The Romanian Revolution: Explained (Short Animated Documentary)

[@stevenjlovelace]

I'm amazed at how well you can capture late 1980s fashion in these little square people.

[@jonnathan1869]

Right??? It's so impressive

[@conveyor2]

works for 1780s folks too

[@MrLrebelo1]

Works for almost every time period

[@JimmyS.25]

Honecker and Gorbatshov were especially great !

[@owenbloomfield1177]

It's the vests on the guys.

[@matei-gabrielshelby3480]

"Save money: Reuse syringes" You might think that's a joke. That was a real campaign in the 80s in Romanian hospitals.

[@EdVarkarion]

I. I don't even know what to say.

[@matei-gabrielshelby3480]

It's still happening these days. Some hospitals dilute their disinfenctants when they're out of money and some people die after surgery. If they even get it.

[@alialiyev6168]

And people responded by "Make money: steal syringes"

[@Laucron]

no fucking way lmao

[@efulmer8675]

I've been a viewer of this channel long enough to know that background elements like that are rarely jokes.

[@robbielewis4740]

"1989 was not a good year for communism." That might be an understatement.

[@merrittanimation7721]

Gorbachev's expression sums up my feelings towards that statement: "What? No...."

[@Longshanks1690]

@Robbie Lewis _Laughs in 1991_

[@eddiesanchez551]

I actually laughed

[@JBTriple8]

it was the beginning of the end though its shame we have russian plants in the office still

[@Hdusiekwbshsjs]

“””””communism””””””

[@TacBans]

I laughed when I heard "clever idea: shooting protesters" Like that's subtle

[@garmenlin5990]

Where have I heard of that move before? 😆

[@lucioordo3647]

I mean china does it and the country is still together soooooo i think it's a good idea to take out the communist liberal party in the united states

[@danielszekeres8003]

@@lucioordo3647 there are no communist or liberal parties in the us, theres a centre-left to centre-right one and a fascist one

[@jokuvaan5175]

@@danielszekeres8003 I think thete is liberal and environmentalist parties too but because of stupid two party systems not many knows or cares about them.

[@PajamaMan44]

Dániel Szekeres idk if I’d called Republicans central-left

[@nebuweed]

iliescu: *takes power* people: so, what changed? iliescu: good question

[@cezarivanciu1620]

That's so trueee ma dude that i hate because of these people romania got fucked in it's economy and politically

[@fulcrum2951]

A country is always fucked regardless of who's in charge

[@blondemario]

WALUIGI TIME!

[@mrb152]

@@fulcrum2951 there's degrees of fucked. Full communism is the worst.

[@eedragonr1576]

With 3 millions members of the communist party accomplices to the Ceausescu's politics... the civil war seriously continued for 10 years against the anti-Communists. From 1990 "Mineriades" to the assassination of the civil activist and journalist Iosif "Bebe" Costinas even in Timisoara in 2000. Provoking a tsunami of Romanian "economic" and not "political" emigration of the democratic opposition.

[@anubis6480]

The first non romanian speaker that I heard pronouncing "Ceaușescu" correctly

[@sebastiancollins5966]

Yeah but timişoara was interestingly pronounced

[@anubis6480]

Basically "ș" is supposed to be pronounced as "sh"

[@SteveGottaGoFast]

was about to same the same thing, well done!

[@sebastiancollins5966]

@@SteveGottaGoFast thanks

[@harrywood6502]

How do you normally hear it? I've always heard it pronounced the way he did.

[@HighFlyingOwlOfMinerva]

Many central and eastern European nations: Relatively peaceful transition from communism to a free-market democracy Romania and Yugoslavia: *Y E E T*

[@Weeboslav]

Romania at least didn't dissolve into civil war...

[@-et37-]

Haid Tbf Romania wasn’t an ethnic shitshow

[@mustafabeg8372]

ᛗᛁᚾᛖᚱᚡᚨ'ᛋ ᛟᚹᛚ tbh Im from ex yugo state (Herzegovina).From what my father described, it was literaly battle royal

[@HighFlyingOwlOfMinerva]

Yugoslavia in the 1990's is on-par to a Modern Warfare 2 hacked lobby playing Free-For-All.

[@markotrstenjak7636]

That Herzegovian guy can confirm, was pure Battle royale

[@benjaminhughes2319]

Fun fact: I visited the Palace of the Parliament a few years ago, built (but never finished) by Ceaușescu. The tour guide told us that at one point Ceaușescu was spending more money building that palace than was being spent on infrastructure, wellfare, services, etc. for the ENTIRE country.

[@psychoticchannel3244]

We felt that construction in our belly 😅like literally...food was on shortage 😅

[@ktm1125]

It's still to this day the second largest administrative building in the world, after the pentagon. And still the most expensive one valued at €4 billion. It's also proabably the only reason Romania could even survive if a Nuclear war were to happen, as it can withstand multiple hidrogen bombs, and host 1200 people+. (Along with the metro system also built by Ceaușescu). As terrible as he was, he did give romania some great opportunities (which were wasted and sold for parts after his death e.g romania was one of the first to be able to create and have a facility for artificial diamonds, got the technology through espionage but still. It was latter sold, all of it. Something which could have made hundreds of millions...).

[@dyawr]

@gaby It's not ugly, I like it. Maybe it's not *your style* or architecture - but it looks good from the outside. It's on every postcard & such.

