From 1940 to 1950, countries with a socialist ideology were called "countries of people's democracies." By 1950, there were fifteen of them. What socialist countries were then included in this number? In addition to the Soviet Union, these were: NSRA (Albania), SFRY (Yugoslavia), Czechoslovakia (Czechoslovakia), NRB (Bulgaria), SRV (Vietnam), Hungary (Hungary), SRR (Romania), GDR (part of Germany), Poland (Poland ), PRC (China), Mongolia (Mongolia), Lao PDR (Laos Republic), DPRK and the Republic of Cuba.

What distinguished the socialist countries from other countries of the world? What irritated the representatives of capitalism so much? First of all - socialist ideology, in which public interests are above personal interests.

The dramatic events and the defeat of socialism in the Soviet Union could not but affect the system. The bipolar world turned into a multipolar world. The USSR was a rather influential subject. Its disintegration put the rest of the socialist countries of the world in an extremely difficult and rather dangerous position: they had to defend their policy and their sovereignty without the support of the most powerful state before. Reactionaries all over the world were convinced that Korea, Cuba, Vietnam, Laos, and China would fall in a fairly short time.

However, today these socialist countries continue to build and their population, by the way, is a quarter of the population of the entire Earth. Perhaps the tragic fate of Iraq, Yugoslavia and Afghanistan allowed them to withstand the most difficult 90s, which fell on the collapse of the Union and led to chaos. China decided to take on the role of the vanguard, which previously belonged to the Soviet Union, and the other socialist countries began to equal it.

It is more convenient to divide the development of socialism in this country into two main periods: Mao Zedong (from 1949 to 1978) and Densiaoping (which began in 1979 and continues to this day.

China successfully fulfilled its first "five-year plan" with the help of the USSR, having achieved an annual rate of 12%. The share of its industrial output rose to 40%. At the eighth congress of the CPC, the victory of the socialist revolution was announced. In the plans for the next "five-year plan" it was planned to increase the indicators. But the desire to make a huge leap led to a sharp decline (48%) in production.

Condemned for obvious excesses, Mao Zedong was forced to leave the leadership of the country and immerse himself in theory. But such a rapid decline played a positive role: the rapid growth of the economy was stimulated by the interest in their work of every working person. within four years it has more than doubled (by 61%), and the growth in agricultural production exceeded the 42% mark.

However, the so-called "cultural revolution", which began in 1966, plunged the country into uncontrollable economic chaos for twelve years.

Deng Xiaoping led the PRC out of the crisis, who delved into the study of the works of theorists of Marxism-Leninism and worked out his own path to socialism, similar to the domestic concept of NEP. External aggression from the PRC was still threatening, so the duration of the transition period was to be fifty years.

The Third Plenary Meeting of the eleventh convocation announced a new course emphasizing the combination of a planned distribution system and a market one, with massive attraction of investments from other countries. In addition, the formation of independent enterprises, family contracts, new discoveries in science were encouraged.

The young socialist country developed rapidly:

Industrial production has doubled every decade;

China's GDP yielded by 2005 only;

The average annual income has increased (up to 1740 USD per person);

Indicators of mutual trade bypassed the same indicators of the United States by 200 million USD. (despite Washington's restrictions on the import of Chinese products);

Gold reserves exceeded those of all countries, becoming the largest in the world;

The life expectancy of the Chinese has increased, and significantly.

Many countries, including its closest neighbors, are now looking closely at the experience of the PRC's development.

By the middle of the 20th century, two forces had emerged in the world, the confrontation of which either intensified to "saber rattling", then weakened to "detente international relations." The socialist countries were part of a single camp that was in a state of cold war with a capitalist encirclement. They did not become an indestructible monolith with a uniform ideology. There were too many differences in traditions and mentality among the peoples who were going to lead with a strong hand into the communist future.

Post-war world

The Soviet Union, led by Stalin, emerged from World War II with unimaginable military might and international prestige. The countries of Eastern Europe and the countries of Southeast Asia, liberated by the Soviet Army from the yoke of German fascism and Japanese militarism, saw the USSR as a real leader who knew the right way.

Often, the attitude towards Soviet soldiers was of an emotional nature, transferring a kind attitude towards the whole way of life that they personified. When, for example, Bulgaria, Sofia was liberated, people saw the power of the social system of the country, which defeated an incredibly formidable enemy.

Even during the war, Stalin provided support to parties and national liberation movements that shared the communist ideology. And after the victory, they became the leading political force of the states, from which the socialist countries soon emerged. The coming to power of the communist leaders was facilitated by the presence of the Soviet armed forces, which for some time carried out the occupation regime in the liberated territories.

The spread of Soviet influence in other parts of the planet has always met with fierce opposition. An example is Vietnam, the Lao People's Democratic Republic and others. The suppression of socialist movements was simply anti-communist in nature, and the meaning of the struggle for the return of the colonies.

The new stage of development was personified by the Republic of Cuba, the first socialist state in the Western Hemisphere. The 1959 revolution had a romantic halo in the world, which did not prevent it from becoming the scene of the hottest clash of the two systems - the 1962 Cuban missile crisis.

