Romania

22 decembrie 1989 dimineata - zona Sf. Gheorghe (filmare furata de la S.R.I.): Raw footage shot from a balcony near Parcul Sfantul Gheorghe in Bucharest at 9:30 AM on 22 December 1989. Therefore this is one of the first skirmishes of the 1989 revolution. This area is just south of Piata Universitate and the Intercontinental Hotel, which was a main focus of protester activity. The video shows folks in the street having various confrontations with police carrying shields. There are a few instances showing gunfire but it's not clear whether folks were actually shot or what happened. That is, folks scattered at the sound of gunfire, but all they did in response was BOOOOOOO and the sounds did not indicate anyone having been wounded, in this circumstance. There were people shot in other circumstances of the 1898 Revolution in Romania, of course, but it does not appear there were any shot in this recording.

Ancient Alien Mystery of the Carpathian Sphinx: Documentary discussing the ancient Neanderthal and Cro-Magnon cultures, how their cross breeding may have created modern humanity. All that has something to do with a complex of ancient sites in the vicinity of the Carpathian Sphinx.

Armãnj, Vlachs, Vlasi. Episode 1, Etymology and Origins. With MK subtitles (prevod): Did the Romanians in Romania originate in that land, or did they migrate into that land? This video claims that the Armãnj are the original culture of peoples who spoke a Latin-like language and specialized in shepherding. This is the first in a series telling the story of the people most know as Aromanian, or Vlachs, and which are presented in this video as the Armãnj.

Astăzi și mâine / Today and tomorrow -- Learn Romanian Music: The first in a series teaching the Romanian language by listening to Romanian music. This song was released by Romanian heavy metal band Cargo, in 1995, and has some deepness in its lyrics.

Ceausescu Behind The Myth: Documentary about Nicolai Ceausescu, billed as Europes Last Dictator. He ruled the country from the mid 1960's until the revolution in 1990 after which he and his wife were tried in a kangaroo court and were summarily executed.

DRACULA - THE TRUE STORY AND WHO HE REALLY WAS (Documentary) History/Legend/Vampire: Documentary purporting to show the real history of Vlad III. While it does a good job, it has a few inaccuracies.

Discovering Romania-Wild Carpathia (Mountains of Transylvania): Documentary focusing on the Carpathia mountains as they exist today - it is the last piece of untouched wilderness in Europe.

Filmul Revolutiei din Decembrie 1989 (versiune completa): A collection of video clips during the Romainian Revolution of 1989. Most of the video is from inside the television studios and halls of power where the Revolution actually took place.

Irish coverage of 1989 Romanian Revolution: Immediately after Romania's revolution against its Communist dictator, an Irish TV network sent a reporter to Romania. He put together a most interesting report showing little-known images, videos and information. A key question about the Romanian revolution is the context it occurred in, following other revolutions in Russia, Czechoslovakia, East Germany, Poland and elsewhere. Was that wave of revolutions because of Western forces causing those revolutions? In the case of Romania, it's curious that in a country with a brutally draconian approach to dissent that any revolution had any chance of taking hold. The documentary shows video and images from Timisoara, where this revolution started, claiming there were spontaneous organically started by the people following a brutal response to a small protest. That much is the well known official history. But evidence is shown the Timisoara Army garrison joining to support the protesters, which was key to the revolution succeeding rather than being violently quashed. The suggestion being that the Romanian Military decided to opportunistically use organically started protests in Timisoara to force overturning the Communist government. The Military garrison in Timisoara is unlikely to have acted on its own. Instead the military command in Bucharest and other garrisons around the country are likely to have jointly agreed to allow these protests to grow into a full revolution. The bloodshed (over 2000 people died) came because Securitate and the regular Military acted under different command structures, and had different plans for the Romania's future.

Knights of the Sky Air War Over Romania: A key prize for Nazi Germany in World War 2 was Romania's oil fields. Romania was one of the first countries in the world with commercial oil production. The lack of oil fields in Europe meant that Germany desperately needed that oil to power its war machine. Conveniently Romanians have a historical feud with the Slavic people, and when Germany took over Romania the Romanian military joined the fight against Russia. Which meant that American and Allied forces needed to conduct bombing missions on Romania as soon as possible.

