Romania Communist Party
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The Romanian Communist Party ( ro, Partidul Comunist Român, , PCR) was a
communist party A communist party is a political party that seeks to realize the socio-economic goals of communism. The term ''communist party'' was popularized by the title of ''The Manifesto of the Communist Party'' (1848) by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. ...
in
Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central, Eastern, and Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Moldova to the east, and ...
. The successor to the pro-
Bolshevik The Bolsheviks (russian: Большевики́, from большинство́ ''bol'shinstvó'', 'majority'),; derived from ''bol'shinstvó'' (большинство́), "majority", literally meaning "one of the majority". also known in English ...
wing of the
Socialist Party of Romania The Socialist Party of Romania ( ro, Partidul Socialist din România, commonly known as ''Partidul Socialist'', PS) was a Romanian socialist political party, created on December 11, 1918 by members of the Social Democratic Party of Romania (PSDR) ...
, it gave ideological endorsement to a
communist revolution A communist revolution is a proletarian revolution often, but not necessarily, inspired by the ideas of Marxism that aims to replace capitalism with communism. Depending on the type of government, socialism can be used as an intermediate stag ...
that would replace the social system of the
Kingdom of Romania The Kingdom of Romania ( ro, Regatul României) was a constitutional monarchy that existed in Romania from 13 March ( O.S.) / 25 March 1881 with the crowning of prince Karl of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen as King Carol I (thus beginning the Romanian ...
. After being outlawed in 1924, the PCR remained a minor and illegal grouping for much of the interwar period and submitted to direct Comintern control. During the 1920s and the 1930s, most of its activists were imprisoned or took refuge in the
Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...
, which led to the creation of competing factions that at times came in open conflict. That did not prevent the party from participating in the political life of the country through various
front organizations A front organization is any entity set up by and controlled by another organization, such as intelligence agencies, organized crime groups, terrorist organizations, secret societies, banned organizations, religious or political groups, advocacy ...
, most notably the
Peasant Workers' Bloc The Peasant Workers' Bloc ( ro, Blocul Muncitoresc-Țărănesc, BMȚ) was a political party in Romania that acted as a front group for the banned Romanian Communist Party (PCR). History In the 1926 elections the BMȚ received 1.5% of the vo ...
. During the mid 1930s, as a result of the purges against the Iron Guard, the party was on the road to achieving power, but this was crushed by the dictatorship of king Carol II. In the period 1934–1936, PCR managed to properly reform itself in the mainland of Romania, foreign observers predicting a possible communist take over in Romania. The party emerged as a powerful actor on the Romanian political scene in August 1944, when it became involved in the royal coup that toppled the pro-
Nazi Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in ...
government of Ion Antonescu. With support from Soviet occupational forces, the PCR pressured
King King is the title given to a male monarch in a variety of contexts. The female equivalent is queen, which title is also given to the consort of a king. *In the context of prehistory, antiquity and contemporary indigenous peoples, the tit ...
Michael I Michael I may refer to: * Pope Michael I of Alexandria, Coptic Pope of Alexandria and Patriarch of the See of St. Mark in 743–767 * Michael I Rhangabes, Byzantine Emperor (died in 844) * Michael I Cerularius, Patriarch Michael I of Constantin ...
into abdicating, and it established the
Romanian People's Republic The Socialist Republic of Romania ( ro, Republica Socialistă România, RSR) was a Marxist–Leninist one-party socialist state that existed officially in Romania from 1947 to 1989. From 1947 to 1965, the state was known as the Romanian Peopl ...
in December 1947. The party operated under the title of the Romanian Workers' Party (''Partidul Muncitoresc Romîn'' between 1948 and 1964 and ''Partidul Muncitoresc Român'' in 1964 and 1965) until it was officially renamed by
Nicolae Ceaușescu Nicolae Ceaușescu ( , ;  – 25 December 1989) was a Romanian communist politician and dictator. He was the general secretary of the Romanian Communist Party from 1965 to 1989, and the second and last Communist leader of Romania. He ...
, who had just been elected secretary general. Formally, other legal political parties existed in Romania, but their influence was limited and they were subordinate to the constitutionally-authorised leading role of the PCR. All other legal parties and entities were part of the Communist-dominated National Front. The PCR was a
communist party A communist party is a political party that seeks to realize the socio-economic goals of communism. The term ''communist party'' was popularized by the title of ''The Manifesto of the Communist Party'' (1848) by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. ...
, organized on the basis of democratic centralism, a principle conceived by Russian Marxist theoretician
Vladimir Lenin Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov. ( 1870 – 21 January 1924), better known as Vladimir Lenin,. was a Russian revolutionary, politician, and political theorist. He served as the first and founding head of government of Soviet Russia from 1917 to 1 ...
, which entails democratic and open discussion on policy on the condition of unity in upholding the agreed-upon policies. The highest body within the PCR was the
Party Congress The terms party conference (UK English), political convention ( US and Canadian English), and party congress usually refer to a general meeting of a political party. The conference is attended by certain delegates who represent the party membe ...
, which began in 1969 to convene every five years. When the Congress was not in session, the Central Committee was the highest body. Because the Central Committee met only twice a year, most day-to-day duties and responsibilities were vested in the Politburo. The party leader held the office of General Secretary and after 1945 held significant influence over the government. Between 1974 and 1989, the General Secretary also held the office of
President of Romania The president of Romania ( ro, Președintele României) is the head of state of Romania. Following a modification to the Romanian Constitution in 2003, the president is directly elected by a two-round system and serves for five years. An indi ...
. Ideologically, the PCR was committed to
Marxism–Leninism Marxism–Leninism is a communist ideology which was the main communist movement throughout the 20th century. Developed by the Bolsheviks, it was the state ideology of the Soviet Union, its satellite states in the Eastern Bloc, and various c ...
, a fusion of the original ideas of German philosopher and economic theorist
Karl Marx Karl Heinrich Marx (; 5 May 1818 – 14 March 1883) was a German philosopher, economist, historian, sociologist, political theorist, journalist, critic of political economy, and socialist revolutionary. His best-known titles are the 1848 ...
, and Lenin, was introduced in 1929 by the Soviet leader
Joseph Stalin Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin (born Ioseb Besarionis dze Jughashvili; – 5 March 1953) was a Georgian revolutionary and Soviet political leader who led the Soviet Union from 1924 until his death in 1953. He held power as General Secretar ...
, as the party's guiding ideology and would remain so through much of its existence. In 1948, the Communist Party absorbed the Romanian Social Democratic Party and attracted various new members. In the early 1950s, the group around
Gheorghe Gheorghiu-Dej Gheorghe Gheorghiu-Dej (; 8 November 1901 – 19 March 1965) was a Romanian communist politician and electrician. He was the first Communist leader of Romania from 1947 to 1965, serving as first secretary of the Romanian Communist Party ...
, with support from Stalin, defeated all other factions and achieved full control over the party and country. After 1953, the party gradually theorized a "national path" to communism. At the same time, however, the party delayed the time to join its
Warsaw Pact The Warsaw Pact (WP) or Treaty of Warsaw, formally the Treaty of Friendship, Cooperation and Mutual Assistance, was a collective defense treaty signed in Warsaw, Poland, between the Soviet Union and seven other Eastern Bloc socialist repub ...
brethren in de-Stalinization. The PCR's
nationalist Nationalism is an idea and movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the state. As a movement, nationalism tends to promote the interests of a particular nation (as in a group of people), Smith, Anthony. ''Nationalism: Th ...
and national communist stance was continued under the leadership of Nicolae Ceaușescu. Following an episode of
liberalization Liberalization or liberalisation (British English) is a broad term that refers to the practice of making laws, systems, or opinions less severe, usually in the sense of eliminating certain government regulations or restrictions. The term is used m ...
in the late 1960s, Ceaușescu again adopted a hard line by imposing the "
July Theses The July Theses ( ro, Tezele din iulie) is a name commonly given to a speech delivered by Romanian leader Nicolae Ceaușescu on July 6, 1971, before the Executive Committee of the Romanian Communist Party (PCR). Its full name was ("Proposed meas ...
", re-Stalinizing the party's rule by intensifying the spreading of
communist ideology Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, a so ...
in Romanian society and at the same time consolidating his grip on power whilst using the Party's authority to brew a persuasive cult of personality. Over the years, the PCR massively increased in size to become entirely submitted to Ceaușescu's will. From the 1960s onward, it had a reputation for being far more independent of the Soviet Union than its brethren in the Warsaw Pact. However, it also became the most hardline party in the Eastern Bloc, which harmed its relationship with even the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. It collapsed in 1989 in the wake of the
Romanian Revolution The Romanian Revolution ( ro, Revoluția Română), also known as the Christmas Revolution ( ro, Revoluția de Crăciun), was a period of violent civil unrest in Romania during December 1989 as a part of the Revolutions of 1989 that occurred ...
, but Romania kept its socialist-era constitution until 1991. Romania also retained its membership in the
Warsaw Pact The Warsaw Pact (WP) or Treaty of Warsaw, formally the Treaty of Friendship, Cooperation and Mutual Assistance, was a collective defense treaty signed in Warsaw, Poland, between the Soviet Union and seven other Eastern Bloc socialist repub ...
until its dissolution on 1 July 1991, but that role had been largely symbolic since the late 1960s. The PCR co-ordinated several organizations during its existence, including the
Union of Communist Youth , colorcode = red , logo = Symbol of Union of Communist Youth.svg , caption = Emblem , logo2 = , caption2 = , founded = 1922 , dissolved = 1989 , headquarters = Bucharest, Socialist Republic of Romania ...
, and organized training for its cadres at the
Ștefan Gheorghiu Academy The Ștefan Gheorghiu Academy (Romanian: ''Academia Ștefan Gheorghiu'', in full: ''Academia de învăţămînt social-politic Ștefan Gheorghiu de pe lîngă CC al PCR'' - approx. ''Ștefan Gheorghiu Academy for Socio-Political Education in Rel ...
(future
SNSPA The National School of Political Science and Public Administration ( ro, Școala Națională de Studii Politice și Administrative din București, SNSPA) is a public university in Bucharest, Romania, founded in 1991. SNSPA is a public institutio ...
). In addition to ''
Scînteia ''Scînteia'' (Romanian for "The Spark") was the name of two newspapers edited by Communist groups at different intervals in Romanian history. The title is a homage to the Russian language paper ''Iskra''. It was known as ''Scânteia'' until th ...
'', its official platform and main newspaper between 1931 and 1989, the party issued several local and national publications at various points in its history (including, after 1944, ''
România Liberă ''România liberă'' ("") is a Romanian daily newspaper founded in 1943 and currently based in Bucharest. A newspaper of the same name also existed between 1877 and 1888. History and profile The name ''România liberă'' was first used by a dai ...
'').


History


Establishment

The party was founded in 1921 when the
Bolshevik The Bolsheviks (russian: Большевики́, from большинство́ ''bol'shinstvó'', 'majority'),; derived from ''bol'shinstvó'' (большинство́), "majority", literally meaning "one of the majority". also known in English ...
-inspired
maximalist In the arts, maximalism, a reaction against minimalism, is an aesthetic of excess. The philosophy can be summarized as "more is more", contrasting with the minimalist motto "less is more". Literature The term ''maximalism'' is sometimes associ ...
faction won control of Romania's Social-Democratic party—the
Socialist Party of Romania The Socialist Party of Romania ( ro, Partidul Socialist din România, commonly known as ''Partidul Socialist'', PS) was a Romanian socialist political party, created on December 11, 1918 by members of the Social Democratic Party of Romania (PSDR) ...
, successor to the defunct
Romanian Social-Democratic Workers' Party The Social Democratic Workers' Party of Romania (, PSDMR), established in 1893, was the first modern socialist political party in Romania. A Marxist organization, the PSDMR was part of the Second International and sent its representatives to the f ...
and the short-lived Social Democratic Party of Romania (the latter was refounded in 1927, reuniting those opposed to communist policies). The establishment was linked with the socialist group's affiliation to the Comintern (just before the latter's Third Congress): after a delegation was sent to Bolshevist Russia, a group of moderates (including
Ioan Flueraș Ioan (or Ion) Flueraș (or Fluieraș) (November 2, 1882 – June 7, 1953) was a Romanian social democratic politician and a victim of the communist regime. Biography Early activities Born in Chereluș (Kerülős), Arad County, in the Crișan ...
,
Iosif Jumanca Iosif Jumanca (December 23, 1893 – June 26, 1950) was an Austro-Hungarian and Romanian politician. Born in Fólya, Temes County (now Folea, Timiș County) in 1903 he became a founding member of the Romanian branch of the Hungarian Social Dem ...
,
Leon Ghelerter Leon, Léon (French) or León (Spanish) may refer to: Places Europe * León, Spain, capital city of the Province of León * Province of León, Spain * Kingdom of León, an independent state in the Iberian Peninsula from 910 to 1230 and again fro ...
, and Constantin Popovici) left at different intervals beginning with January 1921. The party renamed itself the Socialist-Communist Party () and, soon after, the Communist Party of Romania ( or ''PCdR''). Government crackdown and competition with other socialist groups brought a drastic reduction in its membership—from the ca. 40,000 members the Socialist Party had, the new group was left with as much as 2,000 or as little as 500; after the fall of one-party rule in 1989, Romanian historians generally asserted that the party only had around 1,000 members at the end of World War II. Other researchers argue that this figure may have been intentionally based on the Muscovite faction figures, and, as such, underestimated in order to undermine the influence of the internal faction; this estimate was afterwards promoted in post-communist historiography in order to reinforce a stereotypical image of the regime as illegitimate. The early Communist Party had little influence in Romania. This was due to a number of factors: the country's lack of
industrial development Industrialisation ( alternatively spelled industrialization) is the period of social and economic change that transforms a human group from an agrarian society into an industrial society. This involves an extensive re-organisation of an econom ...
, which resulted in a relatively small working class (with industry and mining employing fewer than 10% of the active population) and a large peasant population; the minor impact of
Marxism Marxism is a left-wing to far-left method of socioeconomic analysis that uses a materialist interpretation of historical development, better known as historical materialism, to understand class relations and social conflict and a dialectical ...
among Romanian
intellectual An intellectual is a person who engages in critical thinking, research, and reflection about the reality of society, and who proposes solutions for the normative problems of society. Coming from the world of culture, either as a creator or a ...
s; the success of state repression in driving the party underground and limiting its activities; and finally, the party's "anti-national" policy, as it began to be stated in the 1920s—supervised by the Comintern, this policy called for the breakup of
Greater Romania The term Greater Romania ( ro, România Mare) usually refers to the borders of the Kingdom of Romania in the interwar period, achieved after the Great Union. It also refers to a pan-nationalist idea. As a concept, its main goal is the creation ...
, which was regarded as a colonial entity "illegally occupying"
Transylvania Transylvania ( ro, Ardeal or ; hu, Erdély; german: Siebenbürgen) is a historical and cultural region in Central Europe, encompassing central Romania. To the east and south its natural border is the Carpathian Mountains, and to the west the Ap ...
,
Dobruja Dobruja or Dobrudja (; bg, Добруджа, Dobrudzha or ''Dobrudža''; ro, Dobrogea, or ; tr, Dobruca) is a historical region in the Balkans that has been divided since the 19th century between the territories of Bulgaria and Romania. I ...
, Bessarabia and Bukovina (regions that, the communists argued, had been denied the right of self-determination). In 1924, the Comintern provoked Romanian authorities by encouraging the
Tatarbunary Uprising The Tatarbunary Uprising ( ro, Răscoala de la Tatarbunar) was a Bolshevik-inspired and Soviet-backed peasant revolt that took place on 15–18 September 1924, in and around the town of Tatarbunary (''Tatar-Bunar'' or ''Tatarbunar'') in Budjak ...
in southern Bessarabia, in an attempt to create a Moldavian republic on Romanian territory; also in that year, a
Moldavian Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic * ro, Proletari din toate țările, uniți-vă! (Moldovan Cyrillic: ) * uk, Пролетарі всіх країн, єднайтеся! * russian: Пролетарии всех стран, соединяйтесь! , title_leader = First Secr ...
, roughly corresponding to
Transnistria Transnistria, officially the Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic (PMR), is an unrecognised breakaway state that is internationally recognised as a part of Moldova. Transnistria controls most of the narrow strip of land between the Dniester riv ...
, was established inside the Soviet Union. At the same time, the left-wing political spectrum was dominated by
Poporanism Poporanism is a Romanian version of nationalism and populism. The word is derived from ''popor'', meaning "people" in Romanian. Founded by Constantin Stere in the early 1890s, Poporanism is distinguished by its opposition to socialism, promotion ...
, an original ideology which partly reflected Narodnik influence, placed its focus on the peasantry (as it notably did with the early advocacy of
cooperative farming An agricultural cooperative, also known as a farmers' co-op, is a cooperative in which farmers pool their resources in certain areas of activity. A broad typology of agricultural cooperatives distinguishes between agricultural service cooperativ ...
by
Ion Mihalache Ion Mihalache (; March 3, 1882 – February 5, 1963) was a Romanian agrarian politician, the founder and leader of the Peasants' Party (PȚ) and a main figure of its successor, the National Peasants' Party (PNȚ). Early life A schoolteacher bor ...
's Peasants' Party), and usually strongly supported the post-1919 territorial status quo—although they tended to oppose the centralized system it had come to imply. (In turn, the early conflict between the PCdR and other minor socialist groups has been attributed to the legacy of
Constantin Dobrogeanu-Gherea Constantin Dobrogeanu-Gherea (born Solomon Katz; 1855, village of Slavyanka near Yekaterinoslav (modern Dnipro), then in Imperial Russia – 1920, Bucharest) was a Romanian Marxist theorist, politician, sociologist, literary critic, and j ...
's quasi-Poporanist ideas inside the latter, as an intellectual basis for the rejection of Leninism.) The PCdR's "foreign" image was due to the fact that ethnic Romanians were a minority in its ranks until after the end of World War II: between 1924 and 1944, none of its general secretaries was of Romanian ethnicity. Interwar Romania had a minority population of 30%, and it was largely from this section that the party drew its membership—a large percentage of it was
Jews Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...
,
Hungarians Hungarians, also known as Magyars ( ; hu, magyarok ), are a nation and  ethnic group native to Hungary () and historical Hungarian lands who share a common culture, history, ancestry, and language. The Hungarian language belongs to the Urali ...
and
Bulgarians Bulgarians ( bg, българи, Bǎlgari, ) are a nation and South Slavic ethnic group native to Bulgaria and the rest of Southeast Europe. Etymology Bulgarians derive their ethnonym from the Bulgars. Their name is not completely unders ...
. Actual or perceived ethnic discrimination against these minorities added to the appeal of revolutionary ideas in their midst.


