At least I was ‘fortunate’ enough to have travelled in Ceaucescu’s Romania in the early 80s as a young backpacker relatively freely, without the NK style strict scrutiny. Famine, poverty, repression and infrastructure falling apart being observed everywhere, restaurants serving only lousy food, and amd bookshops sold only HIS writings and nothing else. I never expected that his regime would violently collapse in only a few years time.
@mojewjewjew4420 Just as a normal Interrail traveler. The visa was incredibly easy to obtain and there was no requirement to be taken care of by any official agency. Me and my company travelled to Brasov, Bucuresti, Mamaia, Constanza and Timisoara and sightsaw all freely. Very interesting trip but of course it was not super pleasant to observe the country in such poor state.
Nicolae: *genius of the Carpathians* Also Nicolae: *builds a bogus city plan* Elena: *Nobel Laureate in Chemistry* Also Elena: *can not say what H2O means*
I remember a documentary on the History Channel almost 20 years ago about this couple. It wasn't until late 1989, early 1990, that Nicolae was executed, although I don't know whether Elena was also executed.
@@AdultThirdCultureKid1971 both executed in the same time, on 25th December , 1989 ... in a Xmas Day , probably USSR was behind all this...these soviets executed 2 old men on Xmas Day in a very christian religion country , the most religious country from Europe ...it's like a curse in this country
@@dand7763 while i hate the soviets and the russians i doubt that it was them who executed Ceausescu and Elena. most likley it was Iliescu and his friends from the party so he wont speak to much at a later date
@@HellStr82 more likely like you said, i don't understand why "Ion Iliescu" is not in jail now , despite his old age, this "KGB" agent of Moscow , infiltrated in Romania , was even the president of this country in 2 mandates 1990-1996; and 2000-2004 ...possible his name Ion Iliescu is fake , a codename being KGB agent or FSN what is called now in Moscow ...it's incredible how Romania was fooled by Russia ,even after 1989 , russians were here until 2000! then democratic forces appear and turn Romania in west direction - Emil Constantinescu (1996-2000) was the first who started negotiations with EU and NATO ... LATER AFTER REFORMS , Romania enter in NATO in 2004 and in EU in 2007...so *the current modern ,democratic republic of Romania started to be born in 1st January 2007 (EU member)* , currently is OK country, not perfect ,in permanent development , to be "westernized" ... Romania is loaded aprox 70%-75% in "western" mindset ...i believe we need another 10-15 years to be complete ... to be 100% loaded in Western mindset .... if will not be a war here , of course... se Ukraine-Russia War , they are already at our doors !
An interesting joke right after the 1989 revolution: A Romanian working abroad returns home and asks a peasant: Hey, did your slaughter your pig for Christmas? The peasant says: No, we shot him.
unfortunately, because of the violent revolution, many young people died during this event, thus, on one hand, the revolution had achieved its goal, but on the other, many families were brought to tears with nobody being held responsible. That is without taking into consideration the other violent events that took place during the 90s
During Christmas 1989 bullets were flying all over Bucharest, without any apparent rhyme or reason. It was literal terror. Meanwhile most of the country was frozen in fear and confusion. No, it was not a happy Christmas, despite Ceausescu's death. And the years that followed were awful as well, including mass beatings, state-approved vigilante murders and rapes etc. Think before you type, please!
@@eftyextenebra1837 No intention to hurt anyones feeling, but was just making a dark joke reveling in the deaths of two vile people who had let so many innocents lives to suffer greatly .
@eftyextenebra1837 so what your saying it was better under communism? Ya people die in revolutions, it's horrible I agree but freedom is not free & is worth fighting & yes dieing for. The U.S. revolution wasn't peaceful either and before you run your mouth & say something stupid,Yes I did serve, so I'm not a guy who just talks about others f😮ighting & dieing. I'm a proud former Marine & if I wasn't 48 I'd go back in again. My son also serves. Not everyones a coward. Someone has to stand up for those who can't protect themselves. Nothing wrong with a difference of opinion though. Thank God we live in a country where everyone can have their own opinion. God bless you & your family.
@@davidyoung2111 Are you Christian? I ask because most Americans are Christian and proud of it. If yes, how can you be a soldier? Isn't killing someone a deadly sin?
Hi there brother! Great Channel, great content! So, I'm from Cuba and in 1986 Fidel visited North Korea and he was soooo impress with the meticulous pageantry, organization, the obedience and reverence that the people had for comrade Kim Il Sun that when he came back from the trip he could not shut up about it on TV (So impress was he that two years later Cuba was one of the few fringe nations that boycoted the Seoul Olympic games at a time when we were the only non european and 3rd world country that had a chance at being on the top 10 medal count) I believe that it derrail us from following a more Perestroika like path (This was 1986 after all) with consecuences that we (The Cuban People) have to live with still.
Good day, I presumed you meant a Deng Xiaoping style reform? 😊😊 Any form of liberalization would almost certainly attract lots of attention from the Big Boss on how to influence Cuba. 😁😁
1. Would have been interesting to mention the fact that when Ceausescu was inaugurated as president, in 1974, the president of the parliament handed him a scepter, and he later received another scepter from the army. In order to make fun of the absurd situation, Salvador Dali sent Ceausescu a letter congratulating him for inauguration the "presidential scepter", letter which was later published in Scanteia as a compliment to Ceausescu. The party members that took that decision were also not aware of the irony. 2. The prosecutor (Ranco Pitu) of the revolution penal case mentioned in interviews what he found in the archives regarding the shootings between 22nd and 25th of December 1989. He said that army and paramilitary (patriotic guards) units received orders and false information from the army generals. They were told they were encountering terrorists. So basically you had units shooting at each other. This was for the generals to portray themselves as defending the revolution and avoid being sent to trial for the murder of civilians prior to the 22nd of December, as these generals were the ones that gave the orders to the army to shoot in Timisoara and Bucharest.
Also, the soviets propped up the communist party in romania, which was unknown. They gained power by rigging the elections. They switched the 40% obtained in the last free elections before communism by the oposition to their side. In reality they had around 10%
after 1944 they found a bunch of village idiots and promised them they could steal from the former elites and ethnic minorities without being punished: farms, agricultural land, factories, villas, city houses, furniture, fur coats, jewelry, etc. That was the first echelon of the Romanian communist party after the war, those village idiots. Than after they had stolen too much, they also collectivized them and left them with nothing. The state owned everything ... and managed it poorly.
When they laid out the subway system they had to make changes to it because his wife decided that University students were getting too fat. So they canceled the subway station at the school. But the planners got the last laugh. They built the station anyway but hid it. So as soon as Ceaucescu was deposed, they quickly opened a "new" station.
My HS valedictorian's father was a part of the revolution in Romania, fighting against the communists. Her parents fled to Germany after he regained power (and she was born while they were in Germany; born 4.5 months after the Soviet Union collapsed). They later went to Canada before coming to the U.S.
I'm curious, are you ever going to cover the Cultural Resolution in China or the coup in the Kremlin which ousted Krushchev? You have mentioned them at times but I would be interested in learning more about them. Thank you.
Interesting suggestion on the stepping aside of Khrushchev. Not as interesting as the circumstances regarding the death of Stalin (not the movie) but definitely worthy of getting into the details. Khrushchev during the Cold War was particularly relevant regarding Ukraine SSR since a sizable part of his plans including improving agricultural productivity. After his plans did not work as well, the inner circle were beginning to think maybe it was time for him to retire. According to known history, as Khrushchev reached 70, he was increasingly feeling tired and was also thinking about stepping down but back then there were no post-retirement plans for elderly persons.
