Socialist Republic of Romania The Socialist Republic of Romania ( , RSR ) was a single party socialist state that existed officially from 1947 to 1989 . From 1947 to 1965 , the state was known as the Romanian People ' s Republic ( " Republica Populară Romînă " , RPR ) . The country was a Soviet - aligned Eastern Bloc state with a dominant role for the Romanian Communist Party enshrined in . As World War II ended , Romania , a former Axis member , was occupied by the Soviet Union , the sole representative of the Allied powers . On 6 March 1945 , after mass demonstrations by communist sympathizers and political pressure from the Soviet representative of the Allied Control Commission , a new pro - Soviet government that included members of the previously outlawed Romanian Communist Party was installed . Gradually , more members of the Communist Party and communist - aligned parties gained control of the administration and pre - war political leaders were steadily eliminated from political life . In December 1947 , King Michael was induced to abdicate and the People ' s Republic of Romania was declared . At first , Romania ' s scarce post - war resources were drained by the " SovRom s " , new tax - exempt Soviet - Romanian companies that allowed the Soviet Union to control Romania ' s major sources of income . Another drain was the war reparations paid to the Soviet Union . In the 1950s , however , Romania ' s communist government began to assert more independence , inducing , for example , the withdrawal of all Soviet troops from Romania by 1958 . In the 1960s and 1970s , Nicolae Ceauşescu became head of the Communist Party ( 1965 ) , head of state ( 1967 ) and assumed the newly established role of President in 1974 . Ceauşescu ' 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 . However , rapid economic growth fueled by foreign credits gradually gave way to an austerity and political repression that led to the fall of his totalitarian government in December 1989 . A large number of people were executed or died in custody during communist Romania ' s existence , most during the Stalinist era of the 1950s . While judicial executions between 1945 and 1964 numbered 137 , deaths in custody are estimated in the tens or hundreds of thousands . Many more were imprisoned for political , economical or other reasons and suffered abuse , torture and / or death . History . Soviet occupation and rise of the Communists . When King Michael , supported by the main political parties , overthrew Ion Antonescu in August 1944 , breaking Romania away from the Axis and bringing it over to the Allied side , Michael could do nothing to erase the memory of his country ' s recent active participation in the German invasion of the Soviet Union . Romanian forces fought under Soviet command , driving through Northern Transylvania into Hungary proper , and on into Czechoslovakia , Austria and Germany . However , the Soviets treated Romania as conquered territory , and Soviet troops remained in the country as occupying forces under the pretext that Romanian authorities could not guarantee the security and stability of Northern Transylvania . The Yalta Conference had granted the Soviet Union a predominant interest in Romania , the Paris Peace Treaties failed to acknowledge Romania as a co - belligerent , and the Red Army was sitting on Romanian soil . The Communists played only a minor role in Michael ' s wartime government , headed by General Nicolae Rădescu , but this changed in March 1945 , when Dr . Petru Groza of the Ploughmen ' s Front , a party closely associated with the Communists , became prime minister . Although his government was broad , including members of most major prewar parties except the Iron Guard , the Communists held the key ministries . The King was not happy with the direction of this government , but when he attempted to force Groza ' s resignation by refusing to sign any legislation ( a move known as " the royal strike " ) , Groza simply chose to enact laws without bothering to obtain Michael ' s signature . On 8 November 1945 , King Michael ' s name day , an anti - communist demonstration in front of the Royal Palace in Bucharest was met with force , resulting in dozens of killed and wounded ; Soviet officers restrained Romanian soldiers and police from firing on civilians , and Soviet troops restored order . Despite the King ' s disapproval , the first Groza government brought land reform and women ' s suffrage . However , it also brought the beginnings of Soviet domination of Romania . In the elections of 19 November 1946 , the Communist - led Bloc of Democratic Parties ( BPD ) claimed 84 % of the votes . These elections were characterized by widespread irregularities , including intimidation , electoral fraud , and assassinations Archives confirm suspicions at the time that the election results were , in fact , falsified . After forming government , the Communists moved to eliminate the role of the centrist parties ; notably , the National Peasant Party was accused of espionage after it became clear in 1947 that their leaders were meeting