Communist Party of Romania (1921–1948)


Comintern and internal wing

Shortly after its creation, the PCdR's leadership was alleged by authorities to have been involved in
Max Goldstein Max Goldstein (1898–1924), also known as Coca, was a Romanian revolutionary, variously described as a communist and an anarchist. Born in Bârlad to a Jewish family, he worked as a clerk for two years. He later moved to Bucharest in 1916, w ...
's bomb attack on the Parliament of Romania; all major party figures, including the general secretary
Gheorghe Cristescu Gheorghe Cristescu (October 10, 1882 in Copaciu, Giurgiu County – November 29, 1973 in Timișoara) was a Romanian socialist and, for a part of his life, communist militant. Nicknamed "Plăpumarul" ("The Blanket Maker"), he is also occasionall ...
, were prosecuted in the
Dealul Spirii Trial Dealul Spirii Trial (Romanian language, Romanian: ''Procesul din Dealul Spirii'') was a political trial conducted by a military tribunal in the Kingdom of Romania. 271 members of the Communist Party of Romania were accused of treason after voting f ...
.
Constantin Argetoianu Constantin Argetoianu ( – 6 February 1955) was a Romanian politician, one of the best-known personalities of interwar Greater Romania, who served as the Prime Minister between 28 September and 23 November 1939. His memoirs, ''Memorii. Pentr ...
, the
Minister of the Interior An interior minister (sometimes called a minister of internal affairs or minister of home affairs) is a cabinet official position that is responsible for internal affairs, such as public security, civil registration and identification, emergency ...
in the
Alexandru Averescu Alexandru Averescu (; 9 March 1859 – 2 October 1938) was a Romanian marshal, diplomat and populist politician. A Romanian Armed Forces Commander during World War I, he served as Prime Minister of three separate cabinets (as well as being ''inter ...
,
Take Ionescu Take or Tache Ionescu (; born Dumitru Ghiță Ioan and also known as Demetriu G. Ionnescu; – 21 June 1922) was a Romanian centrist politician, journalist, lawyer and diplomat, who also enjoyed reputation as a short story author. Starting his ...
, and Ion I. C. Brătianu cabinets, equated Comintern membership with
conspiracy A conspiracy, also known as a plot, is a secret plan or agreement between persons (called conspirers or conspirators) for an unlawful or harmful purpose, such as murder or treason, especially with political motivation, while keeping their agre ...
, ordered the first in a series of repressions, and, in the context of trial, allowed for several communist activists (including Leonte Filipescu) to be shot while in custody—alleging that they had attempted to flee. Consequently, Argetoianu stated his belief that"communism is over in Romania", which allowed for a momentary relaxing of pressures—begun by
King King is the title given to a male monarch in a variety of contexts. The female equivalent is queen, which title is also given to the consort of a king. *In the context of prehistory, antiquity and contemporary indigenous peoples, the tit ...
Ferdinand Ferdinand is a Germanic name composed of the elements "protection", "peace" (PIE "to love, to make peace") or alternatively "journey, travel", Proto-Germanic , abstract noun from root "to fare, travel" (PIE , "to lead, pass over"), and "co ...
's granting of an
amnesty Amnesty (from the Ancient Greek ἀμνηστία, ''amnestia'', "forgetfulness, passing over") is defined as "A pardon extended by the government to a group or class of people, usually for a political offense; the act of a sovereign power offici ...
to the tried PCdR. The PCdR was thus unable to send representatives to the Comintern, and was virtually replaced abroad by a delegation of various activists who had fled to the
Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...
at various intervals (Romanian groups in Moscow and
Kharkiv Kharkiv ( uk, wikt:Харків, Ха́рків, ), also known as Kharkov (russian: Харькoв, ), is the second-largest List of cities in Ukraine, city and List of hromadas of Ukraine, municipality in Ukraine.Deletant & Ionescu, p.4–5 The interior party only survived as an underground group after it was outlawed by the Brătianu government through the ''Mârzescu Law'' (named after its proponent,
Minister of Justice A justice ministry, ministry of justice, or department of justice is a ministry or other government agency in charge of the administration of justice. The ministry or department is often headed by a minister of justice (minister for justice in a ...
Gheorghe Gh. Mârzescu), passed in early 1924; Comintern sources indicate that, around 1928, it was losing contact with Soviet overseers. In 1925, the question of Romania's borders as posed by the Comintern led to protests by Cristescu and, eventually, to his exclusion from the party (''see
Balkan Communist Federation The Balkan Federation project was a left-wing political movement to create a country in the Balkans by combining Yugoslavia, Albania, Greece, Bulgaria, Romania and Turkey. The concept of a Balkan federation emerged in the late 19th century from ...
''). Around the time of the party's Fifth Congress in 1931, the Muscovite wing became the PCdR's main political factor:
Joseph Stalin Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin (born Ioseb Besarionis dze Jughashvili; – 5 March 1953) was a Georgian revolutionary and Soviet political leader who led the Soviet Union from 1924 until his death in 1953. He held power as General Secretar ...
replaced the entire party leadership, including the general secretary Vitali Holostenco—appointing instead Alexander Stefanski, who was at the time a member of the
Communist Party of Poland The interwar Communist Party of Poland ( pl, Komunistyczna Partia Polski, KPP) was a communist party active in Poland during the Second Polish Republic. It resulted from a December 1918 merger of the Social Democracy of the Kingdom of Poland a ...
. Through regained Comintern control, the interior wing began organizing itself as a more efficient conspiratorial network. The onset of the Great Depression in Romania, and the series of strikes infiltrated (and sometimes provoked) by the interior wing signified relative successes (''see Lupeni Strike of 1929''), but gains were not capitalized—as lack of ideological appeal and suspicion of Stalinist directives remained notable factors. In parallel, its leadership suffered changes that were meant to place it under an ethnic Romanian and working class leadership—the emergence of a Stalin-backed group around
Gheorghe Gheorghiu-Dej Gheorghe Gheorghiu-Dej (; 8 November 1901 – 19 March 1965) was a Romanian communist politician and electrician. He was the first Communist leader of Romania from 1947 to 1965, serving as first secretary of the Romanian Communist Party ...
before and after the large-scale Grivița Strikes. In 1934, Stalin's ''
Popular Front A popular front is "any coalition of working-class and middle-class parties", including liberal and social democratic ones, "united for the defense of democratic forms" against "a presumed Fascist assault". More generally, it is "a coalition ...
'' doctrine was not fully passed into the local party's politics, mainly due to the Soviet territorial policies (culminating in the 1939
Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact The Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact was a non-aggression pact between Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union that enabled those powers to partition Poland between them. The pact was signed in Moscow on 23 August 1939 by German Foreign Minister Joachim von Ri ...
) and the widespread suspicion other left-wing forces maintained toward the Comintern. The Communists did, nevertheless, attempt to reach consensus with other groupings on several occasions (in 1934–1943, they established alliances with the
Ploughmen's Front The Ploughmen's Front ( ro, Frontul Plugarilor) was a Romanian left-wing agrarian-inspired political organisation of ploughmen, founded at Deva in 1933 and led by Petru Groza. At its peak in 1946, the Front had over 1 million members. Histor ...
, the
Hungarian People's Union The Hungarian People's Union ( hu, Magyar Népi Szövetség, MNSZ; ro, Uniunea Populară Maghiară, UPM) was a left-wing political party active in Romania between 1934 and 1953 that claimed to represent the Hungarian minority in Romania, Hungarian ...
, and the Socialist Peasants' Party), and small Communist groups became active in the leftist sections of mainstream parties.Veiga, p.223 In 1934, Petre Constantinescu-Iași and other PCdR supporters created '' Amicii URSS'', a pro-Soviet group reaching out to
intellectual An intellectual is a person who engages in critical thinking, research, and reflection about the reality of society, and who proposes solutions for the normative problems of society. Coming from the world of culture, either as a creator or a ...
s, itself banned later in the same year. During the 1937 elections, the Communists backed
Iuliu Maniu Iuliu Maniu (; 8 January 1873 – 5 February 1953) was an Austro-Hungarian-born lawyer and Romanian politician. He was a leader of the National Party of Transylvania and Banat before and after World War I, playing an important role in the U ...
and the
National Peasants' Party The National Peasants' Party (also known as the National Peasant Party or National Farmers' Party; ro, Partidul Național Țărănesc, or ''Partidul Național-Țărănist'', PNȚ) was an agrarian political party in the Kingdom of Romania. It w ...
against King
Carol II Carol II (4 April 1953) was King of Romania from 8 June 1930 until his forced abdication on 6 September 1940. The eldest son of Ferdinand I, he became crown prince upon the death of his grand-uncle, King Carol I in 1914. He was the first of th ...
and the Gheorghe Tătărescu government (who had intensified repression of Communist groups), finding themselves placed in an unusual position after the Iron Guard, a fascist movement, signed an electoral pact with Maniu; participation in the move was explained by Communist
historiography Historiography is the study of the methods of historians in developing history as an academic discipline, and by extension is any body of historical work on a particular subject. The historiography of a specific topic covers how historians ha ...
as provoked by the
Social-Democrats Social democracy is a political, social, and economic philosophy within socialism that supports political and economic democracy. As a policy regime, it is described by academics as advocating economic and social interventions to promote s ...
' refusal to collaborate with the PCdR. In the years following the elections, the PCdR entered a phase of rapid decline, coinciding with the increasingly authoritarian tone of King Carol's regime (but in fact inaugurated by the 1936 Craiova Trial of
Ana Pauker Ana Pauker (born Hannah Rabinsohn; 13 February 1893 – 3 June 1960) was a Romanian communist leader and served as the country's foreign minister in the late 1940s and early 1950s. Ana Pauker became the world's first female foreign minister whe ...
and other high-ranking Communists). Journals viewed as associates of the party were closed down, and all suspected PCdR activists faced detention (''see Doftana Prison'').
Siguranța Statului Siguranța was the generic name for the successive secret police services in the Kingdom of Romania. The official title of the organization changed throughout its history, with names including Directorate of the Police and General Safety ( ro, Di ...
, the Romanian
secret police Secret police (or political police) are intelligence, security or police agencies that engage in covert operations against a government's political, religious, or social opponents and dissidents. Secret police organizations are characteristic of ...
, infiltrated the small interior wing and probably obtained valuable information about its activities. The financial resources of the party, ensured by Soviet support and by various satellite organizations (collecting funds in the name of causes such as
pacifism Pacifism is the opposition or resistance to war, militarism (including conscription and mandatory military service) or violence. Pacifists generally reject theories of Just War. The word ''pacifism'' was coined by the French peace campaign ...
or support for the
Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...
side in the
Spanish Civil War The Spanish Civil War ( es, Guerra Civil Española)) or The Revolution ( es, La Revolución, link=no) among Nationalists, the Fourth Carlist War ( es, Cuarta Guerra Carlista, link=no) among Carlists, and The Rebellion ( es, La Rebelión, link ...
), were severely drained—by political difficulties at home, as well as, after 1939, by the severing of connections with Moscow in France and
Czechoslovakia , rue, Чеськословеньско, , yi, טשעכאסלאוואקיי, , common_name = Czechoslovakia , life_span = 1918–19391945–1992 , p1 = Austria-Hungary , image_p1 ...
. Consequently, the executive committee of the Comintern called on Romanian Communists to infiltrate the
National Renaissance Front The National Renaissance Front ( ro, Frontul Renașterii Naționale, FRN; also translated as ''Front of National Regeneration'', ''Front of National Rebirth'', ''Front of National Resurrection'', or ''Front of National Renaissance'') was a Romani ...
(FRN), the newly created sole legal party of Carol's dictatorship, and attempt to attract members of its structures to the revolutionary cause.Pokivailova, p.48 Until 1944, the group active inside Romania became split between the "''prison faction''" (
political prisoner A political prisoner is someone imprisoned for their political activity. The political offense is not always the official reason for the prisoner's detention. There is no internationally recognized legal definition of the concept, although n ...
s who looked to Gheorghiu-Dej as their leader) and the one around Ștefan Foriș and Remus Koffler. The exterior faction of the party was decimated during the
Great Purge The Great Purge or the Great Terror (russian: Большой террор), also known as the Year of '37 (russian: 37-й год, translit=Tridtsat sedmoi god, label=none) and the Yezhovshchina ('period of Yezhov'), was Soviet General Secret ...
: an entire generation of party activists was killed on Stalin's orders, including, among others,
Alexandru Dobrogeanu-Gherea Alexandru Dobrogeanu-Gherea or Alexandru Gherea (rendered in Russian as ''Александр Доброджану-Геря'' or ''Доброжану-Гере'' - ''Aleksandr Dobrodzhanu-Gerya'' /''Dobrozhanu-Gere''; July 7, 1879 —November 4 ...
, David Fabian,
Ecaterina Arbore Ekaterina Arbore, Arbore-Ralli or Ralli-Arbore (rendered into Russian as ''Екатерина Арборе'' or ''Арборэ'' - ''Yekaterina Arborye'' or ''Arbore'', with "Ralli" as ''Ралли''; 1873 or 1875 – 2 December 1937), daughter ...
, Imre Aladar, Elena Filipescu, Dumitru Grofu, Ion Dic Dicescu, Eugen Rozvan,
Marcel Pauker Marcel Pauker (rendered in Russian as ''Марцел Паукер'' - ''Martsel Pauker''; December 6, 1896, Bucharest – August 16, 1938, Butovo, near Moscow) was a Romanian communist militant and husband of the future Romanian Communist l ...
, Alexander Stefanski, Timotei Marin, and Elek Köblös. It was to be
Ana Pauker Ana Pauker (born Hannah Rabinsohn; 13 February 1893 – 3 June 1960) was a Romanian communist leader and served as the country's foreign minister in the late 1940s and early 1950s. Ana Pauker became the world's first female foreign minister whe ...
's mission to take over and reshape the surviving structure. Attacks on Chiaburs in Communist Romania Chiaburs were defined by the Party as the common enemies of communism in Romania. Thus, they were subjected to abuses by the cadres. A chiabur was, typically, a wealthier peasant that had gained a respected status among their village as a good householder and ambitious worker. Chiaburs could also be loosely defined as people owning the means of production or hiring someone for labor for a minimum of a month out of the year. Because the definition of chiabur was so loose, cadres would sometimes take advantage of the system by naming those they had personal vendettas against as chiaburs or simply mislabeling people. The Party sought to reap the benefits of what the chiaburs produced through the newly introduced quota system, an attempt to put down the rebellions against communist power. These allotted quantities of food left many of the chiaburs starving; however, some managed to evade the process by hiding their grain, and when officials came to collect, they assured them they had nothing left. If it was found that a chiabur would not comply, they were subject to many abuses at the hands of the cadres. It was said that "those who were to bear the brunt of class war were the chiaburs, the rural bourgeoise." The chiaburs could be subject to demeaning manual labor in public areas or brutal physical beatings by the cadres. Additionally, cadres would attack the wives and children of the chiaburs as a means of punishing the chiabur heads of household. They would do this through shaming and kicking chiabur children out of school or physically attacking the families.


