HISTORICAL EVENTS OF

ROMANIA

6TH

MARCH 1945

PETRU GROZA’S GOVERNMENT ASSERTED BY

THE USSR

• Under the Soviet military pressure, king Mihai I has to

accept the appointment of Petru Groza as a prime-

minister; he will form a new government, in which the

key-ministries were appointed to communists.

• Two days after the appointment of Groza’s

Government, Churchill addressed to the American

President Roosevelt in a “personal and top secret”

telegram, in which he expressed his concern for

imposing, by force, a communist government. In his

reply, the American President, admitting the

interference of the leadership in Kremlin with the

appointment of the communist government, mentioned:

Ï think Romania is not a good place for us to match the

Russians.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5EAYALJt0-4

JULY, 14TH, 1947, CORNELIU COPOSU AND ALL THE

LEADERS OF THE PEASANT

NATIONAL PARTY WERE ARRESTED.

This action was called ‘The Set up

from Tămădău’. He was imprisoned

before trial until 1956, without being

judged. In 1956 a trial for “high

treason of the working class” and for

“crime against the social reforms”

was set up and he was sentenced to

forced labour for life. Until 1962 he

was imprisoned in a severe regime

of isolation in Râmnicu Sărat jail.

THE 30TH OF DECEMBER 1947

ABDICATION OF KING MIHAI. THE POPULAR

REPUBLIC OF ROMANIA IS PROCLAIMED.• On Tuesday, the 30th of December, the king is urgently

invited to Bucharest to discuss with the prime minister about“a family matter”.

• Petru Groza came to the meeting together with GheorgheGheorghiu Dej, and he handed Mihai a declaration ofabdication which had been prepared before, in which it waspresented the fact that the country had decided to changepolitics and monarchy as it was an obstacle preventingprogress. The king asked him to leave.

• Being blackmailed with the death of 1000 of students whichhad been arrested, the king resigned and signed theabdication act.

• In the evening, The Great National Assembly was urgentlysummoned being led by Mihail Sadoveanu and the republicwas proclaimed.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=58Ofc_G3eIU

1947-1965

GHEORGHE GHEORGHIU DEJ’S REGIME

• He was elected the prime-secretary

of the Communist Party in October

1945, later becoming the leader of

the party until his death in 1965.

• He had Stalin’s political model, an

authoritarian leader who was

intolerant with any form of

opposition.

• His regime had 3 main stages of the

fights inside the party, 3 occasions

which he used to impose his faithful

team and to eliminate his real or

potential enemies.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u9cvf64WDVM

23 MAY 1949

THE COUNCIL OF MUTUAL ECONOMICAL BENEFIT

(CMEB)• It was created on the initiative of the USSR as an economic

organisation of the communist states to constitute an equivalent

of the European Economic Community.

• It had the mission to stimulate the trade between the countries

in the Eastern block because, in reality, the USSR were not able

to offer to the communist countries assistance compared to the

one the USA gave to the Occidental countries.

• Members of the CMEB were: the USSR, the DRG, Bulgaria,

Poland, Czechoslovakia, Hungary and Romania.

• The CMEB did not manage to fulfil the goal for which it had been

created, mainly because of the centralised planned system of

the economy of the member states, the trade of goods being

made by means of bilateral negotiations with keeping the

balance of payment.

IN 1949 DANUBE - BLACK SEA CHANNEL

STARTED TO BE BUILT

• In 1949 Danube - Black Sea Channel

started to be built, most of the

workers being political prisoners

from the communist prisons and

people from religious and ethnical

minorities.

THE 14TH OF MAY 1955

THE TREATY FROM WARSAW

• Officially named “The Friendship, Cooperation andMutual Benefit Treaty”, it was a military alliance ofthe countries from Eastern Europe and from theEastern Block which wanted to defend themselvesfrom the threat which they felt from the NATOalliance.

