Popular Armed Uprising in Rumania of 1944

an antifascist uprising of the working people; during the uprising, I. Antonescu’s fascist military dictatorship was overthrown.

The success of the uprising, which began during an offensive by the Soviet Army, was ensured by the Soviet Army’s defeat of the fascist troops at Ia§i and Kishinev. The uprising was planned and led by the Rumanian Communist Party (RCP), on whose initiative the Patriotic Anti-Hitler Front was created in the summer of 1943. An agreement on united action between the Communist and Social Democratic parties was reached in the spring of 1944; a military committee was set up in June 1944. On June 20, 1944, an agreement was signed concerning the creation of the National Democratic Bloc, a temporary political coalition of the National Liberal, National Tărănesc, Communist, and Social Democratic parties aimed at ending Antonescu’s dictatorial regime and Rumania’s ties with the fascist states. The RCP set up underground patriotic combat detachments and conducted work in Rumanian military units.

The uprising broke out on Aug. 23, 1944. Antonescu and other members of the fascist government were arrested in the royal palace. Patriotic detachments and large Rumanian Army units who sided with the insurgents occupied the radio station, government institutions, and other strategic objectives in Bucharest. On August 24, Rumania halted military actions against the anti-Hitler coalition. Fierce battles with fascist German units were waged from August 24 to 30 in Bucharest, the valley of the Prahova River, and other regions. The entry of the Soviet Army into Bucharest on August 31, which marked the defeat of Hitler’s troops in Rumania, consolidated the victory of the uprising. The popular armed uprising of 1944 was the beginning of the people’s revolution in Rumania. August 23 is a national holiday in the Socialist Republic of Rumania.