Nicolae Ceaușescu was a Romanian communist politician who served as General Secretary of the Romanian Communist Party from 1965 to 1989. He initially pursued more open policies with Western Europe and the US, deviating from the Soviet line, but became increasingly authoritarian and megalomaniacal. Arrested twice in the 1930s for his communist activities while it was illegal, he was imprisoned and became the apprentice of Gheorghe Gheorghiu-Dej. Ceaușescu was overthrown and executed in 1989 amid widespread unrest and revolution against his oppressive rule.

1. The Collapse Of
Communism

2. Nicolae Ceaușescu

3. Born 26th January 1918, died 25th
December 1989 when he was
executed alongside his wife.

4. He was a Romanian
Communist politician,
Secretary General of the
Romanian Communist
Party from 1965 to 1989
and was Romania’s last
Communist leader

5. His rule is a mark in the
first decade of an open
policy towards Western
Europe and the US, this
deviates from the Warsaw
Pact made in the Cold
War.

6. He was arrested twice
for being a member of
the Communist Party
when it was illegal in
the early 1930’s

7. He had:
“Dangerous Communist
agitator”
“Active distributor of
Communist and Anti-
fascist propaganda”
On his police record

8. Târgu Jiu
internment camp
where he shared a
cell with Gheorghe
Gheorghiu-Dej,
becoming his
apprentice

9. was publicly executed
after a rushed court
session to confirm his
guilt.

10. Günter Schabowski

11. Born 4th January 1929,
is now aged 82.

12. Is said to be the reason
for the fall of the Berlin
Wall..

13. ..This is because of what he
said at a press conference
that caused people to go to
the wall

14. Was charged with the murders of
refugees but, because he had
already renounced his guilt he
had to serve three years.
This, however, did not go to plan
and he ended up serving only one
year in imprisonment.

15. Václav Havel

16. born 5 October 1936,
grew up in a wealthy
family.

17. Because of Havel's bourgeois
history, the Communist regime
did not allow Havel to study
formally after he had
completed his required
schooling in 1951. In the first
part of the 1950s, the young
Havel entered into a four-year
apprenticeship as a chemical
laboratory assistant and
simultaneously took evening
classes; he completed his
secondary education in 1954.

18. Because of political
reasons, he was not
accepted into any
universities with
humanities courses
so he attended
another but dropped
out after two years.

19. worked in a theatre
company.

20. received the US
Presidential Medal
Of Freedom