rime
minister. Although it was not mentioned in the constitution, the
Communist Party functioned as the supreme decisionmaking authority over
and above that of the government.

The right of ownership of private property was guaranteed, although the
constitution provided that privately held means of production, banks,
and insurance companies could be nationalized when the "general
interest" so required. Less than two months after the adoption of the
constitution, the Grand National Assembly applied this "general
interest" principle and nationalized all banking, industrial, insurance,
mining, and transportation enterprises.

Described in the constitution in anticipation of their actual
establishment, the organs of state power in the regions, counties,
districts, and communes were designated "people's councils." Formally
established by law in 1949, these bodies were organized into a
centralized system in which the lower level councils were fully
subordinated to the next higher council and all functioned under the
direct control of the central organs of government.

Changes that were effected in the political, social, and economic
structure of the country after 1948 were incorporated into a new
constitution in 1952. Patterned largely after the 1936 Constitution of
the Soviet Union, the 1952 document specifically designated the Romanian
Workers' Party (title of the Communist Party between 1948 and 1965) as
the representative of the working class and the country's leading
political force. The nation's close ties with the Soviet Union were
strongly emphasized. Several references to the Soviet Union glorified
its role in the liberation of the country from fascism during World War
II and described the Soviets as great friends of the Romanian people.
Whereas the 1948 Constitution declared that "the Romanian People's
Republic was born amid the struggle conducted by the people, under the
leadership of the working class, against fascism, reaction, and
imperialism," that of 1952 asserted the republic "was born and
consolidated following the liberation of the country by the armed forces
of the Soviet Union."

As did the 1948 Constitution, that of 1952 guaranteed full equality to
the country's national minority groups, but the 1952 Constitution also
established an autonomous administrative unit, the Hungarian Autonomous
Region (Mures-Magyar), for the large Hungarian population. The region
was given its own people's council and loc