Romanian Revolution

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Romanian Revolution

For other uses, see Romanian Revolution (disambiguation).

Romanian Revolution

Part of the Revolutions of 1989

Demonstrators and army vehicles in Bucharest

Date 1627 December 1989

Location Romania

Arad, Braov, Bucharest, Trgovite and Timioara among others

Result Overthrow of communist regime in Romania, capture and execution of Nicolae and Elena

Ceauescu

Parties to the civil conflict

Ceauescu regime

Romanian Armed Forces (until 22

December)

Securitate

Romanian Communist Party

Anti-government protesters

Romanian Armed Forces (after 22 December)

National Salvation Front

Dissident members of the Romanian Communist Party

Lead figures

Nicolae Ceauescu

Elena Ceauescu

Ion Iliescu

other members of the National Salvation Front Council

Casualties

Death(s) 1,104

Injuries 3,352

The Romanian Revolution (Romanian: Revoluia Romn) was a series of riots and protests in Romania in

December 1989. These were part of the Revolutions of 1989 that occurred in several Warsaw Pact countries. The

Romanian Revolution started in the city of Timioara and soon spread throughout the country. It ultimately resulted

in the violent overthrow and execution of longtime President of Romania Nicolae Ceauescu, and the end of the

Socialist Republic of Romania. It was the last ouster of a Communist regime in a Warsaw Pact country during theevents of 1989, and the only one that forcibly overthrew the country's government and resulted in the death of its

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leader as well as of many of the protesters

Riots and street violence and murder in several Romanian cities over the course of roughly a week led the Romanian

dictator to abandon power and flee Bucharest with his wife, Deputy Prime Minister Elena Ceauescu. Captured in

Trgovite, they were tried in a show trial by a military tribunal on charges of genocide, damage to the national

economy and abuse of power to execute military actions against the Romanian people. They were found guilty of all

charges, and immediately executed on Christmas Day 1989, becoming the last persons ever condemned to death andexecuted in Romania.

In the wake of the revolution, 1,104 people died, 162 of these occurring in the protests that took place from 16 to 22

December 1989 and brought an end to the Ceauescu regime and the remaining 942 in the riots before the seizure of

power by a new political structure, the National Salvation Front. Most deaths occurred in cities such as Timioara,

Bucharest, Sibiu and Arad. The number of injured reached 3,352, of which 1,107 are for the period in which

Ceauescu still held power, and the remaining 2,245 are for the period after the seizure of power by the National

Salvation Front.

Background

Further information: 1980s austerity policy in Romania, Braov Rebellion and Dissent in Romania under Nicolae

Ceauescu

Part of a series on the

Socialist Republic ofRomania

v t e[1]

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Part of a series on the

History of Romania

Prehistory

Cucuteni-Trypillian culture Hamangia culture Bronze Age in Romania Prehistory of Transylvania

Antiquity

Dacia Dacian Wars

Roman Dacia Origin of the Romanians

Early Middle Ages

Middle Ages

History of Transylvania Foundation of Wallachia Foundation of Moldavia

Early Modern Times

Principality of Transylvania Phanariotes Danubian Principalities

National awakening

Transylvanian School

Organic Statute

1848 Moldavian Revolution

1848 Wallachian Revolution

United Principalities

ASTRA

War of Independence

Kingdom of Romania

World War I

Union with Transylvania

Union with Bessarabia

Greater Romania

Soviet occupation of Bessarabia and Northern Bukovina

World War II

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Romania since 1989

Topic

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Timeline Military history Christianity Romanian language

By historical region

Banat Bessarabia Bukovina Dobruja Criana Maramure Moldavia Muntenia Oltenia Transylvania Wallachia

Commons

Centuries in Romania

Romania portal

v t e[2]

In 1981, Ceauescu began an austerity program designed to enable Romania to liquidate its entire national debt ($10

billion). In order to achieve this, many basic goods, including gas, heat and food were rationed, which drastically

reduced the standard of living in Romania and increased malnutrition. The infant mortality rate also grew to be the

highest in Europe.[3]

The secret police (Securitate) had become so ubiquitous as to make Romania essentially a police state. Free speechwas limited and opinions that did not favor the Communist Party were forbidden. The large numbers of Securitate

informers made organized dissent nearly impossible. The regime deliberately played on this sense that everyone was

being watched in order to make it easier to bend the people to the Party's will. Even by Soviet bloc standards, the

Securitate was exceptionally brutal.[4]

Ceauescu created a cult of personality, with weekly shows in stadiums or on streets in different cities dedicated to

him, his wife and the Communist Party. There were several megalomaniac projects,such asthe construction of the

grandiose House of the Republic (today the Palace of the Parliament), the biggest palace in the world, the adjacent

Centrul Civic, and a never-completed museum dedicated to communism and Ceauescu, today the Casa Radio.

These and similar projects drained the country's finances and aggravated the already embattled economic situation.

Thousands of Bucharest residents were evicted from their homes, which were subsequently demolished to make

room for the huge structures.

Unlike the other Warsaw Pact leaders, Ceauescu had not been slavishly pro-Soviet, but rather had pursued an

"independent" foreign policy; Romanian forces did not join its Warsaw Pact allies in putting an end to the Prague

Spring an invasion Ceauescu openly denounced while Romanian athletes competed at the Soviet-boycotted

1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles (receiving a standing ovation at the opening ceremonies and proceeding to

win 53 medals, trailing only the United States and West Germany in the overall count). Conversely, while Soviet

leader Mikhail Gorbachev spoke of reform, Ceauescu maintained a hard political line and cult of personality.