That might require a trilogy. The 1st from 1945 to 1959, the 2nd from 1959 to 1968 and the 3rd up till 1990. The history from 1945 to 1968 was somewhat messy. An interesting point as of 2024 is that the current regime is trying to takeover the deceased soft dictator's private home, almost certainly for future political purposes, against the wishes of 2 of his children. 🙄🙄
@@andred7684 the only thing that Romanian people saw or heard about Elena was what they saw on TV, or heard on the radio. Her name was added to scientific papers in some cases without her even meeting the other people named on those papers. The ones that met her knew and said nothing, the ones who never met her believed what the TV said for the mostpart.
I think that in terms of its national-communism ideology, as well as when considering ressemblances with other Eastern European regimes, Ceausescu's closest counterpart would be Bulgaria's Todor Zhivkov. It would be interesting to have an episode about him and his regime.
@@LIONtib Am vazut acum ca esti roman. Pai Ceausescu nu se avea deloc bine cu rusii inca din anii 60, Gorbacheov a zis ca e mai bine sa l inlocuiasca cu tovarasu Iliescu nu?
Even a regime filled with Gaidar-style, Chicago School devotees would’ve been preferable. NC had represented a disturbing degree of crazy veering about from CCP-style tumult to inspiration from British constitutional monarchy.
Hi there, David and the entire Cold War crew, can you please make a video on Argentina during the reign of Juan Peron, which lasted from 1946 to 1955. That way, all your viewers and subscribers will learn about the unique ideology of Peronism and Peron's economic policies, both of which still affect Argentina's politics, economy and society to this day.
@@Dave_Sissonat least he introduced a lot of social services and raised the standards for workers and middle-class people, not saying he was a saint tho just that he and Eva improved the standards of living for a great portion of population
@@alessandramaria00 If an economy is successful, the government can afford all sorts of welfare and social services like you get in Europe, Canada, Australia, Japan, etc. But if an economy has collapsed like Argentina's economy for the last 80 years when Peronists or the military ruled for most of the time, it is hard to find the money for those things without damaging the economy further.
Similar to Cambodia and the Khmer Rouge except for the killing everyone part. It seems that represive regimes like Romania 'lurched' from one crises to the next.
Incidentally, Ceausescu made a state visit to Cambodia in 1978 when the Khmer Rouge were in power. This was during the Sino-Soviet split when the Pol Pot regime strengthened diplomatic ties with "fellow socialist countries" that were not in the Soviet/Vietnamese camp. Allegedly, even Ceausescu was shocked at how extreme the Khmer Rouge were.
In that case you are lucky enough to not know too many Romanians. XD If I had a buck for every time I heard somebody say "Era mai bine pe vremea lui Ceausescu" I'd go on a short holiday...
So directly after the revolution and the few years after the shootings were interpreted like this: special troops of the Securitate (or in general secret services) started sniping the people on the streets. The military, that was ordered to be the streets, started to shoot back. There were even pictures of shot secret services cars and special tunnels etc., but mainly because the conscript army guys were amateurs, they easily panicked in that chaos and it’s possible they even shot on each other. First version: Ceaușescu was shot so fast and early, because the secret services would have not stopped trying to free him and shooting in the streets at the revolting people. Second version, after a year: the guys that planned to use the chaos to take over (like Iliescu and others) were afraid about what Ceauşescu may know and divulge about them, so they preferred him dead asap…. This Iliescu guy (first president that clinging >10y in power) appeared practically out of nothing in the freed Tv, that was broadcasting live about what was happening in the streets. He was presented like a hero normal guy in his wool pullover (it was December). Only later, after he had his own party (changing names: PSD, PDSR or so = social democratic party) and got president, we heard he was actually a kind of middle management in the communist party. His party stands for the worst corruption and was full of former state employees and communist party members that became mini oligarchs. Worst kind and the bitter part is, that the EU parliament accepted this corruption party in the european social democratic party-block….
When looking back at the events of 1989, it was, in simple terms, a coup from the inner circles. Other later opinions I read appeared to agree that once there was a dynastic succession or its possibility, a sizable chunk of the inner circle decided to withdraw their support. Regrading Iliescu, the MSM back then avoided any real focus on him. Instead, almost all of the coverage was on Ceauşescu during the final few years. The Western democratic progressive human rights coalition also did not question if Ceauşescu was given a fair trial and due process. Instead, the MSM was practically cheering that Ceauşescu was gone. 🙄🙄
Ceausescu was briefly a darling of the West, after he refused to participate in the invasion of Czechoslovakia. He met western leaders like Richard Nixon and the Queen of England and took many loans from the West to develop the country's infrastructure. Things only started turning very bleak in the late 70s.
Meeting an American president does not make you a “darling of the west”. Hafez al Assad met with Nixon, kessinger, Carter and Bill Clinton, Thatcher, went to France several times etc yet he was against western political influence. A similar thing can be said abt Saddam who weapons from France & Italy. Or About Gaddafi who went to France in 1973 to buy mirages etc
I was in Romania in early 1992 on a -very early- school exchange... Certainly adventurous to see that country that had been so closed for so long. There was still damage everywhere from the 'revolution.' We were in- and around Timisoara and stood on the balcony where Ceaucescu 'lost power.'
"Romania was possibly communist on paper, but these policies look like something from a conservative populist's wet dreams" - very happy you noticed this nuance. Culturally, Romania remained very conservative and the irony is that it is considered "communist". If republicans from the US would hear that they would have a seisure. :)))
I visited a Romanian village close to the Hungarian border in mid 90’s. It was shocking impoverished and far behind in most ways, with no running water, toilet in outhouse, etc.
Great video! Romania did end up being ruled by a separatist faction of the communist party after the revolution, even though many of them rather deserved to be put on trial alongside the Ceausescu's.
I was waiting for Timisoara to come up, as I have ethnic German ancestors who lived there when it was part of Hungary, but emigrated to the US before the world wars (they were descendants of settlers from the German speaking lands, who were enticed by the Habsburgs in the 18th century to repopulate their new territories after the Ottomans were expelled. They were known as Danube Swabians, or Donau Schwaben). Apparently not all of the German Hungarians were expelled to the west after the end of the Second World War, though I think the majority were. I just think it’s interesting to see the role that the Hungarian and German minorities of Timisoara/ Temeschwar played in the fall of communism in Romania. Fascinating video as always.
There were no expellings after WW2 in Romania - it is famously the only country in Eastern Europe which DID NOT expel its german minorities after the war.
To be fair, I guess I wasn’t really differentiating between whether the local government or the Soviets were responsible for the expulsions while they occupied Romania
@@JesseJoyce-cj2xg No Germans were expelled at any point in time from Romania... Most germans left during the war itself as they were recruited by Germany for foreign divisions (whose names I can't say unless I want youtube deleting this comment). Another chunk of them left during the 70s when the West German birthrates stagnated, at which point they offered money in exchange for some of our Germans, and the rest left after 1989 as they were offered German citizenship.
In 1987 a family friend visited his relatives in Romania and reported that you could only buy chickens feet at the store…until then I’d never imagined you could eat these….
oo, but you do eat them, every day. It s called chicken hot dogs. yOU can also found them in various cold cuts. So, in essence we are eating the same crap today , without even knowing
You can use them for soup. Anyways, most Romanians had friends and relatives in the countryside and got their meat there. You would buy an entire pig, slaughter it and freeze it in a congelator. Who did not have the required relations went vegan...
I spoke to a veteran of the Romanian revolut once, he told me that while he doesn't miss Ceacescu, he took for granted for the economic rights he had under socialism and now regrets his role in the event. This seems to have been a common trend among rank and file anti-communist dissidents; they did not fully understand either the system they advocated for or the system they advocated against.