secretly with United States officials . A show trial of their leadership was then arranged , and they were put in jail . Other parties were forced to " merge " with the Communists . In 1946 and 1947 , hundreds of participants in the pro - Axis government were executed as war criminals , primarily for their involvement in the Holocaust and for attacking the Soviet Union . Antonescu himself was executed 1 June 1946 . By 1948 , most non - Communist politicians were either executed , in exile or in prison . By 1947 , Romania remained the only monarchy in the Eastern Bloc . On 30 December that year , Groza and Gheorghiu - Dej called on Michael and demanded his abdication . With either Groza or Gheorghiu - Dej holding a gun on him , pro - Communist troops surrounding his palace and his telephone lines cut , Michael was forced to sign a pretyped instrument of abdication . Hours later , Parliament abolished the monarchy and proclaimed Romania a People ' s Republic , formalized with the constitution of 13 April 1948 . The new constitution forbade and punished any association which had " fascist or anti - democratic nature " . It also granted the freedom of press , speech and assembly for the working class . In the face of wide - scale killings , imprisonments and harassment of local peasants during forced collectivization , entire private property nationalization and political oppressiveness , the Constitution of 1948 and the subsequent basic texts were never respected by governments or the new judges appointed during dictatorship . The Communist government also disbanded the Romanian Greek - Catholic Uniate Church , declaring its merger with the Romanian Orthodox Church . Romanian People ' s Republic . Early years . The early years of Communist rule in Romania were marked by repeated changes of course and by numerous arrests and imprisonments as factions contended for dominance . The country ' s resources were also drained by the Soviet ' s SovRom agreements , which facilitated shipping of Romanian goods to the Soviet Union at nominal prices . In all ministries there were Soviet " advisers " who reported directly to Moscow and held the real decision - making powers . All walks of life were infiltrated by agents and informers of the secret police . In 1948 , the earlier agrarian reform was reversed , replaced by a move toward collective farm ing . This resulted in forced collectivization , since wealthier peasants generally did not want to give up their land voluntarily and had to be " convinced " by beatings , intimidation , arrests and deportations . On 11 June 1948 , all banks and large businesses were nationalized . In the Communist leadership , there appear to have been three important factions , all of them Stalinist , differentiated more by their respective personal histories than by any deep political or philosophical differences : Ultimately , with Joseph Stalin ' s backing , and probably due in part to the anti - Semitic policies of late Stalinism ( Pauker was Jewish ) , Gheorghiu - Dej and the " Prison Communists " won out . Pauker was purged from the party ( along with 192 , 000 other party members ) ; Pătrăşcanu was executed after a show trial . Gheorghiu - Dej era . Gheorghiu - Dej , a firm Stalinist , was not pleased with the reforms in Nikita Khrushchev ' s Soviet Union after Stalin ' s death in 1953 . He also blanched at Comecon ' s goal of turning Romania into the " breadbasket " of the East Bloc , pursuing a program of the development of heavy industry . He also closed Romania ' s largest labor camps , abandoned the Danube – Black Sea Canal project , halted rationing and hiked workers ' wages . Further , there was continuing resentment that historically Romanian lands remained part of the Soviet Union as the Moldavian SSR . These factors combined to put Romania under Gheorghiu - Dej on a relatively independent and nationalist route . Gheorghiu - Dej identified with Stalinism , and the more liberal Soviet government threatened to undermine his authority . In an effort to reinforce his position , Gheorghiu - Dej pledged cooperation with any state , regardless of political - economic system , as long as it recognized international equality and did not interfere in other nations ' domestic affairs . This policy led to a tightening of Romania ' s bonds with China , which also advocated national self - determination . Gheorghiu - Dej resigned as the party ' s general secretary in 1954 but retained the premiership ; a four - member collective secretariat , including Nicolae Ceauşescu , controlled the party for a year before Gheorghiu - Dej again took up the reins . Despite its new policy of international cooperation , Romania joined the Warsaw Treaty Organization ( Warsaw Pact ) in 1955 , which entailed subordinating and integrating a portion of its military into the Soviet military machine . Romania later refused to allow Warsaw Pact maneuvers on its soil and limited its participation in military maneuvers elsewhere within the alliance . In 1956 , the Soviet premier , Nikita Khrushchev , denounced Stalin in a secret speech before the