AT 3-4/2009 - Abstracts

ACAD. DAN BERINDEI, The Breakdown of the Communism – Miracle or Inexorable Phenomenon

After 70 years of existence the „Soviet empire” collapsed. What led to the disappearence of the Soviet system was not a military defeat but its incapacity to keep the pace with the economical advance of the Western world.

The breakdown of the Communism was seen as a miracle by millions of people whose lives changed profoundly. Besides this perception, the change in system was also an inexorable phenomenon imposed by the laws of history. According to these laws oppression makes people fight for their freedom and a coercitive system can function only as long as it is economically and socially viable. Once the collapse began, it could not be stopped. That was the way the Communist system broke down and all Eastern European nations won back their freedom.

Dan Berindei - Historian, vice president of the Romanian Academy. Member of the Scientific Board of NIST.

CATALIN-VALENTIN RAIU, The Principle and the Practice of Subsidiarity in Romanian Orthodoxy. I. The Interwar Period

Ortodoxy and subsidiarity are two visions that focus on the human person. Orthodox Churches should support the subsidiarity principle, as a framework for the dignity of human person, as Andrei Saguna’s statute provided. The option for a too
hierarchical Church in the post-communist period overlooks all debates on subsidiarity, although the Romanian context keeps the memory of subsidiarity stored in the interbelic trunck.

Catalin-Valentin Raiu, graduated from the Faculty of Theology, University of Bucharest; Ph.D candidate at the Faculty of Political Sciences, University of Bucharest with the thesis „The Monography of the Bishop of Râmnic Noului Severin, Vartolomeiu Stănescu (1875-1954)”.

ROMINA SURUGIU, Revisions and Addenda: Constantin Radulescu-Motru on Romanian Culture in the Post-War Period 27

The personal notebooks („Revisions and addenda”, 1943-1952) of the Romanian philosopher Constantin Radulescu-Motru, represent a rich research material for studying the Romanian culture after the Second World War. The thinker, who lived the last decade of his life during the Communist regime, felt the need to explain, revise and re-analyze his philosophical and political ideas and attitudes. His notebooks, first published only 40 years after his death, contain valuable and interesting information, relevant for a proper understanding of the Romanian culture, society and their destiny after the events on August, 23, 1944.

Romina Surugiu, PhD in Philosophy, she is a university lecturer within the Faculty of Journalism and Communication Sciences, University of Bucharest.

ACAD. PĂUN ION OTIMAN, The Collectivization of Romanian Agriculture

This paper is an overview of the main political, legal, and institutional frameworks in which the Communist regime, seating in Romania from 1945, imposed the collectivization of agriculture to the Romanian peasantry. The author points out also on human sufferings of that Soviet-inspired policies. Mentioning the countless number of victims, the collectivization destroyed the normal development of the Romanian agriculture with difficult consequences to this day.

Păun Ioan Otiman – secretary-general of the Romanian Academy.

DAN CATANUS, The Agrarian Component of „the Right Deviation” inside the R.C.P., 1951-1952

During a meeting with a R.C.P. delegation, in March 1951, Stalin made accusations that in Romania there was an „unmarxist peasant policy”. Next year, Gheorghiu-Dej would use this accusation, related to the advantageous fiscal protection for peasant, which didn’t apply to workers, to generate „the matter of right deviation” and to eliminate his main opponents: Ana Pauker, Vasile Luca and Teohari Georgescu. Although lacking serious grounds, the theory of „enriched peasants” would have as results a harsher tax regime on peasants and the intensification of agricultural collectivization.

Dan Cătănuş, PhD in History, is senior researcher with N.I.S.T.; Recent book: Romanian Intellectuals in the Communism Archives, Nemira, 2006 (co-author).

Ö. KOVÁCS JÓZSEF, The Social History of Collectivization in Hungary, 1958-1961

In 1958-1961 a second wave of collectivization hit the Hungarian peasant household. In order to achieve their goals the Communist authorities used propagandistic tools as well as physical and psychologically violence against peasant who refused to join the agricultural cooperatives. The article presents the methods used by the Communist regime in Budapest in order to achieve collectivization and the consequences this phenomenon had on the economical and social situation of the peasants as well on their state of mind.