Partition of Germany

The fate of the German people became the symbol of the post-war division of the world. By agreement between the leaders of the victorious anti-Hitler coalition, the territory of the former Third Reich was divided into two parts. The Federal Republic of Germany emerged on the part of the country that included American, French and British troops. In the Soviet zone of occupation in 1949, the German Democratic Republic was formed. The former German capital, Berlin, was also divided into Western and Eastern parts.

The wall, erected on the line of contact between the two new states in the once united city, has become a literal embodiment of the division of the world into the countries of the socialist camp and the rest of the world. As well as the destruction of the Berlin Wall and the unification of Germany exactly 40 years later, it marked the end of the Cold War era.

Warsaw Pact

The beginning of the "cold war" is considered to be Churchill's speech in Fulton (03/05/1946), where he called on the United States and its allies to unite against the threat to the "free world" from the USSR. After a while, an organizational form for such an association appeared - NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization). When the FRG joined this military-political bloc in 1955, the Soviet Union and the socialist countries of Europe, which had appeared by that time, also came to the need to unite their military potential.

In 1955, the Treaty was signed in Warsaw, which gave the name to the organization. Its participants were: the USSR, the German Democratic Republic, the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic, Bulgaria, Poland, Hungary, Romania and Albania. Albania later withdrew from the treaty due to ideological differences, in particular due to the invasion of Czechoslovakia (1968).

The governing bodies of the organization were the Political Advisory Committee and the Joint Command of the Armed Forces. The armed forces of the USSR were the main force of the Warsaw Pact, therefore the posts of the Commanders-in-Chief of the United Forces and the Chief of Staff were always held by the highest officers of the Soviet Army. The USSR and the socialist countries have always declared an exclusively defensive purpose of their military alliance, but this did not prevent NATO countries from calling it the main threat to themselves.

These mutual accusations were the main rationale for the arms race, the constant increase in military spending on both sides. All this continued until 1991, when the former socialist countries agreed to formally terminate the treaty.

Military opposition between the two social structures also took other forms. The Socialist Republic of Vietnam emerged as a result of the victory of the communist forces in a long war, which became an almost open confrontation between the United States and the USSR.

The predecessor of the current European Union was the European Economic Community (EEC). It was it who was engaged in cooperation between the United States and Western Europe in the production and financial spheres. Countries with social systems based on the ideas of Marxism decided to create an alternative EEC structure for economic, scientific and technical cooperation. In 1949, the socialist countries established the Council for Mutual Economic Assistance (CMEA). Its convocation is also an attempt to oppose the American "Marshall Plan" - a plan to restore the European economy with the help of the United States.

The number of CMEA members changed, in the mid-80s it was the largest: 10 permanent members (USSR, Poland, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria, East Germany, Mongolia, Cuba, Vietnam), and the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia participated only in some programs ... 12 countries of Asia, Africa and South America with economies of a socialist orientation, such as Angola, Afghanistan, Nicaragua, Ethiopia, etc., sent their observers.

For some time, CMEA performed its functions, and the economies of the European countries of the socialist camp, with the help of the USSR, overcame the consequences of wartime and began to gain momentum. But then the clumsiness of the public sector of industry and agriculture, the great dependence of the USSR economy on the world raw materials market reduced the Council's profitability for its members. Political changes, a sharp decline in the competitiveness of the economy and finances of the USSR led to the curtailment of cooperation within the CMEA, and in the summer of 1991 it was disbanded.

World socialist system

The official ideologues of the CPSU developed at different times different formulations to designate countries of a related socio-political formation. Until the 50s, the name of the "country of people's democracy" was adopted. Later, the party documents recognized the existence of 15 socialist countries.

The special path of Yugoslavia

The multinational state entity - the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia - which existed in the Balkans from 1946 to 1992, was referred by communist social scientists to the socialist camp with big reservations. Tensions with communist theorists toward Yugoslavia emerged after a quarrel between the two leaders - Stalin and Josip Broz Tito.

Bulgaria was named as one of the reasons for this conflict. Sofia, according to the plan of the "leader of the peoples", was to become the capital of one of the republics within a federal state common with Yugoslavia. But the Yugoslav leader refused to submit to Stalin's dictate. Subsequently, he began to declare his own path to socialism, different from the Soviet one. This was expressed in the weakening of state planning in the economy, in the freedom of movement of citizens across European countries, in the absence of the dominance of ideology in culture and art. After Stalin's death in 1953, the differences between the USSR and Yugoslavia lost their acuteness, but the originality of Balkan socialism remained.

The 1956 Budapest Uprising

For the first time, in 1953, the German Democratic Republic became the arena of popular unrest, which were extinguished by Soviet tanks. More dramatic events took place in another country of people's democracy.

Hungary fought on Hitler's side during World War II and was obliged to pay indemnities by the decision of international organizations. This affected the economic situation in the country. With the support of the Soviet occupation forces, Hungary was headed by people who copied the most negative aspects of the Stalinist model of leadership - personal dictatorship, forced collectivization in agriculture, suppression of dissent with the help of a huge army of state security agencies and informants.

The protests were started by students and intellectuals who supported Imre Nagy, another communist leader, a supporter of democratization in the economy and public life. The conflict took to the streets when the Stalinists in the leadership of the ruling Hungarian Workers' Party appealed to the USSR for armed support in the removal of Nagy. The tanks were introduced when the lynching began against the state security officers.

