Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels initially published The Communist Manifesto in 1848. It promoted the idea that capitalism will eventually self-destruct and be replaced by socialism and, ultimately, communism. This idea served as the foundation for the contemporary communist movement as we know it today. It is regarded as one of the most influential political publications in history, written at a moment of tremendous industrial and social transformation.
Cities that had just been industrialised were growing, and a sizable section of the population was relocating from rural to urban regions in search of employment. This labour was essential to the economy’s expansion, but in contrast to the relative wealth of their employers, most workers were living in dire circumstances. In light of this, Marx developed his theory of history, which he viewed as an intricate web of class conflicts that would inescapably result in the proletariat’s (the working class) victory over the bourgeoisie (the ruling class).
When the extreme left Bolshevik wing of the Romanian Social Democratic Party split off to form the Romanian Communist Party in 1921, communism first gained traction in Romania. The party was operational under the name The Communist Party of Romania (abbreviated PCdR) for 24 years (1921-1945), out of which 20 years illegally (1924-1944). The party’s activity was, since the very beginning, directed against the Romanian state, which led to its banning in 1924. The Romanian Communist Party was a minor, illegal political group operating in interwar Romania that was subservient to the Comintern and implicitly to the Soviet Union, which was an ideological ally of the communist revolution.
Information regarding the impact of the First World War on the growth of communist radicalism by historian Ioan Scurtu: “During the war, the population, workers included, had a very hard life. For this reason, in Europe and elsewhere, a radical socialist movement developed, which became communist, a process that also took place in Romania. It started from the idea of meeting the demands of the working class, but its agenda later included the idea of taking over political power by all means. Instating the dictatorship of the proletariat became its goal and the main characteristic of communist parties. Until then, all parties, including the social democratic and socialist parties, wanted to take power by voting and winning the elections. This time, however, they planned a revolution to help them seize power and impose the dictatorship of the proletariat and nationalise the main production means, so a radical change of society.”
Romania declared its neutrality following Germany’s invasion of Poland in September 1939. However, after Germany’s victories and expansion, King Carol II of Romania and the Romanian government sought an alliance with Hitler.
English word-for-word translation of a 1940’s Romanian Communist Manifesto distributed nationwide by the Central Committee of the communist party in Romania (February 1940):
“PROLETARIATS FROM ALL COUNTRIES, UNITE!
WORKERS, PEASANTS, CRAFTSMEN FROM THE OLD KINGDOM!
NATIONALITIES OPPRESSED BY THE IMPERIALIST ROYAL DICTATORSHIP!
THE GOVERNMENT OF THE ROYAL DICTATORSHIP, the government of war, this mortal enemy of working-class people, imposed and will impose on you to subscribe the war vouchers called “army endowment vouchers”.
THE GREAT CAPITALISTS AND LANDLORDS, after years of oppressing, robbing and starving you, they are coming today with this incredible thievery, they are coming today to seize your earnings for months to come. The people of the royal dictatorship, the gendarmes and the commissioners, the priests and moneylenders go from house to house demanding the signing of thievery and war receipts. Thus, the theft of over 10 billion lei was imposed on the starving people.
WHY IS THIS IMPOSED UPON YOU, workers, peasants, craftsmen, this theft? So that they, the great bankers, the great manufacturers and the great landlords, can profit from your toil and increase their plunder incessantly.
WHY IS THIS IMPOSED UPON YOU, oppressed nationalities this theft? So that they, the great Romanian bankers, manufacturers and landlords, alongside the royal dictatorship, this imperialist clique will continue to rob you of your miserable wealth, stripped of your property for 22 years, and keep you in the shackles of the bloody national oppression.
THE GOVERNMENT AND FRN (Frontul Renașterii Naționale – National Renaissance Front), this war party, and the lackeys of the imperialist dictatorial clique, the social-democratic leaders and all the partisans of the war in the national-peasant party lie to you that the money extorted from you is intended for the defence of the country.
WORKING BROTHERS, PEASANTS, CRAFTSMEN, BROTHERS OF OPPRESSED NATIONALITIES! NO! This money is not intended for the country’s defence, but for the purpose of war, theft of Romanian and foreign bankers, factories and landlords, and those English, French, Italian and Turkish. With this money, the royal dictatorship is arming itself to force you into a rogue war. With this money, the royal dictatorship is arming itself by preparing the most heinous crimes – warlike provocations against the Soviet Union, THE HOMELAND OF ALL WHO WORK, THE COUNTRY WHERE THE WORKERS AND PEASANTS ARE IN POWER AND WHERE THE EXPLOITATION OF MAN BY MAN WAS ABOLISHED FOREVER.
WORKING BROTHERS FROM CITIES AND VILLAGES! DO NOT BE INTIMIDATED and deceived. Prevent the royal dictatorship from snatching from your children’s mouths the bread of today and the month after. Because this war is being prepared by the government of imperialist bandits of Carol-Tătărescu against you, and your working brothers from other countries, your brothers from the Soviet Union, freed from exploitation and oppression and who live free, wealthy and happy on the land of socialism. The royal, imperialist dictatorship, oppressing savages and colonially robbing the non-Romanian people’s lands conquered after the first imperialist war, pursues the use of the current war to seize foreign territories.