• The members of the Pact from Warsaw committedthemselves to defend each other in case one ormore of them were attacked. The Treaty alsodeclared that its subscribers were relying on theprinciple of non-intervention in the internal affairsand in respect for the national sovereignty–eventually, these principles will be broken later inthe situation of Hungary - (1956) andCzechoslovakia - (1968)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=blfb8XOiYaU

MAY, 24TH 1958

THE RETREAT OF THE SOVIET TROOPS FROM ROMANIA

• On 24th of May 1958, , the Advisory Committee of Contracting States

of the Warsaw Treaty approves the retreat of the Soviet troops from

the Romanian territory

• Romania wanted the Red Army to leave its territory and U.S.S.R. was

taking into consideration restoring its image severely affected by the

military intervention against Hungary in October 1956

• On the 24th of May 1958, Romania and U.S.S.R. signed an agreement

on repatriation of Soviet soldiers (25.000) stationed on the national

territory. The agreement provided a calendar for staggering the

number of individuals during June and August 1958, as well as so

called manifestations of the Soviet-Romanian solidarity and friendship.

• Externally, the departure of the Soviet army meant facilitating the

upcoming distancing between Romania and Moscow.

• Internally, the regime from Bucharest acted in order to avoid any

possible "surprises" ordering a new wave of arrests and harshening

the ideological control

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bgeiddT9shY

1965-1989

NICOLAE CEAUSESCU’S REGIME

• In 1968 Nicolae Ceausescu strongly condemned the

intervention of five member states of the Treaty from Warsaw

(the Soviet Union, Bulgaria, The Democratic Republic of

Germany, Poland and Hungary) in Czechoslovakia, when

“The Prague Spring” put an end to the political reforms

initiated by Aleksander Dubcek.

• Not few were those who appreciated that this position was not

actually the point of view of the country’s leadership. They

thought it was just a temporary and uncontrolled outburst of

Ceausescu’s. Many affirmed that it was, in fact, a duplicitous

attitude of the Romanian Communist Party, which externally

promoted principles with a wide international recognition

(acknowledgement of the national independence and

sovereignty, non-interference in the internal affairs, equality of

rights, mutual respect) whereas internally it continues the

Stalinist politics, being hostile to any reform.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MpL8U-A_-lE

26 MARCH 1974

CEAUSESCU BECOMES THE FIRST PRESIDENT OF

ROMANIA

• In the first half of the 1970s, Nicolae Ceauşescu was in full process of consolidation of his power. It all culminates on the 29th of March 1974 with the institution and election of Nicolae Ceauşescu as president of the Socialist Republic of Romania. The relevance of the moment 1974 in the history of Romania cannot be fully understood without being related to the succession of Gheorghiu Dej and Nicolae Ceauşescu’s skillful game of getting the power.

• The moment 28th March 1974 remains in the history of the Romanian communism as the moment when the personal dictatorship of Nicolae Ceauşescu became official and well as “the first tangible sign of a dynastic unfolding scenario” which was ended violently 15 years later.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cni_xaBzXcc

1987

MANIFESTATIONS OF WORKERS FROM “THE RED FLAG”

PLANT IN BRASOV.• The revolt from Brașov in 1987 was a form of protest against

the economic and social politics imposed in the Socialist

Republic of Romania by the communist dictator Nicolae

Ceaușescu.

• The first protests started on the 14th of November 1987, at the

Department 440 “Moulds” from the truck plant “Red Flag”. It

was on a pay day and the workers received only half of the

money. On the payslips, at the rubric “Deductions” there was

the word “social”

• Without being organized in advance, the workers decided to

protest against the communist regime but at nightfall, the

Security forces and the Army surrounded the central area of

the city and spread by force the protesters.

• The Security had begun to identify the protesters ever since

15th November, by means of Security agents under cover

infiltrated among the workers, the passers-by or from Dacia

cars with tinted windows from which they would take pictures

or video record. Those who were investigated were beaten and

even tortured.

16TH DECEMBER 1989

THE BEGINNING OF THE REVOLUTION FROM TIMISOARA.

• On the 16th December a protest broke in Timișoara, as an

echo to the government’s attempt to evacuate the reformed

pastor László Tőkés. He had recently criticized the regime in

the international mass-media and the government considered

that he was instigating to ethnical dispute.

• At government’s request, the bishop revoked him from his

position, depriving him of his right to live in the apartment in

which he was entitled to as a pastor. The parishioners and

many passers-by joined the protest, being unfamiliar with the

details and finding out from the sustainers of the pastor that

this was a new attempt of the communist regime to restrict the

religious freedom.

• The protests continued on the next day, the 17th December.

The protesters went into the County Committee and threw out

the window the party’s documents, the propaganda flyers,

Ceaușescu’s works and other symbols of the communist

power.

