The Archive of the Romanian Revolution of December 1989

A Catch-22 December 1989, Groundhog-Day Production. Presenting the Personal Research & Scholarship of Richard Andrew Hall, Ph.D.

Posts Tagged ‘Nicolae Ceausescu Epoca de Aur’

December–A Decisive Month! (revista Flacara, 8 decembrie 1989)

Posted by romanianrevolutionofdecember1989 on December 13, 2014

From the collection of issues of the weekly Flacara I saved from the dumpster at Indiana University (Bloomington)’s main library back in 1995-1996:

December turned out to be a decisive month, indeed!

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Below from Radio Free Europe’s Weekly Record of Events, 7 to 13 December 1989 (http://storage.osaarchivum.org/low/0e/b2/0eb2876f-9699-445d-9b0a-6f81e2604383_l.pdf).  Of note, the entry on page 30 for December 12:

The Political Executive Committee [of the Romanian Communist Party] decided to transfer the border-guard units from the jurisdiction of the Ministry of National Defense to that of the Ministry of the Interior.

This is important, because it suggests that on the eve of the outbreak of the Romanian Revolution of December 1989 that toppled communist dictator Nicolae Ceausescu, Ceausescu and the leadership of the party clearly had more trust in the Ministry of the Interior (essentially interchangeable with the term Securitate) than in the Army.

http://jurnalul.ro/scinteia/jurnalul-zilei/12-decembrie-1989-530137.html

SECURITATEA A PRELUAT FRONTIERELE

Nicolae Ceauşescu a avut o zi plină. Sub “atenta sa supraveghere” s-a desfăşurat şedinţa Comitetului Politic Executiv al CC al PCR, în care s-au luat decizii importante pentru viitorul regimului. Izolat tot mai mult pe plan internaţional, preşedintele RSR începuse să se teamă serios de acţiunea “agenturilor străine” pe teritoriul României. Astfel că s-a trecut la măsuri radicale, şedinţa CPEx decizând “trecerea unităţilor de grăniceri din subordinea Ministerului Apărării Naţionale în subordinea Ministerului de Interne”.

Adică a Securităţii, care trebuia să moni­torizeze şi mai atent evenimen­tele de la frontiera de Apus.  

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New York Times, 7 December 1989

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Washington Post, 10 December 1989

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Washington Post, 12 December 1989

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Washington Post, 12 December 1989

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