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.

The Ceau?escu regime

Gheorghiu-Dej died in 1965 in unclear circumstances (his death apparently occurred when he was in Moscow for medical treatment) and, after the inevitable power struggle, was succeeded by the previously obscure Nicolae Ceau?escu. Where Gheorghiu-Dej had hewed to a Stalinist line while the Soviet Union was in a reformist period, Ceau?escu initially appeared to be a reformist, precisely as the Soviet Union was headed into its neo-Stalinist era under Leonid Brezhnev.

Related Topics:
1965 - Nicolae Ceau?escu - Neo-Stalinist - Leonid Brezhnev

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In 1965 the name of the country was changed to Republica Socialist? România (The Socialist Republic of Romania) ? RSR ? and PMR was renamed once again to Partidul Comunist Român ? The Romanian Communist Party (PCR).

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Many would be loath to admit it now, but in his early years in power, Ceau?escu was genuinely popular, both at home and abroad. Agricultural goods were abundant, consumer goods began to reappear, there was a cultural thaw, and, most importantly abroad, he spoke out against the 1968 Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia. While his reputation at home soon paled, he continued to have uncommonly good relations with western governments and with institutions such as the International Monetary Fund and World Bank because of his independent political line. Romania under Ceau?escu maintained diplomatic relations with, among others, West Germany, Israel, China, and Albania, all for various reasons on the outs with Moscow.

Related Topics:
1968 - Czechoslovakia - International Monetary Fund - World Bank - West Germany - Israel - China - Albania

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The period of freedom and apparent prosperity was to be short-lived. Even at the start, reproductive freedom was severely restricted. Wishing to increase the birth rate, in 1966, Ceau?escu promulgated a law restricting abortion and contraception: only women over the age of 40 or who already had at least four children were eligible for either; in 1972 this became women over the age of 45 or who already had at least five children.

Related Topics:
1966 - Abortion - Contraception - 1972

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Other abuses of human rights were typical of a Stalinist regime: a massive force of secret police (the "Securitate"), censorship, massive relocations, but not on the same scale as in the 1950s.

Related Topics:
Securitate - 1950s

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During the Ceau?escu era, there was a secret ongoing "trade" between Romania on one side and Israel and West Germany on the other side, under which Israel and West Germany paid money to Romania to allow Romanian citizens with certified Jewish or Saxon ancestry to emigrate to Israel and West Germany, respectively.

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Ceau?escu's Romania continued to pursue Gheorghiu-Dej's policy of industrialization, but still produced few goods of a quality suitable for the world market. Also, after a visit to North Korea, Ceau?escu developed a megalomaniacal vision of completely remaking the country; this became known as systematization. A large portion of the capital, Bucharest, was torn down to make way for the Casa Poporului (now House of Parliament) complex and Centrul Civic (Civic Center), but the December 1989 Revolution left much of the huge complex unfinished, such as a new National Library and the National Museum of History. This area, known also as "Hiroshima", is currently being redeveloped as a commercial area known as Esplanada.

Related Topics:
North Korea - Systematization - Bucharest - Casa Poporului - Centrul Civic - December 1989 Revolution - Hiroshima

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Prior to the mid-1970s, Bucharest, as most other cities, was developed by expanding the city, especially towards the south, east and west, by building high density dormitory neighbourhoods at the outskirts of the city, some (such as Drumul Taberei) of architectural and urban planning value. Conservation plans were made, especially during the 1960s and early 1970s, but all was halted, after Ceau?escu embarked on what is known as "Mica revolutie culturala" ("The Small Cultural Revolution"), after visiting North Korea and the People's Republic of China.

Related Topics:
1970s - Drumul Taberei - 1960s - North Korea - People's Republic of China

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The big earthquake of 1977 shocked Bucharest, many buildings ? notably the Carlton block ? collapsed, and many others were weakened; this was the backdrop that led to a policy of demolishing old buildings (even monuments of historical significance or architectural masterpieces) such as V?c?re?ti Monastery, Sfânta Vineri Monastery, the art deco Republican Stadium and even the Palace of Justice ? built by Romania's foremost architect, Ion Mincu, and scheduled for demolition in early 1990 according to the systematisation papers ? as well as abandoning and neglecting buildings and bringing them into such a state that they would require being torn down.