Nicolae Ceausescu - vizita in Coreea de Nord (1971): In 1971, Nicolae Ceausescu and an entourage visited North Korea. It's said that Ceausescu was so impressed by what he saw, that it inspired him to repeat it in Romania. As a result he forced Romanians into performing massive choreographed staged events, and began rebuilding Bucharest to be a grand Communist city. In other words, this visit ushered in some of the excesses that befell Romania under his rule.

Regiunile istorice ale României / Romania’s historical regions -- Learn Romanian Geography: An overview of the historical regions of Romania, based on România Mare, or Greater Romania. This was the largest extent of territory that Romania has achieved, during Regatul României, or Kingdom of Romania. That period ended with World War II when Russia and Germany and Ukraine carved off pieces of Romanian territory.

Rise and Fall of Nicolae Ceausescu - rare unseen video and images: The Ceausescu's were in charge of Romania from the mid-60's until they were violently overthrown in 1989. This documentary shows their path from obscurity to power, and especially that they took inspiration from the Cults of Personality operating in countries like China and North Korea.

Romanian Listening Skills, Absolute Beginner Level 2: Listening to Romanian phrases is an excellent way to begin to grasp the language.

Romanian Listening Skills, Absolute Beginner Level 3: Listening to Romanian phrases is an excellent way to begin to grasp the language.

Romanian Listening Skills, Absolute Beginner Level 4: Listening to Romanian phrases is an excellent way to begin to grasp the language.

Romanian Listening Skills, Advanced Level 1: Listening to Romanian phrases is an excellent way to begin to grasp the language.

Romanian Listening Skills, Advanced Level 2: Listening to Romanian phrases is an excellent way to begin to grasp the language.

Romanian Listening Skills, Advanced Level 3: Listening to Romanian phrases is an excellent way to begin to grasp the language.

Romanian Listening Skills, Beginner Level 1: Listening to Romanian phrases is an excellent way to begin to grasp the language.

Romanian Listening Skills, Beginner Level 2: Listening to Romanian phrases is an excellent way to begin to grasp the language.

Romanian Listening Skills, Beginner Level 3: Listening to Romanian phrases is an excellent way to begin to grasp the language.

Romanian Listening Skills, Intermediate Level 2: Listening to Romanian phrases is an excellent way to begin to grasp the language.

Romanian Listening Skills, Intermediate Level 3: Listening to Romanian phrases is an excellent way to begin to grasp the language.

Romanian Phrases - Daily Expressions: A Romanian repeating common phrases corresponding to the English translation on the screen. An important thing is that while Romanians like to speak fast and run words together, this person takes time to pronounce each segment of the phrase carefully.

Romanian Revolution - Cluj, raw footage: Raw footage shot on the streets of Cluj-Napoca showing elation and celebration in the wake of the Revolution. It's clear there's some confusion over the future. In at least one scene the results of violence are shown, such as a puddle of blood on a sidewalk.

Romanian Revolution uncut - December 22, 1989: Almost 5 hours of footage from the streets of Bucharest during the Romanian Revolution.

Sibiu in the 1989 Romanian Revolution: The Romanian Revolution played out not just in Bucharest and Timisoara, but in several other cities. This documentary focuses on the Revolutionary activity in Sibiu. There was confusion, violence, shootings, and deaths, in a city quite a ways from Bucharest and the main activity.

Sighisoara - A Medieval Tale: Sighisoara is recognized by the UNESCO as a world heritage site, is the birthplace of Vlad Dracula, and is the city where Homeopathy was invented. Having preserved its medieval character very well, it's a popular destination and a beautiful city.

The Romanian Alphabet

The Romanian Phonics

The Thracians, a Hidden History - HD 2013: Documentary discussing the Thracians in what's now known as Bulgaria and Romania, the proud history and culture, and how they became prominent within the Roman empire.