World War II

In 1940, Romania had to cede Bessarabia and
Northern Bukovina Bukovinagerman: Bukowina or ; hu, Bukovina; pl, Bukowina; ro, Bucovina; uk, Буковина, ; see also other languages. is a historical region, variously described as part of either Central or Eastern Europe (or both).Klaus Peter Berge ...
to the Soviet Union and
Southern Dobruja Southern Dobruja, South Dobruja or Quadrilateral ( Bulgarian: Южна Добруджа, ''Yuzhna Dobrudzha'' or simply Добруджа, ''Dobrudzha''; ro, Dobrogea de Sud, or ) is an area of northeastern Bulgaria comprising Dobrich and Silis ...
to Bulgaria (''see
Soviet occupation of Bessarabia The Soviet invasion and occupation of Bessarabia and Northern Bukovina took place from June 28 to July 3, 1940, as a result of an ultimatum by the Soviet Union to Kingdom of Romania, Romania on June 26, 1940, that threatened the use of force. Be ...
,
Treaty of Craiova The Treaty of Craiova ( bg, Крайовска спогодба, Krayovska spogodba; ro, Tratatul de la Craiova) was signed on 7 September 1940 and ratified on 13 September 1940 by the Kingdom of Bulgaria and the Kingdom of Romania. Under its te ...
''); in contrast with the general mood, the PCdR welcomed both gestures along the lines of its earlier activism. Official history, after ca. 1950, stated that the PCdR protested Northern Transylvania's cession to Hungary later in the same year (the Second Vienna Arbitration), but evidence is inconclusive (party documents attesting the policy are dated after
Nazi Germany Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...
's
invasion of the Soviet Union Operation Barbarossa (german: link=no, Unternehmen Barbarossa; ) was the invasion of the Soviet Union by Nazi Germany and many of its Axis allies, starting on Sunday, 22 June 1941, during the Second World War. The operation, code-named afte ...
). As the border changes sparked a political crisis leading to an Iron Guard takeover—the
National Legionary State The National Legionary State was a totalitarian fascist regime which governed Romania for five months, from 14 September 1940 until its official dissolution on 14 February 1941. The regime was led by General Ion Antonescu in partnership with the ...
—the interior wing's confusion intensified: the upper echelon faced investigation from Georgi Dimitrov (as well as other Comintern officials) on charges of "
Trotskyism Trotskyism is the political ideology and branch of Marxism developed by Ukrainian-Russian revolutionary Leon Trotsky and some other members of the Left Opposition and Fourth International. Trotsky self-identified as an orthodox Marxist, a ...
", and, since the FRN had crumbled, several low-ranking party officials actually began collaborating with the new regime. At around the same time, a small section of the exterior wing remained active in France, where it eventually joined the Resistance to German occupation—it included
Gheorghe Gaston Marin Gheorghe Gaston Marin (April 14, 1918, Chișineu-Criș – February 25, 2010, Bucharest) was a Romanian communist politician who had many roles under Gheorghe Gheorghiu-Dej and Nicolae Ceaușescu. He was born Gheorghe Grossmann in Pădureni, Arad ...
and the ''
Francs-tireurs (, French for "free shooters") were irregular military formations deployed by France during the early stages of the Franco-Prussian War (1870–71). The term was revived and used by partisans to name two major French Resistance movements set ...
Olga Bancic, Nicolae Cristea and
Joseph Boczov Joseph Boczov or József Boczor, aka Ferenc Wolff (3 August 1905 – 21 February 1944) was a Romanian chemical engineer, Hungarian Jew, and volunteer fighter for the French liberation army FTP-MOI. In 1942 Boczov founded and led the 4th detac ...
. As Romania came under the rule of Ion Antonescu and, as an
Axis An axis (plural ''axes'') is an imaginary line around which an object rotates or is symmetrical. Axis may also refer to: Mathematics * Axis of rotation: see rotation around a fixed axis * Axis (mathematics), a designator for a Cartesian-coordinat ...
country, joined in the German offensive against the Soviets, the Communist Party began approaching traditional parties that were engaged in semi-clandestine opposition to Antonescu: alongside the
Social Democrats Social democracy is a political, social, and economic philosophy within socialism that supports political and economic democracy. As a policy regime, it is described by academics as advocating economic and social interventions to promote so ...
, it began talks with the National Peasants' and the
National Liberal National liberalism is a variant of liberalism, combining liberal policies and issues with elements of nationalism. Historically, national liberalism has also been used in the same meaning as conservative liberalism (right-liberalism). A seri ...
parties. At the time, virtually all the interior leadership was imprisoned at various locations (most of them
interned Internment is the imprisonment of people, commonly in large groups, without charges or intent to file charges. The term is especially used for the confinement "of enemy citizens in wartime or of terrorism suspects". Thus, while it can simpl ...
at
Caransebeș Caransebeș (; german: Karansebesch; hu, Karánsebes, Hungarian pronunciation: ) is a city in Caraș-Severin County, part of the Banat region in southwestern Romania. It is located at the confluence of the River Timiș with the River Sebeș, th ...
or in a
concentration camp Internment is the imprisonment of people, commonly in large groups, without charges or intent to file charges. The term is especially used for the confinement "of enemy citizens in wartime or of terrorism suspects". Thus, while it can simpl ...
near
Târgu Jiu Târgu Jiu () is the capital of Gorj County in the Oltenia region of Romania. It is situated on the Southern Sub-Carpathians, on the banks of the river Jiu. Eight localities are administered by the city: Bârsești, Drăgoieni, Iezureni, Polat ...
). Some communists, such as Petre Gheorghe,
Filimon Sârbu Filimon Sârbu (August 10, 1916 – July 19, 1941) was a Romanian communist activist and anti-fascist militant executed by the pro-Nazi authorities during World War II. After the war, he was acclaimed as a hero by the communist government. ...
, Francisc Panet or Ștefan Plavăț, tried to establish organised resistance groups; however, they were quickly captured by the Romanian authorities and executed, as were some of the more active propagandists, such as Pompiliu Ștefu. A statistic of the '' Siguranţa'' reports that, in Bucharest, between January 1941 and September 1942, 143 individuals were tried for communism, of which 19 were sentenced to death and 78 to prison terms or forced labour. The antisemitic Antonescu regime established a distinction between PCdR members of
Jewish Romanian The history of the Jews in Romania concerns the Jews both of Romania and of Romanian origins, from their first mention on what is present-day Romanian territory. Minimal until the 18th century, the size of the Jewish population increased after ...
origin and those of ethnic Romanian or other heritage, deporting the majority of the former, alongside Romanian and
Bessarabian Jews The history of the Jews in Bessarabia, a historical region in Eastern Europe, dates back hundreds of years. Early history Jews are mentioned from very early in the Principality of Moldavia, but they did not represent a significant number. Their m ...
in general, to camps, prisons and makeshift
ghetto A ghetto, often called ''the'' ghetto, is a part of a city in which members of a minority group live, especially as a result of political, social, legal, environmental or economic pressure. Ghettos are often known for being more impoverished t ...
s in occupied
Transnistria Transnistria, officially the Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic (PMR), is an unrecognised breakaway state that is internationally recognised as a part of Moldova. Transnistria controls most of the narrow strip of land between the Dniester riv ...
(''see Holocaust in Romania''). Most Jews from the PCdR category were held in Vapniarka, where improper feeding caused an outbreak of paralysis, and in
Rîbnița Rîbnița or Rybnitsa ( ro, Rîbnița or , Moldovan Cyrillic alphabet: Рыбница; russian: Ры́бница, ''Rybnitsa''; uk, Ри́бниця, ''Rybnytsia''; yi, ריבניצע, ''Ribnitse'') is a town in Transnistria (''de facto'') in M ...
, where some 50 were victims of the authorities'
criminal negligence In criminal law, criminal negligence is a surrogate state of mind required to constitute a ''conventional'' (as opposed to ''strictly liable'') offense. It is not, strictly speaking, a (Law Latin for "guilty mind") because it refers to an ob ...
and were shot by retreating German troops in March 1944. In June 1943, at a time when troops were suffering major defeats on the Eastern Front, the PCdR proposed that all parties form a ''Blocul Național Democrat'' ("National Democratic Bloc"), in order to arrange for Romania to withdraw from its alliance with Nazi Germany. The ensuing talks were prolonged by various factors, most notably by the opposition of National Peasants' Party leader
Iuliu Maniu Iuliu Maniu (; 8 January 1873 – 5 February 1953) was an Austro-Hungarian-born lawyer and Romanian politician. He was a leader of the National Party of Transylvania and Banat before and after World War I, playing an important role in the U ...
, who, alarmed by Soviet successes, was trying to reach a satisfactory compromise with the
Western Allies The Allies, formally referred to as the United Nations from 1942, were an international military coalition formed during the Second World War (1939–1945) to oppose the Axis powers, led by Nazi Germany, Imperial Japan, and Fascist Italy ...
(and, together with the National Liberals' leader
Dinu Brătianu Dinu Brătianu (January 13, 1866 – May 20, 1950), born Constantin I. C. Brătianu, was a Romanian engineer and politician who led the National Liberal Party (PNL) starting in 1934. Life Early career Born at the estate of ''Florica'', in ...
, continued to back negotiations initiated by Antonescu and
Barbu Știrbey Prince Barbu Alexandru Știrbey (; 4 November 1872 – 24 March 1946) was 30th Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Romania in 1927. He was the son of Prince Alexandru Știrbey and his wife Princess Maria Ghika-Comănești, and grandson of another ...
with the United States and the United Kingdom).


1944 Coup

In early 1944, as the
Red Army The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army ( Russian: Рабо́че-крестья́нская Кра́сная армия),) often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic and, afte ...
reached and crossed the Prut River during the
Second Jassy–Kishinev Offensive The second (symbol: s) is the unit of time in the International System of Units (SI), historically defined as of a day – this factor derived from the division of the day first into 24 hours, then to 60 minutes and finally to 60 seconds each ...
, the self-confidence and status gained by the PCdR made possible the creation of the Bloc, which was designed as the basis of a future anti-Axis government. Parallel contacts were established, through
Lucrețiu Pătrășcanu Lucrețiu Pătrășcanu (; November 4, 1900 – April 17, 1954) was a Romanian communist politician and leading member of the Communist Party of Romania (PCR), also noted for his activities as a lawyer, sociologist and economist. For a while, he ...
and
Emil Bodnăraș Emil Bodnăraș (10 February 1904 – 24 January 1976) was a Romanian communist politician, an army officer, and a Soviet agent, who had considerable influence in the Romanian People's Republic.''Final Report'', p. 646 Early life Bodnăraș was ...
, between the PCdR, the Soviets, and
King King is the title given to a male monarch in a variety of contexts. The female equivalent is queen, which title is also given to the consort of a king. *In the context of prehistory, antiquity and contemporary indigenous peoples, the tit ...
Michael. A seminal event also occurred during those months: Ștefan Foriș, who was still general secretary, was deposed by with Soviet approval by the rival "''prison faction''"(at the time, it was headed by former inmates of Caransebeș prison); replaced with the
troika Troika or troyka (from Russian тройка, meaning 'a set of three') may refer to: Cultural tradition * Troika (driving), a traditional Russian harness driving combination, a cultural icon of Russia * Troika (dance), a Russian folk dance Pol ...
formed by
Gheorghe Gheorghiu-Dej Gheorghe Gheorghiu-Dej (; 8 November 1901 – 19 March 1965) was a Romanian communist politician and electrician. He was the first Communist leader of Romania from 1947 to 1965, serving as first secretary of the Romanian Communist Party ...
, Constantin Pîrvulescu, and Iosif Rangheț, Foriș was discreetly assassinated in 1946. Several assessments view Foriș's dismissal as the complete rupture in historical continuity between the PCdR established in 1921 and what became the ruling party of Communist Romania. On 23 August 1944, King Michael, a number of
Romanian Armed Forces The Land Forces, Air Force and Naval Forces of Romania are collectively known as the Romanian Armed Forces ( ro, Forțele Armate Române or ''Armata Română''). The current Commander-in-chief is Lieutenant General Daniel Petrescu who is manage ...
officers, and armed Communist-led civilians supported by the National Democratic Bloc arrested dictator Ion Antonescu and seized control of the state (''see
King Michael's Coup King is the title given to a male monarch in a variety of contexts. The female equivalent is queen, which title is also given to the consort of a king. *In the context of prehistory, antiquity and contemporary indigenous peoples, the ti ...
''). King Michael then proclaimed the old 1923 Constitution in force, ordered the Romanian Army to enter a
ceasefire A ceasefire (also known as a truce or armistice), also spelled cease fire (the antonym of 'open fire'), is a temporary stoppage of a war in which each side agrees with the other to suspend aggressive actions. Ceasefires may be between state act ...
with the Red Army on the
Moldavia Moldavia ( ro, Moldova, or , literally "The Country of Moldavia"; in Romanian Cyrillic alphabet, Romanian Cyrillic: or ; chu, Землѧ Молдавскаѧ; el, Ἡγεμονία τῆς Μολδαβίας) is a historical region and for ...
n front, and withdrew Romania from the Axis. Later party discourse tended to dismiss the importance of both the Soviet offensive and the dialogue with other forces (and eventually described the coup as a revolt with large popular support). The King named General
Constantin Sănătescu Constantin Sănătescu (14 January 1885 – 8 November 1947) was a Romanian general and statesman who served as the 44th Prime Minister of Romania after the 23 August 1944 coup after which Romania left the Axis powers and joined the Allies. Earl ...
as
prime minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister i ...
of a coalition government which was dominated by the military, but included one representative each from the National Liberal Party, National Peasants' Party and Social Democratic Party, with Pătrășcanu as
Minister of Justice A justice ministry, ministry of justice, or department of justice is a ministry or other government agency in charge of the administration of justice. The ministry or department is often headed by a minister of justice (minister for justice in a ...
—the first Communist to hold high office in Romania. The Red Army entered
Bucharest Bucharest ( , ; ro, București ) is the capital and largest city of Romania, as well as its cultural, industrial, and financial centre. It is located in the southeast of the country, on the banks of the Dâmbovița River, less than north of ...
on 31 August, and thereafter played a crucial role in supporting the Communist Party's rise to power as the Soviet military command virtually ruled the city and the country (''see
Soviet occupation of Romania The Soviet occupation of Romania refers to the period from 1944 to August 1958, during which the Soviet Union maintained a significant military presence in Romania. The fate of the territories held by Romania after 1918 that were incorporated int ...
'').


