Editing Michael I of Romania (section)

===Forced abdication===
[[File:Actul de Abdicare Mihai I.png|thumb|left|Abdication act, 1947]]
In November 1947, King Michael travelled to London for the wedding of his cousins, Princess Elizabeth (later [[Queen Elizabeth II]]) and [[Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh|Prince Philip of Greece and Denmark]], an occasion during which he met [[Anne of Romania|Princess Anne of Bourbon-Parma]] (his second cousin once removed), who was to become his wife. According to his own account,<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20120204162704/http://www.cs.kent.edu/~amarcus/Mihai/english/agende/mar2697.html Speech By His Majesty Michael I, King of Romania to the Royal United Services Institute for Defence Studies], London, 26 March 1997</ref> King Michael rejected any offers of [[Right of asylum|asylum]] and decided to return to Romania, contrary to the confidential, strong advice of the British Ambassador to Romania.

Early on the morning of 30 December 1947, Michael was preparing for a New Year's party at [[Peleș Castle]] in [[Sinaia]], when Groza summoned him back to Bucharest.  Michael returned to [[Elisabeta Palace]] in Bucharest, to find it surrounded by troops from the [[Tudor Vladimirescu Division]], an army unit completely loyal to the Communists.  Groza and Communist Party leader [[Gheorghe Gheorghiu-Dej]] were waiting for him, and demanded that he sign a pre-typed instrument of abdication.  Unable to call in loyal troops, due to his telephone lines allegedly being cut, Michael signed the document.<ref>{{in lang|ro}} [http://www.zf.ro/ziarul-de-duminica/regele-mihai-intre-urcarea-pe-tron-si-abdicare-vii-2994838/  "King Michael between the ascension to the throne and abdication – VII"], [[Ziarul financiar]], 24 June 2001</ref><!--In His interview, King Michael states (translation): "I entered the next room where Ioanitiu and others were and when I entered in there they told me: "The telephone lines are cut, the palace sentries and guards have been arrested and replaced by troops from the Tudor Vladimirescu division." The original interview in Romanian: "Am trecut in incaperea de alaturi, unde erau Ioanitiu si altii, si cand am intrat acolo mi-au spus: "Telefoanele sunt taiate, santinelele si garda palatului au fost arestate si inlocuite cu trupe din divizia Tudor Vladimirescu"."--><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.geocities.com/capitolhill/lobby/8957/960510.html |title=The Republic was installed by way of the gun |access-date=13 April 2006 |url-status=bot: unknown |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091027123236/http://www.geocities.com/capitolhill/lobby/8957/960510.html |archive-date=27 October 2009 |language=ro}}, undated interview with H.M. King Michael in [[Ziua]], as of 15 October 2008</ref><!--Translation: "On top of this, the house was surrounded by Tudor Vladimirescu troops endowed with artillery and my telephone lines were cut."  Original in Romanian: "In plus de asta, casa era inconjurata de trupe Tudor Vladimirescu, dotate cu artilerie, telefoanele imi erau taiate."--><ref name="Compression">[https://web.archive.org/web/20070313151307/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,794131,00.html "Compression"], ''[[Time (magazine)|Time]]'', 12 January 1948</ref><ref>{{in lang|ro}} [https://web.archive.org/web/20121025165044/http://www.cs.kent.edu/~amarcus/Mihai/romanian/diverse/mirceaionitiu.html Mircea Ionnitiu : "30 December 1947"], [https://web.archive.org/web/20120712202240/http://www.cs.kent.edu/~amarcus/Mihai/index.html site dedicated to HM King Mihai I of Romania and to the Romanian Monarchy] as of 15 October 2008</ref> Later the same day, the Communist-dominated government announced the abolition of the monarchy, and its replacement by a [[People's Republic]], broadcasting the King's pre-recorded radio proclamation<ref>''Friends & Enemies, Presidents & Kings'' by Tammy Lee McClure, Accendo Publishing, p. 99. Another account comes from the Romanian anti-Communist dissident [[Paul Goma]]'s {{in lang|ro}} [http://paulgoma.free.fr/paulgoma_pdf/pdf/LRP_JURNAL_PE_SARITE.pdf "Skipped Diary" ("Jurnal pe sarite"), page 57.]</ref> of his own abdication. On 3 January 1948, Michael was forced to leave the country, followed<ref>[https://www.nytimes.com/1948/01/13/archives/2-princesses-exiled-by-rumanian-regime.html?scp=1 "2 Princesses Exiled By Romanian Regime"], ''[[The New York Times]]'', 13 January 1948</ref> over a week later by Princesses [[Elisabeth of Romania|Elisabeth]] and Ileana, who collaborated so closely with the Soviets that they became known as the King's "Red Aunts".<ref>W. H. Lawrence,[https://www.nytimes.com/1948/01/07/archives/aunts-of-michael-may-be-exiled-too-royalty-remaining-in-rumania.html?scp=1  "Aunts of Michael May Be Exiled Too"], ''The New York Times'', 7 January 1948</ref> He was the last monarch behind the [[Iron Curtain]] to lose his throne.

