The Romanian Communist Party (Romanian: Partidul Comunist Român) was a Communist political party in Romania until 1989. ... 1989 is a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

History

Early history

The party was founded in 1921 when the Communist faction won control of Romania's Social-Democratic party and renamed it the Communist Party of Romania. At the end of World War II it had only around 1,000 members and had been an underground party after it was banned in 1924 by the Romanian government. Most of the party leadership and a large percentage of the membership were either arrested and imprisoned during the 1930s or went into exile. 1921 was a common year starting on Saturday (see link for calendar). ... Social democracy is a political ideology emerging in the late 19th and early 20th centuries from supporters of Marxism who believed that the transition to a socialist society could be achieved through democratic evolutionary rather than revolutionary means. ... Mushroom cloud from the nuclear explosion over Nagasaki rising 18 km into the air. ... 1924 was a leap year starting on Tuesday (link will take you to calendar). ... 1930 is a common year starting on Wednesday. ...

The early Communist Party had little influence in Romania due to the country's lack of industrial development which resulted in a small working class and a large peasant population, the lack of Marxist roots among Romanian intellectuals, the success of state repression in driving the party underground and limiting its activities, the party's "anti-national" policy before the war which called for the breakup of the Romanian state which was regarded as a colonial entitity and its "foreign" image due to fact that ethnic Romanians were a minority in the party until after the end of World War II. Interwar Romania had a minority population of 30% and it was largely from them that the party drew its membership. In general, the word colonial means of or relating to a colony. In United States history, the term Colonial is used to refer to the period before US independence. ...

Communists who had evaded arrest and avoided exile became known later as the "Secretariat faction" with their most notable figure being Lucreţiu Pătrăşcanu. In June 1943, the Communists proposed to other opposition parties such as the National Peasants, National Liberals and Social Democrats that they form the Blocul Naţional Democrat (National Democratic Bloc) in order to arrange for Romania to withdraw from its alliance with Nazi Germany. Lucreţiu Pătrăşcanu, (November 4, 1900, Bacău–April 17, 1954) was a leading member of the Communist Party of Romania, a lawyer, sociologist and economist. ... 1943 is a common year starting on Friday. ... The National Peasants Party (PNT, Partidul Naţional Ţărănesc) was a political party in Romania, formed in 1926 by the fusion of the National Romanian Party from Transylvania and the Peasants Party. ... The Partidul Naţional Liberal (National Liberal Party) is a liberal party in Romania. ... Nazi Germany, or the Third Reich, commonly refers to Germany in the years 1933–1945, when it was under the firm control of the totalitarian and fascist ideology of the Nazi Party, with the Führer Adolf Hitler as dictator. ...

On August 23, King Michael, a number of army officers, and armed Communist-led civilians supported by the National Democratic Bloc locked dictator Ion Antonescu into a safe and seized control of the government. King Michael then proclaimed the old 1923 Constitution in force and ordered the Romanian Army to enter a cease fire with the Red Army on the Moldovan front and withdrew Romania from its alliance with the Nazis. August 23 is the 235th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (236th in leap years), with 130 days remaining. ... King Michael and Queen Anne King Michael (Romanian Mihai) of Romania (born October 25, 1921) was the son of King Carol II and reigned from July 20, 1927 to June 8, 1930, and again from September 6, 1940 until December 30, 1947. ... Ion Antonescu Ion Antonescu (Piteşti June 15, 1882 – June 1, 1946 near Jilava) was prime minister and dictator of Romania during World War II from September 4, 1940 to August 23, 1944. ...

There is debate on how large a role Communists played in the coup with western historians claiming they played only a supportive role while the party itself later claimed that its role was decisive.

The King named General Constantin Sănătescu as Prime Minister of a coalition government which was dominated by the National Peasant Party and National Liberal Party but included Pătrăşcanu as Minister of Justice, the first Communist to hold high office in Romania. A coalition government, or coalition cabinet, is a cabinet in parliamentary government in which several parties cooperate. ...

The Red Army entered Bucharest on August 31, 1944 and thereafter played a crucial role in supporting the Communist Party's rise to power as the Soviet military command virtually ruled the city and the country. Bucharest (population 2. ... August 31 is the 243rd day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (244th in leap years), with 122 days remaining, as the final day of August. ... 1944 was a leap year starting on Saturday (link will take you to calendar). ...