• The Army failed in its attempt to restore order, managing to

turn Timișoara into Hell: gun fires, victims, street fights, cars in

flames. After 8 P.M. there were shootings. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XaykvDq1lnA

21ST DECEMBER 1989

THE BEGINNING OF THE REVOLUTION IN BUCUREȘTI.

• 21st December 1989: tens of thousands of people from Bucharest gather in the Republic Square , for a meeting organized by the communist authorities and turns the great people’s assembly into the great people’s uprising.

• From the balcony of the Central Committee of the R.C.P., Nicolae Ceauşescu suggests the increase of some retributions and social aids, trying in this way to defuse the situation in the country.

• Ceauşescu gives a speech about the achievements of the socialist revolution, but he is interrupted by shouts behind the assembly. Slogans such as: “Democracy!”, “Freedom!”, “Yesterday in Timişoara, tomorrow in the whole country!”, "Ceauşescu down!" could be heard.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xW-Up6JUjsE

22ND DECEMBER 1989

CEAUSESCU’S FLIGHT AND ARREST.

• On the 22nd December, amid the loss of the Army and Security’s support, Nicolae Ceausescu and his wife fly away with a helicopter from the headquarters of the Central Committee heading for the residence from Snagov where they arrive around 12:21 and at 12:47 they take off towards Târgoviște

• They are forced to abandon the helicopter and to go on by car.

• Reaching Târgoviște, they are taken by Militia officers to the Headquarters of Militia, but it being taken over by the revolutionists, they flee towards the village Rățoaia where they hide in the forest until nightfall, when they return to the Militia Headquarters.

• Here the Ceaușescus are arrested and searched by the revolutionists.

25TH DECEMBER 1989

THE EXECUTION OF THE CEAUSESCU’S

• On the 24th of December 1989, by a decree of the CFSN signed by Ion Iliescu, the Exceptional Military Court was constituted.

• The Panel of Judges consisted of two military judges, three representatives of the people.

• The trial began on the 25th December, in the garrison of Târgoviște. The charges were

• Genocide - over 60.000 victims;

• Undermining the State power by organizing armed actions against the people and the State power.

• Property damage offence of public organizations, the destruction of and damage to buildings, explosions in cities etc.

• Undermining the national economy.

• Attempt to run away from the country with funds of over a billion dollars deposited in banks abroad.

• The sentence to death was pronounced at 14:45 and, although the verdict admitted appeal, it was executed five minutes later in the garrison’s yard

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zILELsMy_B0

SMALL SIGNS OF DEMOCRACY

DECEMBER 1989 - THE BEGINNING OF THE‘90SThe “birth” or the “re-birth”of some parties which stopped their activity

during communism.

• 28th December 1989, after 41 years since it was outlawed, the Christian

Democratic National Peasant Party (PNTCD) reappears

• The National Salvation Front (FSN) became a political party on February

6th, 1990, body of state power resulted after the 1989 revolution, whose

president was Ion Iliescu.

• The Democratic Party is founded with members who activated in the

technical field and hadn’t had positions in the Communist Party.

• another historical party is re-born, the Liberal National Party (PNL).

• The “Big Romania” Party is founded by the former members of Security

• The Romanian National Unity is founded. Their political purpose was to

continue the communist ideals under different forms.

• The Agrarian Democratic Party of Romania

• The Democratic Union of Hugarians in Romania, founded by the former

communist elite of Hungarian origin.

All these parties wanted to govern, not to introduce a certain governing

orientation. http://www.historia.ro/exclusiv_web/general/articol/formarea-partidelor-politice-dup-1989

THE MINERIADS

In the 1990s, the miners were summoned to Bucharest by

president Ion Iliescu, in order to stop the conflicts between the

power and the political opposition

The first mineriad: 28th-29th January 1990

Over five thousand miners from Jiu Valley arrive in the capital

city, armed with bats and chains, determined to silence, by all

means, the leaders and supporters of all the parties that

weren’t governing. The headquarters of the main opposition

parties are devastated.

The life of the leaders of these parties is in danger, some of

them being forced to hide from the “popular fury”

THE SECOND MINERIAD: 28TH FEBRUARY 1990

The miners (about 4.000 from Jiu Valley) come to Bucharest to defend the

Government headquarters which has been under siege by those who

opposed Iliescu’s regime.

