Romania's dictator Nicolae Ceausescu's final speech (executed 12/25) More Notable Events on December 21: 1997 Detroit Lions Barry Sanders is 3rd to run for 2,000 yards in a season 1991 U.S. actress Jane Fonda marries CNN-director Ted Turner 1989 Dan Quayle sends out 30,000 Xmas cards with word beacon spelled beakon The counsel for the defense now takes the floor and instructs the Ceauescus once again that they have the right to defense and that they should accept this right. PROSECUTOR: This is how you worked with the people and exercised your functions! The prosecutor cites all academic titles she had always claimed to have. It is surpassingly perilous not only for the country, but also for the ruler who relies on it. Elena and Nicolae Ceauescu state: Well, you told us about it. The bill of indictment contains the following points: Genocide, in accordance with Article 356 of the penal code. For example, there isa silent falling away among American allies. PROSECUTOR: Will you sign the statement now or not? The great Ceauescu escape attempt came after it had become clear that most of the army had gone over to the people. CEAUSESCU: I will not say anything more. 20072021 Roy Rosenzweig Center for History & New Media Have you understood them? CEAUSESCU: She was not a deputy prime minister, but the first deputy prime minister. Sooner or later an administration neuters itself from sheer implausibility. We live in a normal apartment, just like every other citizen. PROSECUTOR: Mr. Chairman, we find the two accused guilty of having committed criminal actions according to the following articles of the penal code: Articles 162, 163, 165 and 357. The prosecutor wants to find out on which basis the trial can be continued. The streets and squares of Bucharest were littered with torn portraits and shattered busts of the President and his wife. The prosecutor says: The world already knows what has happened here. NICOLAE CEAUESCU: No, we had no palaces. I ask the chairman of the prosecutor's office to read the bill of indictment. About No one was shot. NICOLAE CEAUESCU: No, we will not sign. They were not really interested in the people. Faithless Execution: Building the Political Case for Obamas Impeachment Soon afterwards, Bucharest television reported that Mr Ceauescu and his wife were no longer in the country. Military base Tirgoviste - December 25th 1989. Sections in italic type are from Austrian television comentary: NICOLAE CEAUESCU: I only recognize the Grand National Assembly. The palaces belong to the people. But those who shot at the young people were the security men, the terrorists. Do you want to sign this statement? , Now career military personnel are speaking out through gritted teeth, insisting they speak for active-duty personnel who cannot talk without being punished. . Ceauescus hated son, Nicu, a one-time candidate to follow his father as the countrys leader, was said to have been arrested in the city of Sibiu as he was trying to take hostages. This is a legal trial, and I honor them by defending them. PROSECUTOR: Did you know about the genocide in Timisoara? PROSECUTOR: We have always spoken of equality. A photo of a television screen of Nicolae Ceauescu delivering his last public speech from the balcony of the Romanian Communist Party headquarters, 21 December 1989. PROSECUTOR: We have wonderful programs. The English translation is by the U.S. government's Foreign Broadcast Information Service. The final speech of the prosecutor follows: PROSECUTOR: It is very difficult for us to act, to pass a verdict on people who even now do not want to admit to the criminal offenses that they have committed during 25 years and admit to the genocide, not only in Timisoara and Bucharest, but primarily also to the criminal offenses committed during the past 25 years. A lie, a lie in my face. NICOLAE CEAUESCU: We had no account in Switzerland. Some people will continue to believe the narrative, but even among the acolytes, the fatal smoke of doubt has entered the temple. Tip Jar or Subscribe or Unsubscribe to the Belmont Club. UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER: Mr. President, I would like to know something: The accused should tell us who the mercenaries are. Ceauescu's final speech is a speech delivered by Romanian dictator Nicolae Ceauescu on 21 December 1989. Richard is soon unhorsed on the field at the climax of the battle, and cries out, A horse, a horse, my kingdom for a horse! But wags through the ages have rewritten the lines perhaps less poetically, but more accurately as a hearse, a hearse, my kingdom for a hearse. That sad funereal vehicle is always drawn by teams of corrupt information. NICOLAE CEAUESCU: I repeat: I am the president of Romania and the commander in chief of the Romanian army. In fact, his speech on August 21, 1968 in defiance of the military actions taken by Moscow and a few of her allies in Czechoslovakia roused quite a considerable amount of support for not only himself, but for the Patriot Guards as well. Workers, military units and other popular organizations were bused to the capitol and given orders on where to stand, when to applaud and what to sing. A tyrant stops knowing the difference. NICOLAE CEAUESCU: What? Fuelled by the events taking place in Berlin (the wall had come down just a few weeks before) and the ripple impact of the weakening Iron Curtain, Romanians had taken to the streets in . Who pays them? Recent items of interest by Belmont readers based on Amazon click-throughs. PROSECUTOR: We now have another leading organ. One of the fundamental defenses of a democracy is the truth. By the morning of 22 December, the rebellion had already spread to all major cities across the country. KGB technicians and agents made one of the most brilliant moves and played a recording of whistles and protests through installed speakers in the square. NICOLAE CEAUESCU: No, no. Copyright 2023 PJMedia.com/Salem Media. The following is a transscript of the closed trial of Romanian Dictator Nicolae Ceausescu and his wife, Elena, as shown on Romanian and Austrian television. He then tried to placate the crowd by offering to raise workers salaries