BOIA - Withdrawal

8/2/2019 BOIA - Withdrawal

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The Withdrawalof SovietTroops rom Romania,1955-1958Eugene Boia

In the late 1940sand '1950sthe Romanian ommunisteadersgraduallyained he Soviets' trusts dependableartnersn internationalcommunism nd demonstratedheir ability o control heir country. TheSoviet nion ame o consider omania rel iabler iendlyommunisttate,especiallyollowing ugoslavia'sormal xpulsionrom heCominformnJune1948 nd he relocationf its headquartersromBelgradeo Bucharest.nthesummer f 1955, ollowingheconclusionf heAustrian tate reaty nda relaxationn heEast-Westensions,heRomanianommunisteadershipbroachedhe ssueof the removal f allSoviet roops tationedn Romaniasince1944. ln Bucharest'siew hese roopsno longerwere needed osecurehecommunicationineswithAustr iawhich ecamendependentsa neutral tate nd he oreignroops ul led utby al lof 1955).

The Kremlinni t ia l ly a lked t the proposal, ut he events f 1956in Hungary emonstratedha tMoscow ould elyon Bucharesto maintainorderand a communist ystem, ssues f primarymportanceo the Sovietleadership. fter series f dip lomat icxchanges,nJuly1958 heSovietswithdrewheirmilitaryorces.Thispaper, ased n publishedocumentaryandsecondaryources, il lanalyzeheSovietmotivesor he inalmilitarywithdrawalnd heextent f he Romanian ffort owardhat ealization.

As one may surmise, here is debateover the reasons or theSoviet ecisiono withdrawmilitaryorces romRomania ln The Balkans:from Constantinopleo Communism, ennisP. Hupchick sserts hat, inthe midstof the October-November956Hungarianevolution,Romaniaprovided rimeMinistermre Nagy temporaryefuge fterhe was oustedfromHungary." onsequently,pinesHupchick,heRomanian ommunistsembarkednto engthy egotiationsith heSovietsegardingthe emoval fallSovietroops tationednRomania ecauseheyno onger ereneededosafeguardommunicationsithSovietorcesnAustria." hese egotiationsculminatedn 1958with hewithdrawalf thegarrisonsinexchangeortheRomaniansanding agy ver o theSovietsorexecution."lhisassert ionimpl ieshatBucharestad ull ontrol fNagy ndhisgroup nda quid roquoexisted etweenhepullout f Soviet roops nd Nagy's ransfero Hungary.The ac t s hatafterSovietanks ollednt oBudapest,theSovietKGB ured


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lmreNagyand othermembers f the Hungarianevolutionaryabinetromtheir sylumn heYugoslav mbassy"2n22Novemberndbroughthem oRomania, lthough ot n heRomanianovernment'solecustody.'In his introductiono a published ol lect ionf documents n theSovietwithdrawal,University f Bucharest rofessoroan Scurtu akesissue rom a patriotic iewpointwith contemporary esternand Easternaccountswhichdisregardhe Romanian ommunisteadership'sole ninfluencinghe Sovietdecision nd the hope hisactionpresentedo thepeoplesn Eastern urope.a et, henewly eclassifiedocuments upportthe claim hat he Kremlinwas motivatedn thisactionby economic ndpol i t ical onsiderations:he need o cut mi l i tary pending nd the desire

to win the propaganda ampaign n the ColdWar and demonstrateheaggressive ostureof the "imperialistamp." AlthoughScufturefers otheseSoviet oals,he contendshat he Romanian chievementhouldhave been given ts deserved reditand placed n its properhistoricalcontext.sOf course,one should ook at the Kremlin'smotives o haveSoviet roops ti l l tat ionedn Romania s ateas hesummer f 1958,14yearsafter heirentrance uring he closing aysof WorldWar l.As the Red Army liberated he SovietUnion rom Axis forces,it crossed he Soviet rontierand occupiedor freed Poland,Romania,Bulgaria, artsof Yugoslavia, ungary, nd Czechoslovakia. his Soviet

interventioned to the establishmentf a bufferzone n EasternEuropeostensiblyo forestall ny futureWesternaggression gainst he SovietUnion. ThisSovietdomination enerallyollowed fairlyeffective attern:the RedArmyoccupation;ormation f a coalition overnment ithotherparties n which he Communists el dkeygovernment osts, n particularthe ministry f the nteriorhatcontrolledhepolice;ntimidationnd useofforceby hepolice ifnecessary ssisted y he RedArmy)against oliticalopposition;nd inally, xpulsion f non-Communistsrom hegovernment.Consequently,ll of EasternEurope ell underSovietpolitical nd militarycontrol.SinceYugoslaviaecameCommunistn tsownanddemonstrateda modicum f obedienceo JosifV. D.Stalin, eneral ecretary f heSovietCommunistParty, t escapedSovietmilitary ccupation nd maintainedsome measure f independence. he restof EasternEuropewas firmlyunder he Soviet ron heel. Most of thesegovernments njoyedsmallsupportrom hepopulationt arge as hemomentoushanges f 1989-1991demonstrated). i la teralmi l i tary greements oncluded etweenMoscowand the Communist overnmentsf EasternEuropeenabledSovietmilitary resence el lafter he end of theSecondWorldWar.6