[@yannisandrei3603]

And… it’s kinda useless

[@scratchy996]

@@ktm1125 " he did give romania some great opportunities" - Look at Romania from 1945 until 1990, and then look at Yugoslavia, or Hungary, Czechoslovakia, Poland. If you compare them, you will realize that Ceausescu did nothing for Romania. All he did was for himself. He built pharaonic projects for his ego, while the people were starving. He built massive industrial complexes, that consumed more than they produced, because he wanted to look good, while starving the people, taking away the heat and electricity in their homes. All the technological "breakthroughs" were either poorly reverse engineered, or gifted by the West, because the West hoped Romania could be an ally against the Soviets. Even the Romanian tank engine plans were gifted by Germany, but they were officially "stolen by spies", in case the Soviets find out about the engines. There were many Western companies who wanted to build factories in Romania, but Ceausescu sent them away. And there are people who still praise him, it's fascinating. " it can withstand multiple hidrogen bombs" - that's bull***t, it can withstand nothing. But there were bunkers built deep under the building, for the party elites.

[@erikperik1671]

A quick show trial like this one is a sign that more people were involved in the state's crimes. And they wanted to hide their involvement. During the course of a real trial the Ceausescus could have incriminated many others.

[@alanpennie8013]

Yep. It was Ceausescu's own henchmen who put him to death. He was the one most to blame, so why not make him take all the blame?

[@eedragonr1576]

Also he has been judged according to his own legislation which he forced upon his nation. Against human rights.

[@erikperik1671]

@@alanpennie8013 I definitely think he got what he deserved. But many others did not. Many criminals in the regime got away. Maybe even got to call themselves heroes.

[@alanpennie8013]

@@erikperik1671 I have just learned from Wikipedia that General Stanculescu, the man who had the Ceaucescus put to death, was imprisoned for 6 years because of complicity in the Timisoara atrocities.

[@erikperik1671]

@@alanpennie8013 okay cool. so at least he - and maybe some others too - got some justice. Good. The world is not completely ambivalent to the crimes of regimes. Thank you for the information!

[@SupremeLeaderKimJong-un]

Ceausescu visited my grandpa in Pyongyang, he loved it

[@vlad-ns6yt]

Yeah but he still held hands with the leader of China and not your grandpa so...

[@Alin-ql6it]

Yes

[@SupremeLeaderKimJong-un]

Tacun pe Bune He actually did with my grandpa, look it up

[@PandoraKin564]

Traitorous Troll.

[@SmokeyCosmy]

@Tacun pe Bune: He was actually a very big fan of North Korea and it's system.

[@Gaffate]

"The couple was found guilty and sentenced to spend the rest of their life in custody, which was literally 5 minutes because they were actually sentenced to death which was to be carried out immedietly" Laughed too hard at this

[@bluemoondiadochi]

well, TECHNICALLY the judge was right, tho he omitted one small detail (shooting).

[@sabrinas.5072]

Actually they weren't sentenced to life in custody, but execution. At that point that was all that the people could live with - the Ceausescu's immediate death

[@antonteodor6305]

@@sabrinas.5072 I don't think the average person actually wanted him dead. But the new regime certainly did.

[@ilewtf2234]

@@antonteodor6305 Nah, you kill when the occasion rises, have fun with it.

[@fosyay1780]

Gun sounds in the background sealed it.

[@martinmortyry7444]

3:04 "Romania's revolution is different to the other Eastern European ones [...] those who had been in the communist party were still running it." Yeah, about that...

[@danielszekeres8003]

Can confirm, in hungary the former communists turned into fascists...

[@andreimoga7813]

Cut to 30 years later... we still clean them up. And now it's their kids as well.

[@RS-kt6is]

@@andreimoga7813 We'll never get rid of them, sadly

[@sviatoslavs.1305]

Here, in Eastern Europe, we have: - modern Progressivists, who were - democrats yesterday, who were - innovators 2 days ago, who were - social-democrats 3 days ago, who were - commies 4 days ago. Yes, Eastern Europe is a mess BUT we live here, maybe we all have a chance to get rid of those former commies. Like in my country, we have prohibited extreme politics (a.k.a commies) but unfortunately we did only in *2015,* ffs, even though we banned the communist party back in 1991 but they were unbanned in 1993 because for some bureaucratic reasons. Edit: they are still here. Send help.

[@RS-kt6is]

​@@sviatoslavs.1305 new times, old us.

[@dimb9]

Ceaușescu: wow I wonder what my people will get me for Christmas Romanian people: 30 7.62x39 rounds, express delivery.

[@denisg2719]

29 actually

[@andreichivu7653]

Christmas ?...what Christmas ??...communists are atheists...they don't have Christmas nor Easter...

[@tylerhouston69]

Communists are more religious than most Christians actually.

[@gabrielmarian698]

Romanian mafia rather.

[@dr.manofculture1492]

@@tylerhouston69 in romania, even the communists are christians, and pretty much everyone is very religious.

[@HalfLifeExpert1]

Those Romanian TV Crews were heroes for keeping the feed live when the crowd started verbally attacking Ceausescu.

[@ad0lfchrist]

nope. all live events especially the ones involving the "royal couple" of the Ceausescus were highly scrutinized by the Securitate (basically the romanian SS). If anything was seen on live tv, it means they wanted it to be seen, if not, the transmission would stop immediately. Which basically means the Securitate had already moved on from the Ceausescus at that point and were already planning and negociating for the new government. Even by allowing ceausescu to come out in front of the crowd they were feeding him to the wolves. Everything that happened afterwards only confirms this, but it's a really complicated story. it takes much more than a 3 minute video to understand even 10% of what was going on in Romania in those crazy few days. but this video gets the main things right at least.

