Mineriades

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The Schil Valley in Romania

As mineriad ( Romanian singular Mineriada , plural mineriad of rum. Miner = Bergmann) are referred to more violent protests, which in the 1990s in Romania mainly of miners from the Jiu ( Jiu Valley ) were performed. Their political objectives were different, the backgrounds and masterminds are still partly unknown.

In the first three mineriads in 1990 in the capital Bucharest, the miners took action against opponents of the initially provisional and later officially elected President Ion Iliescu , possibly on his behalf, in any case with his approval. For this they received material and labor law benefits (wage increases, allocation of food, reduction in working hours).

In the 1991 Mineriade, miners put pressure on the government of Prime Minister Petre Roman , which was forced to resign.

Separate from this are the two mineriades from 1999. In the first of these, the miners protested against the government's planned mine closings and the threatened job losses. The second was against a judicial conviction of union leader Miron Cozma . In contrast to the Mineriades of 1990/1991, the main events of which took place in Bucharest, the event took place in 1999 on the way of the miners to Bucharest, that is to say in the Wallachian province.

prehistory

The Schiltal is a mountainous region on the upper reaches of the river of the same name in the Hunedoara district , in southwestern Transylvania . Tens of thousands of coal miners and their families lived and worked here during the rule of the Communist Party (PCR). The coal mined here mostly in underground mines , under difficult conditions and with outdated technology, was an important factor in the country's energy supply. Some of the miners consciously saw themselves as representatives of the working class and tried to influence political events even before 1989. In August 1977 there had been unrest here due to dissatisfaction with the working and living conditions. In order to prevent similar events in the future, the dictator Nicolae Ceaușescu had the workforce in the mines infiltrated by employees of the Securitate secret service . During this time, the future leader of the miners, Miron Cozma, was also employed as a mining engineer in the Schil Valley. Observers conclude from this that Cozma could have been a contributor to the Securitate, but this has not been proven.

In December 1989 Nicolae Ceaușescu was overthrown in a bloody revolution. The National Salvation Front (FSN) under Ion Iliescu , a functionary of the Romanian Communist Party (PCR), took over power which at the time was not yet democratically legitimized. According to his opponents, Iliescu planned to establish a new authoritarian regime, which consisted mostly of moderate ex-PCR cadres. In contrast, an opposition formed under the leadership of several newly founded or re-established bourgeois parties.

The six mineriades in detail

First Mineriade (January 28-29, 1990)

In the first days after the revolution, the National Salvation Front presented itself as a politically neutral rallying movement that wanted to ensure Romania's transition to democracy. On January 23, 1990, however, its governing body announced that it would run for election in the upcoming parliamentary elections. Representatives of newly established parties outside the rescue front (especially the National Liberal Party [PNL] and the National Peasant Party [PNȚ-CD]) interpreted this as an attempt to monopolize power and called for demonstrations that began on January 24th Bucharest took place. Those in power on the rescue front called on workers through television and other mass media to confront the demonstrators. About 5,000 miners from the Schil Valley came to the capital with their guide Miron Cozma. There they stormed and damaged the party headquarters of the opposition parties.

Second Mineriade (February 18-19, 1990)

Mineriade in front of the Victoria Palace in February 1990

After the first mineriade, several respected civil rights activists and dissidents (including the writer Ana Blandiana ) withdrew from the National Salvation Front, which they accused of being too close to the Ceaușescu regime. Just a few weeks later, numerous people again demonstrated against Iliescu and the National Rescue Front in Bucharest. On February 18, 1990, a larger, initially peaceful rally took place at Piața Victoriei with (according to various sources) between 5,000 and 20,000 participants. Their ranks eventually led to violence against the Foreign Ministry building and some offices to be occupied. The Deputy Prime Minister of the Provisional Government, Gelu Voican Voiculescu, was ill-treated. The following night, around 5,000 miners from the Schil Valley arrived to defend the government. They attacked the remaining demonstrators with clubs and poles. Romanian television reported about a two-hour meeting between Iliescu and representatives of the miners. While Iliescu's supporters blamed the demonstrators for the riots, these provocateurs from the ranks of the former secret service Securitate were responsible for this.