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SOVIETTROOPSWITHDRAW ROMROMANIA 1 3

The egal asis or heSovietmilitary resence nRomanianerritoryunt i lMay 1955was heAl l iedPowers' reaty f PeacewithRomania f 10February 947.Article 1 section of the reaty tipulateshatUpon he coming nto orceof the present reaty, l lAlliedForces hall,withina period f 90 days,be withdrawnromRomania, ubject o the rightof the SovietUnion o keepon Romanianerritory ucharmed orces s it mayneed orthemaintenancef he ines f communicationf heSovietArmywith heSoviet oneof occupationnAustria.T

However,heshortestoute rom he SovietUnion oAustria oesno tpassthroughRomania s the two countries o no thavecontiguous orders. nadditiono the 1947peace reaty,n December 948 he SovietUnionandRomania oncluded series f bilateralccordsegulatinghe echnical ndlogisticalspects f thepresence f Soviet roops n Romanianerritory.BThe internationalegalstatus egardinghis military resence nRomanianerr i toryemained naltered nt i l he signing f the AustrianStateTreaty n 15 May1955whichbestowedndependencendneutralityonAustria, utalsoprovidedor hewithdrawal f all oreign orces rom tsterritory.e ccordingly,n 25 October1955 he astof the military nitsof

occupation erewithdrawn, nding he regime f occupationn Austria. l0As a consequence f this reaty,he presence f Soviet orces n Romaniano onger ad egalust i f icat ion.Accordingo Gheorghe postol,"at the time irstsecretary f theRomanianWorkers'Partylz RWP),and scholars uch as loan Scurtu,theAustrianStateTreatymotivatedGheorgheGheorghiu-Dej,t the timethe primeminister,o initiate eelers egardinghe withdrawal f Sovietforces romRomania.13 ubsequentevelopmentsndicatehat Ministerof DefenseEmilBodndrag ad beendesignated s go-betweenhe RWPleadership nd the Kremlin n the matterof Sovietmi l i tary i thdrawal.Gheorghiu-Dejelegated odndragn his askbecause fhispastservicesto the SovietUnion,his favorableeputation mong he Soviet eaders,hisgovernment osi t ionhewas oneof the hreevice-premiers),nd histhorough nowledge f theRussiananguage.toApostol'sexplanationhat the AustrianState Treaty served ascatalyst or Romaniangovernment'seelers,however,disregards hesignif icancef anothernternationalreaty, hichprecededt. This s the


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Treatyof Friendship, ooperation nd MutualAssistance, r the WarsawPact,concluded n 14 May 1955. Therewere wo reasons iven or thepact's ecessity. irst,henewsituationn Europe reated y he atificationof the Parisagreements, hichprovidedor he ormation f a new militaryall iance,he Western uropean nion," ndsecond, remil i tar izedederalRepublic f Germany WestGermany)ntegratednto he NorthAtlanticTreaty OrganizationNATO). These developments, ccording o thetreaty's reamble,ncreasedthedanger f anotherwar"andpresentedathreat o the national ecurity f thepeaceable tates."ls t the same ime,the formation f a legallydefined,multilateral ll iance egitimized ovietUnion's ominationnd nfluencenEastern urope ndpart ly ationalizedSovietmilitary resencen Hungary nd Romaniaor an indefinite eriodof time. Moreover, s a formal rganization,heWarsawPactprovidedheSovietUnionan official ounteruueighto NATO n East-West iplomacy.As stated n Article9, the treatywas open o otherstates, rrespectiveftheirsocia l r pol i t icalegime, ho declaredhemselves i l l ing o adhereto the termsand principles f the treaty.The agreement as binding ortwentyyears,unlessan all-Europeanystemof collectiveecurity houldbe established.n whichcase t wouldcease o be n orce.