[@AlexanderRM1000]

@@ad0lfchrist Oh man that's a really interesting thing to consider. Makes a lot of sense and rather terrifying.

[@tonyslabu6373]

@@ad0lfchrist Romanian NKVD/KGB not SS

[@adrianstere]

@@ad0lfchrist Exactly! I find it very naive from western people as they can’t see the difference between a revolution and a professional coup. Ceausescu was removed by a coup KGB-CIA-Securitate disguised as a revolution. Unfortunately in the process this bastards killed more than 1000 people mostly innocent in order to cover the coup. And then they blamed Ceausescu and they close the case because as we all know it’s quite hard for a dead body to defend itself!

[@tepesobrejac4360]

Well, there was actually an interruption of the video transmition for some time until the crowds calmed (they did calm eventually, but the next day they came back angrier), but the audio transmition continued.

[@Strategic_Reformer]

For those wondering, Bulgaria didn't have a transition period because Zhivkov remained in power up until the end when he was ousted by his government, which then held free elections. Because of this lack of a transition period, Organized crime and oligarchs basically took over the country for a bit, sort of like the Russian Federation.

[@electron8262]

Has it improved since then?

[@kristiankepley5944]

@@electron8262 that’s what I’m wondering

[@johnkittoiv2572]

Legit u say it like Russia ISN'T STILL run by oligarchs. So now I'm wondering if Bulgaria suffers the same fate

[@KekusMagnus]

@@electron8262 no, it has not gotten better, oligarchs and the mafia effectively run the country and people have been fleeing in droves. Bulgaria's population declined by 30% since 1989 and it is still the fastest declining population in the world as of 2022. At this rate there will be no more Bulgaria in a few decades

[@ivaneurope]

@@electron8262 Actually it gets worse - in the 90's Bulgaria entered into a period of inflation...twice. It wasn't until 1997 though when the Bulgarian lev was pegged to the Deutschmark at an exchange rate of 1000 leva = 1 Deutchmark. Then in 1999 it became 1 lev = 1 Deutschmark and once Germany entered the Eurozone it became 1 Euro = 1.96 leva. It's predicted that by 2024 Bulgaria would adopt the Euro outright, but nothing would fundamentally change as Bulgaria is one of the countries with very low standard of living and really low wages especially outside the capital Sofia. As for the politics - last year alone there were 3 ellections for parlaiment and one for president. In the first parlaimentary ellection the ruling party GERB (whose popularity plumetted) won, but couldn't form a stable government, while the opposition bickered as well. In the second ellection, the anti-establisment ITN (Има Такъв Народ, translated for There is Such People), led by the showman and musician Slavi Trifonov, won, but the coalition broke apart fast. By the third legislative ellections (which were combined with the presidential), the Continuing The Change party (Продължаваме Промяната in Bulgarian), led by interim ministers Kiril Petkov (who was mired in controversy over his Canadian citizenship) and Asen Vasilev, won and formed a really odd coalition with the socialists, Trifonov's ITN party and the Democratic Bulgaria coalition (led by former minister of the early Borisov govenments Hristo Ivanov) with the sole goal to devoid GERB and the Movement for Rights and Freedom (considered as largely a party of the Turkish minority in Bulgaria) from any power.

[@blitzkrieg2928]

People explaining the Romanian revolution: Everyone: So anyways i started blasting

[@2nd100k]

No

[@Jakob_Herzog]

@@2nd100k Yes

[@Ajourneyofknowing]

allblocked1322 - In a way yes, it was like the most violent transition off of communism & the only country in which the dictatorship was killed for it

[@PANZERFAUST90]

fail

[@michaeltrumph121]

It was a coup staged as a revolution

[@marceloush2222]

As a romanian, I agree with what you said 100%. And about the members of the communist party who ran the country after the fall of the communist regime. They still run it today. One last thing. You are the only youtuber who said “Ceaușescu” correctly. I Apreciate it!

[@thunderbird1921]

Wasn't Moldova also run by the literal Communist Party again in tbe 2000s? I heard they came back to power for about a decade, the only country in Europe IIRC to ever actually go back to Communism after 1991. They were ousted around 2008-2010, from what I read.

[@gabrielc6252]

The people who run the country in the '80s are dead or very old

[@nikolay4101-s7r]

"It'd be best if they just sent the tanks in" - Someone in Bulgaria 14.12.1989

[@Edge50199]

"I give blood, but not the power." Another random idiot in Bulgaria around this time...

[@Dave_Sisson]

@Baldur Tell that to the former King Simeon II of Bulgaria who became prime minister after they got rid of communism.

[@brm5844]

@Baldur yes, very much. like imagine becoming democratic but the communist party winning two elections?* I m a g i n e*

[@brm5844]

@@Dave_Sisson actually, simeon didn't do shit. He raised the poppulations morale just because of nostalgia, won the elections, stole some real estate and abdicated when people started asking questions. The people themselfs got rid of communism, and you're hearing this from a stauch monarchist.

[@jevinliu4658]

@@brm5844 Imagine? It's pretty easy. I bet that quite a few people still have nostalgia for the communists, or the communists simply revised their policies to be more democratic, or somehow the previous administrations were too far to the right, so...

