Modernity and tradition in the foreign policy of the old kingdom: Decision-making structures and mechanisms

In pre-war Romania, diplomacy remained the exclusive province of King Carol I. just like in many other European states, the monarch was seen here as the single most important factor likely to ensure the continuity of foreign policy Until the First World War, the king and his ministers managed foreign affairs in keeping with the principle of arcana imperii, allowing the legislative no power of oversight. In matters of foreign policy, the king cooperated only with the chairman of the Council of Ministers and/or with the Minister of Foreign Affairs. An equalty limited number of "executants" and "initiates" came on the immediately inferior level. During the long period of liberal supremacy, which ended with I. C. Bratianu's resignation in 1888, decisions were made collectively within this group, but after that moment the king assumed a dominant position. The members of the diplomatic corps, the Mps, most cabinet members, and even some ministers of foreign affairs found themselves excluded from the making of the country's foreign policy.