Ö. Kovács József is lecturer within the Faculty of History, Miskolc University. Presently he studies the history of political dictatorship and the rural societies in Hungary. Recent volumes: Introduction in social history (co-author and coordinator, 2003 and 2006), The paths of German social history in Modern Age (co-author and coordinator, 2004), The spreading of political dictatorship in social area (co-author, 2009).

IRINA GRIDAN, Parallelisms and Convergences. I.Gh. Maurer in Paris in the Summer of 1964: Realpolitik and the Offensive of the Smile (III)

This article is a first installment of a series devoted to the French-Romanian relations in the 60’s. The author pursues to throw light on the mechanisms set in motion after the diplomatic negotiations, leading to rapprochement between Bucharest and Paris by the middle of the decade. This year 1964 was a crucial moment for the Romanian-French rapprochement. The article focuses on the visit of the Romanian Prime-Minister, Ion Gh. Maurer, in France, in the summer of 1964 and its immediate results. One of the most important moment of the visit was the meeting between Maurer and the President of the French Republic, General De Gaulle.

Irina Gridan is an alumna of the Ecole Normale Superieure in Paris. Assistant professor at the University of Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines. PhD candidate with a theme devoted to Romanian-Soviet relations between 1950 and 1960, under the guidance of Marie-Pierre Rey.

DRAGOS ZAMFIRESCU, “Perestroika” and „glasnost” in the Soviet Union or the Preliminaries of the Breakdown of the Communist Regimes in Eastern Europe

Perestroika and glasnost, initiated in the Soviet Union by the new leader Michail Gorbachev in mid ’80’s created the premises for democratic reforms in East-Central Europe countries and also led to the 1989 antitotalitarian revolutions. Although most of the Communist countries adopted perestroika, that was not the case for Romania where Ceausescu tried very hard to resist to what the Romanian leadership called to be „the fatal influences of Gorbachev’s reforms”.

Dragos Zamfirescu, PhD in History; he is specialized in Romanian right extremism in the interwar period and totalitarian models in the postwar period.

PETRE OPRIS, Nicolae Ceausescu and his Political Illusion: the Simultaneous Abolishment of NATO and the Warsaw Treaty 138

Ceausescu’s political image in the West had been seriously affected by the Romanian economical crisis and the austerity measures that the Romanians had to deal with. Ceausescu’s idea of simultaneous abolishment of NATO and the Warsaw Treaty, his ambition to reimburse the entire Romania’s external debt and his refusal to contract new external credit contracts affected the way Western political and military leaders perceived Romania.

Petre Opris is PhD in History, lieutenant colonel (r). Recent book Romania in the Organization of Warsaw Treaty (1955-1991), Military Publishing House, 2008.

FLORIN ABRAHAM, The Collectivization of Agriculture in Romania – a Process of Societal Transformation 151

The author analyses the process of collectivization from a broader period perspective, by emphasizing the consequences of land reforms of 1864, 1921 and 1945. The study achieves a structural analysis of collectivization (duration, intensity, dynamics, methods) as well as its consequences at psycho-cultural and demographic level. The last part of the study is dedicated to a concise presentation of the situation in agriculture after 1989, emphasizing the failure of the rural space modernization project and of structuring an agricultural field that would overcome the logic of a subsistence economy.

Florin Abraham is Ph.D in History; senior researcher with the NIST. Recent book: Romania’s Transformation: 1989-2006. The Foreign Factors Role, 2006.

ION CONSTANTIN, Parallel Destinies: Romania and Poland Facing the Totalitarianisms of the XX century

In 1918, both Poland and Romania shared a similar destiny: they became victims of the Ribbentrop-Molotov Non Aggression Treaty and were invaded by the Soviet Union at the beginning of the War World II. After the war ended both countries were economically and military integrated into organizations created by the Soviets: the Council for Mutual Economic Assistance (1949) and the Warsaw Treaty (1955). Unlike Poland, in Romania there wasn’t a real process of destalinization. The rise of Polish Solidarnosc, in August 1980, generated reactions throughout the world. In spite of the Romanian Communist regime repressiveness, Iulius Filip, a military master in Cluj-Napoca, sent a letter of solidarity to the Polish Sindicate.

Ion Constantin is Ph.D. in History, research scholar with NIST; former Romanian diplomat. Recent book: The Katyn Massacres, N.I.S.T., 2008 (co-author).

