The Forgotten Coup: Romania's 1944 Turn Against the Axis

In August 1944, as the Red Army pressed into the Balkans, Romania executed one of the most consequential coups of the Second World War. King Mihai I, together with a coalition of opposition parties and the army, arrested the fascist dictator Ion Antonescu and switched sides overnight, shortening the war in the East and reshaping the country's fate. This episode unpacks the tense maneuvers behind the 23 August coup: the secret negotiations with the Allies, the role of the Communist opposition and the United States, the desperate German response, and the brutal bombing of Bucharest that followed. Lucas and Luna explore how a young king, a political gambit, and a fragile alliance with the Soviet Union set the stage for Romania's postwar transition into a communist state. Featuring figures like Mihai I, Antonescu, the Ploiești oil fields, and the fateful meeting at the Royal Palace, this is the story of a nation turned on its own alliance—and the fallout that shaped decades of Romanian history.

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