He did not realize, however, that a real revolution was starting before his eyes. It should be stated once and for all that this military court is absolutely legal and that the former positions of the two Ceausescus are no longer valid. As hard as it may be to believe, there was a time when . Ceausescu claims that the putsch was organized from abroad. The prosecutor quotes Ceausescu, Ceausescu's program. I have no statement to make, and I will not sign one. If you had had a mental illness and admitted this, you would not be responsible for your acts. Another question to Ceauescu: Who ordered the bloodbath in Timisoara. Sudden realizations are like a crash; its not the fact of deceleration that is fatal so much as the suddenness of it. The workers were augmented by bystanders who were rounded up on Calea Victoriei. [1], His security guard appeared, disappeared and, finally, hustled Ceauescu off the balcony. Now the counsel for the defense, who was appointed by the court, asks whether Nicolae and Elena Ceauescu know the aforementioned facts that he is no longer president, that she has lost all official functions. The mighty Law of the Land is exposed as all bark and no bite; a fine they cant enforce. Ceausescu's last speech was interrupted but not by the shouts of the masses. The Soviet Parliament expressed its approval of the fall of President Ceauescu and sent to the Romanian people a special message of support proposed by President Gorbachev. Thousands of workers were bussed into the square under threat of being fired. The balcony where Ceauescu delivered his last speech, taken over by the crowd during the Romanian Revolution of 1989 The speech was typical of most of Ceauescu's speeches over the years. JUDECATORUL: Va rog sa luati loc. I hope that you do not also work for the foreigners and for the destruction of Romania. Why do the peasants then buy their bread in Bucharest? When the crisis comes the Leader Maximus discovers to his absolute surprise that all support has vanished. We have ensured an apartment for every citizen through corresponding laws. His security guard appears, disappears and, finally, hustles Ceausescu off the balcony. Dressed in a black Persian lamb hat with matching coat collar, Ceausesecu, 71, was . I have done everything to create a decent and rich life for the people in the country, like in no other country in the world. He was Secre. For example,the administration recently issued a new list of prisoners to be released from Guantanamo, citing theirpractice of yogaas proof they had reformed. Forget the pontifications from the myriad talking heads on TV and radio. They obstructed the normal process of the economy. This speech was an annual event and carefully scripted by the regime to insure both success and the appearance of popular support. ELENA CEAUESCU: How can one tell us something like this? Therefore, it is a mistake for the two accused to refuse to cooperate with us. ELENA CEAUSESCU: The terrorists are from Securitate. Description One of the most decisive moments in the Romanian Revolution of 1989 was Ceausescu's December 21st speech (or lack thereof). The counsel for the defense now takes the floor and instructs the Ceausescus once again that they have the right to defense and that they should accept this right. But those who shot at the young people were the security men, the terrorists. What do you say as a citizen? Elena answers: The intellectuals of this country should hear you, you and your colleagues. Workers, military units and other popular organizations were bused to the capitol and given orders on where to stand, when to applaud and what to sing. At that very moment, many everyday Romanians saw the weakness of Ceauescu's regime for the first time. They not only deprived the people of heating, electricity, and foodstuffs, they also tyrannized the soul of the Romanian people. VIENNA, Austria (AP) _ For the first time that anybody could remember, Romanian President Nicolae Ceausescu was interrupted at a public speech by boos and jeers that began a huge demonstration against him in Bucharest Thursday. Eight minutes into the speech, some in the crowd actually began to scream because there was a shooting that occurred in the background. Romanian dictator Nicolae Ceausescu appeared on the balcony of the Central Committee of Comunmunist Party of Romania building, in Bucharest, Romania, on 21 December 1989, and began as he had in years past, with a speech laden with the usual `wooden language`. Only the front rows supported Ceauescu with cheers and applause, with most of the crowd remaining impassive. The palaces belong to the people. His 1936 mugshot at age 18 still haunts the internet. We must not allow the slightest impression of illegality to emerge. However, why are your programs not implemented? Please make a note that here it has been stated that all legal regulations have been observed, that this is a legal trial. Elena and Nicolae Ceauescu should be punished in a really legal trial. Elena and Nicolae reject this. An important historical square located on Victoriei Street. [2], Ceauescu appeared on the balcony of the Central Committee building and began as he had in years past, with a speech laden with the usual "wooden language." Elena Ceauescu's last moments were as pathetic as one could imagine. I have nothing to do with them. Elena says: Look, and that they are calling genocide. What happened? He still considers himself to be the country's president and the commander in chief of the army. You were so impertinent as to cut off oxygen lines in hospitals and to shoot people in their hospital beds. As the crowd becomes more unruly, Ceausescu becomes more confused and he begins arguing with the unseen hecklers. "Video of Ceausescus Last Speech, December 1989," in World History Commons, https://worldhistorycommons.org/video-ceausescus-last-speech-december-1989 [accessed March 4, 2023], Roy Rosenzweig Center for History and New Media. Ceausescu refused to answer. Frederich Hayek identified the primary reason why tyrants fall: they rely on the poisoned cup of centralized knowledge.
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