across Romania that Carol finally started to intern the fleeing Poles. On 21 September 1939, Prime Minister Călinescu was assassinated by the Iron Guard in a plot organized out of Berlin, thus silencing the strongest pro-Allied voice amongst Carol's camarilla. The next day, the nine assassins of Călinescu were publicity shot without the benefit of a trial and on the week of 22–28 September 1939 242 Iron Guards were the victims of extrajudicial executions. Because of its oil, Romania was highly important by both sides, and during the Phoney War of 1939-40 there occurred what Weinberg called a "silent struggle over Romania's oil" with the German government doing everything within its power to have as much Romanian oil as possible while the British and French governments equally doing everything possible to deny it. The British launched an unsuccessful campaign to sabotage Romanian oil fields and the transportation network that took Romanian oil to Germany. In January 1940, Carol broadcast a speech to proclaim that it was his brilliant handing of foreign policy that kept Romania neutral and safe from danger. He also announced that he was going to be building a gigantic defense line around the kingdom and as such, taxes would have to rise to pay for it. Romanians called the proposed line the Imaginot Line, as the line was considered to be a purely imaginary version of the Maginot line and many of Carol's subjects suspected that the money raised by higher taxes would go to the king's Swiss bank accounts. Carol had hedged his bets about whether to choose between the Allies and the Axis. It was only in late May 1940 when France was clearly losing the war that Carol swung decisively over to the Axis side. During the later period of the Phoney War after waging a campaign of bloody repression against the Iron Guard, which reached its peak after Călinescu's assassination, Carol began a policy of reaching out to the surviving Iron Guard leaders. Carol felt that a "tamed" Iron Guard could be used as a source of popular support. In April 1940, Carol had reached an agreement with Vasile Noveanu, the leader of the underground Iron Guard in Romania, but it was not until early May 1940 that Horia Sima, the leader of the Iron Guards in exile in Germany could be persuaded to support the government. On 26 May 1940 Sima returned