Romania

=== Communism ===

{{Main|Socialist Republic of Romania}}

[[File:Mihai I.jpg|thumb|upright=0.8|King [[Michael&nbsp;I of Romania]] was forced to [[Abdication|abdicate]] by the communists in late December 1947, simultaneously with the [[Soviet occupation of Romania|Soviet occupation]] of the country.]]

During the [[Soviet occupation of Romania]], the communist-dominated government called for new [[1946 Romanian general election|elections]] in 1946, which they [[Electoral fraud|fraudulently won]], with a fabricated 70%&nbsp;majority of the vote.<ref>Giurescu, "'Alegeri' după model sovietic", p.17 (citing Berry), 18 (citing Berry and note); Macuc, p.40; Tismăneanu, p.113</ref> Thus, they rapidly established themselves as the dominant political force.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://lcweb2.loc.gov/frd/cs/rotoc.html#ro0037|publisher=Federal Research Division, Library of Congress|title=Romania: Country studies – Chapter 1.7.1 "Petru Groza's Premiership"|access-date=31 August 2008|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080914061032/http://lcweb2.loc.gov/frd/cs/rotoc.html#ro0037|archive-date=14 September 2008}}</ref> [[Gheorghe Gheorghiu-Dej]], a communist party leader imprisoned in 1933, escaped in 1944 to become Romania's first communist leader. In February 1947, he and others forced [[King Michael&nbsp;I]] to [[Abdication|abdicate]] and leave the country and proclaimed Romania a [[people's republic]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/romania/|publisher=CIA – The World Factbook|title=Romania|access-date=31 August 2008}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ed-u.com/ro.html|title=Romania – Country Background and Profile|publisher=ed-u.com|access-date=31 August 2008|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081210194350/http://www.ed-u.com/ro.html|archive-date=10 December 2008}}</ref> Romania remained under the direct military occupation and economic control of the USSR until the late 1950s. During this period, Romania's vast natural resources were drained continuously by mixed Soviet-Romanian companies ([[SovRom]]s) set up for unilateral exploitative purposes.<ref>{{cite web|first=Carmen|last=Rîjnoveanu|title=Romania's Policy of Autonomy in the Context of the Sino-Soviet Conflict|year=2003 |page=1|publisher=Czech Republic Military History Institute, Militärgeschichtliches Forscheungamt |url=http://www.servicehistorique.sga.defense.gouv.fr/07autredossiers/groupetravailhistoiremilitaire/pdfs/2003-gthm.pdf|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080624195137/http://www.servicehistorique.sga.defense.gouv.fr/07autredossiers/groupetravailhistoiremilitaire/pdfs/2003-gthm.pdf|archive-date=24 June 2008|access-date=31 August 2008|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Roper|first=Stephen D.|title=Romania: The Unfinished Revolution|place=London|publisher=Routledge|year=2000|isbn=978-90-5823-027-0|page=18}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Cioroianu|first=Adrian|author-link=Adrian Cioroianu|title=On the Shoulders of Marx. An Incursion into the History of Romanian Communism|language=ro|publisher=Editura Curtea Veche|year=2005|location=Bucharest|pages=68–73|isbn=978-973-669-175-1}}</ref>

In 1948, the state began to [[nationalization in Romania|nationalise]] private firms and to [[collectivization in Romania|collectivise]] agriculture.<ref>{{Cite book|first=Stan|last=Stoica|title=Dicționar de Istorie a României|publisher=Editura Merona|location=Bucharest|year=2007|pages=77–78; 233–34|language=ro|isbn=978-973-7839-21-3}}</ref> Until the early 1960s, the government severely curtailed political liberties and vigorously suppressed any dissent with the help of the [[Securitate]]—the Romanian secret police. During this period the regime launched several campaigns of [[purges]] during which numerous "[[enemies of the state]]" and "parasite elements" were targeted for different forms of punishment including: deportation, internal exile, internment in forced labour camps and prisons—sometimes for life—as well as [[extrajudicial killing]].<ref>{{cite book|first=Cicerone|last=Ionițoiu|title=Victimele terorii comuniste. Arestați, torturați, întemnițați, uciși. Dicționar|publisher=Editura Mașina de scris|location=Bucharest|year=2000|isbn=978-973-99994-2-7|language=ro}}{{Page needed|date=September 2010}}</ref> Nevertheless, [[Romanian anti-communist resistance movement|anti-communist resistance]] was one of the most long-lasting and strongest in the Eastern Bloc.<ref>Consiliul National pentru Studierea Ahivelor Securității, ''Bande, bandiți si eroi; Grupurile de rezistență și Securitatea (1948–1968)'', Editura Enciclopedica, București, 2003</ref> A [[Presidential Commission for the Study of the Communist Dictatorship in Romania|2006 commission]] estimated the number of direct victims of the Communist repression at two million people.<ref name=autogenerated3>{{cite report|title=Raportul Comisiei Prezidențiale pentru Analiza Dictaturii Comuniste din România|publisher=Comisia Prezidențială pentru Analiza Dictaturii Comuniste din România|date=15 December 2006|url=http://old.presidency.ro/static/rapoarte/Raport_final_CPADCR.pdf|pages=215–217}}</ref>

