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socialist camp. Countries of the socialist camp: Europe

socialist camp. Countries of the socialist camp: Europe

29.09.2019

socialist camp- a term that after the Second World War in the USSR denoted states that followed the path of building socialism.

It included the USSR and the states of Eastern Europe, in which the Communists established themselves in power, China after the end of the civil war (1949), then North Korea and northern Vietnam. The confrontation between the two camps (socialism and capitalism) was seen as the most important feature of world development.

One of the main tasks of the USSR in foreign policy was: to strengthen its influence in the socialist community, to unite the world system of socialism, and to prevent any countries from falling away from it.

In January 1949, at the Moscow Economic Conference of representatives of the USSR, Bulgaria, Hungary, Poland, Romania, and Czechoslovakia, the Council for Mutual Economic Assistance (CMEA) was created, the main goal of which was to expand economic cooperation between them and the Soviet Union.

For the implementation of military cooperation between the socialist countries and as a counterbalance to NATO, in May 1955 the Warsaw Pact Organization (OVD) was created. It included the USSR, Poland, Czechoslovakia, East Germany, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria, Albania.

In 1971, a program was adopted for the economic integration of the CMEA member countries, which had a positive impact on the development of the economies of the socialist countries. However, the isolation of the CMEA from the world economy adversely affected the pace of economic development, which in turn became the cause of crisis situations in relations between the socialist countries.

The socialist camp faced serious problems from the first years of its existence. In 1948, the conflict between Stalin and Tito, who put forward his own model of a socialist society, led to a rupture of interstate and interparty ties between the USSR and Yugoslavia. Relations were restored in 1955; The leadership of the USSR recognized that an original model of socialism had developed in Yugoslavia. Being one of the leaders of the Non-Aligned Movement, this country did not join the Soviet system of alliances, and did not enter the Warsaw Pact Organization (WTO).

Confirmation of the presence of serious contradictions in the socialist camp was the events of 1953 in Germany and 1956 in Hungary, where attempts were made to eliminate socialism. The mutinies were suppressed by the forces of the Soviet troops.

The Hungarian uprising of 1956 and the Prague Spring of 1968 showed that the doctrine of the collective defense of the gains of socialism ("Brezhnev's doctrine") had geopolitical meaning - preventing the weakening and undermining of the system of military-political alliances of the USSR.

After the Prague Spring, the Soviet leadership adhered to the so-called “Brezhnev Doctrine” in relations with the socialist countries: to preserve the socialist camp with all its might, strengthening the leading role of the USSR in it as much as possible and actually limiting the sovereignty of the allies. A whole series of interstate treaties and agreements was signed, as a result of which the economic dependence of the socialist countries on the USSR increased markedly. This policy was called the Brezhnev Doctrine. She somewhat stabilized the situation, but could not eliminate the underlying contradictions. It became more and more difficult to keep them under control.

In the 70-80s. many countries of Eastern Europe gradually carried out reforms, gradually moving away from the model of “real socialism” approved by the USSR.

In Poland in 1980-1981, millions of workers supported the independent Solidarity trade union, which rejected the right of the pro-Soviet communist bureaucracy to rule in the name of the people.

In the course of perestroika, the USSR refused to support the regimes established with its help by force of arms, in 1988-beginning. In the 1990s, democratic revolutions took place in most countries of the socialist community.

With the collapse of the USSR, the CMEA and the Department of Internal Affairs were disbanded. Of the countries that were members of the Commonwealth, only Cuba and Vietnam declare adherence to the ideas of socialism.

It turns out that it is the Soviet Union of the 70-80s of the 20th century that is perceived by many today as a fair society. And most importantly, this opinion is shared not only by former citizens of the former Soviet republics ... Those who were called representatives of the socialist camp 30 years ago also want to live or, at least, feel like in the USSR.

It turns out that nostalgia for the past is also growing in Eastern Europe ...

Nostalgia for the USSR

25 years after the collapse of the Union, experts note the obvious nostalgia of former Soviet citizens for that country. The most amazing thing is that today some elements of this seemingly long-forgotten past are returning: for example, the legendary soda machines, Soviet TRP standards, and even construction sites of the century. In the USSR, the BAM was built by the whole country, and today the construction of the Kerch Bridge is an all-Russian construction site. After all, builders and engineers from different parts of the country work here.