OCTAVIAN ROSKE, The Collectivization of Agriculture. Total Repression, 1957-1962, XXVII

The documents continue the series of historical accounts of the final stage of collectivisation of agriculture between 1958 and 1962. In that case, the abuses are objectively reflected by documents from Moldavia.

Octavian Roske, Ph.D., is senior researcher, Scientific Secretary of the NIST and associate professor with the Faculty of Foreign Languages, University of Bucharest. Recent books: Repressive Mechanisms in Romania, 1945-1989. Biographical Dictionary, vol. VIII: S-Ş, 2009 (coordinator).

CRISTINA DIAC, The Last Victim of the Collectivization of Agriculture: The Case of Ilie Tugui, 1963-1964

In 1963, Ilie Tugui, who was at that time officer at a miltary unit in Targu Mures, sent two anonymous letters to the Television and to „Scanteia”, R.C.P. main journal. Using a poetical and literary language, Tugui criticized the policy of the Great Powers, including the Soviet Union toward the small countries and also talked about the effects of „the socialist transformation of agriculture”. The author was sentenced to seven years in prison, was incancerated in Targu Mures penitentiary and died on April 1, 1964, the official cause of death was suicide by hanging. The documents that were available to historians in order to retrace Tugui’s case were mainly produced by the prosecution. This situation have turned Tugui’s case into one illustrative of the limits of recent history sources.

Cristina Diac is PhD candidate, University of Bucharest; assistant researcher with N.I.S.T.

VASILE BUGA, A hot summer in Romanian-Soviet Relations. The Moscow talks, July 1964,I

The adoption of the R.C.P. Declaration in April 1964 generated a profound crisis at the level of Romanian-Soviet relations. In order to ease the tensions between the two parts, a R.C.P. delegation headed by Ion Gheorghe Maurer went to Moscow where several rounds of meetings with the Soviet counterpart took place. Both the Sovroms and Bessarabia were listed on the issues most vividly discussed.

Vasile Buga is Ph.D, senior researcher with N.I.S.T., coordinator of the Russian and Soviet Studies Center. Recent book: The Fall of the Empire. The Soviet Union in Gorbachev Era, 1985-1989, N.I.S.T., 2007.

ANA-MARIA CATANUS, Mihai Botez on Intellectuals and the European Cultural Space

Mihai Botez was a mathematician, a researcher in future studies and also one of the most important Romanian dissidents. The document we publish is an essay that Botez wrote in 1985 for a conference organized in Madrid on the topic of European cultural space. His text, entitled Intellectual, intellectuals and spaces without frontiers – an Eastern approach, discusses the problem of barriers blocking the free circulation of people and ideas. In his paper, Mihai Botez emphasizes also the fact that the Western world had a distorted imagine of the Communist countries and in order to promote an Europe united through ideas, intellectuals had to become autonomous. Botez also talks about the need for activation in Eastern Europe of the largest part of intellectuals, those situated between the „aligned” intellectuals and the dissidents.

Ana-Maria Catanus is PhD candidate and a researcher with N.I.S.T. Recent book: Romanian Intellectuals in the Communist Archives, Nemira, 2006 (co-author).

ION ILIESCU, 1971 – The Year of Ideological Changes in Romania II

On June 9, 2009, the former president Ion Iliescu presented in N.I.S.T. a lecture regarding the causes and consequences of the ideological change that Nicolae Ceausescu initiated in the summer of 1971. The article presents the second part of the conference dedicated to discussions.

Ion Iliescu – president of Romania (1990-1992, 1992-1996, 2000-2004).

FLOREA DUMITRESCU, The Economic and Social Evolution in the Romanian Society in the ’60’s –’80’s, XX century

In this article, Florea Dumitrescu, former Minister of Finance and Governer of the National Bank during the Communist regime discusses a series of elements that founded Romania’s developemnt policy in the ’60’s –’80’s, XX century.

If initially the credits from the I.M.F. and the World Bank had an important role in Romanian economical development, afterwards the decision of the Romanian leadership to reimburse in advance the external debt created a lot of tensions in the realm of the national economy. The restrictive measures taken by the government in 1980-1989 led to an excessive depreciation of industrial equipment, decreasing the production quality and the diminishing of workers’ revenues.