Twentieth Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union ( CPSU ) . Gheorghiu - Dej and the leadership of the Romanian Workers ' Party ( " Partidul Muncitoresc Român " , PMR ) were fully braced to weather de - Stalinization . Gheorghiu - Dej made Pauker , Luca and Georgescu scapegoats for the Romanian communist past excesses and claimed that the Romanian party had purged its Stalinist elements even before Stalin died in 1953 . In October 1956 , Poland ' s communist leaders refused to succumb to Soviet military threats to intervene in domestic political affairs and install a more obedient politburo . A few weeks later , the Communist Party in Hungary virtually disintegrated during a popular revolution . Poland ' s defiance and Hungary ' s popular uprising inspired Romanian students and workers to demonstrate in university and industrial towns calling for liberty , better living conditions , and an end to Soviet domination . Under the pretext that the Hungarian uprising might incite his nation ' s own revolt , Gheorghiu - Dej took radical measures which meant persecutions and jailing of various " suspects " , especially people of Hungarian origin . He also advocated swift Soviet intervention , and the Soviet Union reinforced its military presence in Romania , particularly along the Hungarian border . Although Romania ' s unrest proved fragmentary and controllable , Hungary ' s was not , so in November Moscow mounted a bloody invasion of Hungary . Romania offered to take part in the military intervention in Hungary in 1956 , but Nikita Khruschev rejected the proposal . After the Revolution of 1956 , Gheorghiu - Dej worked closely with Hungary ' s new leader , János Kádár , who was installed by the Soviet Union . Romania took Hungary ' s former premier ( leader of the 1956 revolution ) Imre Nagy into custody . He was jailed at Snagov , north of Bucharest . After a series of interrogations by Soviets and Romanian authorities , Nagy was returned to Budapest for trial and execution . In Transylvania , the Romanian authorities merged Hungarian and Romanian universities at Cluj , putting an end to the Hungarian Bólyai University , and also worked on gradually eliminating Hungarian education in middle schools by transforming them into Romanian ones . Gheorghiu - Dej spread fears about Hungary wanting to take over Transylvania . He took a two - pronged approach to the problem , arresting the leaders of the Hungarian People ' s Alliance , but , under Soviet pressure , establishing a nominally autonomous Hungarian region in the Székely land . Romania ' s government also took measures to allay domestic discontent by reducing investments in heavy industry , boosting output of consumer goods , decentralizing economic management , hiking wages and incentives , and instituting elements of worker management . The authorities eliminated compulsory deliveries for private farmers but reaccelerated the collectivization program in the mid - 1950s , albeit less brutally than earlier . The government declared collectivization complete in 1962 , when collective and state farms controlled 77 % of the arable land . Despite Gheorghiu - Dej ' s claim that he had purged the Romanian party of Stalinists , he remained susceptible to attack for his obvious complicity in the party ' s activities from 1944 to 1953 . At a plenary PMR meeting in March 1956 , Miron Constantinescu and Iosif Chişinevschi , both Politburo members and deputy premiers , criticized Gheorghiu - Dej . Constantinescu , who advocated a Khrushchev - style liberalization , posed a particular threat to Gheorghiu - Dej because he enjoyed good connections with the Moscow leadership . The PMR purged Constantinescu and Chişinevschi in 1957 , denouncing both as Stalinists and charging them with complicity with Pauker . Afterwards , Gheorghiu - Dej faced no serious challenge to his leadership . Ceauşescu replaced Constantinescu as head of PMR cadres . Persecution , the labour camp system and anti - communist resistance . Harsh persecutions of any real or imagined enemies of the Communist government started with the Soviet occupation in 1945 . Although the Romanian government regarded it as an ally against Nazi Germany , the Soviet army behaved as an occupation force and could arrest virtually anyone at will for perceived " fascist " or " anti - Soviet " activities . Once the Communist government became more entrenched , the number of arrests increased . All strata of society were involved , but particularly targeted were the pre - war elites , such as intellectuals , clerics , teachers , former politicians ( even if they had left - leaning views ) and anybody who could potentially form the nucleus of anti - Communist resistance . The existing prisons were filled with political prisoners , and a new system of forced labour camps and prisons was created , modeled after the Soviet Gulag . A decision to put into practice the century - old project for a Danube - Black Sea Canal served as a pretext for the erection of several labour camps , where numerous people died . Some of the most notorious prisons included Sighet , Gherla , Piteşti and Aiud , and forced labour camps were set up at lead mines and in the Danube Delta . The prison in Piteşti was used in an attempt to violently re - educate prisoners , mainly former members of the fascist Iron Guard . It involved both psychological and physical torture . The ultimate aim was to force prisoners to not only confess their crimes , but also denounce themselves and others , therefore prolonging their prison sentences . This " experiment " ended in 1952 , and most involved were tried and condemned . The Communist government also decided on the deportation of peasants from the Banat ( south - west Transylvania , at the border with Yugoslavia ) , started on 18 June 1951 . About 45 , 000 people were forcibly " resettled " in lesser populated regions on the eastern plains ( Bărăgan ) . The government decision was directed towards creating a " cordon sanitaire " against Tito ' s Yugoslavia , but was also used an intimidation tactic to force the remaining peasants to join collective farms . Most deportees lived in the Bărăgan for 5 years ( until 1956 ) , but some remained there permanently . Anti - communist resistance also had an organised form , and many people opposing the government took up arms and formed partisan groups , comprising 10 – 40 people . There were attacks on police posts and sabotage . Some of the famous partisans were Elisabeta Rizea from Nucşoara and Gheorghe Arsenescu . Despite a large number of secret police ( " Securitate " ) and army troops massed against them , armed resistance in the mountains continued until the early 1960s , and one of the best known partisan leaders was not captured until 1974 . Another form of anti - communist resistance , non - violent this time , was the student movement of 1956 . In reaction to the anti - communist revolt in Hungary , echoes were felt all over the Eastern bloc . Protests took place in some university centers resulting in numerous arrests and expulsions . The most organised student movement was in Timişoara , where 3000 were arrested . In Bucharest and Cluj , organised groups were set up which tried to make common cause with the anti - communist movement in Hungary and coordinate activity . The authorities ' reaction was immediate – students were arrested or suspended from their courses , some teachers were dismissed , and new associations were set up to supervise student activities . Tens of thousands of people were killed as part of repression and agricultural collectivization in Communist Romania primarily under Gheorghiu - Dej . The Ceauşescu government . Gheorghiu - Dej died in 1965 in unclear circumstanceshis death apparently occurred when he was in Moscow for medical treatmentand , after a power struggle , was succeeded by the previously obscure Nicolae Ceauşescu . Where Gheorghiu - Dej had hewed to a Stalinist line while the Soviet Union was in a reformist period , Ceauşescu initially appeared to be a reformist . During his last two years , Gheorghiu - Dej had exploited the Soviet – Chinese dispute and begun to oppose the hegemony of the Soviet Union . Ceauşescu , supported by colleagues of Gheorghiu - Dej such as Maurer , continued this popular line . Relations with Western countries and many other states began to be strengthened in what seemed to be the national interest of Romania . The forced Soviet ( mostly Russian ) cultural influence in the country which characterized the fifties was stopped . First years . In 1965 , following the example of Czechoslovakia , the name of the country was changed to " Republica Socialistă România " ( RSR , Socialist Republic of Romania ) and PMR ' s old name was restored ( " Partidul Communist Român " , PCR ; Romanian Communist Party ) . In his early years in power , Ceauşescu was genuinely popular , both at home and abroad . Agricultural goods were abundant , consumer goods began to reappear , there was a cultural thaw , and , what was important 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 international capitalist institutions such as the International Monetary Fund and World Bank because of his independent political line . Romania under Ceauşescu maintained and sometimes improved diplomatic and other relations with , among others , West Germany , Israel , China , Albania , and Pinochet ' s Chile , all for various reasons not on good terms with Moscow . Human rights issues . Concerns over aging populace resulted in reproductive freedom s being severely restricted . Wishing to increase the birth rate , in 1966 , Nicolae Ceaușescu promulgated the Decree 770 restricting abortion and contraception : only women over the age of 45 who had at least four children were eligible for either ; in 1989 , the number was increased to five children . Mandatory gynecological revisions and penalisations against unmarried people and childless couples completed the natalist measures . Other restrictions of human rights included invasion of privacy by the political police ( the " Securitate " ) , censorship , relocation , but not on the same scale as in the 1950s . During the Ceauşescu 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 