Nicolae Ceausescu. Curriculum Vitae

Called the "genius of the Carpathians" and the "Romanian Stalin", he raised industry and sports in Romania to unprecedented heights, but was overthrown in a coup inspired by the West and the Soviet Union.

Shoemaker's Apprentice

Nicolae Ceausescu was called the “Romanian Stalin.” The parallels are indeed obvious. In many ways, even in biographical facts. Ceausescu was born into a peasant family on January 26, 1918. Of ten children in the family, he was the third. The family lived poorly - in a house of three small rooms, where there was not even electricity. Having moved to Bucharest at the age of 11, Nicolae begins to study to become a shoemaker. There is not enough money to live on and the boy makes a living by pickpocketing. Four years later, he begins working as an apprentice in the shoe shop of Alexandre Sandulescu, an active member of the Romanian Communist Party.

Then Ceausescu became acquainted with communist ideas and was so fired up by them that until 1944 he was free much less often than he was in prisons and camps. On August 23, 1944, when the pro-German prime minister of Romania, Ion Antonescu, was deposed and arrested, Ceausescu escaped from prison and became incredibly popular. On December 30, 1947, the monarchy was abolished in Romania, and Ceausescu became the Republican Minister of Agriculture. Carrying out collectivization, he personally shot too obstinate villagers. On March 19, 1965, his old friend, 63-year-old Romanian leader Gheorghiu-Dej, died of cancer. Until now, Nicolae has been in the shadow of the latter. Ceausescu, who advocates an independent policy for Romania, is rapidly gaining popularity and already in December 1967 becomes head of state.

Your opinion

Ceausescu was an extremely inconvenient politician. An ardent Stalinist, Ceausescu sharply did not accept Khrushchev’s course and constantly pursued an independent economic policy, reducing economic dependence on the USSR to a minimum. And he succeeded. True, he still had to take out loans from the West, but Ceausescu did not spend the money thoughtlessly. The country was becoming independent state with developed light and heavy industry. Romania almost independently completed the construction of the Chernavodsk nuclear power plant, and by the time of the overthrow, Ceausescu had fulfilled his loan obligations to the West. Of course, Romania's course towards economic and political independence dramatically changed the West's attitude towards Ceausescu.

The "Seven" essentially switched to a policy of economic blockade of the republic. The USSR was also not happy with Ceausescu. In 1968, Romania refused to join the entry of Warsaw Pact troops into Czechoslovakia, and in 1979 it did not support the entry of Soviet troops into Afghanistan. Ceausescu did not join the “socialist” boycott of the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles. Ceausescu questioned all the projects of Reagan and Gorbachev, while in Romania there was active development in all areas: from industry to sports. Thus, the Steaua football club, which Ceausescu personally supervised, won the UEFA Super Cup in 1986, and won the Champions League in 1989.

Nuclear threat

The overthrow of Ceausescu, whose policy was distinguished by unpredictability and independence, was also predetermined for the reason that in Romania during the Ceausescu era there was active work on the creation of nuclear weapons. According to a former secret police colonel, an entire army of engineers and scientists worked on the secret nuclear project. Modern uranium enrichment technology was stolen in the West; own production heavy water. Ceausescu received the secret of bomb production from the Pakistani government.

The institute, created in collaboration with a West German company, worked on the creation of a launch vehicle, and the Ministry of Mining received a directive to begin creating uranium reserves at the Beitz mine. In May 1989, the West German magazine Der Spiegel reported that an underground plant for the production of missiles with nuclear warheads was being built in Romania. On April 14 of the same year, Ceausescu publicly stated that Romania was capable of producing nuclear weapons, noting, however, that he did not intend to use this technology. In December 1989, Ceausescu was overthrown and executed.

Friend of the Jackal

The head of Romania provided full support to the number one terrorist in the world, Ilyich Ramirez, better known by his nickname Carlos the Jackal. Ilyich's father was a fan of communism, which is why he named his three sons after the leader of the Russian Bolsheviks - Vladimir, Ilyich and Lenin. The Jackal gained fame as the main terrorist by taking hostages at a meeting of OPEC member countries in Vienna. Three hostages were killed immediately, and after this the Austrian government agreed to negotiate. Ilyich’s weapons for all terrorist attacks were supplied by the Romanian leadership.

According to intelligence data, Ceausescu maintained friendly relations with the terrorist and was the orderer of many of the murders committed by Carlos, including the murder of the editor-in-chief of Radio Free Europe. One of the officers Romanian army, who asked for political asylum from the US government, died under mysterious circumstances while traveling in Mexico, and was discovered in intelligence documents detailed plan assassinations, signed and approved by Ceausescu. Ceausescu valued Ilyich Ramirez so much that he transferred $1 million to his account.

"Roman"

Nicolae Ceausescu considered the Romanians to be the direct heirs of the ancient Romans, and Romanian- the closest of all modern languages ​​to Latin. To prove these theses, special scientific groups were formed in the Romanian Academy of Sciences to search for evidence of imperial succession. Ceausescu openly exalted his relatives, guided by the motto of his direct ancestors: quod principi placuit, legis habet vigorem - whatever the ruler pleases is legal.

His wife, Elena Ceausescu, was officially the second person in the country - first deputy prime minister, and his son, a weak-willed and immoral drunkard, was put in charge of Sibiu. The parallel with one of the Roman emperors is further strengthened by the fact that Ceausescu so adored the Labrador named Corbu, given to him in England, that he awarded him the army rank of colonel. The dog was transported in a separate limousine with a designated driver, and fed with special dog biscuits, which the Romanian ambassador in London bought at a local supermarket and sent home by diplomatic mail.