The speech was suppressed with the active participation of the Soviet ambassador - the future head of the KGB, Yu. V. Andropov. From the side of the rebels, more than 2.5 thousand people were killed, Soviet troops lost 669 people killed, more than one and a half thousand were wounded. Imre Nagy was detained, convicted and executed. The whole world was shown the determination of Soviet leaders to use force at the slightest threat to their political system.

Prague spring

The next notable conflict between proponents of reform and those who were inspired by images of the Stalinist past occurred in 1968 in Czechoslovakia. The elected first secretary of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia, Alexander Dubcek, was a representative of a new type of leadership. They did not question the correctness of the general path along which the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic was moving, only the idea of \u200b\u200bthe possibility of building "socialism with a human face" was expressed.

This was enough for the military exercises of the Warsaw Pact troops to be launched near the eastern borders of Czechoslovakia, where almost all socialist countries sent their troops. At the first signs of resistance from the reformers to the arrival of a leadership that agreed with the line of the CPSU, the 300,000-strong contingent crossed the border. The resistance was mostly non-violent and did not require the use of serious forceful methods. But the events in Prague had a great resonance among the supporters of change in the Soviet Union and the socialist countries.

Different faces of the personality cult

The principle of democracy, participation of the broad masses in the management of all aspects of society's life lies at the heart of the Marxist system of building the state. But history has shown that it was the lack of responsibility of the authorities for their decisions that caused negative phenomena in almost all socialist countries, this was one of the many reasons for the collapse of the communist regimes.

Lenin, Stalin, Mao Zedong - the attitude towards these individuals often took on the absurd features of deity worship. The Kim dynasty, which has ruled the Democratic People's Republic of Korea for 60 years, has clear analogies with the pharaohs of Ancient Egypt, at least in terms of the scale of the monuments. Brezhnev, Ceausescu, Todor Zhivkov in Bulgaria and others - for some reason in the socialist countries the governing bodies became a source of stagnation, turned the electoral system of democracy into a fiction, when gray personalities of modest scale remained at the top for decades.

Chinese version

This is one of the few countries that have remained committed to the socialist path of development to this day. For many adherents of the communist idea, the People's Republic of China seems to be the most powerful argument in disputes about the correctness of the ideas of Marxism-Leninism.

China's economy is developing at the fastest pace in the world. The food problem has long been resolved, cities are developing at an unprecedented rate, an unforgettable Olympics were held in Beijing, and Chinese achievements in culture and sports are generally recognized. And all this is happening in a country where the Chinese Communist Party has been ruling since 1947, and the Constitution of the PRC enshrines the provision of a democratic dictatorship of the people in the form of a socialist state.

Therefore, many indicate the Chinese version as the direction that should have been followed during the reform of the CPSU, during the restructuring of Soviet society, they see in this a possible way to save the Soviet Union from collapse. But even purely theoretical reasoning shows the complete inconsistency of this version. The Chinese direction in the development of socialism was possible only in China.

Socialism and religion

Among the determining factors of the specificity of the Chinese communist movement, the main ones are called: huge human resources and an amazing mixture of religious traditions, where Confucianism plays the main role. This ancient teaching affirms the primacy of traditions and rituals in life arrangement: a person should be satisfied with his position, work hard, honoring the leader and teacher appointed over him.

Marxist ideology combined with Confucian dogmas gave a bizarre mixture. It contains the years of the unprecedented cult of Mao, when politics changed in wild zigzags, depending on the personal aspirations of the Great Helmsman. The metamorphoses of relations between China and the USSR are indicative - from songs about the Great Friendship to the armed conflict on Damansky Island.

It is difficult to imagine in another modern society such a phenomenon as the leadership continuity declared by the CCP. The People's Republic of China in its current form is the embodiment of Deng Xiaoping's ideas on building socialism with Chinese characteristics, which are being implemented by the fourth generation of leaders. The essence of these postulates would have led to the indignation of the true adherents of communist dogmas from the middle of the 20th century. They would not find anything socialist in them. Free economic zones, the active presence of foreign capital, the second largest number of billionaires in the world and public executions for corruption - these are the realities of socialism in Chinese.

The time of the "velvet revolutions"

The beginning of Gorbachev's reforms in the USSR gave rise to changes in the political system of the socialist countries. Glasnost, pluralism of opinions, economic freedom - these slogans were picked up in the countries of Eastern Europe and quickly led to a change in the social system in the former socialist countries. These processes, which led to the same result in different countries, had a lot of national characteristics.

In Poland, the change in social formation began earlier than others. It took the form of revolutionary actions by independent trade unions - the Solidarity association - with the active support of the very authoritative Catholic Church in the country. The first free elections led to the defeat of the ruling Polish United Workers' Party and made former trade union leader Lech Walesa the first president of Poland.

In the GDR, the main driving force behind global changes was the desire for the country's unity. East Germany joined the economic and political space of Western Europe faster than others, its population, rather than other nations, felt not only the positive effect of the onset of a new era, but also the problems caused by this.

The name "Velvet Revolution" was born in Czechoslovakia. The demonstration of students and the creative intelligentsia that joined it gradually and without violence led to a change in the country's leadership, and subsequently to the division of the country into the Czech Republic and Slovakia.

The processes taking place in Bulgaria and Hungary were peaceful. The ruling communist parties, having lost active support from the USSR, did not interfere with the free expression of the will of the radical-minded strata of the population, and power passed to forces of a different political orientation.