The opening and closing ceremonies of the Sochi Olympics were also not without Soviet symbols.

Once upon a time, the entire Union proudly followed the launches at Baikonur. Now Russia has Vostochny. And our ballet, like many years ago, wins the hearts of its fans around the world ... At the end of July, the Bolshoi Ballet is back in London with an anniversary tour. And the first performance on the stage of the Royal Covent Garden took place 60 years ago.

The most amazing thing is that even those who have never lived in the Soviet Union dream of being in the times of the USSR. Those who know about that country only from the stories of their parents.

It's no secret that today's university graduates are frankly jealous of those who studied in Soviet times. After all, today, after graduating from the institute, no one guarantees a job for graduates. While in the Soviet Union there was a distribution system. And after the university, young specialists immediately got a place and began to work off the money invested in them by the state. By the way, this system allowed to forget about such a term as unemployment.

Few people remember this now, but until 1967 in the Soviet Union there was a six-day work week, with one day off. And the vacation was only 15 calendar days. It is indicative, but even in the USSR there were no such New Year holidays that are already familiar to Russians. The holiday lasted only one day. And on the second of January, everyone went to work ...

By the way, in this so-called "era of stagnation" it was absolutely normal to work in production in three shifts. And Soviet women came out of maternity leave six months after the birth of a child. But it wasn't a disaster. In the USSR, parents had no problems with kindergartens and nurseries. Moreover, it was for those who worked in the factories on the third shift that night gardens worked.

Another undoubted advantage of the Soviet system, of course, was free medicine available to everyone.

Nostalgia for the GDR

The fall of the Berlin Wall is perhaps the most striking event of the late twentieth century. It is well known what happened in the two Germanys before the fall of the wall, but few people know what happened after. And today, East Germans shrug their hands in confusion and say - "when we dismantled the wall - we did not think that in a year - our country - would not be." Today, German historians compare the liquidation of East Germany with the Ukrainian Maidan. The new government first of all created a humiliating Department for the guardianship of the former GDR, all government officials, almost all officers, lawyers were fired. Two and a half million people of the former GDR almost immediately became unemployed. Special qualification commissions identified ideologically unstable workers. Denunciations were encouraged, purges were carried out, and incorrect textbooks were destroyed in schools.

Therefore, memories of socialism are very strong among East Germans today.

Every year on October 3, the inhabitants of the former GDR celebrate the so-called "ostalgia". Experts call this term today nostalgia for the German Democratic Republic.

Parades are also regularly held in East Germany. Dozens, hundreds of "Trabants" appear on the streets. The owners exhibit cars, recognized in Western Europe as the worst examples of the global automotive industry, with indescribable pride.

Indeed, by buying GDR cars, the current residents of Germany are trying to touch their past, which they remember with warmth.

And in the mid-2000s, the Ostel Hotel opened in Berlin. And it's still the 80s. The owners of the hotel once worked in the system of the GDR state circus, therefore they know and remember the country well. They say they have caught how much the Germans are nostalgic for socialism, and decided to please the people. They opened a hotel designed exactly in the style of socialist Germany. Here is furniture and appliances of that era, real GDR wallpaper bought at a flea market. And Erich Honecker himself looks at the guests from the walls. Portraits of the former chairman of the Socialist Unity Party of Germany hang in all hotel rooms. The visitors are delighted. The owners of "Ostel" assure that they often hear the phrase: "Oh, we had the same furniture in our parents' apartment."

In Bremen, one of the nightclubs has been holding the so-called "Ostalgie Party" for many years. At the entrance, guests are met by border guards from the GDR. They inspect every visitor with passion and change money for them: after all, the euro is not in use on the territory of the socialist republic. Music, food and entourage, everything here corresponds to the era ...

Nostalgia for Yugoslavia

Another address of modern Europe, where nostalgia also settled, is the former republics of the once united Yugoslavia. Like the East Germans "OSTALGIA", in the Balkans memories also have their own name - "Yugostalgia" - longing for socialist Yugoslavia ...

