|
Romania Evolution of Military Doctrine
Because historically its enemies had had tremendous
numerical
and technological superiority, Romania had succumbed to
them
despite occasional periods of rebellion and armed
resistance.
Experiences as the ally of Russia in World War I, Nazi
Germany in
World War II, and the Soviet Union afterward had taught
Romania,
however, that allowing a stronger country to dictate its
political
and military course could lead to ruin and loss of
sovereignty. In
the wake of the Warsaw Pact action against Czechoslovakia
in 1968,
Ceausescu deviated from standard Warsaw Pact doctrine and
promulgated a distinct national military doctrine for
Romania.
Known as "War of the Entire People" (Lupta Intregului
Popor), this
doctrine was largely a reaction to the failure of
Czechoslovakia to
resist the Soviet-led invasion. Its basic premise was that
the
people would resist with all means at their disposal any
"imperialist" incursion into Romania and would defend the
nation's
sovereignty, independence, and
socialism (see Glossary).
Thus, War
of the Entire People implied defense not only of the
nation but
also of Romania's particular style of socialism and the
political
power of the PCR hierarchy that controls it.
War of the Entire People defined imperialism in an
omnidirectional sense as the greatest threat to Romania.
Any
nation, whether a capitalist North Atlantic Treaty
Organization
(NATO) country or an erstwhile socialist Warsaw Pact ally
that
sought to dominate Romania militarily, constituted an
imperialist
threat. Although left unstated, in the context of the
time, the
clearest threat was a Soviet or Warsaw Pact intervention
in Romania
similar to what occurred in Czechoslovakia in 1968.
The Law on National Defense of the Socialist Republic
of
Romania, passed by the Grand National Assembly (GNA) in
1972,
codified and further elaborated War of the Entire People.
The law
stated that Romania would declare war only to defend
itself or a
Warsaw Pact ally against external aggression. The 1972 law
also
made acceptance of surrender, cession, or occupation of
national
territory an illegal act. It made GNA approval a
requirement for
the entry of foreign troops into Romania and declared that
Romania's armed forces may respond only to orders or
directives
issued by the country's national command authority. These
provisions were designed to prevent the Soviet Union from
disrupting national resistance to an invasion of Romania
or
justifying an invasion by installing a compliant faction
of the PCR
to request and legitimize the Soviet Union's "fraternal
assistance"
or intervention.
War of the Entire People mandated a system of national
territorial defense modeled on that of Yugoslavia and
called for
mobilizing all of the country's human and material
resources to
mount continuous resistance against any aggressor,
invader, or
occupier until Romania was liberated. Thus the regular
armed forces
ceased to be the exclusive focus of military doctrine. The
Patriotic Guards were established and received great
attention and
considerable resources
(see Reserves and Mobilization
, this ch.).
To explain the relationship of the regular army and the
irregular
Patriotic Guards, Romanian military historians began
writing about
the role of peasant masses in rising up to join princes,
nobles,
and the professional warrior caste to defend the Romanian
lands
against invasions during the Middle Ages.
Data as of July 1989
|