Others were events in Romania and Yugoslavia. The regime of Nicolae Ceausescu decided to use a well-developed state security system - securitate - for the struggle for power. Under unclear circumstances, violent suppression of public unrest was provoked, which led to the arrest, trial and execution of the Ceausescu couple.

The Yugoslav scenario was complicated by interethnic conflicts in the republics that were part of the federal state. The long civil war led to numerous casualties and the appearance of several new states on the map of Europe ...

There is no reverse in history

The PRC, Cuba and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea are positioned as socialist countries, the world system is long gone. Some bitterly regret that time, others are trying to erase the memory of it, destroying monuments and forbidding any mention. Still others talk about the most reasonable thing - to go forward, using the unique experience that befell the peoples of the former socialist countries.

After the end of World War II, pro-Soviet regimes were established in Eastern Europe. Among the overwhelming majority of the population of the countries of this region, sympathy was on the side of the USSR as a state that saved them from fascism. The elections held in the early years after the end of the war were won by the communist and socialist parties. To confront the forces of the West, the countries of Eastern Europe united in a military-political bloc under the auspices of the USSR. This lesson is devoted to an overview of relations and the development of Eastern European countries.

Background

By 1947-1948. In the countries of Central and Eastern Europe (Poland, East Germany, Hungary, Romania, Czechoslovakia, Yugoslavia, Albania), communist parties subordinate to Moscow came to power. All other parties were ousted from political life. A regime of autocracy was established and a course was taken to build socialism on the model of the USSR.

The following features were characteristic of the countries of the socialist camp.

• One-party system.
• Totalitarian socialism (totalitarianism).
• Nationalization of industry, trade and finance.
• State planning. Command and control distribution system.

Events

1947 g. - The Information Bureau of Communist and Workers' Parties (Cominform) was created, through which Moscow ruled the countries of the socialist camp.

GDR

1953 g. - an uprising in the GDR due to a decline in living standards.

The establishment of pro-Soviet and socialist regimes in Eastern, Southeastern and part of Central Europe made it possible to include the countries located in these territories, including the so-called. socialist camp. To the states in uSSR orbit in Europe, include: Poland, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, Albania, Yugoslavia and the German Democratic Republic (GDR). The establishment of Soviet-style political regimes entailed transformations and reforms copied from the USSR. So, in all of the above countries, in the late 1940s - early 1950s. the agrarian reform was carried out, the persecution began dissidents (i.e. people who disagree with the political regime), practically all spheres of society were subordinated to the state. To strengthen interconnections and maintain the economy, the Council for Mutual Economic Assistance (CMEA) was founded in 1949, which included all states, with the exception of Yugoslavia (Fig. 1). In 1955, in Warsaw, between the USSR, Poland, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, the German Democratic Republic, Romania and Bulgaria, an agreement was signed on the creation of a military bloc, largely for confrontation with NATO, created in 1949. This bloc of socialist countries was called the OVD - the Warsaw Pact Organization.

Figure: 1. The CMEA building in Moscow ()

The first cracks in a single socialist camp occurred in 1948 yearwhen the Yugoslav leader Josip Broz Tito, who wanted to conduct, in many respects, his policy without the consent of Moscow, once again made a willful step, which served to aggravate Soviet-Yugoslav relations and their break. Before 1955 Years Yugoslavia dropped out of the unified system, and never returned there entirely. A peculiar model of socialism emerged in this country - titoismbased on the authority of the country's leader Tito. Under him, Yugoslavia turned into a country with a developed economy (in 1950-1970 the rates of production increased fourfold), Tito's authority strengthened multinational Yugoslavia. The ideas of market socialism and self-government were the basis for Yugoslav prosperity.

After Tito's death in 1980, centrifugal processes began in the state, which led the country to collapse in the early 1990s, the war in Croatia, and the mass genocide of Serbs in Croatia and Kosovo.

The second country that left the united socialist camp and was no longer part of it was Albania. The Albanian leader and staunch Stalinist - (Fig. 2) - did not agree with the decision of the XX Congress of the CPSU to condemn the personality cult of Stalin and broke off diplomatic relations with the USSR, leaving the CMEA. The further existence of Albania was tragic. The sole regime of Khoja led the country to decline and mass poverty of the population. In the early 1990s. between the Serbs and Albanians, national conflicts began to erupt, resulting in the mass destruction of the Serbs and the occupation of the original Serbian territories, which continues to this day.

Figure: 2. Enver Hoxha ()

For other countries socialist camp a tougher policy was pursued. So when in 1956 Polish workers' unrest broke out, protesting against unbearable living conditions, the columns were shot by the troops, and the leaders of the workers were found and destroyed. But in the light of the political transformations that took place at that time in the USSR, associated with de-Stalinization of society, Moscow agreed to put in the head of Poland a repressed under Stalin Vladislava Gomulku... Later power will pass to general Wojciech Jaruzelskiwho will fight the gaining political weight movement "Solidarity"representing workers and independent trade unions. Leader of the movement - Lech Walesa - became the leader of the protest. Throughout the 1980s. the Solidarity movement gained more and more popularity, despite the persecution of the authorities. In 1989, with the collapse of the socialist system, Solidarity came to power in Poland.

