Communism in Romania
In 1965, Nicolae Ceauşescu came to power and started to
pursue independent policies such as being the only Warsaw
Pact country to condemn the Soviet-led 1968 invasion of
Czechoslovakia. Also, close ties with the Arab countries
allowed Romania to play a key role in the Israel–Egypt
peace processes.
Under the Ceausescu regime, major infrastructure projects were
completed.
The Transfagarasan road, is a road that
passes threw the highest mountain in
Romania, at an altitude of 2042 metres,
making it the highest road in Europe.
The Danube – Black sea
canal, was constructed to
make naval commerce more
efficient.
The Palace of Parlament was constructed to mark the power of
the communist party. Built in the 1980, it became the second
building in the world, after the Pentagon, by area occupied, and
the first in the world, by weight. It was the royal residence of
president Ceausescu and the establishment for the communist
pary.
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All of these projects increased Romania’s foreign debt. Conflicting with
Nicolae Ceauşescu's policies, he eventually initiated a project of total
reimbursement of the foreign debt by imposing policies that impoverished
Romanians and exhausted the Romanian economy, while also greatly
extending the authority of the police state, and imposing a cult of
personality. These led to a dramatic decrease in Ceauşescu's popularity and
culminated in his overthrow.
The Romanian Revolution
Romania was the only Eastern European country to violently overthrow
its Communist regime. It started on 22 december, 1989, in Timisoara,
when, during a gadering in the centre of the city, a man from within the
crowd shouted “Freedom”. It soonly spread to the rest of the crowd,
and the rest of the country, especially the most important cities.
The most violently hit, was the capital of Bucharest. On the streets
of the city, people were being beaten and shot by the police.
Ceausescu tried to calm down the crowds from his personal
balcony from the People’s Palace, but he dindn’t manage to. When
the people tried to brake in, he ran away with a helicopter. He was
caught at Targoviste, trialed and executed on the 25th of
december.
Communism was overthrown and a new era began in Romania.
The era of democracy and capitalism.
Religion
The dominant religious body is the Romanian Orthodox Church, an
autocephalous church within the Eastern Orthodox communion. It’s
members make up 86.7%. Other important Christian denominations
include Roman Catholicism , Protestantism , Pentecostalism and the
Romanian Greek-Catholic Church. Romania also has a Muslim minority
concentrated in Dobrogea, mostly of Turkish ethnicity.
Tourism
Tourism focuses on the country's natural landscapes and its
rich history and is a significant contributor to the Romania's
economy.
Arts
The Romanian literature began to truly evolve with the revolutions of
1848 and the union of the two Danubian Principalities in 1859.
Some of the classics of the Romanian literature are Mihai Eminescu,
George Coşbuc, Ioan Slavici.
Eminescu is considered the most important and influential Romanian
poet, and is still very much loved for his creations, and especially the
poem Luceafărul.
Among other writers that made large contributions around the
second half of 19th century are Mihail Kogălniceanu (also the first
prime minister of Romania), Vasile Alecsandri, Nicolae Bălcescu, Ion
Luca Caragiale, and Ion Creangă.
Mihai Eminescu
George Cosbuc
Ioan Slavici
Ion Creanga
Vasile Alecsandri
Ion Luca Caragiale
Mihail Kogalniceanu
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The first half of the 20th century is regarded by many Romanian
scholars as the Golden Age of Romanian culture and it is the period
when it reached its main level of international affirmation and a
strong connection to the European cultural trends. The most
important artist who had a great influence on the world culture was
the sculptor Constantin Brâncuşi, a central figure of the modern
movement and a pioneer of abstraction, the innovator of world
sculpture by immersion in the primordial sources of folk creation.
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In the period between the two world wars, authors like
Tudor Arghezi, Lucian Blaga, Eugen Lovinescu, Ion
Barbu, Liviu Rebreanu made efforts to synchronize
Romanian literature with the European literature of the
time.
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George Enescu, probably the best known
Romanian musician, also came from this period;
a composer, violinist, pianist, conductor, and
teacher, the annual George Enescu Festival is
held in Bucharest in his honor.
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After the world wars, communism brought heavy
censorship and used the cultural world as a means to
better control the population. Freedom of expression
was constantly restricted in various ways, but the likes of
Gellu Naum, Nichita Stănescu, Marin Sorescu or Marin
Preda managed to escape censorship, broke with
"socialist realism" and were the leaders of a small
"Renaissance" in Romanian literature.
Marin Preda
Marin Sorescu
Gellu Naum
Nichita Stanescu
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While not many of them managed to obtain international acclaim
due to censorship, some, like Constantin Noica, Paul Goma and
Mircea Cărtărescu, had their works published abroad even though
they were jailed for various political reasons.
Constantin Noica
Paul Goma
Mircea Cartarescu
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Some artists chose to leave the country entirely, and
continued to make contributions in exile. Among them
Eugen Ionescu, Mircea Eliade and Emil Cioran became
renowned internationally for their works.
Eugen Ionescu
Emil Cioran
Mircea Eliade
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Some famous Romanian artists musicians are the folk
artist Tudor Gheorghe, and the virtuoso of the pan flute
Gheorghe Zamfir – who is reported to have sold over
120 million albums worldwide.
Tudor Gheorghe
Gheorghe Zamfir
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Football (soccer) is the most popular sport in Romania.
At international level, the Romanian National Football
Team has taken part 7 times in the Football World Cup,
and it had the most successful period throughout the
1990s, when during the 1994 World Cup in the United
States, Romania reached the quarter-finals and was
ranked by FIFA on the 6th place.
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The core player of this "Golden Generation" and perhaps
the best known Romanian player internationally is
Gheorghe Hagi (nicknamed the Maradona of the
Carpathians). Famous currently active players are Adrian
Mutu and Cristian Chivu.
Adrian Mutu
Cristian Chivu
Gheorghe Hagi
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The most famous football club is Steaua Bucureşti, who
in 1986 became the first Eastern European club ever to
win the prestigious European Champions Cup title, and
who played the final again in 1989. Another successful
Romanian team Dinamo Bucureşti played a semifinal in
the European Champions Cup in 1984 and a Cup
Winners Cup semifinal in the 1990. Other important
Romanian football clubs are Rapid Bucureşti, CFR 1907
Cluj-Napoca and FC Universitatea Craiova.
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Tennis is the second most popular sport in terms of
registered sportsmen. Romania reached the Davis Cup
finals three times (1969, 1971, 1972). The tennis player
Ilie Năstase won several Grand Slam titles and dozens of
other tournaments, and was the first player to be ranked
as number 1 by ATP from 1973 to 1974. The Romanian
Open is held every fall in Bucharest since 1993.
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Popular team sports are rugby union - the national rugby
team has so far competed at every Rugby World Cup -,
basketball and handball. Some popular individual sports
are: athletics, chess, sport dance, and martial arts and
other fighting sports.
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Romanian gymnastics has had a large number of successes – for
which the country became known worldwide. In the 1976 Summer
Olympics, the gymnast Nadia Comăneci became the first gymnast
ever to score a perfect ten. She also won three gold medals, one
silver and one bronze, all at the age of fifteen. Her success
continued in the 1980 Summer Olympics, where she was awarded
two gold medals and two silver medals.