Phobias

Ceausescu was incredibly suspicious. Like Stalin, he was very afraid of an assassination attempt, so the safety of the President of Romania was ensured by special methods. Wardrobe incl. outerwear and shoes, were renewed daily - the Ceausescu couple feared poisoning from slow poisons absorbed through the skin. Ceausescu's food was checked for the presence of poison, bacteria and radioactivity by his personal chemical engineer, Major Popa, who accompanied the president with a portable laboratory. In addition, Ceausescu had a fear of germs. His bodyguard always had a bottle of alcohol, which Nicolae used to wipe his hands after touching objects.[

Particular attention was paid to hygiene during trips abroad. The bed linen of the hotel where the Romanian leader stayed was replaced with his own, which arrived from Bucharest in sealed suitcases, Ceausescu's underwear and table napkins, sterilized and brought from Romania in hermetically sealed plastic bags, had to be ironed again before use to kill all germs. These fears, as history has shown, were not in vain. Several conspiracies were being prepared against Ceausescu, one of which involved his own son.

Secrets of Timoshiar

The scenario for overthrowing Ceausescu was well developed. On December 17, 1989, anti-government protests began in Timisoara, which grew into mass unrest. Attempts by the police to disperse people with water cannons resulted in multi-day clashes. At the same time, protest demonstrations against the “atrocities of Ceausescu” were organized abroad near the Romanian embassies. Several world television channels broadcast a story about the murders of civilians in Timisoara by agents of the secret Romanian intelligence service Securitate.

Later it turned out that the world saw the bodies of the dead as “victims” of the Ceausescu regime, which were provided for a fee by orderlies of city morgues. It is now known that the United States was behind the overthrow of Ceausescu. The operation was entrusted to the head of the CIA's Eastern European department, Milton Borden. In case of failure, there was also a plan B. It provided for the entry of Soviet troops into Romania. Military units of the USSR in the Odessa region and the Carpathian region were put on combat readiness.

Leaving Bucharest by helicopter, Ceausescu ordered the pilot to contact the Soviet border and request a landing on Soviet territory. Having received a refusal, he understood everything. The execution of Ceausescu took place without trial or investigation. According to the latest public polls in Romania, Nicolae Ceausescu is considered the man who has done the most good for Romanians in the last 100 years.

Nicolae Ceausescu (1918-1989) – a prominent statesman and politician Romania. General Secretary of the Romanian Communist Party since 1965, President of the Socialist Republic of Romania since 1974, Chairman of the State Council of the Socialist Republic of Romania since 1967. But such high positions did not save the leader of the Romanian people. On December 25, 1989, Nicolae Ceausescu was executed. His wife Elena Ceausescu (1919-1989) was shot along with him. But why did the couple suffer such a severe punishment? To answer this question, you must first familiarize yourself with the biography of the Romanian leader and trace his fateful path to the fatal end.

Brief biography of Nicolae Ceausescu

The future one was born outstanding personality January 26, 1918 in the south of Romania in the village of Scornicesti in a peasant family. Nicolae was the third of ten children. Received primary education, having completed 5 classes in a rural school. As a teenager, he moved to Budapest, where he became an apprentice to shoemaker Alexander Sandulescu. He was a member of the Romanian Communist Party, which was illegal. And it so happened that Ceausescu, at a very young age, found himself in the thick of the revolutionary struggle.

The young man began to actively engage in communist propaganda and in 1933 was first arrested by the police. Then he was arrested many times and even sent to hard labor prison for 2 years. But the arbitrariness of the authorities did not break Nikolai. He continued his propaganda activities, and in prison he met authoritative Romanian communists. It was thanks to these connections that he subsequently occupied the highest government positions.

In 1936, the young man, who turned 18, became a member of the Communist Party. At this time he was already well known to both the Romanian communists and the secret police. That same year, Nicolae was imprisoned for 3.5 years for communist and anti-fascist agitation. The young communist was released from prison in 1939 and soon met the same young communist Elena Petrescu. From this meeting their love affair began, and they formalized their marriage in 1946.

In 1940, Ceausescu was arrested again. He spent almost the entire war in various camps and prisons, which further strengthened his authority among party members. At the end of August 1944, the dictatorial regime of Ion Antonescu fell. People oriented towards an alliance with the USSR came to power. The Romanian Communist Party came out of hiding, and from that moment on the rapid career of the young communist Nicolae Ceausescu began.

The most authoritative Romanian communist, Gheorghiu-Dej, took custody of him. From 1948 to 1965, he led the state and needed young, energetic people devoted to the communist idea. In 1948, Nicolae took the post of Minister of Agriculture, then the post of Deputy Minister armed forces. In 1955, Ceausescu was brought into the Politburo, where he began to oversee party personnel and the work of the intelligence services. He received the rank of lieutenant general, although he did not serve a single day in the army.

Gheorghiu-Dej died on March 19, 1965 from cancer. Immediately after the death of the leader, a struggle for power began between his closest associates. These were serious and authoritative people, and the rise to power of one of them meant the fall of the others. Therefore, they decided to elect a compromise figure as the General Secretary of the party. She turned out to be 47-year-old Nicolae Ceausescu. He was unanimously elected to the highest party post.

But as often happens, the figure that suited everyone quickly took all the real power into his hands. In 1967, the party leader took the post of Chairman of the State Council of the Socialist Republic of Romania and concentrated party and state power in his hands.

The last step towards dictatorship was changes to the constitution made on March 28, 1974. According to them, all executive power from the State Council, which was a collegial body, passed to the president. The State Council was assigned only additional functions under the head of state. The President was to be elected by the Grand National Assembly (Parliament) for a period of 5 years. Nicolae Ceausescu was first elected president on March 29, 1974 and was subsequently re-elected as the only candidate, meaning he effectively became the head of Romania for life.

Nicolae Ceausescu - President of Romania

This is how a man with a 5th grade education ended up being the sole ruler of an entire state. He began to lead in accordance with his education and worldview. He placed his closest relatives in key positions, and his wife became her husband’s main adviser in all internal and external matters. political issues. A kind of family contract was formed, concentrating all the power in the country in its hands.

