Averescu, Alexandru

Born Apr. 9, 1859; died Oct. 3, 1938. Rumanian military and political figure; became marshal in 1934.

Averescu served as minister of war during 1907–09. In 1907 he inflicted bloody reprisals against the insurgent peasants. From 1911 he was chief of the General Staff, and during World War I he commanded the field army. He became minister of internal affairs in 1919 and served as prime minister during 1920–21. Averescu’s government dealt cruelly with the participants of the general strike of October 1920, adopting a series of laws directed against the workers’ and peasants’ movement. In 1920, Averescu transformed the People’s League, which he had founded in 1918, to the People’s Party, whose program was close to that of the Liberal Party. Averescu was prime minister during 1926–27 and advocated an alliance with Germany and Fascist Italy.