Gaining power

After having been underground for two decades the Communists enjoyed little popular support at first compared to the other opposition parties. The National Liberals had been discredited by their association with King Carol II and their support for Antonescu and had little influence. The Partidul Naţional Liberal (National Liberal Party) is a liberal party in Romania. ... King Carol II of Romania Carol II of Romania (15 October 1893 - 4 April 1953) reigned as King of Romania from June 8, 1930 until September 6, 1940. ...

The Communist Party engaged in a recruitment campaign and was able to attract numbers of workers and intellectuals as well as former members of the fascist Iron Guard. The party was highly disorganised and factionalised but it benefitted from Soviet backing. The Iron Guard is the name most commonly given in English to an ultra-nationalist, anti-Semitic, fascist movement and political party in Romania in the period from 1927 into the early part of World War II. Originally founded by Corneliu Zelea Codreanu on July 24, 1927 as the Legion...

In October 1944, the Communists, Social Democrats and Ploughmen's Front fromed the Frontul National Democrat which campaigned for power against the Sănătescu government, demanding the appointment of more Communist officials and sympathizers. Sănătescu resigned in November but was persuaded by King Michael to form a second government which collapsed within weeks. General Nicolae Rădescu was asked to form a government and appointed Teohari Georgescu to the Ministry of the Interior, which allowed for the introduction of Communists into the security forces. October is the tenth month of the year in the Gregorian Calendar and one of seven Gregorian months with the length of 31 days. ... 1944 was a leap year starting on Saturday (link will take you to calendar). ... The title given to this article is incorrect due to technical limitations. ...

The Communist Party launched a campaign against the Rădescu government culminating in a February 13, 1945 demonstration outside the royal palace and followed a week later by street fighting between Communists and supporters of the National Peasants' Party in Bucharest. February 13 is the 44th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. ... 1945 was a common year starting on Monday (link will take you to calendar). ... The National Peasants Party (PNT, Partidul Naţional Ţărănesc) was a political party in Romania, formed in 1926 by the fusion of the National Romanian Party from Transylvania and the Peasants Party. ...

In a period of escalating chaos, Rădescu called elections. The Soviet deputy foreign minister went to Bucharest to demand to the King that he appoint Communist sympathizer Petru Groza as Prime Minister offering that Romania would be given sovereignty over Transylvania if the King agreed and intimating a Soviet takeover of the country if he did not. Categories: Romania-related stubs | 1884 births | 1958 deaths | Romanian Prime Ministers ... Transylvania (Romanian: Transilvania or Ardeal, Hungarian: Erdély, German: Siebenbürgen, Serbian: Transilvanija, Turkish: Erdel, Slovak: Sedmohradsko or Transylvania, Polish: Siedmiogród) is a historic region that forms the western and the central parts of Romania. ...

The King, under pressure from Soviet troops who were disarming the Romanian military and occupying key installations, agreed and dismissed Rădescu, who fled the country.

On 6 March 1945, Groza became leader of a Communist-dominated government and named Communists to lead the army and the ministries of the interior, justice, propaganda and finance. While there were several non-Communist ministers from the National Peasant and National Liberal parties, these were not selected by their parties but were dissident members. March 6 is the 65th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (66th in Leap years). ... 1945 was a common year starting on Monday (link will take you to calendar). ...

The Groza government prosecuted Ion Antonescu, Mihai Antonescu and several generals as war criminals in May and June 1945 resulting in their execution. Mihai Antonescu Mihai Antonescu (1907-1946) was Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister of Romania during World War II. Antonescu made his living as an attorney before becoming Prime Minister Ion Antonescu’s (whom he was not related to) Minister of Propaganda in 1940. ... A war crime is a punishable offense, under international law, for violations of the law of war by any person or persons, military or civilian. ...

As a result of the Potsdam Conference, where Western governments refused to recognize Groza's administration, King Michael called on Groza to resign. When he refused, the King went to his summer home and refused to sign any government decrees or bills. Attlee, Truman, and Stalin at Potsdam The Potsdam Conference was held in Potsdam, Germany (near Berlin), from July 17 to August 2, 1945. ...

