Editing Take Ionescu (section)

===Outbreak of World War I===
In late summer 1914, while traveling back from [[London]] and receiving news of [[World War I]] having erupted, Ionescu made a series of highly accurate predictions — he theorized that Italy, the [[United States]], [[Japan]] and Romania itself were to be dragged into the conflict, that the Central Powers were to be initially victorious, and that, after a series of setbacks, "we shall get to see [[Greater Romania]] with our own eyes".<ref name="xeni"/><ref name="dobrinunomdestat"/> Reportedly, he also foretold a worldwide rise in support for [[left-wing]] causes.<ref name="xeni"/><ref name="dobrinunomdestat"/>

Ionescu initially supported Romania's neutrality.<ref name="argheziesprit">[[Tudor Arghezi]], "L'Esprit de l'escalier" (1914), in ''Scrieri. Proze'' ("Writings. Prose"), Editura Minerva, Bucharest, 1985, pp. 98-100</ref> Nevertheless, unlike the main Conservative group, his PCD soon began intense advocacy of joining the war effort against the [[Central Powers]], calling for Romania to incorporate the [[Austria-Hungary|Austro-Hungarian]]-ruled regions of [[Transylvania]], [[Banat]], and [[Bukovina]]<ref name="xeni"/><ref name="dobrinunomdestat"/><ref name="esimion"/> (Ionescu argued that Romania could not exist unless "we are straddling the [[Carpathian Mountains|Carpathians]]").<ref name="esimion"/> Defining the Austrian monarchy as "a sad nothingness", Ionescu expressed his opinion that the [[German Empire]], Austria-Hungary's main ally, was gripped by the influence of [[Prussia]]n "[[corporal]]ism".<ref name="esimion"/> Xeni recounted that Ionescu had displayed a degree of sympathy with King Carol's position, contending that the monarch was not entirely opposed to joining the Entente in its war effort.<ref name="esimion"/>

According to one of the PCD's main opponents, the writer and journalist [[Tudor Arghezi]], Ionescu changed his priorities on the very day King Carol convoked a [[Crown Council of Romania|Crown Council]] which confirmed neutrality policies (3 August 1914).<ref name="argheziesprit"/> In this version of events, the Conservative Democrat commented upon the necessity of supporting the [[Triple Entente|Entente Powers]] just as he was leaving [[Peleş Castle]];<ref name="argheziesprit"/> Arghezi commented with irony that: "before reaching the street, Mr. Take Ionescu had reviewed his ideas several times. [...] It would seem that Mr. Take Ionescu's ideas are [[Stillbirth|stillborn]], just like premature babies, born before their time and dead before having an age".<ref name="argheziesprit"/> He also expressed a view that the new policy was "[[demagogy]]", intended to bring the PCD into government ("Let all perish, as long as Mr. Take Ionescu succeeds!"), and contrasted Ionescu's claim to represent popular interest with his refusal to accept [[land reform]] and [[universal suffrage]].<ref name="argheziesprit"/>

Similar views were expressed by the notorious [[Socialism|socialist]] and [[Zimmerwald Conference|Zimmerwald pacifist]] [[Christian Rakovsky]], leader of the [[Social Democratic Party of Romania (1910–1918)|Social Democratic Party]]. Writing to his main collaborator [[Leon Trotsky]] in May 1915, he accused Ionescu of "making a political principle out of venality", and of being "a man of vulgar ambitions and unmeasurable vanity, a politician of no faith, no convictions, who considers political programs to be each a cause to plead".<ref name="rakovsky">{{in lang|fr}} [[Christian Rakovsky]], [http://www.marxists.org/francais/rakovsky/works/soc_guerre/reponse.htm ''Les socialistes et la guerre'' ("The Socialists and War")], at the [[Marxists Internet Archive]]</ref> Contending that Take Ionescu aimed to be "on all occasions, on the winning side, courting people in power", Rakovsky believed that his support for the Entente was conjectural: "Until yesterday, [he] was the man who continuously tied friendships with the Germans [...]. Anticipating victory for the [[Allies of World War I|Allies]], [he] has now become their man, and, finding it difficult to return to his old sympathies, he threatens that, in case [[Russian Empire|Russia]] were to fail, he would expatriate himself to [[United States|America]], the Romanian people having lost, in the eyes of such a "[[Patriotism|patriot]]", all interest once he would no longer have the hope of returning to power".<ref name="rakovsky"/> On the other side of the political spectrum, Ionescu remained at odds with the Conservative leader [[Petre P. Carp]]; in 1915, referring to his policies, Carp remarked: "Talent does not justify all avatars, just as beauty does not justify all forms of prostitution".<ref name="vianu"/>

Seeking a settlement with [[Hungary]] over the territorial issue, Ionescu traveled to [[Budapest]] on one occasion, meeting with [[Miklós Bánffy]]: vehemently stating his goal of incorporating the regions into the [[Kingdom of Romania]], he was answered that Austria-Hungary intended to extend its influence to the [[Black Sea]] (Ionescu recounted: "we agreed that we could never agree").<ref name="esimion"/> Ionescu kept close contacts with Entente politicians, and notably with the prominent [[France|French]] [[Republican, Radical and Radical-Socialist Party|Radical-Socialist]] [[Georges Clemenceau]], who described him as "a great European, albeit Romanian down to his marrow, having for his country the highest and most legitimate of ambitions".<ref name="arimiasimidan"/> At the time, he deplored [[Eleftherios Venizelos]]' deposition from the office of [[List of Prime Ministers of Greece|prime minister]] (October 1915).<ref name="esimion"/>