The austerity program started in 1981 and the widespread poverty it introduced made the Communist regime very

unpopular. The austerity met little resistance among the Romanians and there were only a few strikes and labourdisputes, of which notable were the Jiu Valley miners' strike of 1977 and the Braov Rebellion of November 1987 at

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the truck manufacturer Steagul Rou. In March 1989, several leading activists of the Romanian Communist Party

(PCR) protested in a letter that criticized the economic policies of Nicolae Ceauescu, but shortly thereafter

Ceauescu achieved a significant political victory: Romania paid off its external debt of about US$11 billion several

months before the time that even the Romanian dictator expected. However, in the months following the

announcement the austerity and the shortage of goods remained the same as before.

It initially appeared that Ceauescu would weather the wave of revolution sweeping across eastern Europe. He wasformally reelected for another five-year term as general secretary of the Romanian Communist Party on 24

November at the party's XIV Congress. On the same day, Ceauescu's counterpart in Czechoslovakia, Milos Jakes,

resigned along with the entire Communist leadership, effectively ending Communist rule in Czechoslovakia. On 11

November 1989, before the party congress, on Bucharest's Brezoianu Street and Koglniceanu Boulevard, students

from Cluj-Napoca and Bucharest demonstrated with placards We want Reforms against Ceauescu government."

The students including Mihnea Paraschivescu, Gratian Vulpe, and the economist Dan Caprariu-Schlachter from

Cluj were detained and investigated by the Securitate at the Rahova Penitentiary, on suspicion of propaganda

against the socialist society. They were released on 22 December 1989 at 14.00.

There were other letters and other attempts to draw attention to the economic, cultural, and spiritual oppression of

Romanians, but they served only to intensify the activity of the communist police and Securitate.

Another factor in the revolution is the Decreei policy, a draconian policy banning contraception and abortion. This

policy, beginning in 1967, resulted in a baby boom, but also resulted in high rates of poverty and child mortality. By

1989, these children had all reached adulthood, and this cohort was the one that started the revolution that overthrew

Ceauescu.

Timioara uprising

On 16 December 1989, a protest broke out on the part of the Hungarian minority in Timioara in response to an

attempt by the government to evict Hungarian Reformed church pastor Lszl Tks. Tks had in July of that year

made critical comments against the regime's Systematization policy[5] to Hungarian television,[6] and complainedthat Romanians did not even know their human rights. As Tks described it later, the interview, which had been

seen in the border areas and was then spread all over Romania, had a shock effect upon the Romanians, Securitate

as well, on the people of Romania. [] [I]t had an unexpected effect upon the public atmosphere in Romania.[7]

The government then alleged that he was inciting ethnic hatred. At the behest of the government, his bishop removed

him from his postthereby depriving him of the right to use the apartment to which he was entitled as a pastorand

assigned him to be a pastor in the countryside. For some time, his parishioners gathered around his home to protect

him from harassment and eviction. Many passers-by spontaneously joined in.

As it became clear that the crowd would not disperse, the mayor, Petre Mo, made remarks suggesting that he had

overturned the decision to evict Tks. Meanwhile, the crowd had grown impatient, and when Mo declined to

confirm his statement against the planned eviction in writing, the crowd started to chant anticommunist slogans.

Subsequently, police and Securitate forces showed up at the scene. By 19:30, the protest had spread, and the original

cause became largely irrelevant.

Some of the protesters attempted to burn down the building that housed the District Committee of the Romanian

Communist Party (PCR). The Securitate responded with tear gas and water jets, while the police beat up rioters and

arrested many of them. Around 21:00, the rioters withdrew. They regrouped eventually around the Romanian

Orthodox Cathedral and started a protest march around the city, but again they were confronted by the security

forces.

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Crackdown

Riots and protests resumed the following day, 17 December. The rioters broke into the District Committee building

and threw Party documents, propaganda brochures, Ceauescu's writings, and other symbols of communist power out

of the windows. Again, the protesters attempted to set the building on fire, but this time they were stopped by

military units.

Since Romania did not have riot police (Ceauescu, who genuinely believed that the Romanian people loved him,never saw the need for them), the military were sent in to control the riots because the situation was too large for the

Securitate and conventional police to handle. The significance of the army presence in the streets was an ominous

one: it meant that they had received their orders from the highest level of the command chain, presumably from

Ceauescu himself. The army failed to establish order and chaos ensued with gunfire, fights, casualties, and burned

cars. Transportor Amfibiu Blindat (TAB) armored personnel carriers and tanks were called in.

After 20:00, from Piaa Libertii (Liberty Square) to the Opera there was wild shooting, including the area of

Decebal bridge, Calea Lipovei (Lipovei Avenue), and Calea Girocului (Girocului Avenue). Tanks, trucks, and TABs

blocked the accesses into the city while helicopters hovered overhead. After midnight the protests calmed down. Ion

Coman, Ilie Matei, and tefan Gu (Chief of the Romanian General Staff) inspected the city, in which some areas

looked like the aftermath of a war - destruction, ash, and blood.

The morning of 18 December the centre was being guarded by soldiers and Securitate agents in plainclothes. Mayor

Mo ordered a Party gathering to take place at the University, with the purpose of condemning the "vandalism" of the

previous days. He also declared martial law, prohibiting people from going about in groups of larger than two.

Defying the curfew, a group of 30 young men headed for the Orthodox Cathedral, where they stopped and waved a

Romanian flag from which they had removed the Romanian Communist coat of arms. Expecting that they would be

fired upon, they started to sing "Deteapt-te, romne!" ("Wake up, Romanian!"), an earlier national song that had

been banned since 1947. They were, indeed, fired upon and some died, and others were seriously injured, while the

lucky ones were able to escape.

On 19 December, Radu Blan and tefan Gu visited the workers in the citys factories, but failed to get them toresume work. On 20 December massive columns of workers were entering the city. About 100,000 protesters

occupied Piaa Operei (Opera Square today Piaa Victoriei, Victory Square) and started to chant anti-government

protests: "Noi suntem poporul!" ("We are the people!"), "Armata e cu noi!" ("The army is on our side!"), "Nu v fie

fric, Ceauescu pic!" ("Have no fear, Ceauescu is falling!").