German ancestry to emigrate to Israel and West Germany , respectively . Industrialisation . Ceauşescu ' s Romania continued to pursue Gheorghiu - Dej ' s policy of industrialisation . Romania made progress with the economy . From 1951 to 1974 , Romania ' s gross industrial output increased at an average annual rate of 13 percent . Several branches of heavy industry were founded , including the machine - tool , tractor , and automotive industries ; large - tonnage shipbuilding ; the manufacture of electric diesel locomotives ; and the electronics and petrochemical industries . In the realm of foreign trade , Socialist Romania exported machinery , consumer goods , chemicals , agricultural products , and petroleum products . Also , after a visit to North Korea , Ceauşescu developed a vision of completely remaking the country ; this became known as systematisation . A significant portion of the capital , Bucharest , was torn down to make way for the Casa Poporului ( now House of Parliament ) complex and Centrul Civic ( Civic Centre ) , but the December 1989 Revolution left much of the huge complex unfinished , such as a new National Library and the National Museum of History . During the huge demolitions in the 1980s , this area was popularly called " Ceauşima " – a bitter satirical allusion of Ceauşescu and Hiroshima . Currently it is being redeveloped as a commercial area known as Esplanada . Prior to the mid - 1970s , Bucharest , as most other cities , was developed by expanding the city , especially towards the south , east and west . High density dormitory neighbourhoods were built at the outskirts of the city , some ( such as Drumul Taberei , Berceni , Titan or Giurgiului ) of architectural and urban planning value . Conservation plans were made , especially during the 1960s and early 1970s , but all was halted , after Ceauşescu embarked on what is known as " The Small Cultural Revolution " ( " Mica revoluţie culturală " ) , after visiting North Korea and the People ' s Republic of China and then delivering a speech known as the July Theses . In the late 1970s , the construction of the Bucharest Metro system was started . After two years , 10 km of network were already complete and after another 2 years , 9 km of tunnels were ready for use . By 17 August 1989 , 49 . 01 km of the subway system and 34 stations were already in use . The earthquake of 1977 shocked Bucharest ; many buildings collapsed , and many others were weakened . This was the backdrop that led to a policy of large - scale demolition which affected monuments of historical significance or architectural masterpieces such as the monumental Vǎcǎreşti Monastery ( 1722 ) , the " Sfânta Vineri " ( 1645 ) and " Enei " ( 1611 ) Churches , the Cotroceni ( 1679 ) and Pantelimon ( 1750 ) Monasteries , and the art deco " Republic ' s Stadium " ( ANEF Stadium , 1926 ) . Even the Palace of Justice – built by Romania ' s foremost architect , Ion Mincu – was scheduled for demolition in early 1990 , according to the systematisation papers . Yet another tactic was abandoning and neglecting buildings and bringing them into such a state that they would require being torn down . Thus , the policy towards the city after the earthquake was not one of reconstruction , but one of demolition and building anew . 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 Gara de Nord ( the city ' s main train station ) , listed on the Romanian Architectural Heritage List , was scheduled to be torn down and replaced in early 1992 . Despite all of this , and despite the much - questioned treatment of HIV - infected orphans , the country continued to have a notably good system of schools . Also , not every industrialisation project was a failure : Ceauşescu 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 . 1980s : severe rationing and construction of the Palace of the People . Romania continued to make progress . High rates of growth in production created conditions for raising living standards of the people . From 1950 to the mid - 1980s , the average net wages increased more than eightfold . The consumption fund increased 22 - fold , and a broad program of building cultural facilities and housing was carried out . Over 80 percent of the country ' s population had moved to new apartments during this period . Measures in the mechanization and chemicalization of farming helped to increase the output of agricultural products . In 1950 , more than 300 kg of cereals was gathered per head of the population , whereas in 1982 this amount increased to 1 ton . Meat production increased from 29 . 5 to 100 kg . In the late 1980s , the United Nations Human Development report classified Romania as having had high human development . The life expectancy was 71 years , literacy rate at 96 % , and the Real GDP per capita at $ 3000 . During the 1980s , Ceauşescu became obsessed with repaying Western loans and with building himself a palace of unprecedented proportions , along with an equally grandiose neighborhood , Centrul Civic , to accompany it . These led to a shortage of available goods for the average Romanian . By 1984 , despite a high crop yield and increased food production , widescale food rationing was introduced . The government promoted it as " rational eating " and " a means to reduce obesity " . 