanu, the Iron Guard's leader, and many other high-ranking members, almost all of whom were later killed in custody at Călinescu's order.
On 21 September 1939, Călinescu was shot and killed by Iron Guard members in Bucharest. He was succeeded as Prime Minister by Gheorghe Argeșanu, who carried out even more severe repressions of the Iron Guard in retaliation until he was deposed. Călinescu's crypt was later dynamited during the rule of Ion Antonescu's Nazi-backed National Legionary State.