After restauring order the miners promise that they will return to the capital

whenever such incidents happen.

Numerous members of opposition and of independent press claimed that

the instigation had been initiated and led by Security and Government.

THE GOLANIAD - UNIVERSITY SQUARE PHENOMENON BETWEEN

22ND APRIL AND 13TH JUNE 1990

The mass events which took place in University

Square in Bucharest were initiated because of

the general discontent related to the evolution

of the political activity in the post-December

Romania. With a duration of 53 days and

gathering 50,000 people every night, the

“Golaniad” is the biggest protest in the history

of Romania and the greatest anti-communist

manifestation from Eastern Europe, after the

fall of the Iron Curtain. The marathon

manifestations from University Square were

called the “Golaniad”, term that comes from the

Romanian word ”golan” (= “hooligan”), which

had been used mostly by president Ion Iliescu

when referring to the protesters.

THE GOLANIAD - UNIVERSITY SQUARE PHENOMENON

BETWEEN 22ND APRIL AND 13TH JUNE 1990

Over a thousand people, students, highbrows, representatives of the

civil society, protesters, leaders of non-governmental organisations,

workers, soldiers, etc., had the opportunity to express themselves freely

from the balcony of the University which was turned into a Tribune of

democracy.

The application of point 8 of the Proclamation of Timisoara, abolishing

the Decree that made the Party and the State leaders on national

television, purging the government from postponing the elections, judging

the guilty people for the murders in December 1989 were just a few of the

claims of those who manifested in the University Square.

20 MAY 1990

THE FIRST FREE ELECTIONS

• The first parliamentary and presidential elections in România, after the events in December 1989, took place on the 20th of May 1990, being, at the same time, the first free elections after more than 50 years.

• The recently earned freedom and the desire of a new beginning made the Romanians go in 1990 to the presidential elections to vote; the number of people who went to vote has never been equalled

• "Blind man’s Sunday" on the 20th of May 1990. It was the day which gathered all the records related to elections in România: almost the whole population with a right to vote went to the ballot boxes and the president was elected even from the first tour.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-RNUmio7Ipw

THE THIRD MINERIAD: JUNE, 13th, 1990Those who were in charge decided the

manifestation in the University Square to

be liquidated. The Army, the Police and the

Romanian Service of Information received

orders to do that.

Almost 200 workers entered the Institute of

Architecture, considering that the Students’

Union is among the responsible people for

what had happened in April-May in the

University Square.

Groups with obscure intentions set fire to

the Police buses. The headquarters of

Police, the Ministry of Internal Affairs, and

the Romanian Service of Information are

also attacked.

An official statement of the Government

said that “it was about legionnaire acts

which must be firmly stopped”.

THE THIRD MINERIAD: JUNE, 14th, 1990

The miners came from Jiu Valley. From the government balcony, Ion

Iliescu asked them to go in the University Square “to clean the place”

Groups of miners came to the University Square and to the Institute of

Architecture. The students who were caught were cruelly bitten. The

laboratories and the lecture halls were devastated. Every person caught by

the miners outside the University was also violently bitten.

The miners “visited” the historical political parties’ headquarters, some

leaders of

Miners’ "visits" take place at the premises of some historical parties, at the

houses of some leaders of the opposition and at the head offices of some

independent newspapers and magazines. Bucharest lives in terror and fear.

The miners gained, on this occasion, the reputation of the unofficial organ of

repression.The miners are convened at the Exhibition Complex where Ion

Iliescu thanked them for responding to his call once again. The US State

Department declared: “The actions authorized by the President Iliescu and

his government struck at the heart of the Romanian democracy.”

APRIL 1992

After 45 years, king Mihai is allowed for the first time to visit Romania.

Presidential Elections in 1996

Emil Constantinescu, representing the

Romanian Democratic Convention (CDR)

defeated the incumbent president, Ion

Iliescu, in the second round of elections,

replacing him in the State Leadership.

During his governance, there were

numerous reforms, but the development of

Romania was much under expectations,

mostly due to the delay of reforms because

of the disagreements from the coalition,

made up of many parties.

