Romanian Stalinism and Minorities of Banat: The Case

of Serbs – “Titoists”

• After the WWII relations between Yugoslavia and Romania were very good because in both countries were established communist regimes supported by Moscow.

• TITOISM WAS A NATIONALISTIC ideology and practice of communism in Yugoslavia during the regime of Josip Broz Tito, the president of Yugoslavia from the end of World War II until his death in 1980. This ideology took shape after Tito's quarrel with the Soviet Union, and Yugoslavia's subsequent expulsion from the Cominform. Titoism was developed during the period of “Splendid Isolation” that lasted from the break with the Soviet Union until Nikita Khrushchev's reparatory visit to Belgrade, in 1955. The Titoist paradigm was called “social democracy” and came about as a result of the Yugoslav communists' inability to sustain Stalinist Marxism after the dispute began.

• This ideological conflict between Josip Broz Tito and Stalin led to agravation of Yugoslavia’s interstate relations with all the “people’s democracies” and with Romania too. The consequences of bad relations were obvious in any segment of interstate relations, but the worst situation was along Yugoslav-Romanian border and among Serbian national minority in Romania, wich lived near common border and along Danube.

• At the beginning of the post II World War era, a group of leaders of the Serbian Union from Timişoara reacted negatively to the June 28 1948 Resolution, that condemned, in a Stalinist manner, Tito’s Yugoslavia , and was issued by the Informative Bureau of the Communist Countries meeting in Bucharest. Following a week of consultations with their members, almost 2000 of them being former partisans and deserters from the Romanian Army, they issued a Counter-Resolution of solidarity to Tito’s policy.

The repressive machinery of the Communist Regime in Bucharest began to act. At the same time the minority population, to a great extent of rural origin, less educated and consequently easily manipulated, was subdued to negative emotions in the very fragile peace settled over the not yet healed wounds of the terrible World War.

• Repression and Polithical prisoners:• Over 1000 out of 30.000• -dissidetnts

• - the other side

• - Serbian Orthodox Church

• Soon after the death of Stalin in march 1953. important changes started in USSR, and the preconditions for improvement of Yugoslav-romanian relations were created. The negotiations abouth settlement for resolving border incidents, wich took part in Timisoara, were the first occasion to arrange disordered situation along common border and to start improving relations between two countries. Also, Yugoslav delegation’s stay in Timisoara was for Yugoslav’s rare occasion to be acquainted with general situation in Romania witch was reflection of Stalinist nature of Romanian regime. Obvious signs of such nature of Romanian regime, seen by members of Yugoslav delegation, were extreme secretiveness, police character of society, limited individual freedom, crushing state of mind of Romanian people and omnipresence of Soviet Red Army.

• Conclusion• Serbian minority community from Romania

failed to free itself from the heavy burdens consisting in terrible incidents that marked its existence during the cold war period.

• Not being able to confront with honesty the horrible phantom of their past condemns this community to be deprived from a chance of a new beginning.