Romanian Revolution Video

Golaniad

The 'Golaniad' (Romanian: ''Golaniada'') was a protest in Romania in the University Square, Bucharest. It was initiated by students and professors at the University of Bucharest.
The Golaniad started in April 1990, before the election of 20 May, 1990, which was the first election after the Romanian Revolution of 1989. Their main demand was that former members of the Communist Party should be banned from standing in elections. 

On 22 April 1990, the PNŢCD and other parties organised a demonstration in Aviators' Square. After the peaceful demonstration, groups of people marched towards the Romanian Television (TVR) station, calling for its political independence. They continued their protest in the University Square and decided to sit in overnight. Two days later, they were still there, their numbers growing, on the evening of 25 April, their number reaching 30,000. Soon, the number of protesters reached 50,000 each evening. They stated that they will not leave the Square until Romania would be free of Communism.

President Ion Iliescu refused to negotiate with the protesters and called them "golani" (meaning a hooligan, a scamp, a ruffian or a good-for-nothing — which later gave the protest its name) . The ending "-ad" ("-ada" in Romanian) was used ironically, since many of Ceauşescu's Communist manifestations had endings like this. The protesters also composed their own hymn, "Imnul Golanilor":

Mai bine haimana, decât trădător

Mai bine huligan, decât dictator

Mai bine golan, decât activist

Mai bine mort decât comunist"

lyrics by Laura Botolan; music by Cristian Paţurcă

The song can be translated to English as:

I'd rather be a tramp than a traitor,

I'd rather be a hooligan than a dictator,

I'd rather be a hoodlum than an activist,

I'd rather be dead than communist"

Many intellectuals supported the protests, including writers like Octavian Paler, Ana Blandiana, Gabriel Liiceanu, Stelian Tănase or film director Lucian Pintilie. Eugen Ionescu supported them by sending a telegram from France in which he wrote he was a "Golan Academician"

Their main three demands were:

1. the eighth point of the Proclamation of Timişoara: leading members of the Romanian Communist Party and the Securitate not to be allowed to be candidates in the elections
2. access to the state-owned mass-media for all the candidates, not only for FSN (Frontul Salvării Naţionale) candidates. A 1975 law of Ceauşescu (which was not yet repealed) allowed the president of Romania to directly control the Romanian Television and Radio.
3. postponing of the elections, as the only party that had the resources for the campaign was FSN.

The protesters also disagreed with the official doctrine of the FSN 

 that the Revolution was only "anti-Ceauşescu" and not "anti-Communist" . They also supported faster reforms, a true market economy and a western-type democracy (Ion Iliescu argued for socialism "Swedish-style" and an "original democracy", considering multi-party system as being antiquated).

After the elections the protests continued, the main goal being the removal of the newly elected government.

After 52 days of protests, on 13-15 June, a violent confrontation with government supporters and miners of Jiu Valley ended the protests, with many of the protesters and bystanders beaten. Sources differ on the number who were killed, with some estimating up to one hundred people killed, and the official government figure published as seven killed.

http://tripatlas.com/Golaniad

Romanian Revolution

The Romanian Revolution of 1989 overthrew the communist regime and its dictator Nicolae Ceausescu. On 15 December, in the town Timisoara, a battle was sparked between the riot police and thousands of Romanians inspired by Father Laszlo Tokes, a former member of the Democratic Union of Hungarians in Romania, who spoke out against Ceausescu and his dictatorship of Romania.

  ** Ceausescu and his wife Elena
The Communist government established a reign of terror, Totally manipulated and controlled, the Romanian people suffered oppression for 21 years, disciplined and monitored by the 'Securitate'. Ceausescu's secret police. During this time they launched several campaigns to eliminate "enemies of the state", in which numerous individuals were killed or imprisoned for arbitrary political or economic reasons.( Similar to the Robespierre´s Reign of Terror in France)  Punishment included deportation, internal exile, and internment in forced labour camps and prisons; dissent was vigorously suppressed. A notorious experiment in this period took place in the Piteşti prison, where a group of political opponents were put into a program of reeducation through torture.

 Any acts of aggression or placation by the Government only seemed to fuel and anger the Romanian people, led by Revolutionary leader, Ion Iliescu. On 21 December, Ceausescu made a televised speech to reason with crowds in Bucharest, but it only served to incense the crowd which became violent and riots continued throughout the day between the army and police. The following day, the army joined the demonstrators and by the Christmas Eve, Nicolae Ceausescu and his wife had fled Romania, where the army caught and executed them by firing squad on Christmas Day.
The total number of deaths in the Romanian Revolution was 1,104, of which 162 were in the protests that led to the overthrow of Nicolae Ceauşescu (16–22 December 1989) and 942 in the fighting that occurred after the seizure of power by the new political structure National Salvation Front (FSN). The number of wounded was 3,352.
The Romanian people suffered:

• severe food rationing
• power cuts and fuel shortages
• the abolishment of contraception and abortion
•  state controlled censorship of the media,
• visitors and travel restricted, and  the 'systematisation' of half of Romania's villages which involved the elimination of a village and the repositioning of their residents into 'Agrarian-industria' centres.

To see the Day-by-day history of the Romanian Revolution click here

 http://tripatlas.com/Romanian_Revolution_of_1989

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Romania#Independence_and_monarchy

http://www.usq.edu.au/artsworx/schoolresources/madforest/romrev

Fast Facts

Official Name: Romania
Location: (Southeastern) Central Europe
Time Zone: Seven hours ahead of U.S. Eastern Standard Time (GMT + 2)
Area: 91,725 sq. miles (237,502 sq. km)
Flag of Romania: Three vertical stripes: red, yellow and blue.
Population: 21,400,000 (2009 mid-year estimate)
Ethnic Groups: Romanian 89%, Hungarian 7.5%, Gipsy 1.9%, German, Other 1.6%
Religions: Christian Orthodox 87%, Roman Catholic 5%, Protestant 5%, Jewish
Official Language: Romanian
Currency: Romanian Leu (RON)
Climate: Temperate, four distinct seasons, similar to northeastern USA
Capital: Bucharest (Bucuresti)


<a href="http://www.romaniatourism.com/fast-facts.html"></a>

Natural and Cultural are the words that best capture the essence of Romania, a dynamic country rich in history,  art and scenic beauty.
From: http://www.romaniatourism.com/