The Communist Party held its first open conference in October 1945 and agreed to a joint leadership with Gheorghe Gheorghiu-Dej as general secretary and Ana Pauker and Vasile Luca as main leaders. Gheorghiu-Dej (center) and Ceauşescu (left) Gheorghe Gheorghiu-Dej (November 8, 1901, Bârlad - March 19, 1965, Bucharest) was the Communist leader of Romania from 1948 until his death in 1965. ... the term General Secretary (alternatively First Secretary) denotes a leader of various unions, parties or associations. ... Ana Pauker on the cover of Time Magazine September 20, 1948. ...

From fewer than 1,000 members in 1944, the party grew to 717,490 by 1946 and 800,000 by 1947. 1944 was a leap year starting on Saturday (link will take you to calendar). ... 1946 was a common year starting on Tuesday. ... 1947 was a common year starting on Wednesday (link will take you to calendar). ...

The Communist Party won the Romanian elections of 19 November 1946 though there is evidence of electoral fraud. The Communist government banned all other political parties in 1947. November 19 is the 323rd day of the year (324th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar. ... 1946 was a common year starting on Tuesday. ... 1947 was a common year starting on Wednesday (link will take you to calendar). ...

On 30 December 1947, the Communist Party's power was consolidated when King Michael of Romania was forced to abdicate and a "People's Republic" was proclaimed. December 30 is the 364th day of the year (365th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 1 day remaining. ... 1947 was a common year starting on Wednesday (link will take you to calendar). ... King Michael and Queen Anne King Michael (Romanian Mihai) of Romania (born October 25, 1921) was the son of King Carol II and reigned from July 20, 1927 to June 8, 1930, and again from September 6, 1940 until December 30, 1947. ... Abdication (from the Latin abdicatio disowning, renouncing, from ab, from, and dicare, to declare, to proclaim as not belonging to one), the act whereby a person in office renounces and gives up the same before the expiry of the time for which it is held. ... Peoples Republic (sometimes Popular Republic) is a title that is often used by Marxist-Leninist governments to describe their state. ...

The Communist Party of Romania merged with one wing of the Romanian Social Democratic Party (which had been founded following the demise of the original Social-Democrats in 1921) in 1948 to form the Romanian Workers' Party which remained the ruling party's official name until 1965 when it became the Romanian Communist Party. However, the social democrats were excluded from most party posts and were forced to support Communist policies due to democratic centralism. 1921 was a common year starting on Saturday (see link for calendar). ... 1948 is a leap year starting on Thursday (link will take you to calendar). ... 1965 was a common year starting on Friday (the link is to a full 1965 calendar). ... Democratic centralism is a political concept referring to the governance of political parties and groups. ...

The party was heavily factionalised with a "Muscovite wing" led by Ana Pauker and Vasile Luca, consisting largely of those who had lived in exile in the Soviet Union during the war, a "prison wing" led by Gheorghe Gheorghiu-Dej, which consisted largely of party leaders who had been imprisoned in Romania in the 1930s and 1940s (particularly in Doftana Prison), and a "Secretariat wing" led by Lucreţiu Pătrăşcanu which had made it through the Ion Antonescu dictatorship by hiding within Romania and had participated in the broad governments immediately after King Michael's 1944 coup. Ana Pauker on the cover of Time Magazine September 20, 1948. ... Gheorghiu-Dej (center) and Ceauşescu (left) Gheorghe Gheorghiu-Dej (November 8, 1901, Bârlad - March 19, 1965, Bucharest) was the Communist leader of Romania from 1948 until his death in 1965. ... 1930 is a common year starting on Wednesday. ... 1940 was a leap year starting on Monday (link will take you to calendar). ... Doftana is a Romanian prison that was used in the 1930s to detain political prisoners. ... Lucreţiu Pătrăşcanu, (November 4, 1900, Bacău–April 17, 1954) was a leading member of the Communist Party of Romania, a lawyer, sociologist and economist. ... Ion Antonescu Ion Antonescu (Piteşti June 15, 1882 – June 1, 1946 near Jilava) was prime minister and dictator of Romania during World War II from September 4, 1940 to August 23, 1944. ... After a brief period of nominal neutrality, Romania joined the Axis Powers in June 1941, under the government of Ion Antonescu. ...

