From: mars1933@hotmail.com   
      
        What  is  now  commonly  referred  to  as  the  "Iron  Guard,"   
   more  properly called the "Legionary Movement," was  a  unique   
   Romanian  nationalist political group founded by Corneliu  Zelea   
   Codreanu  in  the  early twentieth century. Within Romania, the   
   Legionary Movement has, despite failing to regain its original status   
   after  the  fall  of  Communism, embedded  itself  into  the  nation's   
   memory as an essentially positive force which  aimed  to  create  a   
   better  Romania.  Its  influence  among  the  Romanian masses had been   
   so significant that  even  many  notable  cultural  and  historical   
   figures, including historians, clergymen and church leaders,   
   philosophers  and  poets,  had  been  associated with it. In addition,   
   one may find the Movement or its founder referenced in numerous now   
   well-known Romanian songs, poems, and  writings  from  throughout  the   
   entire twentieth century since its founding.   
      
        A  significant  portion of the Jewish population, although not a   
   majority, was wealthy and economically influential.   
      
        By the late nineteenth century and early twentieth century, the   
   presence  of  Jews  in  the  fields  of  law,  business,  finance,   
   journalism,  and  eventually  politics  would  increase.  This   
   increase  of  Jews  in  important  areas of  culture  caused  the   
   majority  of  average Romanians, who were largely of  the  lower   
   classes,  to  feel  as  though a caste of foreigners was living off   
   of their labor. In the early twentieth century,  suspicions  that   
   Jews  were slowly transforming Romanian culture and Romanian thinking   
   by introducing Jewish elements into Romanian thought and education   
   also increased. Romanians essentially felt that an alien and generally   
   hostile people now constituted a threat to their ethno-cultural   
   integrity.   
      
        Tensions between peasants and large landowners were even worse   
   than in Russia; landholdings were grossly unequal, and the peas-   
   antry was brutally exploited. As in the Pale of Settlement, Jews in   
   Romania served as agents for the large landowners, and were de-   
   scribed as alien, parasitic, and contemptuous of the non-Jewish   
   people among whom they lived.   
      
       As Prince Carol stated the matter, paralleling the views of the   
   Slavophiles, Jews were a people whose superior industry and   
   inferior morals allowed them  to exploit and take advantage of the   
   simple   and   good-natured   Romanian   people.   It   was   a   
   perspective shared by most Romanian nationalists. . . . Jewish   
   belittlement of Romanian culture particularly incensed  the  spokesmen   
   for  Romanian nationalism.   
      
       They also warned Romanians  of  the  rapid  increase  of  the   
   numbers of Jews in schools and universities in proportion to Romanian   
   students, which meant that Jews would become increasingly   
   overrepresented in the next generations of intellectual,  economic,   
   and  political  leadership. This meant not only that most Romanians   
   would  hold  inferior  positions  in  comparison  to  the  Jews,  but   
   also that the latter would constitute an  even  more  serious  threat   
   to  Romanian  culture  in  the  future.   
      
       These same intellectuals also generally held the view that the   
   wealth and  influence  of  the  Jews  was  the  result  of  an   
   organized  conspiracy  on the part of important Jews, one which   
   extended to an international level due  to  the  bond  between  Jews   
   across  national  borders.   
      
         Alongside the issue of the Jews, the problem of the increasing   
   infection of political corruption and ineffectiveness  in  the   
   Romanian  polity caused  many  Romanians  to  recognize  the   
   Legionary  Movement  as  one of the few organizations that could offer   
   a serious solution to the economic, political, and social problems of   
   the early twentieth century in Romania. It was under these   
   circumstances that anti-Semitic and nationalist  political  parties,   
   and  later  the   Iron   Guard,   became   increasingly popular in   
   Romania during the early twentieth century.   
      
        Corneliu Zelea Codreanu was born in Hu  i, a town in the region   
   of Moldavia, on September 13, 1899, and was educated at the local   
   schools. From age 11 to 16, he was sent to a military academy in   
   Manastirea Dealului  ("Cloister  on  the  Hill")  where,  according   
   to  his  autobiography, military  virtues  such  as  respect  for   
   authority and hierarchy, discipline,   
      
         After serving as an underage volunteer in the Romanian army   
   during World War I, Codreanu graduated from high school in 1919 and   
   moved on to attend the University of Iasi as  a  law  student.  There   
   he  found  that the majority of professors and a large portion of the   
   students had converted to Communism. He also found that a large number   
   of Romanian workers  had  become  Communists,  with  Marxist   
   intellectuals  and  propagandists attacking nationalism, the monarchy   
   (at this time, Romania was alarmed  not  only  by  the  spread  of   
   Communism, but also by the fact that a large number of Communist   
   leaders  were  Jews,  which  led  him  and many other nationalists to   
   conclude that Jews were conspiring to use a Communist  revolution  as   
   a  way  of  achieving  dictatorial  power.   
      
        He  decided  to  join  the  Guard  of  National Conscience, a   
   small anti-Communist organization led by Constantin Pancu, which   
   organized rallies as well as engaged in physical fights with   
   Communists. The organization offered the program of "National   
   Christian Socialism" as its response  to  Communism.  This  was  a   
   form  of  nationalistic  and  non-Marxist  socialism  which  they   
   formulated  because  they  realized  that  nationalists must also   
   "fight for the rights of the workers" and "against the oligarchic   
   parties, creating national  workers'  organizations  which  can   
   gain their rights within the framework of the state and not against   
   the state," for they realized that their nation's  future  depended   
   on  liberating the workers and peasants from the poverty which the   
   corrupt politicians of the time put them in.   
      
        A  decisive  event  in  the  downfall  of  the  popularity  of   
   Communism  occurred  in  1920,  after  the  Guard  marched  in to   
   intervene in a strike by Marxist  workers  at  the  Nicolina  railway   
   works,  with  members  of  the Guard removing Red flags and replacing   
   them with the Romanian tri-colors. After Codreanu courageously and   
   singlehandedly climbed to the roof of a factory and replaced the  Red   
   flag,  the  workers  were  so  impressed  with  the  efforts  of  the   
   Guard's  members  that  they  let  them  leave without a battle.   
      
         During   the   academic   year   of   1920-21,  Codreanu  and   
   his  friends among the nationalist students managed to end a Communist   
   student strike in the university, wrecked the  presses  of   
   Jewish-Communist  publishers  in  response  to  Marxist  propaganda   
   in  their  newspapers,  and  even  beat  up  the  editors  of  Opinia   
      
   [continued in next message]   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)