Romania and the impossibility of setting up a French security system in East-Central Europe (September 1920 to December 1921)

In order to provide coherence and security to a dismantled Central Europe, but with Germany very much in mind, France made use of the services of the head of the Romanian diplomatic corps whose aim it was to bring together th e five signatories to the treaties in that region. The manoeuvre of Take Io nescu went through three stages. From September to November 1920 he strove, with the support of the Quai d'Oray, to bring Poland into the Little Enten te by refusing to endorse a bilateral treaty which could have led to an agg ressive alliance and to a rapprochement with the east. His failure to achie ve this forced him to negotiate, and later (on 3 March 1921) conclude, a de fence treaty with Poland, which he aligned with the Franco-Polish treaty of 19 February; he thus contributed to the stabilization of the eastern flank of a future system of the Central European victors. Finally, between April and November 1921, the Little Entente came into existence under the pressu re of the first attempt to restore the Habsburg dynasty in Hungary. Premier Aristide Briand was suspected of supporting the ex-Emperor Karl. Benes thu s resumed the leadership of the Little Entente at the expense of Take Iones cu, and in doing so compromised the entry of Poland and forced France to ac cept a Central European system cut into two segments. Could Paris have been happy with the result?