In 1989 Romania had a well-developed centralized system for administering and directing its armed forces. The government had nominal responsibility for the armed forces, but the PCR hierarchy exercised real authority. As PCR general secretary and chief of state, Ceausescu also held the powerful positions of supreme commander of the armed forces and chairman of the Defense Council.

Yet there have been periodic indications of friction between the professional military and the Ceausescu regime. During the 1970s and early 1980s, Ceausescu had legitimate reasons to be concerned about the potential for a pro-Soviet military coup d'état. His policy of remaining independent of the Soviet Union and the Warsaw Pact made him more dependent on the loyalty and reliability of the armed forces to maintain his political power than was the case in other communist regimes in Eastern Europe, which could rely on Soviet intervention to preserve their rule against domestic challenges.

Data as of July 1989