Meanwhile, Emil Bobu (Secretary to the Central Committee) and Prime Minister Constantin Dsclescu were sent

by Elena Ceauescu (Nicolae Ceauescu being at that time in Iran), to solve the situation. They met with a delegation

of the protesters and accepted freeing the majority of the arrested protesters. However, they refused to comply with

the protestersmain demand (resignation of Ceauescu), and the situation remained essentially unchanged.

The next day, trains loaded with workers originating from factories in Oltenia arrived in Timioara. The regime was

attempting to use them to repress the mass protests, but after a brief encounter they ended up joining the protests.

One worker explained: "Yesterday, our factory boss and a Party official rounded us up in the yard, handed us

wooden clubs and told us that Hungarians and hooligans were devastating Timioara and that it is our duty to go

there and help crush the riots. But I realized that wasn't the truth."

On 18 December 1989 Ceauescu had departed for a visit to Iran, leaving the duty of crushing the Timioara revolt

to his subordinates and his wife. Upon his return on the evening of 20 December, the situation became even more

tense, and he gave a televised speech from the TV studio inside the Central Committee Building (CC Building), in

which he spoke about the events at Timioara in terms of an "interference of foreign forces in Romania's internal

affairs" and an "external aggression on Romania's sovereignty."

The country, which had no information about the Timioara events from the national media, heard about theTimioara revolt from Western radio stations like Voice of America and Radio Free Europe, and by word of mouth.

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A mass meeting was staged for the next day, 21 December, which, according to the official media, was presented as

a "spontaneous movement of support for Ceauescu," emulating the 1968 meeting in which Ceauescu had spoken

against the invasion of Czechoslovakia by Warsaw Pact forces.

Revolution spreads

Ceauescu's speech

Main article: Ceauescu's final speech

The balcony where Ceauescu delivered his last

speech, overtaken by the crowd during the

Romanian Revolution of 1989.

Protesters in Cluj-Napoca on the morning of 21

December. This photo was taken by Rzvan Rotta

after security forces opened fire.

On the morning of 21 December Ceauescu addressed an assembly of

approximately 100,000 people, to condemn the uprising in Timioara.

Party officials took great pains to make it appear that Ceauescu was

still immensely popular. Several busloads of workers, under threat of

being fired, arrived in Bucharest's Piaa Palatului (Palace Square, now

Piaa Revoluiei Revolution Square) and were given red flags,

banners and large pictures of Ceauescu. They were augmented by

several bystanders who were rounded up on Calea Victoriei.

In a speech laden with the usual MarxistLeninist "wooden language",

spurting out pro-socialist and Communist Party rhetoric, Ceauescu

delivered a litany of the achievements of the "socialist revolution" and

Romanian "multi-laterally developed socialist society". He blamed the

Timioara uprising on "fascist agitators."

However, Ceauescu was out of touch with his people and completely

misread the crowd's mood. The people remained unresponsive, and

only the front rows supported Ceauescu with cheers and applause.

Eight minutes into the speech, some in the crowd actually began tojeer, boo, whistle and utter insults at hima reaction considered

unthinkable for most of Ceauescu's rule. Workers from a Bucharest

power plant started chanting "Ti-mi-oa-ra! Ti-mi-oa-ra!"a chant

that was soon picked up by others in the crowd. In response, Ceauescu

raised his right hand in hopes of silencing the crowd; his stunned

expression remains one of the defining moments of the end of

Communism in Eastern Europe. He then tried to placate the crowd by offering to raise workers' salaries by 100 lei

per month (about 9 U.S. dollars at the time, yet a 510% raise for a modest salary) and student scholarships from

100 to 110 lei while continuing to praise the achievements of the Socialist Revolution. However, a revolution was

brewing right in front of his eyes.

As he was addressing the crowd from the balcony of the Central Committee building, sudden movement came from

the outskirts of the massed assembly, as did the sound of (what various sources have reported as) fireworks, bombs,

or guns, which together caused the assembly to break into chaos. Initially frightened, the crowds tried to disperse.

Bullhorns then began to spread the news that the Securitate

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Nicolae Ceauescu leaves the capital by

helicopter.

was firing on the crowd and that a "revolution" was unfolding. This

persuaded people in the assembly to join in. The rally turned into a

protest demonstration.

The entire speech was being broadcast live around Romania, and it is

estimated that perhaps 76% of the nation was

watching.Wikipedia:Citation needed Censors attempted to cut the livevideo feed, and replace it with Communist propaganda songs and video

praising the Ceauescu regime, but parts of the riots had already been

broadcast and most of the Romanian people realized that something

unusual was in progress.

Ceauescu and his wife, as well as other officials and CPEx members,

panicked, and Ceauescu's bodyguard hustled him back inside the

building.

The jeers and whistles soon erupted into riot; the crowd took to the streets, placing the capital, like Timioara, in

turmoil. Members of the crowd spontaneously began shouting anti-Ceauescu slogans, which spread and became

chants: "Jos dictatorul!" ("Down with the dictator"), "Moarte criminalului!" ("Death to the criminal"), "Noi suntem

poporul, jos cu dictatorul!" ("We are the People, down with the dictator"), "Ceauescu cine eti?/Criminal din

Scorniceti" ("Ceauescu, who are you? A criminal from Scorniceti").

Protesters eventually flooded the downtown area, from Piaa Koglniceanu to Piaa Unirii, Piaa Rosetti, and PiaaRoman. In one notable scene from the event, a young man waved a tricolour with the Communist coat of arms torn

out of its centre, while perched on the statue of Mihai Viteazul on Boulevard Mihail Koglniceanu in the University

Square. Many others began to emulate the young protester, and the waving and displaying of the Romanian flag with

the Communist insignia cut out quickly became widespread.

