Romanian rural systematization program

The Romanian rural systematization program was a social engineering program undertaken by Nicolae Ceaușescu's Romania at the end of the 1980s. The legal framework for this program was established as early as 1974, but it only began in earnest in March 1988, after the Romanian authorities renounced most-favored-nation status and the American human rights scrutiny which came with it. The declared aim of this program was to eliminate the differences between urban and rural, by the means of razing half of Romania's 13,000 villages and moving their residents to hundreds of new "agro-industrial centers" by 2000. The program gained notoriety in Europe, with protests from multiple countries - chiefly Hungary - as well as a Belgian-led initiative to save the Romanian villages by "adopting" them. Within a year, on 18 April 1989, the first batch of about two dozen new agro-industrial towns was completed, and these were supposed to serve as models for the remaining hundreds to follow. Although cut short by the Romanian Revolution in December that year, several more rural settlements in an advanced state of systematization (such as Otopeni) were, ultimately, transformed into towns as well.

Background

Nicolae Ceaușescu's 1988 idea to raze about half of Romania's 13,000 villages and rebuild others into "agro-industrial centers" was not new. It had been written into law in 1974. At that time, about 3,000 villages were scheduled to die out gradually, while 300 - 400 more were to be transformed into towns. However, industrial construction assumed priority, overshadowing the rural reconstruction and resettlement program, which was not pursued with any vigor. In the spring of 1988, however, the rural systematization program reemerged as a top priority on Ceaușescu's agenda. The concept was first developed by Nikita Kruschev in 1951, aiming to raise the standard of rural life by amalgamating villages in order to stop the migration of younger people from rural to urban. However, the project was forgotten while Ceaușescu focused on other projects, such as the Centrul Civic and the Danube–Black Sea Canal, but it was relaunched in March 1988. The 1974 law for urban and rural territorial reorganization provided for the development of the countryside by focusing on the more viable villages while the rest would be gradually starved of investment. However, momentum was lost in the late 1970s, and of the 140 new towns promised by 1985, only one - Rovinari - was completed in 1981. No explanation was ever given, but likely Ceaușescu transferred his attention to the aforementioned projects.

Details of the plan

The villages most likely to be phased out were those with minimal prospects for growth. By the year 2000, 85% of communes were to have piped drinking water and 82% modern sewage. According to a statement by the regime, by the year 2000, Romania expected "to eradicate basic differences between villages and cities and to ensure the harmonious development of all sections of the country". Ceauşescu's declared aim - based on an original idea in the Communist Manifesto - was "to wipe out radically the major differences between towns and villages; to bring the living and working conditions of the working people in the countryside closer to those in the towns". He thought that by gathering people together into apartment buildings so that "the community fully dominates and controls the individual", systematization would produce Romania's "new socialist man". Ceauşescu was determined to revolutionize agriculture by increasing the cultivation area, while also stifling individual initative and increasing centralization. The peasants were to receive derisory compensation for their demolished homes and then be charged rent for their new blocks, in which there was no accomodation for animals. As Romanian historian Dinu Giurescu put it: "The ultimate goal is the proletarianization of our society. The final step in this process is the loss of the individual house.". It was an all-out effort at social engineering: kitchens and bathrooms were communal space in the government-owned and controlled apartments. The number of villages was to be reduced to 5,000 - 6,000 (grouped in 2,000 communes), implying that 7,000 - 8,000 would be destroyed. Workers and intellectuals were to be settled in 3-4 storey buildings, with small blocks of 4 apartments or individual two-storey houses for the farmers. The countryside would be urbanized through 558 new agro-industrial towns. Although aspects of the program were absolutely necessary (improvement of services, diversification and stabilization of the workforce), it allowed little scope for local consultation and its implementation timespan was far too short (hence compulsory resettlement) with no realistic compensation for the required expropriation.

The last stop: MFN status

Between 3 August 1975 and 3 July 1988, Romania was accorded most favoured nation status from the United States. In 1988, Ceaușescu renounced Romania's MFN status with the United States, just as the latter was about to suspend it over human rights violations. In July 1987, the United States Congress voted to suspend Romania's MFN status. Although the suspension was meant to last at least 6 months, in order to avoid further humiliation, Ceaușescu renounced his country's MFN status. More than 85 oral testimonies and 995 written statements were submitted to support the suspension of Romania's MFN status. On 26 February 1988, in order to save face, Romania announced that it did not need MFN status. The House and Senate votes were rejected as unacceptable "interference in the internal affairs" of Romania. To underline this rejection, the village-bulldozing program was made public in April 1988. Romania's renunciation of MFN status in February 1988 resulted from Ceaușescu's growing irritation with American pressure over Romania's human rights treatment, such as Ceaușescu's treatment of his opponents. Ceaușescu's renunciation of MFN made its suspension by the United States Congress meaningless. His action showed that he would not submit to pressure from either side, East or West.

