Temporary Triumph in Timişoara: Unrest among Romanian Students in 1956

Abstract

AbstractBetween 1952 and 1965, the one‐party regime under Gheorghe Gheorghiu‐Dej ranked as one of the most totalitarian of all communist bloc countries. Aware of the revolutionary ferment in neighbouring Hungary in 1956, the Romanian leaders took strict measures to prevent similar unrest occurring in their own country, including a ban on all meetings numbering more than three individuals. And yet, on 30 October over 2,000 students from the Polytechnic Institute in Timişoara met with party officials and demanded changes in living and study conditions, as well as the withdrawal of Soviet troops from Romania. Another 800 to 1,000 students convened on 31 October, calling for the release of students who had been arrested the day before. If the Dej regime's measures prevented mass demonstrations in cities such as Bucharest, Cluj and Iaşi, how did they initially fail in the case of Timişoara? How were the students in this city able to speak out so freely? Drawing on memoirs, archival documents and recent scholarship, this article will answer these questions, referring to psychological, logistical and historical factors. These include discrepancies between the Romanian and Hungarian media that sparked curiosity about events in Hungary; cramped dormitory rooms that actually facilitated student meetings; and a tradition of anti‐communist protest prevalent since 1945 in the Banat region. While the students did not prevail in 1956, they set a vital precedent for the Timişoarans who launched the Romanian Revolution thirty‐three years later in 1989.