Cultural and Political Trends in Romania Before and After 1989
Cultural and Political Trends in Romania Before and After 1989
Author(s): Andrei MargaSubject(s): Political history, Government/Political systems, Post-War period (1950 - 1989), Transformation Period (1990 - 2010), History of Communism, Post-Communist Transformation
Published by: SAGE Publications Ltd
Keywords: Romania; end of Ceausescu's dictatorship; fall of Communism; reforms; democracy; system of single-party domination; before and after 1989;
Summary/Abstract: In December 1989, against the background of the revolt that seized Timisoara and the other larger towns in Romania, Ceausescu's dictatorship was overthrown. Power was taken by a National Salvation Front (FSN), which produced a program expressing the widely felt yearning for radical changes. Political pluralism, free elections, the separation of powers, free initiative, fundamental human rights, and integration into united Europe were among its points. After having opposed Gorbachev's reforms most strongly during its former regime, Romania suddenly went beyond them. Hardly had Communist parties in other countries started their conversion to socialism when, in Romania, the Communist party was suppressed. Many Romanians who had been waiting, almost without hope, for a political change experienced, for a couple of weeks, what they thought was a revolution. [...]
Journal: East European Politics and Societies
- Issue Year: 07/1993
- Issue No: 01
- Page Range: 14-32
- Page Count: 19
- Language: English
- Content File-PDF