Timeline of Critical Events
(Crainiceanu, Bianca. "Map of Europe, 1989 RFE/RL, Romanian Revolution." 6 Feb. 2021. Digital Drawing.)
Events involving RFE/RL leading up to the Romanian Revolution:
Mid-1970: The Romanian Communist leader, Nicolae Ceaușescu, feels threatened by RFE/RL’s broadcasts so he orders Operation Ether which includes violent attacks against RFE/RL’s Romanian staff in an attempt to terrorize them into silence.
February 21, 1981: Ilich Ramírez Sánchez (Carlos the Jackal) is paid by Ceaușescu to bomb RFE/RL’s Romanian Service in Munich.
1988-1989: RFE/RL informs Romanians about events including the fall of the Berlin Wall (November 1989) and Czechoslovakia's Velvet Revolution (November-December 1989). This causes listeners to believe that something could or should change in Romania as well.
The Romanian Revolution:
December 15, 1989: Romanians in Timișoara (a Romanian city of about 250,000 people) rally to support Pastor Laszlo Tokes who was harassed by the Communist Government. Using the momentum from the rally, demonstrations fueled by anti-Ceausescu and anti-communist sentiments begins.
December 18, 1989: RFE/RL broadcasts the news of Timișoara. This is the only reliable source of information to reach Romanians about the event.
December 21, 1989: Ceaușescu makes a speech in Bucharest (the capital city with a population of 2 million people) in a failed attempt to regain control of Romania.
December 22, 1989: 12:08 pm Increasing pressure from Romanians causes Nicolae Ceauseșcu and his wife to flee Bucharest in a helicopter. They are captured later that day in Targoviste (A Romanian city 50 miles away from Bucharest).
December 22, 1989: 12:51 pm It is broadcasted on national media that Ceaușescu has been overthrown and RFE/RL announces that Ceaușescu has fallen.
Clip of the RFE/RL broadcast from December 22, 1989, with the English translation of an extended version of the clip:
Radio recording: (Carp, "Editie Speciala: 22 Decembrie, Ziua Caderii Regimului Ceaușescu," 5 Nov. 2009)
December 25, 1989: Nicolae and Elena Ceaușescu are convicted of genocide and executed by a firing squad in Targoviste. Pictures and videos of their execution are broadcasted globally.
(Paris, Denoel."People gesturing towards a helicopter in which the country's communist dictator Nicolae Ceaușescu fled." 22 Dec. 2016. Photograph. Rare Historical Pictures.)
(O'Hare, Mick. “Anti-Ceaușescu Demonstrators on the Bucharest Streets on Christmas Day 1989.” 25 Dec. 1989. Photograph.
Warning! Viewer discretion is advised!
(O'Hare, Mick. "On Chistmas Day 1989, After a Tumultous Year, Romanian Leader Nicolae Ceaușescu and his Wife Were Executed by Firing Squad Against a Toilet Block." 25 Dec. 1989. Photograph. Independant.)