Puteanu Georgiana

Group 1, 3rd year, English Major

The Radical National Ideology in the Socialist Republic of Romania

The aim of this essay is to show the radical national ideology that was present in Romania, in a
time when the Romanian Communist Party (Partidul Comunist Romanesc) possessed all the
legal, judicial and administrative power in the state. The support text, on which I will base my
essay, is the speech that President Nicolae Ceauescu gave on August 21, 1968 in Bucharest in
the Square of the Republican Palace. With this speech Ceauescu gained the love of his people,
their adoration afterwards a cult of personality emerged worshiping the President, Nicolae
Ceauescu.
Nicolae Ceauescu (1967-1989) was the most renowned leader of The Socialist Republic
of Romania (Republica Socialista Romania) - a one-party socialist state that existed between
1947 and 1989. He was a passionate believer in the ideals that the communist Party embodied
and he wanted to make Romania renowned all over the world.
The first step into analyzing the radical perspective upon nationalism that he and his party
had, was to create the image of the nation as it was best conceived by them. At that time, they
regarded Romania as a country formed by us, all of us, Romanians, Hungarians, Germans,
people of all nationalities (Noi, cu totii, romani, maghiari, germani, oameni de alte
nationalitati). The mental construct on which this type of nationalism is created upon is the
antithesis, as Professor tefnescu argues in his essay On the Discrimination of Nationalism:
The Rhetoric of Identity in Romanian Culture. This means that the Romanian identity is defined
as the opposite of another nations identity. By analyzing the sentence that Nicolae Ceau escu
begins with, we will see exactly how this process is being done. So, he begins his sentence with
the personal pronoun us, but afterwards mentions in the end people of different nationalities.
With this construction he wants to clearly separate the Romanian Nation from that of the
Hungarians or Germans, establishing the national Identity of the Romanian people. Romanians
are the people who were most persecuted, as the people that fought the most fearful battles, who
was under the oppression of the Ottoman Empire, Austro-Hungarian Empire, who sacrificed
themselves for reuniting principalities (principatele), whose land has been stolen or divided.
No language is like ours, for it has untranslatable words.
This distinction of us and them that Ceauescu makes may also refer to the Western
countries - meaning Western Europe them on the one side and the Eastern us on the other
side. It may also allude to an antagonism even among the communist countries us the
Romanians and them the other countries that chose to interfere in the riots in
Czechoslovakia.
But the separation he makes is not as intriguing, for this is what the radical nationalism
does, as the fact that they are able to live together in the same country, avoiding conflicts. As
radical as he wanted to appear, Ceauescu, makes way in this context to a shred of conservatism,
in my opinion meaning the acceptance of the other nations leaving in the same country, a
country dominated at that time by a strong radical vision. It is a paradox that in a nation with
radical views other nations were to be accepted. They agreed to it however, for fear of conflicts.
Another instance where we can clearly see this radical way of constructing a nations
identity is when he states: We think that for settling the relations between the socialist countries,
between the communist parties with deep Marxist- Leninist roots, we must once and for all stop
intervening into the policy of other states, other parties. Being the only communist country,
member of the Warsaw Pact, that didnt participate in the attacks against Czechoslovakia in 1968
shows our uniqueness and our attempt to create for ourselves a world image different from the
images that the others have. As a radical leader, Nicolae Ceauescu also had a rational conduct
that always analyzed, judged situations and wanted to take control over events in their immediate
particular context (tefnescu).
After a close analysis the Romanian Soviet President harshly judged the decision of the
other countries, members of the Warsaw Pact to take matters into their own hands and deal with a
situation outside their point of interest: The intrusion of the military troops of the five socialist
countries in Czechoslovakia is a great mistake []. It is inconceivable [...]. There are no
excuses; no reason can be accepted that allows just for one moment only, the idea of a military
intervention in the public affairs of a socialist brother-state.
This is however not the end. As a true embodiment of the radical perspective he took
control and manipulated the situation in his interest immediately after the day when the military
soviet troops invaded Czechoslovakia, for he wanted to prevent the appearance of a similar
situation on Romanian soil: [I] express my complete faith in the decision of the Romanian
people to ensure a peaceful construction of the socialism within our country.
The radicals possess strong and well defined traits, like, for example having the ability
and courage to make bold plans and call for extreme actions , based on his ardent aims
(tefnescu) The ardent aim Nicolae Ceauescu claims the Romanian Nation shares is that of

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being the best representation of a communist society in the world. For that he has to distance
himself from Russia and adopt decisions that another communist country wouldnt, just like in
this case when he chose to revolt against the others decision. To reach this ardent aim, bold
plans have to be designed - and they did
[w]e plan to submit to the Great Assembly a statement which will describe that the way
we chose to establish relations with the socialist countries, with all the countries of the
world, is one based on respecting the national independence and sovereignty of each
state, appreciating the equality of rights, the noninterference in the public affairs of each
country. This statement also expresses our wish to establish these relations on a true
Marxist-Leninist collaboration that helps contribute to the triumph of Marx, Engels and
Lenins ideas, to the triumph of communism []. (Ceauescu)

