| | '''Nicolae Ceausescu''' was the [[Stalinism|Stalinist]] [[Communist]] [[dictator]] of [[Romania]] from the late 1960s until his overthrow in 1989. He is most famous in the West for his [[totalitarian]] governance, personal extravagance, and for banning [[abortion]] in an effort to increase the Romanian population. After the fall of the Berlin Wall and the dissolution of Communism in Eastern Europe, Ceausescu was overthrown by a popular uprising. Within days of being overthrown, he and his wife were both executed by an impromptu military court on a wide variety of charges. | | '''Nicolae Ceausescu''' was the [[Stalinism|Stalinist]] [[Communist]] [[dictator]] of [[Romania]] from the late 1960s until his overthrow in 1989. He is most famous in the West for his [[totalitarian]] governance, personal extravagance, and for banning [[abortion]] in an effort to increase the Romanian population. After the fall of the Berlin Wall and the dissolution of Communism in Eastern Europe, Ceausescu was overthrown by a popular uprising. Within days of being overthrown, he and his wife were both executed by an impromptu military court on a wide variety of charges. |
| − | During his rule, which lasted from 1967-1989, Ceausescu employed propaganda to create a cult of personality. These measures ranged from painting him as having a much larger role in Communist philosophy than he actually did to the purely cosmetic: Ceausescu's relatively small stature (at 5 foot 5 inches) was never emphasized. During his role, Ceausescu oppressed any political dissent by imprisoning and even killing political enemies. He did take a very independent route in terms of relations with the [[USSR]], most notably supporting the Czechs in the Prague Spring, when he strongly condemned Soviet intervention there. Ceausescu initiated a series of disastrous economic policies that led to widespread poverty among the Romanian people, while he lived in a lavish palace that remains one of the biggest ever built to this day. He was overthrown and, along with his wife [[Elena Ceausescu|Elena]], was executed on December 25, 1989 after revolutions had toppled Communist dictatorships in other Eastern European countries, such as [[Albania]], [[Hungary]], [[Poland]], [[Czechoslovakia]], [[Bulgaria]], and [[East Germany]]. | + | During his rule, which lasted from 1967-1989, Ceausescu employed propaganda to create a cult of personality. These measures ranged from painting him as having a much larger role in Communist philosophy than he actually did to the purely cosmetic: Ceausescu's relatively small stature (at 5 foot 5 inches) was never emphasized. During his role, Ceausescu oppressed any political dissent by imprisoning and even killing political enemies. He did take a very independent route in terms of relations with the [[USSR]], most notably supporting the Czechs in the Prague Spring, when he strongly condemned Soviet intervention there. Ceausescu initiated a series of disastrous economic policies that led to widespread poverty among the Romanian people, while he lived in a lavish palace that remains one of the biggest ever built to this day. He was overthrown and, along with his wife [[Elena Ceausescu|Elena]], was executed on [[Christmas Day]] 1989 without a real trial, after revolutions had toppled Communist dictatorships in other Eastern European countries, such as [[Albania]], [[Hungary]], [[Poland]], [[Czechoslovakia]], [[Bulgaria]], and [[East Germany]]. |