Looking to the Soviet Union for inspiration, the PSȚ was cultivated by the Romanian Communist Party (PCdR), and comprised a faction of radicalized social democrats, under Lothar Rădăceanu.
Harre argues: "A corporatist democracy became obsolete from the middle of the 1930s on, when the strongly polarized Romanian society did not resist the split between urban modernity and a rural traditional way of life any longer.
[10] He also organized the Muncă și Voe Bună leisure service, directly modeled on fascist precedents such as Dopolavoro, and converted the staples of socialist propaganda in support of the FRN.
[14] Upon his release, he resumed his contacts with other dissenting academics of Iași—Iorgu Iordan, Constantin Ion Parhon, Gheorghe Vlădescu-Răcoasa—with whom, the Siguranța noted, he intended to start a "political action".
Maniu suggested instead that Ralea and other "former supporters of Carol II" create their own "antihitlerite combat front, independent from the consistently democratic elements".
"[8] During late 1943, Ralea and other dissident National Peasantists were in Brașov, where they began referring to themselves as a distinct Socialist Peasants' Party, and worked closely with an antifascist economist and doctrinaire, Victor Jinga.
[15] With a mandate from the PCdR, Ralea also approached Petru Groza of the Ploughmen's Front (FP) and Gheorghe Tătărescu, the former premier and leader of the National Liberal Party (PNL), who had already publicized their opposition to Antonescu's foreign policy.
The PCdR, marginally relevant in this alliance, tried to extend his influence by obtaining seats for the "Antihitlerite" parties: Ralea's PSȚ, Groza's FP, and the Union of Patriots (UP).
[8] On May 24, 1944, the PSȚ also entered a "National-Democratic Coalition", formed around the National Liberal Party–Tătărescu, which had a platform of loyalism toward King Michael I and "active political collaboration with the Soviets."
A Siguranța report of June 27 mentions that the PSȚ had received pledges and support from leftists such as Demostene Botez, Scarlat Callimachi, N. D. Cocea, and D. I.
[8][27] A PSȚ man, Grigore Geamănu, still had a significant part to play in the preparation of the coup, helping PCdR's Gheorghe Gheorghiu-Dej to break out of Târgu Jiu camp.
According to Ralea, he agreed to merge his Brașov-based movement, the Socialist Circle Group (GCS), into the larger party; this also meant that Jinga's newspaper, Țara de Mâine ("Land of Tomorrow") was a PSȚ regional mouthpiece.
[36] A press release of September 10 also credited as "party eminences" Colonel Petre Petrescu, doctor Radu Olteanu, and lawyer Gheorghe Tomoșoiu.
[40] The following day, Geamănu represented his group at the UP-organized rally "for the destruction of internal Hitlerism", where he expressed the PSȚ's support for the agenda.
Addressing his followers on that occasion, Ralea noted that the day had come for the establishment of a single "political organism of the peasantry", which would maintain its "alliance with the proletarian forces in this country".
[46] During his time as a diplomat, Ralea pressed the Americans to intervene in Romania and balance out Soviet influence, as a guarantee against the collectivization of peasant property.
[47] Serving as Romanian ambassador to Socialist Yugoslavia, Vianu engaged in a debate with the PSDR defectors Ștefan Baciu and Șerban Voinea, reportedly informing them that Romania's future was "not that bleak".
"[48] Returning to Romania after the full imposition of a communist regime, Ralea was awarded a seat in the Great National Assembly with the formal elections of 1948.
[50] Throughout the late 1950s and early '60s, Ralea maintained cordial relations with the communist leader, Gheorghiu-Dej, and backed the regime's gradual adoption of nationalist principles.