De-satellization of Communist Romania

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The Warsaw Pact during the 1960s

The de-satellization of Communist Romania from the Soviet Union was achieved by the Romanian leadership by skillfully taking advantage of Nikita Khrushchev's errors and vulnerabilities.[1] In the early 1960s, Romania freed itself from its Soviet satellite status. Romania's independence was tolerated by Moscow because Romania was not bordering the Iron Curtain - being surrounded by socialist states - and because its ruling party was not going to abandon communism.[2] Although Romania remained a member of both the Warsaw Pact and Comecon, it was not to be a docile member of either.[3]: 189 

Even before the advent of Nicolae Ceaușescu, Romania was in fact a genuinely independent country, as opposed to the rest of the Warsaw Pact. To some extent, it was even more independent than Cuba (a Communist state that was not a member of the Warsaw Pact).[4] The Romanian regime was largely impervious to Soviet political influence, and Ceaușescu was the only declared opponent of glasnost and perestroika. On account of the conflictual relationship between Bucharest and Moscow, the West did not hold the Soviet Union responsible for the policies pursued by Bucharest. This was not the case for the other countries in the region, such as Czechoslovakia and Poland.[5] At the start of 1990, the Soviet foreign minister, Eduard Shevardnadze, implicitly confirmed the lack of Soviet influence over Ceaușescu's Romania. When asked whether it made sense for him to visit Romania less than two weeks after its revolution, Shevardnadze insisted that only by going in person to Romania could he figure out how to "restore Soviet influence".[6]

Romania's independence left little room for the independence of others, and as such had to be isolated. Władysław Gomułka of Poland and Todor Zhivkov of Bulgaria even suggested expelling Romania from the Warsaw Pact over the Romanian-proposed amendments to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons. The ensuing declaration of support for the Soviet draft for the non-proliferation treaty - signed without Romania - made public for the first time in the Warsaw Pact's history the disagreements between Romania and the rest of the members. The Prague Spring enabled Romania to turn its isolation back into independence. Ceaușescu's Romania had at least as much leverage within the Warsaw Pact as Charles de Gaulle's France had within NATO. Instead of withdrawing Romania from the structures of the Warsaw Pact like de Gaulle withdrew France from the integrated structrues of NATO, however, the Romanian leadership began to see the benefits of the Pact as an instrument for asserting its independence.[7]

When Andrei Grechko assumed command of the Warsaw Pact, both Romania and Albania had for all practical purposes defected from the Pact. In the early 1960s, Grechko initiated programs meant to preempt Romanian doctrinal heresies from spreading to other Pact members. Romania's doctrine of territorial defense threatened the Pact's unity and cohesion. No other country succeeded in escaping from the Warsaw Pact like Romania and Albania did. However, while in 1968 Albania formally withdrew from the Pact, Romania did not. Romania had its own reasons for remaining a formal member of the Warsaw Pact, such as Ceaușescu's interest of preserving the threat of a Pact invasion so he could sell himself as a nationalist as well as privileged access to NATO counterparts and a seat at various European forums which otherwise he would not have had.[8] For example, Romania and the Soviet-led remainder of the Warsaw Pact formed two distinct groups in the elaboration of the Helsinki Final Act.[9]

Although certain historians such as Robert King and Dennis Deletant argue against the usage of the term "independent" to describe Romania's relations with the Soviet Union, favoring "autonomy" instead on account of the country's continued membership within both the Comecon and the Warsaw Pact along with its commitment to Socialism, this approach fails to explain why Romania blocked in July 1963 Mongolia's accession to the Warsaw Pact, why in November 1963 Romania voted in favor of a UN resolution to establish a nuclear-free zone in Latin America when the other Socialist countries abstained, or why in 1964 Romania opposed the Soviet-proposed "strong collective riposte" against China, and these are examples solely from the 1963–1964 period.[10]

De-satellization (1956–1965)[]

After the establishment of a Romanian Communist Party-dominated government in 1945, the country soon became an unquestioning Soviet satellite. Decisions regarding foreign and economic policy were taken in Moscow and loyally executed by local Communists. The period of unchallenged Soviet domination lasted until 1955.[11]

