Patriotic Guards (Romania)
Encyclopedia
The Patriotic Guards were Romania
n paramilitary
formations formed during the Communist era
, designed to provide additional defense in case of outside attack.
speech through which Romanian leader Nicolae Ceauşescu
condemned the crushing of the Prague Spring
by Soviet
forces. Ceauşescu appealed to anti-Soviet sentiments within the general population to ask for resistance against the perceived threat of a similar Soviet maneuver against Romania itself. The nationalist
themes he used had their immediate effect in the rallying of large portions of the public, who began organizing and arming themselves under direction of the Romanian Communist Party
.
Although the threat was over by the end of the year, the Guards remained a feature of the country's communist structure. They became a permanent addition to the regular military, and compulsory training was introduced for young men and women. For university students, this meant that hours of the curriculum were reserved for shooting drills and other training courses; soon, they were doubled by additional requirements for work in the fields (that was asked from high school and older primary school students, as well as their teachers).
No longer backed by enthusiasm as they had been in the early 1970s, the Guards nonetheless were the basic line of defense against projected invasions. The threat posed by the latter seemed to increase as the regime plunged into isolation, especially after it lost the support of the Western Bloc
in the early 1980s. From that point on, the Guards were to become part of the State's apparatus of repression against its own people. During the Romanian Revolution of 1989
, Ceauşescu attempted to use them against protesters (notably, in Timişoara
). However, the pace of events and the breadth of hostility to his regime outstripped this plan. To no small extent, the people who were meant to be armed in case of the disturbances were in fact the ones causing them.
, Romanian Army general and brother of Nicolae, summarized the new traits in his Istoria militară a poporului român ("The Military History of the Romanian People"). The work (soon turned into official dogma) argued that the Romanians had always had the largest standing army in the world—notably, he consistently chose to add up the entire population as present under arms. This constituted a message for the future, since the regime had established a strong connection with all past forms. As such, the ideology behind the formation of the Guards was rendered as the War of the Entire People military doctrine.
In 1989 the Patriotic Guards were organized into company- and platoon-sized units in almost every judet, municipality, town, village, and industrial or agricultural enterprise. Under the command of the first secretary of the local PCR apparatus, they conducted basic and refresher training in small-arms handling, demolition, mortar and grenade-launcher firing, and small-unit tactics. In wartime they had responsibility for local antiaircraft defense, providing early warning of air attack, defending population centers and important elements of national infrastructure, and conducting civil engineering work as needed to reestablish essential military production after an attack. They would reconnoiter and attack enemy flanks and rear areas, combat airborne units and special forces penetrating deep into Romania, and mount resistance operations against occupying forces. In keeping with their guerrilla image, the Patriotic Guards wore plain uniforms with no insignia or badges of rank.
Romania
Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeastern Europe, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian arch, bordering on the Black Sea...
n paramilitary
Paramilitary
A paramilitary is a force whose function and organization are similar to those of a professional military, but which is not considered part of a state's formal armed forces....
formations formed during the Communist era
Communist Romania
Communist Romania was the period in Romanian history when that country was a Soviet-aligned communist state in the Eastern Bloc, with the dominant role of Romanian Communist Party enshrined in its successive constitutions...
, designed to provide additional defense in case of outside attack.
History
The Guards were formed in 1968, after the August 21 BucharestBucharest
Bucharest is the capital municipality, cultural, industrial, and financial centre of Romania. It is the largest city in Romania, located in the southeast of the country, at , and lies on the banks of the Dâmbovița River....
speech through which Romanian leader Nicolae Ceauşescu
Nicolae Ceausescu
Nicolae Ceaușescu was a Romanian Communist politician. He was General Secretary of the Romanian Communist Party from 1965 to 1989, and as such was the country's second and last Communist leader...
condemned the crushing of the Prague Spring
Prague Spring
The Prague Spring was a period of political liberalization in Czechoslovakia during the era of its domination by the Soviet Union after World War II...
by Soviet
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
forces. Ceauşescu appealed to anti-Soviet sentiments within the general population to ask for resistance against the perceived threat of a similar Soviet maneuver against Romania itself. The nationalist
Nationalism
Nationalism is a political ideology that involves a strong identification of a group of individuals with a political entity defined in national terms, i.e. a nation. In the 'modernist' image of the nation, it is nationalism that creates national identity. There are various definitions for what...
themes he used had their immediate effect in the rallying of large portions of the public, who began organizing and arming themselves under direction of the Romanian Communist Party
Romanian Communist Party
The Romanian Communist Party was a communist political party in Romania. Successor to the Bolshevik wing of the Socialist Party of Romania, it gave ideological endorsement to communist revolution and the disestablishment of Greater Romania. The PCR was a minor and illegal grouping for much of the...
