Nicolae Ceausescu fell from power with remarkable quickness. On December 16th, 1989, Ceausescu ordered militia forces to go to the home of Reverend Laslo Tokes in Timisoara and arrest him. The Militia was confronted by hundreds of anti-Ceausescu protesters surrounding the Reverend's home chanting profane anti-Ceausescu slogans. The militant intervention led to violence which in turn created more tension and trouble as protesters began creating barricades and breaking into shops in the town center. The militia subdued the protesters using tear gas and was then able to make many arrests including the arrest of Laslo Tokes. The military thought they had ended the protests but as they came to their victory parade they were attacked by thousands of protesters who again chanted anti-Ceausescu slogans. The police tried to subdue the protesters with fire hoses and tear gas but it failed, and so the military came in with tanks and began firing.
On December 20th Timisoara officially went on strike. One of the leaders of the Timisoara protests Ioan Lorin Fortuna began the creation of the revolutionary committee called the Romanian Democratic Front or FDR. Members of the FDR met with the Prime Minister and gave their demands. On that same day, Ceausescu condemned the protests that occurred in Timisoara in a televised speech.
On December 21st, the FDR read their anti-Ceausescu manifesto from a balcony on the opera house to about one hundred thousand demonstrators. Throughout Transylvania, all of the major cities and towns went on strike in solidarity with those of Timisoara and law enforcement was doing their best to keep them from openly protesting.
At noon Ceausescu stood on a balcony overlooking the Palace Square in Bucharest filled with tens of thousands of people giving a speech about how lucky they were to have him as a leader. The rally he organized was supposed to extinguish the tension in Timisoara. His plan backfired. The audience sat in silence.
Then something unbelievable happened. The crowd began chanting “Timisoara Timisoara” over and over. Ceausescu had a look of disbelief on his face as he flapped his hands and attempted to silence and bring the crowd back, but it was to no avail. Bucharest became a place of riot as police began using fire hoses, tear gas and even shooting at rioters. later the military was deployed in an attempt to stop the riots.
On December 22nd all of the major cities of Romania had protesters filling the streets. Ceausescu declared Romania in a state of emergency on public radio and television. The militia and Army began shifting towards the revolutionary side and refused Ceausescu's orders to shoot protestors. By noon Nicolae and his wife had fled via helicopter. Nicolae and Elena were captured very shortly after their flight and taken into custody by the law enforcement and then transferred to a military unit.
Throughout the night, fighting continued in Bucharest and all over the country, people were killed in the exchange of fire. Terror acts continued over the next few days all over the country, resulting in the death and injury of many, among both were civilians and military. On December 24th Nicolae and Elena Ceausescu were tried and sentenced to death.
On the 25th Nicolae and Elena Ceausescu were accused by the Exceptional Military Court of genocide, undermining state power and the national economy and diversionist acts. At 2:50 P.M Nicolae and Elena were executed by firing squad. Later that night Romanian television broadcasted the news of the executions, and over the next days the terror attacks stopped throughout the whole country as Petre Roman became the Prime Minister of the provisional government with the duty of instituting democracy, freedom, and dignity of the Romanian people, to dissolve the institutions of Ceausescu horrendous regime.
On December 20th Timisoara officially went on strike. One of the leaders of the Timisoara protests Ioan Lorin Fortuna began the creation of the revolutionary committee called the Romanian Democratic Front or FDR. Members of the FDR met with the Prime Minister and gave their demands. On that same day, Ceausescu condemned the protests that occurred in Timisoara in a televised speech.
On December 21st, the FDR read their anti-Ceausescu manifesto from a balcony on the opera house to about one hundred thousand demonstrators. Throughout Transylvania, all of the major cities and towns went on strike in solidarity with those of Timisoara and law enforcement was doing their best to keep them from openly protesting.
At noon Ceausescu stood on a balcony overlooking the Palace Square in Bucharest filled with tens of thousands of people giving a speech about how lucky they were to have him as a leader. The rally he organized was supposed to extinguish the tension in Timisoara. His plan backfired. The audience sat in silence.
Then something unbelievable happened. The crowd began chanting “Timisoara Timisoara” over and over. Ceausescu had a look of disbelief on his face as he flapped his hands and attempted to silence and bring the crowd back, but it was to no avail. Bucharest became a place of riot as police began using fire hoses, tear gas and even shooting at rioters. later the military was deployed in an attempt to stop the riots.
On December 22nd all of the major cities of Romania had protesters filling the streets. Ceausescu declared Romania in a state of emergency on public radio and television. The militia and Army began shifting towards the revolutionary side and refused Ceausescu's orders to shoot protestors. By noon Nicolae and his wife had fled via helicopter. Nicolae and Elena were captured very shortly after their flight and taken into custody by the law enforcement and then transferred to a military unit.
Throughout the night, fighting continued in Bucharest and all over the country, people were killed in the exchange of fire. Terror acts continued over the next few days all over the country, resulting in the death and injury of many, among both were civilians and military. On December 24th Nicolae and Elena Ceausescu were tried and sentenced to death.
On the 25th Nicolae and Elena Ceausescu were accused by the Exceptional Military Court of genocide, undermining state power and the national economy and diversionist acts. At 2:50 P.M Nicolae and Elena were executed by firing squad. Later that night Romanian television broadcasted the news of the executions, and over the next days the terror attacks stopped throughout the whole country as Petre Roman became the Prime Minister of the provisional government with the duty of instituting democracy, freedom, and dignity of the Romanian people, to dissolve the institutions of Ceausescu horrendous regime.
Sources
Graham-Harrison, Emma. “Twenty-Five Years after Nicolae Ceausescu Was Executed.” The Observer, Guardian News and Media, 6 Dec. 2014, www.theguardian.com/world/2014/dec/07/romanians-seek-a-reborn-revolution-25-years-after-ceausescu.
Bishop, Patrick. “Nicolae Ceausescu and Romania's Christmas Revolution.” The Telegraph, Telegraph Media Group, 22 Dec. 2014, www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/romania/11307063/Nicolae-Ceausescu-and-Romanias-Christmas-revolution.html.
“Romanian Revolution in Pictures, 1989.” Rare Historical Photos, 14 Oct. 2017, rarehistoricalphotos.com/romanian-revolution-pictures-1989/.
“Romanian Revolution.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 23 Jan. 2018, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Romanian_Revolution.
Bishop, Patrick. “Nicolae Ceausescu and Romania's Christmas Revolution.” The Telegraph, Telegraph Media Group, 22 Dec. 2014, www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/romania/11307063/Nicolae-Ceausescu-and-Romanias-Christmas-revolution.html.
“Romanian Revolution in Pictures, 1989.” Rare Historical Photos, 14 Oct. 2017, rarehistoricalphotos.com/romanian-revolution-pictures-1989/.
“Romanian Revolution.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 23 Jan. 2018, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Romanian_Revolution.