Michael's own account of the abdication varied over time, and was gradually embellished, especially after 1990. Thus, in accounts published in 1950 and 1977, Michael only mentioned seeing armed groups with machine-guns on their shoulders around the palace, while in much later accounts these were described as "heavy artillery, ready to fire at any moment". The story of the supposed blackmail also evolved: in the 1950 account, Groza tried to negotiate some form of material compensations for the abdication, noting he could not guarantee for Michael's life in case he refused, and his refusal could lead to thousand of arrests and possibly a civil war; in a hearing before the [[United States House of Representatives]] in 1954, Michael mentioned Groza's generic threats regarding his personal security, bloodshed and ruin of the country, as well as "vague hints" of persecution, with Groza suggesting the government had a large dossier on Michael; the possible arrest of thousands and a generic threat of bloodshed is also mentioned in the 1977 account; however, beginning with 1990, Michael claimed that Groza threatened to shoot 1,000 students that had already been arrested for publicly showing their attachment to the throne.<ref name="Scurtu191">{{cite book |last1=Scurtu |first1=Ioan |title=Istoria românilor în timpul celor patru regi (1866–1947) |date=2004 |publisher=Editura Enciclopedică |location=București |isbn=973-45-0441-X |pages=191–199 |edition=2a.}}</ref> Thus, while according to a ''[[Time (magazine)|Time]]'' article published in 1948, Groza threatened to arrest thousands of people and order a bloodbath unless Michael abdicated,<ref name="Compression"/> in an interview with ''[[The New York Times]]'' from 2007, Michael recounted: "It was blackmail. They said, 'If you don't sign this immediately we are obliged'—why obliged I don't know—'to kill more than 1,000 students' that they had in prison."<ref name="Smith">{{cite news|author=Craig S. Smith|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/27/world/europe/27michael.html|title=Romania's King Without a Throne Outlives Foes and Setbacks|newspaper=[[The New York Times]]|date=27 January 2007|access-date=29 December 2014}}</ref> In historian [[Ioan Scurtu]]'s opinion, the new account was created in order to leverage the recent [[Romanian Revolution|Revolution of 1989]], presented at the time as a revolution of the youth and the students. Another new element in Michael's account after 1990 was that Groza had threatened him at gunpoint; in earlier accounts Michael mentioned that Groza had shown him the pistol he was carrying only after Michael signed the abdication.<ref name="Scurtu191"/>