It must be said that Nicolae Ceausescu had several fateful political decisions. In 1968, he supported the Prague Spring and condemned the entry of Soviet troops into Czechoslovakia. In 1973, he established diplomatic relations with Augusto Pinochet, under whose leadership a military coup was carried out in Chile. In 1979, he condemned the entry of Soviet troops into Afghanistan. In addition, he prohibited the deployment of Soviet troops on Romanian territory.

The Romanian dictator also repeatedly declared his country’s historical rights to Moldova, the Odessa and Chernivtsi regions of the Ukrainian SSR, which were part of Bessarabia and Northern Bukovina. Soviet troops occupied these lands in 1940. Ceausescu actively developed relations with Western Europe, trying to present himself as a communist reformer. In 1984, Romania refused to boycott the summer Olympic Games, held in Los Angeles. And when Gorbachev came to power in the USSR, Ceausescu sharply criticized his perestroika.

In domestic policy The 70s were marked by economic growth. This was largely facilitated by loans taken from Western countries. The national debt reached $22 billion. Romania was supposed to pay it off by the mid-90s. But Ceausescu decided to start paying it in 1980. After this, severe measures were taken throughout the country. Products began to be issued on ration cards, and electricity consumption was sharply limited. energy, banned the use of vacuum cleaners, and winter time refrigerators. The economy was transferred to export to the detriment of domestic consumption.

The country fell into a regime of severe austerity. This gave results. In April 1989, Romania paid off its external debt at the expense of the complete impoverishment of the people. But the economy could not withstand such a load and was on the verge of collapse. Nicolae announced that he would no longer take out any loans, which disappointed his Western partners, and relations with them cooled.

The Romanian leader was no longer invited to the EEC countries, and at the same time there was a final break with the USSR. Romania lost favorable foreign markets. The only allies left are Albania, North Korea, Cuba, China, Vietnam, Nicaragua, Libya, and Iraq. But these were not the countries with which friendship would ensure prosperity for the Romanian people. In the impoverished country, tensions have reached their peak.

Execution of Nicolae Ceausescu

Quite often, the stunning state foundations of a revolution begin with minor events, to which no one at first attaches serious importance. Romania was no exception in this matter. In it, on the western tip of the country, is the city of Timisoara with a population of more than 300 thousand people. Pastor Laszlo Tekesa, a Hungarian by nationality, lived there.

And this pastor was accused of anti-state activities and evicted from his own home. Such arbitrariness outraged the Hungarian parishioners, and on December 16, 1989, protests began in the city. They grew into rallies with anti-government slogans. Local law enforcement agencies tried to counteract the protesters, but this resulted in nationwide outrage with pogroms and robberies. Thus, it all started trivially, and culminated in the execution of Nicolae Ceausescu and his wife.

Early in the morning of December 17, troops under the command of General Victor Stanculescu entered the city. But this did not stop the rebels, and then fire was opened on them. As a result of this, according to unverified data, about 40 people died. Their corpses were allegedly sent to Bucharest and cremated there. There was a rumor among the people that Nicolae Ceausescu personally ordered the shooting at people. The leader of Romania himself flew to Iran on December 18 for negotiations on economic cooperation. But already on December 20, he returned back, as unrest began in other Romanian cities.

At noon on December 21, near the building of the Central Committee of the party, the authorities organized a mass rally, which was supposed to demonstrate support for the existing regime and condemn the unrest in Timisoara. But as soon as Ceausescu stepped out onto the balcony and began to speak, there were shouts and insults directed at the dictator. Someone threw firecrackers and they exploded. The President had no choice but to leave the balcony. After this, unrest began in Bucharest.

The next day, the body of Minister of War Vasile Mil was discovered. A rumor immediately spread that he was killed on the orders of Nicolae Ceausescu, since the minister refused to give the order to shoot at the protesters. After this, the army went over to the side of the rebels. The television center in Bucharest was occupied and the fall of the dictatorial regime was announced.

Nicolae Ceausescu with his wife Elena

On the same day, December 22, at noon, the dictator, along with his wife, two party colleagues and two security guards, boarded a helicopter standing on the roof of the Central Committee building. The car took off, but no one knew where to run from Bucharest. We flew to the presidential residence in Snagov, but it was not safe there. His comrades remained, and the dictator with his wife and guards took to the air again. The pilot dropped the passengers off in a field near the town of Targovishte and hurriedly flew away.

Having stopped a passing car, the dictatorial couple and their guards reached the city. But the residents were extremely hostile and, recognizing Ceausescu, began throwing stones at him. The guards ran away, leaving Nikolai and Elena alone. Soon the couple was arrested by the military. They took the detainees to the military police station and placed them in a cell. The dethroned President of Romania and his wife spent 2 days there.

On the morning of December 25, Nicolae and Elena were put into an armored personnel carrier and taken to the military district headquarters in Targovishte. There they were taken into a classroom and announced that a military tribunal trial would now take place in this room. It was created by order of the new Minister of War Victor Stanculescu. He, by the way, was considered a friend of the president, but, as they say, today's friends are tomorrow's enemies.

The tribunal consisted of 7 people: the chairman - Colonel of Justice Jiku Popa, tribunal member Ioan Nistor, 3 people's assessors, a secretary and a state prosecutor - military prosecutor Dan Voina. The accused were provided with 2 defense attorneys. All trial took no more than an hour and a half. The presidential couple was accused of destroying the national economy, destroying government structures, genocide and armed rebellion against the people. The verdict was unequivocal - the execution of Nicolae Ceausescu and his wife Elena.

At first, the unhappy and confused 70-year-olds didn’t even understand where they were and what was happening. But when they realized that this was a trial, they declared it illegal and categorically refused to answer any questions. But this did not bother the members of the tribunal. The verdict was read out and the defendants were given 10 days to appeal. However, out of fear that Ceausescu’s supporters would be able to free the condemned, they decided to shoot them immediately.

