Liberation Day, officially known as theLiberation from Fascist Occupation Day (Romanian:Ziua eliberării de ocupația fascistă) was observed on 23 August inCommunist Romania to celebrate the1944 Romanian coup d'état, the event that caused Romania to leave theAxis inWorld War II and marked the beginning of theSoviet occupation of Romania (styled by the regime as "liberation"). It coincides with theEuropean Day of Remembrance for Victims of Stalinism and Nazism.
On 23 August 1944,KingMichael I of Romania, alongside politicians from allied opposition parties (theRomanian Communist Party, theSocial Democratic Party, theNational Liberal Party, and theNational Peasants' Party) led a coup against RomanianConducător, MarshalIon Antonescu, and his fascist government. The successful coup, now known asKing Michael's Coup, was organized in part due to the Romanian governments alignment withNazi Germany and theAxis Powers. The day after the coup, the Army GroupDumitrescu and theRomanian Fourth Army joined the2nd and3rd Ukrainian Fronts of theRed Army in southeastern Romania to fight the Axis in aSoviet-led offensive in the major cities ofIași andChișinău.[1] By 30 August, Soviet troops reached Bucharest[2] and restored the Soviet presence in theMoldavian SSR. On 12 September 1944, Romania signed the Moscow Armistice with theAllies, which confirmed the Soviet–Romanian border as it was on 1 January 1941.[3] Romania later participated alongside the Red Army in the Soviet-led offensive intoHungary,Czechoslovakia,[4] andAustria. TheSoviet Army continued to have a presence in Romania until 1958.[5]
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The events of 23 August were held in high regard during the socialist era, with the1952 Constitution of Romania referring to those events as the "Liberation of Romania by the Glorious Soviet Army".[6] In honor of the event, the company that is nowFAUR was named23 August Works in 1948. In the communistSocialist Republic of Romania, Liberation Day was the main holiday of the state. It was declared a national holiday by the Resolution #903 of the Council of Ministers on 18 August 1949. Although relegated to secondary importance in favor of theInternational Workers' Day on 1 May during the 1950s, it became elevated to much greater importance in the 1970s during Ceaușescu's rule so as to emphasize the importance of Romania's contribution to the Allies' defeat of Nazi Germany.[7][8] A grand military parade onAviators' Square (now Charles de Gaulle Square) in the presence of thePresident of Romania andGeneral Secretary of the Romanian Communist Party would be held annually, with large parades held on jubilee anniversaries. The parade was organized by theRomanian People's Army and featured infantry, navy, artillery, thePatriotic Guards, theMiliția andTroops of the Directorate for Security (Securitate) as well as military vehicles/aircraft such as theTR-85,[9] Volkov missiles, theIAR 330 and theIAR-93 Vultur.[10]
In 1984, on the 40th anniversary of liberation, the ceremonies were attended by the General Secretary of the East GermanSEDErich Honecker, Chinese PresidentLi Xiannian, PLO PresidentYasser Arafat, Mozambican PresidentSamora Machel, Zimbabwean PresidentRobert Mugabe, and Pakistani PresidentMuhammad Zia-ul-Haq as well as featured the medalists at the1984 Summer Olympics.[11][12] In 1989, the national day celebrations took place on Ştirbei Vodă Street past theDâmbovița Center (also named Casa Radio),[13] the balcony of which was used by Romanian dictatorNicolae Ceaușescu to watch the festivities in the last Communist-style parade in Romania marking thesapphire jubilee anniversary year of the coup.
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TheAugust 23 Order [ro] (Romanian:Ordinul "23 August") was a Romanian decoration established by decree No. 190 of the State Council of the Romanian People's Republic on 3 June 1959. It was created to commemorate the events of 23 August, thus the first decorated persons were the participants in King Michael's Coup. Subsequently, it was granted to military and civilian personnel, as well as Romanian and foreign officials.[14]
The Law 10/1990, promulgated on 1 August 1990 by PresidentIon Iliescu, moved the national holiday to 1 December, theGreat Union Day.[15]
Since 2011, Romania has observed theEuropean Union-wideDay for Commemoration of the Victims of Totalitarian and Authoritarian Regimes, commemorating the signing of theMolotov–Ribbentrop pact on this day in 1939 (which posteriorly resulted in RomanialosingBessarabia andNorthern Bukovina, regions now part ofMoldova andUkraine and which had Romanian-majority communities). Liberation Day is still commemorated in its original form among the civilian population,[citation needed] and even in neighboringMoldova, where it is referred to as theDay of the Liberation of Moldova from Fascist Occupation.