One of the most visited museums in Belgrade is the Yugoslav History Museum. There are few tourists here, visitors are mostly locals. Recently, there has been interest in an exhibition dedicated to the life of Josip Broz Tito. And if in the early 90s Tito was scolded a lot for authoritarianism, today T-shirts with portraits of Tito, souvenirs with red stars and other socialist symbols can be found on every corner in Belgrade.

While pensioners go to the museum for memories, young people are nostalgic for Yugoslavia in the Krasnaya Banda cafe, located in the courtyard of a house in the center of Belgrade. There are red tablecloths on the tables, portraits of Lenin and Marx on the walls, and an image of a hammer and sickle on the cover of the menu.

You can understand these people. Yugoslavia at the time of its socialist existence was indeed one of the richest, most stable and successfully developing countries. As in other states of the socialist world, the Yugoslavs did not know what unemployment was. They got free apartments. The institution of lending was well developed in the country: citizens borrowed money from the state at ridiculous interest rates. All this made it possible to buy cars, summer cottages, and travel around Europe. But in the 1990s, the situation changed dramatically as soon as the US intervened with NATO.

As in the USSR, the once friendly republics announced a divorce. But the breakup turned out to be painful, if not bloody. But today, former citizens of Federal Yugoslavia are more likely to remember the good things: economic recovery and friendship between the republics.

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 strength of socialist ideas and overestimated their abilities and possibilities.

Today, the five countries that have established working-class rule and are building a socialist society are home to almost 1.5 billion people, that is, a quarter of the world's population. Because of the counter-revolution in Russia, the 1990s were extremely difficult for them. However, they all survived, repelled 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 determination 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 Deng Xiaoping (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, in its resolution, recorded that in China "the socialist revolution has basically won." 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 over 3 years the decline in production amounted to 48.6%.

Healthy forces in the leadership of the CCP (who for some reason are still called right-wing in our country) won the condemnation of "leftist excesses" and consent to the course of Liu Shaoci and Deng Xiaoping: "first create, then destroy." Mao Zedong was forced after criticism to go to the second line of leadership, to study theory. To reasonable measures in the spirit of the Leninist new economic policy, stimulating the interest of everyone in the results of their work, the economy again responded with rapid growth. Over four years, industrial production increased 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, who deeply studied the works of the classics of Marxism-Leninism and worked out the Chinese way of building socialism, contributed to the way out of the crisis. 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 Plenum of the 11th CPC Central Committee (December 1978) proclaimed a course towards a socialist economy with a combination of two systems: planned distribution and market systems with massive attraction of foreign investment, greater economic independence of enterprises, the introduction of family contracts in the countryside, and the reduction of the public sector in the economy , the opening of free economic zones, the development of science and technology.

And once again, the emerging socialist system showed its undeniable advantage. The Chinese "economic miracle" far surpassed similar "miracles" in post-war Germany and Japan and came close to the Soviet one in the Stalin 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. A big leap (now without quotes) in the development of agriculture has allowed to feed 1 billion people.

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

3. In 2005, China's GDP was $6.5 trillion, second only to the United States.

4. The average annual income per capita in the PRC is 1,740 US dollars (data from the World Bank). The average life expectancy for men is 70 years, and for women - 73 years.

5. By the end of 2005, China again overtook the US in mutual trade by $200 billion. And this despite the fact that the henchmen of "free trade" from Washington have repeatedly imposed restrictions on Chinese goods. The structure of China's foreign trade is like that of an economically developed country: up to 80% of exports are textiles, shoes, toys, machine tools, machinery, appliances and electronics.

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

In order not to give the impression that in China, which is in transition from capitalism to socialism, everything is quiet, smooth and God's grace, let's name the main problems that the new leader of the country Hu Jintao aimed at solving the Eleventh Five-Year Plan. The strategic goal of this five-year plan is "building a harmonious society," mitigating social inequality that has already become dangerous. To this end, significant funds are directed to improve health care and education in rural areas (in 2006 - $ 48 billion) while increasing the military budget (in 2006 - an increase of 14%, to $ 35.5 billion). Hu Jintao declared war on corruption 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 counter-revolutions" could be carried over to China, the government has begun sweeping moves to tighten controls and limit foreign influence at home.

