E-text prepared by Barbara Kosker, Juliet Sutherland,
and the Project Gutenberg Online Distributed Proofreading Team
()
DA Pam 550-160
This volume is one of a series of handbooks prepared by Foreign AreaStudies (FAS) of The American University, designed to be useful tomilitary and other personnel who need a convenient compilation of basicfacts about the social, economic, political, and military institutionsand practices of various countries. The emphasis is on objectivedescription of the nation's present society and the kinds of possible orprobable changes that might be expected in the future. The handbookseeks to present as full and as balanced an integrated exposition aslimitations on space and research time permit. It was compiled frominformation available in openly published material. An extensivebibliography is provided to permit recourse to other published sourcesfor more detailed information. There has been no attempt to express anyspecific point of view or to make policy recommendations. The contentsof the handbook represent the work of the authors and FAS and do notrepresent the official view of the United States government.
An effort has been made to make the handbook as comprehensive aspossible. It can be expected, however, that the material,interpretations, and conclusions are subject to modification in thelight of new information and developments. Such corrections, additions,and suggestions for factual, interpretive, or other change as readersmay have will be welcomed for use in future revisions. Comments may beaddressed to:
The Director
Foreign Area Studies
The American University
5010 Wisconsin Avenue, N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20016
The former Kingdom of Romania emerged from the post-World War II chaosas the Romanian People's Republic, a communist satellite so closelyaligned to the policies of the Soviet Union that it often appeared to beruled from Moscow. During the 1950s, however, Romania cautiously beganseeking to loosen its ties to Moscow and to assert some measure ofautonomy. The widening Sino-Soviet rift of the early 1960s provided anatmosphere of tension among communist states that the Romanians used totheir own advantage by remaining neutral in the communist struggle andby seeking greater contacts with noncommunist states. In internalaffairs, the Romanian regime maintained a rigid hold on all elements ofthe society. In 1965 the regime changed the name of the country to theSocialist Republic of Romania and proclaimed that it was well on the waytoward communism. In the early 1970s Romania remains a me