Economic Retrospectives. Romania: 1945-1948

The history of communism in Romania represents, even 35 years after the Revolution of December 1989, a challenging topic to be addressed, fact due both to the controversial developments recorded, but also to the predominantly negative image associated with the period. The 45 years of communism left an overwhelming mark on Romanian society, dramatically shaping its evolution, including from the economic point of view. From capitalist, market economy, Romania switched to a totally different economic system, the administration of its resources, the production process, the consumption, in fact all economic domains being subordinated to other requirements than until that moment. The role of the private initiative, of institutions and of the state was also submitted to reformation. In this respect, between 1945-1989 our country experienced the system of the centralized economy, its development taking place in 3 distinct stages: 1945-1948, 1948-1965, 1965-1989. The present study proposes an analysis of the economic changes produced once with the end of the Second World War. We will focus our attention on a complex and distinct development stage, the one between 1945-1948, a key period for the set-up of the infrastructure specific to the newly created economic system, respectively of the framework required for the subsequent implementation of socialist-type economic transformations.