At approximately 16:00 in the afternoon, the Romanian dictator and his wife were taken out into the courtyard. They behaved with dignity and calm. Elena even asked one of the soldiers: “Son, why are you shooting us, after all, I was your mother?” To which the soldier replied: “What kind of mother are you, since you killed our mothers.” The dictator himself did not communicate with anyone. He sang “The Internationale” as he walked to the place of execution.

The wall near which Nicolae Ceausescu and his wife Elena were shot

In total, 1 officer and 3 soldiers took part in the execution of Nicolae and Elena Ceausescu. They were personally chosen by General Stanculescu. The condemned were placed against the wall, behind which there was a soldier's restroom, and they opened fire. A tarpaulin was thrown over the corpses while they were waiting for the car. The bodies were taken to the Steaua stadium. There they lay for a day, and then were secretly interred in a military cemetery in Bucharest. Moreover, the husband and wife were buried not in the same grave, but at a distance of 50 meters from each other. In 2010, the ashes of the couple were placed in one grave and a red granite monument was erected.

Today, 50% of Romanians believe that the Romanian dictator was a worthy president of his country. And 82% are of the opinion that the execution of Nicolae Ceausescu and his wife had nothing to do with justice. It was a political assassination organized by Victor Stanculescu and a group of generals.

It is now reliably known that the leader of the Romanian people did not give the order to shoot at people. In Timisoara and other cities of Romania, Stanculescu was in charge, and it was he who gave orders for the use of weapons. In total, about a thousand people died in 2 days of the Romanian Revolution, and it itself became a catalyst, provoking revolutions in other countries of Eastern Europe.

You can often hear from politicians about Ceausesca and for some reason they compare him to Yanukovych. I wanted to figure out what the dictator had done wrong to the people that he was executed so quickly according to a simplified procedure.

Romania is caught between East and West. Ceausescu sat on two stools in his foreign policy.

The Romanian dictator, dear comrade Ceausescu, was shot for many crimes - in particular, for the massacre in Timisoara and for the fact that he stole everything. It became clear within a few months that there was no massacre in Timisoara. And now, just two decades later, it turns out that Ceausescu did not steal anything. This is how it happens.

Popular anger during the events of December 1989 was not so spontaneous.

Perhaps the most sensational in “Revolution by Order” are the confessions of Miklos Németh, who held the post of Prime Minister of Hungary at the end of 1989. He said that his country's intelligence services took an active part in the overthrow of Ceausescu. In particular, Hungarian intelligence supplied weapons to the organizers of the events in Timisoara, and also recruited General Victor Stanculescu, the future Minister of Defense in the National Salvation Government and the organizer of the Ceausescu trial.

In 1989, the “velvet revolution” took place in Hungary, and the intelligence services of this country began a stormy “romance” with their Western colleagues, but this does not mean that only the United States and its allies were behind the coup in Romania. The overthrow of Ceausescu took place at least with the tacit consent of the then leadership of the USSR.

It is worth remembering that in revolutionary days, Soviet newspapers shocked the imagination of readers with propaganda
sensations like reports that Elena Ceausescu had a golden toilet that was washed with vodka.

Also in Romania, they remember the interview of retired paratrooper Dorin-Marian Chirlan. In 1989, he served in the elite 64th Parachute Battalion and took part in the execution of the Ceausescu couple. 20 years later, he opened up to Times journalists. The interview received a pretentious title: “Ceausescu looked into my eyes and realized that it was time to die.”

Chirlan told English journalists interesting details. For example, that volunteers for the firing squad were personally selected by General Stanculescu. The general did not tell the paratroopers why he needed them. It is interesting that he owed his shoulder straps personally to Elena Ceausescu - she was very favorable towards Stanculescu, and in one photo taken in 1982, you can clearly see him kissing the hand of his patroness.

The Romanian dictator Ceausescu did not have secret accounts in foreign banks, particularly Swiss ones, and could not use public funds abroad. Thus, one of the charges, according to which he and his wife Elena were sentenced to death and executed on December 25, 1989, is practically invalid. The chairman of the special commission of the Romanian parliament searching for the so-called “Ceausescu accounts,” Sabin Cutas, stated this to Romanian television. One of the charges of the revolutionary tribunal against the dictator was “an attempt to escape from the country using 1 billion dollars stored in foreign banks.”

“We have not found any evidence that Ceausescu had any personal financial assets outside of Romania,” said Sabin Kutas. The circulation of money abroad was very well organized and under strict control, so their use for personal purposes was impossible. All employees of the former state security service "Securitate" who were involved in this were carefully checked. Moreover, these accounts were not controlled personally by Ceausescu, but by the executive committee of the Central Committee of the Romanian Communist Party, which made it impossible for any specific person to use them.

According to the architect Kamil Rogunski, who worked with Ceausescu for many years, the dictator himself was a very stingy man and he had nothing. Even his own possessions were strictly inventoried, right down to his underwear. “This man lived like a beggar and died like a beggar,” he said. He never had money on him.

The fact of Ceausescu’s extreme stinginess is also recognized by the husband of Ceausescu’s daughter, Zoe, Mircea Oprian. He related the fact that even in his presidential villa in Bucharest, everything was described and inventoried. Ceausescu did this so that nothing would be lost and to separate his own property from the “state” one.

He said that in 1988, Romania made an attempt to pay the last tranche of its external debt to the World Bank, but the latter, for reasons still unclear, refused to accept it.

Then, with this money, Ceausescu ordered to buy gold and deposit it in one of the Swiss banks into the account of the Romanian state. These funds were then returned to Romania and used for internal purposes, including for the needs of the Romanian army, which supported the rebel people during the 1989 revolution.

Rumors about huge sums in the secret accounts of Ceausescu and his family appeared immediately after the 1989 revolution and the overthrow of the dictatorial regime. Even several foreign firms, in particular from France and Canada, were involved in their search. At the time of the arrest and execution of the dictatorial couple, there were only 270 thousand lei ($22.5 thousand at the then exchange rate) in their accounts at the Romanian Savings Bank. No other financial means have been discovered so far.

