Alecu Constantinescu
Alexandru Constantinescu | |
|---|---|
 Constantinescu shortly before World War I | |
| Born | March 10, 1872 Bucharest, Romania |
| Died | March 28, 1949 (aged 76) Bucharest, Romania |
| Nationality | Romanian |
Alexandru "Alecu" Constantinescu (March 10, 1872 – March 28, 1949) was Romanian trade unionist, journalist and socialist and pacifist militant, one of the major advocates of the transformation of the Romanian socialist movement into a communist one.
Early life
Constantinescu was born in
Involvement in socialism
Alecu Constantinescu continued to collaborate with some former PSDMR members who remained dedicated to the workers' cause, such as
In late June he participated in the second Conference of trade unions and socialist circles that took place in
World War I
Following the start of World War I, Alecu Constantinescu supported the neutrality of Romania and joined the pacifist movement. He led the proceedings of the August 1914 extraordinary Congress of the PSDR that adopted a strong anti-war declaration, and participated in the July 1915 Bucharest Inter-Balkan Socialist Conference that adopted a similar position. Constantinescu and the PSDR also supported the resolutions of the Zimmerwald Conference. In August 1916, after Romania joined the war on the side of the Entente, he was the founder and leader of a Central Committee for anti-war and anti-imperialist action. The attitude of the party led the Romanian authorities to outlaw it.[1] As Romania was rapidly overrun by the forces of the Central Powers during the autumn on 1916, the Romanian government and an important part of the Romanian elite took refuge in Iași, in eastern Romania. Constantinescu chose to stay in German-occupied Bucharest, where he attempted to reorganise the socialist movement.[1] He succeeded in creating a clandestine "maximalist faction", favourable to the Bolsheviks, and continued to spread anti-war propaganda. In 1917 Constantinescu and Frimu attended the Socialist Conference in Stockholm, and afterwards Constantinescu left for the newly-Soviet Russia, while Frimu returned to Romania.[5]
Constantinescu returned to Romania in November 1918 and was one of the main organisers of the
In 1923, Constantinescu left Soviet Russia for France, where he stayed until 1935.[1] There he joined the Association of the Romanian Communists in France and occasionally sent articles to be published in the Romanian press. However he lost to a large degree contact with the communist leadership in Romania. In 1935 he returned to the Soviet Union, and in 1937 he was back Romania. He was quickly apprehended and sent for trial before the War Council of the Second Army Corps. The court found that prescription had intervened, and decided to set him free on February 6, 1938.[1][6]
World War II
In 1940, when
See also
Notes
- ^ a b c d e f g h i Micu 2005
- ^ Huscariu 1968, p. 166
- ^ a b c Huscariu 1968, p. 167
- ^ Huscariu 1968, p. 168
- ^ a b Huscariu 1968, p. 169
- ^ a b c Huscariu 1968, p. 170
References
- Huscariu, Nicolae (1968). "Alexandru (Alecu) Constantinescu". Anale de Istorie. XIV (4). Bucharest: Institutul de Studii Istorice și Social-Politice de pe lîngă C.C. al P.C.R: 166–170.
- Micu, Cornel (February 28, 2005). "Teroarea din URSS face ravagii între ilegaliştii români". Jurnalul Naţional. Archived from the originalon 4 March 2016. Retrieved 26 August 2011.