CABINET RESIGNS

Waikato Times, Volume 127, Issue 21210, 5 September 1940, Page 8

CABINET RESIGNS

PLOT BY IRON GUARDS

RUMANIAN CHANGES MILITARY PRIME MINISTER HUNGARY PRAISES AXIS (United Prws As-n.—Elec. Tel. Copyright) (Received Sept. 5. 3.15 p.m. BUCHAREST. Sept. 4 As a sequel to the unsuccessful attempt to assassinate King Carol, the Rumanian Cabinet, led by M. Gigurtu has resigned. King Carol has called upon General Antonescu to form a new ministry. General Antonescu also becomes Commander-in-Chief of the Rumanian troops in Transylvania, and he is expected to form a military cabinet. General Antonescu was released on September 3 from a monastery where he was confined on a charge of organising opposition to the Government after the Soviet occupation of Bessarabia. He is a supporter of the Iron Guard and was dismissed from the command of the Rumanian Third Army in 1938. “Work For All Europe” A report from Budapest says that Count Csaky, the Hungarian Foreign Minister, in a speech in Parliament on the Vienna award said that Soviet Russia began the process of recovering national territories which Hungary was obliged to follow for the sake of Hungarians in Transylvania. The Axis Powers had announced that a conflict between Rumania and Hungary would be inopportune and he added that Mussolini and Hitler had not worked only for Italy and Germany, but for the whole of Europe. Hungarians ought to show gratitude to these statesmen of genius and should never forget what they had done for Hungary. He sincerely hoped that the settlement would open an era of friendship with Rumania and he promised generous treatment to Rumanian subjects.

ATTEMPT TO KILL KING DESIRE TO SEIZE POWER SHOTS FIRED AT WINDOWS (United Press Assn.—Elec. Tel. Copyright) BUCHAREST, Sept. 4 It appears that the plot to assassinate King Carol was part of a coup d’etat planned by the Rumanian Iron Guard in its opposition to the cession of a large part of Transylvania to Hungary. News of the attempted assassination spread through Bucharest like wildfire. It is revealed that three men surprised the guards and reached the drive leading to the Palace. They jumped from a motor-car and ran through the gates, firing at open windows and shouting: “Long live the Iron Guards.” They were surrounded and bundled into their own motor-car.

The attackers scattered badly printed leaflets, reviewing the Transylvanian situation. Officials said the leaflets contained scurrilous attacks on King Carol. The attempted assassination is alleged to have been part of an Iron Guard plot to seize power and put Crown Prince Michael on the Throne. King Carol was in the Palace at the time.

The Rumanian Government Pres<> Office minimises the attempt on King Carol, asserting that the shots were not fired at him but at the police outside the Palace, two of whom were wounded. It admits, however, that the shots were intended as a signal for an Iron Guard coup d’etat which failed. The man who fired the shots is alleged to be Horia Sima, a member of the Iron Guard, who recently resigned from the Cabinet. Leaflets bearing his signature, found in the Palace yard, called on King Carol to abdicate, proclaimed Crown Prince Michael as King and decreed death for those responsible for the loss of Rumanian territory. Spread of Unrest The attempted coup is reported to have extended to other parts of the country, including Brasov and Constanza. Other members of the Iron Guard simultaneously attacked the Bucharest radio station, and the central telephone office, wrecking some switchboards and causing other damage. All were arrested. The local and international telephone service was temporarily out of operation. An air-raid warning was sounded without apparent reason in Bucharest this morning.