Furthermore, y Art icle 5, the signatories greed o set up ajoint commandof their armed forces o take measuresnecessary orstrengtheningheirdefenseapacitynorderto afeguardheirachievement,to guaranteehe nviolabilityf their rontiers nd erritories nd o providesafeguards gainstpossibleaggression.Article6 revealed he treaty'spolitical haracter, tipulatinghat or the purpose f holding onsultationsunder he treaty, he signatories ere o establish political onsultativecommittee, hileArticle7 forbade hem romenteringntoany coalitions,unions, r agreements ontraryo the ermsof the reaty.In spiteof the restrictiverovisions f the WarsawPact,Bucharestembarked n its move to get the Soviets o withdraw heir roops romRomania.Accordingo the memoirsl6 f NikitaSergeyevich hrushchev,general ecretary f the SovietCommunist arty,t was Bodndrag ho,as

ministerof efense,irst aisedhequestion f hepresencefSoviettroopsnRomania uringheSovieteader'sis i t o BucharestnAugust 955. n ightof the recently ublished omanian ocuments, hrushchev'sonclusionthat he RWP eadership ad already iscussedhe matterand Bodnaragwasnodoubt hoseno ntroducehesubject roved ccurate.lThrushchevrecordshatBodn6ragustifiedhesubject ypointing ut hat herewas itt lethreat o Sovietsecuritynterests ecauseRomania shares orders nly


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SOVIETTROOPSWITHDRAW ROMROMANIA 15

withotherSocialist ountries nd here's obody cross he BlackSea romusexceptheTurks."18s DennisDeletant rites, hrushchevouldnotacton thesuggestionn 1955 but he deaof withdrawaladbeenplantednhismindandhe used t at he imehe regarded ostappropriate."len heend,we can argue hat hisonlyhelped he Soviet eadershipncreasetsconfidencen the Romanian ommunists'reparednessn taking ver heresponsibi l i t ies,pointwhichBodndrag ade o Khrushchev.2oA short ime ater, ith heoccasion f heanniversaryf heOctoberRevolutionn7 November 955,heRomaniansent oMoscow high evel

delegationeaded yEmilBodndrag. ccordingo someaccounts,ollowinga Kremlineception, hrushchevnd Nikola i . Bulganin, resident f theSupreme oviet f the U.S.S.R.,ada private onversationi thBodndragduringwhich hey nformed im hat wehavedecidedowithdrawheSoviettroopsromRomania. hi sdecision as akennotbecause ouhave aisedthe issue,but becausewe considert necessary.""That s, Khrushchevinsistedhat t was heSovietCommunist artyand he Soviet overnmentandnot heRomanian ommunistso perceivehenecessity f suchaction.Needlesso say, hisresolution as well receivedn Bucharest; owever,theexistingnternationalituationn ate1955was notconduciveo suchanundertakings more imewasrequired eforet couldbe mplemented. sKhrushchevecorded, talin's rimes avenot beenexposed et," and heSoviets ad o do morework oward heir new ook."

In the meantime,he Soviets mbarked n a worldwide ampaignostensiblyo improve he internationalituation,n fact to enhance heU.S.S.R.'smage n the world. Khrushchev as convincedhat in the"peacefulompetition"etweenhesocialist ndcapitalistamps, ocialismwould emerge victoriousas the model for the peace-loving eopleseverywhere.n hisspirit,meetingor he irst imeon 28 January 956, heConsultativeolitical ommittee f theWarsawPactsubmittedhe offerofa non-aggressionac tbetweenhe NATOand he WarsawTreatystates;23thisofferwas gnored y theWest,as wereothersimilarutureprcposals.Furthermore,n this effortof improvingts image, he new Sovietleadership enounced he Stal in cult of personality uring the zunCongress f the CPSU n February 956. Khrushcheveclared imselfin favorof replacinghe violentmethodspracticed y Stalinwith politicalta lksandconsultat ions.2ais secret peech" ignaledhebeginning f ade-Stalinizationrocess n Soviet-dominatedasternEurope,a processwhichdifferedrom country o country.


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A major step in the direction f the dismantl ing f the Stal in iststructurewas taken in early spring. On 18 Apri l 1956 the CentralCommittees f the memberparties2shichparticipatedn the InformationBureauof the Communist nd Workers'Parties Cominform) nnouncedthedissolutionf hisorganizationoundednSeptember 947 toorganizethe exchange f experience nd o coordinatehe activities f communistparties).The declared eason or this act was that t had completedtsfunction,ecognizinghat"therehavebeenchangesn recent ears n theinternationalituation" hich have rovided ewconditionsor heactivitiesof the Communist nd Workers'Parties."26 he Cominform ad been aStal in istestige nda toolof he Kremlinn mposing ommunist n i ty. tsdissolutionhereforewas an effort o bolster he new imageof a SovietUnion n pursuitof a peaceful olicy n internationalffairs nauguratedearlier he precedingyear: its acceptance f Austria's ndependence(May1955) nd tsrapprochementi thYugoslaviaJune1955).But heCominform's issolutionid not mean he beginning f a new era,sinceMoscowwould n no way allowa weakening f linksbetweenCommunistparties, s theevents n EasternEuropewoulddemonstraten the all.De-Stalinization eanta loosening f repressivemeasuresandexcessive ontrols, t did not mean freedom rom Sovietdomination rneutralityn the ColdWar or he buffer tatesborderinghe SovietUnion.

