Communism in Eastern Europe Essay

Communism is a system of societal organisation in which all the economic and societal facets and activities are controlled by a individual dominating party. In a Communist province abolition of private ownership is introduced. This is the account of communism in most of the lexicons. However history has shown us that there is a batch more to communism that this definition tells us. When people mention communism. we think of Russia. Spain. Italy and Germany. all with their ain different types of dictators. Unfortunately communism had a greater impact than that. It affected many more states in Europe than.

Communism took control in a figure of smaller states in the Eastern Europe. The last European Communist dictator was in power until December 1989. An impossible sum of people suffered the adversities that a communist swayer brings. I believe that in order to understand communism we have to travel back to the beginning and take a closer expression at the adult male that introduced communism to the universe and that is Karl Marx. An overview of his thoughts might do it easier to understand how communism was supposed to map and why did he believe there was a demand for communism at all.

Then I want to take a really close expression to Romania under Communism. I want to spread out a small on the policies at place and abroad of the Rumanian dictator. Ceausescu. My essay will besides include a survey of the state of affairs of the minority groups in Romania during Ceausescu’s. with accent on the Hungarians. One of my purposes is to seek and find why he was the last Stalinist dictator to be removed from power. I besides want to analyze. the Rumanian secret constabulary under Communism. I want to hold a better apprehension of what the secret police’s duties were and how scared people were of them.

Because Communism in Romania is non translated in many English books. I will trust on the cyberspace for a greater portion of my research. Peoples refer to Karl Marx as the male parent of communism. He was born on the 5th of May 1818. in the metropolis of Trier in Germany. Harmonizing to hypertext transfer protocol: //plato. Stanford. edu/entries/marx/ Marx was non every bit much of a philosopher as he was a radical. His authorship and thoughts have encouraged the constitution of many communist governments. Apparently Marx predicted in his work the prostration of capitalist economy for economic grounds.

He speculated that capitalist economy will be replaced by communism. More information about Marx’s early old ages and his activities but besides an overview of his plant is given byhttp: //www. spartacus. schoolnet. co. uk/TUmarx. htm. In 1845 he was banished from Paris on the evidences that he was a ‘dangerous revolutionary’ . While populating in Paris he referred to himself as a Communist. He settles in Belgium but continues his radical behavior and in 1848 he was banished from Belgium excessively. After this he moves to London where he remains until his decease in 1883. The Communist Manifesto’ is one of the most well-known plants of Marx.

In this booklet Marx argues that human history must be understood by analyzing the societal categories and their battles with each other. He remarks on the societal categories of the nineteenth century and argues that the most of import middle class and the labor. Marx states that the middle class which was the opinion category at the clip for illustration the proprietors of large mills should be afraid of a communistic revolution but that the on the job category. the labor. has nil to lose except their ironss.

Basically. Marx believed that the difference between the societal categories could be ameliorated by private ownership and that single ownership should be abolished. This manner he believed a signifier of equality between the rich and the hapless could be achieved. These beliefs of Marx have been the inspiration of many communist governments like I said earlier. Unfortunately. we have many illustrations of states that were controlled by governments such as these and that have produced nil but panic and enduring for their people. ( hypertext transfer protocol: //www. wilsoncenter. rg/index. cfm? topic_id=1409 & A ; fuseaction=topics. point & A ; news_id=109979 ) Romania was under communism from 1947 to 1989. After the terminal of WW2 a pre-Soviet authorities was set up. Gheorghe Gheorghiu-Dej was a mild communist leader. He began the procedure of destalinization in Romania. closed the labour-camps and stopped the nutrient rationing. He besides raised the workers’ rewards. On the negative side he enforced rough reform on the Hungarian ethic group in Romania and spread rumors that the Hungarians were traveling to try to take over Transylvania.

Nicolae Ceausescu came to power in 1965 following his predecessor Gheorghe Gheorghiu-Dej who when in power was responsible for the backdown of the Soviet Union’s troops from Romania in 1958. Nicolae Ceausescu was born on the 26th of January 1918. He began working at the age of 11. as he was born in a hapless household. In 1933 he became a member of the Union of Communist Youth and the Romanian Communist party. He was imprisoned many times for his radical activities. It was while in prison that he met Gheorghe Gheorghiu-Dej.

He was besides active in the attempt to free Rumanian from Hitler’s influence. After the terminal of the war. he was helped by Gheorghiu-Dej and was active in the authorities. In December 1967 he was elected president of the province. Because of his resistance to the invasion of Czechoslovakia and the Soviets in general earns him important support from the West. In 1969 United States president at the clip. Richard M. Nixon visited Romania and in August Romania is granted the most-favoured-nation-trading position. Romania hoped for an betterment in its economic system and a peaceable clip.

Ceausescu continued at first the policy of independency from the Soviets but as clip went on he became one of the cruellest communist leaders of Eastern Europe. World Wide Web. ceausescu. org gives us an penetration to some of Romania’s dictator policies. An article of Karen Breslau negotiations about one of these policies in item. One of Ceausescu’s regulations was the addition of population. He wished to increase Romania’s population from 23 million to 30 million. ‘Anyone who avoids holding kids is a apostate who abandons the Torahs of his countries’ . When he proclaimed this Romania’s birth rate about doubled.