We are to be missionaries of civilization, and to bear the white mans burden, painful as
it often is. We must sow our ideals, plant our order, impose our God. The individual lives are
nothing. (Kohn108). William Jamess quote regarding the nation of America, can also be
applied to the case of Romania Ceauescu - Romania our esteem and pride - the slogan the
people kept on repeating during one of his later speeches in 1989. The Communist party, the
President and all the supporters of the communist regime had only one ideal that of the forging
of communism in our motherland. They maintained order in the country with the help of the
Secret Intelligent Service -Securitatea (There will be tomorrow some that will manifest
revolutionary behavior in our country too. We answer everyone: the Romanian people will not
allow anyone to break the territory of our mother land.) This sentence has a double meaning, as
far I understand. Ceauescu makes reference here not only to the foreign communist countries
that may intervene in case of a riot in Romania but also those who are against the regime and
may want to start a riot giving them a warning Romanians will never accept such kind of
disobedient behavior. Securitatea ended up being a useful means Ceauescu had at his disposal
and which he used to ensure the continuity of the Soviet sovereignty in Romania.
The individuality of the human being had no importance for the communists. They
regarded society as a collective in which everybody worked satisfy the needs of the entire
community, not their own personal ones. Everybody had its role to play in this constant battle for
making Romania the worlds most fines example of discipline, economical growth, collective
thinking. This idea is clearly visible in the following sentence that he utters towards the end of
the speech: We wish you, comrades, good health and a lot of success in your activity that will

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help our nation triumph. (Va dorim, tovarasi, multa sanatate, succese in activitatea pentru
triumful socialismului in patria noastra).
Coming back to the points discussed earlier, I have said that the radicals make bold plans
and adopt decisions in order to fulfill their ardent aim. I have illustrated in respect to Nicolae
Ceauescus speech, which were the plans he and his party had make and I have also clarified
their aim. The only point left untouched is the decision making process. Ceau escu mentions in
his speech the decisions, he and his party are ready to adopt in order to accomplish their goal and
they refer to creating an even stronger military to defend the borders of Romania from any case
of foreign intervention: We decided that starting today we will begin forming the military,
represented by the workers, the peasantry and by the intelligentsia, an army that will protect the
socialist independence of our country.
All these traits that I have presented until now, like the making bold plans and adopting
decisions in order to attain the final aim are very closely related to the Inclination the radicals
posses for discontinuity in its call for abrupt and revolutionary change (tefnescu).
This inclination is to be witnessed even from the beginning. The abrupt change lies in the
desperate intention of the Communist Party to conform itself as a different type of Communism
one that has its roots in the Marxist and Engels thesis. This rupture from Russia and the other
communist countries and from the principles they held as essential, can be regarded as a
discontinuity from the Russian concepts of communism. The formation of a larger army is an
abrupt call. The decision of not interfering in the internal policy of another sister communist
society is also an abrupt call.
Looking at the issue of discontinuity from a larger context one can notice that Nicole
Ceauescu brought some major changes to the economy, industry and social life of the
Romanians. He imposed an absurd rhythm to the industry, didnt manage as expected the
agricultural capability of Romania and restricted the freedom of speech.
What Ceauescu, as an adherent of the radical vision, basically did was to reshape social
life and reconstitute society on new bases. (tefnescu) He imposed restrictions on the free will
of the population, he disregarded the individuality of the humas and focused more on the
collective model everybody had to work for the good of the society not his own.
Until here I have presented some characteristics of the Radical perspective that can be
reduced to only one radicals are concerned with the singularity of their nation as Professor

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tefnescu argues in his study. The fact that they refused to take part in the conflicts that surfaced
in Czechoslovakia and that they want to base their policy on the doctrines of Marx, Lenin and
Engels sets them apart from the rest of the communist states. This singularity I recognized it in
the following fragments of his speech:
The decision of choosing the way in which a country constructs its socialism it is every
partys problem, every states and every peoples decision. Nobody can consider himself
an advisor, a guide with respect to the way in which socialism should be built in another
country.
We are convinced that there will be no communist in the world (Romanians is actually
the only ones he wishes to refer to) that could approve with this military action against
Czechoslovakia. I believe that every communist will raise his voice for supporting the
liberty, the Marxist-Leninist principles, so that the Czechoslovakian people and not just
it, can built according to their own wishes their socialist society. (Ceauescu)

I wish to conclude by saying that the period of Romanian Radicalism was one that the
Romanian people might have not enjoyed, considering that they decided to abolish it, but it was
an experience that will forever make part of our history our history and that has shaped us as the
nation we are today.

Works cited

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1. tefnescu, Bogdan On the Discrimination of Nationalism: The Rhetoric of Identity
in Romanian Culture, 1999, University of Bucharest, online
2. Nicolae Ceauescu, Cuvntare la adunarea populaiei din Capital n Piaa Palatului
Republicii, 21 august 1968, online (http://jurnalul.ro/campaniile-jurnalul/decembrie-
89/zborul-si-caderea-lui-ceausescu-70145.html)
3. Kohn, Hans Nationalism: Its Meaning and History. Princeton, New Jersey: Annvil
&D. van Nostrand Company, Inc., 1995, cited in tefnescu, Bogdan On the
Discrimination of Nationalism: The Rhetoric of Identity in Romanian Culture, 1999,
University of Bucharest, online