Inneighboringungary,heCommunistovernmentf PrimeMinistermreNagyannouncedn lateOctober1956 he reintroductionf a multipartyelectoral ystem,declared he country's eutrality,nd the decision ha tit wouldwithdrawrom he WarsawPact. To he Kremlinhesemeasuresthreatenedhe stability f the Socialist ampand the WarsawPactandsentmilitaryorces o suppresshe"counterrevolution."2TDuringhecritical aysof heHungarianevolution oscow eleaseda lengthydeclaration n 30 October1956expressingts commitmentopeaceful nd friendly ooperation ith he socialist tates. In the interestof guaranteeinghe mutualsecurity f the socialist ountries,he Sovietgovernment xpressed ts willingnesso discusswith the WarsawPactmembers he question f Soviet roopsstationed n the territory f thesecountries. In this the Sovietgovernment roceededrom the generalprincipleha t he stationing f troopsof oneWarsawPactmemberon theterritory f anothermemberstate"should ake placeon the basisof anagreement mongal l ts part icipantsnd notonlywith he agreement fthestateon whose erritoryhese roopsarestationed rareplannedo bestationed t its request."2Bn particular,t expressedtsreadinesso enter


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into elevant egotiationswith he government f the Hungarian eople'sRepublic nd he otherpafties o the Warsaw reaty n thequestion f thestationing f Soviet orces n Hungary."'nn otherwords, he WarsawPactmemberswouldbe able ointly o determine olicy ffecting achmember.With he events n Hungaryresh n the background,he Kremlinhastenedo takemorepractical teps o regulateelations ith tspeople'srepublics. greements n hestationing f Soviet roops n Eastern uropewereconcluded ith heirhostcountriesPoland n 17 December 956;EastGermany n 12 March1957, nd Hungary n 27 May). On 15Apri l1957 an agreementwas signed n Bucharest etween he Sovietand

Romanian overnments n the legal statusof Sovietunits stationednRomania.Theaccord tated hat he"temporarytationing f Soviet roopson the erritory f the Romanian eople'sRepublic ill n no way affect hesovereignty f the Romanian tate; the Soviet roopswill not nterferenthe domestic ffairs f the Romanian eople's epublic."30t providedhatthe strength nd ocation f theSoviet orces n Romaniawouldbe subjectto arrangementsetweenhe wogovernments.3lAfter Khrushchev ad assumed ull control n the Kreml inby thesummer f 1957, e continuedo discussn the Politbur o nd withseniormilitary ommandershe ssue f military utsandwithdrawalf troops rom

WarsawPactcountries.Accordingo Khrushchev's emoirs,he issueofthe presence f troops n Romania as decidedn the context f the needto reducemilitary xpendituresnd the size of our army,particularlyour units stationed n the other WarsawPact countries.No longerwerewe looking hroughStalinist yeglasses tthe dangerposedby capitalism.Of course,we were sti l lsurroundedycapita l istases, utnow hatwe hadmissi lesas wellas atomic ndhydrogen ombs,he socialist amphad one of the mightiest rmed orces n the world.32

lt shouldalso be mentionedhat n October1957 he Soviets tartledheworldby launching putnik , he irstartif icial atellitentospace.In hisatmosphere f self-confidencen itsmilitary apabilit iesnda shift n tsmil i tary octr ine, t he beginningf 1958Moscow ppearsohave made he decisiono reduceWarsawPact orcesand to withdrawits units rom Romania.On 7 Januaryhe Soviets fficially nnounced


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reduction f their orces rom EasternEurope.33 onsequently,ucharestwas anxiously ait ingor an announcementn the status f the 5 Sovietdivisions tationedn Romanian oi l .The newlydeclassified omanian ocuments how that officiallythis Soviet nitiative hrushchev resentedor the first ime n a letter othe Communisteadershipn Bucharestn 17Apri l1958. In he nameofthe Central ommittee f the CPSU,Khrushchevnformed heorghiu-Dejand the CentralCommittee f the RWPof Moscow's esire o consult nthe issueof "fufther tationing f the Soviet roopson the territory f theRomanian eople's epublic."3ahe Central ommitteef the CPSUwasconvincedhat he stationing f Sovietunitson Romanianerritory as nolongernecessary, lthough ecognizinghat heirpresence servedboththe nterests f the Romanian eople's epublic nd he nterests f ourcommoncause and until recently t proved,undeniably, ecessary ndconsistent ith tsaim."35Notwithstandinghispositive ontribution,he nternationalituationhas experienced noticeablemprovement.The peaceful olicyof thesocialist amp "madepossible certain haw in internationalensions."Romania xperiencedignif icantchievementsinsocia l istui lding nd nstrengtheningtspeople's emocracyystem." mong hese uccesses as