Related Topics:
Big earthquake of 1977 - Bucharest - Art deco - Ion Mincu - 1990

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The policy towards the city after the earthquake was not one of reconstruction, but one of demolition and building anew, in the North Korean-inspired style. Post-earthquake estimates commissioned by the office of the city's mayor judged that only 23 buildings were beyond repair, none of them of any historic value. An analysis by the Union of Architects, commissioned in 1990, claims that over 2000 buildings were torn down, with over 77 of very high architectural importance, most of them in good condition. Even the Gara de Nord (the city's main train station), listed among The Romanian Architectural Heritage List, was scheduled to be torn down and replaced in early 1992.

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Either systematic neglect or outright demolition affected 70% of historic Bucharest, including buildings in the areas such as Magheru-Universitate (the heart of Bucharest), Lipscani, Halelor, Domenii, St. John's Cathedral, Grivitei, and the Gara de Nord, systematization being halted only by the Revolution of 1989. Many of Bucharest's landmarks have since been partially repaired and consolidated, starting with the Gara de Nord in 1993, the Palace of Justice in 1997, and the University in 1999, but most buildings are in severe need of reconstruction even today.

Related Topics:
Lipscani - Revolution of 1989 - Today

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Despite all of this, and despite the appalling treatment of HIV-infected orphans, the country continued to have a notably good system of schools and generally good medical care. Also, not every industrialization project was a failure: Ceau?escu left Romania with a reasonably effective system of power generation and transmission, gave Bucharest a functioning subway, and left many cities with an increase in habitable apartment buildings.

Related Topics:
HIV - Orphan - A functioning subway

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In the 1980s, Ceau?escu became simultaneously obsessed with repaying Western loans and with building himself a palace of unprecedented proportions, along with an equally grandiose neighborhood, the Centru Civic, to accompany it. These led to an unprecedented shortage of available goods for the average Romanian. There was no marble to be had for tombstones, because it was all going to build the palace and the Centru Civic. By 1984, despite high crop yield and food production, food rationing was introduced on a wide scale (the government promoted it as "a means to reduce obesity" and "rational eating"). Bread, milk, butter, cooking oil, sugar, pork, beef, chicken, and in some places even potatoes were rationed in most of Romania by 1989, with rations being made smaller every year (by 1989, a person could legally buy only 10 eggs per month, half to one loaf of bread per day, depending on the place of residence, or 500 grams of any kind of meat. Most of what was available were export rejects, as most of the quality goods were exported, even underpriced, in order to obtain hard currency, either to pay the debt, or to push forward in the ever-growing pursuits of heavy industrialisation.

Related Topics:
1980s - Palace - Centru Civic - Tombstone - Hard currency

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Romanians became accustomed to "tacamuri de pui" (chicken's wings, claws and so on), mixed cooking oil (mostly unrefined, dark, soy oil, of the poorest grade), "Bucure?ti Salami" (consisting of soy, bonemeal, offal and pork lard), insect-infested flour, ersatz coffee (made of corn), oceanic fish and sardines as a meat replacement, and cheese mixed with starch or flour. Even these products were in very scarce supply, with queues whenever such products were available. All quality products, such as Sibiu and Victoria Salami, high- and mid-grade meats, and Dobrudja peaches were designated as "export-only", and were available to Romanians only on the thriving black market.

Related Topics:
Soy - Bonemeal - Offal - Ersatz coffee - Oceanic fish - Dobrudja - Black market

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By 1985, despite Romania's huge refining capacity, petrol was strictly rationed, with supplies drastically cut, a Sunday curfew was instated, and many buses and taxis converted to methane propulsion (they were mockingly named "bombs"). Electricity was rationed to divert supplies to heavy industry, with a maximum monthly allowed consumption of 20 kWh per family (everything over this limit was heavily taxed), and very frequent blackouts (generally 1?2 hours daily). Streetlights were generally kept off, and television was reduced to a 2 hours each day.

