Socialist Romania, Historical Monuments and European Friendships in the 1970s

This purpose of this review is to recreate the affairs surrounding historical monuments during the 1970s in the Socialist Republic of Roma-nia – SRR, as described in The Bulletin of Historical Monuments – BHM after its resumption over a 25-year hiatus. Nicolae Ceaușescu’s state leadership begun in 1965, and an apparent independent and Western-oriented foreign policy was formed, meant to individualize the SRR from the Soviet Union and the Eastern Block. The BHM contains substantial international activity reports: brief news, reviews of foreign publications, notable international events organized by the SRR, interactions with UNESCO, activities of ICOMOS, other international conferences, professional visits of Romanian experts in Eastern countries and contributions by foreign researchers to the BHM. The most important category of articles refers to the consistent collaboration with the Center in Rome. The Center was formed during the late 1950s, as one of the most influential international collaborative networks, that eventually evolved into ICCROM. SRR was one of the pioneer countries involved in practical and scientific collaborations in the field, alongside with the Rome Center. On one hand the articles addressing international affairs reveal that the Romanian professionals were highly involved and connected with their western peers. On the other hand, the most significant international legal agreements established be-tween 1947 and 1989 were accepted in Romania only following the collapse of the Totalitarian Regime in 1989. From the international activity and the advancement of the field during that period, it emerges that, indeed, the quality of the works and professionalism in the field of restoration reached a peak, followed by a sudden interruption.