It took so long for the authirities to intervene in the 1987 Brașov protest because at that time it was unconcievable for anyone to think that such protests could occure in Romania
I'm not a nostalgic by any stretch of the imagination but we have to be relists here...Ceausescu built Romania and we used to make fun at the remarks his son, Nicu Ceausescu, made just after the "Revolution" that stated: You people are incapable of repainting in 30 year what my father has built in 30 in this country... Well...here we are 35 years later and he was darn right
Great episode, as usual. You never addressed, however, something that I had always heard; That Ceausescu's wife was especially hated. Is that true? If so, why?
It would be a noteworthy aspect. In 1910, approximately 75% of Romanians were completely illiterate. In 1930 the level of illiteracy was about 63%, and in 1938 it had dropped to 54%. About two thirds of the literate had only primary education (4 years). There were very few intellectuals, and most of them were anti-communists. What happened after the Soviets came? Those few intellectuals were either exterminated, or managed to escape to the West, or were treated as "tolerated", on the condition that they do absolutely everything the new regime asks of them. So, who took power in 1946 ? People who, in their vast majority, only had 3-4 or maximum 7 years of schooling. By the way, there were even some communists who were assassinated just because they had graduated from a high school or, worse, a university. Ceausescu was at school for only 4 years. He had virtually no qualifications. Yes, he had been a shoemaker's apprentice, but he wasn't interested in the job but in political propaganda, probably because the propagandists were paid (from the funds for the spread of communism sent from the USSR). However, why was he allowed to rise within the party and later the state? Because, in a way, he was a clever person who knew how to give the feeling to various factions that he is a malleable, slightly naive individual (easy to manipulate) who could be useful to them . When he managed to take power, however, he proved that in reality he is an extremely ambitious person who did not hesitate to forcefully impose his point of view. However, he basically had no education whatsoever, and everything he did was based on instinct and copying (more or less perfectly) the aspects that seemed to be advantageous to him. Obviously, a Mao or Kim type regime seemed interesting to him, as it seemed to give him much more power. Why did the other important communists not react ? Because, in the first few years, what Ceausescu did suited them, they being deeply hostile to the orders received from the USSR. But at some point Ceausescu became too powerful for anyone inside the regime to touch him.
And there would be another aspect. Second world war. Hitler hoped to win the war by asking Antonescu (the leader of Romania) as many soldiers as possible. Over half of those soldiers were completely illiterate. Basically, they could only learn if they were very well trained (which doesn't happened because a proper training takes time and costs money, and those soldiers were needed immediately). They couldn't even read the writing on the ammunition boxes or on their guns. About 70% were peasants who lived almost like in the middle ages and who had only just learned that there were things called "radio" and "airplanes" and who found themselves being asked to fight against enemy tanks and infantry while the enemy artillery fired countless projectiles and Katyusha rockets onto them. I imagine that many of them did not even understand what was happening. The war was lost, then the Soviets came. They, the Soviets, had reasons to hate the Romanians because they saw them as invaders, Romania sending troops including to Stalingrad. The consequence? Anyone who was at the front in the USSR was a potential "enemy of the people", regardless of whether he was an illiterate soldier, non-commissioned officer or officer. And the Soviets took care to terrify everyone even more, allowing their army to commit various atrocities (mass rapes, thefts and even killing those people that tried to protect their home or their family). As a result, the population did not react at all when people like Ceausescu took over power. They were too scared to say anything.
Hi everyone there. ceausescu was once recieved by juan perón from my country and was given high honours of the Argentine nation. What a shame! Greetings from Córdoba, Argentina 🇦🇷.
to be fair i suppose it depends on the situation but i suspect the Conductor title was more often translated in its buss meaning rather than in orchestral one
They were sold out for peanuts. Most of the citizens in the country suffer from having no nothing, scab, wages, a miserable wife, and all the politicians and all of their family members drive Brabus Mercedes-Benz, and the communist party members should became the so-called new government are all miniature oligarchs now.
In the spirit of Halloween, I feel it appropriate to recommend “Children of Night” by Dan Simmons. It’s set in Romania during the immediate aftermath of the revolution, and it has a pretty entertaining take on the “real” ruler of Romania.
I used to work with a Romanian woman whose family left Romania soon after the revolution. I guess one of her relatives was there when Ceausescu was detained. Seems like Ceausescu claimed he didn’t know anything about shootings or corruption.
she forgot the bad parts about him... or she never knew... also she refuses to think of the past problems that she had and only focuses on her problems now, believing that the communist regime was better when she was younger but clueless
I cannot help but notice the communist parties in former socialist states are mostly made up of the people who actually experienced and remember socialism. I'm certainly not suggesting that 20th century Marxism-Leninism was flawless and we need to turn back the clock, but maybe we shouldn't be so quick to infantalize these people and dismiss their lived experiences.
I know you already did an episode on Mao's Great Leap Backward but could you do a deep dive into Mao's famine all the factors that led to the massive death tool, plus CCP's attempts to cover it up (like preventing villagers from moving to the big cities). From the ridiculous sparrow campaign to the backyard steel production to CCP officials lying about grain production, surely the worst man-made famine of the 20th century deserves a deeper dive.
Interesting suggestion but without access to some archives, that probably would be difficult. Furthermore, due to the rise of the neo-cons, it became fashionable in the MSM to keep increasing the number of estimated deaths. Many in the MSM probably would not want a real objective examination of the factors. Not because it would make Mao look bad but because it might make Mao look not that bad. Much easier to just claim that Mao woke up one day and went to do some crazy stuff. 🙄🙄
Actually there was more pluralism in the Eastern Block than in the EU today. This summary is still very simplistic, but at least it acknowledges some fundamental facts.
Ceaușescu was far from the worst communist dictator in the 1980s, but he nonetheless had the worst end. Before the show trial that ended his life, Romania had not carried out a single death penalty for nearly a decade. The problem: he was nurturing his son to succeed him to power, which certainly angered the members of his central committee. Also most people hated him because of his wife.
I have worked with many Romanians & they have similar sentiments as you, that said, they all to a man tell me that Romania is now corrupt to the core & all the Romanian talent work outside Romania. Well......is that such a surprise?
I remember seeing footage from Romanian orphanages on telly in the early 90s - a horrendous result of the regime's Make Babies policy merged with austerity. Poor wee malnourished faces sitting two or three to a cot. They'd only be a few years younger than me. British children's TV show Blue Peter ran their annual appeal for these kids one year - I wonder how they turned out in the end.
Legit 💀 like bruh most communist governments in the Warsaw Pact had no tolerance for abortion, gays, etc. Even when East Germany decriminalized homosexuality, they still listed it as a mental disorder. The STASI would still stalk you, you could still end up in an asylum over it. Like bruh conservatives do have their own history against these issues, that's true, but things gradually balanced out over the years. People forget that balance is key in any government, too much in one direction or another is what leads to dictatorships.
Kim Il-Sung had a hand in shaping Ceauşescu's personality cult they had processions, whole streets full of their "adoring" citizens. Notice I put that in air quotes?
Believe me those people are few in numbers. The Ultra Nationalist and Pro Russian prices of shit Re the only ones. Here in Romania the majority of people have a positive view of the EU.
@MikeGoesBadaBoomIf you knew anything about Romania you'd know it's Russia's second biggest hater, only after Poland. Being against current EU policies does not equal being anti-EU and pro-Russia. The EU is a great concept but its current form leaves a lot to be desired.