The experience of China's socialist development 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 Gorbachev's perestroika. Moscow's curtailment of mutually beneficial cooperation was regarded as joining the American 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 reasonable incentives for highly productive work, while maintaining state control over large enterprises and infrastructure, quickly produced a positive result. Five years later, Vietnam not only refused to buy rice from 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 another Asian "tiger" in the near future. The impressive successes 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 - US Embassy in Hanoi opened;

2000 - Trade agreement signed.

In the autumn of the same 2000, former US President B. Clinton arrived in Vietnam for the first time since 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 SRV, Russia has begun deliveries of modern weapons and spare parts for old Soviet equipment. However, the main sections of this document deal with economics. Although almost all well-known oil companies in the world are present in Vietnam, investing in offshore oil and gas production, it is believed that the most effective cooperation in this area is with Russia, within the framework of the joint (50:50) Vietsovpetro venture. It produces 80% of Vietnamese oil (over one hundred million tons per year) and annually the Russian budget receives more than $0.5 billion from the joint venture. An agreement was reached to modernize and expand the activities of this enterprise. The second largest project is an agreement on the joint establishment 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 processing.

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 20th century, Japan has occupied the country and established a cruel regime of robbery and violence for 40 years. A communist-led guerrilla war went on for 12 years, ending in 1945 with a complete victory and the liberation of Korea from the Japanese colonizers. However, the new, American occupiers seized the south of the country, wrecked 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 fiery shaft swept through the territory of North Korea twice - first from south to north, then back, and the front froze at the 38th parallel. Thousands of the best sons and daughters of the Korean people perished on the battlefields, millions of civilians died at the hands of American punishers. North Korea was in ruins. In an effort to slow down its recovery, Washington maintained a state of war and constantly organized armed incidents and imposed economic, political and diplomatic sanctions.

And again the advantages of socialism appeared, 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, socialist transformations in the city and countryside were completed. The DPRK has become a modern state with developed industry and agriculture, and a high level of culture. Further development led to the fact that the social problems of employment, food and housing were completely solved. Free health care 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 causes the fierce hatred of the American imperialists, the desire to deal with the recalcitrant people by any means.

The need to resist an aggressor equipped with nuclear missile weapons, the treacherous betrayal of the Kremlin in the early 1990s forced the DPRK to create missile weapons on its own. Having launched her artificial satellite of the Earth, she entered the club of space powers. And last year, a successful test of a nuclear device brought North Korea closer to building a deterrent that would be insurmountable to an aggressor. Only a free people, confident in the rightness of their cause, is capable of doing this.

Socialist Cuba

If it were customary to award entire countries with Stars, then the Republic of Cuba would be Twice Hero today. The first time - for the rapid defeat of American mercenaries in the Bay of Pigs. The second - for courage and steadfastness in the "special period" in the early 90s, when it seemed that the rupture of economic ties on the part of the former USSR and the countries of the socialist community (80% of Cuba's trade turnover) would bring the Island of Freedom to its knees before the Empire of Evil. Difficulties arose great: decline in production, unemployment, lack of food. 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 gains of socialism. And when a miserable bunch of renegades, the so-called dissidents, having received money from the United States, launched their treacherous activities, began preparing an "orange counter-revolution", they were arrested, tried in an open court according to Cuban laws and shot.

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

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

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

2. Healthcare - free, at a high level. Key indicators: infant mortality -7.2 per 1,000 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. 6.3% of GDP is spent on healthcare.

3. Cuba is a world sports power that confidently enters the top ten at the Olympic Games in the team event.

No, the haters of socialism in Washington rubbed their hands in vain, strengthening the blockade of the Island of Freedom. The people of Cuba persevered and went forward again, enticing 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, giving him reason to set before the people 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 a change in the Constitution is being prepared. Of course, Washington will not surrender its Latin American fiefdom without a fight, but it should be borne in mind that its possibilities are now very limited. A third of the armed forces are bogged down in the war in Iraq and Afghanistan, in addition, Iran and North Korea are challenging military dictates. We also have to be more careful with economic sanctions, as new centers of power are willing to make holes in the American blockade. So, 2 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. Offering fairer trade terms, 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 base for building socialism. World prices will soar, the American economy will shrink, and China will receive Venezuelan oil at reasonable prices and make a new breakthrough in its development. Russia is increasingly selling modern weapons to countries in the region. Favorable market. So the gentlemen in Washington are getting 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;

Ecological - environmental pollution has reached such a level that 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 huge resources and generates a lot of waste, and, in addition, spreads lack of spirituality, moral and physical degradation of a person.