.
Although the threat was over by the end of the year, the Guards remained a feature of the country's communist structure. They became a permanent addition to the regular military, and compulsory training was introduced for young men and women. For university students, this meant that hours of the curriculum were reserved for shooting drills and other training courses; soon, they were doubled by additional requirements for work in the fields (that was asked from high school and older primary school students, as well as their teachers).
No longer backed by enthusiasm as they had been in the early 1970s, the Guards nonetheless were the basic line of defense against projected invasions. The threat posed by the latter seemed to increase as the regime plunged into isolation, especially after it lost the support of the Western Bloc
Western Bloc
The Western Bloc or Capitalist Bloc during the Cold War refers to the powers allied with the United States and NATO against the Soviet Union and the Warsaw Pact...
in the early 1980s. From that point on, the Guards were to become part of the State's apparatus of repression against its own people. During the Romanian Revolution of 1989
Romanian Revolution of 1989
The Romanian Revolution of 1989 was a series of riots and clashes in December 1989. These were part of the Revolutions of 1989 that occurred in several Warsaw Pact countries...
, Ceauşescu attempted to use them against protesters (notably, in Timişoara
Timisoara
Timișoara is the capital city of Timiș County, in western Romania. One of the largest Romanian cities, with an estimated population of 311,586 inhabitants , and considered the informal capital city of the historical region of Banat, Timișoara is the main social, economic and cultural center in the...
). However, the pace of events and the breadth of hostility to his regime outstripped this plan. To no small extent, the people who were meant to be armed in case of the disturbances were in fact the ones causing them.
Place in the official ideology
In the 1980s, Romanian communism took on a militarized form. Ilie CeauşescuIlie Ceausescu
Ilie Ceauşescu was a Romanian army general and communist politician who served as Deputy Defence Minister of Communist Romania during the rule of his older brother, Nicolae Ceauşescu....
, Romanian Army general and brother of Nicolae, summarized the new traits in his Istoria militară a poporului român ("The Military History of the Romanian People"). The work (soon turned into official dogma) argued that the Romanians had always had the largest standing army in the world—notably, he consistently chose to add up the entire population as present under arms. This constituted a message for the future, since the regime had established a strong connection with all past forms. As such, the ideology behind the formation of the Guards was rendered as the War of the Entire People military doctrine.
Organization
The Patriotic Guards, which were staffed by about 700,000 citizens in 1989, both men and women. In keeping with the doctrine of War of the Entire People, the Patriotic Guards were a combined territorial defense or national guard and civil defense organization, which was established immediately after the Soviet-led Warsaw Pact invasion of Czechoslovakia. The Patriotic Guards worked closely with the Ministry of National Defense but were directly subordinate to the PCR and the UTC. Relying more on ordinary citizens than on the professional military, the Patriotic Guards served as a potential counterweight to or check on the power and influence of the regular armed forces.In 1989 the Patriotic Guards were organized into company- and platoon-sized units in almost every judet, municipality, town, village, and industrial or agricultural enterprise. Under the command of the first secretary of the local PCR apparatus, they conducted basic and refresher training in small-arms handling, demolition, mortar and grenade-launcher firing, and small-unit tactics. In wartime they had responsibility for local antiaircraft defense, providing early warning of air attack, defending population centers and important elements of national infrastructure, and conducting civil engineering work as needed to reestablish essential military production after an attack. They would reconnoiter and attack enemy flanks and rear areas, combat airborne units and special forces penetrating deep into Romania, and mount resistance operations against occupying forces. In keeping with their guerrilla image, the Patriotic Guards wore plain uniforms with no insignia or badges of rank.