In 1956 an uprising broke out in Budapest... The reason was the de-Stalinization and the demands of the workers and the intelligentsia for fair and open elections, the unwillingness to be dependent on Moscow. The uprising soon escalated into the persecution and arrests of Hungarian security officers; part of the army went over to the side of the people. By decision of Moscow, OVD troops were brought into Budapest. Leadership of the Hungarian Workers' Party led by a Stalinist Matias Rakosi, was forced to put on the post of prime minister Imre Nadia... Soon, Nagy announced Hungary's withdrawal from the police station, which angered Moscow. Tanks were again brought into Budapest, and the uprising was brutally suppressed. The new leader was Janos Kadar, who repressed most of the rebels (Nagy was shot), but began to carry out economic reforms that contributed to the fact that Hungary turned into one of the most prosperous countries of the socialist camp. With the collapse of the socialist system, Hungary abandoned its previous ideals, and a pro-Western leadership came to power.

In 1968 in Czechoslovakia a new communist government was elected, led Alexander Dubchekwho wanted to carry out economic, social and political transformations. Seeing a relaxation in internal life, the whole of Czechoslovakia was engulfed in rallies. Seeing that the socialist state began to gravitate towards the world of capital, the leader of the USSR L.I. Brezhnev ordered to send troops of the Internal Affairs Department to Czechoslovakia. The balance of power between the world of capital and socialism, invariable under no circumstances after 1945, was called "Brezhnev Doctrine"... In August 1968, troops were brought in, the entire leadership of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia was arrested, tanks opened fire on people on the streets of Prague (Fig. 3). Soon Dubchek will be replaced by a pro-Soviet Gustav Husak, which will adhere to the official line of Moscow.

Figure: 3. Riot in Prague ()

Bulgaria and Romania throughout the entire period of existence of the socialist camp will remain loyal to Moscow in their political and economic transformations. The Bulgarian communists, headed by Todor Zhivkov, will unswervingly pursue their domestic and foreign policy, looking back at Moscow. Romanian leader Nicolae Ceausescu made the Soviet leadership nervous from time to time. He wanted to appear as an independent politician, like Tito, but quickly showed his weakness. In 1989, after the coup and the overthrow of the communist regime, Ceausescu was shot with his wife. With the collapse of the common system, pro-Western forces will come to power in these countries, which will be inclined towards European integration.

Thus, the countries " people's democracy"Or countries" real socialismOver the past 60 years, they have undergone a transformation from a socialist system to a capitalist system led by the United States, becoming largely dependent on the influence of the new leader.

1. Aleksashkina L.N. General history. XX - early XXI century. - M .: Mnemosina, 2011.

2. Zagladin N.V. General history. XX century. Textbook for grade 11. - M .: Russian word, 2009.

3. Plenkov O.Yu., Andreevskaya T.P., Shevchenko S.V. General history. Grade 11 / Ed. Myasnikova V.S. - M., 2011.

2. Encyclopedia of world historical names, titles, events ().

1. Read Chapter 18 of the textbook by LN Aleksashkina. General history. XX - early XXI century and answer questions 1-6 on p. 213.

2. What is the manifestation of the consolidation of the countries of the socialist camp in the economy and politics?

3. Describe the "Brezhnev Doctrine".

The modern world, given the presence of many antagonistic states in it, is unipolar. What can not be said about the events that took place several decades ago. The Cold War divided the world into the countries of the camp, between which there was constant confrontation and the whipping up of hatred. What were the countries of the socialist camp, you will learn from the next article.

Definition of the concept

The concept is quite broad and controversial, but it is possible to define it. The socialist camp is a term that designates countries that have embarked on the path of socialist development and the support of Soviet ideology, and regardless of the support or hostility of the USSR to them. A vivid example is some countries with which our country had a rather political confrontation (Albania, China and Yugoslavia). In the historical tradition, the aforementioned countries were called communist in the United States, opposing them to their democratic model.

Together with the concept of "socialist camp", synonymous terms were also used - "socialist countries" and "socialist community". The latter concept was typical for the designation of the allied countries in the USSR.

The origins and formation of the socialist camp

As you know, the October Socialist Revolution was carried out under international slogans and the declaration of the ideas of the world revolution. This attitude was key and remained in all the years of the existence of the USSR, but many countries did not follow this Russian example. But after the victory in World War II, many countries, including European ones, followed the model of socialist development. Sympathy for the country - the winner of the Nazi regime - played a role. Thus, some states have even changed their traditional political vector from the West to the East. The balance of political forces on earth has changed radically. Therefore, the concept of "socialist camp" is not some kind of abstraction, but specific countries.

The concept of socialist-oriented countries was embodied in the conclusion of friendly treaties and subsequent mutual assistance. The groups of countries that were formed after the war are also commonly called military-political blocs, which were more than once on the brink of hostilities. But in 1989-1991 the USSR collapsed, and most of the socialist countries took a course towards liberal development. The collapse of the socialist camp was due to both internal and external factors.

Economic cooperation of the countries of the socialist community

The main factor in the creation of the socialist camp was mutual economic assistance: the provision of loans, trade, scientific and technical projects, the exchange of personnel and specialists. The key of the listed types of interactions is foreign trade. This fact by no means means that the socialist state should trade only with friendly countries.