Florea Dumitrescu – Minister of Finance, 1969-1978; he conducted the negociations with the I.M.F. and the World Bank; Governor of the National Bank, 1984 - March 1989; ambassador in China.

ION BAURCEANU, Remembrances from Aiud

Ion Baurceanu was born in 1931 in Comanesti-Covurlui – Galati. He was arrested in 1951, subjected to a trial for anticommunist activity and sentenced to 15 years of forced labor, 5 years of civic degradation by the Bucharest Military Court. He was improsoned at Jilava, the lead mines from Baia Sprie and Cavnic, Aiud-Zarca, Gherla-Zarca, Periprava, Galati. He was pardoned in 1964, while he was imprisoned at Jilava. The article we publish respresent a short rememberance of his passing through the penitentiary of extermination from Aiud.

Ion Baurceanu is a former political prisoner.

ALEXANDRU-MURAD MIRONOV, State Committee for Nuclear Energy

This material is a part of a research project entitled The Communist Regime Encyclopedia in Romania: The Institutions.

This material is a part of a research project entitled The Communist Regime Encyclopedia in Romania: The Institutions.

From 1955 and until 1990, the State Committee for Nuclear Energy was the Romanian official organization granted with full powers over coordinating, budgeting and controlling the development of atomic research and production on national scale. The Communist regime strongly encouraged this industry, first as a tool of economical modernization, then – during Nicolae Ceauşescu’s leadership – as a part of the envisaged autarchy. However, the centralization of the political decision in the area proved to be highly efficient, allowing a remarkable development of atomic and nuclear domain in Romania.

Alexandru-Murad Mironov is an assistant professor within History Department of the University of Bucharest; a Ph.D. student; senior researcher with the NIST. Recent book: Romanian Intellectuals in the Communist Archives, Nemira, 2006 (co-author).

FLORIN-RAZVAN MIHAI, The Commission of State Control

In 1949-1961, in Romania functioned the Commission of State Control (C.S.C.), which controlled the activity of the ministeries, the state institutions, economical organizations, executive organs of local state power, as well as mass organizations and military units.The Commission was subordinated to the Council of Ministers and was conducted by a chairman.

Florin-Razvan Mihai is research assistant with NIST. MA in International Relations, Faculty of History, University of Bucharest.

FLORI BALANESCU, Adriana Georgescu (1920-2005)

A law graduate, Adriana Georgescu was also a movie critic at „Universul literar” and nurse in a military hospital. In 1943 the Gestapo hunted her because of the chronicles she wrote of the German movies presented in the theaters from Bucharest. After 23 August 1944 she became a political reporter for the journal „Viitorul” and soon she worked with the Prime Minister Nicolae Radescu as his secretary. Adriana Georgescu was arrested on 29 July 1945. She was brutally tortured (her head hit by the walls, whipped with a sleeve filled with sand), drugged and raped in order to transform her in a traitor used for condemning the liberal figures. Adriana Georgescu was sentenced, set free and then arrested again A. Georgescu succeeded in fleeing to West with the help of some friends. She died on 29 October 2005, in Stevenage, England.

Flori Balanescu – Researcher with NIST. Recent volume: Flori Stanescu – Paul Goma, Dialogue, Vremea Publishing House, 2008.

CRISTINA DIAC, Manea Mănescu (1916-2009)

After the 1989 revolution, Manea Mănescu was portrayed as an example of total obedience of Ceausescu couple. Neither his former colleagues remembered him differently, as seen in their memories. This is why certain biographical details extracted from Manea Mănescu’s R.C.P. cadre file may come as a surprise.

ANA-MARIA CATANUS, On liberty

This is a review of two books Seghei Dovlatov’s book The Compromise, Humanitas Publishing House, Bucharest, 2009 and Venedikt Erofeev’s book Moscova-Petuşki, Cartier Publishing House, 2004.

CRISTINA DIAC, Dinu C. Giurescu, spectator of his own destiny: From Sovrom Constructions 6 to Romanian AcademyThis is a review of Dinu C. Giurescu’s book From Sovrom Constructions 6 to Romanian Academy. Memories. Testimonies, Bucharest, Meronia, Publishing House 2008.