Carol II was the Hohenzollern King of Rumania before World War II. Although of German extraction he favoured alliance with Britain and France and on 13 April 1938 he received a guarantee that Rumania’s border would be defended by them. Three months later he proclaimed himself a dictator. Rumania faced increasing pressure from the USSR and Germany after the fall of Poland. Germany’s invasion of France led Carol to declare himself in favor of the Axis and in June 1940 HITLER forced Carol to cede Bessarabia and northern Bukhovina to the USSR in order to keep the USSR out of the war. In August he handed over Transylvania to Hungary and in September southern Dobruja to Bulgaria. These losses were very unpopular and on 5 September 1941, in view of his considerable unpopularity, Carol abdicated in favour of his son Michael and went into exile.
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