The monarchy was a parasite on our country’s body. These were the words of communist leader Gheorghe Gheorghiu-Dej, for the Romanian Workers’ Party political report in February 1948. These are, perhaps, the words that best encompass the main ideas that have characterized, for the first two or three decades of communist regime, the manner in which Romania’s monarchic past was interpreted. The monarchy was presented as having hindered Romania’s progress; it was a reactionary institution responsible for stopping the country’s so called ‘natural’ development towards democracy. Many historians have argued that the monarchy was a remnant of the Dark Ages, the historical period generally associated with obscurity, backwardness and bigotry. By comparing the monarchy’s reign with the Middle Ages, historians tried to accentuate the retrograde nature of the institution and the fact that, supposedly, it no longer suited the needs of a modern society (unlike the Republic, of course). In 1958, two officers, V. Anescu and M. Popa, published a small book entitled The looting of the people by the monarchy. The book’s only purpose seems to be to prove that Dej’s words, presented in this text’s first paragraph, are true. In the preface, the two authors argue that their work contributes to a better knowledge of what the monarchy meant for the Romanian people. In fact, it is one of the harshest and, at the same, most inventive propaganda works concerning the monarchy. It is our opinion that the ideas found here can be considered representative for the manner in which the communist regime saw fit to present Romania’s former regime and rulers. Anescu and Popa insist upon the reactionary and medieval nature of the monarchy. They also add that this institution was a stranger to the people’s true needs, having disregarded its interests in order to protect its own. According to the two, the mo