Kammala jumla mai zuwa: Yarjejeniyar Munich ta 1938 ta gamsar da Sarki Carol II cewa Faransa da Ingila ba za su iya kare bukatun Romania ba. Shirye-shiryen Jamus don sabon yaƙi ya buƙaci samar da man fetur na Romania da kayan aikin gona. Kasashen biyu sun kulla yarjejeniya game da daidaita manufofin tattalin arzikin su a 1939, amma Sarkin bai iya shawo kan Adolf Hitler ya tabbatar da iyakokin Romania ba. An tilasta Romania ta yi
Bayar da Bessarabia da Arewacin Bukovina ga Tarayyar Soviet a ranar 26 ga Yuni, 1940, Arewacin Transylvania zuwa Hungary a ranar 30 ga Agusta, da Kudancin Dobruja zuwa Bulgaria a watan Satumba. Bayan asarar yankuna, an tilasta wa Sarki ya yi murabus a madadin ɗansa ƙarami, Michael I, a ranar 6 ga Satumba, kuma Romania ta zama ƙasa mai mulkin soja a ƙarƙashin jagorancin Janar Ion Antonescu. Antonescu ya rattaba hannu kan Yarjejeniyar Tripartite na Jamus, Italiya da Japan a ranar 23 ga Nuwamba. Rundunar Iron Guard ta yi juyin mulki a kan Antonescu, amma ya murkushe tarzoma tare da goyon bayan Jamus kuma ya gabatar da mulkin soja a farkon 1941.