Siani-Davies, Peter; (1995) The Romanian revolution of 1989: myth and reality - myth or reality? Doctoral thesis (Ph.D), UCL (University College London).

Text U086741.pdf Download (30MB)

Abstract

This Ph.D is a detailed and critical examination of the events in Romania during December 1989 and January 1990 which have popularly come to be known as the Romanian Revolution. Almost since the last bullet was fired, the events have been surrounded by such confusion and controversy that the first task of this study has been to try to recover the history of the revolution in order to establish a more solid basis for further analysis. The first chapters, therefore, contain a detailed narrative, mostly drawn from Romanian sources, of the overthrow of Nicolae Ceausescu and the installation of the Council of the National Salvation Front, with special attention being paid to elucidating some of the main strands within the chaotic and bloody period of conflict which ensued after the fall of the Romanian leader. The end of the fighting was to bring no end to confusion and strife in Romania, and the next chapters look, first, at the structures of the new regime and the cultural context in which it shaped its ideas, and, then, the events of January 1990, during which the Front, whilst attempting to consolidate its hold on power, came increasingly under challenge from more radical oppositional groups and was, eventually, forced to abandon its preferred institutional structures in favour of the more broadly based Provisional Council of National Unity. The thesis concludes with two chapters which attempt to place the Romanian Revolution in a more theoretical perspective, addressing the questions of whether the events can justifiably be described as a revolution, and why Romania experienced such a violent exit from communism. Throughout the study considerable stress is placed on the role of myth in determining the dynamic of the events, and the work closes with some observations about how it is these myths, rather than the reality, which will probably be the most potent legacy of the revolution.

Download activity - last month

Export as JSONCSVXML

Download activity - last 12 months

Export as JSONCSVXML

Downloads by country - last 12 months

Export as JSONCSVXML

Archive Staff Only

View Item