YOU BROTHERS, WORKERS AND PEASANTS WANT PEACE with the great and powerful country of socialism. But the royal dictatorship leads a provocative policy of war, an anti-Soviet policy, SO NO MONEY TO THE WAR GOVERNMENT! All of you who have not yet subscribed to the war vouchers, MASSIVELY REFUSE to subscribe to them. And all of you who were forced to sign these vouchers, REFUSE TO PAY THE MONEY! THROUGH STRIKES AND DEMONSTRATIONS, REJECT THIS THIEVERY OF THE REGIME OF IMPERIALIST BANDITS.
PEACE WILL BE ENSURED ONLY by overthrowing the royal dictatorship through the united struggle of all those who work. Peace will be ensured by creating a single popular front of those who work in cities and villages and by bringing to the helm of the country a government supported on this front by the revolutionary struggle, a government that will grant the oppressed nationalities today, THE RIGHT TO DECIDE THEIR OWN FATE. By overthrowing the royal dictatorship, we will be able to make friends with the great country of socialism, and we will be able to establish a lasting peace, securing ourselves with its support against the tools of the imperialist British, French, Italian, Turkish etc. to drag us into the war.
WITH CONFIDENCE IN VICTORY, TO FIGHT! DOWN WITH THE ROYAL IMPERIALIST DICTATORSHIP! DOWN WITH THE IMPERIALIST WAR!
LONG LIVE THE FIGHT OF THE PEOPLE OF ROMANIA FOR FRIENDSHIP WITH THE PEOPLE OF THE SOVIET UNION!
February 1940 – The Central Committee of the communist party in Romania”
The Communist Party began its rise to power in Romania after the coup of 23 August 1944. This decision led King Michael I of Romania to remove and arrest Ion Antonescu, the country’s “Head of State” and prime minister, on August 23, 1944. As a result, Romania’s participation with the Axis Powers was immediately ended, and armistice discussions with the Allies and military cooperation with the Soviet Union were subsequently initiated.
One significant turning moment in modern Romanian society was the election of 1946. The power was established through blackmail and intimidation on March 6, 1945, and obtained, following falsified polls, a political legitimacy within, based on which The communists then carried out the transformation of the political regime according to the Stalinist regime. It is how the establishment of “popular democracy” began.
Comrade Gheorghe Gheorghiu-Dej was given the assignment by Joseph Stalin to oversee the polls on November 19, 1946, and to ensure a successful outcome. The streets were lined with election manifestos, and significant sums were spent on promotional materials. The involvement of the state machinery in the election campaign resulted in the destruction of opposition posters due to authentic proletariat rage. They were so focused on the success of the cause that they forgot that the nation was experiencing a drought. The state machinery was switched on against the opposition, the historical parties, despite the country being in the midst of a severe drought and famine. Under the “security” of weapons and the threat of violence, the pro-communist coalition was able to win with an improbable and naive majority.
The opposition claimed that the communists rigged the results, but the statement seemed common because the losers had the same opinion throughout the interwar period. A regime that would prove to be criminal in all it did had an air of legitimacy thanks to the 1946 election fraud. The archives still hold a lot of untold stories that need to be revealed in order to write history as it really happened.
The aftermath was catastrophic, ending modern Romania and the individualist mentalities raised during a liberal political structure. By eliminating the opposition in show trials, such as Iuliu Maniu of the Peasants National Party (PNȚ) and other democratic leaders were sentenced to severe prison terms, alongside the forced abdication of King Michael, and the proclamation of the Romanian People’s Republic allowed the communists to accelerate the Sovietisation of public life.
An extract from The New York Times (2007) about King Michael of Romania as he states how the communists in power forced him to abdicate the throne: “It was blackmail,” King Michael said. “They said, ‘If you don’t sign this immediately we are obliged’ — why obliged I don’t know — to kill more than 1,000 students that they had in prison.” Outside the palace he could see soldiers and artillery facing the compound, he said.
Bilbiography
Chirot, D. (1978). Social Change in Communist Romania. Social Forces, 57(2), pp.457–499.
COMISIA PREZIDENŢIALĂ PENTRU ANALIZA DICTATURII COMUNISTE DIN ROMÂNIA, RAPORT FINAL. (2006).
Dumitrescu, I.C. (n.d.). Falsificarea Alegerilor Din Marţea Neagră (19 Noiembrie 1946).
Lambru, S. (2021). Radio Romania International – the Romanian Communist Party. Radio Romania International.
Marx, K., Engels, F., Marx, K., Beer, S. and York, N. (1955). The Communist Manifesto with Selections from the Eighteenth Bmmnire of Louis Bonaparte and Capital.
Smith, C.S. (2007). Romania’s King without a Throne Outlives Foes and Setbacks. The New York Times.
Vulcan, D. (2021). #10Întrebări | 23 August 1944, Momentul În Care România l-a Înfruntat Pe Hitler. Istoric: Regele Mihai a Fost Personajul Principal. Europa Liberă România.
