60
and 1969 288

[Illustration: _Figure 1. Romania_.]

SECTION I. SOCIAL

CHAPTER 1

GENERAL CHARACTER OF THE SOCIETY

The Romanian Communist Party (Partidul Comunist Roman--PCR) is the
leading force in the political, economic, and social life of Romania.
The party general secretary, Nicolae Ceausescu, in early 1972 celebrated
his seventh anniversary in power, displaying complete confidence in the
stability of his regime. Ceausescu serves concurrently as the president
of his country, which is known officially as the Socialist Republic of
Romania. Although tied militarily and economically to the Soviet Union
through membership in the Warsaw Treaty Organization (Warsaw Pact) and
the Council for Mutual Economic Assistance (COMECON), Romania since the
mid-1950s has pursued an independent course in both its internal
development and its foreign relations.

In April 1964, in furtherance of its independent stance, the PCR Central
Committee issued a statement concerning the rights of all communist
parties and socialist states to choose their own methods of development
according to "the concrete historic conditions prevailing in their own
countries." This statement, which has been referred to as Romania's
declaration of independence, was directed primarily to the leaders of
the Soviet Union and, in effect, was a warning to them to cease their
interference in the domestic and foreign affairs of Romania. It was a
declaration of sovereign rights and self-determination by which the
Romanian Communists asserted that they were the masters of their
country's destiny rather than a puppet state to be manipulated by and
for outside interests.

The reasons that the Soviet Union did not crack down on its former
subservient satellite are both obscure and complex. One factor operating
in favor of the Romanians was the rift that had developed between the
two communist giants--the Soviet Union and the People's Republic of
China. The rift had become very deep, and the Soviets were striving to
gain adherents to their position in the struggle and probably were
reluctant to use force against Romania because of the danger of
alienating other communist parties. It is probable that dissension
within the Moscow leadership, which shortly ended the career of Premier
Nikita Khrushchev, also inhibited action against Romania.

In their drive to establish rights of autonomy and f