Witnesses saw scores of people shot down in the centre of Bucharest in the evening and around the burning royal palace where the Ceauescu family had made their home. One day Obama may wake up and find the alliances just gone. The Lion and the Unicorn: Gladstone vs. Disraeli All the world should know what is going on here. PROSECUTOR: And who heads Securitate? PROSECUTOR: This situation is known. They were only busy enslaving the people and building up an apparatus of power. NICOLAE CEAUESCU: No, we will not sign. Within hours Ceauescu was beseiged inside the Central Committee building by irate crowds. Not a single shot was fired in Palace Square. Transcriptul "procesului" Nicolae si Elena Ceausescu. In response, the two laugh, and she says: We do not stay abroad. It must be cleared up whether Ceausescu wants to, should, must or can answer at all. NICOLAE CEAUESCU: No one recognizes that. They are cowards. At that moment Elena says to Nicolae: Forget about them. 20072021 Roy Rosenzweig Center for History & New Media PROSECUTOR: You claim to have taken measures so that every peasant is entitled to 200 kilograms of wheat. The prosecutor cites all academic titles she had always claimed to have. NICOLAE CEAUESCU: I do not recognize this court. The National Salvation Front is now our supreme body. I do not recognize the court. The prosecutor wants to find out on which basis the trial can be continued. This speech was an annual event and carefully scripted by the regime to insure both success and the appearance of popular support. The details are known. Usurpers have been punished severely during the past centuries in Romania's history. This shows how little patriotism there is, how many treasonable offenses were committed. A later article shows that Australia is moving toward purchasing Japanese submarines to replace its existing fleet. NICOLAE CEAUESCU: I do not recognize you. The mighty Law of the Land is exposed as all bark and no bite; a fine they cant enforce. NICOLAE CEAUESCU: I will not say anything more. The prosecutor asks the counsel for the defense to ask Ceauescu whether he knows that he is no longer president of the country, that Elena Ceauescu has also lost all her official state functions and that the government has been dissolved. The video- shown live on Romanian television-- shows his confusion and consternation and the barely audible comments. The English translation is by the U.S. government's Foreign Broadcast Information Service. Tell us! A little noticed article in the Sydney Morning Herald notes that Australia will support Japans effort to repeal its pacifist constitution. CEAUSESCU: I do not answer, I will only answer questions before the Grand National Assembly. Nicolae Ceauescu (Romanian pronunciation: [nikola.e tea.uesku]; 26 January 1918 -- 25 December 1989) was a Romanian Communist politician. They are shooting at children; they are shooting arbitrarily into the apartments. The prosecutor says: The world already knows what has happened here. The administrations threats, so dire on paper, are toothless in practice because they actually cant afford to carry out the threat. In the uprising by people against Ceausescu during this speech and in subsequent days 1,058 people lost there lives. 105). They obstructed the normal process of the economy. He always claimed to act and speak on behalf of the people, to be a beloved son of the people, but he only tyrannized the people all the time. The recent Bergdahl prisoner swap in which five hardened Taliban terrorists were released from prison is rubbing a lot of the military veterans attending D-Day events the wrong way. The destruction of buildings and state institutions, undermining of the national economy, in accordance with Articles 165 and 145 of the penal code. I am a member and the chairwoman of the Academy of Sciences. Furnish proof! A later article shows that Australia is moving toward. The Defence Minister, General Vasile Milea, was said to have committed suicide although it is equally possible he was shot by a member of the Ceauescu retinue. And Elena says: It is incredible what they are inventing, incredible. Who pays them? Immediately before them were plainclothes Securitate agents and a row of police militia, who kept the mass of the crowd about thirty yards back from the front of the Central Committee building. In one speech, a Romanian politician likened Ceausescu to Julius Caesar, Alexander the Great, Napoleon, Peter the Great, Abraham Lincoln and other major historical figures. Elena and Nicolae Ceausescu must be held fully responsible for this. The front rows of the assembly were made up of low-level Communist Party officials and members who acted as cheer-leaders. Now we finally saw your villa on television, the golden plates from which you ate, the foodstuffs that you had imported, the luxurious celebrations, pictures from your luxurious celebrations. Its not that we dont want to respect the commander-in-chief, one told me sadly. Ceausescu claims that the putsch was organized from abroad. How to Debate Leftists and Destroy Them: 11 Rules for Winning the Argument. The History: Last Speech, Trial and Execution Decades of brutal oppression under the Ceausescu regime came to a head in Timisoara, earlier that same December. Romanian dictator Nicolae Ceausescu appeared on the balcony of the Central Committee of Comunmunist Party