Prior to 1945, a large percentage of the party's membership had been ethnic minorities such as Jews, Hungarians and Bulgarians. Romania is and was a state with a large number of minorities and these populations had been severely discriminated against and had been most attracted to revolutionary ideas as a result. Also, as Romania was a largely peasant country with a small working class, it lacked the proletarian population that other European countries had, a population which provided the base for most Communist Parties in Europe. 1945 was a common year starting on Monday (link will take you to calendar). ... A revolution is a relatively sudden and absolutely drastic change. ... Categories: 1911 Britannica | Historical stubs | Feudalism ... The term working class is used to denote a social class. ... The proletariat (from Latin proles, offspring) is a term used to identify a lower social class; a member of such a class is called a proletarian. ...

After World War II a massive recruitment campaign of new members, particularly ethnic Romanian members, began, and these new members provided a base of support for Gheorghiu-Dej, who consolidated his power first in 1949 by purging Pătrăşcanu and 192,000 members of the party on the charge of being "national deviationist" and then in 1952 by purging his chief rival, Ana Pauker (who had been Romania's foreign minister and the unofficial leader of the party after the war), Luca and their supporters from the party. Out of a membership of approximately one million, up to 465,000 members, almost half of the party, was removed in this latter purge. Mushroom cloud from the nuclear explosion over Nagasaki rising 18 km into the air. ... 1949 is a common year starting on Saturday. ... 1952 - Wikipedia /**/ @import /skins/monobook/IE50Fixes. ...

Gheorghiu-Dej took the position of premier (allowing him to hold the dual roles of party and government leader) while moving Groza to the Presidency.

Stalinism

The purge of Pauker and the "Muscovites" echoed the purge under Stalinism of Jews, in particular, from other Communist Parties in the Soviet bloc, notably the anti-"Cosmopolite" campaign in which Stalin targeted Jews in the Soviet Union and the Prague Trials in Czechoslovakia which removed Jews from leading positions in that country's Communist government. Stalinism is a brand of political theory, and the political and economic system implemented by Joseph Stalin in the Soviet Union. ... During the Cold War, the Eastern Bloc (or Soviet Bloc) comprised the following Central and Eastern European countries: Bulgaria, Romania, Hungary, East Germany, Poland, Albania (until the early 1960s, see below), the Soviet Union, and Czechoslovakia. ... The Prague Trials were a series of Stalinist and largely anti-Semitic show trials in Czechoslovakia. ...

Gheorghiu-Dej was a hard core Stalinist who had supported intensified forced collectivization in agriculture, which Pauker had generally opposed.

He was uncomfortable and possibly threatened by the reformist positions adopted by Stalin's successor, Nikita Khrushchev, and in the late 1950s began to steer Romania towards a more "independent" path while remaining within the Soviet orbit. Nikita Sergeyevich Khrushchyof (Khrushchev) (Russian: Ники́та Серге́евич Хрущёв  listen, April 17, 1894 – September 11, 1971) was the leader of the Soviet Union after the death of Joseph Stalin. ...

Following the Twentieth Party Congress in which Khurshchev initiated destalinization, Gheorghiu-Dej issued propaganda accusing Pauker, Luca and Teohari Georgescu of having been an arch-Stalinists responsible for the party's excesses in the late 1940s and early 1950s despite the fact that they had actually opposed a number of measures which had in fact been supported by Gheorghiu-Dej. The 20th Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union was held during February 14—February 26, 1956. ... De-Stalinization and the Khrushchev era For further details, see Nikita Khrushchev After Stalin had died in March 1953, he was succeeded by Nikita Khrushchev as First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party and Georgi Malenkov as Premier of the Soviet Union. ...

At a party meeting in March 1956 two members of the Politburo who were supporters of Khruschevite reforms, Miron Constantinescu and Iosif Chisinevschi, criticized Gheorghiu-Dej's leadership. They were purged in 1957, accused of being Stalinists and of having been plotting with Pauker. 1956 was a leap year starting on Sunday. ... Politburo is short for Political Bureau. ...

