Romania, 1984 — military coup conspiracy
Event Summary
This entry is coded 16 October 1984, corresponding to a planned military coup against Nicolae Ceausescu that failed before it could be launched. According to the account of Communist veteran Silviu Brucan, the underground movement to remove Ceausescu traced back to a first attempt in 1976 originating with Defence Minister General Ion Ionita and chief of staff General Ion Gheorghe, and by 1984 something decisive was to happen. The plan collapsed in late September to October 1984 when the main Bucharest garrison military unit assigned to play a central role was despatched to harvest maize and information about the plot leaked out.
Colonel General Nicolae Militaru had rallied reserve generals Ion Ionita and Stefan Kostyal and others to a political and military plot to remove Ceausescu; after the leak, Kostyal was arrested and Militaru and Ionita faced serious problems. Several of these conspirators later resurfaced among the figures who formed the National Salvation Front during the December 1989 revolution. The 16 October 1984 coding sits at this failed autumn 1984 coup plan.
Researched Details
Researched
Independent research, added record by record. Hover any label for what it means.
Sources
Editorial Note
Cross-Reference
Only one dataset carries it. One of the three reference datasets we check against carries this event; the others do not list it. That is not a contradiction — the datasets cover different periods and use different thresholds — but it means the record has had less outside corroboration.
Identifiers for finding this same event in the other datasets:
- Cline Center id
36010161984
How the match is made is described in crossref-report.md.
Outcome and Target
Coup Atlas research identifies the target as: Ceausescu survived the 1984 plot and ruled until his overthrow and execution in December 1989.
Baseline coding: Plot discovered and disrupted before execution. Recorded leader fate: remained in office; not physically harmed. The baseline file does not name individual targets; researched names are kept in a separate layer.
Baseline Dataset Citation
Baseline Source-Document Entries
Eras Journal
Ceausescu and the Securitate: Coercion and Dissent in Romania, 1965-1989, Routledge, by Dennis
Wilson Center
Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nicolae_Ceau%C 8%99 escu
This is the citation trail carried by the baseline dataset, grouped by outlet and rejoined from the line-wrapped original. Coup Atlas has not independently re-checked every document; read the original before citing a specific claim. URLs the import damaged beyond safe repair are shown as plain text and listed in citations-report.md. How this list is built →