personal interests instead of
considering the interests of the society as a whole. PCR officials
declared that the graduates had been trained at state expense and that
their refusal to fulfill their obligations as assigned by the party
could not be tolerated. This resistance to party-decreed transfers was
also evident among other groups during 1969 and 1970, including
teachers, builders, and administrative workers.

Observers consider such situations as evidence that the party is having
difficulty reconciling an essentially authoritarian system with a policy
of socialist democracy that encourages public initiative and
participation. The persistence with which Ceausescu pursued the new
ideological campaign during 1971 gave some observers the impression that
he had opted to put his weight down on the side of continued
authoritarianism.

Romanian Nationalism

The regime scored a marked success in basing its appeal for popular
support on nationalistic sentiments and in giving emphasis to Romanian
history and cultural traditions. Ceausescu has attempted to broaden the
communist movement to include the aspirations of the people as a whole.
Whereas in the past the PCR leaders made reference only to communist
achievements and attributed everything positive to the work of the
party, Ceausescu has praised Romanian national heroes and has given
positive emphasis to specifically Romanian contributions to socialist
development.

To a significant degree the revival of nationalism has gone hand in hand
with anti-Soviet attitudes. The image of the party was bolstered by the
PCR leader's refusal to follow the Soviet line on a number of
significant national and international issues (see ch. 10). At the time
of the Soviet-led invasion of Czechoslovakia in August 1968, Ceausescu's
denunciation of the action and his call for national mobilization in the
face of the crisis served to unite the population and strengthen his
position. Observers have pointed out, however, that this unity has
appeared to wane with the ebbing of the crisis and with the return to
the realities of everyday life in Romania.

CHAPTER 10

FOREIGN RELATIONS

Throughout the 1960s Romanian foreign policy increasingly diverged from
that of the Soviet Union and its allies in Eastern Europe as the
Romanian leaders asserted the country's national interests. In early
1972 the government continued to declare that its foreign policy was
based on national inde