July Theses

The July Theses is a name commonly given to a speech delivered by Romanian leader Nicolae Ceaușescu on July 6, 1971, before the executive committee of the Romanian Communist Party (PCR). Its full name was ("Proposed measures for the improvement of political-ideological activity, of the Marxist–Leninist education of Party members, of all working people"). This quasi-Maoist speech marked the beginning of a "mini cultural revolution" in the Socialist Republic of Romania, launching a Neo-Stalinist offensive against cultural autonomy, a return to the strict guidelines of socialist realism and attacks on non-compliant intellectuals. Strict ideological conformity in the humanities and social sciences was demanded. Competence and aesthetics were to be replaced by ideology; professionals were to be replaced by agitators; and culture was once again to become an instrument for communist propaganda. In their final version of early November 1971, publicized as an official document of the PCR Plenum, the Theses carried the title: ("Exposition regarding the PCR programme for improving ideological activity, raising the general level of knowledge and the socialist education of the masses, in order to arrange relations in our society on the basis of the principles of socialist and communist ethics and equity"). Background After a period of rigid Stalinism from 1948, Romanian cultural life experienced a modest trend of liberalization and ideological relaxation in the early 1960s. This trend accelerated with the IXth Congress of the Romanian Communist Party in 1965. A talented oppositional generation of writers emerged: Nichita Stănescu, Ana Blandiana, Gabriel Liiceanu, Nicolae Manolescu, Adrian Păunescu, and others. Furthermore, at the April 1968 Central Committee plenum, Ceaușescu denounced his predecessor Gheorghe Gheorghiu-Dej and rehabilitated Lucrețiu Pătrășcanu, executed just two days before Ceaușescu joined the Politburo (thus allowing him to claim innocence and to demote a key rival, Alexandru Drăghici). This opened up even more space for artistic expression. Eugen Barbu's novel Principele ("The Prince", 1969), though set in the Phanariot era, clearly refers to Gheorghiu-Dej — there is even reference to a project to build a canal that claims many of its builders' lives (a disguised reference to the Danube-Black Sea Canal). In Dumitru Radu Popescu's novel F, abuses committed during collectivization are explored.