ABSTRACT
With the arrest and execution of the Communist leader, Nicolae Ceausescu, many of the props that had held up his regime collapsed. The Army defected and, after some bloody street fighting, the Securitate sided with the reformers. For the population, everyday life changed dramatically. In the rural areas, Ceausescu's fall was received differently. The fundamental objectives of Law 18/1991 appeared divided between the need to compensate for wrongs committed under Communism and the need to establish the property basis for a modem rural economy. Throughout the year before the passage of Law 18 in February 1991, spontaneous acts of reform took place throughout the country. This chapter discusses the events of 1990 with reference to two case studies. Emphasis is on government attempts at ownership reform. Law 18 allocated village land to sons and daughters of former owners who had long since left to live in the towns.