My mother (who is Hungarian) traveled in Romania in the 80s. She said the streets were super dark (street lights were weak), there were no food in grocery stores and heating was (almost) non-existent. She wanted to have dinner with her friends at a restaurant in a city (Brasov if I'm not mistaken) but there were no food available. They had to look for hours to find a place that had at least one dish available. When they wanted to take a shower, their accommodators were surprised and said that water wasn't available only on certain days. As for the natal practices.. yeah those were a thing. My mother and her friends smuggled birth control pills into the country and sold them for cash😂
Fair representation of reality except for a Hungarian iredentism talking point that you repeated from Tokes. Transilvania has some Hungarian and German villages, the big majority of villages and population (>75%) were and are Romanian. This is not a xenophobic observation, I have mixed ethnic heritage, I would encourage foreigners to immigrate to Transylvania as there are now villages emptying, but the problem with repeating this false narrative in English speaking media (see for example Tucker Carlson's interview with Putin) is for Putin like reasons, as there are Hungarian ultranationalists (perhaps even Orban) who would start a sort of Donbas 2 scenario to get Transylvania based on the repeated lie that it's majority Hungarian (you also repeated this lie as being as true without checking)
Tokes is a fraud, he's an ultranationalist who currently works with Orban. People really need to stop giving him credit for what happened in 1989, he didn't do anything.
Hungarian here. Stop hyperventillating, no one will invade anyone. 1. Orbán is a political opportunist, a chameleon, nothing more. He only offered dual citizenship (and more importantly the right to vote) to those with Hungarian ancestors out of opportunism, to create a voterbase that doesn't feel the economic effects of his governance back home. Therefore he'd only lose by invading Transylvania since his voters there would quickly start feeling what it's like living under 27% sales tax, weak currency etc. and they wouldn't like it. He's at best only dangling the carrot in front of them (if that) in exchange for their votes. 2. You're acting as if NATO weren't a thing nowadays, keeping smaller countries like yours and mine in check (just like the USSR before). Isn't that why every Eastern Bloc country anxiously tried to join NATO as soon as freaking possible? And you guys were fuming when we managed to join a few years earlier than you? Stop with the paranoia and admit: Transylvania is and always was an ethnically mixed region.
Hungarian here. Stop hyperventillating, no one will invade anyone. 1. Orbán is a political opportunist, a chameleon, nothing more. He only offered dual citizenship (and more importantly the right to vote) out of opportunism, to create a voterbase that's disconnected from economic problems back home. He's at best dangling the carrot (if that) in exchange for votes. 2. NATO is a thing, you know. Designed to keep smaller countries like yours and mine on our best behaviour and not fighting wars with one another. Isn't that why every Eastern Bloc country anxiously waited to join NATO as soon as possible? Isn't that why you guys were fuming when we managed to join ahead of you?
Are you referring to the video’s acknowledgment of the existence of Hungarian and German minorities in Romania? Maybe I’m misunderstanding you, but respectfully, how is that irredentist? To be fair, I’m not very familiar with this in the current era, and Orban is pretty scary (and his outlook is also undoubtedly extremely nationalist and irredentist, like Putin, his buddy). just wondering.
My dad mentioned another saying: "They pretend to pay us, we pretend to work." (Original: "Ei se fac ca ne platesc, noi ne facem ca muncim.")
Pauzele lungi si dese cheia marilor succese :)
Rezistența prin umor este o armă puternică pentru noi, romanii!
(The resistance trough humour is a strong weapon for us, Romanians)
I laugh so hard when the professor inthe grand courses audiobook said that
That’s how those Eastern European countries fell. Communism was a total failure. Nicolai didn’t get the memo.
Taticu a venit de la tara?
At least I was ‘fortunate’ enough to have travelled in Ceaucescu’s Romania in the early 80s as a young backpacker relatively freely, without the NK style strict scrutiny. Famine, poverty, repression and infrastructure falling apart being observed everywhere, restaurants serving only lousy food, and amd bookshops sold only HIS writings and nothing else. I never expected that his regime would violently collapse in only a few years time.
Very creepy.
Kinda short
Kinda like Evo Morales being deposed in less that a month in 2019
how did you visit Romania? They wouldn't allow a random backpacker to enter let alone walk freely.
@mojewjewjew4420 Just as a normal Interrail traveler. The visa was incredibly easy to obtain and there was no requirement to be taken care of by any official agency. Me and my company travelled to Brasov, Bucuresti, Mamaia, Constanza and Timisoara and sightsaw all freely. Very interesting trip but of course it was not super pleasant to observe the country in such poor state.
Nicolae: *genius of the Carpathians*
Also Nicolae: *builds a bogus city plan*
Elena: *Nobel Laureate in Chemistry*
Also Elena: *can not say what H2O means*
I remember a documentary on the History Channel almost 20 years ago about this couple. It wasn't until late 1989, early 1990, that Nicolae was executed, although I don't know whether Elena was also executed.
@@AdultThirdCultureKid1971 both executed in the same time, on 25th December , 1989 ... in a Xmas Day , probably USSR was behind all this...these soviets executed 2 old men on Xmas Day in a very christian religion country , the most religious country from Europe ...it's like a curse in this country
@@dand7763 while i hate the soviets and the russians i doubt that it was them who executed Ceausescu and Elena. most likley it was Iliescu and his friends from the party so he wont speak to much at a later date
Kind of like so many leftist regimes now who can't say what a woman is, yet promote $cience worship.
@@HellStr82 more likely like you said, i don't understand why "Ion Iliescu" is not in jail now , despite his old age, this "KGB" agent of Moscow , infiltrated in Romania , was even the president of this country in 2 mandates 1990-1996; and 2000-2004 ...possible his name Ion Iliescu is fake , a codename being KGB agent or FSN what is called now in Moscow ...it's incredible how Romania was fooled by Russia ,even after 1989 , russians were here until 2000! then democratic forces appear and turn Romania in west direction - Emil Constantinescu (1996-2000) was the first who started negotiations with EU and NATO ... LATER AFTER REFORMS , Romania enter in NATO in 2004 and in EU in 2007...so *the current modern ,democratic republic of Romania started to be born in 1st January 2007 (EU member)* , currently is OK country, not perfect ,in permanent development , to be "westernized" ... Romania is loaded aprox 70%-75% in "western" mindset ...i believe we need another 10-15 years to be complete ... to be 100% loaded in Western mindset .... if will not be a war here , of course... se Ukraine-Russia War , they are already at our doors !
An interesting joke right after the 1989 revolution: A Romanian working abroad returns home and asks a peasant: Hey, did your slaughter your pig for Christmas? The peasant says: No, we shot him.
Romania certainly had a very
merry Christmas in 1989. It
sure indeed really lifted their
holiday spirits .
unfortunately, because of the violent revolution, many young people died during this event, thus, on one hand, the revolution had achieved its goal, but on the other, many families were brought to tears with nobody being held responsible. That is without taking into consideration the other violent events that took place during the 90s
During Christmas 1989 bullets were flying all over Bucharest, without any apparent rhyme or reason. It was literal terror. Meanwhile most of the country was frozen in fear and confusion.
No, it was not a happy Christmas, despite Ceausescu's death.
And the years that followed were awful as well, including mass beatings, state-approved vigilante murders and rapes etc.
Think before you type, please!
@@eftyextenebra1837 No intention to hurt anyones feeling, but was just making a dark joke reveling in the deaths of two vile people who had let so many innocents lives to suffer greatly .