[[File:Ceausescu Anul Nou.jpg|thumb|left|[[Nicolae Ceaușescu]], who ruled Romania as its communist leader from 1965 until 1989]]

In 1965, [[Nicolae Ceaușescu]] came to power and started to conduct the country's foreign policy more independently from the Soviet Union. Thus, communist Romania was the only [[Warsaw Pact]] country which refused to participate in the Soviet-led [[Warsaw Pact invasion of Czechoslovakia|1968 invasion]] of [[Czechoslovakia]]. Ceaușescu even [[Ceaușescu's speech of 21 August 1968|publicly condemned the action]] as "a big mistake, [and] a serious danger to peace in Europe and to the fate of Communism in the world".<ref>{{cite AV media|language=ro|url=http://www.britishpathe.com/video/political-tension/query/nicolae|title=Political Tension 1968|publisher=British Pathé|date=21 August 1968|location=Bucharest|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140821235945/http://www.britishpathe.com/video/political-tension/query/nicolae|archive-date=21 August 2014}}</ref> It was the only Communist state to maintain diplomatic relations with Israel after 1967's [[Six-Day War]] and established diplomatic relations with [[West Germany]] the same year.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://countrystudies.us/romania/75.htm|publisher=Country Studies.us|title=Romania: Soviet Union and Eastern Europe|access-date=31 August 2008|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090705191547/http://countrystudies.us/romania/75.htm|archive-date=5 July 2009}}</ref> At the same time, close ties with the [[Arab world|Arab countries]] and the [[Palestine Liberation Organization]] (PLO) allowed Romania to play a key role in the Israel–[[Egypt]] and Israel–PLO peace talks.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://countrystudies.us/romania/80.htm|publisher=Country Studies.us|title=Middle East policies in Communist Romania|access-date=31 August 2008|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090705191645/http://countrystudies.us/romania/80.htm|archive-date=5 July 2009}}</ref>

[[File:Revolutia Bucuresti 1989 000.JPG|thumb|right|upright=1|The [[Romanian Revolution]] of 1989 was one of the few violent revolutions in the [[Iron Curtain]] that brought an end to communist rule.]]

As Romania's foreign debt increased sharply between 1977 and 1981 (from US$3&nbsp;billion to $10&nbsp;billion),<ref>{{cite web |last=Deletant|first=Dennis|title=New Evidence on Romania and the Warsaw Pact, 1955–1989|publisher=Cold War International History Project e-Dossier Series|url=http://www.wilsoncenter.org/sites/default/files/ACF368.pdf|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120117154720/http://www.wilsoncenter.org/sites/default/files/ACF368.pdf|archive-date=17 January 2012}}</ref> the influence of international financial organisations—such as the [[International Monetary Fund]] (IMF) and the [[World Bank]]—grew, gradually conflicting with Ceaușescu's [[autocracy|autocratic]] rule. He eventually initiated a policy of total reimbursement of the foreign debt by imposing [[1980s austerity policy in Romania|austerity steps]] that impoverished the population and exhausted the economy. The process succeeded in repaying all of Romania's foreign government debt in 1989. At the same time, Ceaușescu greatly extended the authority of the Securitate secret police and imposed a severe [[Nicolae Ceaușescu's cult of personality|cult of personality]], which led to a dramatic decrease in the dictator's popularity and culminated in his overthrow in the violent [[Romanian Revolution]] of December 1989 in which thousands were killed or injured.

After a trial, [[Trial and execution of Nicolae and Elena Ceaușescu|Ceaușescu and his wife were executed by firing squad]] at a military base outside Bucharest on 25 December 1989.<ref>{{cite news |title=EVOLUTION IN EUROPE; Ceausescu Wept as He Faced Firing Squad, Footage Shows |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1990/04/23/world/evolution-in-europe-ceausescu-wept-as-he-faced-firing-squad-footage-shows.html |newspaper=The New York Times | date=23 April 1990 |access-date=10 August 2022}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Upheaval in the East; Report on Ceausescus' Burial |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1990/01/27/world/upheaval-in-the-east-report-on-ceausescus-burial.html |website=New York Times | date=27 January 1990 |access-date=10 August 2022}}</ref> The charges for which they were executed were, among others, genocide by starvation.