The way out of this dangerous prospect was unequivocally determined by the forum in its resolution - 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 habitat 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 that 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.

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, sympathies were on the side of the USSR as the state that saved them from fascism. The elections held in the first 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 the relationship and development of the countries of Eastern Europe.

background

By 1947-1948. in the countries of Central and Eastern Europe (Poland, East Germany, Hungary, Romania, Czechoslovakia, Yugoslavia, Albania), communist parties subordinated to Moscow came to power. All other parties were forced out of political life. A regime of autocracy was established and a course was taken to build socialism according to 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-administrative distribution system.

Events

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

GDR

1953- 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 into the so-called. socialist camp. For states that are 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. agrarian reform was carried out, the persecution began dissidents (i.e. people who disagree with the political regime) Almost all spheres of society were subordinated to the state. To strengthen relations 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 GDR, Romania and Bulgaria, an agreement was signed on the creation of a military bloc, largely to counter NATO, created in 1949. This bloc of socialist countries was called the Warsaw Pact Organization.

Rice. 1. CMEA building in Moscow ()

The first cracks in the united socialist camp occurred in 1948 when the Yugoslav leader Josip Broz Tito, who wanted to conduct, in many respects, his policy without coordination with Moscow, once again took a masterful step, which served to aggravate Soviet-Yugoslav relations and break them. Before 1955 years, Yugoslavia fell out of a single system, and never returned there entirely. In this country, a peculiar model of socialism arose - Titoism based on the authority of the country's leader Tito. Under him, Yugoslavia turned into a country with a developed economy (in 1950-1970, production rates quadrupled), Tito's authority was strengthened by multinational Yugoslavia. The ideas of market socialism and self-government formed the basis of Yugoslav prosperity.

After the death of Tito in 1980, centrifugal processes began in the state, which led the country to disintegration 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 20th Congress of the CPSU to condemn Stalin's personality cult and severed diplomatic relations with the USSR, leaving the CMEA. The further existence of Albania was tragic. Hoxha's one-man regime led the country to decline and mass poverty of the population. In the early 1990s between Serbs and Albanians, national conflicts began to flare up, resulting in the mass destruction of Serbs and the occupation of primordially Serbian territories, which continues to this day.

Rice. 2. Enver Hoxha ()

For other countries socialist camps more stringent policies. So when in In 1956, unrest broke out among Polish workers, 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 taking place at that time in the USSR, associated with de-Stalinization of society, in Moscow they agreed to put the repressed under Stalin at the head of Poland Vladislav Gomulka. Power will later pass to General Wojciech Jaruzelski who will fight against the politically rising the Solidarity movement representing workers and independent trade unions. Movement leader - Lech Walesa- became the leader of the protest. Throughout the 1980s. The Solidarity movement was gaining 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 demand by the workers and the intelligentsia for fair and open elections, the unwillingness to be dependent on Moscow. The uprising soon resulted in the persecution and arrests of members of the Hungarian state security; part of the army went over to the side of the people. By decision of Moscow, ATS troops were brought into Budapest. Leadership of the Hungarian Workers' Party led by a Stalinist Matthias Rakosi, forced to appoint to the post of prime minister Imre Nadia. Soon Nagy announced Hungary's withdrawal from the Department of Internal Affairs, which angered Moscow. Tanks were again brought into Budapest, and the uprising was brutally crushed. became the new leader 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 in the socialist camp. With the collapse of the socialist system, Hungary abandoned its former ideals, and a pro-Western leadership came to power.

In 1968 in Czechoslovakia A new communist government was elected, led by Alexander Dubcek who wanted to carry out economic, social and political transformation. Seeing an indulgence in domestic life, all 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 the introduction of ATS troops into Czechoslovakia. The balance of power between the world of capital and socialism, which cannot be changed under any circumstances, after 1945 was called "The 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 Dubcek will be replaced by a pro-Soviet one. Gustav Husak, which will adhere to the official line of Moscow.

