History of Romania Since 1989

History Of Romania Since 1989

1989 marked the fall of Communism in Eastern Europe. A mid-December protest in Timişoara against the eviction of a Hungarian minister (László Tőkés) grew into a country-wide protest against the Ceauşescu régime, sweeping the dictator from power.

On December 21, President Nicolae Ceauşescu had his apparatus gather a mass-meeting in Bucharest downtown in an attempt to rally popular support for his regime and publicly condemn the mass protests of Timişoara. This meeting mirrored the mass-meeting gathered in 1968 when Ceauşescu had spoken out against the invasion of Czechoslovakia by the Warsaw Treaty countries. This time however, the people turned angry and riot broke out. During the events of the following week, marked by confusion and street fighting, it is estimated that 1,051 people lost their lives. To this day, the real number of casualties are unknown and so are the identities of the individuals responsible for them. Those responsible for the casualties are still called "the terrorists". Ceauşescu was arrested in Târgovişte. After a summary trial by a kangaroo court, he and his wife were executed on December 25.

During the Romanian Revolution of 1989, power was taken by a group called the National Salvation Front (FSN), which gathered dissidents, both from within the Communist Party and non-affiliated. The FSN quickly assumed the mission of restoring civil order and immediately took seemingly democratic measures. The Communist Party was thus outlawed, and Ceauşescu's most unpopular measures, such as bans on abortion and contraception, were rolled back.