The Romanian Revolution of 1989 started in the city of Timișoara on 16 December and soon spread throughout the country, ultimately culminating in the show trial and execution of longtime Communist Party General Secretary Nicolae Ceaușescu and his wife Elena on 25 December (Christmas Day), and the end of 42 years of Communist rule in Romania. The regime reacted violently, loyal members of the army and the Securitate (a kind of romanian NKVD) opening the fire on demonstrators, arresting, torturing and killing many thousands of people.
Between 16 and 22 December, when Ceauşescu fleed the capital, it can be said that it was a popular uprising that turned into a revolution (with about 1100 deaths), but since 22 December the revolution was confiscated by the National Salvation Front (FSN), composed mainly of former members of the second echelon of the Communist Party, which quickly took the power. The violences that continued until December 27 had no other purpose than to legitimize with blood the new power.
The FSN subsequently became a political party, and won the 1990 election under the leadership of then-President Ion Iliescu. The FSN is the common ancestor of two of the largest active political parties in Romania today: the Social Democratic Party and the National Liberal Party. Unfortunately, autocratic tendencies, communist methods, discretionary politics and systematic robbery of the country have not disappeared even now in Romania, today's political class, corrupt and incapable, the successor of the one who stole the power in 1989 and has kept it almost constant since then, sinking the country into poverty and backwardness.
In this postcard appear two Romanians reading newspaper România Liberă (lit. "Free Romania") a publication of the Communist Party, which in December 1989 was re-launching as an independent newspaper. To the right is the flag of the anti-Ceaușescu protesters, with the coat of arms of the Socialist Republic of Romania cut out of the middle. These flags were called "the flag with the hole". Even today, these flags are occasionally waved in the wake of certain street protests, especially regarding government misconduct.
About the stamp
The stamp is part of the series Love Nature! Ceahlău National Park, about which I wrote here.
References
Romanian Revolution - Wikipedia
Sender: Mihnea Răducu
Sent from Bucharest (Romania), on 22.12.2017
Issued by Romanian Post in 2004 to mark the 15 Anniversary of the Romanian Revolution of 1989.
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