This 1939 bilateral treaty placed Romania's economy under extensive German control, effectively making it a German dependency and later drawing it into the Axis.
Key Facts
- Signing date
- 23 March 1939
- Signing location
- Bucharest, Romania
- Ratification exchange
- 20 December 1939, Berlin
- Effective date
- 20 January 1940
- League of Nations registration
- 17 January 1940
By the Numbers
Location
Cause → Event → Consequence
By early 1939, Nazi Germany sought to secure access to Romanian oil and agricultural resources to fuel its rearmament and military ambitions. Romania, under pressure from German economic and political dominance in Central and Eastern Europe, had limited ability to resist Berlin's demands for a preferential bilateral arrangement.
On 23 March 1939, Germany and Romania signed the German-Romanian Treaty for the Development of Economic Relations between the Two Countries in Bucharest. The agreement granted Germany sweeping control over Romanian economic affairs, with Time magazine describing it as the most humiliating economic concessions one modern state had ever made to another.
The treaty transformed Romania into what contemporary observers called a German dependency, subordinating its economy to German interests. This economic subjugation contributed directly to Romania's eventual alignment with the Axis powers. Ratifications were exchanged in Berlin on 20 December 1939, and the treaty entered into force on 20 January 1940.
Political Outcome
Romania's economy placed under extensive German control, effectively making Romania a German dependency and paving the way for its later entry into the Axis.
Romania maintained nominal economic independence as a sovereign state in Central-Eastern Europe.
Romania's economy fell under German dominance, with Germany controlling most aspects of Romanian economic activity.