Romanian Revolution - Dramatic News Footage Captures Fall of Nicolae Ceaușescu (1989)

On 22 December 1989, amid widespread protests, Romania's Communist leader, Nicolae Ceaușescu, fled the Romanian capital of Bucharest by helicopter along with his wife, Elena Ceaușescu. Within three days, the pair would be captured, tried, and executed. Their deaths marked the violent end of a brutal dictatorship, and the culmination of the bloodiest of the anti-communist revolutions that swept across Eastern Europe that year. Presented here is a compilation of news reports, interviews, raw footage, and live broadcasts covering events in Romania between 18 December 1989 and 1 January 1990. ITN's Penny Marshall and her crew would be the first western news team inside the city of Timisoara, ground zero of the revolutionary uprising. Paul Davies reported from Bucharest as loyalist members of Ceaușescu's dreaded secret police force, the Securitate, attempted to resist the popular uprising following Ceaușescu's fall. Colin Baker, Gaby Rado, Trevor McDonald, and a host of other ITN heavyweights would report on the brutal street fighting that took place in a number of cities in the following days. By New Year's Day 1990, much of the Securitate's resistance had been crushed by the Romanian army, who joined the revolution the day Ceaușescu fled Bucharest. But Romania's uncertain journey towards democracy had only just begun. #Romania #ColdWar #RomanianRevolution #Revolution #Communism #AntiCommunist #Communist #Communists #SecretPolice #Soviet #SovietUnion #USSR #SovietWave #Compilation #CivilWar #1980s #Christmas #ChristmasRevolution #NicolaeCeaușescu #Ceaușescu #NewsFootage #ArchiveFootage #ITNArchive #ITN #1989 #1990 00:00:00 Introduction 00:02:18 18 December 1989 00:05:11 19 December 1989 00:08:40 20 December 1989 00:10:47 21 December 1989 00:19:38 22 December 1989 - Fall of Nicolae Ceaușescu 00:23:37 Margaret Thatcher interview on Ceaușescu's fall 00:27:50 Douglas Hurd interview 00:32:26 Reaction in Budapest 00:33:26 Reaction in Moscow 00:34:27 22 December 1989 - Penny Marshall arrives in Timisoara 00:38:00 23 December 1989 - Paul Davies in Bucharest (night fighting) 00:40:22 23 December 1989 - Timisoara 00:40:55 23 December 1989 - Bucharest (day) 00:43:35 23 December 1989 - Alex Thomson on Battle for Bucharest Airport 00:46:55 24 December 1989 - Road to Bucharest 00:49:17 24 December 1989 - Colin Baker in Timisoara 00:50:58 24 December 1989 - Christmas Eve in Bucharest 00:52:56 25 December 1989 - Christmas morning in Bucharest 00:54:41 25 December 1989 - Execution of Nicolae and Elena Ceaușescu 00:56:22 25 December 1989 - Christmas Day in Timisoara 00:58:33 26 December 1989 - Boxing Day in Timisoara 01:00:06 26 December 1989 - Bucharest TV station 01:02:30 27 December 1989 01:15:03 28 December 1989 - News at Ten broadcast live from Bucharest 01:23:37 29 December 1989 - Recounting Ceaușescu's last days 01:25:43 29 December 1989 - Inside Ceaușescu's Timisoara palace 01:29:34 30 December 1989 - Interview with Prime Minister Petre Roman of Romania 01:30:44 1 January 1990 - New Year's Day in Timisoara To search the ITN Archive collection on Getty Images, follow the link below: https://www.gettyimages.co.uk/footage/itn 🎥 Subscribe to our YouTube channel (tap the bell icon and stay up to date with all the latest ITN Archive videos!) - https://www.youtube.com/@ITNArchive 🎥 Follow us on Twitter - https://twitter.com/ITNArchive 🎥 Like us on Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/ITNArchiveITNP 🎥 Check out our TikTok - https://www.tiktok.com/@itnarchive1955