Debt & Leadership
After World War II, Romania found itself under the fist of Russia again, this time in the form of the Soviet Union. A proud Leninist, Marxist, Stainist, Nicolae Ceausescu entered the government as Secretary of Agriculture. He quickly rose up through the ranks of government & politics and took the helm of the south eastern European nation in the 60s. Ceausescu liked Stalin's move toward industrialization & guided Romania along the same route. Things went relatively well but the USSR wanted Romania to follow agrarian pursuits. Ceausescu felt that would make his country too reliant on his Ruskie overlords so he looked to the west to fund his industrial expansion plans. England and the USA welcomed Ceausescu with open arms due to his defiance of the Soviets and happily lent him all kinds of money.
Ceausescu outlawed abortion for women under 42 and deemed any woman with 10 or more children "heroine mothers". This put quite a strain on the country's orphanages.
Things went generally ok although there were a few bumps in the road. Soon people took notice of Romania's debt issues. Ceausescu vowed to eliminate the debt. And he did! But in doing so, unemployment went through the roof, there were food shortages, power outages and people died of exposure in their homes. Romainia's HIV/AIDS population was disproportionately high.
In 1989 people had had enough. After a large protest in Timisoara, the people laid siege to Ceausescu's palace in Bucharest. He bungled an escape & was captured, tried in a kangaroo court and summarily executed.
This marked the end of communism in Romania but I think we can see that austerity measures have consequences.
You might recall that Timisoara was also the site of what was the largest peasant revolt of the time back in 1514 as well.
Hungarian nobility had been very harsh with the peasantry that did most of the labor. Gyorgy Dozsa led a revolt against the nobility and even had had a few successes. Istvan Bathory was called in & squared off with Dozsa & his men. Dozsa was roundly defeated & captured. For his punishment, Dozsa was placed in a metal chair in a bed of coals where he was cooked alive. When he was looking good, his captors tore at his skin with tongs and forced his followers to bite into the wounds and eat of their leader's flesh. The peasants who complied were set free (albeit with some psychological issues) and the peasants who refused were "cut up".
Istvan Bathory might ring a bell, too. Other than the fact there was more than a baker's dozen of them, he was grand dad or great uncle of Elizabeth Bathory AKA the Blood Countess. Every goth boy's wet dream, Beth was the chick who allegedly tortured and killed 600 peasant maidens and bathed in their blood.
The things our modern American leaders could learn from SE Europeans in history...