The summer of 1913 was announced as a quiet one for Romania. The peace in the country was suddenly interrupted by the decision to intervene in the Second Balkan War. Mobilization orders for the campaign in Bulgaria were quickly issued. After leaving the country, the events surprise Constantin Argetoianu in Austria, where he was on vacation. He hastens to return to be mobilized for the military campaign as well. His father will arm him with a sword and a gun…
In the spring of 1913, Constantin Argetoianu left the country’s diplomatic service to enter politics. But, sometimes the calculation at home does not match the one at the fair.
“I read that Romania has mobilized and that we are crossing the Danube to restore order in the Balkans”
After leaving diplomacy, Argetoianu went on a vacation in Austria. Here he is surprised by the news of the mobilization for the campaign in Bulgaria.
“I went to Vienna where I took my wife and little girl and settled them at Edlach, near Reichenan, at the foot of the Rax mountain, in an ideal region for the summer season. I had also decided to stay in Edlach until the end of July, looking for a hygienic relaxation after a rather tense life. I followed with relative interest (I knew from experience that they don’t really lead to much) our exchanges of “notes” in the “Neue Freie Presse” and I didn’t expect anything sensational, although the letters from the country brought me disturbing news from time to time.
One fine day, at the beginning of July (June 20 old style), I read that Romania mobilized and that we are crossing the Danube to restore order in the Balkans”, Argetoianu described the moment when he learned about the mobilization for the military campaign in Bulgaria.
“I left for the country as soon as I had the official confirmation of the mobilization”
After hearing the news of the mobilization, Argetoianu quickly returned to the country. Here he had other surprises. Because he had recently left the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, he was still listed as exempt from mobilization and as he wanted to participate in the campaign he undertook all the necessary diligence to be mobilized. Even his father, General Ioan Argetoianu, wrote to General Constantin Hârjeu, then Minister of War, to correct the situation.
“We left for the country as soon as we had the official confirmation of our mobilization through the Vienna Legation, that is, on the evening of June 20 (old style, no). (…) Leaving my diplomatic career, I had lost sight of the fact that as an official of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in foreign service, I was exempt from concentration and mobilization and that therefore I was nowhere in the order of battle (concentration of troops, no). It was also hard to think about this at a time when no one was talking about our eventual entry into action.
I immediately got in touch with our good friend General Gogu Văleanu, Secretary General of the Ministry of War, and my father who was in Breasta wrote to General Hîrjeu, a letter from him, and only thanks to them I was able to obtain ten days to reintegrate my rights, because the “offices” considered me redundant”, Argetoianu recalled.
Army doctor
Having studied medicine, Constantin Argetoianu was appointed a doctor, he had the rank of captain since 1898, in the ambulance of the 2nd Infantry Division. The division was commanded by General Tănăsescu, whom Argetoianu had met in 1889 at Fontainebleau. The unit was part of the 1st Army Corps commanded by General Dumitru Cotescu and was stationed in Craiova.
“The mobilization order arrived on the morning of July 2. It was a Tuesday. By the time the mobilization order came to me, all the formations of the 2nd Division had already left Craiova, heading towards Bechet, where the Danube had to be crossed. It was the 12th day of the mobilization, and apart from the occupation of Silistra that had taken place on June 28, not a single Romanian foot had yet crossed the Danube. (At Corabia the passage began on the same day as at Bechet). This delay was useful to me, because it allowed me to quickly make two campaign outfits and all the equipment”, noted Argetoianu.
“My father gave me his sword and revolver, the rest I collected as best I could”
Constantin Argetoianu’s main military equipment was given to him by his father himself, the rest he got from Craiova. But his main concern was to catch up with the unit in which he was mobilized, before it crossed the Danube.
“My father gave me his sword and revolver, the rest I collected as best I could, at the suppliers in Craiova. Thus prepared, I was able to leave Breasta on the very 2nd of July, as soon as I had the order in hand. I tried to rush to Bechet with my car, but I couldn’t pass the Malul Mic, a few kilometers from Craiova the disorder of the convoys had literally blocked the road. I was early, I was afraid that the Danube band would pass without me”.
Fortunately for Argetoianu and unfortunately for the country’s army, real chaos reigned at the Danube crossing points, so that the crossing of the troops across the river was delayed, and Argetoianu was able to reach his unit.
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Source: www.descopera.ro