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Street confrontations

Protesters rejoice after taking control over amilitary vehicle in Bucharest.

Streets filled by protesters in Bucharest.

Deployment of the Romanian army troops on the

streets of Bucharest.

As the hours passed, many more people took to the streets. Later,

observers claimed that even at this point, had Ceauescu been willing

to talk, he might have been able to salvage something. Instead, he

decided on force. Soon the protesters unarmed and unorganized

were confronted by soldiers, tanks, TABs, USLA troops (UnitateaSpecial pentru Lupta Antiterorist, anti-terrorist special squads), and

armed plain-clothes Securitate officers. The crowd was soon being

shot at from various buildings, side streets, and tanks.

There were many casualties, including deaths, as victims were shot,

clubbed to death, stabbed, and crushed by armored vehicles (one TAB

drove into the crowd around the InterContinental Hotel, crushing

peoplea French journalist, Jean Louis Calderon, was killed; a street

near University Square was later named after him, as well as a high

school in Timioara).Belgian journalist Danny Huw was shot and killed on 23 or 24

December 1989 by a sniper who thought that Huw was loyal to

Nicolae Ceauescu.

Firefighters hit the demonstrators with powerful water jets and the

police continued to beat and arrest people. Protesters managed to build

a defensible barricade in front of the Dunrea ("Danube") restaurant,

which stood until after midnight, but was finally torn apart by

government forces. Intense continuous shooting continued until after

03:00, by which time the survivors had fled the streets.

Records of the fighting that day include footage shot from helicopters

sent to raid the area and to record evidence for eventual reprisals as

well as by tourists in the high tower of the centrally located

InterContinental Hotel, next to the National Theater and across the

street from the University.

It is likely that in the early hours of 22 December the Ceauescus made

their second mistake. Instead of fleeing the city under cover of night,

they decided to wait until morning to leave. Ceauescu must have

thought that his desperate attempts to crush the protests had succeeded,

because he apparently called another meeting for the next morning.However, before 07:00, his wife Elena received the news that large

columns of workers from many industrial platforms (large

communist-era factories or groups of factories concentrated into industrial zones) were heading towards downtown

Bucharest to join the protests. The police barricades that were meant to block access to Piaa Universitii

(University Square) and Palace Square proved useless. By 09:30, University Square was jammed with protesters.

Security forces (army, police and others) re-entered the area, only to join with the protesters.

By 10:00, as the radio broadcast was announcing the introduction of martial law and of a ban on groups larger than

five persons, hundreds of thousands of people were gathering for the first time, spontaneously, in central Bucharest

(the previous day's crowd had come together at Ceauescu's orders). Ceauescu attempted to address the crowd fromthe balcony of the Central Committee of the Communist Party building, but his attempt was met with a wave of

disapproval and anger. Helicopters spread manifestos (which did not reach the crowd, due to unfavourable winds)

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instructing people not to fall victim to the latest "diversion attempts," but to go home instead and enjoy the Christmas

feast. This order, which drew unfavorable comparisons to Marie Antoinette's haughty (but apocryphal) "Let them eat

cake", further infuriated the people who did read the manifestos; many people at that time had trouble procuring such

basic foodstuffs as cooking oil.

Military defection and Ceauescu's fallAt approximately 09:30 on the morning of 22 December, Vasile Milea, Ceauescu's ministerof defense,died under

suspicious circumstances. A communiqu by Ceauescu stated that Milea had been sacked for treason, and that he

had committed suicide after his treason was revealed. The most widespread opinion at the time was that Milea

hesitated to follow Ceauescu's orders to fire on the demonstrators, even though tanks had been dispatched to

downtown Bucharest that morning. Milea was already in severe disfavour with Ceauescu for initially sending

soldiers to Timioara without live ammunition. The rank-and-file soldiers believed that Milea had actually been

murdered, and went over virtually en masse to the revolution. The senior commanders wrote off Ceauescu as a lost

cause and made no effort to keep their men loyal to the regime. For all intents and purposes, this ended any chance

of Ceauescu staying in power.

Accounts differ about how Milea died. Milea's family and several junior officers believed he had been shot in his

own office by the Securitate, while another group of officers believed he had committed suicide. In 2005, an

investigation concluded that the minister killed himself by shooting at his heart, but the bullet missed the heart, hit a

nearby artery, and led to his death shortly afterward.

Upon learning of Milea's death, Ceauescu appointed Victor Stnculescu as minister of defense. He accepted after a

brief hesitation. Stnculescu, however, ordered the troops back to their quarters without Ceauescu's knowledge, and

moreover persuaded Ceauescu to leave by helicopter, thus making the dictator a fugitive. At that same moment,

angry protesters began storming the Communist Party headquarters; Stnculescu and the soldiers under his command

did not oppose them.

By refusing to carry out Ceauescu's orders (he was still technically commander-in-chief of the army), Stnculescuplayed a central role in the overthrow of the dictatorship. "I had the prospect of two execution squads: Ceauescu's

and the revolutionary one!" confessed Stnculescu later. In the afternoon, Stnculescu "chose" Ion Iliescu's political

group from among others that were striving for power in the aftermath of the recent events.

Helicopter extraction

Following Ceauescu's second failed attempt to address the crowd, he and Elena fled into an elevator headed for the

roof. A group of protesters managed to force their way into the building, overpower Ceauescu's bodyguards and

make their way through his office before heading onto the balcony. They didn't know it, but they were only a few

meters from Ceauescu. The elevator's electricity failed just before it reached the top floor, and Ceauescu's

bodyguards forced it open and ushered the couple onto the roof.

At 11:20 on 22 December 1989, Ceauescu's personal pilot, Lieutenant-Colonel Vasile Malutan, received

instructions from Lieutenant-General Opruta to proceed to Palace Square to pick up the president. As he flew over

Palace Square, he saw it was impossible to land there. Malutan landed his white Dauphin, no. 203, on the terrace at

11:44. A man brandishing a white net curtain from one of the windows waved him down.[8]

Malutan said, "Then Stelica, the co-pilot, came to me and said that there were demonstrators coming to the terrace.

