Historical Figure
Nicolae Ceauşescu
1918–1989
Leader of Romania from 1965 to 1989
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Biography
Nicolae Ceaușescu was a Romanian communist politician who led Romania as general secretary of the Romanian Communist Party from 1965 and as president from 1974 until his execution in 1989.
Timeline
The story of Nicolae Ceauşescu, told in moments.
Joined the Romanian Communist Party as a teenager. Arrested multiple times for distributing illegal pamphlets. Spent several years in prison, where he met Gheorghe Gheorghiu-Dej.
Became General Secretary of the Romanian Communist Party after Gheorghiu-Dej's death. Rose through decades of party work and multiple prison stints for communist activism.
Became General Secretary of the Romanian Communist Party after Gheorghiu-Dej died. He was 47. He consolidated power quickly and cultivated a personality cult.
Publicly condemned the Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia in a speech from the balcony of the Central Committee building. A hundred thousand Romanians cheered. Western governments showered him with praise and trade deals.
Named President of Romania. His wife Elena became his co-ruler in practice. They built the massive Palace of the Parliament in Bucharest, the heaviest building on Earth.
Ordered all foreign debt repaid at any cost. Romanians endured rationed food, heat, and electricity for years while agricultural exports flowed out of the country. His cult of personality grew grotesque.
Executed by firing squad alongside Elena on Christmas Day. A hasty military tribunal convicted them both. The whole trial lasted about an hour.
Executed by firing squad with his wife Elena on Christmas Day after a hasty military tribunal. They'd fled Bucharest by helicopter three days earlier as the Romanian Revolution swept the country. The trial lasted 55 minutes.
In Their Own Words (8)
We want to ensure a multilateral development of society, the thriving of all sides of social life, economy, science and culture, the improvement of management, the moulding of the new man and the promotion of socialist ethics and equity.
There can be no justification to admit, in any way, the use of armed forced to intervene in the internal affairs of a WTO [Warsaw Treaty Organization] member country. The solving of domestic problems belongs exclusively to the Party and people of each country and any kind of interference can only do harm to the cause of socialism, friendship and collaboration among the socialist countries.
It is a lie that I made the people starve. A lie, a lie in my face. This shows how little patriotism there is, how many treasonable offenses were committed.… At no point was there such an upswing, so much construction, so much consolidation in the Romanian provinces. I guaranteed that every village has its schools, hospitals and doctors. I have done everything to create a decent and rich life for the people in the country, like in no other country in the world.
It's expensive to keep Communism alive today. I've already got a huge foreign debt staring me in the face, and I can't reduce it by exporting tomatoes or toilet paper. We should be making dollars any way we can. And we should be exporting arms any way and every way, openly and secretly, legally or by smuggling-I don't care how.
Dialectical materialism works like cocaine, let's say. If you sniff it once or twice, it may not change your life. If you use it day after day, though, it will make you into an addict, a different man.
Artifacts (15)
was an example of patriotism and a correct attitude toward the country
hodox believer, was to blame for their deaths?". The patriarch wrote back, thanked Kalashnikov, and said that he "was an example of patriotism and a correct attitude toward the country". Kirill added...
I was so often on the outside looking in, still that kid up in the clouds on a f...
like a family outsider who no longer belonged once his mother began having children with Morrison. He wrote, "I was so often on the outside looking in, still that kid up in the clouds on a flight to...
a personal message to the world, an exaggerated form of me as a drunk. I had som...
cille Lortel Theatre on June 5, 2017. It closed on July 1 after receiving poor reviews. Years later Perry described the play as "a personal message to the world, an exaggerated form of me as a drunk....
I keep having the same unsolved question: if my rifle claimed people's lives, th...
le for the deaths caused by the weapons he created. Translated from the published letter he states, "I keep having the same unsolved question: if my rifle claimed people's lives, then can it be that...
More from the Early 20th Century
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