Alexandru Marghiloman (4 July 1854 – 10 May 1925) was a

Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...

n conservative statesman who served for a short time in 1918 (March–October) as Prime Minister of Romania, and had a decisive role during

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

Early career

Born in

Buzău Buzău (; formerly spelled ''Buzeu'' or ''Buzĕu'') is a city in the historical region of Muntenia, Romania, and the county seat of Buzău County. It lies near the right bank of the Buzău River, between the south-eastern curvature of the Carp ...

, he entered the Saint Sava National College in

Bucharest Bucharest ( , ; ) is the capital and largest city of Romania. The metropolis stands on the River Dâmbovița (river), Dâmbovița in south-eastern Romania. Its population is officially estimated at 1.76 million residents within a greater Buc ...

, and then studied Law in Paris. Marghiloman was elected to the Romanian Parliament in 1884, and joined the government in 1888. A member of the Conservative Party, he supported cooperation with the

German Empire The German Empire (),; ; World Book, Inc. ''The World Book dictionary, Volume 1''. World Book, Inc., 2003. p. 572. States that Deutsches Reich translates as "German Realm" and was a former official name of Germany. also referred to as Imperia ...

and

Austria-Hungary Austria-Hungary, also referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Dual Monarchy or the Habsburg Monarchy, was a multi-national constitutional monarchy in Central Europe#Before World War I, Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. A military ...

in the Triple Alliance, and, at the beginning of

, he favoured neutrality. Romania remained neutral until 1916, when she entered on the Allied side and this was the reason he refused a seat in the Ion Brătianu's liberal government. After the Germans occupied Bucharest, he remained there as the president of the Romanian Red Cross, and acted as a mediator between the German occupation authorities and the Romanian population. He rejected the ideas of the German side of forming a parallel administration to

King King is a royal title given to a male monarch. A king is an Absolute monarchy, absolute monarch if he holds unrestricted Government, governmental power or exercises full sovereignty over a nation. Conversely, he is a Constitutional monarchy, ...

Ferdinand I's government that was moved to

Iași Iași ( , , ; also known by other #Etymology and names, alternative names), also referred to mostly historically as Jassy ( , ), is the Cities in Romania, third largest city in Romania and the seat of Iași County. Located in the historical ...

Cabinet and later years

RomanianPMMarghilomanSigningBucharestPeaceTreaty1918

However, since Bolshevist Russia withdrew from the war and the Germans could occupy the rest of Romania, King Ferdinand requested Marghiloman to become a Prime Minister, hoping that with a pro-German Prime Minister it would be easier to make peace with the Germans, and knowing that Germany would consider the Western Front to be much more important. Indeed, Marghiloman negotiated and signed a peace treaty (known as the Treaty of Bucharest) with the

Central Powers The Central Powers, also known as the Central Empires,; ; , ; were one of the two main coalitions that fought in World War I (1914–1918). It consisted of the German Empire, Austria-Hungary, the Ottoman Empire, and the Kingdom of Bulga ...

on 7 May 1918, which proved to be very punitive and restrictive for Romania. However, this treaty was never ratified. Marghiloman's cabinet fell after the Armistice of Villa Giusti, and it was replaced quickly with the pro- Allied General Constantin Coandă on 6 November, under whose cabinet Romania re-entered the war against Germany on 10 November, a day before the end of the war. Retired from public life following the collapse of Conservative politicians in post-war Greater Romania, Marghiloman died in his native town.

Trivia

In his private life, Marghiloman was also an enthusiastic horse breeder: horses owned by him won the Romanian Derby 28 times. His large estate, the ''Albatros Villa'' (named after one of his horses) in

, was for a long time a meeting place for Conservative politicians. He also had a mansion in Sinești, which was built in 1869–1874. Marghiloman gave his name to '' Marghiloman coffee'', Turkish coffee boiled in

brandy Brandy is a liquor produced by distilling wine. Brandy generally contains 35–60% alcohol by volume (70–120 US proof) and is typically consumed as an after-dinner digestif. Some brandies are aged in wooden casks. Others are coloured ...

Early career

Cabinet and later years

Trivia

References

Further reading