Communist Romania

The Soviets pressed for inclusion of Romania's heretofore negligible Communist Party in the post-war government, while non-communist political leaders were steadily eliminated from political life. King Michael abdicated under pressure in December 1947, when the Romanian People's Republic was declared, and went into exile.

Related Topics:
Soviets - Communist Party - King Michael - 1947

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In the early 1960s, Romania's communist government began to assert some independence from the Soviet Union. Nicolae Ceau?escu became head of the Communist Party in 1965 and head of state in 1967. Ceau?escu's denunciation of the 1968 Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia and a brief relaxation in internal repression helped give him a positive image both at home and in the West. Seduced by Ceau?escu's "independent" foreign policy, Western leaders were slow to turn against a regime that, by the late 1970s, had become increasingly harsh, arbitrary, and capricious. Rapid economic growth fueled by foreign credits gradually gave way to wrenching austerity and severe political repression.

Related Topics:
1960s - Nicolae Ceau?escu - 1965 - 1967 - 1968 - Czechoslovakia - 1970s

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