The Communist Rule and Its Injustice

As soon as it came to power, the Communist regime and its leader, Gheorghiu-Dej, proceeded to the inocullation of the “socialist spirit” through the colectivisation of the agriculture and industry and through the eradication of any opponents. The land of the peasant was confiscated. Censorship and total control over the media were imposed as means of propaganda. The study of religion was replaced by the study of the marxist doctrine, the Soviet Union 's geography and history, and the study of Russian became compulsory. The Orthodox Church became a subordinate of the State, which named its representatives. The Catholic Confession was outlawed in an attempr to limit any contact with the Western world.

At first there was some resistance left, especially among the politicians and intellectuals of the time, but harsh measures were soon taken against them. The Security was founded in the view of spreading terror and maintaining control and order over the outraged population. Political detention, torture and death penalties soon became routine. The “prisons of death”, such as the one in Pitesti , were set up and appaling psychological experiments, like the so-called “reeducation”, were run in order to brainwash the convicts.

However, in the spring of 1965, Gheorghiu-Dej died, and Ceausescu was elected as a head of state. He violently attacked the ruthless, lawless policy of his predecessor and promoted some reforms which alliviated the situation for a while, easing the repressive measures. The 1965 Constitution supported the setting up of private businesses, the increase in the population's degree of confort or the study of Western modern languages in schools. These measures, as well as the detaching from the Soviet Union , were meant to increase the dictator's popularity.

At the beginning of the 70's, a new stage of the communism took hold. The propaganda spread with great speed, monopolizing the media. Imposing manifestations were organised in honour of the dictator and the teaching of history was used in favour of the regime, emphasizing its supposed achievements. By contrast, the economy was falling, faking figures in annual reports being the usual method of hiding the truth from the population. In order to stop the free-fall, the regime imposed the “ratio system” which reduced the amount of basic necessities to a minimum. The campaign of arrests of opponents was resumed and an atmosphere of constant fear reigned. But this was not enough, and sa the down-fall of the regime became evident, so did the discontempt of the nation.   [UP]