Early Life and Career
Averescu was born in Ozerne (previously known as Babele, and subsequently renamed Alexandru Averescu), a village northwest of Izmail, now part of Ukraine. The son of Constantin Averescu, who held the rank of sluger, he studied at the Romanian Orthodox seminary in Izmail, then at the School of Arts and Crafts in Bucharest (intending to become an engineer). In 1876, he decided to join the Gendarmes in Izmail.
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). He was, however, reinstated later in 1878, and subsequently received a military education in Romania, at the military school of Târgovişte (Dealu Monastery), and in Italy, at the Military Academy of Turin. Averescu married an Italian opera singer, Clotilda Caligaris, who had been the prima donna of La Scala. His future collaborator and rival Constantin Argetoianu stated that Averescu "chose Mrs. Clotilda at random".
Upon his return, Averescu steadily climbed through the ranks. He was head of the Bucharest Military Academy (1894–1895), and, in 1895-1898, Romania's military attaché in the German Empire; a colonel in 1901, he was advanced to the rank of Brigadier General and became head of the Tecuci regional Army Command Center in 1906.
Before the World War, he led the troops in crushing the 1907 peasants' revolt — where he engaged in using very harsh means of repression, especially when dealing with soldiers who refused to fight against the rebels — and was subsequently Minister of War in Dimitrie Sturdza's National Liberal Party (PNL) cabinet (1907–1909). 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.
Subsequently, he was commander of the First Infantry Division (stationed in Turnu Severin) and, later, of the Second Army Corps in Craiova. In 1912, he became a Major General, and, in 1911-1913, he was Chief of the General Staff. In the latter capacity, Averescu organized the actions of Romanian troops operating south of the Danube in the Second Balkan War (the campaign against Bulgaria, during which his troops met no resistance).
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