It would not in any way have altered the situation, as the Entente would naturally have reinstated them when victory was gained; but I opposed all such efforts, not for the above reason, which I could not foresee, but from other motives, to be mentioned later, although I was perfectly certain that Queen Marie would always remain our enemy.
The declaration of war created a very uncomfortable situation for all Austro-Hungarians and Germans.

I came across several friends in the Austro-Hungarian colony who had been beaten by the Roumanian soldiers with the butt-ends of their rifles on their way to prison.

I saw wild scenes of panic and flight that were both grotesque and revolting, and the cruel sport lasted for days.
In Vienna all subjects of an enemy state were exempt from deportation.
In my capacity as Minister I ordered reprisals on Roumanian citizens, as there were no other means to relieve the fate of our poor refugees.
As soon as the neutral Powers notified that the treatment had become more humane, they were set free.
If we showed ourselves at the windows or in the garden of the Embassy the crowd scoffed and jeered at us, and at the station, when we left, a young official whom I asked for information simply turned his back on me.
A year and a half later I was again in Bucharest.

The tide of victory had carried us far, and we came to make peace.

We were again subjects of interest to the crowds in the streets, but in very different fashion.