@eftyextenebra1837 so what your saying it was better under communism? Ya people die in revolutions, it's horrible I agree but freedom is not free & is worth fighting & yes dieing for. The U.S. revolution wasn't peaceful either and before you run your mouth & say something stupid,Yes I did serve, so I'm not a guy who just talks about others f😮ighting & dieing. I'm a proud former Marine & if I wasn't 48 I'd go back in again. My son also serves. Not everyones a coward. Someone has to stand up for those who can't protect themselves. Nothing wrong with a difference of opinion though. Thank God we live in a country where everyone can have their own opinion. God bless you & your family.
@@davidyoung2111 Are you Christian? I ask because most Americans are Christian and proud of it. If yes, how can you be a soldier? Isn't killing someone a deadly sin?
Not really sure who was worse, him or his despicable wife. They really screwed over Romania between them.
Hi there brother! Great Channel, great content! So, I'm from Cuba and in 1986 Fidel visited North Korea and he was soooo impress with the meticulous pageantry, organization, the obedience and reverence that the people had for comrade Kim Il Sun that when he came back from the trip he could not shut up about it on TV (So impress was he that two years later Cuba was one of the few fringe nations that boycoted the Seoul Olympic games at a time when we were the only non european and 3rd world country that had a chance at being on the top 10 medal count) I believe that it derrail us from following a more Perestroika like path (This was 1986 after all) with consecuences that we (The Cuban People) have to live with still.
Good day, I presumed you meant a Deng Xiaoping style reform? 😊😊
Any form of liberalization would almost certainly attract lots of attention from the Big Boss on how to influence Cuba. 😁😁
1. Would have been interesting to mention the fact that when Ceausescu was inaugurated as president, in 1974, the president of the parliament handed him a scepter, and he later received another scepter from the army. In order to make fun of the absurd situation, Salvador Dali sent Ceausescu a letter congratulating him for inauguration the "presidential scepter", letter which was later published in Scanteia as a compliment to Ceausescu. The party members that took that decision were also not aware of the irony.
2. The prosecutor (Ranco Pitu) of the revolution penal case mentioned in interviews what he found in the archives regarding the shootings between 22nd and 25th of December 1989. He said that army and paramilitary (patriotic guards) units received orders and false information from the army generals. They were told they were encountering terrorists. So basically you had units shooting at each other. This was for the generals to portray themselves as defending the revolution and avoid being sent to trial for the murder of civilians prior to the 22nd of December, as these generals were the ones that gave the orders to the army to shoot in Timisoara and Bucharest.
Also, the soviets propped up the communist party in romania, which was unknown. They gained power by rigging the elections. They switched the 40% obtained in the last free elections before communism by the oposition to their side. In reality they had around 10%
Sounds like the Labour party.
Romenia was a a literal fascist nation. Obviously the left wouldn't get many votes.
Pfft, imperialist propaganda much?
@@rmcq1999 🙄
after 1944 they found a bunch of village idiots and promised them they could steal from the former elites and ethnic minorities without being punished: farms, agricultural land, factories, villas, city houses, furniture, fur coats, jewelry, etc. That was the first echelon of the Romanian communist party after the war, those village idiots. Than after they had stolen too much, they also collectivized them and left them with nothing. The state owned everything ... and managed it poorly.
When they laid out the subway system they had to make changes to it because his wife decided that University students were getting too fat. So they canceled the subway station at the school. But the planners got the last laugh. They built the station anyway but hid it. So as soon as Ceaucescu was deposed, they quickly opened a "new" station.
I visited that station, just because I knew this story and it's so tiny
This is pure evilness.
My HS valedictorian's father was a part of the revolution in Romania, fighting against the communists. Her parents fled to Germany after he regained power (and she was born while they were in Germany; born 4.5 months after the Soviet Union collapsed). They later went to Canada before coming to the U.S.
I'm curious, are you ever going to cover the Cultural Resolution in China or the coup in the Kremlin which ousted Krushchev? You have mentioned them at times but I would be interested in learning more about them. Thank you.
Interesting suggestion on the stepping aside of Khrushchev. Not as interesting as the circumstances regarding the death of Stalin (not the movie) but definitely worthy of getting into the details.
Khrushchev during the Cold War was particularly relevant regarding Ukraine SSR since a sizable part of his plans including improving agricultural productivity.
After his plans did not work as well, the inner circle were beginning to think maybe it was time for him to retire.
According to known history, as Khrushchev reached 70, he was increasingly feeling tired and was also thinking about stepping down but back then there were no post-retirement plans for elderly persons.
You should do a post-Cold War history channel called "After The Thaw".
it a good idea but still early ,this chanel have a lot to cover yet the cuban missile crisis ,vietnam war ,soviet invasion of afghanistan and ect
@@СахерСалама It's all but certain that there will always be new content to cover on The Cold War itself.
I’d like to see a video about Singapore in this series, even tho I’m not Singaporean.
So would I.
That might require a trilogy. The 1st from 1945 to 1959, the 2nd from 1959 to 1968 and the 3rd up till 1990. The history from 1945 to 1968 was somewhat messy.
An interesting point as of 2024 is that the current regime is trying to takeover the deceased soft dictator's private home, almost certainly for future political purposes, against the wishes of 2 of his children. 🙄🙄
I’m Singaporean and I approve this message ❤
I’ve been waiting for this one!
Do you ever plan to cover the short-lived Karelo-Finnish SSR or Soviet Karelia in general?
6:20 An amusing part about Elena being awarded a PhD and also being called the mother and teacher of the nation was that she was illiterate.
as far as I know she had only gone through three years of primary education
I wonder why there wasn't any internal party opposition, if she was clearly illiterate, why didn't anyone see it?
@@andred7684 the only thing that Romanian people saw or heard about Elena was what they saw on TV, or heard on the radio. Her name was added to scientific papers in some cases without her even meeting the other people named on those papers. The ones that met her knew and said nothing, the ones who never met her believed what the TV said for the mostpart.
Great that you've given some attention to Romania. Will you do a video about the Pitești Experiment?
Scenes in the "TV" from 1:25-1:45 are from the 1977 romanian movie "Accident" by Sergiu Nicolaescu
I think that in terms of its national-communism ideology, as well as when considering ressemblances with other Eastern European regimes, Ceausescu's closest counterpart would be Bulgaria's Todor Zhivkov. It would be interesting to have an episode about him and his regime.
@MikeGoesBadaBoomBecause it was the soviets who wanted ceausescu deposed and bulgaria was their most loyal puppy
@@11_oo80Why would the Soviets want him deposed? It meant one less communist state for them and in 1989 that was the last thing they needed.
@@LIONtib Am vazut acum ca esti roman. Pai Ceausescu nu se avea deloc bine cu rusii inca din anii 60, Gorbacheov a zis ca e mai bine sa l inlocuiasca cu tovarasu Iliescu nu?
Even a regime filled with Gaidar-style, Chicago School devotees would’ve been preferable. NC had represented a disturbing degree of crazy veering about from CCP-style tumult to inspiration from British constitutional monarchy.
Very interesting, David thank you.
Hi there, David and the entire Cold War crew, can you please make a video on Argentina during the reign of Juan Peron, which lasted from 1946 to 1955. That way, all your viewers and subscribers will learn about the unique ideology of Peronism and Peron's economic policies, both of which still affect Argentina's politics, economy and society to this day.
I have always thought that Peronism managed to combine the worst aspects of both socialism and fascism. No wonder Argentina's economy collapsed.
@@Dave_Sissonat least he introduced a lot of social services and raised the standards for workers and middle-class people, not saying he was a saint tho just that he and Eva improved the standards of living for a great portion of population
@@alessandramaria00 If an economy is successful, the government can afford all sorts of welfare and social services like you get in Europe, Canada, Australia, Japan, etc. But if an economy has collapsed like Argentina's economy for the last 80 years when Peronists or the military ruled for most of the time, it is hard to find the money for those things without damaging the economy further.