1997

The last king of

Romania, Mihai I,

receives back the

Romanian citizenship.

http://www.descopera.r

o/istorie/15223714-

regele-mihai-ultimul-

rege-al-romaniei-video

BILL CLINTON, 11th July, 1997

President Bill Clinton’s visit occurred just a

few days after NATO Summit in Madrid, to

which Romania wasn’t invited, unlike other

Eastern-European countries, to join the

Alliance. Although he was in a visit of

consolation, Clinton made no promise to

Romania, abiding to transmit the

Romanians the famous phrase “Stay on

this road and the future is yours”.“.

MAY, 1999 -

The first visit of a Sovereign Pontiff in an Orthodox

country

On 7th May, 1999, His Holiness Pope John Paul II made an ecumenical visit

in Romania ; it was the first visit, in our country, of a Sovereign Pontiff.

On 7th, 8th and 9th May,1999 he was in Romania, where he had contacts

with local personalities of the Orthodox Church.

Legislative and Presidential Elections 2000

At the elections in 2000, the coalition

lost in front of Ion Iliescu, (who

became President for the third time)

and his party.

2002 GEORGE W. BUSH’s VISIT IN ROMANIA

Tens of thousands of people came to the Revolution Square to mark the

decision of admission of Romania into NATO.

29TH MARCH 2004

ROMANIA GOES, TOGETHER WITH OTHER SIX

EUROPEAN COUNTRIES, IN THE NORTHERN

ATLANTIC TREATY ORGANISATION

• On the 29th of March 2004 Romania becomes a member of NATO,

together with other six East-European states invited at the summit from

Prague in November 2002..

• Integration into NATO marked Romania’s coming back into the family of

democratic Euro-Atlantic Community. In order to stress the historical

significance and importance of Romania’s integration into NATO, Law

no. 390/2004 was enacted regarding the establishment of NATO Day in

Romania on the first Sunday of April.

Presidential Elections 2004 and 2009

Traian Basescu is elected President of

Romania in 2004 and reelected in 2009

JANUARY THE 1ST 2007

ROMANIA BECOMES, TOGETHER WITH BULGARIA,

MEMBER OF EU WITH FULL RIGHTS • After signing the Accession Treaty on the 25th of April 2005,

Romania becomes an acceding state, obtaining active observer status in all EU institutions being necessary to ensure the presence of Romanian representatives in the European institutions and their working groups

• On the 1st of January 2007, Romania becomes a member with full rights of the EU, being the seventh country in the EU by number of inhabitants.

• The country designates 35 deputies for the European Parliament, but their number will decrease through a reorganisation of the places in the Parliament stated in the Treaty from Nice.

• Romanian became one of the official languages of the Union (the seventh by the number of speakers, in close competition with Dutch, in such way that that any citizen of the EU will be able to address the institutions in this language. The name "European Union" in Romanian received official status.

NATO SUMMIT 2008 ORGANISED IN BUCHAREST,

ROMANIA BETWEEN 2nd AND 4th APRIL, 2008.The event took place at the Parliament Palace and

gathered nearly 3.000 officials from 49 countries: 26

NATO Member States and other 23 signatories of the

Peace Partnership.

The Summit from Bucharest is considered to have

had the highest participation and the most complex

agenda in the NATO history. It was the biggest

foreign policy event held in our country.

2013 BITDEFENDER ANTIVIRUS RECEIVES THE

TITLE OF "PRODUCT OF THE YEAR"

In 2013, Bitdefender Antivirus receives the title of "Product of the

Year" from AV-Comparatives. The product obtained the maximum

score in eight of the nine rounds of testing which rated, among

other things, the performance in removing the malicious software,

the detection of phishing attacks and the performance in

conditions similar to the real ones. Bitdefender is a Romanian

company which produces solutions for cyber security. With the

main residence in Bucharest, Romania, Bitdefender has

representations in the USA, Germany, Spain, Great Britain and

the United Arab Emirates.

ROMANIAN PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION, 2014

The presidential elections in Romania took place in

two rounds, on 2nd November, 2014 and on 16th

November, 2014. At the second round, with a voter

turnout more than 10% higher than the first round, Klaus

Iohannis obtained 54,43% of options.

The elections were marked by long queues at the

abroad voting bureaus, up to ten hours. In spite of

queuing, tens of thousands of Romanian citizens

weren’t able to vote, all the voting bureaus having been

closed at 9pm. After counting the votes from abroad,

the opposition candidate, Klaus Iohannis, obtained in

diaspora the best score (89,73%).