In opposition to Sănătescu and Rădescu

After having been underground for two decades, the Communists enjoyed little popular support at first, compared to the other opposition parties (however, the decrease in popularity of the National Liberals was reflected in the forming of a splinter group around Gheorghe Tătărescu, the National Liberal Party-Tătărescu, who later entered an alliance with the Communist Party). Soon after 23 August, the Communists also engaged in a campaign against Romania's main political group of the time, the National Peasants' Party, and its leaders
Iuliu Maniu Iuliu Maniu (; 8 January 1873 – 5 February 1953) was an Austro-Hungarian-born lawyer and Romanian politician. He was a leader of the National Party of Transylvania and Banat before and after World War I, playing an important role in the U ...
and
Ion Mihalache Ion Mihalache (; March 3, 1882 – February 5, 1963) was a Romanian agrarian politician, the founder and leader of the Peasants' Party (PȚ) and a main figure of its successor, the National Peasants' Party (PNȚ). Early life A schoolteacher bor ...
. In Victor Frunză's account, the conflict's first stage was centered on Communist allegations that Maniu had encouraged violence against the Hungarian community in newly recovered Northern Transylvania. The Communist Party, engaged in a massive recruitment campaign, was able to attract ethnic Romanians in large numbers—workers and intellectuals alike, including some former members of the fascist Iron Guard. By 1947, it grew to around 710,000 members. Although the PCR was still highly disorganized and factionalized, it benefited from Soviet backing (including that of
Vladislav Petrovich Vinogradov Vladislav Petrovich Vinogradov (russian: Владислав Петрович Виноградов; 29 August 1899 in Kuznetsovo, Kazan Governorate – 13 April 1962) was a Soviet military leader. He fought in the First World War, Russian Civ ...
and other Soviet appointees to the Allied Commission). After 1944, it was leading a paramilitary wing, the Patriotic Defense (''Apărarea Patriotică'', disbanded in 1948), and a cultural society, the Romanian Society for Friendship with the Soviet Union. On PCdR initiative, the National Democratic Bloc was dissolved on 8 October 1944; instead, the Communists, Social Democrats, the
Ploughmen's Front The Ploughmen's Front ( ro, Frontul Plugarilor) was a Romanian left-wing agrarian-inspired political organisation of ploughmen, founded at Deva in 1933 and led by Petru Groza. At its peak in 1946, the Front had over 1 million members. Histor ...
,
Mihai Ralea Mihai Dumitru Ralea (also known as Mihail Ralea, Michel Raléa, or Mihai Rale;Straje, p. 586 May 1, 1896 – August 17, 1964) was a Romanian social scientist, cultural journalist, and political figure. He debuted as an affiliate of Poporanism, th ...
's Socialist Peasants' Party (which was absorbed by the former in November), the
Hungarian People's Union The Hungarian People's Union ( hu, Magyar Népi Szövetség, MNSZ; ro, Uniunea Populară Maghiară, UPM) was a left-wing political party active in Romania between 1934 and 1953 that claimed to represent the Hungarian minority in Romania, Hungarian ...
(MADOSZ), and Mitiţă Constantinescu's Union of Patriots formed the National Democratic Front (FND), which campaigned against the government, demanding the appointment of more Communist officials and sympathizers, while claiming democratic legitimacy and alleging that Sănătescu had dictatorial ambitions. The FND was soon joined by the Liberal group around Tătărescu, Nicolae L. Lupu's ''Democratic Peasants' Party'' (the latter claimed the legacy from the defunct Peasants' Party), and Anton Alexandrescu's faction (separated from the
National Peasants' Party The National Peasants' Party (also known as the National Peasant Party or National Farmers' Party; ro, Partidul Național Țărănesc, or ''Partidul Național-Țărănist'', PNȚ) was an agrarian political party in the Kingdom of Romania. It w ...
). Sănătescu resigned in November, but was persuaded by King Michael to form a second government which collapsed within weeks. General
Nicolae Rădescu Nicolae Rădescu (; 30 March 1874 – 16 May 1953) was a Romanian army officer and political figure. He was the last pre-Communist Romania, communist rule List of Prime Ministers of Romania, Prime Minister of Romania, serving from 7 December 1944 ...
was asked to form a government and appointed Teohari Georgescu to the
Ministry of the Interior An interior ministry (sometimes called a ministry of internal affairs or ministry of home affairs) is a government department that is responsible for internal affairs. Lists of current ministries of internal affairs Named "ministry" * Ministr ...
, which allowed for the introduction of Communists into the security forces. The Communist Party subsequently launched a campaign against the Rădescu government, including the mass demonstration of 24 February that resulted in four deaths among the participants. According to Frunză, this culminated in a 13 February 1945 demonstration outside the Royal Palace, and followed a week later by street fighting between Georgescu's Communist forces and supporters of the National Peasants' Party in Bucharest. In a period of escalating chaos, Rădescu called for elections. The Soviet deputy foreign minister
Andrey Vyshinsky Andrey Yanuaryevich Vyshinsky (russian: Андре́й Януа́рьевич Выши́нский; pl, Andrzej Wyszyński) ( – 22 November 1954) was a Soviet politician, jurist and diplomat. He is known as a state prosecutor of Joseph ...
went to Bucharest to request the monarch that he appoint Communist sympathizer
Petru Groza Petru Groza (7 December 1884 – 7 January 1958) was an Austro-Hungarian-born Romanian politician, best known as the first Prime Minister of the Communist Party-dominated government under Soviet occupation during the early stages of the Commu ...
as Prime Minister, with the Soviet government suggesting it would reinstate Romanian sovereignty over Northern Transylvania only in such a scenario. Frunză claimed however that Vyshinsky also intimated a Soviet takeover of the country if the King failed to comply, and that, under pressure from Soviet troops who were supposedly disarming the Romanian military and occupying key installations, Michael agreed and dismissed Rădescu, who fled the country.


First Groza cabinet

On 6 March, Groza became leader of a Communist-led government and named Communists to lead the
Romanian Armed Forces The Land Forces, Air Force and Naval Forces of Romania are collectively known as the Romanian Armed Forces ( ro, Forțele Armate Române or ''Armata Română''). The current Commander-in-chief is Lieutenant General Daniel Petrescu who is manage ...
as well as the ministries of the Interior (Georgescu),
Justice Justice, in its broadest sense, is the principle that people receive that which they deserve, with the interpretation of what then constitutes "deserving" being impacted upon by numerous fields, with many differing viewpoints and perspective ...
(
Lucrețiu Pătrășcanu Lucrețiu Pătrășcanu (; November 4, 1900 – April 17, 1954) was a Romanian communist politician and leading member of the Communist Party of Romania (PCR), also noted for his activities as a lawyer, sociologist and economist. For a while, he ...
),
Communications Communication (from la, communicare, meaning "to share" or "to be in relation with") is usually defined as the transmission of information. The term may also refer to the message communicated through such transmissions or the field of inquir ...
(
Gheorghe Gheorghiu-Dej Gheorghe Gheorghiu-Dej (; 8 November 1901 – 19 March 1965) was a Romanian communist politician and electrician. He was the first Communist leader of Romania from 1947 to 1965, serving as first secretary of the Romanian Communist Party ...
), Propaganda ( Petre Constantinescu-Iaşi) and Finance ( Vasile Luca). The non-Communist ministers came from the Social Democrats (who were falling under the control of the pro-Communists
Lothar Rădăceanu Lothar or Lotar Rădăceanu (born ''Lothar Würzer'' or ''Würzel''; May 19, 1899 – August 24, 1955) was a Romanian journalist and linguist, best known as a socialist and communist politician. Biography Early life and politics Born to an ...
and Ștefan Voitec) and the traditional
Ploughmen's Front The Ploughmen's Front ( ro, Frontul Plugarilor) was a Romanian left-wing agrarian-inspired political organisation of ploughmen, founded at Deva in 1933 and led by Petru Groza. At its peak in 1946, the Front had over 1 million members. Histor ...
ally, as well as, nominally, from the National Peasants' and
National Liberal National liberalism is a variant of liberalism, combining liberal policies and issues with elements of nationalism. Historically, national liberalism has also been used in the same meaning as conservative liberalism (right-liberalism). A seri ...
parties (followers of Tătărescu and Alexandrescu's dissident wings). As a result of the
Potsdam Conference The Potsdam Conference (german: Potsdamer Konferenz) was held at Potsdam in the Soviet occupation zone from July 17 to August 2, 1945, to allow the three leading Allies to plan the postwar peace, while avoiding the mistakes of the Paris P ...
, where
Western Allied The Allies, formally referred to as the Declaration by United Nations, United Nations from 1942, were an international Coalition#Military, military coalition formed during the World War II, Second World War (1939–1945) to oppose the Axis ...
governments refused to recognize Groza's administration, King Michael called on Groza to resign. When he refused, the monarch went to his summer home in
Sinaia Sinaia () is a town and a mountain resort in Prahova County, Romania. It is situated in the historical region of Muntenia. The town was named after the Sinaia Monastery of 1695, around which it was built. The monastery, in turn, is named aft ...
and refused to sign any government decrees or bills (a period colloquially known as ''greva regală''—"the royal strike"). Following Anglo-American mediation, Groza agreed to include politicians from outside his electoral alliance, appointing two secondary figures in their parties (the National Liberal Mihail Romniceanu and the National Peasants' Emil Hațieganu) as Ministers without Portfolio (January 1946). At the time, Groza's party and the PCR came to disagree on some issues (with the Front publicly affirming its support for private land ownership), before the Ploughmen's Front was eventually pressured into supporting Communist tenets. In the meantime, the first measure taken by the cabinet was a new
land reform Land reform is a form of agrarian reform involving the changing of laws, regulations, or customs regarding land ownership. Land reform may consist of a government-initiated or government-backed property redistribution, generally of agricultural ...
that advertised, among others, an interest into peasant issues and a respect for property (in front of common fears that a
Leninist Leninism is a political ideology developed by Russian Marxist revolutionary Vladimir Lenin that proposes the establishment of the dictatorship of the proletariat led by a revolutionary vanguard party as the political prelude to the establishm ...
program was about to be adopted). According to Frunză, although contrasted by the Communist press with its previous equivalent, the measure was supposedly much less relevant—land awarded to individual farmers in 1923 was more than three times the 1945 figures, and all effects were canceled by the 1948–1962
collectivization Collective farming and communal farming are various types of, "agricultural production in which multiple farmers run their holdings as a joint enterprise". There are two broad types of communal farms: agricultural cooperatives, in which member- ...
. It was also then that, through Pătrășcanu and
Alexandru Drăghici Alexandru Drăghici (; September 27, 1913 – December 12, 1993) was a Romanian communist activist and politician. He was Interior Minister in 1952 and from 1957 to 1965, and State Security Minister from 1952 to 1957. In these capacities, he exerci ...
, the Communists consecrated their control of the legal system—the process included the creation of the Romanian People's Tribunals, charged with investigating war crimes, and constantly supported by
agitprop Agitprop (; from rus, агитпроп, r=agitpróp, portmanteau of ''agitatsiya'', "agitation" and ''propaganda'', " propaganda") refers to an intentional, vigorous promulgation of ideas. The term originated in Soviet Russia where it referred ...
in the Communist press. During the period, government-backed Communists used various means to exercising influence over the vast majority of the press, and began infiltrating or competing with independent cultural forums. Economic dominance, partly responding to Soviet requirements, was first effected through the
SovRoms The SovRoms (plural of ''SovRom'') were economic enterprises established in Romania following the communist takeover at the end of World War II, in place until 1954–1956 (when they were dissolved by the Romanian authorities). In theory, SovRo ...
(created in the summer of 1945), directing the bulk of Romanian trade towards the Soviet Union.


1945 restructuring and second Groza cabinet

The Communist Party held its first open conference (16–22 October 1945, at the Mihai Viteazul High School in
Bucharest Bucharest ( , ; ro, București ) is the capital and largest city of Romania, as well as its cultural, industrial, and financial centre. It is located in the southeast of the country, on the banks of the Dâmbovița River, less than north of ...
) and agreed to replace the
Gheorghe Gheorghiu-Dej Gheorghe Gheorghiu-Dej (; 8 November 1901 – 19 March 1965) was a Romanian communist politician and electrician. He was the first Communist leader of Romania from 1947 to 1965, serving as first secretary of the Romanian Communist Party ...
Constantin PîrvulescuIosif Rangheț
troika Troika or troyka (from Russian тройка, meaning 'a set of three') may refer to: Cultural tradition * Troika (driving), a traditional Russian harness driving combination, a cultural icon of Russia * Troika (dance), a Russian folk dance Pol ...
with a joint leadership reflecting an uneasy balance between the external and internal wings: while Gheorghiu-Dej retained his general secretary position,
Ana Pauker Ana Pauker (born Hannah Rabinsohn; 13 February 1893 – 3 June 1960) was a Romanian communist leader and served as the country's foreign minister in the late 1940s and early 1950s. Ana Pauker became the world's first female foreign minister whe ...
, Teohari Georgescu, and Vasile Luca became the other main leaders. The Central Committee had 27 full members * Gheorghe Apostol *
Emil Bodnăraș Emil Bodnăraș (10 February 1904 – 24 January 1976) was a Romanian communist politician, an army officer, and a Soviet agent, who had considerable influence in the Romanian People's Republic.''Final Report'', p. 646 Early life Bodnăraș was ...
* Constantin Câmpeanu *
Nicolae Ceaușescu Nicolae Ceaușescu ( , ;  – 25 December 1989) was a Romanian communist politician and dictator. He was the general secretary of the Romanian Communist Party from 1965 to 1989, and the second and last Communist leader of Romania. He ...
*
Iosif Chișinevschi Iosif Chișinevschi (born Jakob Roitman; 26 December 1905–1963) was a Romanian communist politician. The leading ideologue of the Romanian Communist Party (PCR) from 1944 to 1957, he served as head of its Agitprop Department from 1948 to 19 ...
*
Miron Constantinescu Miron Constantinescu (13 December 1917 – 18 July 1974) was a Romanian communist politician, a leading member of the Romanian Communist Party (PCR, known as PMR for a period of his lifetime), as well as a Marxist sociologist, historian, academic, ...
– Politburo member *
Dumitru Coliu Dumitru Coliu (born Dimitar Kolev, ro, Dimităr Colev, bg, Димитър Колев; November 7, 1907 – 1985) was a Romanian Communism, communist activist and politician. An Bulgarians, ethnic Bulgarian, he was born in Preselentsi, Vasil ...
*
Constanța Crăciun Constanța Crăciun (16 February 1914 – 2 May 2002) was a Romanian politician and educator. Biography She was born in Constanța. She studied literature and philosophy. She became a member of the Romanian Communist Party in 1935. She was ...
* Teohari Georgescu – Politburo member, Secretary *
Gheorghe Gheorghiu-Dej Gheorghe Gheorghiu-Dej (; 8 November 1901 – 19 March 1965) was a Romanian communist politician and electrician. He was the first Communist leader of Romania from 1947 to 1965, serving as first secretary of the Romanian Communist Party ...
– Politburo member, Secretary * Vasile Luca – Politburo member, Secretary * Gheorghe Maurer * * Alexandru Moghioroș * Andrei Neagu * Constantin Pârvulescu – President of Central Control Commission *
Lucrețiu Pătrășcanu Lucrețiu Pătrășcanu (; November 4, 1900 – April 17, 1954) was a Romanian communist politician and leading member of the Communist Party of Romania (PCR), also noted for his activities as a lawyer, sociologist and economist. For a while, he ...
* Andrei Pătrașcu *
Ana Pauker Ana Pauker (born Hannah Rabinsohn; 13 February 1893 – 3 June 1960) was a Romanian communist leader and served as the country's foreign minister in the late 1940s and early 1950s. Ana Pauker became the world's first female foreign minister whe ...
– Politburo member, Secretary * Emil Popa * Ilie Popa * Iosif Rangheț * Leontin Silaghi *
Chivu Stoica Chivu Stoica (the family name being Chivu; 8 August 1908 – 18 February 1975) was a leading Romanian Communist politician, who served as 48th Prime Minister of Romania. Early life Stoica was born in Smeeni, Buzău County, the sixth child of a ...
– Politburo member * * * Gheorghe Vasilichi – Politburo member and 8 candidate members * * Ilie Drăgan *
Alexandru Drăghici Alexandru Drăghici (; September 27, 1913 – December 12, 1993) was a Romanian communist activist and politician. He was Interior Minister in 1952 and from 1957 to 1965, and State Security Minister from 1952 to 1957. In these capacities, he exerci ...
* Dumitru Focșăneanu * Mihai Mujic * Ion Petre * Gheorghe Radnev * Mihai Roșianu The post-1945 constant growth in membership, by far the highest of all Eastern Bloc countries, was to provide a base of support for Gheorghiu-Dej. The conference also saw the first mention of the PCdR as the Romanian Communist Party (PCR), the new name being used as a propaganda tool suggesting a closer connection with the
national interest The national interest is a sovereign state's goals and ambitions (economic, military, cultural, or otherwise), taken to be the aim of government. Etymology The Italian phrase ''ragione degli stati'' was first used by Giovanni della Casa around ...
. Party control over the security forces was successfully used on 8 November 1945, when the opposition parties organised a demonstration in front of the Royal Palace to express solidarity with King Michael, who was still refusing to sign his name to new legislation, on the occasion of his
name day In Christianity, a name day is a tradition in many countries of Europe and the Americas, among other parts of Christendom. It consists of celebrating a day of the year that is associated with one's baptismal name, which is normatively that of a ...
. Demonstrators were faced with gunshots; around 10 people were killed, and many wounded. The official account, according to which the Groza government responded to a coup attempt, was disputed by Frunză. The PCR and its allies, grouped in the Bloc of Democratic Parties, won the Romanian elections of 19 November, although there is evidence of widespread electoral fraud. Years later, historian Petre Ţurlea reviewed an incomplete confidential PCR report about the election that confirmed the Bloc won around 48 percent of the vote. He concluded that had the election been conducted fairly, the opposition parties could have won enough votes between them to form a coalition government, albeit with far less than the 80 percent support opposition supporters long claimed. The following months were dedicated to confronting the
National Peasants' Party The National Peasants' Party (also known as the National Peasant Party or National Farmers' Party; ro, Partidul Național Țărănesc, or ''Partidul Național-Țărănist'', PNȚ) was an agrarian political party in the Kingdom of Romania. It w ...
, which was annihilated after the Tămădău Affair and show trial of its entire leadership. On 30 December 1947, the Communist Party's power was consolidated when King Michael was forced to
abdicate Abdication is the act of formally relinquishing monarchical authority. Abdications have played various roles in the succession procedures of monarchies. While some cultures have viewed abdication as an extreme abandonment of duty, in other societ ...
. The Communist-dominated legislature then abolished the monarchy and proclaimed Romania a "
People's Republic People's republic is an official title, usually used by some currently or formerly communist or left-wing states. It is mainly associated with soviet republics, socialist states following people's democracy, sovereign states with a democratic- ...
", firmly aligned with the Soviet Union. According to the king, his signature was obtained after the Groza cabinet representatives threatened to kill 1,000 students they had rounded up in custody.


