Romania, the Little Entente and the Struggle for Europe

In the turbulent aftermath of the First World War, Europe stood on fragile foundations. Alliances promised security, but concealed rival ambitions, deep anxieties, and the looming threat of treaty revision.

Romania, the Little Entente and the Struggle for Europe recalls the dramatic story of a regional alliance forged to defend the postwar order and prevent another continental catastrophe. At its heart stood Romania: ambitious yet vulnerable, committed to regional security while navigating the competing pressures of great power politics.

Drawing on rich archival research, this book, the first anglophone history of its kind, reveals how diplomacy, personality, and political miscalculation shaped the fate of Central and Eastern Europe. From the idealism of the 1920s to the gathering storms of the 1930s, it traces the Little Entente’s rise, and its ultimate failure in the face of authoritarianism and aggression.

A story of strategy, survival, and the limits of international cooperation, this is more than a regional history. It is a warning from the past about the dangers of disunity in an age of uncertainty, and a powerful reminder that Europe’s stability has never been guaranteed.

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