Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of Tables and Figures
- Acknowledgments
- List of Abbreviations
- Introduction
- 1 Communism and Its Demise
- 2 Radical Reform versus Gradualism
- 3 Output
- 4 Liberalization
- 5 From Hyperinflation to Financial Stability
- 6 Privatization
- 7 The Social System
- 8 The Politics of Transition
- 9 From Crime Toward Law
- 10 The Importance of the European Union
- 11 The Global Financial Crisis, 2007–2012
- 12 Conclusions
- Bibliography
- Index
1 - Communism and Its Demise
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 December 2012
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of Tables and Figures
- Acknowledgments
- List of Abbreviations
- Introduction
- 1 Communism and Its Demise
- 2 Radical Reform versus Gradualism
- 3 Output
- 4 Liberalization
- 5 From Hyperinflation to Financial Stability
- 6 Privatization
- 7 The Social System
- 8 The Politics of Transition
- 9 From Crime Toward Law
- 10 The Importance of the European Union
- 11 The Global Financial Crisis, 2007–2012
- 12 Conclusions
- Bibliography
- Index
Summary
All happy families are similar, but every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.
Lev Tolstoy, Anna KareninaToday, the case for socialism is no longer persuasive, but this was not always so. In order to understand the history of Eastern Europe, we must realize that once many intelligent people considered socialism not only morally but also economically superior to capitalism and democracy. They thought that a benign and enlightened state would pursue higher ideals than a petty democracy and execute them more effectively. Marxist-Leninist ideas and socialist institutions conditioned the postcommunist transition. To provide some background, I review the essence of the Soviet-type system.
REAL SOCIALISM
Karl Marx, Friedrich Engels, Vladimir Lenin, and other communist theoreticians presented many ideas on how to develop a socialist state, but Josef Stalin formed the classical communist economic system with the first five-year plan of 1929–33. This system remained intact until his death in March 1953, and he imposed it on all countries in the Soviet bloc. Despite many reform attempts, the lasting changes were remarkably small. This system was the least common denominator of all the countries discussed in this book. The institutional barriers it built to reform were formidable.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- How Capitalism Was BuiltThe Transformation of Central and Eastern Europe, Russia, the Caucasus, and Central Asia, pp. 14 - 35Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2012