Nicolae Rădescu

Nicolae Rădescu (30 March 1874, Călimăneşti – 16 May 1953, New York City) was a Romanian army officer and political figure. He was the last pre-communist rule Prime Minister of Romania, serving from 7 December 1944 to 1 March 1945.

Before World War II, he was the leader of a far right party called Cruciada Românismului ("The Crusade of Romanianism"), the splinter group of the Iron Guard created by Mihai Stelescu.

In 1942, during Ion Antonescu's dictatorship, Rădescu wrote an article critical of the German ambassador Manfred Freiherr von Killinger and his constant intrusion in the internal affairs of Romania. He was interned as a political prisoner in the Târgu Jiu camp. On 23 August 1944, immediately after Antonescu's downfall, Rădescu was released from prison and appointed Chief of the General Staff of the Romanian Army.

He became prime minister on 7 December 1944. In this position he tried to adopt strong anti-Communist policies modelled on those of the George Papandreou Greek government. At the end of February 1945, the Communist Party of Romania and its allies organised a mass rally in front of the Royal Palace to call for his resignation. As the protest carried on, unknown persons opened fire from the Interior Ministry building situated across the street, killing some ten persons. Held responsible for this by the Soviets and the Romanian Communists, Rădescu was forced to resign. Joseph Stalin had Andrey Vyshinsky communicated the warning that the Soviet Union would not allow Northern Transylvania to be awarded back to Romania if Rădescu were to remain prime minister. He resigned his position on 1 March.

On 6 March 1945, the first Communist-dominated government of Romania took office under the direction of Petru Groza. Over the next few years, the Communists would completely consolidate their power.

Pursued by the Communist authorities, in 1946 Rădescu sought refuge in the British embassy, and ultimately left Romania not for the United Kingdom but for the United States. Once in America, he and other exiled Romanian political figures, including Augustin Popa, Mihail Fărcășanu, Grigore Gafencu, and Constantin Vişoianu, came together to form a united anti-communist opposition in exile called Romanian National Committee. They never received major support from any of the Free World governments. At the Yalta Conference, the United States and the United Kingdom had conceded the dominant role in Romania to the Soviet Union, and the Soviet occupation of Romania had assured that concession. Rădescu died in 1953 in New York City.

At the initiative of Prime Minister Mugur Isărescu, the remains of General Rădescu were brought back to Romania in 2000. Following the wishes expressed in his testament, he was reburied in the Orthodox Bellu Cemetery in Bucharest on 23 November 2000.