Implementation and results

On 3 March 1988, speaking at an official conference, Ceaușescu announced: by the year 2000, 7,000 - 8,000 of Romania's 13,123 villages would be "modernized", as in transformed into 558 "agro-industrial" centers. The Ilfov Agricultural Sector around Bucharest was chosen by Ceaușescu as a showpiece (to be completed by 1992-1993), as a model for emulation by the rest of the country. The first evictions and demolitions took place in August 1988. Only 2-3 days were given before shops were closed down and bus services were stopped, forcing the inhabitants into the selected villages. Whole communities were moved to blocks in Otopeni and Ghermănești, where as much as 10 families had to share one kitchen and the sewage system had not been completed. In other villages across the country, "ugly" concrete Civic Center buildings began to emerge in the centers of the planned new towns. Around 18 villages had suffered major demolitions by the end of 1989 while 5 others were completely razed. According to the Wall Street Journal: "In the countryside, smashed hamlets and villages are making way for the same prefabricated housing blocks of Orwellian Bucharest.". The systematization program encountered resistance from villagers and local authorities alike. Local revolts against systematization were reported in the villages of Petrova, Monor and Parva. Local officials were threatened, while in other places officials refused to carry out orders. The director of the Miercurea Ciuc County Savings Bank resigned in protest over pressure to designate his native village of Păuleni-Ciuc a street of the nearby town of Frumoasa.

The program fell behind schedule, with only 24 new towns declared in 1989 out of the 100 expected by 1990. These 24 agro-industrial towns are listed below:

• Transylvania
  • Bihor County
    • Valea lui Mihai - Although agriculture remained predominant, small-scale industries were being developed. Around 30 apartment blocks were built in the center.
  • Hunedoara County
    • Aninoasa - A mining center in the upper Jiu Valley.
  • Maramureș County
    • Seini - Main industries: agriculture, animal breeding and fruit growing.
  • Mureș County
    • Iernut
  • Sibiu County
    • Avrig - The Mechanical Works at Mârșa (Mecanica Mârșa) was the most important industrial plant in the area.
    • Tălmaciu - Several timber factories and a textile plant. Blocks totalling 480 apartments were built.

Însurăței

Nehoiu

• Wallachia
  • Argeș County
    • Colibași - Location of Automobile Dacia, Romania's first car manufacturing plant. Two national research institutes - for automotive engineering and nuclear technology - were also located there.
  • Brăila County
    • Ianca - A model for agro-industrial towns in flat regions.
    • Însurăței - Blocks totalling 330 apartments were built, of which 200 were located in the center.
  • Buzău County
    • Nehoiu - A model for agro-industrial towns in mountainous regions.
    • Pogoanele - Blocks totalling 200 apartments were built in the center.
  • Călărași County
    • Budești
    • Lehliu Gară - Its main industrial plant was a subsidiary of a clothes factory based in Bucharest.
    • Fundulea - Three important agricultural research institutes were based there, most of their staff commuting from Bucharest.
  • Giurgiu County
    • Bolintin-Vale - A satellite of Bucharest.
    • Mihăileşti - Most of the former village razed and rebuilt to make way for the Danube–Bucharest Canal. Visited by Ceaușescu multiple times.
  • Gorj County
    • Bumbești-Jiu
    • Rovinari
  • Olt County
    • Piatra Olt
    • Scornicești - The town with the most impressive record of medals, distinctions and titles in Socialist Romania, including that of "Hero of the New Agrarian Revolution". The new town had a factory making automobile spare parts, a clothes factory, a brewery, a dairy plant and a poultry farm.

• Dobruja
  • Constanța County
    • Basarabi - An inland harbor for the Danube–Black Sea Canal. There were also two large wineries.
    • Negru Vodă - Blocks totalling 341 apartments were built.
    • Ovidiu

• Moldavia
  • Bacău County
    • Dărmănești