The fuse that “set fire” to Bucharest was Timisoara, a city densely populated by ethnic Hungarians. On December 17, 1989, a protest against deportation from Romania began here, instigated by Western and Hungarian intelligence services.

Attempts by the police to disperse people with water cannons resulted in multi-day clashes.

At the same time, protest demonstrations against the “atrocities of Ceausescu” were organized abroad at the Romanian embassies. Several world television channels broadcast a story about the murders of civilians in Timisoara by agents of the secret Romanian intelligence service Securitate. Later it turned out that the world saw the bodies of the dead as “victims” of the Ceausescu regime, which were provided for a fee by orderlies of city morgues.

However, during the unrest in Timisoara, and later in Bucharest, real victims appeared.

The President of Romania and his life partner were tried on charges of genocide - “by organizing armed actions against the people,” which, as follows from the indictment, resulted in the death of 60 thousand citizens and extensive damage to state property. Nicolae and Elena Ceausescu were also charged with “undermining the national economy” and attempting to flee the country using funds totaling more than one billion dollars stored in foreign banks and were quickly executed.

Ceausescu pursued a policy largely independent of the USSR, the geopolitical center of the socialist camp. Moreover, the “genius of the Carpathians,” as the party press called him, more than once sharply condemned the actions of the Soviet leadership

Complicated relations with the CMEA countries had a painful impact on the Romanian economy, since over 60 percent of its foreign trade accounted for the CMEA.

Romania, unlike other socialist countries, was given most favored nation treatment in trade with the West. In addition, from 1975 to 1987, the socialist republic received about $22 billion in loans and credits from “the other side,” which were invested in the creation of a modern oil refining industry.

The maturity date of the external debt was in the mid-90s.

The West transparently hinted that benefits and preferences would continue if Romania left the Warsaw Pact and the Council for Mutual Economic Assistance. However, Ceausescu resolutely refused open confrontation with the USSR and other allies, declaring that Romania would repay debts and interest on them even ahead of schedule.

I repaid my loans at the cost of my life. And they didn’t find the golden toilet.

The “great leader” who commanded millions of people boarded the presidential helicopter, and two hours later an old, lonely fugitive got out. He was shot by three paratroopers - they were allegedly chosen from hundreds of volunteers.

21 years ago, on December 25, 1989, at the Tirgovishte military base, Romanian dictator Nicolae Ceausescu and his wife Elena were executed by a military tribunal.

Prosecutor Ghiku Popa accused Ceausescu of “genocide leading to 60 thousand human casualties; undermining state power by organizing armed actions against his own people; destruction and damage to state property; organizing explosions in cities; undermining the national economy; attempting to flee the country using funds stored in foreign banks in the amount of $1 billion."

Thus ended Ceausescu's 24-year period in power.

Ceausescu (standing with a glass on the left) celebrates the signing of a cooperation agreement between Romania and the United States. American President Jimmy Carter looks enthusiastically at Nicholas. 1978.

He gained some popularity in the West after he condemned the entry of Soviet troops into Czechoslovakia in 1968 and allowed Romanian Olympians to take part in the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles, which was ignored by the USSR (of all the socialist countries, China and Yugoslavia also went there).It was under Ceausescu that Romania, the first of the Eastern Bloc countries, entered into agreements with the European Commonwealth (the prototype of the EU), recognized West Germany and began to cooperate with the IMF.

He also proved himself a deft international mediator - for example, in establishing US relations with China in 1969.

Thanks to these qualities, Romania became the only country in the world that managed to maintain normal diplomatic relations with both Israel and Palestine.

Comrade Nicolae was also popular in his homeland and expanded his powers by becoming the first president of Romania in 1974.

Leaders of socialist countries familiar from the TASS chronicles to every Soviet citizen: Husak (Czechoslovakia), Zhivkov (Bulgaria), Honecker (East Germany), Gorbachev (USSR), Ceausescu, Jaruzelski (Poland) and Kadar (Hungary) at the meeting of the Warsaw Pact countries (that name had a socialist counterpart to NATO) in 1987.

The West, appreciating the political independence of Bucharest, provided Ceausescu with considerable loans (Romania’s external debt reached $13 billion). In the 1980s, when the time came to give them away, it turned out that they had almost devastated the economy.

The price of oil - the main product of Romanian exports - meanwhile fell significantly (this oil crisis, by the way, also ended Brezhnev's stagnant prosperity, giving rise to perestroika and the future collapse of the USSR).

Chronicle of the last hours of the USSR

To pay off foreign debts, Ceausescu took radical steps somewhat reminiscent of Stalin's during the industrialization of the 1930s.

Most agricultural and other local products were exported, causing a significant decline in living standards throughout the 1980s.

Queue for sunflower oil in Bucharest. 1986

There was a shortage of food in the country, electricity and heating were regularly cut off, and television, reduced to one channel, worked only for a few hours a day.

In 1984, Ion Mihai Pacela, head of the political security service Securitate, fled to the United States. He became the highest-ranking defector from the entire socialist camp. Relations with the West deteriorated, and Ceausescu began to lose control over the intelligence services.

Against the backdrop of mass impoverishment and rationing of food in stores, state television showed the country's leader visiting stores filled with goods and talking about “further increases in welfare.”

The same 1986. Party propaganda on the streets of Bucharest: “65 years of the creation of the Communist Party of Romania.” Other iconic slogans are “Era of Ceausescu” and “Party - Ceausescu - Romania”. Photo by Scott Edelman.

It is not known whether Ceausescu himself believed in these statements, but since 1974, when, after being elected president, the ideological communist took the scepter in his hands, it began to look like he was suffering from something like delusions of grandeur.

He (often together with his wife Elena, who became his first deputy) was portrayed as a god-like “great leader,” and his speeches were accompanied by staged ovations.