Then the Ceauescus came out, both practically carried by their bodyguards ... They look as if they were fainting.

They were white with terror. Manea Mnescu (one of the vice-presidents) and Emil Bobu were running behind them.

Mnescu, Bobu, Neagoe and another Securitate officer scrambled to the four seats in the back ... As I pulled

Ceauescu in, I saw the demonstrators running across the terrace ... There wasn't enough space, Elena Ceauescu andI were squeezed in between the chairs and the door .. We were only supposed to carry four passengers .. We had six."

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According to Malutan, it was 12:08 when they left for Snagov. After they arrived there, Ceauescu took Malutan into

the presidential suite and ordered him to get two helicopters filled with soldiers for an armed guard, and a further

Dauphin to come to Snagov. Malutan's unit commander replied on the phone, "There has been a revolution You

are on your own Good luck!". Malutan then said to Ceauescu that the second motor was now warmed up and they

needed to leave soon but he could only take four people not six. Mnescu and Bobu stayed behind. Ceauescu

ordered Malutan to head for Titu. Near Titu, Malutan says that he made the helicopter dip up and down. He lied to

Ceauescu, saying that this was to avoid anti-aircraft fire, since they would now be in range. Ceauescu panicked and

told him to land.[9]

He did so in a field next to the old road that led to Piteti. Malutan then told his four passengers that he could do

nothing more. The Securitate men ran to the roadside and began to flag down passing cars. Two cars were flagged

down, one of a forestry official and one a red Dacia of a local doctor. However, the local doctor was keen not to get

involved and, after a short time driving the Ceauescus, faked engine trouble. A car of a bicycle repair man was then

flagged down and he took them to Trgovite. The driver of the car, Nicolae Petrior, convinced them that they could

hide successfully in an agricultural technical institute on the edge of town. When they arrived, the director guided the

Ceauescus into a room and then locked them in. They were arrested by the local police at about 15:30, then after

some wandering around transported to the Trgovite garrison's military compound, and held captive for severaldays, until their trial.[10]

Trial and execution

Main article: Trial of Nicolae and Elena Ceauescu

On 24 December, Ion Iliescu, head of the newly formed Council of the National Salvation Front signed a Decree on

the establishment of the Extraordinary Military Tribunal, a drumhead court-martial to try the Ceauescus for

genocide and other crimes. The trial was held on 25 December, lasted for about 2 hours, and delivered death

sentences to the couple. Although nominally the Ceauescus had a right of appeal, their execution followed

immediately, on the spot, being carried out by three paratroopers with their service rifles.

Footage of the trial and of the executed Ceauescus was promptly released in Romania and to the rest of the world.

The actual moment of execution was not filmed since the cameraman was too slow, and he managed to get into the

courtyard just as the shooting ended.[11]

In footage of the trial, Ceauescu is seen answering the "tribunal" judging him and referring to some of its

membersamong them Army General Victor Atanasie Stanculescu and future Romanian Secret Service head Virgil

Mgureanuas "traitors". In this same video Ceauescu dismisses the "tribunal" as illegitimate and demands his

constitutional rights to answer to charges in front of a legitimate tribunal.

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New government

Main articles: National Salvation Front (Romania) and List of members of the National Salvation Front Council

Ion Iliescu at the Romanian Television during the

Romanian Revolution of 1989.

Petre Roman speaking to the crowd in Bucharest.

After Ceauescu left, the crowds in Palace Square entered a celebratory

mood, perhaps even more intense than in the other former Eastern Bloc

countries because of the recent violence. People cried, shouted, and

gave each other gifts mainly because it was also close to ChristmasDay which was a long suppressed holiday in Romania. The occupation

of the Central Committee building continued.

People threw Ceauescu's writings, official portraits, and propaganda

books out the windows, intending to burn them. They also promptly

ripped off the giant letters from the roof making up the word

"comunist" ("communist") in the slogan: "Triasc Partidul Comunist

Romn!" ("Long live the Communist Party of Romania!"). A young

woman appeared on the rooftop and waved a flag with the coat of arms

torn out.At that time, fierce fights were underway at Bucharest Otopeni

International Airport between troops sent against each other under

claims that they were going to confront terrorists. Early in the morning,

troops sent to reinforce the airport were fired upon. These troops were

from the UM 0865 Campina military base, and were summoned there

by Gen. Ion Rus, the commander of the Romanian Airforce.

The result of this confrontation lead to 40 soldiers being killed, as well

as the death of 8 civilians. The military trucks were allowed entrance

into the airport's perimeter, passing several checkpoints. However, after passing the last checkpoint, being on their

way to the airport, they were fired upon from multiple directions. A civilian bus was also fired upon during the

firefight. After the firefight the remaining surviving soldiers were taken prisoner by the troops guarding the airport,

who seemed to think that they were loyal to Ceausescu's regime.

However, the seizure of power by the new political structure National Salvation Front (FSN), which "emanated"

from the second tier of the Communist Party leadership with help of the plotting generals, was not yet complete.

Forces considered to be loyal to the old regime (spontaneously nicknamed "terrorists") opened fire on the crowd and

attacked vital points of socio-political life: the television, radio, and telephone buildings, as well as Casa Scnteii

(the centre of the nation's print media, which serves a similar role today under the name Casa Presei Libere, "House

of the Free Press") and the post office in the district of Drumul Taberei; Palace Square (site of the Central Committee

building, but also of the Central University Library, the national art museum in the former Royal Palace, and theAteneul Romn (Romanian Athaeneum), Bucharest's leading concert hall); the university and the adjoining

University Square (one of the city's main intersections); Otopeni and Bneasa airports; hospitals, and the Ministry of

Defence.

