The National-Christian Defense League ( ro, Liga Apărării Național Creștine, LANC) was a

far-right Far-right politics, also referred to as the extreme right or right-wing extremism, are political beliefs and actions further to the right of the left–right political spectrum than the standard political right, particularly in terms of being ...

political party A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular country's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific ideological or p ...

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, S ...

formed by A. C. Cuza.

Origins

The LANC had its roots in the National Christian Union, formed in 1922 by Cuza and the famed

physiologist Physiology (; ) is the scientific study of functions and mechanisms in a living system. As a sub-discipline of biology, physiology focuses on how organisms, organ systems, individual organs, cells, and biomolecules carry out the chemica ...

Nicolae Paulescu Nicolae Constantin Paulescu (; 30 October 1869 (O.S.) – 17 July 1931) was a Romanian physiologist, professor of medicine, and politician, most famous for his work on diabetes, including patenting ''pancreine'' (a pancreatic extract containing ...

. This group morphed in to the LANC in 1923. Much of LANC's ideas were framed within

theological Theology is the systematic study of the nature of the divine and, more broadly, of religious belief. It is taught as an academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itself with the unique content of analyzing the s ...

arguments which were created by Nichifor Crainic, who served as Secretary General of LANC. The swastika became the symbol of Cuza's movement and appeared in its publications, booklets and electoral programs. Cuza claimed that the symbol was purely Romanian in character and denied that LANC had copied the

Nazi party The Nazi Party, officially the National Socialist German Workers' Party (german: Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei or NSDAP), was a far-right political party in Germany active between 1920 and 1945 that created and supported t ...

's symbol. By 1927, the party banner became the

flag of Romania The national flag of Romania ( ro, drapelul României) is a tricolour. The Constitution of Romania states that "The flag of Romania is tricolour; the colours are arranged vertically in the following order from the flagpole: blue, yellow, red". ...

with a swastika in the centre. The LANC became associated with extreme anti-semitism, calling for a gradual withdrawal of

rights Rights are legal, social, or ethical principles of freedom or entitlement; that is, rights are the fundamental normative rules about what is allowed of people or owed to people according to some legal system, social convention, or ethical theory ...

for

Jews Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

which would include the withdrawal of political rights for all Jews, the withdrawal of

citizenship Citizenship is a "relationship between an individual and a state to which the individual owes allegiance and in turn is entitled to its protection". Each state determines the conditions under which it will recognize persons as its citizens, and ...

for most and a gradual policy of

reapportionment Apportionment is the process by which seats in a legislative body are distributed among administrative divisions, such as states or parties, entitled to representation. This page presents the general principles and issues related to apportionme ...

of Jewish land and businesses. In order to accomplish this they hoped to begin by excluding Jews from the professions and the upper echelons of the armed forces.

Growth

Initially the LANC gained some support and its blue shirted militia group, the ''

Lăncieri The ''Lăncieri'' ("Lancers", ) were a Romanian fascist paramilitary movement initially attached to the National-Christian Defense League, and following the merger on 16 July 1935 of the NCDL and the National Agrarian Party to form the National C ...

'', gained notoriety for their anti-semitic activities in the universities.''Background and Precursors to the Holocaust'', p. 26 Increasing its influence, the LANC attracted most of the followers of groups such as the National Fascist Movement and the National Romanian Fascia during the mid-1920s. Support for LANC was particularly strong in

Bukovina Bukovinagerman: Bukowina or ; hu, Bukovina; pl, Bukowina; ro, Bucovina; uk, Буковина, ; see also other languages. is a historical region, variously described as part of either Central or Eastern Europe (or both).Klaus Peter Berge ...

, Maramures, Northern

Moldavia Moldavia ( ro, Moldova, or , literally "The Country of Moldavia"; in Romanian Cyrillic: or ; chu, Землѧ Молдавскаѧ; el, Ἡγεμονία τῆς Μολδαβίας) is a historical region and former principality in Centr ...

and

Transylvania Transylvania ( ro, Ardeal or ; hu, Erdély; german: Siebenbürgen) is a historical and cultural region in Central Europe, encompassing central Romania. To the east and south its natural border is the Carpathian Mountains, and to the west the A ...

and this central northern region was to prove most responsive to fascism in Romania throughout the 1920s and 1930s.

