Romanian Communist Party

The Romanian Communist Party (Romanian: Partidul Comunist Român [parˈtidul komuˈnist roˈmɨn]; PCR) was a communist party in Romania. It was founded in 1921 and became the founding and ruling party of the Communist Socialist Republic of Romania in 1947. From then, until its overthrow in the Romanian revolution in 1989, it was effectively the only legal party in the country. Ideologically committed to Marxism–Leninism, the party oversaw Romania's departure from Soviet satellite status and incorporation of national communism.

The successor to the pro-Bolshevik wing of the Socialist Party of Romania, it gave an ideological endorsement to a communist revolution that would replace the social system of the Kingdom of Romania. After being outlawed in 1924, the PCR remained a minor, illegal grouping for much of the interwar period and was subject to direct Comintern control. During the 1920s and 1930s, most of its activists were imprisoned or sought refuge in the Soviet Union, leading to the creation of competing factions that sometimes came into open conflict. That did not prevent the party from participating in the country's political life through various front organizations, most notably the Peasant Workers' Bloc. In 1934–1936, PCR reformed itself in the mainland of Romania, with foreign observers predicting a possible communist takeover. The party emerged as a powerful actor on the Romanian political scene in August 1944, when it became involved in the royal coup that toppled the pro-Nazi government of Ion Antonescu. With support from Soviet occupational forces, the PCR pressured King Michael I into abdicating, and it established the Romanian People's Republic in December 1947.