Of the former members of the Soviet bloc, Romania was the last domino to fall in 1989, differing from its predecessors primarily in the violence associated with its transition. Prior to December 1989, there had been virtually nothing in the way of organized protest against or overt opposition to the communist regime. This was despite an attack during the 1980s on the cultural and political identity of the Hungarian minority in Transylvania. However, it was among this minority that the first serious challenges to the communist regime were made. Anti-regime protests, led by a Hungarian priest, began on December 16 in the city of Timişoara. Despite receiving a violent response, they spread to Bucharest, and to the majority Romanian population by December 21. The following day President Ceauşescu attempted to flee his capital. Ceauşescu had believed he could remain in power, especially with the aid of the Securitate secret police. But segments of the Communist Party and the Securitate, with the support of the army, defected from the regime to depose Ceauşescu, who was executed on Christmas Day after a secret and speedy trial that paid little attention to legal niceties (see Ratesh, 1991; Rady, 1992).

These events were not in and of themselves a clear transition away from communism, though the new leadership tried to emphasize its discontinuities with the communist era.