[@glaus7593]

After 1989 Romania: so , we are free now Iliescu: well yes but actually no

[@nokyatherobotowo]

i wouldn't say free ,more like under new management

[@alanpennie8013]

@@nokyatherobotowo Less oppressed.

[@RS-kt6is]

You should have seen how happy the old people were to vote back the Communists

[@eedragonr1576]

@@alanpennie8013 this is what you think: just search for Romania miners 1990.

[@alanpennie8013]

@@eedragonr1576 That was 6 months after Ceausescu was put to death. You can't expect things to instantly become perfect.

[@AverytheCubanAmerican]

“I have a dream” - Ceausescu

[@hoodclassicsofcalifornia]

Then went to trial and got sentenced to death. The Romanians sure know how to rightfully get rid of a leader.

[@andreimoga7813]

Alo! Alo! -Ceauşescu, wondering why the crowd isn't automatically cheering like the usual and starts making holes in the flag

[@PrymalDyno]

"Go Commit Die" - Random Protester Sign

[@teodorghinea425]

"Alo" - Ceaușescu, 1989

[@pureaidswithmemes8053]

I, Nicolae Ceaușescu, have a dream

[@hsxenon]

Small correction: "Those who have been in the communist party are* still running it." Also we somehow managed to keep Iliescu alive to this day.

[@srgyeetus670]

Iliescu is the male,romanian version of queen Elizabeth II

[@capncake8837]

@@srgyeetus670 And also the Romanian version of Gorbachev. That reminds me, Song Ping, a Chinese revolutionary, is still alive and is 106 or something.

[@ktm1125]

@@srgyeetus670 Yep. He is 92 and counting. Ngl he may outlast the Queen. I mean, we all know communism often took over from monarchy xD

[@PP266]

@@ktm1125 Who knows, maybe he will run against Klaus Iohannis. In communist years, 92 is quite young.

[@asessential9498]

@@ktm1125 Well he did

[@didivlogs2125]

After the revolution in June there was something called the MINERIADA (in romanian) where miners were sent to Bucharest to stop the protesters. It lasted 2-3 days And it was BRUTAL

[@sophieblue6289]

The whole Europe knows that, why do you think the integration was so difficult to receive?

[@alexvv7162]

The closest Romania got to a school shooting

[@gabrielmarian698]

@@sophieblue6289 the students didn't wanted communists.

[@selcovoilucian8253]

Nobody does school shootings like China

[@adrianstere]

@@sophieblue6289 “integration”?! I think more like colonization…

[@vlads3283]

When I was this early Wallachia was revolting against the Ottomans.

[@valentinmaican5744]

That last sentence made the whole video extra special. Thank you so much, so few foreigners know that the communist politicians stayed in power long after the revolution.

[@anothesecond3222]

PSD, ciuma roșie

[@bloqk16]

I had that revelation about the politicians staying in power from speaking with a person from the Czech Republic a decade ago. I asked him how the country was doing with communism gone. His response: Not much different, as the same politicians stayed in power after communism.

[@claudiuflorea2090]

They are still in power now, in 2032 under the party of PSD

[@a-trainstudios2360]

We got a time traveler here

[@Hamster7PL]

3:07 "Romania's revolution is different to the other Eastern European ones [...] those who had been in the communist party were still running it." Poland: You know nothing John Tepes

[@Cjnw]

Denazification removed Nazis. Only something similar could remove Communism.

[@vladimirpana7302]

The real difference that should have been mentioned in this video is that when communism fell in Romania over a thousand people died. I think that wasn't the case in other former communist countries.

[@darkalan1562]

There was no revolution

[@notyourdaddude1957]

Lol good comment

[@SkateSka]

Yea, Poland, Bulgaria and most of eastern Europe was no different.

[@paxromana9709]

Dude 0:20 absolutely nailed it, finally someone capable to pronounce correctly Ceausescu.

[@thecityshanker8913]

1:52 “I have a dream” This is why I love this channel It’s history, that’s funny and full of references

[@wardlockhart1522]

Last time I was this early Romania was ruled by Hohenzollerns

[@Alin-ql6it]

Romania was leding by Carol I Ferdinand I and Carol II and king Michael I * between 1978-1949 and Carol I and Ferdindn was Hohenzollerns but the situation is bit complicated

[@Tonyx.yt.]

last time i was this early romania was called dacia

[@kevinboros7427]

Ahhhhhh, Carol I. A real God of a man.

[@gheorghitaalsunculitei9146]

@@Alin-ql6it *1878

[@andreimoga7813]

Sorry, but it's Casa Regala a Romaniei. The Hohenzollerns don't really want to talk to the Royal Family after WW1.

[@kalatapie]

"Whilst Romania was no longer a communist country, those who had been in the communist party were still running it" That applies for modern day Bulgaria too. Our Prime Minister was once the bodyguard of the communist dictator Todor Jhivkov. I believe i won't need to explain how deep withing the party's structure you need to be to have convinced the dictator to entrust his survival to you.

[@kristiankepley5944]

Kinda like KGB/SS and stuff?

[@psychoticchannel3244]

Its all the old damn communists in romania and bulgaria too,we need to outlive them to win 😅😅😅

[@ktm1125]

Honestly, all comunist countries have this problem. Bcs you can't just move from comunism to democracy and expect everything to change. People who were communist, will still be around and have power even tho the country is technically democratic. To transition to a point where the soviet puppets will truly be democratic with no communists in power will take at lest 2/3 generations. So that there no longer will be actual parts of the communist regime alive.

