Nicolae Ceaușescu: The Life and Legacy of Romania’s Notorious Dictator during the Cold War

by Charles River Editors

*Includes pictures *Includes online resources and a bibliography for further reading *Includes a table of contents “Esteemed chairman of the court, today we have to pass a verdict on the defendants Nicolae Ceaușescu and Elena Ceaușescu who have committed the following Crimes against the people. They carried out acts that are incompatible with human dignity and social thinking; they acted in a despotic and criminal way; they destroyed the people whose leaders they claimed to be. Because of the crimes they committed against the people, I plead, on behalf of the victims of these two tyrants, for the death sentence for the two defendants.” – An excerpt of chief prosecutor Dan Voinea’s statements during Ceaușescu’s trial Nicolae Ceaușescu, one of the 20th century’s most notorious dictators, was both typical and unusual. Outwardly he resembled a standard leader of a communist country in Eastern Europe during the Cold War, yet he was even more repressive and opulent than his contemporaries. In Romania itself, Ceaușescu led a life as an isolated outsider, notably less urbane than the Bucharest elite, and given that he was born in rural poverty to peasant parents, his rise was perhaps the unlikeliest of any of the communists of that generation. As it turned out, circumstances presented themselves in a manner that led to his elevation, including the acquaintances he made whilst serving time in prison in the 1930s and 1940s, the rise of communism after World War II, and the Soviet occupation of a country that had previously banned the ideology. Ceaușescu was a compromise candidate when Romanian leader Gheorghe Gheorghiu-Dej died in 1965, and he initially appeared to be a liberal-minded, nationalist-orientated reformer. Ceaușescu did fit very easily into one stereotype, however, by proving that absolute power corrupts absolutely. From the early 1970s, he and his wife Elena constructed the most grotesquely personalized cult of dictatorship in the region, and while operating at the pinnacle of a highly corrupt pyramid, the couple bled their country dry with a succession of incompetent and warped policies. Ceaușescu’s own father would say of him, “He tells nothing but lies.” His son wasn’t much more charitable, saying, “The new kind of politicians lie all the time. But my father was one of the old kind, more of a fanatic. He was driven by some kind of fanaticism. This belief that you can do good. It's a sort of madness.” By the end of the 1980s, communism was collapsing across Central Europe and Eastern Europe, but whereas the popular unrest that toppled the authoritarian regimes in other countries triggered a peaceful transition of power, in Romania, the anger and frustration was so acute that the Ceaușescu’s were captured, tried, and executed within the space of a few tumultuous days in December 1989. True to form, he made wild statements in his defense, insisting during the trials, “It is a lie that I made the people starve. A lie, a lie in my face. This shows how little patriotism there is, how many treasonable offenses were committed.… At no point was there such an upswing, so much construction, so much consolidation in the Romanian provinces. I guaranteed that every village has its schools, hospitals and doctors. I have done everything to create a decent and rich life for the people in the country, like in no other country in the world.” Ultimately, by the end of his life, Ceaușescu had already left his mark as one of the 20th century’s most infamous despots. Nicolae Ceauș The Life and Legacy of Romania’s Notorious Dictator during the Cold War examines the rise and reign of the Romanian leader.

85 pages, Kindle Edition

Published December 16, 2018

About the author

Charles River Editors is an independent publisher of thousands of ebooks on Kindle, Nook, Kobo, and Apple iBookstore & provider of original content for third parties.

Reviews

[Morgan Baliviera · Rating 3 out of 5]

Niente più di un paper scolastico. Certamente interessante per avere uno sguardo a “volo d’uccello” sulla vita (qui poco descritta) e sul regime (qui poco approfondito nelle sue fasi) di Nicolae Ceausescu. Manca quasi completamente la parte riguardante la rivoluzione rumena e il processo ai coniugi, descritti in sole due pagine, quasi distrattamente. Poca attenzione anche alle visite a Nixon e Carter (fondamentali nella costruzione del personaggio come attore di politica estera, ruolo importante che rivestirà tra gli anni ‘70 e i primi anni ‘80), così come sul rapporto di potere che condivise con la moglie Elena. Ad ogni modo, per chi non conosce il tema e volesse approfondire, consiglio la lettura.

[John Funnell · Rating 5 out of 5]

Less than a morning’s read. No new insight. But a complete and balanced summary.

[Denis Manis · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nicolae Ceaușescu hakkında bir kitap olarak "Ceaușescu: The Making of a Dictator" almayı düşünenler için, bu eserin çeşitli bakış açılarıyla değerlendirildiğini belirtmek gerekir. Kitap, Ceaușescu’nun yaşamına dair önemli olayları ele alarak tarihi bir bakış açısı sunuyor; ancak bazı okuyucular, bilgilendirici olmasına rağmen yüzeysel kaldığını düşünüyor.

Birçok önemli konu, özellikle Romanya Devrimi ve Ceaușescu çiftiyle yapılan dava gibi kritik olaylar, kısıtlı bir biçimde ele alınmış. Kitap, Ceaușescu'nun Nixon ve Carter ile olan ilişkileri gibi önemli politik olaylara da yeterince derinlik katmamış. Ancak, konuyu tamamen bilmeyenler için başlangıç niteliğinde bilgi sunarak, ilgiyi artırabilir. Kısacası, kitabın, Ceaușescu dönemi hakkında genel bir özet sağladığı, fakat daha derinlemesine bir analiz arayanlar için yeterli olmayabileceği söylenebilir. Başlangıç seviyesi için tercih edilebilir; fakat daha detaylı bir inceleme isteyenlerin başka kaynaklara yönelmesi faydalı olabilir.

[Barry Jenkins · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is a relatively good history of one of the 20th century worst leader. He will forever be remembered as an evil dictator!!!
On the lighter side I wonder how many extra hours the author wasted looking up big high faluting words that most of us don't understand. I'm sure you're proud of yourself.

[Sorina · Rating 4 out of 5]

not much there I didn't know already but it was the right book for this time of the year and commemorating #30years since 1989

[Travis · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well-written and informative.