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 . By 1985 , despite Romania ' s huge refining capacity , petrol was strictly rationed , with supplies drastically cut , a Sunday curfew was instated , and many buses used methane propulsion ( they were mockingly named " bombs " ) ; taxis were converted to burning methanol . 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 ) . Only one in five streetlights was to be kept on , and television was reduced to a single channel broadcasting just 2 hours each day . 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 . All shops were to close no later than 5 : 30 pm , in order to preserve electricity . Last years : increased social control . 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 a large segment of the 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 . There was also a revival of the effort to build : Pollution . Another legacy of this era was pollution : Ceauşescu ' s government scored badly on this count even by the standards of the Eastern European communist states . Examples include Copşa Mică 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 . Downfall . Braşov Riot . December 1989 was the last act of an end that started in 1987 , in Braşov . The anti - communist riot in Braşov on 15 November 1987 was the main political event that announced the imminent fall of communism in Romania . The revolt started at the enterprise of Trucks Braşov , by a strike begun in the night of 14 November , on the night - shift , and continued the next morning with a march downtown , in front of the Council of the Romanian Communist Party . The population had heard about this event through Radio Free Europe . Emil Hurezeanu tells : " I remember that Neculai Constantin Munteanu , the moderator of the show , started the broadcast : ' Braşov ! So Braşov ! Now it started ! ' This was the tone of the whole broadcast . We had interviews , information , interpretations of some political interpretations , older press articles announcing open street protests against Ceauşescu . " The reprisals against strikers were rapid . The workers were arrested , imprisoned and their families terrorized , but this act of courage on the part of the workers of Braşov set the stage for future mass revolts . In this sense , from Radio Free Europe , Emil Hurezeanu says : " . . . All these have been turned into an offensive . The reaction of the regime was expected . . Very soon it was seen that the regime wants to hide it , to cancel it , practically not to respond to claims , not to take measures , to change anything , not to turn this protest into a public debate or even inside the party , in the Political Executive Committee . And then , the recipe of street confrontations with the regime became the only . . . possible . It became the leitmotif of all the media analysis . [ . . . ] It was the beginning of an action against the system that comprises more items . It was a labor protest in a citadel of Ceauşescu , it was an antidictatorial message , it was a clear political context : the pressures of Moscow , Ceauşescu ' s refusal to accept the demands of Gorbachev , the breaking with the West , who changed the views towards the regime – all these have made us to believe that the beginning of the end was coming ” . Protests in 1989 before the Revolution . In March 1989 , several leading activists of the PCR protested in a letter that criticized the economic policies of Nicolae Ceauşescu , but shortly thereafter Ceauşescu achieved a significant political victory : Romania paid off its external debt of about US $ 11 billion several months before the time that even the Romanian dictator expected . Ceauşescu was formally reelected secretary general of the Romanian Communist Party — the only political party of the Romanian Socialist Republic — on 14 November at the party ' s XIV Congress . On 11 November 1989 , before the party congress , on Bucharest ' s Brezoianu Street and Kogalniceanu Boulevard , students from Cluj - Napoca and Bucharest demonstrated with placards “ We want Reforms against Ceauşescu government . " The students — Paraschivescu Mihnea , Vulpe Gratian , the economist Dan Caprariu from Cluj and others — were arrested and investigated by the Securitate at the , accused of propaganda against the socialist society . They were released on 22 December 1989 at 14 . 