A long-standing ambition of Communist leader Gheorghe Gheorghiu-Dej had been the withdrawal of all Soviet troops from Romanian territory. This was finally achieved in 1958: that year, on 25 July, the Romanians announced that all Soviet troops had left Romanian territory.[12] The withdrawal of the Red Army in 1958 was the major development in Romania between 1956 and Dej's death in 1965. Under the 1947 peace treaty, the Soviet forces garrisoned in Romania were meant to help defend the supply lines to Soviet bases in Austria. After the Austrian State Treaty in 1955, that pretext was moot, and the Romanians suggested the reconsideration of the Red Army's need to maintain a presence in Romania. Nikita Khrushchev's reaction was hostile, and following the Hungarian Revolution of 1956 it was "agreed" that the Red Army would have to stay in Romania. At a Warsaw Pact meeting in May 1958, on account of Khrushchev's desire for improved relations with the West, it was announced that the Red Army would leave Romania. Its withdrawal began in early July and was completed by the end of the month. This was the first major step towards desovietization and desatellization. There was to be no turning back. The withdrawal also undoubtedly meant to dilute Romanian disgust at the execution of Imre Nagy in June, who was flown back to Hungary in a Romanian plane. In 1963, street and other names were changed back to their Romanian originals or – if the originals were politically unacceptable – to Romanian rather than Russian names. The Russian Institute in Bucharest was closed and within a few years, Russian had ceased to be the second language taught in Romanian schools. In December 1964, Soviet advisors – including those in the intelligence and security services – were withdrawn from Romania. Gheorghiu-Dej died in March 1965. His successor, Nicolae Ceaușescu, pursued national self-reliance with "demonic frenzy".[3]: 185–186, 189  Furthering desatellization, the SovRom corporations – through which the Soviets had exercised almost exclusive control over Romania's economy – were dissolved in 1954. Romania's appeal to nationalism was incompatible with satellite status.[13][14] The Soviet withdrawal of 1958, together with the Sino-Soviet split, gave Romania the opportunity to realign its position within the Comecon.

In April 1964, Romania formally declared its independence from the Soviet Union's control[15] and its plans for Romania's future. These plans called for an agricultural and natural resource orientation for Romania's economy.[16] Romania requested and obtained the complete withdrawal of the Red Army from its territory in 1958. The Romanian campaign for independence culminated on 22 April 1964 when the Romanian Communist Party issued a declaration proclaiming that: "Every Marxist-Leninist Party has a sovereign right...to elaborate, choose or change the forms and methods of socialist construction." and "There exists no "parent" party and "offspring" party, no "superior" and "subordinated" parties, but only the large family of communist and workers' parties having equal rights." and also "there are not and there can be no unique patterns and recipes". This amounted to a declaration of political and ideological independence of Moscow.[17][18][19][20]

The term "People's Republic" usually pointed to a satellite status, so the 1965 Constitution of Romania changed the country's official title to "Socialist Republic".[21] In the 1960s, the reference to the "Soviet liberators" in the national anthem was dropped.[22][23]

Further developments (1965–1984)[]

The Nicolae Ceaușescu era, which began in 1965, saw political power in Romania become nationalized and personalized.[24] In 1962, Soviet economists proposed to subordinate East European economy, including that of Romania, to a supranational planning body of the Comecon. Starting with 1964, the Romanian leadership's stance on international issues was frequently markedly different from that of the Soviet Union. A particular turning point occurred in 1968, when Ceaușescu publicly criticised the Warsaw Pact invasion of Czechoslovakia and refused to participate. Romania formally approached the European Economic Community for trade preferences in 1972, and repeatedly took independent positions in the United Nations. In 1973, Romania became the first Warsaw Pact country to conduct most of its trade with non-Communist countries.[25]

In 1967, Comecon adopted the "interested party principle", under which any country could opt out of any project they chose, still allowing the other member states to use Comecon mechanisms to coordinate their activities. In principle, a country could still veto, but the hope was that they would typically choose just to step aside rather than either veto or be a reluctant participant. This was aimed, at least in part, at allowing Romania to chart its own economic course without leaving Comecon entirely or bringing it to an impasse.[26] Under Ceaușescu, Romania plotted the most independent foreign policy of all Warsaw Pact countries. This independence was reflected in Romania's commercial, political and military relations. Unlike Poland and Hungary, Romania did not have Soviet troops on its soil. Starting in 1962, Romania also stopped participating in Warsaw Pact troop exercises. The least active member of the Comecon, Romania was a member of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank. Romania owed much of its economic leeway to oil and grain, which freed it from Soviet economic leverage.[27]

