Suchergebnisse

When the Second World War broke out, Romania was undergoing in a rather difficult economic, political, military and especially diplomatic situation. Germany's territorial expansion triggered the fall of the system of alliances Bucharest was relying on, given that France signed the armistice in April 1940. That is why the pressures exerted by Germany forced Romania's entry under Berlin's sphere of influence, an actual example being that the German Military Mission was sent into our country, with the clear purpose, among others, to take over oil resources and processing capacities in the Ploiești area.
The act of 23 August 1944, through which Romania turned its weapons against Germany, with the clear intention of joining the United Nations, led to a state of confusion among Romanian and German troops deployed in Valea Prahovei. However, the dynamic orders of the Romanian General Staff were to annihilate any German resistance in the area, even by the force of arms, if needed. This mission was assigned to the 18th Oilfield Guard Detachment, commanded by Brigadier General Grigore Moșteoru. This large unit was subordinated to the 5th Territorial Army Corps, commanded by Major General Constantin Vasiliu-Rășcanu. The conclusion of this study illustrates the effort and heroism of Romanian troops, who annihilated, between 31 August and 1 September 1944, sometimes after heavy battles and human losses, any resistance of the German units who were thus forced to retreat to the North and lose all control over the oil resources in the Ploiești area. These aspects are highlighted from a military, economic and socio-historical perspective, by using
the documentation technique.

"The military measures established by the Paris Peace Treaty of 10 February 1947 considerably diminished the Romanian Armed Forces combat capacity. The international diplomatic document stipulated that the armed forces should not exceed 138,000 troops, the number of military aircraft was reduced to 150, of which 100 were fighter jets, and the Navy was forbidden to have submarines and torpedoes in the inventory. Moreover, the Navy could be staffed with a maximum of 5,000 people, and the value of the total tonnage of the ships could not exceed 15,000 TDW. Starting in 1948, the Romanian People's Republic Armed Forces were reorganised, in compliance with the impositions of the Allied Control Commission (Soviet Party) and the provisions of the Paris Peace Treaty. In this context, the Navy, together with the Navy Command as a higher echelon, had a new organisation, which also took into account the budgetary problems Romania had to face after the Second World War."

In the current, highly unpredictable context, in which the great powers want to preserve their economic, political, cultural and military influences, and the regional powers seek to receive an as comfortable as possible place at the table of the powerful ones, there is still a dilemma for which military strategies do not have a definitive answer: territorial troops versus professional forces. The two concepts are found, in specific forms, in the Romanian military terminology, as well as in the legislation approved in order to modernise the Romanian military body ever since the time of Prince Alexandru Ioan I (Alexandru Ioan Cuza). In the first years of the establishment of the modern Romanian Army, the political factors, but especially the military ones, with decision-making power, enacted the organisation of the Romanian armed power, introducing modern doctrinal concepts, starting, however, from the traditional military doctrine, according to which the national territory of the country is defended by the entire people. Thus, during the reign of Alexandru Ioan I, the main components of the Romanian Army were the permanent army, with its reserve forces, the territorial army, as well as the militias, which included, without being paid special importance, the city guard and the crowds.