Building the Nation, Instrumentalizing Nationalism: Revisiting Romanian National-Communism, 1956–1989

When approaching the issue of Romanian national-communism, it is Nicolae Ceauşescu's flamboyant display of chauvinistic nationalism that comes immediately to mind. Thus, it may come as a surprise for many to learn that it was in fact Gheorghe Gheorghiu-Dej, the Stalinist leader of the Romanian Workers’ Party (RWP) and Ceauşescu's predecessor, who initiated in the mid-1950s a return to the local traditions and subsequently to an ethnic understanding of the Romanian nation. True, under the reign of Ceauşescu, the communist regime engaged in sustained policies aimed at reinforcing the ethnic ties among the Romanian majority and assimilating the historic ethnic minorities. But, in the case of Romanian communism, a nationalistic turn had already been initiated during the year 1956, under the rule of Gheorghiu-Dej. At the same time, it took a rather long period, i.e. 1956–1968, for Romanian national-communism to mature.