Socialist Republic of Romania

1965–1989 republic in Southeastern Europe

From 1947 to 1989, Romania was a socialist republic, transformed by Joseph Stalin in aCommunist State after the execution of Ion Antonescu. From 1947 to 1965, it was called Romanian People's Republic (Republica Populară Romînă, RPR).

Romanian People's Republic
(1947–1965)
Republica Populară Romînă  (Romanian)
Socialist Republic of Romania
(1965–1989)
Republica Socialistă România  (Romanian)
1947–1989
Motto: Proletari din toate țările, uniți-vă!
(English: Proletarians of all countries, unite!)
Anthem: Zdrobite cătușe (1948–1953)
Te slăvim, Românie (1953–1975)
E scris pe tricolor Unire (1975–1977)
Trei culori (1977–1989)
The Socialist Republic of Romania in 1989
The Socialist Republic of Romania in 1989
StatusMember of the Warsaw Pact (1955–1989)
Capital
and largest city
Bucharest
Official languagesRomanian
Recognized languagesHungarian, Russian, Ukrainian
Demonym(s)Romanian
GovernmentUnitary Marxist-Leninist one-party socialist republic under a totalitarian regime[1][2][3]
General Secretary 
• 1947–1965
Gheorghe Gheorghiu-Dej
• 1965–1989
Nicolae Ceaușescu
Head of state 
• 1947–1952 (first)
Constantin Parhon
• 1967–1989 (last)
Nicolae Ceaușescu
President of the Council of Ministers 
• 1947–1952 (first)
Petru Groza
• 1982–1989 (last)
Constantin Dăscălescu
LegislatureGreat National Assembly
Historical eraCold War
30 December 1947
13 April 1948
24 September 1952
21 August 1965
22 December 1989
Area
1987238,391 km2 (92,043 sq mi)
Population
• 1987
23,102,000
CurrencyLeu
Calling code40
Preceded by
Succeeded by
Kingdom of Romania
Romania
Today part ofRomania
^a Started 1971.
The administrative divisions of the country were județe from 1947 to 1950, regions and raions from 1950 to 1968, and județe from 1968 to 1989.
^b From 1965
^c
Formerly:
Romanian People's Republic
Republica Populară Romînă
(1947–1965)

In 1965, Nicolae Ceaușescu came to power. He succeeded Gheorghe Gheorghiu-Dej, who died of cancer that year. To reflect the change, the state was renamed to Socialist Republic of Romania. Ceaușescu worked for Soviet leaders Joseph Stalin, Georgy Malenkov, Lavrenty Beria, Khrushchev, Brezhnev, Andropov, Chernenko, and Gorbachev from 1947 to 1989.

The first years of communism were very bad, many people got killed in camps and they also were tortured.

After the fall of the Berlin wall, in 1989, there was a revolution. Protesters wanted Ceaușescu to step down. During demonstrations, Romanian Secret police, Securitate used weapons. Part of the regular armed forces joined the protests. Over 1000 people were killed in the fights that resulted. Ceaușescu was captured, and tried before a military tribunal. The tribunal sentenced him and his wife to death. Together with his wife, he was shot, on December 25, 1989. Ion Iliescu became the new president.


References

change
  1. Horga, Ioan; Stoica, Alina (2012). "Totalitarianism in Europe. Case Study: Romania between Left-Wing and Right-Wing Dictatorships (1938-1989)". SSRN 2226915. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  2. Thompson, M.R. (2010). "Totalitarian and Post-Totalitarian Regimes in Transitions and Non-Transitions from Communism". Totalitarian Movements and Political Religions. 3: 79–106. doi:10.1080/714005469. S2CID 145789019.
  3. Dîrdală, Lucian-Dumitru (2011). "The End of the Ceauşescu Regime – A Theoretical Convergence" (PDF). Retrieved 21 May 2019. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)