The PCR emerged at the close of World War II with only about 1,000 members. Four years later, just before its merger with the Social Democratic Party and after an intensive propaganda campaign and a strong membership drive, the party reported over 700,000 members. When the PCR merged with the Social Democratic Party to form the Romanian Workers' Party in 1948, some 200,000 Social Democrats were added to the membership roll. A purge of so-called hostile and nominal members during 1950 resulted in the expulsion of 190,000 persons from the party, reducing the total membership to about 720,000 at the beginning of 1951. During the early years of full communist control of Romania, the party considered itself the vanguard of the working class and made a sustained effort to recruit workers into party membership. By the end of 1950 the PCR reported that 64 percent of the leading party positions and 40 percent of the higher government posts were filled by members of the working class. The efforts to recruit workers into the party have consistently fallen short of the set goals, however, and from time to time throughout the period since 1950 party leaders have decried the fact that the social composition of the membership has not included an adequate proportion of workers. By 1964 the party membership was reported at 1.2 million. This total was increased to 1.5 million by 1966, a figure that represented about 8 percent of the country's population. Membership composition, in 1966, was reported as 40 percent workers, 32 percent peasants, and 22 percent intelligentsia, with the remaining 6 percent not classified. After Ceausescu's accession to power in 1965, he sought to increase the party's influence, broaden the base of popular support, and bring in new members. At a first step, he eliminated the probationary period, which had varied from one year for industrial workers to two years for peasants, white-collar workers, and intellectuals. Additional members were also sought by enticing those who had belonged to the old Social Democratic Party and the former Socialist Party by dating their membership from the time of their entry into those parties. The result of the membership drive, announced at the 1967 party conference, was the addition of 230,000 new PCR members, bringing the total to 1,730,000. At the 1969 party congress it was announced that the PCR had 1,924,500 members, representing about one-seventh of the total adult population. In February 1971 the Central Committee reported that the membership had grown to 2.1 million, making the PCR one of the largest communist parties in Eastern Europe.