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During WWII, Romania could once again be characterized as being pulled in two different directions by the Eastern and Western spheres of influence. The Axis feared attacks on Romanian oil fields and took the fight on the offensive. As they captured territory, the Romanians reluctantly found themselves at war with the Allies as well.
Once the Paris Peace Treaties were signed, Romania gained northern Transylvania as a part of its territory and found itself inundated with pressure from the Soviets. The Soviets continued their occupation of Romania after the war and they adopted a number of measures in order to consolidate their power. They confiscated Romanian industry and created joint Soviet-Romanian companies called SovRoms which served to exploit Romania further by taking precious resources away from the transitioning nation. Not only did Romania find itself being influenced externally by the Soviets, but from the communists in their own political system. One by one, the communists jailed party leaders and broke up parties altogether, which culminated in the forced abdication of the king in 1947. This began the Romanian People’s Republic.
The Romanian Constitution of 1948 is the first to include the “Stalinist view” of property ownership and is the reason for the nationalization of many properties and businesses in Romania. Early targets of such nationalization were the homes and businesses of people considered to be the “exploiters” in the capitalist society, which included manufacturing magnates, bankers, and merchants among other wealthy groups. The constitution expressly forbade the nationalization of homes and properties of workers, civil servants, small craftsmen, and retirees. Opposed to the western view of free market industrialization and capitalism, the authoritarian leaders of the Romanian People’s Republic placed a major focus on industrialization and economic development. This new leadership seemed “intent on hastening the transition of a largely agrarian and rural country into one that was predominantly industrial and urban, [and] they committed almost all available resources to forced industrialization and the total collectivization of agriculture”.
It is important to note that while there was heavy influence from the Soviet Union, the Romanian government under Gheorghiu-Dej maintained a level of independence and continually tried to fend off further domination. After the death of Stalin, the forced industrialization and collectivization that characterized the beginning of the Communist period continued with little care for losses in standard of living. Additionally there were other changes with the death of Stalin. For one, as Khrushchev denounced Stalin, and as the tension between the Soviets and the West lessened, the Soviets began to withdraw troops and advisors from Romania. The nation found itself with slightly more independence and was able to once again reach back out to the west and reestablish old ties. Gheorghiu-Dej’s hope was to reduce Romania’s reliance on the economies of the east and to begin to enter western markets in order to continue decreasing their political dependence on the Eastern Bloc. Romania was once again seeking to find a balance between eastern and western powers. Despite the reshuffling, this action was by no means a turn towards western practices of free-market economics.
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