Romanian Workers' Party (1948–1965)


Creation

In February 1948, the Communists ended a long process of infiltrating the Romanian Social Democratic Party (ensuring control through electoral alliances and the two-party ''Frontul Unic Muncitoresc''—Singular Workers' Front, the PCR had profited from the departure of
Constantin Titel Petrescu Constantin Titel Petrescu (5 February 1888 – 2 September 1957) was a Romanian politician and lawyer. He was the leader of the Romanian Social Democratic Party. He was born in Craiova, the son of an employee of the National Bank in Buchare ...
's group from the Social Democrats in March 1946). The Social Democrats merged with the PCR to form the Romanian Workers' Party (''Partidul Muncitoresc Român, PMR'') which remained the ruling party's official name until 24 July 1965 (when it returned to the designation as ''Romanian Communist Party''). Nevertheless, Social Democrats were excluded from most party posts and were forced to support Communist policies on the basis of democratic centralism; it was also reported that only half of the PSD's 500,000 members joined the newly founded grouping. Capitalizing on these gains, the Communist government shunted most of the remaining parties aside after the 1948 elections (the
Ploughmen's Front The Ploughmen's Front ( ro, Frontul Plugarilor) was a Romanian left-wing agrarian-inspired political organisation of ploughmen, founded at Deva in 1933 and led by Petru Groza. At its peak in 1946, the Front had over 1 million members. Histor ...
and the
Hungarian People's Union The Hungarian People's Union ( hu, Magyar Népi Szövetség, MNSZ; ro, Uniunea Populară Maghiară, UPM) was a left-wing political party active in Romania between 1934 and 1953 that claimed to represent the Hungarian minority in Romania, Hungarian ...
dissolved themselves in 1953). The PMR fought the elections as the dominant partner of the People's Democratic Front (FND), which won with 93.2 percent of the vote. Dieter Nohlen & Philip Stöver (2010) ''Elections in Europe: A data handbook'', pp1604–1610 By then, however, the FND had taken on the same character as other "
popular front A popular front is "any coalition of working-class and middle-class parties", including liberal and social democratic ones, "united for the defense of democratic forms" against "a presumed Fascist assault". More generally, it is "a coalition ...
s"in the Soviet bloc. The member parties became completely subservient to the PMR, and had to accept its" leading role"as a condition of their continued existence. Groza, however, remained Prime Minister. A new series of economic changes followed: the
National Bank of Romania The National Bank of Romania ( ro, Banca Națională a României, BNR) is the central bank of Romania and was established in April 1880. Its headquarters are located in the capital city of Bucharest. The National Bank of Romania is responsible ...
was passed into full
public ownership State ownership, also called government ownership and public ownership, is the ownership of an industry, asset, or enterprise by the state or a public body representing a community, as opposed to an individual or private party. Public ownershi ...
(December 1946), and, in order to combat the Romanian leu's
devaluation In macroeconomics and modern monetary policy, a devaluation is an official lowering of the value of a country's currency within a fixed exchange-rate system, in which a monetary authority formally sets a lower exchange rate of the national curre ...
, a surprise monetary reform was imposed as a stabilization measure in August 1947 (severely limiting the amount convertible by people without an actual job, primarily members of the aristocracy). The
Marshall Plan The Marshall Plan (officially the European Recovery Program, ERP) was an American initiative enacted in 1948 to provide foreign aid to Western Europe. The United States transferred over $13 billion (equivalent of about $ in ) in economic re ...
was being overtly condemned, while nationalization and a planned economy were enforced beginning 11 June 1948. The first five-year plan, conceived by
Miron Constantinescu Miron Constantinescu (13 December 1917 – 18 July 1974) was a Romanian communist politician, a leading member of the Romanian Communist Party (PCR, known as PMR for a period of his lifetime), as well as a Marxist sociologist, historian, academic, ...
's Soviet-Romanian committee, was adopted in 1950. Of newly enforced measures, the arguably most far-reaching was
collectivization Collective farming and communal farming are various types of, "agricultural production in which multiple farmers run their holdings as a joint enterprise". There are two broad types of communal farms: agricultural cooperatives, in which member- ...
—by 1962, when the process was considered complete, 96% of the total
arable land Arable land (from the la, arabilis, "able to be ploughed") is any land capable of being ploughed and used to grow crops.''Oxford English Dictionary'', "arable, ''adj''. and ''n.''" Oxford University Press (Oxford), 2013. Alternatively, for th ...
had been enclosed in
collective farming Collective farming and communal farming are various types of, "agricultural production in which multiple farmers run their holdings as a joint enterprise". There are two broad types of communal farms: agricultural cooperatives, in which member- ...
, while around 80,000 peasants faced trial for resisting and 17,000 others were uprooted or
deported Deportation is the expulsion of a person or group of people from a place or country. The term ''expulsion'' is often used as a synonym for deportation, though expulsion is more often used in the context of international law, while deportation ...
for being ''chiaburi'' (the Romanian equivalent of ''
kulak Kulak (; russian: кула́к, r=kulák, p=kʊˈlak, a=Ru-кулак.ogg; plural: кулаки́, ''kulakí'', 'fist' or 'tight-fisted'), also kurkul () or golchomag (, plural: ), was the term which was used to describe peasants who owned ove ...
s''). In 1950, the party, which viewed itself as the vanguard of the working class, reported that people of
proletarian The proletariat (; ) is the social class of wage-earners, those members of a society whose only possession of significant economic value is their labour power (their capacity to work). A member of such a class is a proletarian. Marxist philoso ...
origin held 64% of party offices and 40% of higher government posts, while results of the recruitment efforts remained below official expectations.US Library of Congress: "The Communist Party"


Internal purges

During the period, the central scene of the PMR was occupied by the conflict between the "''Muscovite wing''", the "''prison wing''"led by
Gheorghe Gheorghiu-Dej Gheorghe Gheorghiu-Dej (; 8 November 1901 – 19 March 1965) was a Romanian communist politician and electrician. He was the first Communist leader of Romania from 1947 to 1965, serving as first secretary of the Romanian Communist Party ...
, and the newly emerged and weaker"''Secretariat wing''"led by
Lucrețiu Pătrășcanu Lucrețiu Pătrășcanu (; November 4, 1900 – April 17, 1954) was a Romanian communist politician and leading member of the Communist Party of Romania (PCR), also noted for his activities as a lawyer, sociologist and economist. For a while, he ...
. After October 1945, the two former groups had associated in neutralizing Pătrăşcanu's—exposed as" bourgeois"and progressively marginalized, it was ultimately decapitated in 1948. Beginning that year, the PMR leadership officially questioned its own political support, and began a massive campaign to remove"foreign and hostile elements" from its rapidly expanded structures. In 1952, with Stalin's renewed approval, Gheorghiu-Dej emerged victorious from the confrontation with
Ana Pauker Ana Pauker (born Hannah Rabinsohn; 13 February 1893 – 3 June 1960) was a Romanian communist leader and served as the country's foreign minister in the late 1940s and early 1950s. Ana Pauker became the world's first female foreign minister whe ...
, his chief "Muscovite"rival, as well as purging Vasile Luca, Teohari Georgescu, and their supporters from the party—alleging that their various political attitudes were proof of" right-wing deviationism". Out of a membership of approximately one million, between 300,000 and 465,000 members, almost half of the party, was removed in the successive purges. The specific target for the "verification campaign", as it was officially called, were former Iron Guard affiliates. The move against Pauker's group echoed Stalinist purges of Jews in particular from other Communist Parties in the Eastern bloc—notably, the anti-"Cosmopolitan" campaign in which
Joseph Stalin Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin (born Ioseb Besarionis dze Jughashvili; – 5 March 1953) was a Georgian revolutionary and Soviet political leader who led the Soviet Union from 1924 until his death in 1953. He held power as General Secretar ...
targeted Jews in the Soviet Union, and the
Prague Trials Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 million people. The city has a temperate oc ...
in
Czechoslovakia , rue, Чеськословеньско, , yi, טשעכאסלאוואקיי, , common_name = Czechoslovakia , life_span = 1918–19391945–1992 , p1 = Austria-Hungary , image_p1 ...
which removed Jews from leading positions in that country's Communist government. At the same time, a new republican constitution, replacing its 1948 precedent, legislated Stalinist tenets, and proclaimed that "the people's democratic state is consistently carrying out the policy of enclosing and eliminating capitalist elements". Gheorghiu-Dej, who remained an orthodox Stalinist, took the position of Premier while moving Groza to the presidency of the Presidium of the Great National Assembly (de facto President of the People's Republic). Executive and PMR leaderships remained in Gheorghiu-Dej's hands until his death in 1965 (with the exception of 1954–1955, when his office of PMR leader was taken over by Gheorghe Apostol). From the moment it came to power and until Stalin's death, as the Cold War erupted, the PMR endorsed Soviet requirements for the Eastern Bloc. Aligning the country with the
Cominform The Information Bureau of the Communist and Workers' Parties (), commonly known as Cominform (), was a co-ordination body of Marxist-Leninist communist parties in Europe during the early Cold War that was formed in part as a replacement of the ...
, it officially condemned Josip Broz Tito's independent actions in
Yugoslavia Yugoslavia (; sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Jugoslavija, Југославија ; sl, Jugoslavija ; mk, Југославија ;; rup, Iugoslavia; hu, Jugoszlávia; rue, label=Pannonian Rusyn, Югославия, translit=Juhoslavija ...
; Tito was routinely attacked by the official press, and the Romanian-Yugoslav
Danube The Danube ( ; ) is a river that was once a long-standing frontier of the Roman Empire and today connects 10 European countries, running through their territories or being a border. Originating in Germany, the Danube flows southeast for , p ...
border became the scene of massive
agitprop Agitprop (; from rus, агитпроп, r=agitpróp, portmanteau of ''agitatsiya'', "agitation" and ''propaganda'', " propaganda") refers to an intentional, vigorous promulgation of ideas. The term originated in Soviet Russia where it referred ...
displays (''see
Tito–Stalin split The Tito–Stalin split or the Yugoslav–Soviet split was the culmination of a conflict between the political leaderships of Yugoslavia and the Soviet Union, under Josip Broz Tito and Joseph Stalin, respectively, in the years following World W ...
and
Informbiro The Informbiro period was an era of Yugoslavia's history following the Tito–Stalin split in mid-1948 that lasted until the country's partial rapprochement with the Soviet Union in 1955 with the signing of the Belgrade declaration. After Wor ...
'').


Gheorghiu-Dej and de-Stalinization

Uncomfortable and possibly threatened by the reformist measures adopted by Stalin's successor,
Nikita Khrushchev Nikita Sergeyevich Khrushchev (– 11 September 1971) was the First Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1953 to 1964 and chairman of the country's Council of Ministers from 1958 to 1964. During his rule, Khrushchev s ...
, Gheorghiu-Dej began to steer Romania towards a more "independent" path while remaining within the Soviet orbit during the late 1950s. Following the Twentieth Party Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, in which Khurshchev initiated De-Stalinization, Gheorghiu-Dej issued propaganda accusing Pauker, Luca and Georgescu of having been an arch-Stalinists responsible for the party's excesses in the late 1940s and early 1950s (notably, in regard to collectivization)—despite the fact that they had occasionally opposed a number of radical measures advocated by the General Secretary. After that purge, Gheorghiu-Dej had begun promoting PMR activists who were perceived as more loyal to his own political views; among them were
Nicolae Ceauşescu Nicolae may refer to: * Nicolae (name), a Romanian name * ''Nicolae'' (novel), a 1997 novel See also *Nicolai (disambiguation) Nicolai may refer to: *Nicolai (given name) people with the forename ''Nicolai'' *Nicolai (surname) people with the s ...
, Gheorghe Stoica, Ghizela Vass, Grigore Preoteasa,
Alexandru Bârlădeanu Alexandru Bârlădeanu (or ''Bîrlădeanu''; 25 January 1911 – 13 November 1997) was a Romanian Marxian economist and statesman who was prominent during the communist regime until being sidelined in 1968. In his later years, following the collap ...
,
Ion Gheorghe Maurer Ion Gheorghe Iosif Maurer (23 September 1902 – 8 February 2000) was a Romanian communist politician and lawyer, and the 49th Prime Minister of Romania. He is the longest serving Prime Minister in the history of Romania (having served for ...
,
Gheorghe Gaston Marin Gheorghe Gaston Marin (April 14, 1918, Chișineu-Criș – February 25, 2010, Bucharest) was a Romanian communist politician who had many roles under Gheorghe Gheorghiu-Dej and Nicolae Ceaușescu. He was born Gheorghe Grossmann in Pădureni, Arad ...
, Paul Niculescu-Mizil, and
Gheorghe Rădulescu Gheorghe is a Romanian given name and surname. It is a variant of George, also a name in Romanian but with soft Gs. It may refer to: Given name * Gheorghe Adamescu * Gheorghe Albu * Gheorghe Alexandrescu * Gheorghe Andriev * Gheorghe Apostol ...
; in parallel, citing Khrushchevite precedents, the PMR briefly reorganized its leadership on a plural basis (1954–1955), while Gheorghiu-Dej reshaped party doctrine to include ambiguous messages about Stalin's legacy (insisting on the defunct Soviet's leader contribution to Marxist thought, official documents also deplored his
personality cult A cult of personality, or a cult of the leader, Mudde, Cas and Kaltwasser, Cristóbal Rovira (2017) ''Populism: A Very Short Introduction''. New York: Oxford University Press. p. 63. is the result of an effort which is made to create an id ...
and encouraged Stalinists to
self-criticism Self-criticism involves how an individual evaluates oneself. Self-criticism in psychology is typically studied and discussed as a negative personality trait in which a person has a disrupted self-identity. The opposite of self-criticism would be ...
). In this context, the PMR soon dismissed all the relevant consequences of the Twentieth Soviet Congress, and Gheorghiu-Dej even argued that De-Stalinization had been imposed by his team right after 1952. At a party meeting in March 1956, two members of the Politburo who were supporters of Khruschevite reforms,
Miron Constantinescu Miron Constantinescu (13 December 1917 – 18 July 1974) was a Romanian communist politician, a leading member of the Romanian Communist Party (PCR, known as PMR for a period of his lifetime), as well as a Marxist sociologist, historian, academic, ...
and Iosif Chişinevschi, criticized Gheorghiu-Dej's leadership and identified him with Romanian Stalinism. They were purged in 1957, themselves accused of being Stalinists and of having been plotting with Pauker. Through Ceaușescu's voice, Gheorghiu-Dej also marginalized another group of old members of the PMR, associated with Constantin Doncea (June 1958). On the outside too, the PMR, leading a country that had joined the
Warsaw Pact The Warsaw Pact (WP) or Treaty of Warsaw, formally the Treaty of Friendship, Cooperation and Mutual Assistance, was a collective defense treaty signed in Warsaw, Poland, between the Soviet Union and seven other Eastern Bloc socialist repub ...
, remained an agent of political repression: it fully supported Khurshchev's invasion of
Hungary Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the ...
in response to the Revolution of 1956, after which Imre Nagy and other dissident Hungarian leaders were imprisoned on Romanian soil. The Hungarian rebellion also sparked student protests in such places as Bucharest,
Timișoara ), City of Roses ( ro, Orașul florilor), City of Parks ( ro, Orașul parcurilor) , image_map = Timisoara jud Timis.svg , map_caption = Location in Timiș County , pushpin_map = Romania#Europe , pushpin_ ...
, Oradea,
Cluj ; hu, kincses város) , official_name=Cluj-Napoca , native_name= , image_skyline= , subdivision_type1 = County , subdivision_name1 = Cluj County , subdivision_type2 = Status , subdivision_name2 = County seat , settlement_type = City , le ...
and Iași, which contributed to unease inside the PMR and resulted in a wave of arrests. While refusing to allow dissemination of Soviet literature exposing Stalinism (writers such as
Ilya Ehrenburg Ilya Grigoryevich Ehrenburg (russian: link=no, Илья́ Григо́рьевич Эренбу́рг, ; – August 31, 1967) was a Soviet writer, revolutionary, journalist and historian. Ehrenburg was among the most prolific and notable autho ...
and
Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn Aleksandr Isayevich Solzhenitsyn. (11 December 1918 – 3 August 2008) was a Russian novelist. One of the most famous Soviet dissidents, Solzhenitsyn was an outspoken critic of communism and helped to raise global awareness of political repres ...
), Romanian leaders took active part in the campaign against Boris Pasternak. Despite Stalin's death, the massive police apparatus headed by the
Securitate The Securitate (, Romanian for ''security'') was the popular term for the Departamentul Securității Statului (Department of State Security), the secret police agency of the Socialist Republic of Romania. Previously, before the communist regime ...
(created in 1949 and rapidly growing in numbers) maintained a steady pace in its suppression of"
class enemies The term enemy of the people or enemy of the nation, is a designation for the political or class opponents of the subgroup in power within a larger group. The term implies that by opposing the ruling subgroup, the "enemies" in question are ac ...
", until as late as 1962–1964. In 1962–1964, the party leadership approved a mass
amnesty Amnesty (from the Ancient Greek ἀμνηστία, ''amnestia'', "forgetfulness, passing over") is defined as "A pardon extended by the government to a group or class of people, usually for a political offense; the act of a sovereign power offici ...
, extended to, among other prisoners, ca. 6,700 guilty of political crimes. This marked a toning down in the violence and scale of repression, after almost twenty years during which the Party had acted against political opposition and active anti-communist resistance, as well as against religious institutions (most notably, the Romanian Roman Catholic and
Greek-Catholic The term Greek Catholic Church can refer to a number of Eastern Catholic Churches following the Byzantine (Greek) liturgy, considered collectively or individually. The terms Greek Catholic, Greek Catholic church or Byzantine Catholic, Byzantine Ca ...
Churches). Estimates for the total number of victims in the 1947/1948-1964 period vary significantly: as low as 160,000 or 282,000Cioroianu, ''Pe umerii...'', p.313 political prisoners, and as high 600,000 (according to one estimate, about 190,000 people were killed or died in custody— ). Notorious penal facilities of the time included the Danube-Black Sea Canal, Sighet,
Gherla Gherla (; hu, Szamosújvár; german: Neuschloss) is a municipiu, municipality in Cluj County, Romania (in the historical region of Transylvania). It is located from Cluj-Napoca on the river Someșul Mic, and has a population of 20,203. Three vil ...
,
Aiud Aiud (; la, Brucla, hu, Nagyenyed, Hungarian pronunciation: ; german: Straßburg am Mieresch) is a city located in Alba County, Transylvania, Romania. The city's population is 22,876. It has the status of municipality and is the 2nd-largest c ...
, Pitești, and
Râmnicu Sărat Râmnicu Sărat (also spelled ''Rîmnicu Sărat'', , german: Rümnick or ''Rebnick''; tr, Remnik) is a municipiu, city in Buzău County, Romania, in the historical region of Muntenia. It was first attested in a document of 1439, and raised to the ...
; another method of punishment was deportation to the inhospitable Bărăgan Plain.


