His controversial first mandate, marked by a political crisis and oscillating support from the PNL's leader Ion I. C. Brătianu, played a part in legislating land reform and repressed communist activities, before being brought down by the rally of opposition forces.

[2] Seeing action as a cavalry sergeant with the Romanian troops engaged in the Russo-Turkish War of 1877–1878, he was decorated on several occasions, but was later moved to reserve (after failing his medical examination due to the effects of frostbite).

[2][4][5] According to the recollections of Eliza Brătianu, a split occurred between him and the PNL after Averescu attempted to advance various political goals — the conflict erupted when he sought support with King Carol I and then, as the National Liberals deeply resented Romania's alliance with the Central Powers, he approached the Germans for backing.

"Averescu was widely seen as the person behind a relatively successful resistance to further offensives on Moldavia (the single piece of territory still held by the Romanian state), and he was considered by many of his contemporaries to have stood in contrast to what was seen as endemic corruption and incompetence.

[1][2][6][9] The state of affairs, together with the October Revolution in Russia, was to be blamed for the eventual Romanian surrender to the Central Powers; promoted Premier by King Ferdinand I during the period of crisis, Averescu began armistice talks with August von Mackensen in Buftea and Focșani, but was vehemently opposed to the terms — he resigned, leaving the Alexandru Marghiloman cabinet when it signed the Treaty of Bucharest.

[3] During the period, he also faced a Russian Bolshevik military action: just before Averescu came to power, as Russia's Leon Trotsky negotiated the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk with Germany, the Rumcherod administrative body in Odessa, led by Christian Rakovsky, ordered an offensive from the east into Romania.

[3] Additional support came from Transylvanian activists such as Octavian Goga and Teodor Mihail, who had previously left the Romanian National Party there in protest over the policies of its president Iuliu Maniu.

[6] Argetoianu, who admitted that "I shook hands with Averescu [...] expecting a dictatorial regime",[3] claimed that, during his stay in Italy, the general had been decisively influenced by Radicalism and the Risorgimento movement.

[3] This, in Argetoianu's view, was the cause for his repeated involvement in conspiracies;[3] he recalled that, in 1919, Davila's house was the scene of regular reunion of officers, who plotted Brătianu's ousting and pondered dethroning the king (in this version of events, Averescu initially accepted to be proclaimed dictator, but, around October of that year, called on conspirators to renounce their plan).

Instead, he read a document convened with King Ferdinand, which suspended Parliament (the first legislative body in Greater Romania) for ten days — the measure was intended to give Averescu the time to negotiate a new majority in the chambers.

The goal to create a cordon sanitaire against Bolshevist Russia also brought him and his Minister of the Interior Argetoianu to oversee repression measures against the group of Socialist Party of Romania members who voted in favor of joining the Comintern (arrested on suspicion of "attempt against the state's security" on May 12, 1921).

[2][18][19] This came after a long debate in Parliament over the imprisonment of Mihai Gheorghiu Bujor, a Romanian citizen who had joined the Russian Red Army in Bessarabia during the later stages of the October Revolution, and who had been tried for treason.

[17] Argetoianu, who proclaimed communism to be "over in Romania",[18][19] later indicated that Averescu and other members of the cabinet were hesitant about the crackdown, and that he ultimately resorted to taking initiative for the arrests — thus presenting his fellow politicians with a fait accompli.

[21] The People's Party found itself hard pressed to limit the effects of the reform as promised by Duca — reason why Constantin Garoflid, seen by Argetoianu as "the Conservative and theorist of large-scale landed property", was promoted as Minister of Agriculture.

[23] In March 1921, Argetoianu became implicated in a scandal involving the actions of his associate Aron Schuller, who had attempted to contract a 20 million lire loan with a bank in Italy, using as collateral Romanian war bonds that he had illegally obtained from the Finance Ministry reserve.

[24] With Nicolae Titulescu as Finance Minister, Averescu resumed the interventionist course in economic policies, but broke with tradition when he attempted to legislate a major increase in taxes and proposed nationalizations — with potential negative effects on the PNL-voting middle class.

[16] Ion G. Duca of the PNL expressed his sympathies to Madgearu (who had repeated out an obscene word whispered by Argetoianu), and all opposition groups appealed to Ferdinand, asking for Averescu's recall (July 14, 1921).

[16] Eventually, Brătianu convened with Ferdinand his return to power, and the king called on Foreign Minister Take Ionescu to resign, thus causing a political crisis that profited the PNL and put an end to the Averescu cabinet.

[5][15][26] Averescu's party was instead joined by PNR dissidents, Vasile Goldiș and Ioan Lupaș, who represented a Romanian Orthodox segment of the Transylvanian voters (rather than the Greek Catholics supporting Iuliu Maniu).

[27] Contacts established (as early as June 1926, when Mihail Manoilescu had negotiated a loan in Rome)[23][25] were one of the major points of divergence between the policies of Averescu and those of Brătianu: the former attempted to overcome the embarrassment provoked by Mussolini when, due to Romania's debt, the Italian government had recalled the ambassador and had refused to permit King Ferdinand's pre-convened visit.

[20][26] The general's deposition, confirmed by King Ferdinand on his deathbed,[26] created a vacuum on the Right, soon filled by the Iron Guard, a fascist movement formed by Corneliu Zelea Codreanu (formerly an associate of Cuza's).

[13] The People's Party involved itself in solving the dynastic crisis after Ferdinand's death in July 1927, again approaching Carol to replace the child-king Michael and Prince Nicholas' regency.

In November 1927, Averescu took the stand in the trial of his supporter Mihail Manoilescu, who was arrested after having incited pro-Carol sentiment; in his testimony, he backed the notion that, despite his initial anger, Ferdinand had ultimately planned to have Carol return to the throne.

[5][15] Around 1930, Averescu began opposing the universal suffrage he had endorsed earlier, and issued an appeal to the intellectuals in order to have it discarded from legislation on the basis that it was easily influenced by the parties in power.

[33] He and his supporter, the pro-authoritarian poet Octavian Goga,[33] received criticism from the left-wing Poporanist journal Viața Românească, who claimed that Averescu had in fact provoked and encouraged widespread electoral irregularities during his time in office.

[35][36] According to the same source, by the end of 1930, Averescu was again at the center of Romanian politics, owing to Carol's favor, to the deaths of Ion I. C. and Vintilă Brătianu, and to the unexpected support he gained from the PNL dissident Gheorghe I.

[15] Around 1934, as the Guard proclaimed its allegiance to Nazi Germany, the Italians (still rivals of Adolf Hitler), approached Averescu (as well as Manoilescu, Nicolae Iorga, Nichifor Crainic, Cuza, Goga, and other non-Guardist reactionaries), with an offer for collaboration (see Comitati d'azione per l'universalità di Roma).