During the night of 2223 December, Bucharest residents remained on the streets, especially in the attacked zones,

fighting (and ultimately winning, even at the cost of many lives) a battle with an elusive and dangerous enemy. With

the military confused by contradictory orders, true battles ensued, with many real casualties. At 21:00 on 23

December, tanks and a few paramilitary units arrived to protect the Palace of the Republic.

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Romanian Revolution 13

Military fighting against unidentified attackers

believed to be loyalists of the regime (served with

cakes by a civilian).

Meanwhile, messages of support were flooding in from all over the

world: France (President Franois Mitterrand) ; the Soviet (President

Mikhail Gorbachev); Hungary (the Hungarian Socialist Party); the new

East German government (at that time the two German states were not

yet formally reunited); Bulgaria (Petar Mladenov, General Secretary of

the Communist Party of Bulgaria); Czechoslovakia (Ladislav Adamec,leader of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia, and Vclav Havel,

the dissident writer, revolution leader and future president of the

Republic); China (the Minister of Foreign Affairs); the United States

(President George H. W. Bush) ; West Germany (Foreign Minister

Hans Dietrich Genscher); NATO (Secretary General Manfred Wrner);

the United Kingdom (Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher); Spain; Austria; the Netherlands; Italy; Portugal; Japan (the

Japanese Communist Party); and the Moldavian SSR.

USAF C-130 Hercules unloads medical supplies

at the Bucharest airport on 31 December.

In the following days, moral support was followed by material support.

Large quantities of food, medicine, clothing, medical equipment, and

other humanitarian aid were sent to Romania. Around the world, the

press dedicated entire pages and sometimes even complete issues to the

Romanian revolution and its leaders.

On 24 December, Bucharest was a city at war. Tanks, APCs, and

trucks continued to go on patrol around the city and to surround trouble

spots in order to protect them. At intersections near strategic

objectives, roadblocks were built; automatic gunfire continued in and

around University Square, the Gara de Nord (the city's main railroad

station), and Palace Square. Yet amid the chaos, some people were seen to be clutching makeshift Christmas trees.

"Terrorist activities" continued until 27 December, when they abruptly stopped. Nobody ever found who conductedthem, or who ordered their termination Wikipedia:Citation needed.

Casualties

Corpses lying in a morgue

The total number of deaths in the Romanian Revolution was 1,104, of

which 162 were in the protests that led to the overthrow of Nicolae

Ceauescu (1622 December 1989) and 942 in the fighting that

occurred after the seizure of power by the new political structure

National Salvation Front (FSN). The number of wounded was 3,352, of

which 1,107 occurred while Ceauescu was still in power and 2,245after the FSN took power.[12][13]

Burning of the Central University Library

The Central University Library was burned down in uncertain circumstances and over 500,000 books, along with

about 3,700 manuscripts, were destroyed.[14][15]

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Romanian Revolution 14

Aftermath

Prosecution and trial

To this day, no person has been prosecuted for the 1989 events. All theories regarding the events can be considered

pure speculation.

Political changes

The Revolution brought Romania vast attention from the outside world. Initially, much of the world's sympathy went

to the National Salvation Front government under Ion Iliescu, a former member of the Communist Party leadership

and a Ceauescu ally prior to falling into the dictator's disgrace in the early 1980s. The National Salvation Front,

composed mainly of former members of the second echelon of the Communist Party, immediately assumed control

over the state institutions, including the main media outlets, such as the national radio and television networks. They

used their control of the media in order to launch attacks against their political opponents, newly created political

parties that claimed to be successors to those existing before 1948.

Much of that sympathy was squandered during the Mineriad. Massive protests were born in downtown Bucharest as

political rallies organized by the opposition parties during the presidential elections, with a small part of the

protesters deciding to stand ground even after Iliescu was re-elected with an overwhelming score of 85%. Police's

attempt to evacuate the remaining protesters resulted in attacks on state institutions, prompting Iliescu to appeal to

the country's workers for help. In the following days a large mass of workers, mainly miners, entered Bucharest and

brutalized anti-government protesters as well as innocent bystanders.

Iliescu remained the central figure in Romanian politics for more than a decade, being re-elected for the third time in

2000, after a term out of power between 19962000.

While other former ruling Communist parties in the Soviet bloc reconfigured themselves into social democratic or

democratic socialist parties, the PCR melted away in the wake of the revolution. No party claiming to be its

successor has ever won seats in the Grand National Assembly.

Economic reforms

The National Salvation Front chose between the two economic models that political elites claimed were available to

post-Communist Eastern European countries: shock therapy or gradual reforms. The NSF chose the latter, slower

reforms, because it would have not been possible to convince the people who were already "exhausted" after

Ceauescu's austerity to undergo further sacrifices.[16]

Nevertheless, the neoliberal reforms were implemented, although not all at once: by the end of 1990, the prices were

liberalized and a free currency exchange rate, devaluing the leu by 60%. The land of the state-owned collective farms

was distributed to private owners[17] and a list of 708 large state-owned enterprises to be privatized was devised.[18]

In 1991, Romania signed an agreement with the IMF and it began the privatization of state-owned enterprises, with

the first privatization law being passed in 1991.[19] In 1992, the Stolojan government began an austerity plan,

limiting wages and further liberalizing prices. The economic situation deteriorated and inflation as well as

unemployment increased substantially.[20] The austerity measures, which by 1995 included a decrease in social

spending, led to an increase in poverty.[21]

The neoliberal reforms were accelerated after the Democratic Convention won the 1996 elections, the government

using its prerogatives to pass a package of laws, removing subsidies, passing reforms on unemployment benefits and

greatly increasing the number of privatized companies.[22]

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Romanian Revolution 15

A Romanian

sub-officer gives the

victory sign on New

Year's Eve 1989. He

has removed the

insignia of communist

Romania from his

headwear.

