The two reigns of King Michael I of
Romania, combined, spanned only a decade, and he had been out of power for
nearly seventy years at the time of his death, but he was nonetheless an
intriguing bit of historical trivia, as the last surviving adult head of state
from World War II* and a rare leader of integrity in his country's history.
Michael first ascended to the throne as a child in 1927,
following the death of his grandfather, Ferdinand I. The line of succession
skipped his father, Carol II, who was forced by his family to renounce his
rights to the throne a few years earlier as a consequence of his lecherous
antics. Carol backtracked on his renunciation in 1930 and proclaimed himself
king. As World War II brewed, the Nazis crept into Romania and forced Carol out
of power in 1940, once again making Michael king.
Shy and unassuming, the young King Michael was assumed by the
Nazi affiliates running the country to be little more than a figurehead.
Michael defied this perception on August 23, 1944, when he overthrew strongman
Ion Antonescu via coup d'etat. The risky tactic would have been fatal had the
Nazis caught on to his plans, but Michael planned discreetly, and Antonescu
underestimated him. The successful flipping of Romania's alliance from the Axis
to the Allies, which arguably hastened the war's conclusion by several months,
earned Michael prestigious accolades, including America's Legion of Merit and
the Soviet Union's elusive Order of Victory (one of the world's rarest orders; for
28 years, Michael had been its only surviving recipient).
However, Michael's glory faded quickly. The vacuum created by
his coup paved the way for a Soviet takeover, an occupancy that soon proved
just as ruthless as the Nazis'. Though Michael showed resolve in his actions,
such as appointing an anticommunist prime minister against Soviet orders, he
was reduced to a bona fide figurehead as the communist grip tightened. On
December 30, 1947, the communists forced Michael to abdicate and dissolved the
Romanian monarchy.
Michael spent decades of exile in Switzerland, keeping
largely apolitical as he pursued jobs ranging from farming to finance. In the
1990s, in light of Nicolae Ceausescu's execution and the
collapse of communism in Romania, Michael was finally allowed to return to his
homeland (and even then, then-President Ion Iliescu's wariness of Michael's
popularity meant that his citizenship wasn't fully restored until the next
presidency, in 1997). Though the Romanian people had little appetite for the
monarchy to return, Michael's quiet dignity cut a sharp contrast to the likes
of the brutal Ceausescu and proved popular within his homeland, attracting enthusiastic
crowds whenever he visited.
Michael was diagnosed with two forms of cancer in early 2016,
and his wife, Queen Anne, died on August 1 of
that year. These difficulties bolstered his standing in the deadpooling world,
which had been previously unheralded despite his ripe age. Captain Howdy,
Deceased Hose, Keister Button, Pan Breed, and TJS each receive two points for
the hit.
*Two World War II heads of state still survive, both of whom
were children at the time: Simeon II, Bulgaria's last tsar, and the current
Dalai Lama.
-- TJS
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