Nicolae Ceaușescu: Difference between revisions

[[File:220px-Nicolae_Ceausescu.jpg|thumb|right]]

{{Quote|It is a lie that I made the people starve. A lie, a lie in my face. This shows how little patriotism there is, how many treasonable offenses were committed.… At no point was there such an upswing, so much construction, so much consolidation in the Romanian provinces. I guaranteed that every village has its schools, hospitals and doctors. I have done everything to create a decent and rich life for the people in the country, like in no other country in the world.|Ceausescu at his trial}}

{{Quote|On Christmas Day in 1989 the people of Romania received an unexpected gift. their dictator Nicolae Ceausescu and his wife were tried convicted and shot by a firing squad. During his year Ceausescu had elevated himself to the status of a near god, living in marble palaces whilst his people suffered.|Introduction to a documentary of Nicolae Ceausescu}}

Nicolae Ceausescu (January 26, 1918 - December 25, 1989) was a [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Romania Romanian] [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Communism Communist] politician. He was [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/General_Secretary General Secretary] of the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Romanian_Communist_Party Romanian Communist Party] from 1965 to 1989, and as such was the country's last Communist leader. He was also the country's head of state from 1967 to 1989.

 

 

Ceaușescu's second decade was characterized by an increasingly brutal and repressive regime—by some accounts, the most [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stalinism Stalinist] regime in the Soviet bloc. It was also marked by a ubiquitous [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cult_of_personality personality cult], nationalism and a deterioration in foreign relations with the Soviet Union. Ceaușescu's government was overthrown in the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Romanian_Revolution_of_1989 December 1989 revolution], and he and his wife were executed following a televised and hastily organised two-hour court session. However although he was aggressive, short tempered and egotistic (all his photos show him in his early 40s and his actual height which was 1.65 metres tall never emphasised on screen and also shown to be a confident speaker) he was also one of few people to stand up to the Soviet Union.

The profile file from the secret police, [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siguran%C8%9Ba_Statului Siguranța Statului], named him "a dangerous communist agitator" and "distributor of communist and antifascist propaganda materials". For these charges he was convicted on 6 June 1936 by the Brașov Tribunal to 2 years in prison, an additional 6 months for [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Contempt_of_court contempt of court] and one year of forced residence in Scornicești. He spent most of his sentence in [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doftana_Prison Doftana Prison]. While out of jail in 1940, he met [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elena_Ceau%C8%99escu Elena Petrescu], whom he married in 1946 and who would play an increasing role in his political life over the years.

Soon after being freed, he was arrested again and sentenced for "conspiracy against social order", spending the time during the war in prisons and [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internment internment camps]: Jilava (1940), Caransebeș (1942), Văcărești (1943), Târgu Jiu (1943). In 1943, he was transferred to [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/T%C3%A2rgu_Jiu Târgu Jiu] [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internment internment camp] where he shared a cell with [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gheorghe_Gheorghiu-Dej Gheorghe Gheorghiu-Dej], becoming his protégé. After [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_War_II World War II], when Romania was beginning to fall under [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soviet_Union Soviet] influence, he served as secretary of the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Union_of_Communist_Youth Union of Communist Youth] (1944–1945).

==Presidency==

Ceaușescu was not the obvious successor to [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gheorghiu-Dej Gheorghiu-Dej] when he died on 19 March 1965, despite his closeness to the longtime leader, but amid widespread infighting among older and more connected officials the Politburo turned to Ceaușescu as a compromise candidate. He was elected general secretary on 22 March 1965, three days after Gheorghiu-Dej's death. One of his first acts was to change the name of the party from the Romanian Workers' Party back to the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Communist_Party_of_Romania Communist Party of Romania], and declare the country the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Communist_Romania Socialist Republic of Romania] rather than a [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/People%27s_Republic People's Republic]. In 1967, he consolidated his power by becoming president of the State Council (head of state).

A series of official visits to Western countries (including the US, [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/France France], [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Kingdom United Kingdom], [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spain Spain]) helped Ceaușescu to present himself as a reforming Communist, pursuing an independent foreign policy within the Soviet Bloc. Also he became eager to be seen as an enlightened international statesman, able to mediate in international conflicts and to gain international respect for Romania. Ceaușescu negotiated in international affairs, such as the opening of US relations with China in 1969 and the visit of [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Egypt Egyptian] president [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anwar_Sadat Anwar Sadat] to Israel in 1977. Also Romania was the only country in the world to maintain normal diplomatic relations with both [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Israel Israel] and the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palestine_Liberation_Organization PLO].

