whole. Romania was to be
assigned the role of a supplier of raw materials and agricultural
produce for the more industrially developed members (see ch. 2).

Gheorghiu-Dej rejected such a subservient role for Romania and proceeded
with his own plans for the country's industrial development, asserting
the right of each COMECON member state to develop its own economy in
accord with national needs and interests, a position that was, in turn,
rejected by the Soviets. As a reaction to Soviet pressures and the need
to lessen Romanian dependence on COMECON, the regime initiated a gradual
and cautious expansion of economic relations with noncommunist states.

In 1957 Ion Gheorghe Maurer became minister of foreign affairs and,
under the direction of Gheorghiu-Dej, initiated programs that emphasized
the national character of Romanian foreign policy. Included in these
programs were plans for the attainment of self-sufficiency in the
machine-tool industry and in the production of iron and steel. At the
same time, additional steps were taken to increase trade with Western
Europe and the United States.

The conflict with the Soviet Union became more acute in 1962 when
Gheorghiu-Dej again rejected the COMECON plan for Romania and, later in
the year, announced that a contract for the construction of a large
steel mill at Galati had been concluded with a British-French
consortium. Romanian statements in support of Albania further
antagonized the Soviet leaders. During 1963 and 1964 Romanian-Soviet
relations continued to deteriorate as the Gheorghiu-Dej regime sought to
exploit the Sino-Soviet dispute and moved closer to the Communist
Chinese position on the equality of communist states and the rejection
of the leading role of the Soviet party. In November 1963 Maurer
declared the readiness of Romania to mediate the Sino-Soviet dispute, a
suggestion that Moscow considered arrogant and anti-Soviet.

A statement issued by the party Central Committee in April 1964 declared
the right of Romania and all other nations to develop national policies
in the light of their own interests and domestic requirements. During
the remainder of that year the volume of economic and cultural contacts
with Western nations increased significantly. The increased role of the
United States in the Vietnam hostilities, however, served to curb the
Gheorghiu-Dej regime's efforts to improve relations with the United
States, and the sudden death of Gheorghiu-Dej in M