Romania Consents to German Army Entry

In October 1940, 12 German army divisions entered Romanian territory. They were presented by Hitler not as an army of occupation, but rather as an extension of the German military mission that had been dispatched to Romania one month earlier. Hitler’s desire to maintain a facade of Romanian independence derived from his awareness of the country’s key position in the Balkans and the undesirable effect that its occupation would have on Germany’s allies in the region, the Italians and the Soviets. Some six weeks later, Romania joined the Berlin-Rome-Tokyo Axis.