According to the autobiography of the former head of the Soviet intelligence agency [[NKVD]], [[Major General]] [[Pavel Sudoplatov]], the Deputy [[List of Russian foreign ministers|Soviet Foreign Commissar]] [[Andrey Vyshinsky]] personally conducted negotiations with King Michael for his abdication, guaranteeing part of a pension to be paid to Michael in Mexico.<ref>Pavel Sudoplatov, Anatoli Sudoplatov, Jerrold L. Schecter, Leona P. Schecter, ''Special Tasks: The Memoirs of an Unwanted Witness{{snd}}A Soviet Spymaster''. [[Little, Brown and Company]], [[Boston]], 1994, p. 232. {{ISBN|0-316-77352-2}} : "[[Andrey Vyshinsky|Vyshinsky]] personally conducted negotiations with King Michael of Romania for his abdication, guaranteeing part of his pension in Mexico."</ref> According to a few articles in ''[[Jurnalul Naţional]]'',<ref name="JN 1">{{in lang|ro}}[http://www.jurnalul.ro/articole/33199/intoarcerea-de-la-londra-si-abdicarea "The return from London and the abdication,"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090316021050/http://www.jurnalul.ro/articole/33199/intoarcerea-de-la-londra-si-abdicarea |date=16 March 2009 }} ''[[Jurnalul Național]]'', 17 November 2005</ref><ref name="JN 2">{{in lang|ro}} [http://www.jurnalul.ro/index.php?section=rubrici&article_id=6092 "Communism – King Michael I's Abdication"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090316021105/http://www.jurnalul.ro/index.php?section=rubrici&article_id=6092 |date=16 March 2009 }}, ''[[Jurnalul Naţional]]'', 11 December 2006</ref> Michael's abdication was negotiated with the Communist government, which allowed him to leave the country with the goods he requested, accompanied by some of the royal retinue.<ref name="JN 2"/>

According to Albanian Communist leader [[Enver Hoxha]]'s account of his conversations with the Romanian Communist leaders on the monarch's abdication, it was Gheorghiu-Dej, not Groza, who forced Michael's abdication at gunpoint. He was allowed to leave the country accompanied by some of his entourage and, as confirmed also by the Soviet leader [[Nikita Khrushchev]] recounting Gheorghiu-Dej's confessions,<ref>[[Nikita Khrushchev|Nikita Sergeevich Khrushchev]], Sergeĭ Khrushchev.[https://books.google.com/books?id=EkFZqlgdzCkC&pg=RA1-PA701&dq=king+michael+romania&sig=s9B8__XDcPT1NZr2s6G55jEOdyA ''Memoirs of Nikita Khrushchev: Statesman, 1953–1964''], [[Pennsylvania State University Press]], 2007, p. 701, {{ISBN|0-271-02935-8}} : "As [[Gheorghe Gheorghiu-Dej|Dej]] reminisced, 'We told him he could take everything with him that he considered necessary, but he had to leave his kingdom.'"</ref> with whatever properties he desired, including gold and rubies.<ref name="Tito">[[Enver Hoxha]].[http://www.marx2mao.com/Other/TT82v.html ''The Titoites'']. The "Naim Frasheri" publishing house, [[Tirana]], 1982, pp. 519–522, 572</ref> Hoxha also wrote that pro-Communist troops surrounded the palace, to counter army units who were still loyal to the King.

In March 1948, Michael denounced his abdication as illegal, and contended he was still the rightful [[King of Romania]]. According to ''[[Time (magazine)|Time]]'' magazine,<ref name="Negot">[https://web.archive.org/web/20071016151134/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,779700,00.html "Anne & I"], ''Time'', 15 March 1948</ref> he would have done so sooner, but for much of early 1948, he had been negotiating with the Communists over properties he had left in Romania.

