The Treaty That Was Never Ratified: On the Centenary of the Signing of the Paris Protocol (October 28, 1920)

Romania’s foreign policy during the first decades of the 20th century was not accidental or spontaneous. It was implemented by the leadership of the Kingdom as part of a targeted program for the creation of “Greater Romania.” The foreign policy of Bucharest during the World War and formation of the Versailles system of international relations can be considered as indicative in terms of achieving national interests to gain the regional leader status in the Balkans. The article analyses the struggle around the “Bessarabian question” at the Paris Peace Conference during 1919–1920. This period became decisive for the Romanian Kingdom in the question of the recognition by the international community of its exclusive right to annex Bessarabia. The purposeful work of the Romanian politicians I. Bratianu, A. Vaida-Voevoda, A. Averescu and others in solving the “Bessarabian question” has undoubtedly yielded positive results for Romania. On October 28, 1920, the Paris, or Bessarabian, protocol was signed in Paris to legally recognize the annexation of Bessarabia to the kingdom. Thus, the long and the exhausting struggle of the Romanian diplomacy ended with the victory of Bucharest on the one hand, while on the other, this fateful document was never ratified by the individual participants, which automatically made it legally “incomplete” international act.