Similar to Cambodia and the Khmer Rouge except for the killing everyone part. It seems that represive regimes like Romania 'lurched' from one crises to the next.
Incidentally, Ceausescu made a state visit to Cambodia in 1978 when the Khmer Rouge were in power.
This was during the Sino-Soviet split when the Pol Pot regime strengthened diplomatic ties with "fellow socialist countries" that were not in the Soviet/Vietnamese camp. Allegedly, even Ceausescu was shocked at how extreme the Khmer Rouge were.
Not particularly loved? Every Romanian I know hates the Ceausescus.
That's called an understatement.
In that case you are lucky enough to not know too many Romanians. XD
If I had a buck for every time I heard somebody say "Era mai bine pe vremea lui Ceausescu" I'd go on a short holiday...
So directly after the revolution and the few years after the shootings were interpreted like this: special troops of the Securitate (or in general secret services) started sniping the people on the streets. The military, that was ordered to be the streets, started to shoot back. There were even pictures of shot secret services cars and special tunnels etc., but mainly because the conscript army guys were amateurs, they easily panicked in that chaos and it’s possible they even shot on each other.
First version: Ceaușescu was shot so fast and early, because the secret services would have not stopped trying to free him and shooting in the streets at the revolting people.
Second version, after a year: the guys that planned to use the chaos to take over (like Iliescu and others) were afraid about what Ceauşescu may know and divulge about them, so they preferred him dead asap….
This Iliescu guy (first president that clinging >10y in power) appeared practically out of nothing in the freed Tv, that was broadcasting live about what was happening in the streets. He was presented like a hero normal guy in his wool pullover (it was December). Only later, after he had his own party (changing names: PSD, PDSR or so = social democratic party) and got president, we heard he was actually a kind of middle management in the communist party. His party stands for the worst corruption and was full of former state employees and communist party members that became mini oligarchs. Worst kind and the bitter part is, that the EU parliament accepted this corruption party in the european social democratic party-block….
Ceaușescu was shot because the new authority could not deal with him the legal way: impeachment.
When looking back at the events of 1989, it was, in simple terms, a coup from the inner circles. Other later opinions I read appeared to agree that once there was a dynastic succession or its possibility, a sizable chunk of the inner circle decided to withdraw their support.
Regrading Iliescu, the MSM back then avoided any real focus on him. Instead, almost all of the coverage was on Ceauşescu during the final few years.
The Western democratic progressive human rights coalition also did not question if Ceauşescu was given a fair trial and due process. Instead, the MSM was practically cheering that Ceauşescu was gone. 🙄🙄
Ești jidan.
Average post-USSR and eastern bloc "social democratic" party.
Of course they did. He was selling Romania out for peanuts and they wanted to buy its goods.
Ceausescu was briefly a darling of the West, after he refused to participate in the invasion of Czechoslovakia. He met western leaders like Richard Nixon and the Queen of England and took many loans from the West to develop the country's infrastructure. Things only started turning very bleak in the late 70s.
Meeting an American president does not make you a “darling of the west”. Hafez al Assad met with Nixon, kessinger, Carter and Bill Clinton, Thatcher, went to France several times etc yet he was against western political influence. A similar thing can be said abt Saddam who weapons from France & Italy. Or About Gaddafi who went to France in 1973 to buy mirages etc
@@suleyman8696 Saddam was a real darling of "the West" at his beginning tbh
Anyone knows who said "we will complete the five year plan in four years and half even if it takes us decade"?
7:00 have you met Adam something?
Not surprising. They both have trash opinions
@@somechuvak2174 why though?
@@somechuvak2174 Nah, your brain is just trash
@@ianhomerpura8937 They're both shitlibs.
I was in Romania in early 1992 on a -very early- school exchange... Certainly adventurous to see that country that had been so closed for so long. There was still damage everywhere from the 'revolution.' We were in- and around Timisoara and stood on the balcony where Ceaucescu 'lost power.'
"Romania was possibly communist on paper, but these policies look like something from a conservative populist's wet dreams" - very happy you noticed this nuance. Culturally, Romania remained very conservative and the irony is that it is considered "communist". If republicans from the US would hear that they would have a seisure. :)))
Conservative populists want free market economy and low taxes.
Decree 770 is coming for the US soon enough. Gotta get that birth rate up, or we’d have to admit that we benefit from immigration!
Seven-seventy seems almost inevitable in US politics.
It's as if... there aren't only two political sides but near infinite combinations, and labels such as conservative overly simplify things.
Also, it seems as if the host was trying to paint the communists as conservatives. Interesting mental gymnastics, what can I say...
Here within 1h when this got 2k. That's kind of early
In the end Ceaușescu tasted his own s h i t.
1989 boi
Indeed. He was not comrade of anyone anymore.
Amazing video! I'd love to see more mini biographies of communist dictators in Europe (or not)!!
Never ask a woman her age, a man his salary, or Romanians about what they did for Christmas 1989.
I visited a Romanian village close to the Hungarian border in mid 90’s. It was shocking impoverished and far behind in most ways, with no running water, toilet in outhouse, etc.
Great video! Romania did end up being ruled by a separatist faction of the communist party after the revolution, even though many of them rather deserved to be put on trial alongside the Ceausescu's.
I was waiting for Timisoara to come up, as I have ethnic German ancestors who lived there when it was part of Hungary, but emigrated to the US before the world wars (they were descendants of settlers from the German speaking lands, who were enticed by the Habsburgs in the 18th century to repopulate their new territories after the Ottomans were expelled. They were known as Danube Swabians, or Donau Schwaben). Apparently not all of the German Hungarians were expelled to the west after the end of the Second World War, though I think the majority were. I just think it’s interesting to see the role that the Hungarian and German minorities of Timisoara/ Temeschwar played in the fall of communism in Romania. Fascinating video as always.
There were no expellings after WW2 in Romania - it is famously the only country in Eastern Europe which DID NOT expel its german minorities after the war.
Indeed there were some expulsions of Germans from the region…
To be fair, I guess I wasn’t really differentiating between whether the local government or the Soviets were responsible for the expulsions while they occupied Romania
But there were expulsions of ethnic Germans from Romania
@@JesseJoyce-cj2xg No Germans were expelled at any point in time from Romania...
Most germans left during the war itself as they were recruited by Germany for foreign divisions (whose names I can't say unless I want youtube deleting this comment). Another chunk of them left during the 70s when the West German birthrates stagnated, at which point they offered money in exchange for some of our Germans, and the rest left after 1989 as they were offered German citizenship.
Very interested in a post-revolution Romania video. ✌🏻
In 1987 a family friend visited his relatives in Romania and reported that you could only buy chickens feet at the store…until then I’d never imagined you could eat these….
They’re part of Chinese cuisine.
@@Justanotherconsumer thank you. I’ve learned something new today.
oo, but you do eat them, every day. It s called chicken hot dogs. yOU can also found them in various cold cuts. So, in essence we are eating the same crap today , without even knowing
You can use them for soup. Anyways, most Romanians had friends and relatives in the countryside and got their meat there. You would buy an entire pig, slaughter it and freeze it in a congelator. Who did not have the required relations went vegan...
@@Justanotherconsumerat least they didn't have any war with them like with all the others
I spoke to a veteran of the Romanian revolut once, he told me that while he doesn't miss Ceacescu, he took for granted for the economic rights he had under socialism and now regrets his role in the event. This seems to have been a common trend among rank and file anti-communist dissidents; they did not fully understand either the system they advocated for or the system they advocated against.