But because of hapless nutrition and because there was no milk available the babes sickened and the deficiency of medical specialty led to an addition in the infant mortality rate which at the clip was 83/1000 births. Ceausescu took this policy to an extreme. He didn’t let any type of sex-education in schools and any books on these topics merely used as medical text editions and were categorized as ‘state secrets’ . He of class prohibited the usage of any contraceptive method which led to rubbers and birth-control pills to be smuggled into the state and because non everybody could avail of these. abortion became one of the most used birth-control methods.

But abortion was illegal and adult females for so panicky of traveling to the infirmary that they appealed to self-induced abortion which on many occasions led to the decease of the kid but of the female parent every bit good. Because of this extremist jurisprudence many kids were born with disabilities and many were abandoned in orphanhoods. After the revolution in 1989 over 100. 000 kids were found life in hideous conditions in orphanhoods. Breslau tells us that in 1986 Communist members were in charge of questioning citizens about their sex lives. There was besides a revenue enhancement to be paid by individual adult females who did non reproduce.

This revenue enhancement amounted to 10 % of their monthly wages. Besides immature twosomes that had no kids had to pay higher revenue enhancements. Not rolling from the subject about kids the BBC study about the ‘Romanian canons of horror’ . This refers to the kid AIDSs ward in the Municipal Hospital of Constanta. Bob Wylie a Scots newsman from BBC described what she saw in that hospital ward: ‘children who were grey. deep-set skeletons many with custodies outstretched and jerking as they approached death’ .

After the autumn of communism in Romania. an atrociousness was discovered. there were about 10. 00 institutionalised kids in Rumanian that were infected with HIV. As Wylie study explains that this resulted after the malnourished kids were given blood-transfers to better their wellness. The acerate leafs were non changed and this caused the outspread of the HIV. 5000 kids died. Propaganda in newspapers and on Television praised the betterment Ceausescu had brought into the lives of the Romanians. In world things were different. Unless you had connexions with communist members life was like a life snake pit.

Peoples queued for hours in effort to purchase basic merchandises like milk or staff of life. Ceausescu besides made certain that he had support in the Communist party and ensured he will be in control of Romania for every bit long as possible and made up to 27 of his relations. including his married woman who became 2nd in bid. members of his authorities. It is rumoured that in the last old ages that Ceausescu was in power. his wellness was deteriorating and that it was his married woman that pulled all the strings. The Rumanian Government at the minute includes really few adult females. There is a fright against adult females in power because of Elena Ceausescu.

Unemployment was non high but as the Communists controlled everything if you were on their ‘black-list’ you were non able to happen a occupation anyplace in Romania. The media was so controlled by the authorities that there was no reference of the autumn of the Berlin Wall. One Rumanian common gag during communism was: ‘God decided to let Napoleon to return to Earth. Napoleon visited three states: the USA. the Soviet Union and Romania. After his visit in the USA he was asked: what did you wish best in America? He answered: The Army. If I had had an Army like the American 1. I wouldn’t have lost the conflict at Waterloo.

After his visit in the Soviet Union. he was asked the same inquiry. He answered: I liked the KGB ( the Soviet secret constabulary ) best. If I had had a secret constabulary like KGB. I wouldn’t have lost the conflict at Waterloo. After the visit in Romania. his reply was: the best thing in Romania is the imperativeness. If I had had a imperativeness like the Rumanian 1. cipher would hold noticed that I had lost the conflict at Waterloo. ’ I added this gag to my essay to underscore the control of Communist Party on the media.

Minority groups that were present in Romania besides had to endure. In the Soviet Union Lenin allowed his national minorities to be proper minorities. allowing them to hold their ain instruction. imposts and linguistic communication. When Ceausescu came to power. continued as I said. his predecessor’s policy of destalinization. There was besides an increased patriotism in the national policies. Ceausescu put an speech pattern on Rumanian linguistic communication. imposts and history in order to increase his popularity at place. In 1976 the Communist Party launched the ‘Hymn of Romania’ . a run devoted to the fear of the Rumanian state.

All nationalities were expected to fall in in. With this run all grounds German and Hungarian ‘territorial identification’ was eliminated. Memorials and artifacts associating to Saxon or Magyar yesteryear were about wholly got rid of. Cities and streets were renamed once more. in order to decrease any hint of connexion to a different nationality other than Rumanian. The Hungarians in Romania were forced to cut links with Hungary and they were accused of being an ‘instrument of the Magyar government’ . Magyar Television. Radio and calls to Hungary were monitored by the Secret Police.

As conditions worsened in Romania many citizens. Hungarians and Romanians. tried to emirate to Hungary. The Numberss of the people that sought safety there are really high. In 1987 the Numberss reach 40. 000. Many Romanians were shot dead seeking to traverse the boundary lines into Hungary. Education of the Hungarians besides suffered during Ceausescu. From 1957 to 1974 the figure Magyar undergraduates decreased from 10 % to 5 % . about. This was a consequence of the new Torahs sing instruction. Magyar had in Romania. renowned schools and universities with accent on humanistic disciplines.