Romania

My stepson Kent and his wife and daughter recently returned from a Christian mission trip to Beius, Romania. The group delivered food and clothing to the Romanians and performed dental services. This trip has sparked my interest in Romania. The country is so-called because it was part of the Roman Empire during ancient times. The Romanian people are the only Eastern Europeans who trace their ancestry and language back to the Romans. Kent reports that the people are still a little aloof when first approached by foreigners because of the restraint they were under during the Communist regime. In 1947 King Michael I was forced by the communists to abdicate and leave the country. The country was under the direct military and economic control of the USSR until 1958. Then, after a negotiated retreat of Soviet troops, Nicolae Ceausescu became the leader.
But commnists actually remained in control until the Revolution of 1989. In December of that year there was a week-long series of increasingly violent rioting and fighting, resulting in the overthrow of the Communist regime. Ceausescu and his wife Elena were executed by a firing squad. Romania was the only Eastern Bloc country to overthrow its communist regime violently or to execute its leaders.