[@Distress.]

That explains a lot about their current living standards

[@etherospike3936]

So the stupid one protecting the stupid is now the head of your state !

[@abdallatifalafandi2522]

1:58 “Go commit die” “historymatters character looks like Roblox characters” Hmmmm

[@bpkoiralaproductions6004]

Coincidence? I think not!

[@alphafoxtrot787]

History Matters characters look so cute not gonna lie, probably because they’re cubes

[@richardadams4928]

I remember seeing this unfold on TV at my grandmas house for Christmas that year. Downright shocking at the time.

[@sava.bogi25]

Finally, my country gets the recognition it deserves!! I feel so humble and so amazed that Romania is a topic for history videos, since we don't get that much recognition around the world, it truly and honestly puts a smile on my face. Thank you for making a video on my country, Mulțumesc! (Means "thank you" 😊)

[@juantamayo5295]

Hello, do Romanians want Moldova to join?

[@ToyotaCorollaFanboy]

Dragi tovarăși și prieteni!

[@loganwolfram4216]

As an American who is currently visiting Romania, just want to say your country is awesome!

[@ToyotaCorollaFanboy]

@@loganwolfram4216Yo, enjoy your stay fam.

[@ktm1125]

We actually get quite a bit of recognition. People know us for being extremely stubborn over very little and never giving into outside influence. All for our little piece of the world. As the famous meme says "It's not much, but it's honest work". Which i feel best describes us. All sorts of immense powers tried over and over, to take hold of us, to control us, they even tried to devide us. Yet in the end we always pulled back together, and regained control over our small piece of the world. And for all that i'm proud to be Romanian.

[@rusael333]

coming from a romanian, you hit the nail right on the head. great job!

[@deeboseph]

just wanted to throw in one of my fav quotes from history, a military commander's response after being ordered to send two helicopters to airlift Ceausescu to safety during the uprising: "According to Maluțan, it was 12:08 when they left for Snagov. After they arrived there, Ceaușescu took Maluțan into the presidential suite and ordered him to get two helicopters filled with soldiers for an armed guard, and a further Dauphin to come to Snagov. Maluțan's unit commander replied on the phone, 'There has been a revolution . . . You are on your own . . . Good luck!'."

[@Al3xthefrog]

Probably the most Romanian thing I've heard today.

[@concept5631]

That was the highlight of that unit's career.

[@Marulauriu710]

I am simple man I see history matters doing another video on Romania I click (Good video btw)

[@wallachia4797]

30 years ago we fired our president... Did I say we fired him? I meant we fired AT him.

[@Mr_T_Badger]

At least they didn’t eat the poor sod. 😋

[@mrniceguy7168]

I like how his Romanian rebel character is the guy from that iconic photo

[@peanutbumber5009]

Wait what iconic photo

[@mrniceguy7168]

please enter a name Google Romanian rebel

[@DioBrando-112]

@@mrniceguy7168 Mihai I

[@wikipediaintellectual7088]

@@mrniceguy7168 I know what you’re talking about now but that’s the first time I’ve seen this photo

[@Neddyfram]

what photo I cannot find it

[@spineshivers]

Brace yourselves! The "at least we had jobs and houses" fellow countrymen are coming.

[@exterminans]

We still have those wtf. Literally 97% of all Romanian citizens are homeowners (the other 3% are the Gypsy minority).

[@Edge50199]

@@exterminans Bulgarian here, do you guys still have those people with the member berries nostalgia from communism. In Bulgaria there are way too many people.

[@exterminans]

@@Edge50199 Not really. The ones who are that way are old people who are, in reality, just nostalgic for their youth which they conflate with the """golden age""" of communism lol.

[@SmokeyCosmy]

@@exterminans This is wrong (it's even hilarious.. it would mean each member of a familly, even children would own a home). 90% of all homes that exists in RO are owned by their residents (people that live there) and 97% of all homes are held by private people (as opposed to a firm).

[@exterminans]

@@SmokeyCosmy yes

[@flaviusmiron9171]

Finally a video about Romania, I love your work, it really inspired me to learn more about history. Keep up the great work you do, greetings from Romania :D

[@anaiova7516]

My mom lived in Timisoara where the revolution started, she was 19 years old and went to the communist prison after being caught with a bible. She went to prison for 2 weeks until Ceausescu was killed on Christmas and then she was released, she came to America in 1990.

[@dinos9607]

@Imperialist-brazilian(Happy tree friends) It became also the sex-destination in Europe, so she may have escaped that as well. Romania is finally doing better with a strong production base. I am glad, because Romanians are a great nation.

[@mariasirona1622]

Which country there?

[@Uralixium]

@Imperialist-brazilian(Happy tree friends) what? many countries in Eastern europe outpace romania in economy such as Poland and Russia, if you mean GDP per capita then you are outpaced by basically everyone in eastern europe: Estonia,latvia,lithuania,poland,slovakia,Hungary and etc all have higher standards of living, higher standards of life expectancy and etc. Romania is very far from being a rich country let alone richest in eastern europe

[@Uralixium]

@Imperialist-brazilian(Happy tree friends) romania is kinda complicated. they are a percent balkan,some percent eastern european. Romania is a confusing country

[@dyawr]

@@Uralixium Romania is *not* that confusing & our GDP per capita has exceeded the Russian GDP some time ago (from what I remember). Also, it's doing much better & grown a lot in the last 10-20 years. The standards of living in Romania are definitely comparable to those of the rest of Eastern Europe & oftentimes just *marginally* bellow. And that is because geography plays a big role - the more South you go, the poorer the countries become. Maybe it is cultural, but more likely geopolitical. So I don't know where you're from, but you have an outdated view. (And if you're Romanian, learn to be fcking patriotic for a change & stop putting ur country down - nobody is gonna appreciate it for you)

[@alexandruiulian1921]

I applaud you for saying Ceauseacu's name correctly. Also, the 's' in Timisoara is spelled as 'sh', like in 'sheep'.