a rel iablemil i taryorce able o respondo the mperial ists'challenges,odefend he Romanian eople's ocialistonquestsndmake tscontributionto the causeof defendinghe common nterests f the socialist amp."But, more han these accomplishments,he Soviet etterpointsout that"imperialistcircles,n order to serue their anti-Soviet ropagandaand toslander he RomanianPeople'sRepublic,make large use of the fact thatSovief roopsare still tationed nyourcountry's erritory."36n otherwords,the etter tressedheneed or heSoviet ndRomanian ommunisteadersto "discuss s soonaspossiblehequestion fwithdrawingheSoviet rmedforces"romRomanianerritory nd release relevant ress ommunique."The Soviets ereconvincedhat he removal f their roops romRomaniawould be a new concreteand convincingproof of thepeace-lovingol icyof the SovietUnion, f the RomanianPeople'sRepublic nd of the socialist amp as a rvhole,of our common endencyo obtain, ot by words,but bydeeds, relaxation f internationalensions.Suchan actwoulddeprive mperia l isti rc les f one of theirs igni f icantargumentsn favor of their policyof mi l i tary reparation


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and wouldcontributeo uniting he forces ha t pronouncethemselvesor hesafeguardingndconsolidationfpeace,forpeaceful oexistencemongstates."37In conclusion, hrushchevn the nameof the CentralCommittee f theCPSUsolicitedhe opinion f theCC of the RWp n thismatter.

TheRomanianesponseame lmost week ater.On23April 958,Gheorghiu-Dejrote ha tBucharesthared heview hat heSoviet roopson Romanianerritoryseryed oth he nterests f the Romanian eople'sRepublic nd he nterestsf thecommon ause f thesocia l istamp." nlightof the mprovednternationalituation,he Romanians xpressedheiragreemento theproposed ithdrawal f theseunits tationedn Romania.The RomanianCommunisteadership lso evaluated he propagandaopportunityn the removal f these roops."Wehaveno doubtwhatsoeverthat this decisionwill havea major mpactand wouldbe seen by worldpublic pinion s a newconcreteontributionf heUSSR, f heRomanianPeople's epublic ndof the entire ocialist amp, o the strengtheningfpeace nd he esseningf tensionsn nternationalelations."3BAt the same time, Gheorghiu-Dejnd the CentralCommittee fthe RWP eltcompelledo allay he Soviet oncern, ssuringhe Kremlin

that the Romanianarmed forces "shall fulfil honorably, n whatevercircumstances,he duties ncumbent n themwith in he social ist amp."The letter,however,ef t o Moscow he decision s to the timingof the"meetingo discusshismatter."On 24 May1958, monthollowingheKhrushchev-Gheorghiu-DejAprilexchange f etters,he wosides oncludedn Moscow n agreementconcerninghe departure f the Soviet roops temporarilytationed n theRomanianerritory." he accord egulatedhe officialwithdrawal nd thetransfer f all assets nvolved.Furthermore,t established timetableorthedeparture f Soviet roops rom he People's epublic f Romania vertheperiod 5June-15 ugust1958.Accordingo Art ic le , in he nterestsof hesecurity f he member tates f heWarsawPact,Romania bligateditsel fo maintainn the stateof permanenteadiness number f airandnavalbases, ormerly nderSovietcontrol,o be placed or the eventualuseof the ointArmedForces f theWarsaw reaty.3eThisbi lateralccord nd ts imingmustbe viewed n the generalcontextof Cold War developments. he announcementegardinghe


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signingof the Romanian-Sovietccordwas made at the WarsawPactmeetingn Moscow n thesameday, 4 May1958. t was no coincidencethat he Political onsultativeommittee f theWarsawPactdulyapprovedtheconcludedccord nd he Soviet nnouncementf thewithdrawalromRomana.At hesame ime,hese ecisions ere ollowed y hecommu iqueannouncingoviet ndWarsaw actmi l i taryutsof419,000men n EasternEurope.a0n addit iono the Soviet utsof 300,000, reviouslynnounced,the ollowingeduction as o akeplace:Albania1,000), u lgaria23,000),Czechoslovakia20,000), oland 20,000),ndRomania55,000).Withina short time, the terms of the accordwere fulfil ledand

