Nicolae Radescu
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Nicolae Rădescu (1874 - 1953) was a Romanian army officer and political figure. He was the last pre-Communist prime minister of Romania, serving from December 2, 1944 to March 6, 1945.
In 1942 Rădescu wrote a critical article in which he condemned intervention by the Nazi German ambassador at Bucharest, Baron Manfred von Kilinger, in the internal affairs of Romania. He was interned as a political prisoner at Târgu Jiu. On August 23, 1944, after the downfall of Ion Antonescu, Rădescu was released from prison and immediately became Chief of the General Staff of the Romanian Army.
On December 7, 1944 he became prime minister. However, with the Red Army victory over the Nazis and their allies, Stalin had Andrey Vyshinsky communicate the threat of dismembering the Romanian state to force Rădescu's resignation from the post of prime minister. On March 6, 1945 the first communist-dominated government of Romania took office under the direction of Petru Groza. Over the next few years, the communists would completely consolidate their power.
Pursued by the communist authorities, in 1946 Rădescu sought refuge in the British embassy, and ultimately left Romania not for the United Kingdom but for New York City, where he died seven years later.
In the United States, he and other exiled Romanian political figures, including Augustin Popa, Mihail Fărcăşanu, Grigore Gafencu, and Constantin Vişoianu, came together to form a united anti-communist opposition in exile. They never received major support from any of the "free world" governments. At Yalta, the U.S. and U.K. had conceded the dominant role in Romania to the Soviet Union, and the presence of the Red Army on Romanian soil had assured that concession.