The cult of Ceausescu arose in the country, which contrasted with rumors about the addiction of Elena, Nicholas himself and their children to luxury.

Nicolae and Elena Ceausescu. Undated photo found in the presidential archives

In November 1987, the authorities brutally suppressed a strike at the Brasov car plant, showing that they ignored any negotiations on the critical economic situation.

Meanwhile, Romania became the poorest country in the socialist camp, not counting Albania.

In the summer of 1989, Bucharest paid off its foreign debts, but the radical export of everything and everyone continued until the death of the dictator. However, paying off the debt became an additional trump card for extending Ceausescu's party powers.

In November 1989, the XIVth Congress of the Communist Party of Romania re-elected 71-year-old Nicolae Ceausescu general secretary party for another five years.

A few weeks later he will be shot by the military by decision of the revolutionary tribunal.

Ceausescu greets the delegates of the XIVth Congress of the Communist Party. Nearby is First Deputy Prime Minister of Romania Elena Ceausescu

The Romanian Revolution of 1989 began on December 15 with events that took place in the city of Timisoara. The ethnic protest of the Hungarian minority, who spoke out in defense of their priest, quickly grew into an economic protest.

A powerful wave of protest rallies swept across the country. A self-confident dictator who listened only to himself and occasionally to his wife, on December 17 he ordered the armed forces to shoot at demonstrators. The uprising seemed to have fizzled out.

In fact, the uprising continued. The protesters took over the Opera Square in Timisoara, and were joined by workers from neighboring factories. Their demands had already grown to the point of Ceausescu’s resignation, which the authorities could not agree to.

Opera Square in Timisoara, December 1989. Hitler's attributes are painted on the portrait of the leader.

State propaganda about the course of events in Timisoara contrasted sharply with reports from Western radio stations, which the population trusted more.

On December 20, Conductor flew to Iran on an official visit, leaving the fight against unrest to his wife, but alarming reports from his homeland forced him to cut short the visit.

In the evening, he addressed the nation on television and radio, from which it followed that on December 16-17, “groups of hooligans provoked a series of incidents in Timisoara, opposing a legitimate judicial decision.”

Behind the backs of these groups, as Ceausescu said, there were “imperialist circles” whose goal was “to undermine the independence, integrity and sovereignty of Romania, to return the country to the times of foreign domination, to eliminate socialist gains.”

Party Congress. As far as the editors of Istoricheskaya Pravda understand Romanian, it says something like: “Long live the Communist Party, led by the General Secretary, Comrade Nicolae Ceausescu.”

In the evening, Ceausescu held a secret teleconference with the top and local leadership of security agencies, ordering the country's armed forces to be put on alert and "to shoot at the rioters without warning."

In addition, he ordered the party leadership to create self-defense squads and bring at least 50 thousand “proven proletarians” to Bucharest on December 21 to demonstrate support for the country’s leadership and fight against “hooligans.”

The Conductor's task was completed.

About 50 thousand residents of the counties where the power of the Ceausescu clan was strongest were brought to Bucharest and placed in hotels, sanatoriums, recreation centers, and factory dormitories. The vigilantes were divided into “tens”; each group was assigned a full-time party worker.

November 1989. XIVth Congress of the Communist Party, at which Ceausescu was re-elected for another 5 years.

The next morning, residents of the capital and visitors began to flock to the building of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Romania, and gradually the main square of the country filled to the brim.

Recorded speakers from among the party functionaries habitually branded the “counter-revolutionary instigators” responsible for all the misfortunes of Romania, and again confirmed their unshakable loyalty to the Conductor.

Then Ceausescu himself came out onto the balcony of the Central Committee building.

He was pleasantly surprised by the number of demonstrators gathered in the square, considering everyone his followers, and began to speak. It flowed in the then bureaucratic "newspeak" to the usual accompaniment of the "spontaneous" excitement of the masses - the loyal slogans of the regular "skirmishers" and obedient, rote applause.

1989 Elena and Nicolae Ceausescu.

These applause completed the banal and boring phrases of the Romanians about the triumph of “scientific socialism” and the brilliant successes achieved by the country under the wise leadership of the leader in all areas and in all sectors.

This went on for about eight minutes. And suddenly, in the depths of the 100,000-strong crowd, a different kind of excitement arose: there was a blasphemous whistle and hiss, and then the chant began: “Ti-mi-sho-a-ra!”

Romanian television, thanks to cameras fixedly installed at several points, continued to broadcast the rally.

The television cameras broadcast all this, and they also recorded the confusion on the balcony: a confused Ceausescu (he tried to be heard, repeating the telephone “Hello! Hello!” to the protesters) and his wife Elena, hissing in his ear: “Promise me give them something!"

Ceausescu stopped cursing at the “hooligans” and their “overseas guides” and publicly announced the increase wages, pensions and cash assistance to low-income families, as well as an increase in student scholarships by 10 lei (which at the market exchange rate was then 2-3 American cents).

The noise and whistling grew, and Ceausescu, completely unprepared for such behavior from the crowd, fell silent altogether. The television cameras showed his confused, haunted look. TV viewers saw how a man in uniform took him by the arm and led him out of the balcony.

76% of the country's population saw this program. The confused “great leader” became a symbol of change - and riots began in most cities.

Spontaneous demonstrations in Bucharest continued throughout the night, and at the same time snipers from the Securitate began shooting at people without clearing their targets.

Timisoara, December 1989. Fraternization of demonstrators and soldiers

That night, 85 victims with gunshot wounds were admitted to Bucharest hospitals, and even more were killed.

Despite the shooting, crowds gathered near party buildings, on University Square and in front of the Romanian television center.

The shooting at demonstrators continued throughout the night, but it was absolutely impossible to determine who the culprit was - killers from the Securitate or army units.

There were panicked rumors that Ceausescu had sent into battle an airborne sabotage detachment staffed by Arabs who had undergone “military-terrorist” training under the leadership of the Securitate.

