and property, but gave no orders to fire on the demonstrators (Cullen, 1991, p. 81). The demonstrations escalated in scope as the inhabitants realized that the government troops were making no serious efforts to quell the unrest; on December 20, the protesters gained control of the largest factories and forced the Securitate to release the prisoners held in the city jail (Cullen, 1991, p. 83). The number of casualties which occurred in Timisoara has been disputed: during the first few days of the revolt, reports circulated that between 4,000 and 40,000 people had been killed; the official figure, however has been gradually lowered as many claim that bodies were dug up from cemeteries in order to inflate the number of reported deaths (Behr, 1991, p. 246).
On December 17, Ceausescu left for a three day trip to Iran, after threatening to dismiss the defense minister and the head of the Securitate for allowing the demonstrations in Timisoara to turn into a riot, apparently unaware that the situation was quickly evolving into a full fledged revolt (Behr, 1991, 247-8). Upon his return to Bucharest on December 20, Ceausescu scheduled a public demonstration in support of the government in the Central Committee Square for the next day. Approximately 100,000 gathered for the rally and proceeded "normally" for eight minutes with the usual slogans and orchestrated applause. Then, jeers began emanating from the rear of the crowd and the Securitate responded with a few tear gas grenades, making the crowd angrier. Ceausescu stopped in confusion, then announced wage and pension increases; when the crowd grew even angrier, he ended his speech and left the balcony of the Central Committee building. Romanians watched the incredible event on live television; when they realized that the rally had ended in pandemonium, they poured into the streets of Bucharest. During the night, members of the Securitate began randomly shooting civilians; this n...