All countries that were part of the socialist camp sold on the world market the products of their national economy and received in return all modern technologies, industrial equipment, as well as raw materials needed for the production of certain goods.

Countries of the socialist camp

• Democratic Republic of Somalia;
• People's Republic of Angola;
• People's Republic of the Congo;
• People's Republic of Mozambique;
• People's;
• Republic of Ethiopia.

• People's Democratic Republic of Yemen;
• Socialist Republic of Vietnam;
• Democratic Republic of Afghanistan;
• Mongolian People's Republic;
• People's Republic of China;
• People's Republic of Kampuchea;
• Democratic People's Republic of Korea;
• Lao Democratic Republic.

South America:

• Republic of Cuba;
• People's Revolutionary Government of Grenada.

• German Democratic Republic;
• People's Socialist;
• Polish People's Republic;
• The Czechoslovak Socialist Republic;
• People's Republic of Bulgaria;
• Socialist Republic of Romania;
• The Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia;

Existing socialist countries

In the modern world there are also countries that are socialist in one sense or another. The Democratic People's Republic of Korea positions itself as a socialist state. Exactly the same course is taking place in the Cuban Republic and the countries of Asia.

In such eastern countries as the People's Republic of China and Vietnam, the state apparatus is run by the classical communist parties. Despite this fact, capitalist tendencies, that is, private property, can be traced in the economic development of these countries. A similar political and economic situation is observed in the Lao Republic, which was also part of the socialist camp. This is a unique way to combine market and planned economies.

At the beginning of the 21st century, socialist tendencies began to emerge and consolidate in Latin America. There was even a whole theoretical doctrine of "Socialism XXI", which is actively used in practice in third world countries. As of 2015, socialist governments are in power in Ecuador, Bolivia, Venezuela and Nicaragua. But these are not the countries of the socialist camp; such governments arose in them after its collapse at the end of the 20th century.

Maoist Nepal

In mid-2008, a revolution took place in Nepal. A group of Maoist communists overthrew the monarch and won elections as the Communist Party of Nepal. Since August, the head of state has been the main party ideologist Bauram Bahattarai. After these events, Nepal became a country where a course with a clear communist dominance operates in political and economic life. But Nepal's course is clearly not like the policy pursued by the USSR and the socialist camp.

Socialist policy of Cuba

Cuba has long been considered a socialist state, but in 2010, the head of the republic set a course for economic changes along the Chinese model of modernizing a socialist society. The central aspect of this policy is the increasing role of private capital in the economic system.

Thus, we examined the countries of the socialist orientation of both the past and the present. The socialist camp is a collection of countries friendly to the USSR. Modern states pursuing a socialist policy are not included in this camp. This is very important to take into account for understanding certain processes.

After the counter-revolution in the USSR and the Warsaw Pact countries, reactionaries all over the world believed that in a short time North Korea and Cuba, followed by Vietnam, Laos and China, would also fall under the pressure of their subversive activities. They clearly underestimated the power of socialist ideas and overestimated their abilities and capabilities.

Today, nearly 1.5 billion people live in the five countries that have established the rule of the working class and are building a socialist society, that is, a quarter of the total population of the Earth. Because of the counter-revolution in Russia, the 90s were extremely difficult for them. However, they all survived, repulsed the onslaught of imperialism and continued their socio-economic development. Obviously, the memories of the bloody crimes of the American aggressors are too fresh in the memory of the peoples of these countries to succumb to false incantations about the delights of bourgeois democracy and the free market. The tragic fate of Yugoslavia, Afghanistan and Iraq only strengthened their resolve to defend their freedom and independence to the end. The role of the vanguard, which previously belonged to the Soviet Union, was taken over by the People's Republic of China.

People's Republic of China

The history of the development of modern China can be divided into 2 periods: Mao Zedong (1949-1978) and Denxiaoping (1979 - present).

Relying on the help of the USSR in building socialism, the PRC successfully fulfilled the first five-year plan (1953-1957). Grain production increased from 105 to 185 million tons, and the economic growth rate was 12% annually. The share of industrial production in GDP rose from 17% to 40%. The Eighth Congress of the CPC in 1956 recorded in its resolution that in China "the socialist revolution has won in the main." The second five-year plan was to build on the successes achieved. However, an attempt to make a "big leap" led to the fact that for 3 years the decline in production was 48.6%.

Healthy forces in the CPC leadership (which for some reason are still called right in our country) have achieved condemnation of the "left excesses" and consent to the conduct of Liu Shaotsi and Deng Xiaoping's course: "first create and then destroy." After criticism, Mao Zedong was forced to go to the second line of leadership, to study theory. On reasonable measures in the spirit of Lenin's New Economic Policy, stimulating everyone's interest in the results of their labor, the economy again responded with rapid growth. In four years, industrial production grew by 61.3% and agricultural production by 42.3%.

Unfortunately, since 1966, during the period of the so-called "cultural revolution," the country again plunged into economic chaos for 12 years and experienced acute social upheavals. Deng Xiaoping helped to overcome the crisis, who deeply studied the works of the classics of Marxism-Leninism and worked out the Chinese way of building socialism. Its essence: the development in accordance with the Leninist concept of the NEP of Stalin's centralized planning and management. Since the PRC, unlike the USSR, could not be afraid of external aggression, the transition period was declared 50 years long. The Third Plenary Session of the 11th CPC Central Committee (December 1978) proclaimed a course towards a socialist economy with a combination of two systems: planning and distribution and a market system with massive attraction of foreign investment, greater economic independence of enterprises, the introduction of family contracts in the countryside, and a reduction in the public sector in the economy. , the opening of free economic zones, the development of science and technology.