Decline

However, Cuza's leadership, characterised by his level-headed professorial approach, led to some discontent particularly amongst the group's youth and student movement, the Legion of the Archangel Michael of

Corneliu Zelea Codreanu Corneliu Zelea Codreanu (; born Corneliu Codreanu, according to his birth certificate; 13 September 1899 – 30 November 1938) was a Romanian politician of the far right, the founder and charismatic leader of the Iron Guard or ''The Legion o ...

, where the prevailing mood was one in favour of violent action. As a result, LANC received a blow in 1927 when Codreanu and his Legion broke off to form a distinct movement (which ultimately emerged as the

Iron Guard The Iron Guard ( ro, Garda de Fier) was a Romanian militant revolutionary fascist movement and political party founded in 1927 by Corneliu Zelea Codreanu as the Legion of the Archangel Michael () or the Legionnaire Movement (). It was stron ...

) and the LANC's stock fell somewhat.

Merger

The LANC managed to regroup and returned to the

Chamber of Deputies The chamber of deputies is the lower house in many bicameral legislatures and the sole house in some unicameral legislatures. Description Historically, French Chamber of Deputies was the lower house of the French Parliament during the Bourbon R ...

at the December 1933 general election, winning nine seats, two fewer than at the 1932 election. The LANC had begun falling behind the Iron Guard and it soon became clear that it needed to expand if it hoped to have any power. As such, Crainic took the lead in organizing negotiations with

Octavian Goga Octavian Goga (; 1 April 1881 – 7 May 1938) was a Romanian politician, poet, playwright, journalist, and translator. Life and politics Goga was born in Rășinari, near Sibiu. Goga was an active member in the Romanian nationalisti ...

and his equally right-wing, anti-Semitic National Agrarian Party (which also won 9 seats in 1933) and the two parties merged to form the National Christian Party on 16 July 1935. At the 1937 election, the National Christian Party achieved 39 of the 387 seats in the Chamber of Deputies compared to 66 seats won by the Iron Guard's Everything for the Country Party. Nevertheless, Goga was chosen in December 1937 by

King King is the title given to a male monarch in a variety of contexts. The female equivalent is queen regnant, queen, which title is also given to the queen consort, consort of a king. *In the context of prehistory, antiquity and contempora ...

Carol II Carol II (4 April 1953) was King of Romania from 8 June 1930 until his forced abdication on 6 September 1940. The eldest son of Ferdinand I, he became crown prince upon the death of his grand-uncle, King Carol I in 1914. He was the first of th ...

to form a government. Goga’s government was formed on 29 December 1937 but lasted for only 45 days. However, it wasn’t slow in starting to implement its anti-Semitic program. It repudiated Romania's obligations under the Minorities Treaty imposed upon it at the

1919 Paris Peace Conference Events January * January 1 ** The Czechoslovak Legions occupy much of the self-proclaimed "free city" of Pressburg (now Bratislava), enforcing its incorporation into the new republic of Czechoslovakia. ** HMY ''Iolaire'' sinks off the co ...

, and then stripped 250,000

Romanian Jews The history of the Jews in Romania concerns the Jews both of Romania and of Romanian origins, from their first mention on what is present-day Romanian territory. Minimal until the 18th century, the size of the Jewish population increased after ...

Romanian citizenship The Romanian nationality law addresses specific rights, duties, privileges, and benefits between Romania and the individual. Romanian nationality law is based on ''jus sanguinis'' ("right of blood"). Current citizenship policy in Romania is in ...

, one third of the Romanian Jewish population.Itamar Levin, Greenwood Publishing Group, 2001, ''His Majesty's Enemies: Great Britain's War Against Holocaust Victims and Survivors'', p. 46 Jewish businesses were also closed down.

Electoral history

Legislative elections

References

External links

'Background and Precursors to the Holocaust'
{{Authority control Political parties established in 1923 Defunct political parties in Romania Fascist parties in Romania Antisemitism in Europe Christianity and antisemitism Defunct Christian political parties Political parties disestablished in 1935 1923 establishments in Romania Greater Romania Eastern Orthodoxy and far-right politics Eastern Orthodox political parties Romanian nationalist parties Far-right political parties in Romania Nazi parties