In 1957, with the support of the Chinese Communist Party, Gheroghiu-Dej persuaded Moscow to withdraw its remaining troops from Romanian soil. This gave Romania greater freedom in pursuing the "national communist" path which Gheroghiu-Dej had been committed to since 1954, a path which allowed Romania to defy changes in the reforms in the Soviet bloc and maintain a Stalinist path in all but name. During the Sino-Soviet Split, the Romanian media was alone among Warsaw Pact countries to report Chinese criticism of the Soviet leadership. Gheorghiu-Dej ordered a program of "de-Russification" and "Romanianization" in order to bolster his efforts at independence. This program was coupled with increasing repression of minorities in Romania such as the Hungarians. 1957 was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will take you to calendar). ... Communist Party of China flag The Communist Party of China (Simplified Chinese: 中国共产党; Traditional Chinese: 中國共産黨; pinyin: Zhōnggu ngchǎndǎng) is the ruling party of the Peoples Republic of China. ... 1954 was a common year starting on Friday (link will take you to calendar). ... All people of the world unite, to overthrow American imperialism, to overthrow Soviet revisionism, to overthrow the reactionaries of all nations! (Chinese poster, 1969) The Sino-Soviet split was a major conflict between the Soviet Union and the Peoples Republic of China, beginning in the late 1950s, reaching a... Map of Warsaw Pact member countries. ...

Ceauşescu Era

Gheorghiu-Dej died in March 1965 and was succeeded by a collective leadership made up of Nicolae Ceauşescu as general secretary, Chivu Stoica as President and Ion Gheorghe Maurer as Premier. Ceauşescu removed rivals such as Alexandru Drăghici from the government and ultimately the party and began accumulating posts for himself. By 1969 he was in complete control of the Central Committee. 1965 was a common year starting on Friday (the link is to a full 1965 calendar). ... Chivu Stoica (1908 - 1975) was a Romanian Communist political figure. ... Ion Gheorghe Maurer (September 23, 1902 - February 8, 2000) was a Romanian politician and lawyer. ... 1969 was a common year starting on Wednesday (the link is to a full 1969 calendar). ...

Ceauşescu, in 1965, declared that Romania was no longer a People's Democracy but a Socialist Republic and changed the name of the party to the Romanian Communist Party. He continued Romanianization and de-Russification efforts by altering national propaganda so that the Soviet Union was no longer referred to as having "liberated" Romania from fascism.

He developed a cult of personality around himself after visiting North Korea and seeing the cult around Kim Il-sung and also launched his own version of China's Cultural Revolution. Ceauşescu's government opposed the 1968 Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia and even sought an alliance with Tito. Adolf Hitler built a strong cult of personality, based on the Führerprinzip principle. ... Kim Il-sung (April 15, 1912–July 8, 1994) was a Korean Communist politician and the ruler of the Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea (North Korea) from 1948 until his death. ... A poster during the Cultural Revolution The Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution (Simplified Chinese: 无产阶级文化大革命; Traditional Chinese: 無產階級文化大革命; pinyin: ; literally Proletarian Cultural Great Revolution; often abbreviated to 文化大革命 wén huà dà gé mìng, literally Great Cultural Revolution, or simply 文革 wén gé, literally Cultural Revolution) in the Peoples Republic of... 1968 was a leap year starting on Monday (the link is to a full 1968 calendar). ... Josip Broz Tito (May 7, 1892 - May 4, 1980) was the ruler of Yugoslavia between the end of World War II and his death in 1980. ...

Beginning in 1971, he intensified political repression in the country until he and the party were overthrown in 1989. Ceauşescu was executed and the party banned at that time. 1971 is a common year starting on Friday (click for link to calendar). ... 1989 is a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

Membership

During its underground years the membership of the party was quite small, less than 1,000 people. Members were largely drawn from ethnic minorities in Romania who were the most repressed elements of the population in the first part of the twentieth century and thus the most attracted to revolutionary ideas. In 1933, 26.58% of party members were from Romania's Hungarian minority, 22.65% were ethnic Romanians and 18.12% were Jewish. Others were Russians and Ukrainians from Bessarabia, Bulgarians from the south of Romania, Poles from the north, Romanians of German descent and Roma and Sinti people. 36% of party members lived in Transylvania. In all the party membership was largely derived from regions which had recently been added to Romania, where Romania was more likely to be seen as an occupying and colonial power—a view that pervaded party manifestos in the 1920s and 1930s, further contributing to the party's "anti-national" image. The perception of the party as a "foreigners" party likely limited its appeal among ethnic Romanians along with the fact that the largely agrarian economy meant that peasants were the largest element of the population, with the working class being very small. 1933 was a common year starting on Sunday (link will take you to calendar). ... The word Jew ( Hebrew: יהודי) is used in a wide number of ways, but generally refers to a follower of the Jewish faith, a child of a Jewish mother, or someone of Jewish descent with a connection to Jewish culture or ethnicity and often a combination of these attributes. ... The Roma people (pronounced rahma, singular Rom, sometimes Rroma, and Rrom) along with the closely related Sinti people are commonly known as Gypsies in English, and as Tsigany in most of Europe. ...

