by Alberto Pérez Puyal (E)

 
 
 
 
Since 1917 to 1945 Romania, like the rest of countries of East Europe, has been a handicap for the Soviet Union to get to the main countries in Europe, specially Germany. For Lenin, East Europe was the border to cross to go to the heart of the proletary. After 1945 this vision changed. Then Romania, like the other countries of Eastern Europe had an obligation for USSR because the Soviet Union liberated it from a filo-fascist regime. And started to use them like a way to stop the possibility of an advance of Germany. Of course, the rise of the communistic parties was caused by the desires of the USSR. In Romania there was a lot of feelings against the USSR and the communist party did not have a real force between the population. The communism party got to power because on created popular fronts and there was some kind of repression. It will be in 1948 when the Soviet Union won the game: the foundation of the Romanian Worker Party. The control from the Soviet Union started, in 1951 was the first Economical Plan. But problems began very soon because the events from 1956 in Hungary and 1968 in Prague. Important moral forces initiated movements against the control of Soviet Union. Romania was getting closer to the Western countries.

The collectivisations stopped in 1962, there was an amnesty to political dissidents and the Prime Minister Maurer travelled to Paris.

But in 1965 the response from Moscow was very quickly: Nicolae Ceausescu become the new Government Leader and there was a new constitution based on a socialist republic. In the 60's Ceausescu, he did not agree with the intervention of Czechoslovakia, he was not agree with the intervention of the Soviet army in Prague and there was a visit of the President of United States, Nixon. Things changed in 70's: the Helsinki act was its confirmation.

It was a way to recognize some right of no intervention of USSR but, at same time, it was a way of continue the power of USSR over the rest of the countries of Eastern Europe. It was the beginning of a regime really closed and repressive. Then in Romania started the opposition between the people that wanted more autonomy and the stablished power that had got a lot of influence of the communism power. The Romanian constitution had a model in the soviet constitution of 1934, a model very far from the liberal constitutions. Then the system was very repressive based in the main role of the local communist party.

And it was not near of the hope of a lot of Romanians but the opposition was not very strong in its forms of organisation. It was not like Poland for example where the groups were around the creation of Solidarnosc. Economically Romania was not an exception to the rest of the countries of Eastern Europe. An economy very controlled by the central administration and the industry was based in heavy industry. But the development of this kind of industry was bad for the rest of the economy: the agriculture or the light industry. And Romania was part of that countries without a good developed industry before and after the Second World War. It was not like Czechoslovakia or Eastern Germany. This factor and the internal division of work was specially bad for the agricultural producers. The problems started with the world crisis of 70's. The government began to lose the control of the economy and started to be frightened to the opened policies and in all the 70's its program became closer and closer. The enterprises were not saying the real production, the political fights inside the party got bigger and bigger. It meant a dissociation between the real society and the official society. This fall of the production was the base of the bad commercial balance. Romania must pay around 45% of its imports. And the bad work of the industries began to create ecological problems too. And it is necessary to add the big defence costs because the sovereign of the Soviet Union was based on the opposition to the other big power, the United States and the Western Europe. 

Only three years after the rise of the influence of USSR Ceausescu sign the stablishment of soviet troops into Romania. Romania is one of the countries of Eastern Europe that all the costs are heavier because it is not as developed as Czechoslovakia. The repression got each time bigger and bigger and the regime of Ceausescu only wanted then to continue in power. The problems in the Romania of today are a result of the violent way of transition. It was not a simply revolution. There were two different levels in it. In one way there were their romantic groups of revolutionaries shouting against the close regime. But in the dark the dissidents inside the power did the real revolution. They were persons that had been very close to Ceausescu but now they did not want him like leader. And in 1989 Ceausescu was not the good friend of Moscow, he became a bad piece in the Eastern Europe policy of Gorbachev. Two of the persons who has done falled the Romanian president were Petre Roman and Illiescu. This is very normal of a revolution without an ideology defined. The revolution was against one system, not for another one. The people in the street only wanted more freedom and better economical situation. But the absence of an economical model except the capitalism can be bad if this way fail. The revolution was inside of the ancient structures of power, then for the new president, Emil Constantinescu, they are a handicap too.

It is necessary to do a surveillance of the evolution of Romanian society because it is probably that the ancient identity based on cultural customs will grow up. An identity crisis or the getting up to power of a political party could be the exit that a lot of Romanians could search if the situation now do not make an evolution. Like the case of the ancient Yugoslavia. And the problem could be bigger in Transylvania where a lot of Hungarians live and they are identified with a nationalism party. In 1989 there was in that province disturbs around this problem.

last update: 11 JUL 2002 by Ralph