Career
After studying at the Polytechnic School in Paris, France, Ion, or Ionel, as the son was sometimes called, accepted a position as engineer on the Romanian state railways. Following this he entered parliament (1895) as a Liberal deputy. During the governmental regime of Dimitrie Sturdza he became minister of the interior. In 1909, upon Sturdza's retirement, Bratianu became premier, continuing as leader of the Liberal Party. Like his father, he aimed at the expansion of the urban middle class. After two years in office he resigned, only to return in January 1914. He continued in office throughout the turbulent World War I years until Jan. 29, 1918, when he resigned rather than accept the terms that Germany imposed after Romania's defeat. In November of that year the Allies were victorious. One month later Bratianu took office once again and denounced the earlier separate peace with the Central Powers. He became Romania's chief delegate to the Paris Peace Conference the following year. Once again, however, he was destined to take the side of the opposition. Protesting the clauses which awarded to Yugoslavia part of the Banat, or frontier province of Temesvar, he refused to sign the treaty, and, after resigning, headed the opposition for several years. In 1922, however, he once again took over the leadership of his country and, save for a brief period in 1926, remained dictator in all but name from 1922 until his death.