Related Topics:
1985 - Methane - KWh - Blackout

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Gas and heating were also turned off; people in cities had to turn to natural gas containers ("butelii"), or charcoal stoves, even though they were connected to the gas mains. According to a decree of 1988, all public spaces had to be kept to a temperature of no more than 16 degrees Celsius (about 63 degrees Fahrenheit) in winter (the only institutions exempted were kindergartens and hospitals), with some (such as factories), kept at no more than 14 degrees (about 59 degrees Fahrenheit). All shops were to close no later than 5:30 p.m., in order to preserve electricity. A thriving black market appeared, with Kent cigarettes becoming Romania's second currency (it was illegal and punished with up to ten years imprisonment to own or trade any foreign currency), used to purchase everything, from food to clothes or medicine. Health care dropped substantially, as drugs were no longer imported. Life expectancy became the lowest in Europe, and infant mortality rates highest.

Related Topics:
Celsius - Fahrenheit - Kent cigarettes - Life expectancy - Infant mortality rate

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Control over society became stricter and stricter, with an East-German-style phone bugging system installed, and with Securitate recruiting more agents, extending censorship and keeping tabs and records on the entire population. By 1989, according to CNSAS (the Council for Studies of the Archives of the Former Securitate), one in three Romanians was an informant for the Securitate. Due to this state of affairs, income from tourism dropped substantially, the number of foreign tourists visiting Romania dropping by 75%, with the three main tour operators that organized trips in Romania leaving the country by 1987.

Related Topics:
Phone bug - Securitate

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There was also a revival of the effort to build a Danube?Black Sea Canal, which was completed, along side a nationwide canal system and irigation network (some of it completed, most of it still a project, or abandoned) an effort to improve the railway system (with electrification and a modern control system), a nuclear power plant at Cernavod?, a national hydroelectric power system (including the Por?ile de Fier power station on the Danube in cooperation with Yugoslavia), a net of oil refineries, a fairly developed oceanic fishing fleet and naval shipyards at Constan?a, a good industrial basis for the chemical and heavy machinery industries, and a rather well-developed foreign policy.

Related Topics:
Danube?Black Sea Canal - Canal - Nuclear power plant - Cernavod? - Hydroelectric - Por?ile de Fier - Danube - Yugoslavia - Constan?a

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On the negative side, the legacy of the period was a bloated heavy industry using archaic production methods, consuming lots of resources, and producing low-value goods (the refining capacity is over ten times what was needed, the steel production capabilities two-and-a-half times, the aluminium production facilities five times). Most of what was produced could not be sold anywhere, and ended up sitting and deteriorating outside the factories where it was made, while light industries were ridiculously undersized (Romanians had to wait 3 years for a washing machine, 2?3 years for a colour TV, 7?10 years for a car), and technologically obsolete (Romania, in 1989, produced 1960s cars and 1970s TVs and washing machines). The communication network was, with the exception of the modernisation of the trunk railway lines, left at the 1950s' level. Romania had, in 1989, only a 100 km (68 mile) stretch, of motorway, and even that in a very poor state.

Related Topics:
Aluminium - 1960s - 1970s - 1950s

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The telephone network was one of the least reliable in Europe, with 1930s?1950s manual switching technologies in villages, and early 1960s automatic switching in towns and cities, and based on an under-sized backbone. By 1989, in Romania, there were about 700,000 phone lines, for a population of 23 million. TV broadcasts were limited to two hours daily, exclusively propaganda, with most people choosing to watch Bulgarian, Serbian, Hungarian or Russian TV, wherever the signal was sufficiently strong. There were almost no computers ? neither in factories, nor in schools ? 8-bit clones of Western home computers being directly shipped to serve as workstations in factories and such.

Related Topics:
1930s - 1950s - Switching - Bulgaria - Serbia - Hungarian - Russia - 8-bit - Home computer

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Another legacy of this era was pollution, with Ceau?escu's government scoring badly on this count even by the standards of the Eastern European communist states. Examples include Copsa Mica with its infamous Carbon Powder factory (in the 1980s, the whole city could be seen from satellite as covered by a thick black cloud), Hunedoara, or the plan, launched in 1989, to convert the unique Danube Delta ? a UNESCO World Heritage site ? to plain agricultural fields.

Related Topics:
Copsa Mica - 1980s - Satellite - Hunedoara - 1989 - Danube Delta - UNESCO - World Heritage site

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