And again, the still emerging socialist system has shown its indisputable advantage. The Chinese "economic miracle" significantly surpassed similar "miracles" in postwar Germany and Japan and came close to the Soviet one in the Stalinist era. In order to limit the series of figures characterizing the successes of the People's Republic of China at the stage of socialist construction, we will cite only some of them, the most generalized ones.

1. The Great Leap Forward (now without quotes) in the development of agriculture has made it possible to feed 1 billion people.

2. The volume of industrial production has doubled every 10 years.

3. In 2005, China's GDP amounted to 6.5 trillion dollars and is second only to the United States.

4. Average annual income per capita in the PRC - 1740 US dollars (World Bank data). The average life expectancy for men is 70 years, and for women it is 73 years.

5. At the end of 2005, China again overtook the United States in mutual trade by $ 200 billion. This is despite the fact that the "free trade" henchmen from Washington have repeatedly imposed restrictions on Chinese goods. The structure of China's foreign trade is similar to that of an economically developed country: up to 80% of exports are textiles, footwear, toys, machine tools, machines, devices and electronics.

6. China's gold and foreign exchange reserves surpassed those of Japan and became the largest in the world - $ 900 billion.

In order not to get the impression that in China, which is in the transition from capitalism to socialism, there is peace, smoothness and God's grace, we will name the main problems that the new leader of the country, Hu Jintao, aimed to solve in the eleventh five-year plan. The strategic goal of this five-year plan is "building a harmonious society," alleviating the already dangerous social inequality. To this end, significant funds were allocated to improve health care and education in rural areas (in 2006 - $ 48 billion) with an increase in the military budget (in 2006 - an increase of 14% to $ 35.5 billion). Hu Jintao declared war on corruption as his priority when he took office in 2004 and declared that the future of socialism was at stake. He rejected Western-style political reforms. Fearing that the epidemic of "tulip counterrevolutions" could be carried over to China, the government began large-scale actions to tighten controls and curtail foreign influence inside the country.

The experience of socialist development in China attracts the attention of many in the modern world and, above all, of its closest neighbors.

Socialist Republic of Vietnam

The cooling of relations between the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (SRV) and the USSR began during the time of Gorbachev's perestroika. Moscow's curtailment of mutually beneficial cooperation was seen as joining the US economic sanctions against Vietnam. The CPV condemned the departure of the CPSU from the fundamental principles of socialism and refused to copy the Soviet experience, taking a step towards taking into account the Chinese, in particular, in the field of agricultural production. A return to prudent incentives for high productivity while retaining government control over large factories and infrastructure quickly paid off. Within five years, Vietnam not only abandoned the purchase of rice abroad, but also sold two million tons of its surplus.

Today Vietnam is one of the most dynamically developing countries in Southeast Asia. Some experts predict the role of the next Asian "tiger" in the near future. The impressive successes of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam were directly reflected in relations with the United States. Step by step, the Americans were forced to restore normal relations in full:

1994 - economic sanctions were lifted from Vietnam;

1996 - the US Embassy in Hanoi was opened;

2000 - Trade agreement signed.

In the fall of the same 2000, former US President Bill Clinton arrived in Vietnam for the first time after the shameful flight of the American aggressors from South Vietnam on April 30, 1975.

According to the declaration on strategic partnership signed by the Russian Federation and the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, Russia has begun supplying modern weapons and spare parts for old Soviet equipment. However, the main sections of this document are related to economics. Although practically all well-known oil companies in the world are present in Vietnam, investing in oil and gas production on the shelf, it is believed that the most effective cooperation in this area is with Russia, within the framework of the joint venture (50:50) Vietsovpetro. It produces 80% of Vietnamese oil (over one hundred million tons per year) and annually the Russian budget receives from the joint venture more than $ 0.5 billion. An agreement was reached to modernize and expand the activities of this enterprise. The second largest project is an agreement on the joint creation of Vietnam's first oil refinery with an authorized capital of $ 800 million and a capacity of 6.5 million tons per year. Thus, a closed national cycle will be created from oil exploration to its complete refining.

Democratic People's Republic of Korea

The thorny road to socialism fell to the lot of the Korean people. Under the leadership of the Workers' Party of Korea, he passed it most successfully and confidently. Since the beginning of the twentieth century, Japan occupied the country and established a brutal regime of robbery and violence for 40 years. A communist-led guerrilla war waged for 12 years, which ended in 1945 with the complete victory and liberation of Korea from the Japanese colonialists. However, new, American occupiers seized the south of the country, thwarted the unification agreement and split it. In 1950, when normal life began to improve in the DPRK, the United States unleashed a new war. For 3 years, a barrage of fire twice rolled through the territory of North Korea - first from south to north, then back, and the front froze at 38 parallel. Thousands of the best sons and daughters of the Korean people died on the battlefield, millions of civilians died at the hands of American punishers. The DPRK lay in ruins. In an effort to slow down its recovery, Washington maintained a state of war and constantly organized armed incidents, imposed economic, political and diplomatic sanctions.