the fourteen-yeareriodof "temporary"tationing f Sovietmilitary nitson Romanianerr i tory ame to a close. On 25 July 1958, he last ofthe 35,000Soviet roops eft Romania, ccordingo a RadioBucharestannouncement.alhus,whatbegan n 1955 ulminatedn thesummer f1958,but hiswithdrawalmustbe viewed n tsproperhistoricalontext.ln the ColdWar of 1958, he UnitedStates nd he West n generalrecognizedhat roop trengthsnEastern urope sawhole adno tchangedand hatRomaniaemained ulnerableo Sovietorces tationed eyondtsborders.Justifiably, ashington as unwillingo reducets commitmentoNATO roundorces s Khrushchevpparentlyadhoped. lt can be seen,however, s a practical ove n he ColdWarSoviet ropaganda.At the same ime,as Khrushchevecords,he withdrawal f armedforcesromRomania aspartof heSoviet eexaminationf the ationaleortroopdeploymentsn Eastern urope. Wehad o economizen our armyabroad s wellas at home," eminiscedhrushchev.Themaintenancef adivision broad-thats,on he erritory fanother ocialistountry-costswiceas muchas hemaintenancef a division nourown erritory." long his ineof reasoning,e notes hat thestrength f a modern rmy sn'tdeterminedby he number f roops utby irepower, articularlyissile ower.We hadstockpiled greatmanynuclear eapons, o our irepowerhad ncreasedmany imes ndwe could fford o cut backonourgroundroops.Gradually

we reducedurstandingrmy romabout mil l iono 2 %mil l ion."a2The key foreignpolicyelementwas the unilateral ovietmove owithdraw limited umber f roops romEastern urope sa wholewhich,Khrushchev oped,mightencourage simi lar esponserom NATO. Inany case, his imited eparture ouldnot undermineMoscow'smil i taryadvantagesn he area,wheresocia l ism asby nowsafely stablished.


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Thewithdrawalf Soviet nits romRomanian hesummer f 1958mustbe placed n the contextof the generaldevelopmentsf Cold WarEurope: hepublicni t iat ivesf heSovietUnionorreduction f a l l oreigntroops n Europe,ntendingo inducea reduction f the US troops ocatedinWestGermany; heself-confidencef theSoviet eadership,nfluencedby hequalitat ivehangesn hearmament nd he consequentlyhangedmilitary octrine; he Kremlin's eorientationf policy rom SoutheasternEuropeo Central urope,.e.,Germany, hich gain ecame focalpointin East-Westensionsn 1958.As the region's trategicmportancen theColdWardiminishednd heCommunistegimen Romania as irmly ncontrol f the country,he new development nabled he SovietUnion owithdrawts roopswithout eing oncerned boutRomania'sel iabi l i tysan allyandat hesame imescorepointsn hecoldwarpropaganda.Thisdevelopment lso affectedRomania nd its eadership.Thewithdrawal f Soviet orces n 1958enabledGheorghiu-Dejo take he irstsignificantteps o diminish oviet nfluence verRomanianoreign olicy,while t hesame imemaintain tr ict ontrol verdomestic evelopments.This pol icy he communist egimepursued uccessful lynti l he fal l ofcommunismn December 989.

NOTES1. DennisP.Hupchick,TheBalkans: romConstantinopleo CommunismNewYork:Palgrave,002),412.2. Vladislav ubokan dConstantine leshakov,nsidehe Kremtin's ol dWar:FromStalin o KhrushchevCambridge, A an d London:HarvardUniversity ress,1996),1BO-187 .3. See LeonidGibianski i ,Soviet -Yugoslavelat ions nd he Hungar ian evolut ionof 1956,"Cold War lnternational istoryProjectBulletin10 (March 1998):139-1 8 (143on the date). On Bucharest'sol e n the Nagy affair, ee SergiuVerona,MititaryOccupa-tionan d Diplomacy. oviefTroopsn Romania,1944-1958Durham,NC . DukeUniversityPress,1992),104-105, nd DennisDeletant nd Mihail onescu,Romania nd he WarsawPact: 1955-1989, ol dWar nternational istoryProjectWorkingPaper# 43 (Washington,DC:WoodrowWilson nternat ionalenter orScholars, pr i l2004), 14. loan Scurtu, lntroducere,"n Romania.Retragerea rupelor ovietice.7958 Ro-mania.Withdrawal f Soviet roops. 9581,oordinat ingdi toroanScurtu Bucuregt i :di-turadidact icaiedagogicd .A.,1996), 0 and68.5. Scurtu,lntroducere,"n Romania. etragerearupelor ovietice. 958,49 nd67-68.6. For heCommunistakeover f Eastern urope, eeR.J. Crampton, astern u-rope n th e Twentieth entury andAfter,2ded . (London nd NewYork:Routledge, gg7),211-239.