The dictatorial couple sat in the presidential palace all night, and on December 22, they went through an underground passage to the Central Committee building and escaped by helicopter.

The circumstances of this escape are quite mysterious.

On the morning of December 22, Defense Minister Vasile Mila was found shot dead (we omit rumors about the causes of his death, there are many of them - from suicide to an unsuccessful attempt at self-harm). His successor, Victor Stanculescu, actually ensured the success of the revolution by ordering the army to stop shooting at demonstrators.

Demonstrators on the streets of Bucharest

“By accepting Ceausescu’s offer to become a minister, I actually became a target for two firing squads,” Stanculescu later recalled. “Either presidential or revolutionary.”

Despite the announced curfew and the ban on gathering in groups of more than 5 people, on the morning of December 22, Bucharest residents again went to the Central Committee building. This time they were no longer organized by the party, they came on their own to continue yesterday's show.

From above they were thrown leaflets urging them not to become "victims of coup attempts" but to go home and enjoy their Christmas dinner - which sounded like a mockery to people who could not buy bread.

Ceausescu (it seemed like he really didn’t understand what was going on in the country) went out onto the balcony to speak, but this time they didn’t even listen to him. Booing the “great leader,” the people rushed to storm the building - which was no longer guarded by the army.

“When we took off at 12.08 from the terrace of the Central Committee building, we saw protesters who were already running up to it,” recalled the pilot of the presidential helicopter, Vasile Malutan. “Our car was designed for four passengers, but there were six.”

Noon December 22, 1989. The dictator is going on his last flight; he will emerge from the helicopter as a fugitive.

In addition to the presidential couple, two Securitate agents and Ceausescu’s deputies in the party and government boarded the helicopter.

Meanwhile, the leaders of the resistance formed the National Salvation Front as the body of all the forces of the nation opposed to the dictatorship.

Professor Petre Roman proclaimed from the balcony of the Central Committee building, from which Ceausescu spoke the day before: “Today, December 22, the dictatorship of Ceausescu has fallen. From now on, all power in Romania belongs to the people.”

The Ceausescu couple, after escaping from Bucharest, made their first stop with Snagove - near their summer residence, 40 km from the capital.

Ceausescu called the Securitate, some military units and to his son Nick. When it became clear that escape from the country was impossible, the helicopter was abandoned in the countryside near Tirgovishte.

Pilot Vasile Malutan remembers this a little differently: “When we sat down, Ceausescu called me and ordered the arrival of two helicopters with armed guards. I called the boss, and he said: “We have a revolution... Decide for yourself. Good luck!"

Street fighting in Bucharest. Pay attention to the banner on the far tank - the communist coat of arms, which was then part of the national flag, is cut out of it

Malutan reported to Ceausescu that it was necessary to fly further, but the engine had overheated and the two passengers should be left in Snagov. The deputies remained, and the dictator, taking the agents, ordered to fly in the direction of Tirgovishte.

IN While moving, Malyutan began to make sharp maneuvers, explaining that in this way he wanted to “avoid possible anti-aircraft fire.” Ceausescu ordered him to sit down immediately. So they ended up in a field near the road.

The former dictator and his wife, accompanied by two guards, seized private car with the driver and, threatening him with a weapon, ordered him to drive forward. This driver later said that Elena suggested hiding in the forest and waiting, and Nicolae believed that they should resort to the help of workers.

Romanian Wikipedia gives a slightly different picture of the dictatorial "hitchhiking": the agents managed to stop two cars - a forester and a doctor. After some time, the doctor, who did not want to get involved in the further fate of Ceausescu, imitated an engine breakdown.

The driver of the next stopped car took the Ceausescu couple and one of the agents to Tirgovishte and advised them to hide until morning on the outskirts of the city.

These soldiers had their cockades torn off their caps (dents from them are visible) - which should indicate a switch to the side of the rebels

In three hours, yesterday's "great leader", who ruled over millions of people, turned into an old, lonely fugitive. A noteworthy point is at what stage of this “transition of power” the last Securitate agent left the Ceausescu couple?

During a stop near the first enterprise, workers threw stones at the car, shouting: “Death to the criminals!” This greatly annoyed Ceausescu. In Tirgovishte they tried to find shelter in the building of the local RCP party committee, but they were not allowed there.

Nicolae and Elena tried to hide in the forest, but when darkness fell they returned to the city. On December 22 at 17:50, Ceausescu was detained by the police, who eventually took them to the barracks of the Tirgoviste military garrison.

Meanwhile, clashes continued in Bucharest between supporters and opponents of the revolution, which escalated into full-fledged military operations using equipment. The Securitate, the army of self-defense forces - in this mess, when it was often unclear who was for whom and who was giving orders, there were many victims.

Shootout in the center of Bucharest. A civilian brought a box of cakes to the soldiers.

A total of 1,104 people died during the revolution (of which 162 during the protests against Ceausescu's rule on December 16-22 and 942 in subsequent clashes).

The official number of wounded is 3,352 (during the protests - 1,107, during the clashes after the flight of Ceausescu - 2,245).

Formed from minor leaders of the Communist Party, the National Salvation Front was headed by Ion Iliescu, a former ally who fell into disgrace in the 1970s. The army, led by Victor Stanciulescu, sided with the Federal Tax Service.

1970s Iliescu (left) plays hoops with Ceausescu

Iliescu would later become famous for using miners to fight against students who did not like the fact that Ceausescu left and communism remained.

ButHereThis is not about Ceausescu's successors, but about how the dictatorship of the "great leader" ended.

On December 24, Iliescu signed a decree establishing the Extraordinary Military Tribunal. It included two military judges, two colonels and three “people's judges” of a lower rank.

On December 25, this tribunal held a hearing in Tirgovishte, where within an hour it sentenced the dictator and his wife to death on the charges that you read at the beginning of the article.

The sentence was carried out on the spot, 10 minutes after it was announced. On his way to execution, the dictator exclaimed: “Long live Socialist republic Romania, free and independent!"

