From under the rubble: computing and the resuscitation of Romania
How does an entire country return to life?
The dictatorship of Nicolae and Elena Ceaucescu turned Romania into a political, social and economic wasteland that was vividly pictured in the world media after the overthrow of the Stalinist couple in December 1989. Their regime left the country in shambles: with an old or mangled physical plant, a currency worthless abroad and nearly worthless at home, a legacy of secret police abuses, terrible health and sanitary conditions, and a highly centralized, warped, and inefficient scientific and industrial infrastructure.