of Romania building, in Bucharest, Romania, on 21 December 1989, and began as he had in years past, with a speech laden with the usual `wooden language`. The new committee declared its immediate aim was an end to the cult of personality which had developed around the Ceauescu family. I just couldnt convince myself to do it., He is not alone. PROSECUTOR: The Grand National Assembly has been dissolved. They are cowards. TheWashington Timesreports that a top intelligence official is accusing the Obama admininistration of funding a terror network for the next ten years, alleging the administration paid a cash ransom to redeem Bowe Bergdahl. Only a few hours before the Genius of the Carpathians had been in apparently complete command. Central planning in economics leads to a mismatch in prices and a collapse in the economy while a Central Narrative in politics leads to an increased incidence of involuntary rebellion. You need not admit your mistakes, mister. "Stenographic transcript of meeting of the Executive Committee of the Central Committee of the Romanian Communist Party," August 17, 1968, History . The story of Ceauescu's final speech is a textbook example. Then follows the reading of the indictment. This is a vulgar provocation. PROSECUTOR: Who gave the order to shoot in Bucharest, for instance? The prosecutor wants to find out on which basis the trial can be continued. Why do the peasants then buy their bread in Bucharest? Since the old government has been dissolved and Ceauescu has lost his functions, he no longer has the right to be treated as the president. I hope that you do not also work for the foreigners and for the destruction of Romania. And I also do not recognize the counsel for the defense. ELENA CEAUESCU: We will not sign any statement. And the next moment he was lying in the dust. PROSECUTOR: So you know the new forum. Elena and Nicolae Ceauescu must be held fully responsible for this. Elena and Nicolae reject this. The prosecutor says: The world already knows what has happened here. The English translation is by the U.S. government's Foreign Broadcast Information Service. [2], Ceauescu appeared on the balcony of the Central Committee building and began as he had in years past, with a speech laden with the usual "wooden language." PROSECUTOR: Will you sign the statement now or not? The crowd, now totaling up to 80,000, were given orders on where to stand, when to applaud and what to sing. PROSECUTOR: You have never been able to hold a dialogue with the people. The Rise of Ceausescu Nicolae was a member of the communist youth movement. The prosecutor turns to Elena: You have always been wiser and more ready to talk, a scientist. Then he is treated like a normal citizen. I only recognize the working class and the Grand National Assembly -- no one else. All their property will be impounded. , the former US ambassador to Syria, has effectively accused the Obama administration of abandoning genuinely pro-American rebels in Syria thereby allowing the ascendance of al-Qaeda. The workers were augmented by bystanders who were rounded up on Calea Victoriei. I will not answer any question. I do not recognize this court. PROSECUTOR: Did you know about the genocide in Timisoara? A caretaker government was announced within an hour of the dictators capture. His security guard appears, disappears and, finally, hustles Ceausescu off the balcony. You, as a scientist, did you know about it? His security guard appears, disappears and, finally, hustles Ceausescu off the balcony. They wanted to separate the people from the army. You, as a scientist, did you know about it? Another question . NICOLAE CEAUESCU: I will not sign anything. PROSECUTOR: That is to say, as a deputy prime minister you did not know about the genocide? This was a coup d'etat. I will not speak with you provocateurs anymore, and I will not speak with the organizers of the putsch and with the mercenaries. Everybody should be paid according to his performance. No, no, he says. The trial of Nicolae and Elena Ceauescu was held on 25 December 1989 by an Exceptional Military Tribunal, a drumhead court-martial created at the request of a newly formed group called the National Salvation Front. PROSECUTOR: Mr. Chairman, we find the two accused guilty of having committed criminal actions according to the following articles of the penal code: Articles 162, 163, 165 and 357. The Ceauescu administrations Prime Minister, Mr Constantin Dsclescu, and his government were said to have resigned. CEAUSESCU: I will not answer. However, they will be indicted, and a sentence will be passed on the basis of the new legal system. You see, there is no use in talking to these people. A voice in the studio said that the army was wholly on the side of the people. Finally, I would like to refer once more to the genocide, the numerous killings carried out during the past few days. In response, Ceauescu raised his right hand in hopes of silencing the crowd; his stunned expression remains one of the defining moments of the end of Communism in Eastern Europe. PROSECUTOR: But not of our army, you are not the commander in chief of our army. They used to fetch people from orphans' homes or from abroad whom they trained in special institutions to become murderers of their own people. One of the first acts of the new leadership was to place the security forces, the dreaded Securitate, under