CHALLENGES TO DEMOCRACY: FROM THE TIANANMEN SQUARE TO TIMISOARA
CHALLENGES TO DEMOCRACY: FROM THE TIANANMEN SQUARE TO TIMISOARA

Summary/Abstract: The year 1989 is the year of vigorous social and civic movements in some Central and East European countries. Those movements led to the fall of the communist regimes, as well as to the initiation of democratic measures in those countries. With the exception of Romania, all those countries experienced a peaceful evolution. The Romanian Revolution, which began on December 16, 1989, in Timisoara, was bloody, with over 3,000 dead and 11,000 wounded, most of them after Nicolae Ceaușescu and his main supporters were dismissed from their power positions. In Timisoara, many victims appeared before the dictator ceased to run the state, as 72 deaths and almost 300 wounded were reported in town, most victims of gun shots. From the perspective of fierce repression, the Romanian Revolution, especially due to the major events in Timisoara, resembles the brutal mode in which the students protest movement in June 1989, in the Tiananmen Square from Beijing, was also repressed. The two major events have not benefited enough from a comparative research. The purpose of this study is to outline similarities and differences, but also to sketch the primary elements of evolution of the two countries after the year 1989.

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