Rice. 3. Riot in Prague ()

Bulgaria and Romania throughout the entire period of the existence of the socialist camp will remain faithful to Moscow in their political and economic transformations. The Bulgarian communists, led by Todor Zhivkov, will strictly conduct 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, in the manner of Tito, but quickly showed his weakness. In 1989, after the coup and the overthrow of the communist government, Ceausescu and his wife were shot. With the collapse of the common system, pro-Western forces will come to power in these countries, which will be set up for European integration.

Thus, the countries People's Democracy"or country" real socialism” over the past 60 years have experienced a transformation from a socialist system to a capitalist system led by the United States, being largely dependent on the influence of a new leader.

1. Aleksashkina L.N. General history. XX - beginning of the XXI century. - M.: Mnemosyne, 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, names, events ().

1. Read Chapter 18 of the textbook by Aleksashkina L.N. General history. XX - the beginning of the XXI century and give answers to questions 1-6 on p. 213.

2. How did the consolidation of the countries of the socialist bloc manifest itself in the economy and politics?

3. Describe the Brezhnev Doctrine.

The countries of Europe and Asia, which fell away from the capitalist system after the Second World War, formed together with the Soviet Union a single and powerful socialist camp that opposed the camp of capitalism. The two camps - the socialist camp led by the USSR and the capitalist camp led by the USA - embody two lines of economic development. One line is the line of the growth of economic power, the continuous upsurge of the peaceful economy and the steady improvement in the well-being of the working masses of the Soviet Union and the people's democracies. The other line is the line of the economy of capitalism, the productive forces of which are marking time, this is the line of the militarization of the economy, the decline in the living standards of the working people in the conditions of the ever-growing general crisis of the world capitalist system.

The two camps - socialist and capitalist - embody two opposite courses of international politics. The ruling circles of the USA and other imperialist states are taking the path of preparing for a new world war and fascisizing the internal life of their countries. The socialist camp is fighting against the threat of new wars and imperialist expansion, for the eradication of fascism, for the strengthening of peace and democracy.

The Second World War and the formation of two camps in the international arena had as their most important economic consequence the disintegration of a single all-encompassing world market. “The economic result of the existence of two opposing camps was that the single all-encompassing world market collapsed, as a result of which we now have two parallel world markets, also opposing each other”1. This determined the further deepening of the general crisis of capitalism.

During the post-war period, the countries of the socialist camp joined together economically and established close economic cooperation and mutual assistance. The economic cooperation of the countries of the socialist camp is based on a sincere desire to help each other and achieve a general economic upsurge.

The main capitalist countries - the USA, Britain and France - tried to subject the Soviet Union to an economic blockade.

1 I.V. Stalin, Economic problems of socialism in the USSR, pp. 30-31.

Union, China and the European countries of people's democracy, counting on the strangulation of these countries. But by doing this, they contributed, against their will, to the formation and strengthening of a new, parallel (world market). Thanks to the crisis-free development of the economy of the countries of the socialist camp, the new world market does not know the difficulties of marketing, its capacity is constantly growing.

As a result of the collapse of the single world market, the relative stability of markets that existed at the first stage of the general crisis of capitalism came to an end. The second stage of the general crisis of capitalism is characterized by a reduction in the capacity of the world capitalist market. This means that the sphere of application of the forces of the main capitalist countries (USA, England, France) to world resources is inevitably shrinking and the conditions of the world market for these countries are deteriorating. The chronic underutilization of enterprises in the capitalist countries increased in the post-war period. This is especially true of the United States, despite the fact that after the end of the Second World War, huge production facilities in various industries in the United States were partially mothballed and partially destroyed.

The narrowing of the sphere of application of the forces of the main capitalist countries to world resources causes an intensification of the struggle between the countries of the imperialist camp for markets, for sources of raw materials, for spheres of investment of capital. The imperialists, and above all the American ones, are trying to overcome the difficulties that have arisen as a result of the loss of huge markets by increased expansion at the expense of their competitors, acts of aggression, an arms race, and the militarization of the economy. But all these measures lead to an even greater deepening of the contradictions of capitalism.