rty away from Stalinism, with little success. When Gheorghiu-Dej died in 1965, he was succeeded by a triumvirate: Ceauescu, the party's first secretary at the time; Chiva Stoica, the state council president; and Ion Gheorghe Maurer, premier. Ceauescu started immediately to consolidate his power and to eliminate rivals. By 1969, Ceauescu controlled the Central Committee and surrounded himself with loyal subordinates. Under Ceauescu, Romania's divergence from Soviet policies increased. Romania recognized the Federal Republic of Germany in 1967 and maintained diplomatic relations with Israel after the June 1967 War. Ceauescu visited Prague in 1968 and gave support to that nation's government. Romania denounced the Soviet Union for ordering the Warsaw Pact invasion of Czechoslovakia, and Ceauescu met with Tito twice after the invasion to discuss a common defense against future military actions of the same sort. Popular support for Ceauescu's rule reached its height as he defied the Soviet Unio
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