Third Mineriade (June 13-15, 1990)

Ion Iliescu

The third mineriade in June 1990 is the best known and the one with the bloodiest course. On May 20, 1990, Iliescu and his FSN had clearly won the parliamentary and presidential elections . The previously lively protests of the bourgeois opposition subsided sharply after the elections; only a few dozen protesters remained on the Bucharest University Square, who stayed overnight in tents, declared the square a “communism-free zone” and, in some cases, started a hunger strike. One of their main demands was to implement point 8 of the Timișoara proclamation . According to this, functionaries of the former Communist Party (and thus a large part of the current rulers, including Ion Iliescu himself) were not allowed to hold government offices.

After failed negotiations, violent demonstrations broke out on June 11th. Several attempts by the police to evacuate the square failed and some demonstrators - mostly students - responded with violence. Among other things, they attacked the police headquarters and the headquarters of Romanian television . On June 13th, regular security forces (army and police) began to evacuate the university square. Ion Iliescu publicly called for democracy to be protected from “fascist rebels”. On the morning of June 14, around 7,000 miners arrived in Bucharest on special trains from the Shil Valley and practically took control of the city. The miners beat the demonstrators - allegedly with the support of former Securitate employees. They later attacked people in the street who they believed were opponents of the government. In doing so, according to reports from eyewitnesses, they judged who was part of the opposition; this included intellectuals, for example. As in January, the headquarters of the two largest opposition parties were devastated. Several opposition newspaper editorial offices were also attacked. There were also pogrom-like riots by groups of miners against Roma .

It is controversial whether the government and Ion Iliescu ordered the miners directly to Bucharest or whether the miners - as they themselves claim - made a spontaneous decision to obey Iliescu's general appeal to defend democracy. What is certain is that official bodies in Bucharest took care of the supply and accommodation of the miners. According to some reports, government officials and law enforcement officials managed to prevent the miners from expanding the violence. These were incited and supported in their actions by part of the Bucharest population.

After the unrest ended, Ion Iliescu praised the retreating miners as "a strong force with great discipline". A few days later - at his official inauguration on June 20 - he tried to distance himself from the illegal actions of the miners. According to official figures, six people were killed and hundreds injured in the fighting from June 13 to 15. Opposition journalists reported significantly higher numbers of victims; There is no evidence for this.

Fourth Mineriade (September 24-27, 1991)

Petre Roman

After months of relative political stabilization, economic problems began to emerge in Romania, which also affected the miners of the Schil Valley. This led to rising unemployment and pronounced inflation. The promises made by the government after the third mineriade about higher wages and better working conditions had not been kept. The average monthly wage for a miner during this period was the equivalent of US $ 53  .

On September 24, 1991, many miners occupied the town hall of Petroșani , the largest city in the Schil Valley. From the balcony, Miron Cozma called on people to move to Bucharest in order to put the politicians there under pressure. About 10,000 people traveled from the Schil Valley to the capital, some of them in two confiscated railway trains. When they arrived in Bucharest, they demanded negotiations with Prime Minister Petre Roman , but he refused. This in turn caused the miners to violent riots that lasted four days. They stormed the seat of government and parliament and fought street battles with the police and the army. They were supported by some residents of the capital. Petre Roman's government, seeking to implement an ambitious program of economic reforms, saw no scope for financial concessions to the miners and resigned on September 26th. Ion Iliescu had meanwhile also become the target of dissatisfaction among many miners; Some of the protesters also called for his resignation. But after negotiations he was able to get the miners back into the Schil Valley. Cozma later claimed that some of the miners wanted to attack the presidential palace, including Iliescu. However, he was able to prevent this. Three people were killed and 137 injured in the clashes.

The political situation in the country had completely changed in 1991 compared to the previous year; This was also shown by the fact that student leaders who had been mistreated by the miners in 1990 now demonstrated by their side. A few days after the events of the fourth mineriade, delegates of a congress of the Christian Democratic party PNȚ-CD celebrated the miners who had attacked the party headquarters several times in the previous year. Some political observers believe that Ion Iliescu wanted to get rid of Prime Minister Roman with the miners' uprising, with whom he had fallen out because of diverging economic and political views.

Fifth Mineriade (January 18-23, 1999)

The Cozia Monastery

After the fourth Mineriade, there were no arguments between the miners and other institutions that were of greater importance beyond the Schil Valley for several years. In 1994, 1996 and 1997 workers went on strike for higher wages and pensions.

