Axis control of the Danube was brought about by force of arms, through annexation of Austria, invasion of Yugoslavia and of the Soviet Union and treaties with the Kingdom of Romania and Hungary, but a legal cover was provided through moves that resulted in a new international order on the river beginning in 1940 and ending in 1945.

The spring session of the commission opened in May, with Italy absent, and the principal business was to be a routine report by engineering experts recommending a new 2.5-mile canal to cost about $4.5 million.

[1]: 42 World War II in Europe began on September 1, 1939, with Germany's invasion of Poland, and two days later Britain and France declared war on Germany, so it was a surprise when representatives of the two western powers showed up at a special commission session in neutral Romania in February 1940; the British and French representatives were greeted with "hearty handshakes" by the German delegate, whose turn it was to preside.

"[1]: 42 [5]: 4 In August 1940, the Reich unilaterally announced the dissolution of the European Commission, noting that Germany and Italy had withdrawn and Britain and France were nonfunctioning members.

"German quarters noted with satisfaction that this ends the existence of a valuable source of information for the Allies on the economic situation in Danubian territory," reported the New York Times.

[10]: 3 The Soviet Union protested the abolition of the downriver European Commission, noting that it possessed territory on the Danube, having annexed Bessarabia again early in 1940 and must be consulted on any move.

[11]: 3  This commission began its meeting in October 1940, with the Soviets bringing a plan that would make a reality of "its dream of a port for ocean-going vessels" on the Danube's Chilia branch.

[1]: 44  The commission ended in December, and "diplomatic sources" told the Times that : the Italian and Russian delegates had engaged in fist fights when the conference broke up.

One of these proposed the settlement of all the ethnic Germans in Southeastern Europe along a broad strip of territory on both sides of the river, stretching from Mohács in southern Hungary all the way to the Black Sea.

[14] Hitler's own preference, at least for the immediate future, was the retention of a number of satellite states (Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria, and others) closely tied to the Nazi regime politically and economically.