In September 1940, Carol II abdicated and the Iron Guard entered a tense political alliance with General Ion Antonescu, forming what was popularly known as the National Legionary State. At that point, Sima was able to officially return from exile and rise to power as deputy prime minister in the new government, as well as resume his activities as leader of the Iron Guard in Romania. Sima appointed five Legionnaires into ministerial positions within the National Legionary State, and Legionnaires assumed leadership roles as prefects in each of Romania's administrative districts. Romanian territorial cessions in the summer of 1940, secretly implemented by his Nazi protectors, offered him the pretext for sparking a wave of xenophobic and antisemitic attacks. As a member of the government, Sima immediately initiated a series of brutal pogroms, assassinations and de-possessions among Jews and competing politicians.