21 December 1989
Ceausescu organises a rally as a massive show of support in the Piata Republicii in front of the Central Commitee Building. 100,000 supposedly loyal workers are bussed from their workplaces with banners and placards to hear Ceausescu speak, the tape recorders are set to blast out the chants and Party songs. Such stage-managed public rallies were once commonplace. However, shortly after he begins to speak, shouts of "Timisoara" begin to rise from the back of the crowd, the protest becoming louder with jeers, boos and whistles. Ceausescu hesitated but continued for a while. Now banners were being ripped up too. He slowly comes to a stop, losing his moment and waves. Confusion reigns on the balcony where Ceausescu is still being filmed. The live TV broadcast is cut but it is too late ... The "Conducator" who is whisked inside has appeared weak and vulnerable before the entire nation ... he is no longer an object of fear. The TV broadcast resumes showing the dictator now being applauded by the faithful. He rants on offering wage increases in desperation but people begin to walk away. However, the crowds in the city grow as more amd more people leave their homes and head into the streets burning posters and photographs of the dictator, overturning cars and chanting "Timisoara". Tear gas was was fired into the Piata Universitatii where many of the demonstrators were gathering but they just kept coming, ignoring the intimidating presence of tanks. Police, Securitate and the Army open fire on the crowds, the shooting continuing throughout the night, but the people returned in even greater numbers in the morning.
22 December 1989
Ceausescu has the Minister of Defence shot for not obeying his order for the Army to quell the uprising. Radio Bucuresti announces that Milea is a traitor and has committed suicide. Army units had already begun to defect to the side of the protesters as soldiers realised that Ceausescu is not worth killing for and now officers joined them. The cry "The Army is with us" resounds around the city. A disillusioned Ceausescu emerged once more on the balcony of the Central Committee building with a loud hailer and immediately became a focus for the rage of the crowd who stormed the building. Ceausescu, his wife, and entourage just manage to escape in an overloaded helicopter from the roof. The pilot takes them first to their villa in Snagov where Ceausescu makes a number of calls, still believing he can regroup and launch a counter revolution, They set out again for a military base at Titu but the pilot lands by a road short of the base claiming there is a problem with the aircraft because it was overloaded. A car is requisitioned and what remains of the party finally reaches Targoviste. The couple finally end up in an army barracks where they are turned over and detained.
Meanwhile, Securitate troops still loyal to Ceausescu continue to shoot at the demonstrators but the representatives of the "Revolution" are already speaking from the balcony where Ceausescu had once stood and the television station is taken over and begins to broadcast that Ceausescu has been overturned. There are demonstrations in other cities, some of them peaceful, others such as Sibiu, more violent with opposition from the Securitate. Snipers continue to fire through the night leading to rumors that Ceausescu has released specially trained troops from other countries. Until it is announced that he has been captured there are rumors that he has fled to Iran or North Korea.
22 - 24 December 1989
An interim government of former dissidents, outspoken writers and poets emerges. It appears that this organisation, the National Salvation Front, headed by Ion Iliescu and Petre Roman, had been waiting for its moment and is accused of hijacking the Revolution. Later, many of the initial founders abandon it as being unrepresentative of a free Romania and containing too many Communists. Nevertheless, the party won free elections and stayed in power until 1996.
The fighting with the Securitate continued despite the news that Ceausescu had been captured.
25 December 1989
Nicolae and Elena Ceausescu are tried by a court set up by the newly created National Salvation Front. It lasts 55 minutes during which time the accused refuse to acknowledge it and are sentenced to death. They are taken outside and shot by a firing squad. Despite the trial being a farce and the outcome already decided most Romanians believe it was necessary to calm the situation in the country. The gunfire eases though the atmosphere remains tense for a couple of weeks and there are still sporadic outbursts as Securitate snipers continue to be hunted down