[@thehoosher9322]

Its a good day when history matters uploads

[@floricel_112]

0:38 the guy with the funny hat is Mihai Viteazul (Mihai the Brave), the first ruler to successfully unite the romanian countries at the start of the 17th century....for about a year before being killed. The one with the funny moustache is Alexandru Ioan Cuza, the ruler to successfully unite unite the romanian countries for good (also reformed the education system by making elementary and high school learning free)

[@Proximixum]

I want to saybthwts Mihai Viteazul but the mustache with the hat in question looks like Vlad Tepeş. Mihai wore a fur hat with a feather. Vlad had the beaded headband with the prongs in the front.

[@DanGamboa]

Details as the flag with the hole is what makes this channel my absolute fav on KZbin.

[@FeZe1997]

If you guys don't know, he is the second longest ruling leader of the country, with 25 years in power The first one being King Carol with 48

[@franciscdanca]

Not if you consider Stephen of Moldavia who reigned for 47 years

[@newstartyt3700]

@@franciscdanca no, he means in like the united Romania that was made in 1878

[@SamAronow]

I was born during this revolution. I turned 30 on 18 December.

[@johnwakefield5007]

Excellent video. I went to Romania in 1992 love the country. 🇷🇴👍♥️

[@a.n.6374]

The last sentence actually applies to Bulgaria as well. Until this very day.

[@xE1NSTE1Nx]

1:16 "Save money, reuse syringes" had me chuckling

[@matel4692]

that was absolutely a real thing, they would boil the used syringes and re-use them

[@albundy4367]

Glass not plastic ones. And the needles were boiled and reused too...

[@adrianstere]

Ceausescu is removed by a coup disguised as a revolution. People: “So now we are finally free!” Iliescu: “I wouldn’t say free, more like, under new management!”

[@gigikontra7023]

Ahahaha

[@HistoryHustle]

The Romanian Revolution was the only violent overthrow of communism. Interesting part of history. Thanks for covering.

[@zolee2002]

*Yugoslav gunshots* Hmmmm

[@octavianpopescu4776]

@@zolee2002 Yes, but that wasn't as much about overthrowing communism, as much as it was about independence.

[@robertjarman3703]

Somalia, South Yemen, Afghanistan, Mozambique, Ethiopia, the Caucasus, and others?

[@Yora21]

The grestest irony of history was that communism was overthrown by workers uniting to get rid of the ruling elite.

[@restrictedarea9360]

@@Yora21 the second greatest irony is that converting to capitalism destroyed all ex-commie countries' economies. "The breakdown of economic ties that followed the collapse of the Soviet Union led to a severe economic crisis and catastrophic fall in living standards in post-Soviet states and the former Eastern Bloc,[130] which was even worse than the Great Depression.[131][132] Poverty and economic inequality surged between 1988-1989 and 1993-1995, with the Gini ratio increasing by an average of 9 points for all former socialist countries.[133] Even before Russia's financial crisis in 1998, Russia's GDP was half of what it had been in the early 1990s.[132] In the decades following the end of the Cold War, only five or six of the post-communist states are on a path to joining the wealthy capitalist West while most are falling behind, some to such an extent that it will take over 50 years to catch up to where they were before the end of communism.[134][135] In a 2001 study by economist Steven Rosefielde, he calculated that there were 3.4 million premature deaths in Russia from 1990 to 1998, which he partly blames on the "shock therapy" that came with the Washington Consensus.[136] " The only reason some countries did do well was because of economic support by the EU and the US.

[@cerebrummaximus3762]

I like how he's the only non-Romanian to pronounce "Ceaușescu" correctly, but then he just gives up and starts saying "che-ow-che-skoo"

[@user-hx3ng2nq5i]

Caucescu:gives a speech crowd:hates him caucescu:you weren’t supposed to do that

[@georgigoranov4445]

Most important thing is that my guy James B is back supporting the channel.

[@raresremetan2001]

Please make more videos about Romania! I really enjoy your work! Keep it on, you’re very talented!

[@andysmarandescu7452]

This is down right accurate, good job man

[@angrydoggo7160]

"Hello! Comrades! Silence! Comrades!"

[@sviatoslavs.1305]

"You suck" - Meanwhile in Romania, c. 1989

[@octavianpopescu4776]

"Stand in your places. What's wrong with you?" Even the people who are nostalgic about communism don't miss her... nobody liked her, not even the hardcore communists.

[@vladtepes6342]

@@octavianpopescu4776 ALO! ALO! TOVARASI! ASEZATI-VA LINISTITI!

[@arkady714]

One very visible example of Bucharest's quasi-independence from Moscow was that they were the only Eastern Bloc country to ignore the boycott of the 1984 Olympic Games in LA and send their team. As their female gymnastics were the greatest in the world, they were not going to miss out on glory. Side note: Mary Lou Renton, the US darling of those games, was trained by the Romanian defector and former coach of the great Nadia Comaneci, Bela Karolyi.

