The modern world, taking into account 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 countries of the socialist and capitalist camps, between which there was a constant confrontation and incitement of hatred. What were the countries of the socialist camp, you will learn from the following article.
Definition of concept
The concept is rather broad and contradictory, but it is possible to define it. The socialist camp is a term that refers to countries that have embarked on the path of socialist development and the maintenance of the Soviet ideology, and regardless of the support or hostility of the USSR towards them. A vivid example is some countries with which our country had rather a political confrontation (Albania, China and Yugoslavia). In the historical tradition, the countries named above in the USA were calledcommunist, opposing them to their democratic model.
Together with the concept of "socialist camp", synonymous terms were also used - "socialist countries" and "socialist commonwe alth". 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 was preserved throughout the years of the existence of the USSR, but many countries did not follow such a Russian example. But after the victory of the Soviet Union 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 even changed their traditional political vector from West to East. The alignment of political forces on earth has changed radically. Therefore, the concept of the "socialist camp" is not some kind of abstraction, but specific countries.
The concept of countries of socialist orientation was embodied in the conclusion of friendly treaties and subsequent mutual assistance. Groups of countries that formed after the war are also commonly called military-political blocs that have been on the frontier of hostilities more than once. But in 1989-1991, the USSR collapsed, and most of the socialist countries headed for liberal development. The collapse of the socialistcamp was driven by 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 economic mutual assistance: the provision of loans, trade, scientific and technical projects, the exchange of personnel and specialists. The key of these types of interactions is foreign trade. This fact does not mean that a socialist state should only trade with friendly countries.
All countries that were part of the socialist camp sold the products of their national economy on the world market and received in return all modern material values: technologies, industrial equipment, as well as raw materials necessary for the production of certain goods.
Socialist countries
Africa:
- Democratic Republic of Somalia;
- People's Republic of Angola;
- People's Republic of the Congo;
- People's Republic of Mozambique;
- People's Republic of Benin;
- People's Democratic Republic of Ethiopia.
Asia:
- 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.
Europe:
- Hungarian People's Republic;
- German Democratic Republic;
- People's Socialist Republic of Albania;
- Polish People's Republic;
- Czechoslovak Socialist Republic;
- People's Republic of Bulgaria;
- Socialist Republic of Romania;
- Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia;
- Union of Soviet Socialist Republics.
Existing socialist countries
In the modern world, there are also countries that are socialist in one way 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 Asian countries.
In eastern countries such as the People's Republic of China and Vietnam, the classical communist parties run the state apparatus. 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 kind of way to combine the market and planned economy.
At the beginning of the 21st century, socialist tendencies began to emerge andgain a foothold in Latin America. There was even a whole theoretical doctrine of "Socialism XXI", which is actively used in practice in third world countries. For 2015, socialist governments are in power in Ecuador, Bolivia, Venezuela and Nicaragua. But these are not countries of the socialist camp, such governments arose in them after its collapse at the end of the 20th century.
Maoist Nepal
In the middle of 2008, a revolution took place in Nepal. A group of communist Maoists overthrew the monarch and won the election as the Communist Party of Nepal. Since August, the head of state has been the main party ideologue, Bauram Bahattarai. After these events, Nepal became a country where a course with a clear communist dominant operates in political and economic life. But the course of Nepal is clearly not similar to the policy pursued by the USSR and the socialist camp.
Cuban Socialist Policy
Cuba has long been considered a socialist state, but in 2010, the head of the republic, Raul Castro, set a course for economic change along the Chinese model of modernizing a socialist society. The central aspect of this policy is to increase the role of private capital in the economic system.
Thus, we examined the countries of the socialist orientation, both past and present. The socialist camp is a collection of countries friendly to the USSR. Modern states conductingsocialist policies are not included in this camp. This is very important to consider in order to understand certain processes.
