Gigurtu's executive was primarily noted for realizing the inability of France and the United Kingdom to guarantee Romania's borders and, accordingly, for the alignment with Nazi Germany.

Despite such measures, the government fell after being compelled by Germany to accept the cession of Northern Transylvania to Hungary, and was consequently forced to resign amidst nationwide protests.

[7] The king turned to Gigurtu to be his next prime minister—he was by then a wealthy industrialist who, aside from being a committed Germanophile well liked by Nazi circles, had good economic relations with important German businessmen.

[8] The part played by political circumstances in bringing Gigurtu to the premiership was highlighted by National Peasants' Party leader and Carol opponent Iuliu Maniu, who described the new head of government as "the most accidental prime minister of Romania".

[9] The cabinet too was meant to please the Axis: Foreign Minister Mihail Manoilescu was well-perceived in Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy, and the pro-German Iron Guard was given three portfolios, one of which was initially held by its leader Horia Sima.

[12] After his appointment, Gigurtu announced he would work to integrate Romania into the Axis sphere, taking a series of steps in that direction: withdrawal from the League of Nations (11 July); the signing of a new accord with Germany, assigning all grain surplus to that country and its allies (8 August); a ban on strike actions; arrests and detention in prison camps of left-wing politicians; and suspension of an already rubber-stamp legislative assembly.

[3] From late June to mid-July, the king exchanged several letters with Hitler who, using an ultimatum-like tone, demanded that Carol make territorial concessions to Hungary and Bulgaria, promising to guarantee Romania's new borders.

The following day, they met Duce Benito Mussolini and Italian Foreign Minister Galeazzo Ciano in Rome, suggesting that negotiations with Hungary and Bulgaria should start with population exchanges, with the borders adjusted later.

[9] A key point of Gigurtu's mandate was to convince the Germans that Romania considered Transylvania much more important than Bessarabia, a position stated by the premier in his August 27 letter to Joachim von Ribbentrop, the Nazi Minister of Foreign Affairs.

[19] In the face of pressure and threats from the Axis, separate negotiations took place with Hungary and Bulgaria in August; the former necessitated intervention by Germany and Fascist Italy and resulted in the loss of Northern Transylvania in the Second Vienna Award, while the latter led to the cession of Southern Dobruja and a population exchange in early September after the signing of the Treaty of Craiova.

[20] Following numerous protests against what was popularly labelled the "Vienna Diktat", Gigurtu's cabinet resigned on September 4, replaced within a few days by the monarch's rival Ion Antonescu.

[21] The Iron Guard, which had been plotting a coup d'état against Carol after September 3, negotiated a partnership with Antonescu, setting up the fascist-inspired National Legionary State (which was to crumble during Sima's 1941 rebellion).

[22] Reportedly, Gigurtu's decision to resign had been taken after the infuriated king told him to execute fifteen arrested Guardists, therefore aiding the rapprochement between Carol's opponents.