There are reports<ref name="Miscellaneous">[https://web.archive.org/web/20090315044541/http://www.evz.ro/articole/detalii-articol/677728/Miscellaneous/ ''Miscellaneous''], ''[[Evenimentul Zilei]]'', 24 March 2005</ref><ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20090315044541/http://evz.ro/articole/detalii-articol/676830/Miscellaneous/ ''Miscellaneous''], ''Evenimentul Zilei'', 14 March 2005</ref><ref name="Roberts">[https://web.archive.org/web/20120531070120/http://www.evz.ro/detalii/stiri/the-lia-roberts-hope-639374.html ''The Lia Roberts hope''], ''[[Evenimentul Zilei]]'', 19 January 2004</ref><ref>George Radulescu (29 December 2007) [https://web.archive.org/web/20080919184535/http://www.adevarul.ro/articole/monarhia-singurul-bastion-impotriva-comunistilor/336307 ''Monarchy, the only bastion against the communists''], ''[[Adevărul]]''</ref><ref>{{in lang|ro}} [http://www.romanialibera.ro/a113797/mihai-pelin-a-incetat-din-viata.html ''Mihai Pelin has died''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080221112155/http://www.romanialibera.ro/a113797/mihai-pelin-a-incetat-din-viata.html |date=21 February 2008 }}, ''[[România liberă]]'', 17 December 2007</ref><!-- Pertinent quote: "In 2005 a descoperit, tot in Arhivele Securitatii, documente care-l implicau pe regele Mihai in disparitia a 42 de tablouri apartinand Colectiei Coroanei Regale, pictate de nume ca Rembrandt, El Greco sau Caravagio. Istoricul a aratat ca tablourile au fost scoase din tara de regele Mihai cu o luna inainte de abdicare, fiind apoi vandute unor colectionari privati." Translation: "In 2005 he discovered, also in Securitate's Archives, documents 'implicating King Michael in the disappearance' of 42 paintings belonging to the Royal Crown Collection, painted by names such as Rembrandt, El Greco, or Caravagio. The historian showed that the paintings were taken out of the country by King Michael, a month before his abdication, being then sold to certain private collectors."--> that Romanian Communist authorities allowed King Michael to depart with 42 valuable Crown-owned paintings in November 1947, so that he would leave Romania faster.<ref name="Roberts"/> Some of these paintings<ref>[[Michel van Rijn]], {{cite web |title=Hot Art, Cold Cash |url=http://www.michelvanrijn.nl/artnews/mvrhotartcoldcash.pdf |url-status=bot: unknown |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070710080141/http://www.michelvanrijn.nl/artnews/mvrhotartcoldcash.pdf |archive-date=10 July 2007 |access-date=24 May 2017}}, pp. 177, 184, Little Brown & Co., 1994. For more on the credentials of the UK police expert in art smuggling Michel van Rijn, see [http://www.museum-security.org/cyprus-and-michel-van-rijn.htm 1] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061210154825/http://www.museum-security.org/cyprus-and-michel-van-rijn.htm|date=10 December 2006}} and [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/arts/3724256.stm 2.]</ref> were reportedly sold through the famed art dealer [[Daniel Wildenstein]]. One of the paintings belonging to the Romanian Crown, which was supposedly taken out of the country by King Michael in November 1947, returned to Romania in 2004 as a donation<ref name="Miscellaneous"/><ref>{{in lang|ro}} [https://web.archive.org/web/20080508042051/http://ziua.ro/display.php?id=162992&data=2004-11-20&ziua=1e5692b536aa233f6d6ac3b1d11dd6c9 "Raibolini's ''Madonna'' at the National Museum of Art of Romania"], ''Ziua'', 20 November 2004</ref><ref>{{in lang|ro}} [https://web.archive.org/web/20080225180725/http://www.onlinegallery.ro/museums/muzeul_de_arta/donatie.html "A Prestigious Donation: ''Madonna with the Infant'' by Francesco Raibolini, named "Il Francia""], Online Gallery site as of 8 December 2006</ref> made by John Kreuger, the former husband of King Michael's daughter Irina.

