Ion Ioniță (politician)

Ion Ioniță

Ion Ioniță (born June 14, 1924 in Mătăsaru , Dâmbovița district ; † July 27, 1987 in Bucharest ) was a politician of the Romanian Communist Party (PCR) and General of the Armata Română and long-time Minister of Defense and Deputy Prime Minister.

Life

Youth functionary and military career

Coming from a poor farming family , Ioniță worked as a mechanic for the state railway company Căile Ferate Române (CFR) after completing his schooling and initially worked in the repair shop in Bucharest. In September 1944 he was commissioned by the headquarters of the communist youth organization Uniunea Tineretului Comunist (UTC) with the union work and organization of young workers in Grivița and Filaret. In addition, he first became a youth union representative at the CFR in Bucharest and shortly afterwards a member of the central committee and the executive committee of the union representation at the CFR. During this time he came into contact with numerous leading trade unionists and politicians of the PCR, such as Chivu Stoica , who took part in the railroad strikes of 1933 and were therefore previously imprisoned or lived underground.

In spring 1945 he became a member of the PCR on the recommendation of Martei Cziko, the wife of the later Interior Minister Alexandru Drăghici , and at the same time a representative of the CFR for youth work in the Presidium there. After six months of study at the evening party school in 1945 and further studies from March to June 1947 at the party school in Constanța , he joined the armed forces, the Armata Română, as a lieutenant in October 1948 and was then an instructor from October 1948 to May 1950 for youth work in the political main department and then from May 1950 to April 1951 head of the propaganda department in the command for tanks, armored and mechanized troops. During this time he was promoted in quick succession from first lieutenant in December 1949, to captain in August 1950 and to major in April 1951.

In April 1951 he became deputy head of the Armed Forces Cadre Department and also completed a degree at the Central Party School of the Armed Forces. During this time he was in April 1952, Lieutenant Colonel promoted and in September 1952, Colonel . As such, in September 1952 he was appointed chief of political work and deputy commander of the 3rd military region. After attending a course for commanders and staff officers at the Technical Military Academy Bucharest from January to June 1953, he first became a member of the Military Council of the 3rd Military Region and then from August 1953 to August 1954 chief of the armed forces' management department. Subsequently, between August 1954 and July 1955 he was head of the Direcția Superioară Politică a Armatei, the main political administration of the armed forces, and from July 1955 to February 1956 a member of the military council. During this time, Ioniță was promoted to major general in August 1955 at the age of just 31 and as such was Commander of the Air Force from February to November 1956. At the same time he became a candidate for the Central Committee of the Partidul Muncitoresc Român (PMR) in December 1955.

After he graduated from the Military Academy of the General Staff of the USSR between November 1956 and December 1958 , he was again a member of the Military Council and then from October 1959 to December 1962 Commander of the Air Defense Command. In this capacity he was promoted to lieutenant general in March 1961 and in December 1962 he was appointed Vice Minister for National Defense. In May 1961 he was awarded the medal for the 40th anniversary of the founding of the PCR.

In October 1964 he was appointed Colonel General transported and on the Ninth Congress of the PCR in July 1965 that until 1984 elected member of the Central Committee of the PCR and belonged. He was also a member of the Grand National Assembly .

Defense Minister and Vice Prime Minister

Colonel General Ioniță (center) with Nicolae Ceaușescu (left) and Chivu Stoica (May 1967)

On August 29, 1966, Colonel General Ioniță was appointed as successor to Leontin Sălăjan Minister of National Defense and held this post for almost ten years until June 16, 1976. During this time, on April 7, 1969, he also became a member of the Defense Council of the Socialist Republic Romania and belonged to this until March 2, 1979. In May 1971 he was promoted to army general, the highest rank of the Armata Română, and honored in 1975 with the Grand Cross of the Order of Infante Dom Henrique .

On June 16, 1976, he was disempowered as Minister of Defense by the Secretary General of the PCR, Nicolae Ceaușescu , and was replaced by Ion Coman . Subsequently, he was resigned to the more formal office of Deputy Prime Minister, which he held until May 20, 1982 in the governments of Manea Mănescu and Ilie Verdeț .

In 1984 he is said to have planned a coup d'état to depose Ceaușescu together with Lieutenant General Nicolae Militaru , a former commander of the 2nd Army, during a state visit to Ceaușescu in the Federal Republic of Germany . However, this failed early after two generals involved in the planning had betrayed the planned arrest of Ceaușescu's closest confidants ( Emil Bobu , Ion Dincă , Tudor Postelnicu , Ion Coman and Ilie Ceaușescu ).

However, a trial against him did not take place because he was already seriously ill with cancer . In contrast to the usual practice for high military officials, however, there was no public funeral service for him.

Web links

• JURNALUL: Generalul Ion Ioniţă şi complotul anti-Ceauşescu (December 29, 2010)
• ZIARUL FINANCIAR: MEMORII: Ion Ionita: Insemnari (I) (November 23, 2007)
• ZIARUL FINANCIAR: MEMORII: Ion Ionita: Insemnari (III) (November 23, 2007)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ List of the winners of the medal on the 40th anniversary of the founding of the PCR (Item No. 97) (PDF; 233 kB)
2. ↑ Rumanian Defense Minister this; Ion Ionita Appointed Successor ( Memento from September 11, 2012 in the web archive archive.today ) (Open Society Archives)
3. ↑ The December Revolt and the Coup D'Etat - 1989. Origins Of The National Salvation Front (NSF)