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7. Doc.23, "Treaty f PeacewithRomania," 0 February 947,Par is, n Romania.Retragerearupelor ovietice.1958,165.B. Docs.26,27, and 28, n Romania.Retragerearupelor ovietice. 958,171-200.9. "Union f Soviet ocia l is t epubl ics,n i ted ingdom f GreatBr i ta in nd North-ern reland,he UnitedStates fAmerica, rance-Austria:tateTreaty or he Re-establish-mentof an lndependentnd Democrat icustr ia," 5 May 1955,Vienna,n TheAmericanJournal f lnternat ionalaw,49, no.4, Supp lement: f f icial ocumentsOctober 955),1 6 3 , 1 6 8 - 1 6 9 ,n d1 9 1 .10. RobertL. Ferr ing, TheAust r ian tateTreaty f 1955and the Cold War, "TheWestern olit ical uarterly 1, no.4 (December 968): 64 .11. Doc.41, nterview, heorghe postol i th oanScurtu ndVirginia al in, 0 Oc-tober 1994, n Romania.Retragerearupelor ovietice.1958,224-225.12. The off icial ameof the Romanian ommunist ar ty rom February 948unt i l196513 . Scurtu, lntroducere,"n Rom1nia. etragereatrupelorsovietice.958,41and 59.14. Doc.41, Interview, heorghe postol i th oanScurtu ndVirg in ia al in, 0 Oc-tober 1994, n Romania.Retragerea rupelor ovietice.1958,224-225.15. "Albania, u lgar ia, zechoslovakia,ermanDemocrat ic epubl ic, ungary, o-land,Rumania, .S.S.R.: reaty f Friendship, ooperat ionnd Mutual Assistance,"4Ma y 1955,Warsaw,n TheAmerican ournal f lnternationalaw,49, no.4, Supplement:Off icial ocumentsOctober 955), 94-199.16. NikitaKhrushchev, hrushchev emembers.Th e LastTestament,rans.an d ed .by StrobeTalbottBoston ndToronto: itt le,Brownan dCompany, 974),227-228.17 . Doc.41 , n te rv iew,heorgheAposto li t h oanScur tu ndVi rg in ia d l in ,20Oc-tober1994, n Romania.Retragerea rupelor ovietice.1958,224-225.18 . KhrushchevRemembers. The Last Testament, 27. On the visit and differentinterpretationsegardinghe ocation nd content f discussion n the ssue, eeVerona,MilitaryOccupationand Diplomacy,80-86.19. Deletant nd onescu,Romania nd the WarsawPact, 14. Thispointalso n Ve-rona,MilitaryOccupation nd Diplomacy,85.20. "We ustdidn' twantyou o thinkwe werestandingi rmly n a socia l is t osi t iononlybecause ou r roopsare stationed n our country.We us twantyo u o know ha twesincerely el ieven the bui ld ing f socia l ism nd n o l lowing axist -Lenin isto l ic ies,ndou r people ecognize s as their eaders nd support s completely. he development fsocialismnour countrys notdetermined y pressurero m he SovietUnion" KhrushchevRemembers. The Last Testament, 28).21. As relatedn Doc.41, Interview, heorghe postol i th oanScurtu nd Vi rg in iaCr lin,20 October 994, n Romania.Retragerearupelor ovietice. 958,225.22 . Khrushchev emembers.The LastTestament.227.


