Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Nicolae Ceaușescu
Cult of personality
Known for Systematization
Austerity Policy
Signature
Military service
Allegiance Romania
Branch/service Romanian Army
Years of service 1950–1954
Rank
Lieutenant general
Battles/wars Romanian Revolution
Criminal conviction
Conviction(s) Genocide
Trial and execution of Nicolae and
Trial
Elena Ceaușescu
Criminal
Capital punishment
penalty
Details
Victims Romanian dissidents
Born in 1918 in Scornicești, Olt County, Ceaușescu was a member of the Romanian Communist
youth movement. Ceaușescu rose up through the ranks of Gheorghe Gheorghiu-Dej's Socialist
government and, upon Gheorghiu-Dej's death in 1965, he succeeded to the leadership of the
Romanian Communist Party as general secretary.[3]
Upon his rise to power, he eased press censorship and openly condemned the Warsaw Pact
invasion of Czechoslovakia in his speech on 21 August 1968, which resulted in a surge in
popularity. However, the resulting period of stability was brief as his government soon became
totalitarian and was considered the most repressive in the Eastern Bloc at the time. His secret
police, the Securitate, was responsible for mass surveillance as well as severe repression and
human rights abuses within the country, and controlled the media and press. Economic
mismanagement due to failed oil ventures during the 1970s led to skyrocketing foreign debts for
Romania. In 1982, Ceaușescu directed the government to export much of the country's
agricultural and industrial production in an effort to repay these debts. The shortages that
followed drastically lowered living standards, leading to heavy rationing of food, water, oil, heat,
electricity, medicine and other necessities. His cult of personality experienced unprecedented
elevation, followed by extensive nepotism and the intense deterioration of foreign relations, even
with the Soviet Union.