De-Stalinization in Romania

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Socialist Republic of Romania
Organizations Romanian Communist Party Securitate Union of Communist Youth Great National Assembly State Council Patriotic Guards Pioneers Ștefan Gheorghiu Academy Orthodox Church Scînteia Comturist
Leaders Petru Groza Ana Pauker Ion Gheorghe Maurer Chivu Stoica Gheorghe Gheorghiu-Dej Nicolae Ceaușescu Elena Ceaușescu
Ideology National Communism July Theses Protochronism Ceaușescu's cult of personality
Policies Collectivization Nationalization Literacy campaigns Five-Year Plans De-Stalinization Systematization 1980s austerity
Culture Daciad Cîntarea României Cenaclul Flacăra Obsessive decade
Repression Censorship Danube – Black Sea Canal Reeducation Bărăgan deportations Tămădău Affair Pitești prison Sighet prison
Protests and resistance 1940s-1950s resistance Bucharest student movement of 1956 Dissent under Nicolae Ceaușescu Jiu Valley miners' strike of 1977 SLOMR Brașov Rebellion Letter of the Six Romanian Revolution
Relationship with the USSR Soviet occupation (1944–1958) SovRom Bessarabian issue

The De-Stalinization in Romania was a process of removing policies and Stalin's cult of personality between 1959 and 1965. Implemented by Gheorghe Gheorghiu-Dej, it included the marginalization of Stalinist communists, such as Ana Pauker and a large-scale amnesty of thousands of political prisoners. A number of political and cultural figures from the 19th century fight for independence were rehabilitated and writers formerly considered "bourgeois decadent" (like Tudor Arghezi) were allowed to publish again.^[1]

Changes in placenames

Many placenames, companies and institutions had been named after Stalin and the "classics of Marxism", as well as Romanian Communist heroes. Most of these were reverted in the 1960s. This began in 1962, with the reverting everything that was named after Stalin: Brașov (which had been named Orașul Stalin), two raions in Bucharest, 23 national companies, 28 local companies, 26 agricultural cooperatives, 5 schools, 285 socio-cultural institutions (hospitals, clubs, stadiums, etc.) and 541 avenues, streets and parks.^[2]

Some placenames named after Lenin were also changed, but many were also kept. The reason for the change was to have a better proportion between international and local names, part of the advancement of National Communism in Romania.^[2]

Notes

References

• Marcela Salagean, "The Period of De-Stalinization in Romanian Culture, 1959-1965", in East European Quarterly, Vol. 42, No. 3, Fall 2008
• Dennis Deletant, Ceaușescu and the Securitate: Coercion and Dissent in Romania, 1965-1989, M.E. Sharpe, London, 1995, ISBN 1-56324-633-3.