Customer Reviews

The Romanian Revolution of December 1989

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Any event that is as chaotic as the 1989 Romanian Revolution is difficult to cover simply because there were so many different things going on in so many different places. Unlike the 1917 Bolshevik Revolution, which had a single planned goal, the one in Romania seemed to have multiple goals that sprang up somewhat spontaneously.

The book does an excellent job of trying to discuss the many various parts of the turmoil, devoting most of its attention to the events in Bucharest before, during, and immediately after December 1989. It did this effectively within the constraints of the book's 315 pages. The book's concluding chapters deal with the founding of the NSF (National Salvation Front) in the midst of the hectic days just before Christmas 1989.

In my personal opinion, the NSF was simply a rehash of the old communism that the people who participated in the revolution were attempting to overthrow. Communism didn't die with the revolution nor with the execution of its dictator (Ceausescu). It simply grew a new head. But the book shows the sometimes amazing strength of the Romanian spirit to overcome the injustices visited upon them by their leaders.

I was 11 years old during the revolution and I vividly recall standing next to my father in the public square in front of our town's communist party headquarters on December 22 or 23. Since then, I've read about a handful of book-length accounts of the revolution, though only in Romanian. I was pleased to find this work on Amazon, as most other English-language treatments of the events seem to be found only in academic journals or are otherwise difficult to obtain.

The book's seven chapters deal with: the general picture of Romanian society in the 1980's (1), the spark and initial days of the revolution (2), the street fighting that occurred after the Ceausescus' flight (3), the thorny issues of who caused the deadly fighting and whether any political conspiracies triggered the revolution (4), the establishment of a new political regime and its many fractures (5 and 6), and a theoretical discussion of how to categorize and write about the events of late '89-early '90 in Romania.

The author keeps a balanced stance throughout (which is particularly important in treating this subject, as more than half of Romanians nowadays do not consider that a "true" revolution took place in '89 and a variety of descriptions of the events are in circulation). The account of the events of the revolution themselves (chapters 2 and 3) make for a particularly stick-to-the-facts, yet lively, read. All in all, the book provides a great overview of the revolution and all of its social and political aspects, and pays particular attention to those thorny issues that are, as of yet, unresolved for the vast majority of Romanians.

But I deducted two stars from the book's rating because the author doesn't bring anything new to the table: he doesn't uncover any new findings, doesn't conduct any new interviews, and generally doesn't seem to be interested in conducting original research into any of the actions and events that have remained unexplained or uncertain. For a history of events that occurred only twenty years ago, there is a disappointing absence of primary sources or original evidence. Furthermore, it is unclear what audience the author had in mind, as chapters 1, 5, 6, and 7 are often jargon-heavy, whereas chapters 2 and 3 have a very narrative flow to them. In trying to appeal to both general and academic audiences, I'm not convinced that the book will please either.