Upon the outbreak of World War II in Europe, he was imprisoned by Ion Antonescu's regime in the Târgu Jiu internment camp, and escaped only in August 1944.

Under his rule, Romania was considered one of the Soviet Union's most loyal satellite states, though Gheorghiu-Dej was partially unnerved by the rapid de-Stalinization policy initiated by Nikita Khrushchev at the end of the 1950s.

[1] A year later, he was hired as an electrician at the Galați tramway company, where he was also fired after organizing protests against the 9-hour workday and for higher wages.

[2] On 15 August 1931 Gheorghiu was accused of "communist agitation" and punitively transferred to Dej, a town in Transylvania, where he continued the union activity.

[3] After his dismissal from the CFR Railways workshop, Gheorghiu became even more active in organizing the unions and coordinating the workers of Iași, Pașcani, and Galați.

[4] On the night of 14–15 July 1932 he was arrested for placing "subversive posters on the walls and poles of Giulești Road", being held in the Văcărești Prison.

[6] In January 1933, the Romanian Government announced some even more stringent austerity measures that included new wages cuts, which led to the radicalization of the workers.

Years later, Albanian Communist leader Enver Hoxha alleged that Gheorghiu-Dej personally pulled a gun on the King and threatened to kill him unless he gave up the throne.

[13] Hours later, Parliament, fully dominated by Communists and their allies after the elections held a year earlier, abolished the monarchy and declared Romania a People's Republic.

Soviet influence in Romania under Joseph Stalin favored Gheorghiu-Dej, largely seen as a local leader with strong Marxist-Leninist principles.

The economic influence of Moscow was protected by the creation of the "Sov-Rom" companies, which directed Romania's commercial exchanges to unprofitable markets (mainly the Soviet Union).

[14] Up until Stalin's death and even afterwards, Gheorghiu-Dej did not amend repressive policies, such as the works employing penal labor on the Danube-Black Sea Canal.

Gheorghiu-Dej became the architect of a new semi-autonomous foreign and economic policy under the Warsaw Pact and CAER at the end of the sixth decade.

He decided to create a heavy industry, an initiative that contradicted the Muscovite plans that had reserved for Romania the role of granary of the communist bloc.

Romania began to produce, at high cost prices but of inferior quality, civil and military aircraft, tanks, maritime vessels, helicopters, automobiles and computers.

Romania, lacking sufficient sources of domestic raw materials, was forced to rely on imports, sometimes obtained at extremely high prices.

The first five years of the Romanian People's Republic saw a period of collective leadership, with fellow traveler Groza serving as prime minister.

Ironically, Romania under Gheorghiu-Dej was once considered one of the most loyal among the Soviet satellites, and thus there is a tendency to forget "who first established the pattern of foreign policy openness and 'liberalness' coupled with domestic repression.

"[15] The ideological steps undertaken were made clear by the ousting of the "Sov-Rom" companies, together with the toning down of Soviet-Romanian common cultural ventures.

The official History of Romania made then reference to a Romanian Bessarabia, as well as other topics which tensed relations between the two communist countries.

Moreover, the final years of Dej's regime saw the publishing of Karl Marx - newly discovered - texts dealing with Russia's imperial policy in previously Romanian and now Soviet regions.

Such steps were highly encouraged by President Lyndon B. Johnson, who had come to see Romania as an almost friendly[vague] Communist country in the Cold War context (1963).

[citation needed] In the early years of Gheorghiu-Dej's rule, Romania's relations with the West were tense, marked by accusations of United States espionage and Romanian human rights violations.

An article from The Times of 29 August 1953 wrote: "[Romania] could, for instance, it is thought, obtain higher prices on the world market for much of what she is forced to export to Russia, foodstuffs included, in return for machinery and aid."

In an attempt to increase the dialogue between Romania and the West, in 1956 Gheorghiu-Dej instructed the new ambassador to the U.S. to meet with both Secretary of State John Foster Dulles and then with President Dwight D. Eisenhower.

But Prime Minister Ion Gheorghe Maurer, who had developed hostility towards him, made sure that Apostol was prevented from taking power, rallying the Party leadership instead around longtime Gheorghiu-Dej protégé Nicolae Ceaușescu.