Gheorghiu-Dej and the "national path"

Nationalism Nationalism is an idea and movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the state. As a movement, nationalism tends to promote the interests of a particular nation (as in a group of people), Smith, Anthony. ''Nationalism: The ...
and
national communism National communism represents various forms in which Marxism–Leninism and socialism has been adopted and/or implemented by leaders in different countries using aspects of nationalism or national identity to form a policy independent from commu ...
penetrated official discourse, largely owing to Gheorghiu-Dej's call for economic independence and distancing from the
Comecon The Council for Mutual Economic Assistance (, ; English abbreviation COMECON, CMEA, CEMA, or CAME) was an economic organization from 1949 to 1991 under the leadership of the Soviet Union that comprised the countries of the Eastern Bloc#List of s ...
. Moves to withdraw the country from Soviet overseeing were taken in quick succession after 1953. Khrushchev allowed Constantinescu to dissolve the
SovRoms The SovRoms (plural of ''SovRom'') were economic enterprises established in Romania following the communist takeover at the end of World War II, in place until 1954–1956 (when they were dissolved by the Romanian authorities). In theory, SovRo ...
in 1954, followed by the closing of Romanian-Soviet cultural ventures such as Editura Cartea Rusă at the end of the decade. Industrialization along the PMR's own directives highlighted Romanian independence—one of its consequences was the massive steel-producing industrial complex in Galați, which, being dependent on imports of iron from overseas, was for long a major strain on the Romanian economy. In 1957, Gheorghiu-Dej and Emil Bodnăraş persuaded the Soviets to withdraw their remaining troops from Romanian soil. As early as 1956, Romania's political apparatus reconciled with Josip Broz Tito, which led to a series of common economic projects (culminating in the Iron Gates venture). A drastic divergence in ideological outlooks manifested itself only after autumn 1961, when the PMR's leadership felt threatened by the Soviet Union's will to impose the condemnation of Stalinism as the standard in communist states. Following the
Sino-Soviet split The Sino-Soviet split was the breaking of political relations between the China, People's Republic of China and the Soviet Union caused by Doctrine, doctrinal divergences that arose from their different interpretations and practical applications ...
of the late 1950s and the Soviet-Albanian split in 1961, Romania initially gave full support to the Khrushchev's stance, but maintained exceptionally good relations with both
Maoist China Maoism, officially called Mao Zedong Thought by the Chinese Communist Party, is a variety of Marxism–Leninism that Mao Zedong developed to realise a socialist revolution in the agricultural, pre-industrial society of the Republic of Ch ...
and
Communist Albania The People's Socialist Republic of Albania ( sq, Republika Popullore Socialiste e Shqipërisë, links=no) was the Marxist–Leninist one party state that existed in Albania from 1946 to 1992 (the official name of the country was the People's R ...
. Romanian media was alone among Warsaw Pact countries to report Chinese criticism of the Soviet leadership from its source; in return,
Maoist Maoism, officially called Mao Zedong Thought by the Chinese Communist Party, is a variety of Marxism–Leninism that Mao Zedong developed to realise a socialist revolution in the agricultural, pre-industrial society of the Republic of Ch ...
officials complimented Romanian nationalism by supporting the view that Bessarabia had been a traditional victim of
Russian imperialism Russian imperialism includes the policy and ideology of power exerted by Russia, as well as its antecedent states, over other countries and external territories. This includes the conquests of the Russian Empire, the imperial actions of the Soviet ...
. The change in policies was to become obvious in 1964, when the Communist regime offered a stiff response to the '' Valev Plan'', a Soviet project of creating trans-national economic units and of assigning Romanian areas the task of supplying agricultural products. Several other measures of that year also presented themselves as radical changes in tone: after Gheorghiu-Dej endorsed Andrei Oţetea's publishing of
Karl Marx Karl Heinrich Marx (; 5 May 1818 – 14 March 1883) was a German philosopher, economist, historian, sociologist, political theorist, journalist, critic of political economy, and socialist revolutionary. His best-known titles are the 1848 ...
's Russophobic texts (uncovered by the
Polish Polish may refer to: * Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe * Polish language * Poles Poles,, ; singular masculine: ''Polak'', singular feminine: ''Polka'' or Polish people, are a West Slavic nation and ethnic group, w ...
historian Stanisław Schwann), the PMR itself took a stand against Khrushchevite principles by issuing, in late April, a declaration published in ''
Scînteia ''Scînteia'' (Romanian for "The Spark") was the name of two newspapers edited by Communist groups at different intervals in Romanian history. The title is a homage to the Russian language paper ''Iskra''. It was known as ''Scânteia'' until th ...
'', through which it stressed its commitment to a "national path" towards Communism (it read: "There does not and cannot exist a "parent" party and a "son" party or "superior" party and "subordinate" parties"). During late 1964, the PMR's leadership clashed with new Soviet leader
Leonid Brezhnev Leonid Ilyich Brezhnev; uk, links= no, Леонід Ілліч Брежнєв, . (19 December 1906– 10 November 1982) was a Soviet politician who served as General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union between 1964 and ...
over the issue of
KGB The KGB (russian: links=no, lit=Committee for State Security, Комитет государственной безопасности (КГБ), a=ru-KGB.ogg, p=kəmʲɪˈtʲet ɡəsʊˈdarstvʲɪn(ː)əj bʲɪzɐˈpasnəsʲtʲɪ, Komitet gosud ...
advisers still present in the
Securitate The Securitate (, Romanian for ''security'') was the popular term for the Departamentul Securității Statului (Department of State Security), the secret police agency of the Socialist Republic of Romania. Previously, before the communist regime ...
, and eventually managed to have them recalled, making Romania the Eastern Bloc's first country to have accomplished this. These actions gave Romania greater freedom in pursuing the program which Gheorghiu-Dej had been committed to since 1954, one allowing Romania to defy reforms in the Eastern Bloc and to maintain a largely Stalinist course. It has also been argued that Romania's emancipation was, in effect, limited to economic relations and military cooperation, being as such dependent on a relatively tolerant mood inside the Soviet Union. Nevertheless, the PMR's nationalism made it increasingly popular with Romanian
intellectual An intellectual is a person who engages in critical thinking, research, and reflection about the reality of society, and who proposes solutions for the normative problems of society. Coming from the world of culture, either as a creator or a ...
s, and the last stage of the Gheorghiu-Dej regime was popularly identified with
liberalization Liberalization or liberalisation (British English) is a broad term that refers to the practice of making laws, systems, or opinions less severe, usually in the sense of eliminating certain government regulations or restrictions. The term is used m ...
.


Romanian Communist Party (1965–1989)


Ceaușescu's rise

Gheorghiu-Dej died in March 1965 and was succeeded by a collective leadership made up of
Nicolae Ceaușescu Nicolae Ceaușescu ( , ;  – 25 December 1989) was a Romanian communist politician and dictator. He was the general secretary of the Romanian Communist Party from 1965 to 1989, and the second and last Communist leader of Romania. He ...
as general secretary,
Chivu Stoica Chivu Stoica (the family name being Chivu; 8 August 1908 – 18 February 1975) was a leading Romanian Communist politician, who served as 48th Prime Minister of Romania. Early life Stoica was born in Smeeni, Buzău County, the sixth child of a ...
as president and
Ion Gheorghe Maurer Ion Gheorghe Iosif Maurer (23 September 1902 – 8 February 2000) was a Romanian communist politician and lawyer, and the 49th Prime Minister of Romania. He is the longest serving Prime Minister in the history of Romania (having served for ...
as Premier. Ceaușescu removed rivals such as Stoica,
Alexandru Drăghici Alexandru Drăghici (; September 27, 1913 – December 12, 1993) was a Romanian communist activist and politician. He was Interior Minister in 1952 and from 1957 to 1965, and State Security Minister from 1952 to 1957. In these capacities, he exerci ...
, and Gheorghe Apostol from the government, and ultimately from the party leadership, and began accumulating posts for himself. By 1969, he was in complete control of the Central Committee. The circumstances surrounding this process are still disputed, but theories evidence that the support given to him by
Ion Gheorghe Maurer Ion Gheorghe Iosif Maurer (23 September 1902 – 8 February 2000) was a Romanian communist politician and lawyer, and the 49th Prime Minister of Romania. He is the longest serving Prime Minister in the history of Romania (having served for ...
and
Emil Bodnăraș Emil Bodnăraș (10 February 1904 – 24 January 1976) was a Romanian communist politician, an army officer, and a Soviet agent, who had considerable influence in the Romanian People's Republic.''Final Report'', p. 646 Early life Bodnăraș was ...
, as well as the ascendancy of
Ilie Verdeț Ilie Verdeț (10 May 1925 – 20 March 2001) was a Romanian communist politician who served as Romania’s Prime Minister from 1979 to 1982. Biography Born in Comănești, Bacău County, and a miner from age 12, he joined the Romanian Commun ...
, Virgil Trofin, and Paul Niculescu-Mizil, were instrumental in ensuring legitimacy. Soon after 1965, Ceaușescu used his prerogatives to convoke a Party Commission headed by Ion Popescu-Puțuri, charged with investigating both Stalinist legacy and Gheorghiu-Dej's purges: resulting in the rehabilitation of a large number of Communist officials (including, among others, Ștefan Foriș,
Lucrețiu Pătrășcanu Lucrețiu Pătrășcanu (; November 4, 1900 – April 17, 1954) was a Romanian communist politician and leading member of the Communist Party of Romania (PCR), also noted for his activities as a lawyer, sociologist and economist. For a while, he ...
,
Miron Constantinescu Miron Constantinescu (13 December 1917 – 18 July 1974) was a Romanian communist politician, a leading member of the Romanian Communist Party (PCR, known as PMR for a period of his lifetime), as well as a Marxist sociologist, historian, academic, ...
, Vasile Luca, and Romanian victims of the Soviet
Great Purge The Great Purge or the Great Terror (russian: Большой террор), also known as the Year of '37 (russian: 37-й год, translit=Tridtsat sedmoi god, label=none) and the Yezhovshchina ('period of Yezhov'), was Soviet General Secret ...
). This measure was instrumental in consolidating the new leadership while further increasing its distance from Gheorghiu-Dej's political legacy. In 1965, Ceaușescu declared that Romania was no longer a People's Democracy but a
Socialist Republic Socialism is a left-wing economic philosophy and movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership of the means of production as opposed to private ownership. As a term, it describes the ec ...
and changed the name of the party back to the Romanian Communist Party—steps which were meant to indicate that Romania was following strict Marxist policies while remaining independent. He continued Romanianization and de-Sovietization efforts by stressing notions such as
sovereignty Sovereignty is the defining authority within individual consciousness, social construct, or territory. Sovereignty entails hierarchy within the state, as well as external autonomy for states. In any state, sovereignty is assigned to the perso ...
and self-determination. At the time, Ceauşescu made references to Gheorghiu-Dej's own
personality cult A cult of personality, or a cult of the leader, Mudde, Cas and Kaltwasser, Cristóbal Rovira (2017) ''Populism: A Very Short Introduction''. New York: Oxford University Press. p. 63. is the result of an effort which is made to create an id ...
, while implying that his was to be a new style of leadership. In its official discourse, the PCR introduced the dogmas of "socialist democracy" and direct communication with the masses. From ca. 1965 to 1975, there was a noted rise in the standard of living for the Romanian population as a whole, which was similar to developments in most other Eastern bloc countries. Political scientist Daniel Barbu, who noted that this social improvement trend began ca. 1950 and benefited 45% of the population, concluded that one of its main effects was to increase the citizens' dependency on the state. A seminal event occurred in August 1968, when Ceaușescu highlighted his anti-Soviet discourse by vocally opposing the
Warsaw Pact invasion of Czechoslovakia The Warsaw Pact invasion of Czechoslovakia refers to the events of 20–21 August 1968, when the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic was jointly invaded by four Warsaw Pact countries: the Soviet Union, the Polish People's Republic, the People's Rep ...
; a highly popular measure with the Romanian public, it led to sizable enrollments in the PCR and the newly created paramilitary Patriotic Guards (created with the goal of meeting a possible Soviet intervention in Romania). From 1965 to 1976, the PCR rose from approximately 1.4 million members to 2.6 million.US Library of Congress: "The Communist Party"; Cioroianu, ''Pe umerii...'', p.414 In the contingency of an anti-Soviet war, the PCR even sought an alliance with the maverick Yugoslav leader Josip Broz Tito—negotiations did not yield a clear result.Cioroianu, ''Pe umerii...'', p.409 Although military intervention in Romania was reportedly taken into consideration by the Soviets, there is indication that
Leonid Brezhnev Leonid Ilyich Brezhnev; uk, links= no, Леонід Ілліч Брежнєв, . (19 December 1906– 10 November 1982) was a Soviet politician who served as General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union between 1964 and ...
had himself ruled out Romanian participation in Warsaw Pact maneuvers, and that he continued to rely on Ceaușescu's support for other common goals. While it appears that Romanian leaders genuinely approved of the Prague Spring reforms undertaken by
Alexander Dubček Alexander Dubček (; 27 November 1921 – 7 November 1992) was a Slovak politician who served as the First Secretary of the Presidium of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia (KSČ) (''de facto'' leader of Czechoslovak ...
, Ceaușescu's gesture also served to consolidate his image as a national and independent communist leader. One year before the invasion of Czechoslovakia, Ceaușescu opened up diplomatic ties with
West Germany West Germany is the colloquial term used to indicate the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG; german: Bundesrepublik Deutschland , BRD) between its formation on 23 May 1949 and the German reunification through the accession of East Germany on 3 O ...
, and refused to break links with Israel following the
Six-Day War The Six-Day War (, ; ar, النكسة, , or ) or June War, also known as the 1967 Arab–Israeli War or Third Arab–Israeli War, was fought between Israel and a coalition of Arab states (primarily Egypt, Syria, and Jordan) from 5 to 10 Ju ...
. Starting with the much-publicized visit by France's Charles de Gaulle (May 1968), Romania was the recipient of Western world support going well into the 1970s (significant visits were paid by United States Presidents
Richard Nixon Richard Milhous Nixon (January 9, 1913April 22, 1994) was the 37th president of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served as a representative and senator from California and was ...
and Gerald Ford, in 1969 and 1975 respectively, while Ceaușescu was frequently received in Western capitals).