Miron Cozma had been in prison for 18 months in 1997 and 1998 for illegally possessing weapons in connection with the fourth Mineriade. He used his reputation among the union members to pursue his own economic interests. In doing so, he achieved considerable wealth. He has been accused by critics of having a close connection to organized crime. Politically, Cozma and his miners moved closer to the positions of the extremist politician Corneliu Vadim Tudor and his Greater Romania Party . Cozma was temporarily deputy party chairman, but gave up this function in early 1999 to be politically independent, according to his own statements.

In August 1998, negotiations on wage increases began and dragged on between miners' unions and the government - now dominated by bourgeois forces. In December 1998, Prime Minister Radu Vasile's government decided to close two unprofitable coal mines in the Shil Valley that employed 2,000 workers. The trade unions reacted to this at the beginning of 1999 with a strike. In addition to their continued employment, they demanded a 35 percent wage increase. At the time, the miners earned the equivalent of 200 US dollars, roughly double the average Romanian income. When the government was adamant, Miron Cozma called on January 18, 1999 for the “March to Bucharest”. The police tried to prevent this by cordoning off the Schil valley, erecting barriers on the roads and railways and using tear gas grenades and smoke bombs. The approximately 10,000 miners overcame these obstacles relatively easily; Interior Minister Gavril Dejeu resigned on January 19. In the city of Bumbeşti-Jiu and in many other places, residents showed solidarity with the passing miners and attacked police officers. The rebels advanced eastwards via Târgu Jiu , mostly in buses. At Costeşti ( Vâlcea district ) another barrier was set up by around 3,400 security forces, but the miners overcame it in a two-hour battle on January 21. 130 people were injured and around 50 police officers were taken hostage. The miners marched on to Râmnicu Vâlcea . The next roadblock was prepared between this city and Pitesti . At the same time, however, the government decided to negotiate with the miners, who were held personally on January 22nd and 23rd in the Cozia Monastery near Călimăneşti between Cozma and Prime Minister Vasile. In an agreement, the government agreed not to close the two coal mines as planned. She granted a 30 percent wage increase. She also pledged not to prosecute the miners involved in the riot. These then returned to the Schil Valley.

Sixth Mineriade (February 16-17, 1999)

A few weeks after the fifth mineriad - on February 15, 1999 - Miron Cozma was sentenced in absentia by a Bucharest court for his role in the fourth mineriad in 1991 to a prison term of 18 years. The court thus significantly extended the already served sentence of 18 months. Cozma saw the new judgment as politically motivated; on February 16, he began another “march to Bucharest” with around 2,500 miners at his side. The miners traveling in around 40 buses were able to overcome the first roadblock near Brădeşti ( Dolj district ). A short time later they were caught in a violent confrontation with the police near Stoeneşti ( Olt district ) and overwhelmed. One miner was killed, numerous law enforcement officers and miners were injured, around 500 of the latter were imprisoned. Cozma tried to flee but was arrested in Caracal on February 17th .

Further developments

Headquarters of the Association of the Victims of Minerias in Bucharest

After the arrest of their leader Cozma, the miners of the Schil Valley no longer played a special role in Romanian politics. In the years that followed, a large part of the subsidized mines was closed. The region is characterized by high unemployment.