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23. Scurtu, lntroducere,"n Romania. etragerearupelor ovietice. 958, 4 an d62.24. Textof the speech n Keesing'sContemporaryrchives, (1955-1956), 4992A',NikitaKhrushchev,SecretSpeech" o the Twentieth ongress f the Communist artyoftheSovietUnion,25February 956 excerpts] ,n RonaldGrigorSunyed), TheStructureof SovietHistory.Essays nd DocumentsNe wYorkand Oxford:OxfordUniversity ress,2003), 40-35025. The members ere heCommunistndWorkers ' art ies f Bulgar ia, zechoslo-vakia, rance, ungary,taly, oland, omania, nd heSovietUnion.26. "Announcementn the Dissolut ionf the Informationureau f the CommunistandWorkers 'Part ies,8Apr i l1956,"n Documents n nternat ionalf fa i rs, 956 London,Ne wYork,Toronto:OxfordUniversity ress,1959),377.27. On the Hungarian-S oviete lat ionshipt this ime, ee MarkKramer,TheSovietUnionand he 1956Crises n Hungary nd Poland:Reassessmentsnd New Findings,"Journal f Contemporary istory 2, 2 (April1998):163-214.28. "Declarat ionf the SovietGovernmentn the Foundat ionsor he DevelopmentandFurther trengtheningf Fr iendshipnd Co-operat ionetweenheSovietUnion ndOtherSocialist tates, 0 October 956,"in ocuments n nternational ffairs, 956 Lon-don,NewYork, oronto: xfordUniversi ty ress, 959),467.29 . t b i d 468 .30. Doc. 9,Accord etweenheGovernmentf heRomanian eople's epubl ic ndth e Government f the USSR,15 April 1957 Bucharest,n Romania.Retragerearupelorsoviet ice. 958,247.31 t b i d32. KhrushchevRemembers. The LastTestament,228.33 . Scurtu, lntroducere,"n Romania.Retragereatrupelorsovietice.958,66.34. Doc. 7,Nik i ta . Khrushchev,i rst -Secretaryf heCC of heCPSU, o heCC ofthe RWP,Letter, 7 April1958,Moscow,n Romdnia.Retragerearupelor ovietice. 958,273 .35 . lb id .36 . lb id . emphas isdded)37. lbid. ,273-274.38 Do c 58, GheorgheGheorghiu-Dej,irst-Secretaryf th e CC of the RWP, o CCof the CPSU,Letter, 3 April 1958,Bucharest,n Romania.Retragerearupelor ovietice.1958, 74-275.39. Doc.60 ,Accordbetween he Ministry f th eArmedForces f the Romanian eo-p le ' sRepub l i cnd heDefense in i s te r f heU.S.S.R. ,24 ay1858,Moscow, ndDoc.73,Decis ionf heCounci l f Ministersf he People's epubl ic f Romania n heappl ica-t ionof heAgreementoncludedn Moscow n May24, 1958 stabl ish inghewithdrawalfth eSoviet roops romRomania,2lJune1958,Bucharest,n Romania. etragerearupelorsovietice. 958,276-280.and 342-344.


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40. "Communiqu6n heMeet ingf hePoli t icalonsultat iveommit teef heWar-sa wTreatyOrganization,"4 May1958,Moscow,n Documentsn nternationalffairs,7958London,ewYork, oronto:xford niversityress, 962),99.

41 Keesing Contemporaryrchives,l (1 57-1958),6350C42. Khrushchevemembers.heLast estament.221.

EugeneBoia hasa B.A. romCleveland tateUniversity,M.A. romJohnCarrol lUniversity,nd earned Ph.D. romKentStateUniversityn 1991. His disserta-tion, Romania'sDiplomaticRelationswithYugoslavian the nterwarPeriod,1919-1941,was published y ColumbiaUniversity ress n its East EuropeanMono-graphs er iesn 1993. Dur ingOctober1985-July19BO e hada Fulbr ight -Haysdissertat ionesearch rant n Romania, nd between anuary nd June 1994hehad an Internat ionalesearch Exchanges oard IREX) esearch rantalsoin Romania, orking n "Romania's iplomat ic elat ions ithYugoslavia, 941-1956."Hecurrentlyeaches oursesn WesternCivi l izat ion,he Balkans, went i-ethCenturyEurope, nd European ascism t Cleveland tateUniversity.E-mai l : .bo [email protected]


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1 1

Proceedings f the OhioAcademyof History2005

Contents

i i i EDITOR'S OTEPAPERSPresidential ddress:Explaining ailure: he Forty-Year ebateover he VietnamWarGARYR.HESSTheWithdrawal f Soviet roopsromRomania, 955-1958EUGENE OIASocialist unicipal dministrationsn he ProgressiveraMidwest:A Compar ative aseStudy f FourOhioCit ies, 911-1915ARTHUR .DEMATTEOBlack ynchingn he Promised and:MobViolencen Ohio,1877 1916MARILYN . HOWARDSubvertinghe FrenchStranglehold: iaoYuntai, eformingheGej iu in ndustry nd heFrench unnanRailway, 910-1937THOMAS .MCGRATHArthurErnestMorgan nd he MoraineParkSchool,1916-1927JOSEPHWATRAS

Editorial ffice:The OhioStateUniversity arionCampus,Morri l lHall222,1465Mt.Vernon ve.,Marion,OH 43302-5095Phone:740-725-6249 Fax: 614-292-5817

The Proceedingss published nnually y theOhioAcademy f History.Thesear epapers hatwerepresented t theannual pring onference.Theacademy ssumes o responsibilityor statementsxpressed yauthors.Theauthors etain opyright. rssN 153s-430x

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oHtoACADEMYOFHISTORY

Editorial BoardJacobDornWrightStateUniversity

EditorVladimir teffelOhioStateUniversity

2005

BOIA - Withdrawal

Documents

Transcript of BOIA - Withdrawal