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Home> Archive> 2013> Volume 3 Number 3 (May 2013)
IJSSH 2013 Vol.3(3): 326-329 ISSN: 2010-3646
DOI: 10.7763/IJSSH.2013.V3.255

German Foreign Policy towards the Romanian Oil during 1938-1940

Gavriil Preda

Abstract—In 1938, Europe's geographical situation changed considerably. After Austria's annexation by Germany, in March 1938, and the division of Czechoslovakia, the French- British hegemony in Central and Southeastern Europe came to an end. The decline of the French and British power forced Romania to take into consideration the increase of the German influence in Central and Eastern Europe and the evolution of the Soviet Union's foreign policy. Geopolitical evolutions favored Germany, which was interested in gaining control over Romanian oil reserves, the second largest oil products exporter in Europe. Consequently, during the period 1938 – 1941, Germany developed a coherent offensive strategy, acting across multiple levels simultaneously: political-diplomatic, military and economic, in order to ensure control over the Romanian oil, essential strategic raw material for its war economy. At the same time, Romania has its own defense strategy, within which oil played a very important role. Analyzed from a historical perspective, Romanian-German relations from 1938-1940 provide viable conclusions even nowadays, regarding the realist strategies that small-sized states with oil resources can adopt in their dispute with the great powers.

Index Terms—Oil, weapons, war economy, diplomacy.

Gavriil Preda is with the Faculty of History, Christian “Dimitrie Cantemir” University, Bucharest, and in period 2002-2010 was with the Petroleum-Gas University of Ploiesti, Romania (e-mail: gavriilpreda@yahoo.com).

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Cite:Gavriil Preda, "German Foreign Policy towards the Romanian Oil during 1938-1940," International Journal of Social Science and Humanity vol. 3, no. 3, pp. 326-329, 2013.

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