Mark Meek's Ideas: Romania

The nation of Romania is named for Rome, which conquered Dacia in the year 106. Bucharest, the capital city, is from late medieval times. Bucharest became capital in the late Nineteenth Century, and is often compared to Paris because of it's architecture. The Arcul de Triumf is Bucharest's version of the Arc de Triomphe. Images from Google Earth and Street View.

The palace of the former Romanian royal family is near it. Image from Google Street View.

The nation consisted of the regions of Wallachia and Moldavia combined. The northern region of Transylvania was added after the First World War. Romania was a kingdom from 1881 to 1947, when the parliament proclaimed it a republic. The last Romanian king, Michael I, was related to both Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip. The Romanian War of Independence, against the Ottomans, was part of a wider war in the region.

Many readers will remember the anti-Communist revolutions that swept eastern Europe in the autumn of 1989. Nicolae Ceausescu was the leader of Romania. His process of "Systemization" had apparently been inspired by his 1971 visit to North Korea. Ceausescu's government is generally remembered as a repressive dictatorship and his overthrow was by far the most violent of the revolutions across eastern Europe. His reign saw the demolition of many historical buildings in order to rebuild.

The revolution came late to Romania, more than a month after the fall of the Berlin Wall. For a while, it looked like Romania might be bypassed. But Ceausescu was overthrown. He and his wife escaped by helicopter but were caught, quickly tried, and executed on Christmas Day.

Bucharest is in the southern part of the country, not too far from the border with Bulgaria. The Athenaeum is a concert venue on Calea Victorei, Victory Blvd., which could be considered as Bucharest's version of the Champs Elysees.

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Bucharest's Lipscani Street runs through the district by that name. Image from Google Street View.

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Old Town Bucharest is near Ceausescu's Palace of Parliament building. This is the massive palatial structure, began by the late dictator, that now houses Romania's Parliament but was not completed until long after his execution. It is still mostly empty today. Images from Google Earth and Street View.

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Bucharest's modern business district is called Floresca City Center. First image from Google Earth.

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Ploiesti is the city to the north of Bucharest that,like Pennsylvania in the U.S., was an early center of oil production. Romania has an industrial economy in general.

But the city is remembered in the U.S. as the site of a costly and controversial Second World War air operation. Refineries were producing a lot of fuel for the Nazis. The RAF decided against trying to directly bomb it, as it was far distant and heavily defended. To ensure accurate targeting, planes would have to fly very low over the target. It was decided to concentrate on the supporting transportation network instead.

But U.S. forces decided that the refineries themselves had to be bombed, and the result was the very costly mission. The first image of Ploiesti is from Google Earth.