"The escalating pace of the change that seemed graspable was indicated by a slogan of the Velvet Revolution: ‘Poland – ten years, Hungary – ten months, German Democratic Republic – ten weeks, Czechoslovakia – ten days’. The public nature of the pressure for change was important as it could be captured by a domestic media no longer under state control, as well as by the international media. Scenes of East Germans travelling West were followed by those of the demolition of the Berlin Wall. In December 1989, in turn, they were succeeded by demonstrators in the capital Bucharest booing Nicolae Ceauşescu, the Romanian dictator, when he spoke in public. Abetted by the vicious Secret Police, he sought to resist reform by the use of force against demonstrators. However, Ceauşescu was overthrown after mass demonstrations. The army, which played a key role, providing force sufficient to overawe the Secret Police, was responsible for his execution on Christmas Day."
Quote Details
Added by wikiquote-import-bot
Unverified quote
0 likes
Original Language: English
Available Languages (1)
Sources
Jeremy Black, The Cold War: A Military History (2015)
https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Bucharest
Revision History
No revisions have been submitted for this quote.
Categories
Bucharest
22 quotes on TrueQuotesView all quotes by Bucharest →
Related Quotes
"Even the city's most ardent fans don't quite maintain the old saw, the "Paris of the East." That was Bucharest's nick…"
"Like more than half the traffic lights in Bucharest, this one on the busy corner of Boulevard Nicolae Balcescu is dea…"
"And food lines? At least the queues are for food, say Rumanians, savoring their first beefburgers in memory. Ceausesc…"
"I am standing by my guns, Mr. Schwartzer. There is no such place as Budapest. Perhaps you are thinking of Bucharest, …"
"From Stettin in the Baltic to Trieste in the Adriatic, an iron curtain has descended across the Continent. Behind tha…"
"Little Paris," as Bucharest was once called, became "Ceaușwitz."
"I went out onto the streets, expecting to see a nervous city that had recently been at war. But something didn't add …"
"In days too long ago now to remember, Romania was a breadbasket and among the largest corn producers in the world, an…"
"The city frequently is compared with Paris, gay and lighthearted, whereas Russia is strong and earnest. The beauty of…"
"Bucharest must have been a beautiful city once. It is now in a state of mouldering decay. The big houses on leafy bou…"