[@merrittanimation7721]

0:19 Oh so that's how you pronounce Ceaușescu. My previous idea of how to pronounce it was "That jerkish Communist Romanian guy" because I couldn't wrap my head around any of it.

[@fane757]

Basically just cha-oo-sh-ask-oo

[@kamikazebanzai1005]

@@fane757 who says ask like that?

[@emanueldobos8452]

Cha-oo-shez-koo? It's hard to find ways to phonetically spell it without using the proper phonetic alphabet, I guess.

[@kamikazebanzai1005]

@@emanueldobos8452 That would sound much better

[@octavianpopescu4776]

Every letter is a sound and every sound is a letter. Romanian is really easy to read: just say the letters in quick succession. C followed by e or i sounds like "ch" in cheer (if not followed by those 2 letters it would sound like k), e is always like e in desk, a is always like a in park, u is like oo in school, ș is like sh in sheep, s is always s, c is like c in cool. So it would be pronounced like Ch-e-a-oo-sh-e-s-k-oo. I noticed lots of English speakers pronounce our names ending in -escu as -esq, but it should sound like -eskoo.

[@Maus_Indahaus]

In Montenegro former communists still rule the country. There are huge protests there at the moment as the country tries to seize almost all church property to be sold for profits. Their excuse for this action is that in Montenegro dominant church is Serbian orthodox church, and since Montenegro became independent they try to prove they are a completely different nation than Serbs. They have proclaimed that official language in the country is Montenegrin despite it being almost identical to Serbian (there are for example even less differences than between American and British English). They have invented 2 new letters in their alphabet just to prove that. They also prefer Latin alphabet since Serbs use Cyrillic. Despite all this there is still a huge Serbian minority in Montenegro, so they try to destroy them in various ways (in peaceful ways, but intolerance is obvious). There are almost no Serbs in police, many Serbs are paid 500 € (around 550$ which is a lot of money here) to declare themselves as Montenegrins and few days ago just before protests started they have arrested Serbian minority in their parliament. As they try to promote unofficial and unrecognised Montenegrin orthodox church instead of official, recognized Serbian orthodox church, many Montenegrins also joined the protests. It is also worth noting that in both Serbia and Montenegro there are sort of "soft dictatorships", as presidents of both these countries try to present themselves as democratically chosen presidents while rigging elections in their favor, destroy counties economies for their personal profits and try to promote nationalism to divert public attention from their actions.

[@elseggs6504]

Impossible! They are free market democracies! Such flawless ideas could never possibly exploited for anyones selfish gains. /s

[@PinkyJujubean]

We watched the Romanian revolution on CNN in school. I remember watching it in history class and out teacher telling us that we were witnessing history. It was on the last day before Christmas break.

[@gigikontra7023]

Yeah, a staged revolution by USSR, with their actors and puppets. USSR had by this point negotiated renouncing communism, but things went a bit too far with Ukraine asking for independence, which was not the initial plan. So russians are trying to "fix" that now.

[@fluxie120]

You really do make some of the best videos.

[@DKRsixnine]

The people running Bulgaria after 1989 were(mostly) also previously part of the BCP and the Committee of National Security(basically secret police). They simply removed the man running the country until 1989, and "transitioned" the country to the free market by privatizing all of the important companies to their own guys. Pretty much what also happened in Russia.

[@agactual2]

Been waiting years for this video from History Matters. God damn awesome!

[@matei8master8]

Every single guy that History Matters draws is beautifully executed. Now I wanna see a video about Vlad.

[@ECloudDog]

Could you do a video explaining the London and Washington Naval Treaties? They were a very important yet quite unknown factor during the Interwar Period.

[@КнязХанибал]

Nice video man! A pleasure to watch as always. Would you be at all willing to do the same video for Bulgaria? I would be flattered :)

[@2goodAJ]

My father was witness to all of this , he had friends from school murdered , later that year he escaped to Yugoslavia then to Italy then to the United States where I live today 1:46

[@dodotvmusic]

Fellow romanian here F

[@mikemancini313]

​@@dodotvmusicAmerican: Do you have any good memories of Romania? American: Well...?

[@dietsch5273]

Again a great video keep it up man

[@thatevlcanadian]

Awesome! I would love to see Bulgaria's story from this time

[@AftermathRV]

2:27 I did not expect that sudden escalation. I did laugh a lot about it I almost spilled my tea onto my keyboard.

[@igorsmihailovs52]

"Unlike other former Eastern block states, it was still run by people who were in the Communist party." I believe that within the former USSR this was a much more common trait, like in Ukraine or in Central Asia.

[@souvikrc4499]

And those former communists turned into oligarchs.

[@ezefinkielman4672]

And the KGB is still active. The flags change but the methods are the same.

[@rarescevei8268]

The PSD party in Romania(it's largest political party) is literarly the former communist party

[@randomidiot9890]

I demand you stop reading my mind. I was thinking about this yesterday, and I know you used your evil mind reading device on me. But WOW you animate fast! All this in one day?

[@v.emiltheii-nd.8094]

Name checks out.

[@Void_Dweller7]

I guess not, it was pre recorded and animated.

[@Arunemor]

I love the attentions detail with the flag (with and without the hole in it).

[@gme4701]

Great video, I love the flag with the hole in it, good detail.