Episode on Croatian Spring 1971, Yugoslavia is due!
It took so long for the authirities to intervene in the 1987 Brașov protest because at that time it was unconcievable for anyone to think that such protests could occure in Romania
That darn Kaiser Soze... always stirring up trouble.
I'm not a nostalgic by any stretch of the imagination but we have to be relists here...Ceausescu built Romania and we used to make fun at the remarks his son, Nicu Ceausescu, made just after the "Revolution" that stated: You people are incapable of repainting in 30 year what my father has built in 30 in this country...
Well...here we are 35 years later and he was darn right
Possibly because for ~28 of those 35 years Romania was led by the rebranded remnants of the communist party? 🤔
Ceaușescu's ego was so massive I'm surprised it didn't alter the rotation of the Earth.
I'm surprised you guys/ladies didn't cover the Cuban missile crisis yet!!
Great episode, as usual. You never addressed, however, something that I had always heard; That Ceausescu's wife was especially hated. Is that true? If so, why?
It’s not fun to be a dictator. Yet so many want to be one.
Keith Lowe wrote that Ceausescu was even worse and did more damage than Antonescu.
When you implied that you represent the workers but ended up screwing them over for generations to come
Same with big Christian Religions representing "Jesus". But those, unlike Communism, never fall. Yeah, most people are stupid.
What workers? Have you seen China lately?
You forgot "the most loved of Romania's sons"
It would be a noteworthy aspect. In 1910, approximately 75% of Romanians were completely illiterate. In 1930 the level of illiteracy was about 63%, and in 1938 it had dropped to 54%. About two thirds of the literate had only primary education (4 years). There were very few intellectuals, and most of them were anti-communists. What happened after the Soviets came? Those few intellectuals were either exterminated, or managed to escape to the West, or were treated as "tolerated", on the condition that they do absolutely everything the new regime asks of them. So, who took power in 1946 ? People who, in their vast majority, only had 3-4 or maximum 7 years of schooling. By the way, there were even some communists who were assassinated just because they had graduated from a high school or, worse, a university. Ceausescu was at school for only 4 years. He had virtually no qualifications. Yes, he had been a shoemaker's apprentice, but he wasn't interested in the job but in political propaganda, probably because the propagandists were paid (from the funds for the spread of communism sent from the USSR). However, why was he allowed to rise within the party and later the state? Because, in a way, he was a clever person who knew how to give the feeling to various factions that he is a malleable, slightly naive individual (easy to manipulate) who could be useful to them . When he managed to take power, however, he proved that in reality he is an extremely ambitious person who did not hesitate to forcefully impose his point of view. However, he basically had no education whatsoever, and everything he did was based on instinct and copying (more or less perfectly) the aspects that seemed to be advantageous to him. Obviously, a Mao or Kim type regime seemed interesting to him, as it seemed to give him much more power. Why did the other important communists not react ? Because, in the first few years, what Ceausescu did suited them, they being deeply hostile to the orders received from the USSR. But at some point Ceausescu became too powerful for anyone inside the regime to touch him.
And there would be another aspect. Second world war. Hitler hoped to win the war by asking Antonescu (the leader of Romania) as many soldiers as possible. Over half of those soldiers were completely illiterate. Basically, they could only learn if they were very well trained (which doesn't happened because a proper training takes time and costs money, and those soldiers were needed immediately). They couldn't even read the writing on the ammunition boxes or on their guns. About 70% were peasants who lived almost like in the middle ages and who had only just learned that there were things called "radio" and "airplanes" and who found themselves being asked to fight against enemy tanks and infantry while the enemy artillery fired countless projectiles and Katyusha rockets onto them. I imagine that many of them did not even understand what was happening. The war was lost, then the Soviets came. They, the Soviets, had reasons to hate the Romanians because they saw them as invaders, Romania sending troops including to Stalingrad. The consequence? Anyone who was at the front in the USSR was a potential "enemy of the people", regardless of whether he was an illiterate soldier, non-commissioned officer or officer. And the Soviets took care to terrify everyone even more, allowing their army to commit various atrocities (mass rapes, thefts and even killing those people that tried to protect their home or their family). As a result, the population did not react at all when people like Ceausescu took over power. They were too scared to say anything.
Hi everyone there.
ceausescu was once recieved by juan perón from my country and was given high honours of the Argentine nation. What a shame!
Greetings from Córdoba, Argentina 🇦🇷.
to be fair i suppose it depends on the situation but i suspect the Conductor title was more often translated in its buss meaning rather than in orchestral one
I remember watching a lot of this growing up in Sweden, feels like it was yesterday! 😳😲
I definitely would like to hear about Romania’s Post-Cold War transition to the west and how that’s going!
They were sold out for peanuts. Most of the citizens in the country suffer from having no nothing, scab, wages, a miserable wife, and all the politicians and all of their family members drive Brabus Mercedes-Benz, and the communist party members should became the so-called new government are all miniature oligarchs now.
In the spirit of Halloween, I feel it appropriate to recommend “Children of Night” by Dan Simmons. It’s set in Romania during the immediate aftermath of the revolution, and it has a pretty entertaining take on the “real” ruler of Romania.
I used to work with a Romanian woman whose family left Romania soon after the revolution. I guess one of her relatives was there when Ceausescu was detained. Seems like Ceausescu claimed he didn’t know anything about shootings or corruption.
I have heard arguments that Ceausescu was overthrown in a palace coup and not a popular uprising.
I've heard that the whole thing was staged, as so many things on the world stage are.
I have heard arguments that moon landing was fake.
My mother continues to this day to embrace Nicolai. I don't understand why
she forgot the bad parts about him... or she never knew... also she refuses to think of the past problems that she had and only focuses on her problems now, believing that the communist regime was better when she was younger but clueless
I cannot help but notice the communist parties in former socialist states are mostly made up of the people who actually experienced and remember socialism. I'm certainly not suggesting that 20th century Marxism-Leninism was flawless and we need to turn back the clock, but maybe we shouldn't be so quick to infantalize these people and dismiss their lived experiences.
Fascinating.
Kaiser Sose! 😄
I know you already did an episode on Mao's Great Leap Backward but could you do a deep dive into Mao's famine all the factors that led to the massive death tool, plus CCP's attempts to cover it up (like preventing villagers from moving to the big cities). From the ridiculous sparrow campaign to the backyard steel production to CCP officials lying about grain production, surely the worst man-made famine of the 20th century deserves a deeper dive.
Interesting suggestion but without access to some archives, that probably would be difficult.
Furthermore, due to the rise of the neo-cons, it became fashionable in the MSM to keep increasing the number of estimated deaths.
Many in the MSM probably would not want a real objective examination of the factors. Not because it would make Mao look bad but because it might make Mao look not that bad.
Much easier to just claim that Mao woke up one day and went to do some crazy stuff. 🙄🙄
Actually there was more pluralism in the Eastern Block than in the EU today. This summary is still very simplistic, but at least it acknowledges some fundamental facts.
Nice
He gained plenty of fans in the West when he sent a team to LA in 1984.
Ceaușescu was far from the worst communist dictator in the 1980s, but he nonetheless had the worst end. Before the show trial that ended his life, Romania had not carried out a single death penalty for nearly a decade. The problem: he was nurturing his son to succeed him to power, which certainly angered the members of his central committee. Also most people hated him because of his wife.
I have worked with many Romanians & they have similar sentiments as you, that said, they all to a man tell me that Romania is now corrupt to the core & all the Romanian talent work outside Romania. Well......is that such a surprise?
