'''Alexandru Vaida-Voevod''' or '''Vaida-Voievod''' (1872—March_19, 1950) was a Romanian politician who was a supporter and speakesman of the union of Transylvania (a part of the Hungarian_Kingdom in Austria-Hungary) with the Romanian_Old_Kingdom; he later served three terms as a Prime Minister of Greater_Romania. ==Transylvanian politics== He was born to a Greek-Catholic family in the Transylvanian village of Bobâlna (known back then as ''Olpret''). Initially, Voevod was supportive of a plan to federalize the domains of the Habsburgs along the lines of a ''United_States_of_Greater_Austria'', and was close to Archduke Franz Ferdinand. In 1906, he joined a group of Romanian nationalists in the Budapest Parliament (the Romanian National Party of Transylvania and Banat), becoming an important opponent of the Hungarian governmental policy of forced Magyarization of Romanians, and fought for the right of Transylvania to Self-determination. Disappointed by the Austrian cause after Franz Ferdinand's Assassination_in_Sarajevo, and turned towards an advocacy of Transylvania's union with Romania; he and his party presented a demand for Self-determination along Wilsonian principles to the Hungarian legislative in October 1918. In December 1918, after Hungary surrendered in World_War_I, he was part of the Transylvanian council that proclaimed the union with Romania, and was, alongside Vasile_Goldiş, Iuliu_Hossu, and Miron_Cristea, a member of the Transylvanian group of envoys that presented the decision to King Ferdinand I in Bucharest. ==In Romania== Vaida-Voevod joined the Romanian delegation to the Paris Peace Conference of 1919, and was one of its most prominent members throughout the negotiations, as an organizer of press campaigns. The elections of November 1919 were successful for his party, and he replaced the National Liberal Ion_I._C._Brătianu as Prime Minister and Nicolae_Mişu as Foreign Minister. He secured the new borders by ordering Romanian troops to fight off the Hungarian_Soviet_Republic. However, his radical approach toward the Land_reforms made King Ferdinand dissolve his government in March 1920, to be replaced by one formed by General Alexandru_Averescu's People's Party (a populist movement that had attracted Brătianu's conditional support). Vaida-Voevod's party emerged as the National_Peasants'_Party in 1926, and he served as its leader. Nonetheless, the problems posed by his new cabinets (in 1932 and 1933) - the Legionary Movement's intimidation of the political scene, and Vaida-Voevod's own Anti-semitism (which began to manifest itself in measures of repression encouraged by the Legionaries), led to a split between the Prime Minister and his Party. His second government fell because of Armand_Călinescu, who was a staunch opponent of the Legionary Movement. He began opening up to Fascism and Nazism, and created his own movement, the Romanian_Front, which survived through the increasingly authoritarian regime of Carol II, the National_Legionary_State, and most of World_War_II, officially ending around 1944. Nevertheless, the party never elluded obscurity in front of competition from the Legionaries, and its members were victims of the repression carried out by the communist regime after 1948 - Vaida-Voevod died in prison. ==References== *Vasile Ciobanu, ''Activitatea diplomatică a lui Alexandru Vaida Voevod la Paris (1918)'' ("The Diplomatic Activities of Alexandru Vaida Voevod in Paris (1918)") *Liviu Maior, ''Alexandru Vaida-Voevod între Belvedere şi Versailles'' ("Alexandru Vaida-Voevod Between Belvedere and Versailles"), Cluj-Napoca, 1993 *Vasile Niculae, Ion Ilincioiu, Stelian Neagoe, ''Doctrina ţărănistă în România. Antologie de texte'' ("Peasant Doctrine in Romania. Collected Texts"), Editura Noua Alternativă, Social Theory Institute of the Romanian_Academy, Bucharest, 1994 *Ioan Scurtu, "Mit şi realitate. Alexandru Averescu" ("Myth and Reality. Alexandru Averescu"), in ''Magazin Istoric'' {{RomanianPrimeMinisters}} Vaida-Voevod, Alexandru Vaida-Voevod, Alexandru Vaida-Voevod, Alexandru Vaida-Voevod, Alexandru Vaida-Voevod, Alexandru Vaida-Voevod, Alexandru Vaida-Voevod, Alexandru Vaida-Voevod, Alexandru Vaida-Voevod, Alexandru Nl:Alexandru_Vaida-Voevod Ro:Alexandru_Vaida-Voievod