Ceaușescu's supremacy

Ceaușescu developed a cult of personality around himself and his wife
Elena Elena may refer to: People * Elena (given name), including a list of people and characters with this name * Joan Ignasi Elena (born 1968), Catalan politician * Francine Elena (born 1986), British poet Geography * Elena (town), a town in Veliko ...
(herself promoted to high offices) after visiting North Korea and noting the
parallel Parallel is a geometric term of location which may refer to: Computing * Parallel algorithm * Parallel computing * Parallel metaheuristic * Parallel (software), a UNIX utility for running programs in parallel * Parallel Sysplex, a cluster of ...
developed by
Kim Il-sung Kim Il-sung (; , ; born Kim Song-ju, ; 15 April 1912 – 8 July 1994) was a North Korean politician and the founder of North Korea, which he ruled from the country's establishment in 1948 until his death in 1994. He held the posts of ...
, while incorporating in it several aspects of past authoritarian regimes in Romania (''see
Conducător ''Conducător'' (, "Leader") was the title used officially by Romanian dictator Ion Antonescu during World War II, also occasionally used in official discourse to refer to Carol II and Nicolae Ceaușescu. History The word is derived from the Ro ...
''). During the early 1970s, while curbing liberalization, he launched his own version of China's
Cultural Revolution The Cultural Revolution, formally known as the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution, was a sociopolitical movement in the People's Republic of China (PRC) launched by Mao Zedong in 1966, and lasting until his death in 1976. Its stated goa ...
, announced by the ''
July Theses The July Theses ( ro, Tezele din iulie) is a name commonly given to a speech delivered by Romanian leader Nicolae Ceaușescu on July 6, 1971, before the Executive Committee of the Romanian Communist Party (PCR). Its full name was ("Proposed meas ...
''. In effect, measures to concentrate power in Ceaușescu's hands were taken as early as 1967, when the general secretary became the ultimate authority on foreign policy. At the time, a new organization was instituted under the name of Front of Socialist Unity (eventually renamed the
Front of Socialist Unity and Democracy The Front of Socialist Unity and Democracy ( ro, Frontul Democrației și Unității Socialiste, FDUS) was a political alliance in Romania from 1968 to 1989, dominated by the Romanian Communist Party (PCR). History The alliance was formed in 1968 ...
). Ostensibly a popular front affiliating virtually all non-party members, it was actually tightly controlled by party activists. It was intended to consolidate the impression that the entire population was backing Ceaușescu's policies. As a result of these new policies, the Central Committee, which acted as the main PCR body between Congresses, had increased to 265 full members and 181 candidate members (supposed to meet at least four times a year). By then, the general secretary also called for women to be enrolled in greater numbers in all party structures. In parallel, the political doctrine in respect to minorities claimed interest in obtaining allegiance from both
Hungarians Hungarians, also known as Magyars ( ; hu, magyarok ), are a nation and  ethnic group native to Hungary () and historical Hungarian lands who share a common culture, history, ancestry, and language. The Hungarian language belongs to the Urali ...
and
Germans , native_name_lang = de , region1 = , pop1 = 72,650,269 , region2 = , pop2 = 534,000 , region3 = , pop3 = 157,000 3,322,405 , region4 = , pop4 = ...
, and set up separate workers' councils for both communities. Members of the upper echelons of the party who objected to Ceaușescu's stance were accused of supporting Soviet policies; they included
Alexandru Bârlădeanu Alexandru Bârlădeanu (or ''Bîrlădeanu''; 25 January 1911 – 13 November 1997) was a Romanian Marxian economist and statesman who was prominent during the communist regime until being sidelined in 1968. In his later years, following the collap ...
, who criticized the heavy loans contracted in support of industrialization policies. In time, the new leader distanced himself from Maurer and
Corneliu Mănescu Corneliu Mănescu (8 February 1916 – 26 June 2000) was a Romanian diplomat born in Ploiești. He served as Minister of Foreign Affairs of Romania from 1961 to 1972 and as President of the United Nations General Assembly from 19 September 19 ...
, while his career profited from the deaths of Stoica (who committed suicide) and Sălăjan (who died while undergoing surgery). Instead, he came to rely on a new generation of activists, among them Manea Mănescu. At the XIth Party Congress in 1974, Gheorghe Cioară, the
Mayor of Bucharest The Mayor of Bucharest ( ro, Primarul General al Municipiului București), sometimes known as the General Mayor, is the head of the Bucharest City Hall in Bucharest, Romania, which is responsible for citywide affairs, such as the water system, the ...
, proposed to extend Ceaușescu's office as General Secretary for life, but was turned down by the latter. Shortly before that moment, the collective leadership of the Presidium was replaced with a Political Executive Committee, which, in practice, elected itself; together with the Secretariat, it was controlled by Ceaușescu himself, who was president of both bodies. During the same year, the general secretary also made himself President of the Socialist Republic, following a ceremony during which he was handed a
sceptre A sceptre is a staff or wand held in the hand by a ruling monarch as an item of royal or imperial insignia. Figuratively, it means royal or imperial authority or sovereignty. Antiquity Ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia The '' Was'' and other ...
; this was the first in a succession of titles, also including ''
Conducător ''Conducător'' (, "Leader") was the title used officially by Romanian dictator Ion Antonescu during World War II, also occasionally used in official discourse to refer to Carol II and Nicolae Ceaușescu. History The word is derived from the Ro ...
'' ("Leader"), "supreme commander of the
Romanian People's Army The Army of the Socialist Republic of Romania ( ro, Armata Republicii Socialiste România), known as the Army of the Romanian People's Republic ( ro, Armata Republicii Populare Romîne), until 1965 was the army of the Socialist Republic of Romania ...
", "honorary president of the
Romanian Academy The Romanian Academy ( ro, Academia Română ) is a cultural forum founded in Bucharest, Romania, in 1866. It covers the scientific, artistic and literary domains. The academy has 181 active members who are elected for life. According to its byl ...
", and "first among the country's miners". Progressively after 1967, the large bureaucratic structure of the PCR again replicated and interfered with state administration and economic policies. The President himself became noted for frequent visits on location at various enterprises, where he would dispense directives, for which the termed ''indicații prețioase'' ("valuable advice") was coined by official propaganda. Despite the party's independent, "national communist"course, the absolute control that Ceaușescu had over the party and the country led to some non-Romanian observers describing the PCR as one of the closest things to an old-style Stalinist party. For instance,
Encyclopædia Britannica The (Latin for "British Encyclopædia") is a general knowledge English-language encyclopaedia. It is published by Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.; the company has existed since the 18th century, although it has changed ownership various t ...
referred to the last 18 years of Ceaușescu's tenure as a period of"
neo-Stalinism Neo-Stalinism (russian: Неосталинизм) is the promotion of positive views of Joseph Stalin's role in history, the partial re-establishing of Stalin's policies on certain issues and nostalgia for the Stalin period. Neo-Stalinism ove ...
", and the last edition of the Country Study on Romania referred to the PCR's"Stalinist repression of individual liberties."


Late 1970s crisis

The renewed industrialization, which based itself on both a dogmatic understanding of Marxian economics and a series of autarkic goals, brought major economic problems to Romania, beginning with the effects of the 1973 oil crisis, and worsened by the
1979 energy crisis The 1979 oil crisis, also known as the 1979 Oil Shock or Second Oil Crisis, was an energy crisis caused by a drop in oil production in the wake of the Iranian Revolution. Although the global oil supply only decreased by approximately four per ...
. The profound neglect of
services Service may refer to: Activities * Administrative service, a required part of the workload of university faculty * Civil service, the body of employees of a government * Community service, volunteer service for the benefit of a community or a p ...
and decline in
quality of life Quality of life (QOL) is defined by the World Health Organization as "an individual's perception of their position in life in the context of the culture and value systems in which they live and in relation to their goals, expectations, standards ...
, first manifested when much of the budget was diverted to support an over-sized industry, was made more drastic by the political decision to pay in full the country's
external debt A country's gross external debt (or foreign debt) is the liabilities that are owed to nonresidents by residents. The debtors can be governments, corporations or citizens. External debt may be denominated in domestic or foreign currency. It inclu ...
(in 1983, this was set at 10 billion United States dollars, of which 4.5 billion was accumulated
interest In finance and economics, interest is payment from a borrower or deposit-taking financial institution to a lender or depositor of an amount above repayment of the principal sum (that is, the amount borrowed), at a particular rate. It is distin ...
). By March 1989, the debt had been paid in full. Two other programs initiated under Ceaușescu had massive consequences on social life. One of them was the plan, announced as early as 1965, to " systemize rural areas", which was meant to urbanize Romania at a fast pace (of over 13,000
communes An intentional community is a voluntary residential community which is designed to have a high degree of social cohesion and teamwork from the start. The members of an intentional community typically hold a common social, political, relig ...
, the country was supposed to be left with 6,000); it also brought massive changes for the cities—especially
Bucharest Bucharest ( , ; ro, București ) is the capital and largest city of Romania, as well as its cultural, industrial, and financial centre. It is located in the southeast of the country, on the banks of the Dâmbovița River, less than north of ...
, where, following the 1977 earthquake and successive demolitions, new architectural guidelines were imposed (''see Ceaușima''). By 1966, Romania outlawed abortion, and, progressively after that, measures were endorsed to artificially increase the birth rate—including special taxes for childless couples. Another measure, going hand in hand with economic ones, allowed ethnic Germans a chance to leave Romania and settle in
West Germany West Germany is the colloquial term used to indicate the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG; german: Bundesrepublik Deutschland , BRD) between its formation on 23 May 1949 and the German reunification through the accession of East Germany on 3 O ...
as ''
Auslandsdeutsche The German diaspora consists of German people and their descendants who live outside of Germany. The term is used in particular to refer to the aspects of migration of German speakers from central Europe to different countries around the world. ...
'', in return for payments from the latter country. Overall, around 200,000 Germans left, most of them
Transylvanian Saxons The Transylvanian Saxons (german: Siebenbürger Sachsen; Transylvanian Saxon: ''Siweberjer Såksen''; ro, Sași ardeleni, sași transilvăneni/transilvani; hu, Erdélyi szászok) are a people of German ethnicity who settled in Transylvania ( ...
and Banat Swabians. Although Romania adhered to the
Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) is the world's largest regional security-oriented intergovernmental organization with observer status at the United Nations. Its mandate includes issues such as arms control, pro ...
(1973) and signed the 1975 Helsinki Final Act, Ceauşescu also intensified political repression in the country (beginning in 1971). This took a drastic turn in 1977, when, confronted with
Paul Goma Paul Goma (; October 2, 1935 – March 24, 2020) was a Romanian writer, known for his activities as a dissident and leading opponent of the communist regime before 1989. Forced into exile by the communist authorities, he became a political refu ...
's movement in support for ''
Charter 77 Charter 77 (''Charta 77'' in Czech and Slovak) was an informal civic initiative in the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic from 1976 to 1992, named after the document Charter 77 from January 1977. Founding members and architects were Jiří Něm ...
'', the regime expelled him and others from the country. A more serious disobedience occurred in August of the same year, when Jiu Valley miners went on strike, briefly took hold of Premier Ilie Verdeţ, and, despite having reached an agreement with the government, were repressed and some of them expelled (''see
Jiu Valley miners' strike of 1977 The Jiu Valley miners' strike of 1977 was the largest protest movement against the Communist regime in Romania before its final days.Deletant, p. 243 It took place 1–3 August 1977 and was centred in the mining town of Lupeni, in Transylvania's J ...
''). A newly created and independent trade union, SLOMR, was crushed and its leaders arrested on various charges in 1979. Progressively during the period, the
Securitate The Securitate (, Romanian for ''security'') was the popular term for the Departamentul Securității Statului (Department of State Security), the secret police agency of the Socialist Republic of Romania. Previously, before the communist regime ...
relied on involuntary commitment to
psychiatric hospital Psychiatric hospitals, also known as mental health hospitals, behavioral health hospitals, are hospitals or wards specializing in the treatment of severe mental disorders, such as schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, eating disorders, dissociat ...
s as a means to punish
dissidence A dissident is a person who actively challenges an established Political system, political or Organized religion, religious system, doctrine, belief, policy, or institution. In a religious context, the word has been used since the 18th century, and ...
.


1980s

A major act of discontent occurred inside the party during its XIIth Congress in late November 1979, when PCR veteran Constantin Pîrvulescu spoke out against Ceaușescu's policy of discouraging discussions and relying on obedient cadres (he was subsequently heckled, evicted from the Congress hall, and isolated). In 1983, Radu Filipescu, an engineer working in Bucharest, was imprisoned after distributing 20,000 leaflets which called for a popular rally against the regime, while a protests of miners in
Maramureș County Maramureș County () is a county (județ) in Romania, in the Maramureș region. The county seat is Baia Mare. Name In Hungarian it is known as ''Máramaros megye'', in Ukrainian as Мараморо́щина, in German as ''Kreis Marmarosch' ...
against wage cuts was broken up by Securitate forces; three years later a strike organized by Romanian and Hungarian industrial workers in
Turda Turda (; hu, Torda, ; german: link=no, Thorenburg; la, Potaissa) is a city in Cluj County, Transylvania, Romania. It is located in the southeastern part of the county, from the county seat, Cluj-Napoca, to which it is connected by the Europ ...
and Cluj-Napoca met with the same result. Also in 1983, fearing the multiplication of ''
samizdat Samizdat (russian: самиздат, lit=self-publishing, links=no) was a form of dissident activity across the Eastern Bloc in which individuals reproduced censored and underground makeshift publications, often by hand, and passed the document ...
'' documents,
Minister of the Interior An interior minister (sometimes called a minister of internal affairs or minister of home affairs) is a cabinet official position that is responsible for internal affairs, such as public security, civil registration and identification, emergency ...
George Homoștean ordered all citizens to hand over their
typewriter A typewriter is a mechanical or electromechanical machine for typing characters. Typically, a typewriter has an array of keys, and each one causes a different single character to be produced on paper by striking an inked ribbon selectivel ...
s to the authorities. This coincided with a noted popular rise in support for outspoken dissidents who were kept under house arrest, among whom were Doina Cornea and Mihai Botez. By 1983, membership of the PCR had risen to 3.3 million, and, in 1989, to 3.7–3.8 million—meaning that, in the end, over 20% of Romanian adults were party members, making the PCR the largest communist group of the Eastern Bloc after the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. 64,200 basic party units, answering to
county A county is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposes Chambers Dictionary, L. Brookes (ed.), 2005, Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, Edinburgh in certain modern nations. The term is derived from the Old French ...
committees, varying in number and representing various areas of Romanian society, were officially recorded in 1980. Statistics also indicated that, during the transition from the 1965 PMR (with 8% of the total population) to the 1988 PCR, the membership of workers had grown from 44 to 55%, while that of peasants had dropped from 34 to 15%. In the end, these records contrasted the fact that the PCR had become completely subservient to its leader and no longer had any form of autonomous activity, while membership became a basic requirement in numerous social contexts, leading to purely formal allegiances and political clientelism. At the same time, the ideological viewpoint was changed, with the party no longer seen as the vanguard of the working class, but as the main social factor and the embodiment of the
national interest The national interest is a sovereign state's goals and ambitions (economic, military, cultural, or otherwise), taken to be the aim of government. Etymology The Italian phrase ''ragione degli stati'' was first used by Giovanni della Casa around ...
. In marked contrast with the '' Perestroika'' and '' Glasnost'' policies developed in the Soviet Union by Mikhail Gorbachev, Romania adopted Neo-Stalinist principles in both its internal policies and its relations with the outside world. As recorded in 1984, 90% of the PCR members were ethnic Romanians, with 7% Hungarians (the latter group's membership had dropped by more than 2% since the previous Congress). Formal criticism of the new policies regarding minorities had also been voiced by Hungarian activists, including Károly Király, leader of the PCR in
Covasna County Covasna County (, hu, Kovászna megye, ) is a county ( județ) of Romania, in eastern Transylvania, with the county seat at Sfântu Gheorghe. Demographics In 2011, it had a population of 210,177, making it the second least populous of Romania ...
. After 1980, the nationalist ideology adopted by the PCR progressively targeted the Hungarian community as a whole, based on suspicions of its allegiance to Hungary, whose policies had become diametrically opposed to the methods of Romanian leaders (''see
Goulash Communism Goulash Communism ( hu, gulyáskommunizmus), also commonly called Kádárism or the Hungarian Thaw, is the variety of socialism in Hungary following the Hungarian Revolution of 1956. János Kádár and the Hungarian People's Republic imposed pol ...
''). Especially during the 1980s, clientelism was further enhanced by a new policy, ''rotația cadrelor'' ("cadre rotation" or "reshuffling"), placing strain on low-level officials to seek the protection of higher placed ones as a means to preserve their position or to be promoted. This effectively prompted activists who did not approve of the change in tone to retire, while others— Virgil Trofin,
Ion Iliescu Ion Iliescu (; born 3 March 1930) is a Romanian politician and engineer who served as President of Romania from 1989 until 1996 and from 2000 until 2004. Between 1996 and 2000 and also from 2004 to 2008, the year in which he retired, Iliescu ...
and Paul Niculescu-Mizil among them—were officially dispatched to low-ranking positions or otherwise marginalized. In June 1988, the leadership of the Political Executive Committee was reduced from 15 to 7 members, including Nicolae Ceaușescu and his wife. While some elements of the PCR were receptive to Mikhail Gorbachev's reforms, Ceaușescu himself wanted nothing to do with ''glasnost'' or ''perestroika.'' As a result, the PCR remained an obstinate bastion of hardline Communism. Gorbachev's distaste for Ceaușescu was well known; he even went as far as to call Ceaușescu "the Romanian
führer ( ; , spelled or ''Fuhrer'' when the umlaut is not available) is a German word meaning "leader" or " guide". As a political title, it is strongly associated with the Nazi dictator Adolf Hitler. Nazi Germany cultivated the ("leader princip ...
. "In Gorbachev's mind, Ceaușescu was part of a "Gang of Four" inflexibly hardline leaders unwilling to make the reforms he felt necessary to save Communism, along with Czechoslovakia's
Gustáv Husák Gustáv Husák (, , ; 10 January 1913 – 18 November 1991) was a Czechoslovak communist politician of Slovak origin, who served as the long-time First Secretary of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia from 1969 to 1987 and the president o ...
, Bulgaria's
Todor Zhivkov Todor Hristov Zhivkov ( bg, Тодор Христов Живков ; 7 September 1911 – 5 August 1998) was a Bulgarian communist statesman who served as the ''de facto'' leader of the People's Republic of Bulgaria (PRB) from 1954 until 1989 ...
and East Germany's
Erich Honecker Erich Ernst Paul Honecker (; 25 August 1912 – 29 May 1994) was a German communist politician who led the German Democratic Republic (East Germany) from 1971 until shortly before the fall of the Berlin Wall in November 1989. He held the posts ...
. At a meeting between the two, Gorbachev upbraided Ceaușescu for his inflexible attitude. "You are running a dictatorship here," the Soviet leader warned. However, Ceaușescu refused to bend.