And again, the advantages of socialism manifested themselves, multiplied by the strength of the spirit of the Korean people. In the shortest possible time, the national economy destroyed by the war was restored. By 1958, the socialist transformations in the city and countryside were completed. The DPRK has become a modern state with developed industry and agriculture, a high level of culture. Further development led to the fact that the social problems of employment, food and housing were completely solved. Free healthcare and education are available to everyone. There is practically no crime and drug addiction, homeless old people and street children, no beggars and no super-rich.

Thus, the DPRK is a country of victorious socialism, which arouses the fierce hatred of the American imperialists, the desire by any means to deal with the rebellious people.

The need to resist an aggressor equipped with nuclear missile weapons and the treacherous betrayal of the Kremlin in the early 90s forced the DPRK to create missile weapons on its own. Having launched her artificial Earth satellite, she entered the club of space powers. And last year, the successful test of a nuclear device brought North Korea closer to developing a deterrent that is insurmountable to the aggressor. Only a free people, confident in the righteousness of their cause, can do this.

Socialist Cuba

If it were customary to award Stars to entire countries, then the Republic of Cuba would be a Twice Hero today. The first time - for the swift defeat of American mercenaries in the Cochinos Bay. The second - for courage and resilience in the "special period" in the early 90s, when it seemed that the severance of economic ties from the former USSR and the countries of the socialist community (80% of Cuba's trade) would bring the Island of Freedom to its knees before the Evil Empire. There were big difficulties: a decline in production, unemployment, food shortages. The Cuban communists had to take advantage of the Chinese experience and make compromises, retreat in the field of tourism, foreign trade and finance. But they did not give up the main thing - the achievements of socialism. And when a pitiful handful of renegades, so-called dissidents, having received money from the United States, launched their treacherous activities, began to prepare for an "orange counter-revolution", they were arrested, tried in an open court under Cuban law, and shot.

China provided Cuba with significant assistance in overcoming the crisis, where part of the trade flows of traditional Cuban exports, as well as some Latin American countries, were reoriented. Economic growth has resumed since 1995 (on average by 4% annually) and by 2000 the pre-crisis level of 1989 GDP was exceeded by more than 10%. Unemployment has decreased by 2 times (up to 4%), public consumption funds have increased, and food distribution to the population has increased by 10%. Inflation was kept at 0.5%.

There are three areas of social life in which socialist Cuba is proud of the achievements and which are at the level of highly developed countries.

1. Education - free general secondary education. Of the seven employed people, one has a higher education diploma. 7.3% of GDP is spent on education.

2. Health care is free, at a high level. Key indicators: infant mortality -7.2 per 1000 births; average life expectancy - 75.5 years; highly developed medical science, the production of drugs and vaccines that are not found anywhere else in the world. Health care spends 6.3% of GDP.

3. Cuba is a world sports power, which is confidently in the top ten in the Olympic Games in the team classification.

No, the haters of socialism in Washington rubbed their hands in vain, strengthening the blockade of Liberty Island. The people of Cuba held out and went forward again, captivating the countries of Latin America with their example.

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, who considers himself a friend and follower of F. Castro, has already taken a number of steps in the economic and political fields, which give him reason to challenge the people with the task of building "socialism of the 21st century." For its implementation, the creation of the ruling United Socialist Party of Venezuela is planned and the amendment of the Constitution is being prepared. Of course, Washington will not surrender its Latin American patrimony without a fight, but it should be borne in mind that its opportunities are now very limited. A third of the armed forces are bogged down in the war in Iraq and Afghanistan, and Iran and the DPRK are challenging military dictatorship. With economic sanctions, you also have to be careful, as new centers of power are willing to breach the American blockade. For example, two years ago, the Chinese prime minister took with him a checkbook worth hundreds of billions of dollars and traveled to a number of Latin American countries. By offering fairer terms of trade, he bought up the resources that previously went to the United States. So try to stop buying Venezuelan oil, which gives Hugo Chavez an economic basis for building socialism. World prices will skyrocket, the American economy will sag, and China will receive Venezuelan oil at moderate prices and make a new leap forward in its development. Russia is increasingly selling modern weapons to countries in the region. Profitable, market. So the gentlemen in Washington are nervous.

Socialism will save the world!

In conclusion, let us turn to the authoritative forecast for the 21st century, which was made by the World Forum of Scientists, assembled by the UN at the end of the last century in Rio de Janeiro. Its participants came to the conclusion that two global problems threaten the catastrophe of human civilization:

Resource - rapid depletion of explored natural resources;

Environmental - environmental pollution has reached such a level when the Earth's biosphere does not have time to be cleaned of waste.

The forum condemned the capitalist system as incapable of coping with the solution of these problems, since the pursuit of maximum profit requires the expenditure of enormous resources and gives a lot of waste and, in addition, implants lack of spirituality, moral and physical degradation of a person.

The forum in its resolution defined the way out of this dangerous prospect unambiguously - the socialization of all aspects of the life of human society. Obviously, this means:

1. Science and technology must organize the circulation of substances and materials in an artificial environment created by man;

2. Limit material consumption to scientifically based norms;

3. To reveal the human principle in a person - the unlimited consumption of spiritual values \u200b\u200bthat do not wear out from this, and the active participation of the person himself in the creative process, in the creation of new spiritual values.

And this is socialism.