control of the army. PROSECUTOR: This is how you worked with the people and exercised your functions! They used to fetch people from orphans' homes or from abroad whom they trained in special institutions to become murderers of their own people. Lech Walesa has openly accused president Obama as unable to lead in world. The prosecutor quotes Ceauescu, Ceauescu's program. Fuelled by the events taking place in Berlin (the wall had come down just a few weeks before) and the ripple impact of the weakening Iron Curtain, Romanians had taken to the streets in . I guaranteed that every village has its schools, hospitals and doctors. You cannot talk to me in such a way! For example, there isa silent falling away among American allies. In the wake of growing tension over an uprising in Timioara in which thousands were reportedly killed, Ceauescu decided to give a nationally televised speech before a crowd in Palace Square . It doesnt happen as one big wave. It is a historic time, given that no military member goes public to speak negatively about the ultimate commander. In the wake of growing tension over an uprising in Timioara in which thousands were reportedly killed, Ceauescu decided to give a nationally televised speech before a crowd in Palace Square (now known as Revolution Square) in Bucharest. No one can ask Bergdahl, since he is now reported as being unable to speak to anyone including his family. By the morning of 22 December, the rebellion had already spread to all major cities across the country. Earlier, joyful crowds had paraded through the city after reports that Mr Ceauescu had been arrested after trying to flee from the roof of the party headquarters by helicopter. In fact, his speech on August 21, 1968 in defiance of the military actions taken by Moscow and a few of her allies in Czechoslovakia roused quite a considerable amount of support for not only himself, but for the Patriot Guards as well. Thousands of workers were bused into the square under threat of being fired. In the essay The Use of Knowledge in Society, Hayek argued that in complex systems the relevant facts are dispersed among many people. ELENA CEAUSESCU: How can one tell us something like this? Nicolae Ceauescu had been making speeches for over a couple of decades. PROSECUTOR: And who heads Securitate? As a result, the prosecutor says: Elena has always been talkative, but otherwise she does not know much. CEAUSESCU: I do not recognize this court. PROSECUTOR: Esteemed Mr. Chairman, I have been one of those who, as a lawyer, would have liked to oppose the death sentence, because it is inhuman. I will not answer any question. Ti-mi-oa-ra! NICOLAE CEAUESCU: I will not answer this question. NICOLAE CEAUESCU: You as officers should know that the government cannot give the order to shoot. PROSECUTOR: In all district capitals, which you grandly called municipalities, there is shooting going on. PROSECUTOR: Note - He does not recognize the points mentioned in the bill of indictment. And today you are acting in the same megalomaniac way. The produce which the peasants grew was exported, and the peasants came from the most remote provinces to Bucharest and to the other cities in order to buy bread. PROSECUTOR: We have wonderful programs. The entire intelligentsia of the country ran away. This year, the crowd begins to chant unscripted comments back at the dictator. About The following is a transcript of the closed trial of Romanian Dictator Nicolae Ceauescu and his wife, Elena, as shown on Romanian and Austrian television. What prevents him from doing so? Not a single shot. Another question to Ceauescu: Who ordered the bloodbath in Timisoara. Ceauescu was finally cornered in a small town, where he and his wife were subjected to a summary trial, taken out to the courtyard and shot. We are all equal. They were given red flags, banners and large pictures of Ceauescu and his wife. It is as if, in that moment, everyday Romanian's saw the possibility, saw the reality of the weakness of Ceausescus regime. PROSECUTOR: This situation is known. The defendant has not recognized us. Elena keeps whispering to him. The crimes against the people grew year by year. PROSECUTOR: So you know the new forum. What do you say as a citizen? I do not recognize the court. They were even worse than the king, the former king of Romania. PROSECUTOR: The terrorists are from Securitate? Eight minutes into the speech, some in the crowd actually began to jeer, boo and whistle at hima reaction considered unthinkable for most of Ceauescus 24 years in power. No one was shot. Diane Dimond writes in Real Clear Politicsabout the low level grumbling that risen to detectable levels since the Bergdahl affair. PROSECUTOR: Nicolae Ceausescu should tell us why he does not answer our questions. We are all equal. Share . We have data concerning both of them. The video- shown live on Romanian television-- shows his confusion and consternation and the barely audible comments. He then tried to placate the crowd by offering to raise workers' salaries by 200 lei per month (about 18 U.S. dollars at the time, yet a 10%-20% raise for a modest salary) and student scholarships from 100 to 110 lei while continuing to praise the achievements of the past 42 years. By the way, I will not answer any more questions. You have information about it. Its provisional leader is the 73-year-old former