Downfall

Announced by a February 1987 protest of workers and students in Iași, the final crisis of the PCR and its regime began in the autumn, when industrial employees in
Brașov Brașov (, , ; german: Kronstadt; hu, Brassó; la, Corona; Transylvanian Saxon: ''Kruhnen'') is a city in Transylvania, Romania and the administrative centre of Brașov County. According to the latest Romanian census (2011), Brașov has a pop ...
called a strike that immediately drew echoes with the city's population (''see Brașov Rebellion'').Cioroianu, ''Pe umerii...'', p.486-487; Deletant & Ionescu, p.36 In December, authorities convened a public kangaroo trial of the movement's leaders, and handed out sentences of imprisonment and internal exile. Inaugurated by Silviu Brucan's public criticism of the Braşov repression, and inspired by the impact of changes in other Eastern Bloc countries, protests of marginalized PCR activists became notorious after March 1989, when Brucan and Pârvulescu, together with Gheorghe Apostol,
Alexandru Bârlădeanu Alexandru Bârlădeanu (or ''Bîrlădeanu''; 25 January 1911 – 13 November 1997) was a Romanian Marxian economist and statesman who was prominent during the communist regime until being sidelined in 1968. In his later years, following the collap ...
, Grigore Răceanu and
Corneliu Mănescu Corneliu Mănescu (8 February 1916 – 26 June 2000) was a Romanian diplomat born in Ploiești. He served as Minister of Foreign Affairs of Romania from 1961 to 1972 and as President of the United Nations General Assembly from 19 September 19 ...
, sent Ceaușescu their so-called ''
Letter of the Six The Letter of the Six (Romanian: ''Scrisoarea celor șase'') was an open letter signed in March 1989 by six former high-ranking Romanian Communist Party dignitaries: Gheorghe Apostol, Alexandru Bârlădeanu, Silviu Brucan, Corneliu Mănescu, C ...
'', publicized over
Radio Free Europe Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) is a United States government funded organization that broadcasts and reports news, information, and analysis to countries in Eastern Europe, Central Asia, Caucasus, and the Middle East where it says tha ...
. At around the same time,
systematization Systematization ( ro, Sistematizarea) in Romania was a program of urban planning carried out by the Romanian Communist Party under the leadership of Nicolae Ceaușescu. Ceaușescu was impressed by the ideological mobilization and mass adulation ...
provoked an international response, as Romania was subjected to a resolution of the
United Nations Commission on Human Rights The United Nations Commission on Human Rights (UNCHR) was a functional commission within the overall framework of the United Nations from 1946 until it was replaced by the United Nations Human Rights Council in 2006. It was a subsidiary body of ...
, which called for an inquiry into the state of ethnic minorities and the rural population; the political isolation experienced by Communist Romania was highlighted by the fact that Hungary endorsed the report, while all other Eastern bloc countries abstained. This followed more than a decade of deteriorating relations between the PCR and the
Hungarian Socialist Workers' Party The Hungarian Socialist Workers' Party ( hu, Magyar Szocialista Munkáspárt, MSZMP) was the ruling Marxist–Leninist party of the Hungarian People's Republic between 1956 and 1989. It was organised from elements of the Hungarian Working Peo ...
. In the face of the changes that unfolded in the rest of Eastern Europe in 1988 and 1989, the PCR retained its image as one of the most unreconstructed parties in the Soviet bloc. It even went as far as to call for a Warsaw Pact invasion of Poland after that country's Communists announced a power-sharing agreement with the Solidarity trade union—a sharp reversal of its previous opposition to the
Brezhnev Doctrine The Brezhnev Doctrine was a Soviet foreign policy that proclaimed any threat to socialist rule in any state of the Soviet Bloc in Central and Eastern Europe was a threat to them all, and therefore justified the intervention of fellow socialist st ...
and its vehement opposition to the invasion of Czechoslovakia 21 years earlier. It initially appeared that the PCR would ride out the anti-Communist tide sweeping through Eastern Europe when on 24 November—two weeks after the fall of the Berlin Wall and the same day that Communist rule effectively ended in Czechoslovakia—Ceaușescu was reelected for another five-year term as General Secretary. A month later, both Ceaușescu and the party were overthrown in the
Romanian Revolution The Romanian Revolution ( ro, Revoluția Română), also known as the Christmas Revolution ( ro, Revoluția de Crăciun), was a period of violent civil unrest in Romania during December 1989 as a part of the Revolutions of 1989 that occurred ...
of December 1989, begun as a popular rebellion in
Timișoara ), City of Roses ( ro, Orașul florilor), City of Parks ( ro, Orașul parcurilor) , image_map = Timisoara jud Timis.svg , map_caption = Location in Timiș County , pushpin_map = Romania#Europe , pushpin_ ...
and eventually bringing to power the National Salvation Front, comprising a large number of moderate former PCR members who supported Gorbachev's vision. Having fled the PCR's headquarters under pressure from demonstrators, Ceauşescu and his wife were captured, tried, and executed by the new authorities in Târgoviște. No formal dissolution of the PCR took place. Rather, the party simply disappeared. The speed with which the PCR, one of the largest parties of its kind, dissolved, as well as its spontaneity, were held by commentators as additional proof that its sizable membership presented a largely false image of its true beliefs. In nearly every other Eastern Bloc country, the former ruling Communist parties recast themselves into social democratic or
democratic socialist Democratic socialism is a left-wing political philosophy that supports political democracy and some form of a socially owned economy, with a particular emphasis on economic democracy, workplace democracy, and workers' self-management within ...
parties, and remain major players to this day. Many former members of the PCR have been major players in the post-1989 political scene. For example, until 2014 every post-revolution president had formerly been a member of the PCR. Among other small parties an unregistered party of the same name and the small Romanian Socialist Party claim to be the successors of the PCR, with the latter entering Parliament in the 1992–1996 legislature under its former name of ''Socialist Party of Labour''.


General secretaries (1921–1989)

*
Gheorghe Cristescu Gheorghe Cristescu (October 10, 1882 in Copaciu, Giurgiu County – November 29, 1973 in Timișoara) was a Romanian socialist and, for a part of his life, communist militant. Nicknamed "Plăpumarul" ("The Blanket Maker"), he is also occasionall ...
(1921–1924) * Elek Köblös (1924–1927) * Vitali Holostenco (1927–1931) * Alexander Danieliuk-Stefanski (1931–1936) *
Boris Stefanov Boris Stefanov Mateev (also known as Boris Ștefanov, Draganov or Dragu; bg, Борис Стефанов Матеев, ''Boris Stefanov Mateev''; October 8, 1883 – October 11, 1969) was a Romanian Communism, communist politician, who served as ...
(1936–1938) * Bela Breiner (1938–1940)Paula Mihailov
Ultimul conducator ilegalist
jurnalul.ro : Istoria comunismului, 26 July 2005, accessed 23 January 2019
* Ștefan Foriș (1940–1944) * Provisional secretariat:
Emil Bodnăraș Emil Bodnăraș (10 February 1904 – 24 January 1976) was a Romanian communist politician, an army officer, and a Soviet agent, who had considerable influence in the Romanian People's Republic.''Final Report'', p. 646 Early life Bodnăraș was ...
, Iosif Rangheț, and Constantin Pîrvulescu (April–September 1944) *
Gheorghe Gheorghiu-Dej Gheorghe Gheorghiu-Dej (; 8 November 1901 – 19 March 1965) was a Romanian communist politician and electrician. He was the first Communist leader of Romania from 1947 to 1965, serving as first secretary of the Romanian Communist Party ...
(1944–1954) * Gheorghe Apostol (1954–1955) *
Gheorghe Gheorghiu-Dej Gheorghe Gheorghiu-Dej (; 8 November 1901 – 19 March 1965) was a Romanian communist politician and electrician. He was the first Communist leader of Romania from 1947 to 1965, serving as first secretary of the Romanian Communist Party ...
(1955–1965) *
Nicolae Ceaușescu Nicolae Ceaușescu ( , ;  – 25 December 1989) was a Romanian communist politician and dictator. He was the general secretary of the Romanian Communist Party from 1965 to 1989, and the second and last Communist leader of Romania. He ...
(1965–1989)


Party congresses


Electoral history


President of the State Council and Presidential elections


Note

In the
1961 Events January * January 3 ** United States President Dwight D. Eisenhower announces that the United States has severed diplomatic and consular relations with Cuba (Cuba–United States relations are restored in 2015). ** Aero Flight 311 (K ...
, 1965,
1967 Events January * January 1 – Canada begins a year-long celebration of the 100th anniversary of Confederation, featuring the Expo 67 World's Fair. * January 5 ** Spain and Romania sign an agreement in Paris, establishing full consular and ...
the head of state was called President of the State Council while after 1973 the post changed to that of president


Great National Assembly elections


See also

* List of Romanian communists * Proclamation of Timişoara * Eastern Bloc politics *
Social Democratic Party (Romania) The Social Democratic Party ( ro, Partidul Social Democrat, PSD) is the largest social democratic political party in Romania and also the largest overall political party in the country, aside from European Parliament level, where it is the seco ...


Notes


References


The Communist Party
from the US Library of Congress' ''Country Study of Romania'', 1990; retrieved 5 July 2007 *
Lucian Boia Lucian Boia (born 1 February 1944 in Bucharest) is a Romanian historian. He is mostly known for his debunking of historical myths about Romania, for purging mainstream Romanian history from the deformations due to ideological propaganda. I.e. as ...
, ed., ("The Myths of Romanian Communism"), Editura Nemira, Bucharest, 1997–1998. . See: ** Daniel Barbu, "" ("Collective Destiny, Involuntary Servitude, Totalitarian Misery: Three Myths of Romanian Communism"), p. 175–197 ** Eugen Negrici, "Mitul patriei primejduite" ("The Myth of the Fatherland in Peril"), p. 220–226 *
Adrian Cioroianu Adrian Mihai Cioroianu (born January 5, 1967, Craiova, Romania) is a Romanian historian, politician, journalist, and essayist. A lecturer for the History Department at the University of Bucharest, he is the author of several books dealing with R ...
, *
"" ("Communism and the Man Who Lived the Illusion")
in ''
Revista 22 ''Revista 22'' (''22 Magazine'') is a Romanian weekly magazine, issued by the Group for Social Dialogue and focused mainly on politics and culture. History and profile ''Revista 22'' was started in 1990. The first edition of the magazine was prin ...
'', Nr.25 (641), June 2002; retrieved 5 July 2007 ** ("On the Shoulders of Marx. An Incursion into the History of Romanian Communism"),
Editura Curtea Veche Editura Curtea Veche (Curtea Veche Publishing House) is a Romanian publishing house with a tradition in editing works of Romanian literature. After the Romanian Revolution of 1989, Curtea Veche started editing more foreign books, such as BBC #REDIR ...
, Bucharest, 2005. * Radu Colt
"80 în București și mai puțin de 1000 în toată țara" ("80 in Bucharest and Less throughout the Country")
, in ''
Magazin Istoric ''Magazin Istoric'' ( en, The Historical Magazine) is a Romanian monthly magazine. Overview ''Magazin Istoric'' was started in 1967. The first issue appeared in April 1967. The headquarters is in Bucharest. The monthly magazine contains articles ...
'', June 1999; retrieved 5 July 2007 * Dennis Deletant, ''Hitler's Forgotten Ally: Ion Antonescu and His Regime, Romania, 1940–1944'',
Palgrave Macmillan Palgrave Macmillan is a British academic and trade publishing company headquartered in the London Borough of Camden. Its programme includes textbooks, journals, monographs, professional and reference works in print and online. It maintains off ...
, London, 2006. *Dennis Deletant, Mihail Ionescu,
Romania and the Warsaw Pact: 1955–1989
, in ''Cold War International History Project'', Working Paper No. 43,
Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars The Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars (or Wilson Center) is a quasi-government entity and think tank which conducts research to inform public policy. Located in the Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center in Wash ...
, Washington, D.C., April 2004; retrieved 5 July 2007 *Victor Frunză, ''Istoria stalinismului în România'' ("The History of Stalinism in Romania"), Humanitas, Bucharest, 1990 * Constantin Iordachi,
The Anatomy of a Historical Conflict: Romanian-Hungarian Diplomatic Conflict in the 1980s
',
Central European University Central European University (CEU) is a private research university accredited in Austria, Hungary, and the United States, with campuses in Vienna and Budapest. The university is known for its highly intensive programs in the social science ...
, at th
Romanian Institute for Cultural Memory
retrieved 5 July 2007 *" (1939–1940. The Comintern and the Communist Party of Romania"), in ''Magazin Istoric'', March 1997 *
Vladimir Tismăneanu Vladimir Tismăneanu (; born July 4, 1951) is a Romanian American political scientist, political analyst, sociologist, and professor at the University of Maryland, College Park. A specialist in political systems and comparative politics, he is di ...

''Gheorghiu-Dej and the Romanian Workers' Party: From De-Sovietization to the Emergence of National Communism''
in ''Cold War International History Project'', Working Paper No. 37, Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, Washington, D.C., 2002; Retrieved on 5 July 2007 *" ("Siguranța and the Specter of Communist Revolution"), in ''Dosarele Istoriei'', 4(44)/2000 * ("The History of the Iron Guard, 1919–1941: The Mystique of Ultra-Nationalism"), Humanitas, Bucharest, 1993 {{Authority control Romanian Revolution Political parties established in 1921 1921 establishments in Romania Political parties disestablished in 1989 Comintern sections Banned communist parties Communist parties in Romania
Communist Party A communist party is a political party that seeks to realize the socio-economic goals of communism. The term ''communist party'' was popularized by the title of ''The Manifesto of the Communist Party'' (1848) by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. ...
Communist Left-wing nationalist parties Far-left political parties Formerly ruling communist parties Romania–Soviet Union relations 1989 disestablishments in Romania National communism Far-left politics in Romania Defunct communist parties Defunct nationalist parties Communist Communist Organizations of the Revolutions of 1989 Romanian nationalist parties International Meeting of Communist and Workers Parties