Security soldiers (supposedly loyal to Ceausescu) after watching a story about the execution of the dictator

This gasp is not on the video recording of the trial and execution. The operator delayed for a minute, and at this time the firing squad had already opened fire - as soon as the Ceausescu couple stood against the wall.

Record of the trial and execution of the Ceausescu couple

The execution was carried out by three paratroopers from an elite army unit. They agreed voluntarily. They say that there were hundreds of people who wanted to shoot their “great leader.” Although this is probably not true - who announces such an execution?

The corpses of the Ceausescu couple were shown on Romanian television in the evening.

Nicolae Ceausescu, a few minutes after his death

The leaders of the National Salvation Front explained such a cruel step by saying that they wanted to force the remnants of Ceausescu’s supporters to lay down their arms.

According to the leadership of the Federal Tax Service, the death sentence to the dictator and the demonstration of the execution on television saved the lives of tens of thousands of Romanians.

Demonstrators in Bucharest react to news of dictator's death

In two weeks death penalty in Romania was cancelled.

Ceausescu Nicolae (1918 - 1989) since 1955 in the leadership of the Romanian Communist Party, general secretary since 1965, in 1967-1974, Chairman of the State Council, since 1974, President of Romania.

Ceausescu, Nicolae (1918–1989), President of Romania. Born on January 26, 1918 in the village of Scornicesti into a peasant family. In 1933 he joined the ranks of the youth communist movement, and in 1936 he became a member of the Communist Party. From 1940 to 1944 he was imprisoned in various prisons. At the end of the war in 1944–1945 he became secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Youth League. At the end of the 1940s, Ceausescu was secretary of the regional party committee, first in Dobruja and then in Oltenia. In 1948–1950, Ceausescu was Minister of Agriculture, in 1950 Deputy Minister of National Defense with the rank of Major General, in 1951 head of the political department in the armed forces, in 1952 member of the Central Committee of the Communist Party. Ceausescu supported party secretary G. Gheorghiu-Dej in his struggle for power with the “Muscovite” A. Pauker, who was deprived of power in 1952 (“Muscovites” are party leaders who were on the territory of the USSR during the war). In 1954, Ceausescu was elected secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party, and in 1955 a member of the Politburo. In 1961, the Romanian version of “national communism” appeared, which consisted mainly in a policy of resistance to N.S. Khrushchev’s course on economic integration. In 1965, Ceausescu was elected General Secretary of the Central Committee, took the post of Chairman of the State Council, and in 1974, after changing the constitution, became President of Romania.

Ceausescu's reign was characterized by an active foreign policy course, which differed from that of other Eastern European countries. Ceausescu was not a supporter of a complete revision of relations with the USSR, but condemned the invasion of Czechoslovakia in 1968, as well as the entry of Soviet troops into Afghanistan in 1979. He did not support Soviet accusations against China, retained good relationship with Israel, the USA and Western European countries

In particular, in 1984, Romania was the only CMEA member country that did not boycott the Olympics in Los Angeles, for which Ceausescu received the Olympic Order a year later. Ceausescu uncontrollably took loans from Western countries, which quickly brought the Romanian economy to the brink of collapse. In an attempt to correct the situation in the country, a referendum was held on a legislative ban on attracting foreign loans, and since 1980, repaying loan debts has become the main priority of the Romanian economy. As a result, by 1989 - in fact, several months before the overthrow of the Ceausescu regime - Romania managed to pay off almost all Western creditors.

Ceausescu openly patronized his relatives, introducing them into the government. His wife Elena was the second person in the country, serving as the first deputy prime minister, who was Ceausescu himself. The Ceausescu couple's son Nicu was appointed head of Sibiu.

In addition to the title of "Mother of the Nation", Elena Ceausescu was also quite officially called the "Torch of the Party", "Woman Hero" and "Guiding Beam of Culture and Science".

Ceausescu's main views on socialism, resulting from the analysis of his reports and speeches:

Socialism is designed to eliminate private property on the means of production and transfer them into the hands of the true owners - the workers, the intelligentsia; only large property in agriculture provides necessary conditions For economic development;

The main milestone of socialist construction in Romania is the IX Party Congress (1965); Romania has transformed from an underdeveloped country into an industrial-agrarian country, continuously developing on the basis of the latest achievements of science and technology;

The future of all humanity is only socialism;

In a socialist country there should be only one, united and powerful party with a revolutionary or progressive worldview, preserving a working-class character; there is not and cannot be any other force that could fulfill the vital role of the Communist Party; the party cannot refuse its leadership role and cannot share it with anyone;

Under communism, the party will disappear only when the entire people achieves a high revolutionary consciousness and revolutionary militancy, when the people themselves are the revolutionary people, the creators of communism.

A significant role in the totalitarian regime of Ceausescu was played by the official ideology, transformed, in fact, into a false and illusory consciousness, divorced from social reality and serving the interests of the ruling group. Almost all spheres of human life were ideologized. The state exercised strict and comprehensive control, suppressing all dissent. For this ideology, state power was the only value. She viewed everything that happened in Romanian society in only one plane - whether it strengthened or weakened the power of the state over the individual.

In 1989, USSR Foreign Minister Eduard Shevardnadze visited Romania on an official visit and made a statement that became a signal for anti-government actions. During the so-called “December uprising” (1989), Ceausescu was arrested and hastily executed on December 25 in Timisoara along with his wife. The brutal reprisal was not “the spontaneous creation of the masses,” but was conceived somewhere in high offices even before Shevardnadze’s visit. This was revenge on Ceausescu, who managed to completely repay all debts Western countries and brought Romania out of the IMF debt loop. Later, Pinochet was put on trial in Spain for this (while leading Chile, he paid the IMF in full). The actions of Ceausescu (and Pinochet) created a dangerous precedent for the “new world order” that was being established in the early 80s and 90s in Eastern Europe.