In 1974, Romania denied a Soviet request to build a railway from Odessa across eastern Romania to Varna. This broad-gauge railroad could have been used to transport major army units to Bulgaria. Romania's stance was against the usage of its territory by allied forces.[28] Between 700,000 and 1,000,000 troops would have been required to occupy Romania, a force difficult to maintain over a long period of time even for major powers.[29] While being a Warsaw Pact country, Romania demonstrated its willingness and ability to diverge from many Soviet international policies. Romania condemned the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan and was the only Warsaw Pact country to participate in the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, which had been boycotted by the remainder of the Warsaw Pact in response to the U.S.-led boycott of the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow.[30] In addition to not participating in Warsaw Pact maneuvers, no Soviet bases were allowed within the borders of Romania.[31] Romania was the only Warsaw Pact member that did not allow the stationing of foreign troops on its soil, Soviet or otherwise.[32] Ceaușescu maintained Romanian independence by separating the Romanian Army from Soviet indoctrination and training, ended its previously subservient role in the Warsaw Pact and prevented Soviet officers from interfering in the decisions of Romanian personnel.[33] A neighbor of the USSR, Romania had no Soviet troops. Although it did participate in joint Warsaw Pact air and naval exercises, it did not allow such exercises on its own territory.[34] Romania was "aligned but independent".[35] Soviet trade subsidies during 1960-1978 for the other 5 Warsaw Pact states ranged from $4.6 billion (Bulgaria) to $23.7 billion (East Germany). For Romania, Soviet trade subsidies during this period were negative, with a total of $0.5 billion paid in net implicit trade taxes.[36]

Romania's foreign policy during de-satellization[]

Whilst Romania and the USSR signed the Soviet-Romanian Treaty of Friendship, Co-operation and Mutual Assistance in 1970, Romania also pursued its independent policies. Thus, Romania was neutral during the Sino-Soviet dispute and continually had a friendly relationship with China,[37] recognized West Germany in January 1967 and continued to maintain diplomatic relations with Israel after the Six-Day War. Romania was also one of the countries that acted as mediators in Egyptian-Israeli talks that led to the Camp David accords[38] (that the USSR opposed). Similarly, even though other Eastern Bloc countries broke their relations with Chile after the anticommunist coup in September 1973, Romania refused to sever diplomatic relations.[39]

In 1979, following the Soviet-backed Vietnamese invasion of Democratic Kampuchea, Romania became the first Warsaw Pact member to cast an anti-Soviet vote in the United Nations General Assembly.[40] Romania also continued to recognize the Khmer Rouge as the legitimate representative of Cambodia in the UN; also, Romania had been one of the ten countries that had maintained an embassy in Cambodia during Pol Pot's reign.[41] That same year, the Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan and Romania voted in favour of the UN General Assembly resolution calling for the immediate and unconditional withdrawal of Soviet troops, Romania broke with its Warsaw Pact allies and abstained. One month later, at a meeting of communist states in Sofia, Bulgaria, Romania joined the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea) in refusing to endorse the invasion.[42]

See also[]

References[]

