There Was Already One Ruler In History Who Struggled With Lanterns

• 5.02.2026, 11:19

A Romanian lesson for Lukashenko.

In Belarus, February 4, after criticism of dictator Lukashenko, the mode of operation of street lighting was changed. In Minsk, for example, the lights were turned on only at 19.00, although it got dark outside around 18.00. In social networks, Minsk residents are outraged by such a decision of power engineers and demand to turn on the lights according to the old schedule.In history, there's already been an example of a ruler, who fought against the lights. This is the Romanian dictator Nicolae Ceausescu.

In the 1980s, he announced a large-scale campaign of austerity of electricity and heat. Formally, its goal was to pay off the country's foreign debt as quickly as possible and achieve "economic independence from the West." In practice, it turned into regular power cuts, especially in the evening hours, when the load on the grid was maximum. Residential buildings had limits on electricity consumption, exceeding which could lead to fines or disconnection. The use of electric heaters and other energy-intensive household appliances was prohibited, street lighting was reduced to a minimum, and shop windows and advertisements were virtually unlit. Romanian streetlights worked in a one-to-one fashion. State television operated on a reduced schedule, and special inspections monitored compliance with austerity standards.

The regime's top brass continued to live in luxury: palaces, special residences, imported food, and large-scale construction projects like the Palace of the People. This gap between the official rhetoric of "belt-tightening" and the real life of the elite became one of the key factors of public irritation. In December 1989, the accumulated discontent erupted into mass protests that led to the fall of the Ceausescu regime in a matter of days.

After the fall of the regime in December 1989, Nicolae and Elena Ceausescu were arrested by the army and revolutionary forces. On December 25, after a speedy military court martial, the couple was shot on the grounds of a military unit in Targoviste.