"Empty" Romanian flags, from an exhibit at

the Military Museum, Bucharest

Memoral of Rebirth,

Revolution Square,

Bucharest

Notes[1] http:/ /en. wikipedia. org/w/index.php?title=Template:Socialist_Republic_of_Romania& action=edit

[2] http:/ /en. wikipedia. org/w/index.php?title=Template:History_of_Romania& action=edit

[3][3] Roper, p. 55-56

[4] Craig S. Smith, "Eastern Europe Struggles to Security Services" (http://www.nytimes. com/2006/12/12/world/europe/12spooks. html),

The New York Times, 12 December 2006

[5][5] Roper, p.59

[6] Brubaker, Rogers:Nationalist politics and everyday ethnicity in a Transylvanian town. Princeton University Press, 2006, page 119. ISBN

0-691-12834-0

[7] Der Grenzer am Eisernen Vorhang. Part 4. A film by Sylvia Nagel. LE Vision GmbH. Mitteldeutsche Rundfunk (MDT), 2008. Broadcast by

YLE Teema, 3 Jan 2012.

[8] George Galloway and Bob Wylie,Downfall: The Ceauescus and the Romanian Revolution, p. 168169. Futura Publications, 1991

[9] George Galloway and Bob Wylie,Downfall: The Ceauescus and the Romanian Revolution, p. 170

[10] George Galloway and Bob Wylie,Downfall: The Ceauescus and the Romanian Revolution, p. 171

[11] George Galloway and Bob Wylie,Downfall: The Ceauescus and the Romanian Revolution, p. 199

[12] Revolution (http://timisoara.com/timisoara/revoluti. htm), Timioara.

[13] Marius Mioc,Revoluia din Timioara aa cum fost, 1997.

[14] The Central University Library of Bucharest (http://www.bcub.ro/home/istoric), official site: "the History".

[15] "Legea recunotinei, made in Romania" (http://www.evz.ro/detalii/stiri/

legea-recunostintei-made-in-romania-agentii-represiunii-ceausiste-au-ajuns-luptatori-remarca. html), Evenimentul Zilei, 03 June 2010.

[16] Roper, p.8889

[17] Roper, p.8990

[18][18] Roper, p.95[19][19] Roper, p.91

[20][20] Roper, p.93

[21] Roper, p.9597

[22][22] Roper, p.100

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Romanian Revolution 16

References

Stephen D. Roper,Romania: The Unfinished Revolution, Routledge, 2000, ISBN 978-90-5823-028-7

Further reading

(Romanian), "Sinucidere un termen acoperitor pentru crim" (http://www.jurnalul.ro/index.

php?section=rubrici&article_id=56381&action=print) ("Suicide a term to cover up a crime") inJurnalul

Naional (retrieved from web site 30 December 2004; no date indicated for original publication); on the death of

Vasile Milea. (in Romanian)

(Romanian) The series of 3 articles in the Romanian newspaperAdevrul, 2003 ( see archives (http://www.

adevarulonline.ro)) entitled "Eu am fost sosia lui Nicolae Ceauescu" ("I was Ceauescus double"). These are

about Col. Dumitru Burlan, who also wrote a bookDupa 14 ani Sosia lui Ceauescu se destinuie ("After 14

Years The Double of Ceauescu confesses"). Editura Ergorom, 31 July 2003.

Mark Almond, Uprising: Political Upheavals that have Shaped the World, 2002. Mitchell Beazley, London.

Nicolae Ceauescu, Nicolae Ceauescus speech (http://www.infotim.ro/memorial89/articole/articole/art001.

01.

htm), condemning the protests of Timioara, broadcast on 20 December 1989 (in Romanian) Dennis Deletant,Romania under communist rule (1999). Center for Romanian Studies in cooperation with the

Civic Academy Foundation, (Iai, Romania; Portland, Oregon), ISBN 973-98392-8-2. Gives a detailed account of

the events in December 1989 in Timioara.

George Galloway and Bob Wylie,Downfall: The Ceauescus and the Romanian Revolution, 1991, Futura

Publications, London. ISBN 0-7088-5003-0

(Romanian) Marius Mioc,Revoluia din Timioara(http://timisoara.com/timisoara/revoluti.htm), aa cum a

fost, 1997, Brumar Publishing House, Timioara (in Romanian)

(Romanian) Marius Mioc, The anticommunist Romanian Revolution(http://procesulcomunismului.com/

marturii/fonduri/mmioc/anticomrev/default.asp.htm) of 1989, Marineasa Publishing House, Timioara 2002

(Romanian) Marian Oprea, "Au trecut 15 ani

Conspiraia Securitii" ("After 15 years

the conspiracy ofSecuritate"),Lumea Magazin Nr 10, 2004 (http://www.lumeam.ro/nr10_2004/index.html): (in Romanian;

link leads to table of contents, verifying that the article exists, but the article itself is not online).

(Romanian) Viorel Patrichi, " Eu am fost sosia lui Nicolae Ceauescu (http://www.lumeam.ro/nr12_2001/

politica_si_servicii_secrete.html)" ("I was Ceauescu's double"),Lumea Nr 12, 2001

Siani-Davies, Peter (2005 (2007)). The Romanian Revolution of December 1989. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University

Press. ISBN 0-8014-4245-1.

(Romanian) Victor Stanculescu, " Nu v fie mil, au 2 miliarde de lei n cont (http://www.jurnalul.ro/articole/

59331/victor-stanculescu:-nu-va-fie-mila&-au-doua-miliarde-de-lei-in-cont&)" "Show no mercy, they have two

billion lei [33 million U.S. dollars] in their bank account") in Jurnalul Naional) 22 Nov 2004

(Romanian) Domnia tefnescu, Cinci ani din Istoria Romniei ("Five years in the history of Romania"), 1995.Maina de Scris, Bucharest.