In 2005, Romanian Prime Minister [[Călin Popescu-Tăriceanu]]<ref>{{in lang|ro}} [http://adevarul.ro/news/politica/nu-exista-dovezi-regele-mihai-scos-tablouri-tara-1_50acaa937c42d5a66387f572/index.html "There Are No Proofs That King Michael Took Paintings out of Romania"], [[Adevărul]], 19 April 2005</ref> denied these accusations about King Michael, stating that the Romanian government has no proof of any such action by King Michael and that, prior to 1949, the government had no official records of any artwork taken over from the former royal residences. However, according to some historians, such records existed as early as April 1948, having been, in fact, officially published in June 1948.<ref>Radu Bogdan (October 1998) [https://web.archive.org/web/20090315054903/http://www.itcnet.ro/history/archive/mi1998/current10/mi18.htm "Testimonials of contemporary history – Peles, January–April 1948. The inventorying of the former royal art works (III)"], [[Magazin istoric]]</ref>

According to Ivor Porter's authorized biography,<ref>{{in lang|ro}} [https://web.archive.org/web/20071019121751/http://revista22.ro/html/index.php?art=2523&nr=2006-03-08 "The King and The Country"], "[[Revista 22]]", 8 March 2006.</ref> ''Michael of Romania: The King and The Country'' (2005), which quotes [[Helen of Greece and Denmark|Queen Mother Helen]]'s daily diary, the Romanian royal family took out paintings belonging to the Romanian Royal Crown, on their November 1947 trip to London to the wedding of the future Queen Elizabeth II; two of these paintings, signed by [[El Greco]], were sold in 1976.

According to declassified [[Foreign Office]] documents that were the subject of news reports in 2005, when he left Romania, the exiled King Michael's only assets amounted to 500,000 [[Swiss franc]]s.<ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/4118629.stm "Exiled king 'should become pilot'"], [[BBC News]], 2 January 2005</ref> Recently declassified Soviet transcripts of talks between Joseph Stalin and the Romanian Prime Minister [[Petru Groza]]<ref>{{in lang|ro}} "King Michael in exile – from poultry grower to test pilot and broker", ROMPRES, 13 April 2005</ref><ref>{{in lang|ro}} [http://www.jurnalulbtd.ro/articol-Regele-Mihai-in-exil---de-la-crescator-de-pui-la-pilot-de-incercare-si-broker-35-532.html "King Michael in exile—from poultry grower to test pilot and broker"], Jurnalul de Botosani si Dorohoi, 13 April 2005</ref> show that shortly before his abdication, King Michael received from the communist government assets amounting to 500,000 [[Swiss franc]]s. King Michael, however, repeatedly denied<ref>{{in lang|ro}} [http://www.familiaregala.ro/?id2=010202&lng= "Romania under King Michael I"], [http://www.familiaregala.ro/ the Royal Family website], as of 12 April 2008</ref><!-- Pertinent quote: "La 3 ianuarie 1948, Regele Mihai si Regina-mama Elena au parasit Romania, luand cu ei doar cateva bunuri personale." Translation: "On 3 January 1948, King Michael and Queen-Mother Helen left Romania, taking with them only a few personal goods." --><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.geocities.com/capitolhill/lobby/8957/adi.html |title=Translation of King Michael's interview to Ziua daily, undated |date=27 October 2009 |access-date=30 July 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091027123236/http://www.geocities.com/capitolhill/lobby/8957/adi.html |archive-date=27 October 2009 }}</ref><ref>{{in lang|ro}} [http://adevarul.ro/news/politica/nato-era-mai-important-sens-militar-insa-europa-politic-mai-decat-dam-seama-acum-afirma-ms-regele-mihai-1_50ac9e617c42d5a66386f1eb/index.html ""NATO was more important militarily, but Europe is politically more than we realize now", states H.M. King Michael"], ''[[Adevărul]]'', 3 May 2005</ref> that the Communist government had allowed him to take into exile any financial assets or valuable goods besides four personal automobiles loaded on two train cars.