Miron Cozma had to begin the prison sentence that was imposed on him. Ion Iliescu, re-elected president in 2000, pardoned him on December 15, 2004, in the final days of his term in office. After national and international protests, Iliescu withdrew this pardon two days later. However, a court ruled that this revision was invalid; Cozma was therefore released in June 2005. But in September of the same year he received another 10-year sentence for his role in the fifth Mineriade in January 1999. After offsetting this sentence against his previous conviction, he still had to serve 13 months in prison. Cozma was released in December 2007 on the condition not to visit his former main place of activity Petroșani or the capital Bucharest for five years. He wanted to run in the presidential elections at the end of 2009 , but gave up this project early because of hopeless poll results.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Dangerous people . In: Der Spiegel . No. 9 , 1990 ( online ).
  2. ^ A b New York Times, October 6, 1991, accessed January 7, 2011
  3. ↑ Romanian miner leader Cozma arrested . In: Berliner Zeitung , February 17, 1999
  4. ↑ Anneli Ute Gabanyi : The political system of Romania . In: Solveig Richter, Markus Soldner: The political systems of Eastern Europe. 3rd edition. VS-Verlag, Wiesbaden 2010, ISBN 978-3-531-16201-0 , p. 661.
  5. ^ Heiko Fürst: The Minority Policy of the High Commissioner for National Minorities of the OSCE in Romania. Academic series. GRIN-Verlag, Munich 2007, ISBN 978-3-638-69680-7 , p. 6.
  6. ↑ Tom Gallagher: Theft of a nation: Romania since communism. C. Hurst, London 2005, ISBN 978-1-85065-717-0 , pp. 79-81.
  7. ↑ ziare.com, June 12, 2008, accessed December 31, 2010
  8. ^ Ben Fowkes: The post-communist era: change and continuity in Eastern Europe. Palgrave Macmillan, New York 1999, ISBN 978-0-312-22368-7 , pp. 65f.
  9. ^ New York Times , February 20, 1990. Retrieved January 3, 2011
  10. ^ Henry F. Carey: Romania since 1989: politics, economics, and society. Lexington Books, Oxford 2004, ISBN 978-0-7391-0592-4 , p. 509.
  11. ^ Mark Edelman Boren: Student resistance: a history of the unruly subject. Routledge, New York / London 2001, ISBN 978-0-415-92624-9 , p. 235.
  12. ^ Henry F. Carey: Romania since 1989: politics, economics, and society. Lexington Books, Oxford 2004, ISBN 978-0-7391-0592-4 , p. 424
  13. ^ A b Dennis Deletant : The Security Services since 1989: Turning over a New Leaf . ( Memento of the original from November 5, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (PDF; 137 kB) p. 507 @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / d.yimg.com
  14. ^ A b c New York Times , June 15, 1990. Retrieved January 3, 2011
  15. ↑ a b c New York Times , June 18, 1990. Retrieved January 3, 2011
  16. ↑ We're back in Siberia . In: Der Spiegel . No. 25 , 1990 ( online ).
  17. ↑ a b New York Times , June 21, 1990. Retrieved January 3, 2011
  18. ^ A b c d New York Times , September 26, 1991. Retrieved January 7, 2011
  19. ↑ a b c New York Times , September 27, 1991. Retrieved January 7, 2011
  20. ^ New York Times , October 13, 1991. Retrieved January 7, 2011
  21. ↑ Mike Terry: Industrial Relations Journal European Annual Review 1998/1999. Wiley-Blackwell, 2000, ISBN 978-0-631-21526-4 , p. 180.
  22. ↑ Interview with Miron Cozma ( Memento of the original from April 14, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. at Inpolitics, accessed April 11, 2011 @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.inpolitics.ro
  23. ^ New York Times , October 3, 1991. Retrieved January 7, 2010
  24. ^ Die Welt , January 23, 1999, accessed on January 13, 2011
  25. ^ Henry F. Carey: Romania since 1989: politics, economics, and society. Lexington Books, Oxford 2004, ISBN 978-0-7391-0592-4 , p. 561.
  26. ↑ Influence on the politics of the country . In: Berliner Zeitung , January 23, 1999
  27. ↑ a b c At the barricades of Horezu. In: Berliner Zeitung of January 22, 1999.
  28. ↑ The world. dated February 17, 1999.
  29. ↑ Focus from February 22, 1999, accessed on January 13, 2011.
  30. ↑ a b New York Times , January 20, 1999. Retrieved January 12, 2011
  31. ^ A b New York Times , January 22, 1999. Retrieved January 12, 2011
  32. ↑ Trade union and labor market in Eastern Europe . Friedrich Ebert Foundation , accessed January 21, 2011
  33. ^ New York Times , January 23, 1999. Retrieved January 12, 2010
  34. ^ Miron Cozma sentenced to 18 years in prison . In: Berliner Zeitung , February 16, 1999
  35. ^ A b New York Times, February 18, 1999, accessed January 12, 2011
  36. ↑ Neues Deutschland , February 18, 1999, p. 7
  37. ^ Albrecht Rothacher: In the wild east: Behind the scenes of the upheaval in Eastern Europe. Krämer-Verlag, Hamburg 2002, ISBN 978-3-89622-049-3 , p. 434.
  38. ↑ adevarul.ro of April 25, 2010, accessed on January 12, 2010
  39. ^ Kristina Werndl: Romania after the revolution: A cultural determination of the present. Braumüller-Verlag, Vienna 2007, ISBN 978-3-7003-1618-3 , p. 6.
  40. ↑ ziare.com of September 22, 2010, accessed January 12, 2011
  41. ↑ ziare.com, September 23, 2009, accessed January 13, 2011