Grant T. Harward, Romania 1944 (Osprey, 2024)
You would not envy Romania’s position on the eve of World War II. Staring into the maw of Stalin’s Soviet Union, Romania turned to Nazi Germany as the best way to defend itself. By 1944, that seemed to be an unfortunate decision, and the vicissitudes of war would drive Romania into Soviet hands anyway. Explaining how that came about is Grant Harward’s task in this enlightening book in Osprey’s Campaign series.
Romania was hugely important to Germany in the east after joining the Axis in November 1940. Indeed, Romania participated in Operation Barbarossa from the beginning. It also joined in the attempted extermination of Jews in Romania and lands it helped capture from the Soviet Union. They also provided oil to the Germany army in the east and facilitated other logistical support. Despite that, all was not well in the alliance, particularly after Romania lost thousands of soldiers at Stalingrad. Romanian peace overtures to the western Allies, however, were rebuffed; they would only allow Romania to speak to the Soviet Union. The Soviets would come knocking soon enough.
Harward turns to the First Iasi-Chisinau Offensive. This was a Soviet attack on the Germans in March 1944 that reached into Romania to knock them out of the war. This went well at first, argues Harward, but soon ran into trouble as the exhausted Soviets pushed the Germans and Romanians back onto their supply lines. Allied aerial bombing swung the tide, however, and catastrophe loomed for Romania. Harward leaves us on the cliffhanger and turns to the opposing commanders, including King Mihai I of Romania and other Romanian leaders, the Germans Johannes Friessner and Otto Wohler, and the Soviet Marshal Timoshenko and General Malinovsky. From there, Harward considers the forces involved on the ground, including orders of battle, and their strategic plans. Then we are into the decisive campaign.
In August 1944, Harward begins, the Germans and Romanians knew a renewed Soviet offensive was about to hit them in Romania but took little action to meet it. On 19 August, the tempest struck, and by that afternoon, the Axis forces were in deep trouble. Harward narrates the hammering the followed as the Soviets battered the outnumbered and outgunned Axis forces. In the background, King Mihai I plotted a coup to leave the Axis and join the Allied effort to oust the Germans from Romania. At the front, despite German denials, the Axis forces were collapsing amidst divisions amongst the commanders and politicians. On 23 August, the king made his move, deposing the government, ending the alliance with Germany, and preparing to make a deal with the Allies. The Germans counter-attacked in Bucharest, but their operation failed. Romania declared war against Germany on 25 August. The Romanians and Soviets dismantled the German forces in Romania, though they had to contend with joint German-Hungarian forces attacking in Transylvania. The Soviets pushed forward, occupying Romania who paid a high and lasting price for their armistice and peace. For Nazi Germany, however, the second Iasi-Chisinau offensive was a catastrophe. Harward adds an interesting postscript, highlighting how this offensive is remembered across the three modern-day countries where it was fought: Ukraine, Romania, and Moldova.
In Romania 1944, Grant Harward illuminates an often overlooked theatre of World War II. It is no easy task to sift a coherent narrative from the chaotic political and military events involving three nations, but Harward smoothly navigates the turmoil. The Eastern Front was also a gargantuan affair involving millions of men fighting on a scale that is difficult to comprehend. Harward’s engaging text, however, simplifies without being condescending to his readers, aided by Osprey’s exemplary graphics and illustrations. This book will appeal to the casual World War II reader and any student of World War II looking for a gateway into a complex subject.
