The Romanian Revolution of 1989 & Ceausescu Of all the revo

Of all the revolutions which swept through Eastern Europe between 1988 and 1992, the Romanian revolution of December, 1990 stands out for the violence which occurred, the animosity of the people towards the overthrown rulers, and the uncertainty concerning the actual extent of change which took place. The events which took place in Romania between December 22, 1989 and January 1, 1990 were coupled with a level of violence which was unmatched by any of the other East Bloc revolts or by the dissolution of the Soviet Union in the Winter of 1991/92. Not only did the active participants in the rebellion forcibly capture Nicolae Ceausescu and his wife, Elena, after an attempted violent crackdown on the demonstrations, but the leaders of the rebellion also executed both after a questionable trial. Finally, unlike any of the other revolutions, the question has been raised as to whether the communists were actually overthrown in Romania or did certain elements in the party simply overthrow Ceausescu, following the examples of other communist regimes throughout the Twentieth Century.

Alone among the communist leaders in Eastern Europe, Ceausescu tried to forcibly defeat the popular rebellion which eventually overthrew him. The Securitate, or secret police, and the army were ordered to fire upon the demonstrators which had gathered in the town of Timisoara on December 16, protesting the eviction of Laslo Tokes, a popular Calvinist minister and vocal critic of Ceausescu. News o

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the control of the party; the army and this militia were commanded by a Defense Council, which was effectively controlled by the party. Thus the army and the party were constantly fighting over control of the army itself (Eyal, 1990, p. 148). Elsewhere, Ceausescu introduced increasingly unrealistic economic policies, pitting local leaders against each other for meager resources and ensuring that none became too powerful. In the national government, officials were rotated between posts at frequent intervals, preventing the building of power bases from which they could challenge Ceausescu (Eyal, 1990, p. 149). Probably, the most effective tool of suppressing opposition was the Securitate, the secret police. Unlike in other repressive countries, the secret police in Romania were not used as a virtual occupying force which violently cracked down on all dissent. Much of the Securitate's power was psychological, based upon rumor, rather than fact. That is not to say that the Securitate did not employ violence; dissidents were arrested, beaten, and even killed (Behr, 1991, pp. 236-7). These dissidents, however, were never certain about what might happen to them if they were caught: they could lose their jobs or their lives, or t

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