What has Romania become after killing him?!? An E.U puppet state
Buen trabajo, aunque no habéis hablado de la situación terrible de los orfanatos rumanos
14:29 Kaiser Soze and The Usual Suspects reference. Clever. Though the Communists probably would have blamed the character if they could have.
I clicked this video after watching a Hungarian guy from Serbia who Ironically lived in the eastern part of Europe.
The magical land of the Balkans.
Plz make a special about his wife's antics.
PLZ :3
You should do one on Thatchers Britain.
The Romanians knew how to handle a politician who'd overstayed their welcome. The French knew how to handle that too.
Romania is still a poor country
@@Richking213 And you comment is related to the comment you replied how?
I remember seeing footage from Romanian orphanages on telly in the early 90s - a horrendous result of the regime's Make Babies policy merged with austerity. Poor wee malnourished faces sitting two or three to a cot. They'd only be a few years younger than me.
British children's TV show Blue Peter ran their annual appeal for these kids one year - I wonder how they turned out in the end.
I knew Kaiser Soza was behind it !!
Another excellent episode. Definitely like your channel. Keep.it up
Yeah thing is I think his trip too N.K. just unleashed Ceausescu's ego and it spun out of control. Him going too N.K. is one of those what if moments
I remember staying up all night watching and listening to news from Timisoara.
This one has old school comments sections with no memes or likes
Iliescu stole our future. Many of us left when he took over. Took the hope we had and enriched himself. Cum nu vii tu, Țepeș, Doamne!
*OST This Episode : Poporul, Ceausescu, Romania !!!* 🎶
ua-cam.com/video/B6lgxYq-m6g/v-deo.htmlsi=ax1DmxPeu_nB6lFc
nobody cares
3:46 Do you know who was Ceausescu's number 1 fan? Pol Pot!
(this is kind of a [dark] joke)
No. The only European ‘social imperialist’ power the CPC had any time at all for was Tito’s.
"Conservative wet dream". And here the channel mask come off.
Legit 💀 like bruh most communist governments in the Warsaw Pact had no tolerance for abortion, gays, etc. Even when East Germany decriminalized homosexuality, they still listed it as a mental disorder. The STASI would still stalk you, you could still end up in an asylum over it. Like bruh conservatives do have their own history against these issues, that's true, but things gradually balanced out over the years.
People forget that balance is key in any government, too much in one direction or another is what leads to dictatorships.
I remember the fall very well..
If only he modelled himself after Balki from "Perfect Strangers"!
Not the Adam Something reference!!
"Keyser Söze"....
I just ate a delicious lentil dhal 😋
Why are you telling people this on a history-themed channel ? How peculiar.
@ it was so good I felt compelled to share 😍
You are uninformed. The villages in Transylvania are, for the most part, predominantly Romanian. I am from Transylvania.
Kim Il-Sung had a hand in shaping Ceauşescu's personality cult they had processions, whole streets full of their "adoring" citizens. Notice I put that in air quotes?
Why do so many Romanians nowadays hate the EU? I remember a lot of people from Romania were praising Brexit…
Believe me those people are few in numbers. The Ultra Nationalist and Pro Russian prices of shit Re the only ones. Here in Romania the majority of people have a positive view of the EU.
Because the EU has become a warmongering entity who wants to crush any sign of sovereignty
@MikeGoesBadaBoomhere go with blaming Russia for E.U 5 reich policies… Romania and Moldova are one of poorest E.U countries 😂😂🤡
@MikeGoesBadaBoom Euroskepticism was already existant in the UK when the USSR still existed
@MikeGoesBadaBoomIf you knew anything about Romania you'd know it's Russia's second biggest hater, only after Poland. Being against current EU policies does not equal being anti-EU and pro-Russia. The EU is a great concept but its current form leaves a lot to be desired.
Caeser Soza...
5:10 or as Yugoslavia has discovered.
My mother (who is Hungarian) traveled in Romania in the 80s. She said the streets were super dark (street lights were weak), there were no food in grocery stores and heating was (almost) non-existent. She wanted to have dinner with her friends at a restaurant in a city (Brasov if I'm not mistaken) but there were no food available. They had to look for hours to find a place that had at least one dish available.
When they wanted to take a shower, their accommodators were surprised and said that water wasn't available only on certain days.
As for the natal practices.. yeah those were a thing. My mother and her friends smuggled birth control pills into the country and sold them for cash😂
Fair representation of reality except for a Hungarian iredentism talking point that you repeated from Tokes. Transilvania has some Hungarian and German villages, the big majority of villages and population (>75%) were and are Romanian. This is not a xenophobic observation, I have mixed ethnic heritage, I would encourage foreigners to immigrate to Transylvania as there are now villages emptying, but the problem with repeating this false narrative in English speaking media (see for example Tucker Carlson's interview with Putin) is for Putin like reasons, as there are Hungarian ultranationalists (perhaps even Orban) who would start a sort of Donbas 2 scenario to get Transylvania based on the repeated lie that it's majority Hungarian (you also repeated this lie as being as true without checking)
Tokes is a fraud, he's an ultranationalist who currently works with Orban. People really need to stop giving him credit for what happened in 1989, he didn't do anything.
Hungarian here. Stop hyperventillating, no one will invade anyone.
1. Orbán is a political opportunist, a chameleon, nothing more. He only offered dual citizenship (and more importantly the right to vote) to those with Hungarian ancestors out of opportunism, to create a voterbase that doesn't feel the economic effects of his governance back home. Therefore he'd only lose by invading Transylvania since his voters there would quickly start feeling what it's like living under 27% sales tax, weak currency etc. and they wouldn't like it. He's at best only dangling the carrot in front of them (if that) in exchange for their votes.
2. You're acting as if NATO weren't a thing nowadays, keeping smaller countries like yours and mine in check (just like the USSR before). Isn't that why every Eastern Bloc country anxiously tried to join NATO as soon as freaking possible? And you guys were fuming when we managed to join a few years earlier than you? Stop with the paranoia and admit: Transylvania is and always was an ethnically mixed region.
Hungarian here. Stop hyperventillating, no one will invade anyone.
1. Orbán is a political opportunist, a chameleon, nothing more. He only offered dual citizenship (and more importantly the right to vote) out of opportunism, to create a voterbase that's disconnected from economic problems back home. He's at best dangling the carrot (if that) in exchange for votes.
2. NATO is a thing, you know. Designed to keep smaller countries like yours and mine on our best behaviour and not fighting wars with one another. Isn't that why every Eastern Bloc country anxiously waited to join NATO as soon as possible? Isn't that why you guys were fuming when we managed to join ahead of you?
I would write a reply that's on topic (plenty of shaky takes you have there) but YT apparently only tolerates bots nowadays.
Are you referring to the video’s acknowledgment of the existence of Hungarian and German minorities in Romania? Maybe I’m misunderstanding you, but respectfully, how is that irredentist? To be fair, I’m not very familiar with this in the current era, and Orban is pretty scary (and his outlook is also undoubtedly extremely nationalist and irredentist, like Putin, his buddy). just wondering.
Is it true that during one of his self-glorifying speeches an elderly woman from crowd calling him a liar turned the crowd against him?
Genius of the Carpathians. More like Vigo the Carpathian.
@MikeGoesBadaBoom Ghostbusters 2
The Usual Suspects :)
How about the French communiste party?? The country was divided during the cold war!!
Ceausescu betrayed socialism. Didn't end well for him
So the work day was extended to a typical American Workday?
What's the typical workday of a coal miner in America?
@schristianr8673 apparently 10 to 12 hours