Foreign Minister, Mr Corneliu Mnescu. He refused to undergo a psychiatric examination. Who pays them? They not only deprived the people of heating, electricity, and foodstuffs, they also tyrannized the soul of the Romanian people. If he no longer has a certain function, he cannot demand anything at all. . I have no statement to make, and I will not sign one. CEAUSESCU: This is not possible at all. What about the accounts? The prosecutor agrees, but stresses that they lived in them while the people suffered. Fanatics, whom you are paying. But their triumph was marred by the first confused reports of fresh bloodshed in the early evening following heavy machine-gun fire in Bucharests Republic Square. "This is the final battle," he said. Powered by Omeka, Roy Rosenzweig Center for History & New Media. This demonstrates their lack of understanding. As a result, the prosecutor says: Elena has always been talkative, but otherwise she does not know much. You held monologues and the people had to applaud, like in the rituals of tribal people. Elena says: Look, and that they are calling genocide. It should be stated once and for all that this military court is absolutely legal and that the former positions of the two Ceausescus are no longer valid. Making use of Marxist-Leninist rhetoric, he delivered a litany of the achievements of the "socialist revolution" and Romanian "multi-laterally developed . NICOLAE CEAUESCU: Is it possible that we are facing such charges? What about the accounts? CEAUSESCU: Is it possible that we are facing such charges? Nicolae Ceausescu - Last Speech, Trial and Execution - History Channel (ENG subtitled) ac agencija 258 subscribers Subscribe 743 Save 111K views 3 years ago Notice Age-restricted video (based. An important historical square located on Victoriei Street. PROSECUTOR: Well, Mr. The archive focuses largely on the period from 1965, when Romania was ruled over by the Ceausescus, until. This is our home. The catastrophic situation of the country is known all over the world. ELENA CEAUESCU: The terrorists are from Securitate. What do you think? JUDECATORUL: Va rog sa luati loc. We have ensured an apartment for every citizen through corresponding laws. . "Video of Ceausescus Last Speech, December 1989," in World History Commons, https://worldhistorycommons.org/video-ceausescus-last-speech-december-1989 [accessed March 4, 2023], Roy Rosenzweig Center for History and New Media. In the early evening, it was announced that a National Democracy Committee had been formed, made up of uncompromised military commanders, students and intellectuals. PROSECUTOR: This would serve your defense. This is where President Ceausescu gave his final speech in December 1989, before fleeing Bucharest. Watching the "Video of Ceausescu's Last Speech" on the Making the History of 1989 website, a speech which Nikolae Ceausescu made on 21 December 1989, I was curious to see what the disturbance was that so rattled Ceausescu because by the end of the speech it appears a semblance of order had returned. At the beginning, Ceauescu claimed that it is a provocation to be asked whether he was sick. His country passed from traditional monarchy to troubled democracy to royal dictatorship to military control to occupied territory. Centralized regimes may seem to collapse suddenly, yet in reality they have been coming apart for a long time. Please make a note that here it has been stated that all legal regulations have been observed, that this is a legal trial. He always claimed to act and speak on behalf of the people, to be a beloved son of the people, but he only tyrannized the people all the time. It can go on for a long time shedding parts, but eventually the axle falls out. ELENA CEAUESCU: Such impudence! Teams of doctors with emergency medical supplies were being flown in from Geneva last night. Ford said of his resignation,I was no longer in a position where I felt I could defend the American policy. Sooner or later inability to credit yoga or videos produced in Los Angeles as actual factors becomes more and more widespread. The details are known. Ceausescu sprinkles snow on his wife's head during yet another hunting trip in 1976. They carried out acts that are incompatible with human dignity and social thinking; they acted in a despotic and criminal way; they destroyed the people whose leaders they claimed to be. The hardship exemption rules, for example, let anyone who experienced domestic violence avoid the mandate, without providing any documentation of abuse. The two defendants should also know that they are entitled to a counsel for defense, even if they reject this. PROSECUTOR: The terrorists are from Securitate? It was one of the most pivotal moments in the Romanian Revolution of 1989. Video of Ceausescu's Last Speech, December 1989 Annotation One of the most decisive moments in the Romanian Revolution of 1989 was Ceausescu's December 21st speech (or lack thereof). This shows how little patriotism there is, how many treasonable offenses were committed. We have ensured an apartment for every citizen through corresponding laws. He was a cosignatory of an open letter harshly critical of the Ceauescu region which appeared last march. O voce: Un pahar cu apa! By the way, I will not answer any more questions. Soon afterwards, Bucharest television reported that Mr Ceauescu and his wife were no longer in the country.