00 . There were other letters and other attempts to draw attention to the economic , cultural , and spiritual oppression of Romanians , but they served only to intensify the activity of the communist police and Securitate . Revolution . On 16 December , a protest broke out in Timişoara in response to an attempt by the government to evict the dissident pastor László Tőkés . Tőkés had recently made critical comments against the regime to the Hungarian media , and the government alleged that he was inciting ethnic hatred . His parishioners gathered around his home to protect him from harassment and eviction . Many passers - by , including Romanian students , spontaneously joined the protest . Subsequently , police and " Securitate " forces showed up at the scene . By 7 : 30 pm , the protest had spread , and the original cause became largely irrelevant . Some of the protesters attempted to burn down the building that housed the District Committee of the Romanian Communist Party ( PCR ) . The " Securitate " responded with tear gas and water jets , while the police beat up rioters and arrested many of them . Around 9 : 00 pm , the rioters withdrew . They regrouped eventually around the Romanian Orthodox Cathedral and started a protest march around the city , but again they were confronted by the security forces . Riots and protests resumed the following day , 17 December . The rioters broke into the District Committee building . The army failed to establish order and chaos ensued with gunfire , fights , burned cars , and casualties . Unlike the Soviet Union at the same time , Romania did not develop a large , privileged elite . Outside of Ceauşescu ' s own relatives , government officials were frequently rotated from one job to another and moved around geographically , to reduce the chance of anyone developing a power base . This prevented the rise of the Gorbachev - era reformist communism found in Hungary or the Soviet Union . Similarly , unlike in Poland , Ceauşescu reacted to strikes entirely through a strategy of further oppression . Romania was nearly the last of the Eastern European communist governments to fall ; its fall was also the most violent up to that time . The events of December 1989 are much in dispute . Protests and riots broke out in Timişoara on 17 December and soldiers opened fire on the protesters , killing about 100 people . After cutting short a two - day trip to Iran , Ceauşescu held a televised speech on 20 December , in which he condemned the events of Timişoara , considering them an act of foreign intervention in the internal affairs of Romania and an aggression through foreign secret services on Romania ' s sovereignty , and declared National Curfew , convoking a mass meeting in his support in Bucharest for the next day . The uprising of Timişoara became known across the country , and in the morning of 21 December , protests spread to Sibiu , Bucharest , and elsewhere . On 21 December , the meeting at the Central Committee Building ( CC ) in Bucharest turned into chaos . The crowd , in a reaction that would have been unthinkable for most of the last quarter - century , openly booed and jeered Ceauşescu as he spoke . He was forced to hide himself in the CC Building after losing control of his own " supporters " . The night of 21 December was a fight between protesters and the Securitate , police and part of the army forces . More than 1100 protesters lost their lives during the fights over the next few Revolution days . On the morning of the next day , 22 December , it was announced that the army general Vasile Milea was dead by suicide . Believing that Milea had actually been murdered , the rank - and - file soldiers went over almost " en masse " to the budding rebellion . A second attempt at a speech the next day quickly failed . Soon , people were besieging the CC Building , coming within a few meters of Ceauşescu . The Securitate did nothing to help him . Ceauşescu soon fled in an helicopter from the rooftop of the CC Building , only to find himself abandoned in Târgovişte , where he and his wife Elena were finally tried by a drumhead court - martial , convicted after a one - and - a - half hour trial , and shot on 25 December . The PCR disappeared soon afterward and has never been revived . Uniquely among former Eastern bloc countries , no party claiming to be its successor has ever won a seat in the revamped Parliament since the end of Communism . Controversy over the events of December 1989 . For several months after the events of December 1989 , it was widely argued that Ion Iliescu and the National Salvation Front ( FSN ) had merely taken advantage of the chaos to stage a coup . While , ultimately , a great deal did change in Romania , it is still very contentious among Romanians and other observers as to whether this was their intent from the outset , or merely pragmatic playing of the cards they were dealt . It is clear that by December 1989 Ceauşescu ' s harsh and counterproductive economic and political policies had cost him the support of many government officials and even the most loyal Communist Party cadres , most of whom joined forces with the popular revolution or simply refused to support him . This loss of support from government officials ultimately set the stage for Ceauşescu ' s demise . Legacy . Despite the harsh austerity measures of the 1980s in Romania being still in living memory , many Romanians respond in polls that they ' d prefer a restoration of the communist regime ( as much as 53 % in a 2012 poll ) , looking back nostalgically at an era of stability and safety as opposed to the recent economic and political instability .