The party grew rapidly after the war and had more than one million members by 1948. This changed the ethnic composition of the party and, along with officially sanctioned anti-Semitism by Moscow and pre-existing chauvinism in the country, led to minorities and particularly Jews being sidelined, particularly after 1952 when Ana Pauker was purged along with almost half of the party who were either seen as her supporters or former social democrats. Many of the party's ethinic minority members (particularly Hungarians and Jews who were predominant in the "Muscovite faction") were removed during the purge. 1952 - Wikipedia /**/ @import /skins/monobook/IE50Fixes. ...

In 1950 the party claimed that 64% of its leadership positions were held by members of the working class. A 1962 relaxation of the conditions required for admission to the party led to a 22% rise in membership, to 1,100,000. 1950 was a common year starting on Sunday (link will take you to calendar). ...

When the Romanian Workers' Party became the Romanian Communist Party in 1965 it was reported that the party had 1,450,000 members or 8% of the population with 44% of the members being workers, 34% peasants, 10% intellectuals and 12% in other categories. By 1988 the percentage of workers had grown to 55% and the percentage of peasants had fallen to 15%. 1965 was a common year starting on Friday (the link is to a full 1965 calendar). ...

By 1971 the party had 2.1 million members and this grew to 3 million by the party's 12th Party Congress in 1979. In 1988 an estimate of 3.7 million members was given, meaning 23% of Romanian adults were party members. 1971 is a common year starting on Friday (click for link to calendar). ... 1979 is a common year starting on Monday. ...

In 1984 the party composition was announced as being 90% ethnic Romanian, 7% Hungarian, less than 1% German and the remaining 2% other nationalities. (roughly proportional with the ethnic groups of Romania)

Organization

Officially, as with other Communist parties, the supreme body of the Romanian Communist Party and its predecessors was the party congress held once every five years with one delegate for every 1,000 party members. The Party Congress elected a Central Committee and the general secretary and adopted the party's program and other documents. ... The 16th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China meets in 2002 The Central Committee is a leading body of an organization, most often a political party, especially Communist parties. ... the term General Secretary (alternatively First Secretary) denotes a leader of various unions, parties or associations. ...

The Central Committee would be the main party body between Congresses. In 1984, the Central Committee consisted of 265 full members and 181 candidate members. The body was responsible for implementing the decisions of the party congress and the direction of party activities. The body was supposed to meet at least four times a year. 1984 is a leap year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

In 1974 the Presidium of the Central Committee (in effect the Politburo), which had been elected by the Central Committee, was replaced by a new body, the Political Executive Committee Permanent Bureau, which, though nominally elected by the Central Committee was, in practice, appointed by the general secretary as was the other leading body of the party, the Secretariat (both of which generally had the same members). 1974 is a common year starting on Tuesday (click on link for calendar). ... Politburo is short for Political Bureau. ...

In practice as well there was little differentiation between the party and the government.

The Permanent Bureau was the highest body in the party and had five members when it was created in 1974 and expanded to fifteen in 1979. In 1984 it was reduced to eight members with both Nicolae and Elena Ceauşescu sitting on the body. This shrank to seven members in 1988, essentially the Ceauşescus and their close allies. The Political Executive Committee which it reported to was essentially a rubber stamp acting when the Central Committee was not in session. The Secretariat was the administrative body of the party and also, in practice, took direction from the Permanent Bureau. 1974 is a common year starting on Tuesday (click on link for calendar). ... 1979 is a common year starting on Monday. ... 1984 is a leap year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... 1988 is a leap year starting on a Friday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

The basic unit of the party was local party clubs in factories, cooperatives, military and police units and other workplaces. There were 64,200 of these units existing in 1980, ranging in size from a handful of people to several hundred. 1980 is a leap year starting on Tuesday. ...