[[File:Bundesarchiv_Bild_183-1987-0529-029,_Berlin,_Tagung_Warschauer_Pakt,_Gruppenfoto.jpg|thumb|Warsaw pact leaders left to right: [[wikipedia:Gustáv Husák|Gustáv Husák]] of Czechoslovakia, [[wikipedia:Todor Zhivkov|Tdor Zhikov]] of Bulgaria, [[Erich Honecker]] of East Germany, [[wikipedia:Mikhail Gorbachev|Mikhail Gorbachev]] of Russia, Nicolae Ceausescu, [[wikipedia:Wojciech Jaruzelski|Wojciech Jaruzelski]] of Poland,[[wikipedia:János Kádár|János Kádár]] of Hungary]]

In 1966, the Ceaușescu regime, in an attempt to boost the country's population, made [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abortion abortion] illegal, and introduced other policies to reverse the very low birth rate and fertility rate. Mothers of at least five children would be entitled to significant benefits, while mothers of at least ten children were declared ''heroine mothers'' by the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Communist_Romania Romanian state]. Few women ever sought this status; instead, the average Romanian family during the time had two to three children (see [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demographics_of_Romania Demographics of Romania]). Furthermore, a considerable number of women either died or were maimed during clandestine abortions.

Ceaușescu visited the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/People%27s_Republic_of_China People's Republic of China], [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_Korea North Korea], [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mongolia Mongolia] and [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_Vietnam North Vietnam] in 1971. He took great interest in the idea of total national transformation as embodied in the programs of North Korea's [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Juche Juche] and China's [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cultural_Revolution Cultural Revolution]. He was also inspired by the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Personality_cults personality cults] of North Korea's [[Kim Il-Sung|Kim Il-sung]] and China's [[Mao Zedong]]. Shortly after returning home, he began to emulate North Korea's system. North Korean books on Juche were translated into Romanian and widely distributed in the country.

In 1978, [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ion_Mihai_Pacepa Ion Mihai Pacepa], a senior member of the Romanian political police ([http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Securitate Securitate]), defected to the United States. A 2-star general, he was the highest ranking defector from the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eastern_Bloc Eastern Bloc] during the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cold_War Cold War]. His defection was a powerful blow against the regime, forcing Ceaușescu to overhaul the architecture of the Securitate. Pacepa's 1986 book, ''Red Horizons: Chronicles of a Communist Spy Chief'' , claims to expose details of Ceaușescu's regime, such as massive spying on American industry and elaborate efforts to rally Western political support.

 

Ceaușescu and his wife Elena fled the capital with Emil Bobu and [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manea_M%C4%83nescu Manea Mănescu] and headed, by helicopter, for Ceaușescu's [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snagov Snagov] residence, whence they fled again, this time for [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/T%C3%A2rgovi%C5%9Fte Târgovişte]. Near Târgovişte they abandoned the helicopter, having been ordered to land by the army, which by that time had restricted flying in Romania's airspace. The Ceaușescus were held by the police while the policemen listened to the radio. They were eventually turned over to the army. On Christmas Day, 25 December, the two were tried in a brief show trial and sentenced to death by a military court on charges ranging from illegal gathering of wealth to [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genocide genocide], and were executed in Târgovişte. During the trial, Ceaușescu repeatedly denied the court's authority to try him, and asserted he was still legally president of Romania. The video of the trial shows that, after sentencing, they had their hands tied behind their backs and were led outside the building to be executed.The Ceaușescus were executed by a firing squad consisting of elite [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paratroop paratroop] regiment soldiers: Captain Ionel Boeru, Sergeant-Major Georghin Octavian and Dorin-Marian Cirlan, while reportedly hundreds of others also volunteered. The firing squad began shooting as soon as the two were in position against a wall. The firing happened too soon for the film crew covering the events to record it.Before his sentence was carried out, Nicolae Ceaușescu sang "[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Internationale The Internationale]" while being led up against the wall. After the shooting, the bodies were covered with canvas. The hasty show trial and the images of the dead Ceaușescus were videotaped and the footage promptly released in numerous western countries. Later that day, it was also shown on Romanian television.

Their graves are located in [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ghencea_Cemetery Ghencea Cemetery] in Bucharest. They are buried on opposite sides of a path. The graves themselves are unassuming, but they tend to be covered in flowers and symbols of the regime. In April 2007, their son [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Valentin_Ceau%C8%99escu Valentin Ceaușescu] lost an appeal for an investigation into whether the graves were genuine. Upon his death in 1996, the elder son, [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nicu_Ceau%C8%99escu Nicu], was buried nearby in the same cemetery. According to ''[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jurnalul_Na%C8%9Bional Jurnalul Național]'', requests were made by the Ceaușescus' daughter [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zoia_Ceau%C8%99escu Zoia] and by supporters of their political views to move their remains to mausoleums or to purpose-built churches. These demands were denied by the government. On 21 July 2010, forensic scientists [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exhumation exhumed] the bodies of the Ceaușescus to perform DNA tests. It was determined that they were indeed the remains of the Ceaușescus

[[Category:Male Villains]]

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[[Category:Deceased Villains]]

[[Category:Heroes Turned To The Dark Side]]

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[[Category:Fathers]]