[gonna be handing this out on Friday, but I thought maybe everyone might want to take a look at it beforehand, even just having alongside reading the play]
December 15- Father Laszlo Tokes spoke out against Ceausescu in the town of Timisoara. Backed by thousands, the riot police arrived to try and remove Tokes and disperse the crowd. A noisy, and at times bloody, battle ensued in the streets.
December 16- The Securitate and the army were called in to restore order. The United States State Department reacted with, “It looks like Romania’s time may have finally come”, although the majority of the world still believed that Ceausescu would success-fully maintain control.
December 17- A huge crowd amassed in Timisoara. The crowd became aggressive and marched on the Communist Headquarters at city hall. The demonstration was severelyanti-government, as portraits of Ceausesecu were burned and thrown from the building. The army used tanks, tear gas and water cannons against the crowd.
December 18- The Executive Political Committee in Bucharest ordered the army to begin firing real bullets into the demonstrators. Civilian casualties ran high in Timisoara and the dead were collected by the army and either thrown in mass graves or burned.
December 19-The resistance continued in western Romania, and the death count rose. The United States condemned the Romanian government for the use of “brutal force”. The army began to switch over to the side of the demonstrators.
December 20- Negotiators from Bucharest were sent to Timisoara. The Securitate continued firing on demonstrators. Ceausescu arrived home from a visit to Iran and proclaimed martial law. He also blamed the uprising on Hungarian Fascists.
December 21- Ceausescu addressed a crowd in Bucharest in a televised speech. Unexpectedly, the crowd became violent and tried to break police lines. A violent clash ensued in which at least 13 youths were killed. Protests began breaking out all over the
capitol. The crowds refused to disperse and the police used gunfire and armored cars against the people.
December 22- More demonstrators began to reassemble early in the morning. Huge crowds were locked in a standoff with the army in the main square of Bucharest. Reports of dissidence between Ceausescu and his army caused the crowd to start
chanting, “the army is with us!” In a last ditch effort, Ceausescu tried to speak from a balcony, but was shouted down. He and his wife fled the capital and made plans to leave Romania.
December 23-The fighting and brutality escalated in the streets, as confusion reigned. Some of the army had switched over to the side of the people and continued to battle security forces. Ceausescu and his wife were captured and returned to Bucharest.
Ion Ilescu emerged as a leader of the National Front and made a list of demands on the government.
December 24-The army continued to battle and gain on the Securitate in Bucharest. The National Front claimed control of the revolution and established a provisional government.\
December 25-The Ceausescus were tried and shot in a very speedy trial.
December 26- The Ceausescu’s bodies were exhibited on TV, marking “the end” of these initial stages of revolution. Ceausescu was described as unapologetic and refused to recognize the decision of the courts. Despite this, fighting continued both in the
capitol and in Timisoara. It is unclear when complete order was restored.