These bodies reported to town or municipal party committees which had their own first secretaries, vice-chairmen and other officials and reported and, in theory, elected delegates to higher regional bodies and then the national bodies of the party. The party had direct control over the nation's economic life through national and local party commissions.

In the 1980s, the party's ideology changed somewhat, with the party no longer seen as the vanguard of the working class but as the "centre" of the nation and the embodiment of the national interest. Events and trends The 1980s marked an abrupt shift towards more conservative lifestyles after the momentous cultural revolutions which took place in the 1960s and 1970s and the definition of the AIDS virus in 1981. ...

General Secretaries

• Gheorghe Cristescu (1921–1924)
• Elek Koblos (1924–1927)
• Vitali Holostenco (1927–1931)
• Alexander Stefanski (1931–1936)
• Boris Stefanov (1936–1940)
• Stefan Foris (1940–1944)
• Gheorghe Gheorghiu-Dej (1945–1954)
• collective leadership (with Gheorghiu-Dej as Premier) (1954–1955)
• Gheorghe Gheorghiu-Dej (1955–1965)
• Nicolae Ceauşescu (1965–1989)

the term General Secretary (alternatively First Secretary) denotes a leader of various unions, parties or associations. ... 1921 was a common year starting on Saturday (see link for calendar). ... 1924 was a leap year starting on Tuesday (link will take you to calendar). ... 1924 was a leap year starting on Tuesday (link will take you to calendar). ... 1927 was a common year starting on Saturday (link will take you to calendar). ... 1927 was a common year starting on Saturday (link will take you to calendar). ... 1931 is a common year starting on Thursday. ... 1931 is a common year starting on Thursday. ... 1936 was a leap year starting on Wednesday (link will take you to calendar). ... 1936 was a leap year starting on Wednesday (link will take you to calendar). ... 1940 was a leap year starting on Monday (link will take you to calendar). ... 1940 was a leap year starting on Monday (link will take you to calendar). ... 1944 was a leap year starting on Saturday (link will take you to calendar). ... Gheorghiu-Dej (center) and Ceauşescu (left) Gheorghe Gheorghiu-Dej (November 8, 1901, Bârlad - March 19, 1965, Bucharest) was the Communist leader of Romania from 1948 until his death in 1965. ... 1945 was a common year starting on Monday (link will take you to calendar). ... 1954 was a common year starting on Friday (link will take you to calendar). ... 1954 was a common year starting on Friday (link will take you to calendar). ... 1955 is a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Gheorghiu-Dej (center) and Ceauşescu (left) Gheorghe Gheorghiu-Dej (November 8, 1901, Bârlad - March 19, 1965, Bucharest) was the Communist leader of Romania from 1948 until his death in 1965. ... 1955 is a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... 1965 was a common year starting on Friday (the link is to a full 1965 calendar). ... . For other people named Ceausescu or Ceauşescu, see Ceausescu (disambiguation). ... 1965 was a common year starting on Friday (the link is to a full 1965 calendar). ... 1989 is a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

Other notable communists

• Emil Bodnăraş
• Silviu Brucan
• Gheorghe Maurer
• Ana Pauker
• Lucreţiu Pătrăşcanu
• Elena Ceausescu

Silviu Brucan is a Romanian Communist politician that became a dissident of the regime in 1989 and after the 1989 Romanian Revolution became a political analyst and author of books on communism and Eastern Europe. ... Ana Pauker on the cover of Time Magazine September 20, 1948. ... Lucreţiu Pătrăşcanu, (November 4, 1900, Bacău–April 17, 1954) was a leading member of the Communist Party of Romania, a lawyer, sociologist and economist. ... The title given to this article is incorrect due to technical limitations. ...

See also

• Communist Romania

The Soviets pressed for inclusion of Romanias heretofore negligible Communist Party in the post-war government, while non-communist political leaders were steadily eliminated from political life. ...

External links

• Gheorghiu-Dej and the Romanian Workers' Party: From De-Sovietization to the Emergence of National Communism (http://wwics.si.edu/topics/pubs/ACFAF5.pdf) (PDF)
• The Communist Party (http://countrystudies.us/romania/70.htm) from the US Library of Congress' Country Study of Romania (1990).
• Nationalism and Communism in Romania (http://www.cimec.ro/Istorie/CRISTI/4.htm)