(Romanian) Mihai Voinea, Crimele Revoluiei: Masacrul de la Otopeni ("Murders of the Revolution: The

Otopeni Massacre") inAdevarul 15 Dec 2009

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Romanian Revolution 17

External links

Article on justice failing for 942 killed in Revolution on eve of 20th anniversary (http://www.thediplomat.ro/

articol.php?id=758)

Video of Nicolae Ceauescu's final speech (http://www.ceausescu.org/ceausescu_media/ultima-video.html) in

Republican Square

Anonymous Photo Essay about the Romanian Revolution of 1989 (http://hulubei.net/tudor/photography/RomanianRevolution.html)

TV broadcasts (http://www.silencio.ro/revolutie/documentary/) from 22 and 23 December 1989

The Romanian Revolution of December 1989 (http://romanianrevolutionofdecember1989.com)

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Article Sources and Contributors 18

Article Sources and ContributorsRomanian Revolution Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=602828588 Contributors: A young communist, A2Kafir, ADude, Abi79, AdrianTM, Aetil, Ahangar-e-Gaz,Aivazovsky, Alex:D, Alexandrujuncu, Alleborgo, Altenmann, Anamathes, Andreidude, Andrwsc, AnkhMorpork, Anonimu, Apalsola, Apanuggpak, Arab Hafez, Arado, Arie Inbar, Ariwalker,Arjayay, Ashley Pomeroy, Asimo1989, Asimoki, AstroHurricane001, Audaciter, Axeman89, BAICAN XXX, BD2412, BDD, Barbatus, Barbesz, BeckiGreen, Bellerophon5685, Ben Ben, Biot,Biruitorul, Blakut, Blue Elf, Bobblehead, Bogdangiusca, Bogdantudor, Bonaparte, Bongwarrior, BorgQueen, Bowdook, Brentdax, Bryan Derksen, Bucifal, Builtiger, BurtAlert, Camulod,CapitalElll, CaptainFugu, Charles Essie, Chopstickkitty, Cimbalistu, Cjthellama, Coagulans, Coin945, CommonsDelinker, Cor Ferrum, Corneliu-d, Craigy144, Criztu, DJac75, Da Joe,DagosNavy, Dahn, Dancapri, Dancingpizzapie, Danjoplin, Darrelljon, Davecrosby uk, David Edgar, Ddung, De Administrando Imperio, Dead Horsey, Delirium, Denisutku, Desiphral,

Dewritech, Dinomite, Dirkbb, Discovery4, DocWatson42, Donreed, Dorin.lazar, Dpotop, DrFlo1, DrKaoliN, Dwo, ES Vic, EddyVadim, Edivorce, Ego White Tray, Egospoon, Ejensyd, El C,Emines, English Bobby, Enwilson, Everyking, Evlekis, Exteric, Fram, Frappyjohn, FreeKnowledgeCreator, GagHalfrunt, Gagugantu, Gareth E Kegg, Gazpacho, Gilgamesh, Good Olfactory,Gothbag, Grantsky, Greier, Greudin, HangingCurve, HanzoHattori, Heavenlyblue, Hibernian, Hiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii, HughesJohn, Hugo999, Hvn0413, Idaltu, Ivan Bajlo, Ivan Bogdanov, IvanLanin,JHCC, JSquish, Jamc2, Jaraalbe, Jaranda, Jmabel, Joemelendez, John, Jokes Free4Me, Jonkerz, Jonnyhabenero, Jpgordon, Junkyardsparkle, Kapitan84, Kartasto, Khazar, Khazar2, Khoikhoi,Killerman2, KittySaturn, KolyaFrankovich, Kr1st1deejay97, Krashski35, Kurt Leyman, Lapsed Pacifist, Leandrod, Lemsjerina, Lightmouse, Lockers1234, Lockesdonkey, Lothar von Richthofen,Lotje, MarchOrDie, Marek69, MariusM, Mariusmiti, MaxSem on AWB wheels, Mazarin07, Mcc1789, Mentatus, MiLo28, MihaiC, Mnh123, Mr A, Mtaylor848, MuAlphaTheta, Mx3,Myownworst, Mbarek-Demokrasi, Naddy, Neilc, Neo-Jay, NerfOne, Nergaal, Nikodemos, Nothingbutmeat, Nunamiut, Nv8200p, O.Koslowski, OSborn, Oanabay04, Ohconfucius, One,Orioane, Patrickneil, Pavel Vozenilek, Pcap, Pearle, Peitro1b, PericlesofAthens, Petri Krohn, Pierre75, Pjones27, Pristino, ProhibitOnions, Qbli2mHd, Quale, RZimmerwald, Radwaddle,RainCity471, Random user iooi23ialdjkjk4, RandomCritic, Ratza, Rcoving1, Realdevilman, Retired username, Revolutionary, Rhatsa26X, Rhollenton, Rich Farmbrough, Rjwilmsi, Ronline,Routlee, Rubens26, Sam Hocevar, Scottmsg, Seabhcan, Sennen goroshi, Severino, Sfuerst, ShawnML2, Shii, Shuipzv3, Sietse Snel, Signalhead, Silverhorse, Smallfixer, Socrates2008, Sonictruth,Srinivasasha, Stannered, Stefanomione, SuperTank17, Svimp, Tabletop, Tec15, Ten-pint, ThatPeskyCommoner, Thathnka yotake, The Anome, The King Of Gondor, Tilion, TomH,TraceySwans, Tudor hulubei, Turgidson, TypoDotOrg, UDSS, Ucucha, Uk-Kamelot, Ulkomaalainen, Underwaterbuffalo, Valenciano, Valentinian, Vashti, Vgy7ujm, Vidor, Vlad, Warfare utf,Webclient101, Wideangle, Wirespot, Woohookitty, XerKibard, Xnuala, Yalens, Yerevantsi, Zeisseng, DA - DP, 459 anonymous edits

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