[@oilersridersbluejays]

I still giggle every time someone is smiling and runs through a field of daisies on these videos.

[@georgetaporea3671]

I like the background of the credits. It's inspired from the Moldavian-Romanian lead singer of a band called The Motans :))

[@mateiaprozianu3289]

This is the only guy who pronounces Ceaușescu faintly all right.

[@benjiusofficial]

2:51 Iliescu on stage: "We've heard you."

[@sbarr10]

Totally love how the treatment by the Ceausescus of dissenters totally boomeranged back on them.

[@Ben-sl8tj]

Bulgaria also had a similar situation where it became a democratic state, but those who had been in charge of the communist government remained in charge. The Bulgarian Communist Party just changed its name to the Bulgarian Socialist Party.

[@vladtepes6342]

same to us PCR (romanian communist party) now is called social democratic party of romania (PSD) with all the cool guys in it! Iliescu, Dragnea you name them!

[@Alexander99602]

Aaaaand nowadays Romanians experience a national wide anxiety whenever they see comunism

[@BrotherSeb]

Take that America we're the true Anti-Commies!

[@deniszdrv4601]

PSD: Hello

[@kousvetkousvet4158]

@LIVIU DRAGNEA what has that to do with communism? They supplied them because they were allies, do you know there was a thing called Cold War?

[@emc8476]

@@kousvetkousvet4158 look at his pfp and name liviu dragnea is a bigot that got sent to jail for his abuses of power You shouldn't listen to him because our prime minister that was also a member of psd like liviu dragnea didn't even know the neighbours of romania. She also said she that she doesn't want to speak English because that is not patriotic. Just like her Liviu Dragnea is a trash that should be ashamed for his entire existence

[@Nina-oo8eo]

No, we don't.

[@cerjmedia]

"You're going to spend the rest of your life in custody" has the same energy as saying "you'd spend the rest of your life falling if you jump out of plane without a parachute" I mean, you're not wrong

[@DerexArchives]

i can always count on you to give me some history knowledge

[@macblackadder93]

I love how YT had this on the list to watch, being a week before the anniversary of the revolution.

[@_JOJ_]

I love the Vlad the Impaler references in this video.

[@Kabutoes]

“The couple were found guilty and sentenced to spend the rest of their lives in custody which was literally five minutes because they were actually sentenced to death which happened immediately” 😂

[@ggbpartystarter5958]

Love it, please do another video about the mineriads and the continuation of the democratisation of Romania and the mineriads

[@oliversherman2414]

I love your channel keep up the great stuff!

[@mobilewithpedro5908]

Love your videos

[@dragos4044]

Me, a Romanian: comments on a vid A vid about Romania: is made Me: Could I be the green ninja?

[@Potocalter]

Finally someone who pronounced Ceaușescu right

[@kevincornelius9358]

You should do a video about Vlad the Impaler at some point in the future. Want to know more about them.

[@adriandima89]

Man, beautiful content 😂 Well put👍

[@blaziking0577]

This video introduced me to your channel

[@corneliu-mihaimagureanu6626]

Fun fact depending on how good your family was treated by the party it depended with who they allied during the revolution for example my grandparents and mother were on the side of the government supporting communism

[@elenagolosio4363]

That's interesting. In Russia, the majority of us wanted communism to stay, but the government said "no, fuck you". Yeah, 1990s in Russia were pretty terrible.

[@deepwildviolet]

@@elenagolosio4363 what about how Christians were being treated, churches and monasteries destroyed, etc? Not trying to "gotcha," just wanting to ask someone who was there what it was like.

[@elenagolosio4363]

@@deepwildviolet my grand-grandmother became secretly a christian during the Soviet Union, I know that she joined a secret orthodox group which used to reunite at some member's house.

[@deepwildviolet]

@@elenagolosio4363 very interesting, thanks for the reply. Do you know how she or family felt about communism?

[@elenagolosio4363]

@@deepwildviolet my family had overall a really good view about communism, she was the only christian along with my mother. As a half Italian who lived in both countries, I can say that in Russia there's a completely different approach to politics than in the West, or even than in some other Eastern Europe countries, like Poland. In Russia, liberal ideals aren't common, people just act like the government isn't their responsability. I mean, it was never a "free" country, so people just care about living a normal life, and they don't give a shit about democracy or stuff like that.

[@Palestina.non.grata86]

The fighting was crazy from what I was told. I have a friend who was born in Sibiu in 1985, and remembered yelling 'down with Ceauşescu' at the age of 4, being told to pipe down by his father, out of fear of being shot or arrested. An ex of mine was born in Petroşani in 1986, and her first memory is watching the 'trial' of Nicolae and Elena and their subsequent execution. The horrible irony was that they also grew up under Ion Iliescu's Romania, and felt that life was actually worse under him, a view also shared by their parents who'd properly lived under both.

[@gigikontra7023]

Well, Iliescu was basically appointed by Moscow and had full support of Shevardnadze.

[@patrickcurtis4188]

Can you do the Texas revolution please?

[@connork5333]

Im texan and I want this too

[@patrickcurtis4188]

Connor K same

[@merrittanimation7721]

@Thorne Remember Goliad

[@patrickcurtis4188]

Merritt Animation come and take it!

[@Mark93944]

Great video, facinating country!

[@octavian8b]

Hahaha!!! Nice! As a Romanian I didn't expect a Romania episode after 30 years from the revolution. Nice!