The 1989 Romanian Revolution

1. A protest began in Timisoara on December 16. A protest broke out because the government attempted to kick out a protester who was a Hungarian pastor from the country, Laszlo Tokes. Tokes had made negative comments toward the regime in the international media. The government suspected and declared that he was spreading racial hatred there for he should be exiled. The government took his bishop from his post, striping Tokes of the right to use the apartment he was allowed to use when he was a pastor. For some time, his churchgoers gathered around his home to protect him. The people that past by were told by the churchgoers to join them and that it was an attempt by the communist regime to not let people decide what religion they wanted. When mayor Petre Moţ saw that the protesters were not going to give up he suggested that he not charge Tokes for charges put against him, but when Mot failed to confirm his statement in writing, the people got angrier. The crowed tried to burn down the building where the District Committee stayed in. In result of this the police responded violently and beat the riot with sticks; they also used teargas, and water jets. A lot of people were arrested. Finally the On December 21, Ceausescu addressed a mass assembly to talk about the uprising that happened in Timisoara.  As he continued to talk to the crowd, there were sudden gunshots and bombes coming from outside the mass assembly. Bullhorns were sounded to let people know a revolution has started, and then the mass assembly turned into fighting and a large protest.   2. The 1989 Romanian revolution is very different from the Philippine revolution. First of all, the Romanian revolution was incredibly violent and bloody. Many people lost their lives for this revolution to happen, while in the Philippine revolution, the people united and successfully overthrew their dictator non-violently. The dictator of the Philippines first ordered his army to attack the protesters but luckily, the army ended up going to the side of the protesters. This is very different to what happened in Romania because, there, the people working for the government did not lose their loyalty to them and continued to serve the communist leader. The army of the communist leader in Romania continued to oppress the citizens that wished to go against the dictator and protest. In the Philippines, neither the police nor the army violently attacked the citizens. The Philippine revolution was not very violent. Another difference between these two revolutions is that, while the people of Romania overthrew a communist leader, the citizens of the Philippines overthrew a dictator. When the communist leader was finally executed, different groups fought with each other, all groups wanting to take over the new Romania. This did not happen in the Philippines, many people had already agreed to a new president when the dictator was close to falling. Although these two revolutions are very different, both happened for the same reason. The citizens of both countries were frustrated with the governments because both leaders increased the poverty in the country. The protesters for both countries protested in landmarks, important places, and after these protests happened, both leaders declared martial law. 3.After the revolution, many gangs and groups fought with each other, struggling to get the power in the country. The group that was almost in power when Nicolae Ceaucescu was about to be executed, used to be a communist party. This made the other groups fighting for power protest and say that they were going to make Romania a communist place again, but when elections happened, the leader of the formerly communist group won 90% of the people that voted. After this, Romania became a better country than when Nicolae Ceaucescu was in control, with much poverty. 4. Yes, Romanian Revolution was justified. If you look at today there are no more big fights about the new regime. Although, I strongly believe that the people could have used different methods do express there anger and frustration towards the government. The methods they used were violent and unnecessary. I think that if the people had a problem with the government they could handle the situation in a non-violent manner. For example, instead of burning cars, attempting to burn a important building, destroying important documents, and using violence, the common people could have protested peacefully, or could have written anonymous letters to the government regarding there concerns. I think many people in the Romanian Revolution acted too abruptly with violence and aggression and think that many other methods would have worked to get the governments attention.          5. Before the Romanian revolution, the middle class were frustrated with economic problems in the country. In Brinton Crane’s theory, he says that in stage 1, the “middle class loudly expresses its anger over economic restraints placed upon it by the government.” His sentence completely matches what happened before the Romanian revolution. In stage 2, Brinton Crane says that “This is the escalation of the anger felt by the middle class. The people rise up against the government.” The people of Romania started to protest, angry with the way Nicolae Ceaucescu was controlling the country, and this shows how they rose up against the government. Brinton Crane states that in the 3rd phase of the revolution, “There is a lot of violence and efforts to spread the ideals of the revolution.” This is exactly what happened in this revolution. Hundreds of protestors disagreed with Nicolae Ceaucescu and many of them died from the oppression of Nicolae Ceaucescu. Lastly, Brinton states that the revolution ends and the country enters a period of recovery. After Nicolae Ceaucescu was executed, war was still in Romania because many groups were fighting for the power of the country. Brinton Crane’s theory of revolution matches what happened in the Romanian revolution.     BIBLIOGRAPHY "Communist Romania." Communist Romania - Wikipedia. Wikipedia. 3 Feb 2008 .  "Romania's bloody revolution ." BBC News|EUROUPE|Romania's Bloody Revolution. 30 January. BBC News. 30 Jan 2008 .  "Romanian Revolution of 1989." Romanian Revolution. 30 January. Wikipedia. 30 Jan 2008 . "Romania The revolution of 1989." Romania :: The revolution of 1989. Britannica. 3 Feb 2008 http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-253522/Romania#477027.hook.