In Tuscany, Helen found real stability, despite the absence of her son most of the year. However, the outbreak of World War II again disrupted her daily routine. In accordance with the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact, the Soviet Union forced Romania to cede Bessarabia and Northern Bukovina to them on 26 June 1940, and a few weeks later, the country was also forced to surrender Northern Transylvania to Hungary (Second Vienna Award, 30 August 1940) and the Southern Dobruja to Bulgaria (Treaty of Craiova, 7 September 1940); these territorial losses ended the Greater Romania, created at the end of World War I. Unable to maintain the territorial integrity of his country and under pressure from the Iron Guard, a fascist party supported by Nazi Germany, Carol II became increasingly unpopular and finally was forced to abdicate on 6 September 1940. His son Michael, aged 18, became king while General Ion Antonescu established a dictatorship with the support of members of the Iron Guard.