  1. ^ Joseph Rothschild, Nancy Meriwether Wingfield, Oxford University Press, 2008, Return to Diversity: A Political History of East Central Europe Since World War II, p. 196
  2. ^ Bernard A. Cook, Bernard Anthony Cook, Taylor & Francis, 2001, Europe Since 1945: An Encyclopedia, Volume 2, p. 1075
  3. ^ a b R. J. Crampton (15 July 2014). The Balkans Since the Second World War. Routledge. ISBN 9781317891178.
  4. ^ Vladimir Tismaneanu, Marius Stan, Cambridge University Press, 17 May, 2018, Romania Confronts Its Communist Past: Democracy, Memory, and Moral Justice, p. 132
  5. ^ Jacques Lévesque, University of California Press, May 28, 2021, The Enigma of 1989: The USSR and the Liberation of Eastern Europe, pp. 192-193
  6. ^ Robert Service, Pan Macmillan, 8 October 2015, The End of the Cold War: 1985 - 1991, p. 429
  7. ^ Laurien Crump, Routledge, Feb 11, 2015, The Warsaw Pact Reconsidered: International Relations in Eastern Europe, 1955-1969, pp. 200 and 202-204
  8. ^ Emily O. Goldman, Leslie C. Eliason, Stanford University Press, 2003, The Diffusion of Military Technology and Ideas, pp. 140 and 142-143
  9. ^ Gabriel Ben-Dor, David Brian Dewitt, Lexington Books, 1987, Conflict Management in the Middle East, p. 242
  10. ^ Elena Dragomir, Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 12 January 2015, Cold War Perceptions: Romania’s Policy Change towards the Soviet Union, 1960-1964, p. 14
  11. ^ (in Romanian) Carolina Novac, “România – URSS: gradul de supunere al Romaniei faţă de colosul sovietic până la venirea lui Ceaușescu”, Historia, June 2014
  12. ^ Donald Catchlove (1972). Romania's Ceaușescu. Abacus Press. p. 98. ISBN 9780856260094.
  13. ^ Odd Arne Westad; Sven G. Holtsmark; Iver B. Neumann (27 July 2016). The Soviet Union in Eastern Europe, 1945–89. Springer. p. 96. ISBN 9781349232345.
  14. ^ Scholastic Library Pub., 2005, Encyclopedia Americana: Pumps to Russell, p. 673
  15. ^ Marvin Zonis, Dwight Semler, Wiley, Jul 24, 1992, The East European Opportunity: The Complete Business Guide and Sourcebook, p. 245
  16. ^ Daniel N. Nelson, East European Monographs, 1980, Democratic Centralism in Romania: A Study of Local Communist Politics, p. 12
  17. ^ Kevin McDermott, Matthew Stibbe, Springer, May 29, 2018, Eastern Europe in 1968: Responses to the Prague Spring and Warsaw Pact Invasion, p. 195
  18. ^ Jonathan Eyal, Springer, Jun 18, 1989, Warsaw Pact and the Balkans: Moscow's Southern Flank, p. 68
  19. ^ Jonathan C. Valdez, Cambridge University Press, Apr 29, 1993, Internationalism and the Ideology of Soviet Influence in Eastern Europe, p. 51
  20. ^ Richard Voyles Burks, Princeton University Press, Dec 8, 2015, Dynamics of Communism in Eastern Europe, p. XVI
  21. ^ Joseph F. Harrington, Bruce J. Courtney, East European Monographs, 1991, Tweaking the Nose of the Russians: Fifty Years of American-Romanian Relations, 1940-1990, p. 259
  22. ^ John Sweeney, Hutchinson, 1991, The Life and Evil Times of Nicolae Ceausescu, p. 89
  23. ^ Michael Shafir, Pinter, 1985, Romania: Politics, Economics and Society: Political Stagnation and Simulated Change, p. 36
  24. ^ Mary Ellen Fischer (1983). "Nicolae Ceaușescu and the Romanian Political Leadership: Nationalism and Personalization of Power". Skidmore College. p. 10.
  25. ^ Background Notes, Office of Media Services, Department of State, Bureau of Public Affairs, December 1975
  26. ^ Robert Bideleux; Ian Jeffries (1998). A History of Eastern Europe: Crisis and Change. Routledge. p. 566.
  27. ^ U.S. Government Printing Office, 1974, Detente--prospects for Increased Trade with Warsaw Pact Countries, pp. 21-22
  28. ^ University of Michigan, 1991, Romania a country study, p. 292
  29. ^ Jiri Polak, 1986, Dependence Patterns in the Soviet Bloc: The Case of Romania and East Germany, p. 171
  30. ^ U.S. Government Printing Office, 1985, Human Rights in Romania, pp. 5-6
  31. ^ Betty Carran, Childrens Press, 1988, Romania, p. 39
  32. ^ U.S. Government Printing Office, 1986, MFN Status for Hungary, Romania, China, and Afghanistan, p. 381
  33. ^ Mary Ellen Fischer, Skidmore College, 1983, Nicolae Ceaușescu and the Romanian Political Leadership: Nationalism and Personalization of Power, p. 45
  34. ^ Hoover Institution on War, Revolution and Peace, Stanford University, 1986, Yearbook on International Communist Affairs, p. 396
  35. ^ Michael Huxley, Geographical Press, 1977, The Geographical Magazine, Volume 50, p. 242
  36. ^ U.S. Government Printing Office, 1983, Soviet Economy in the 1980's, p. 106
  37. ^ Note: Romanian Communist Party refused to endorse the Soviet side in its dispute with the Communist Party of China, emphasizing each communist party's right to pursue an independent course: Statement on the Sino-Soviet Dispute - April 22, 1964
  38. ^ https://www.files.ethz.ch/isn/90797/Arab_Israeli_Conflict_06_08.pdf
  39. ^ J. Samuel Valenzuela and Arturo Valenzuela (eds.), Military Rule in Chile: Dictatorship and Oppositions, p. 317
  40. ^ Michael Shafir, Pinter, 1985, Romania: Politics, Economics and Society : Political Stagnation and Simulated Change, p. 187
  41. ^ Solomon Kane (trad. de l'anglais par François Gerles, préf. David Chandler), Dictionnaire des Khmers rouges, IRASEC, février 2007, 460 p. (ISBN 9782916063270)
  42. ^ Country data- Romania
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