European Socialist Countries Research Articles

«Важное проявление заботы и внимания». Из истории учреждения Международной геологической экспедиции в МНР

Introduction. In the early 1970s, Mongolia’s executives ― in accordance with the Comprehensive Program of Socialist Economic Integration ― were seeking to gain economic ground and bring the MPR to the level of its partners. In this regard, a number of initiatives were put forward by CMEA, one be discussed herein. Goals. The article examines how CMEA bodies would coordinate the making of the International Geological Expedition in Mongolia. Materials. The source base for the study comprises both published and unpublished materials from the Russian State Archive of Economy and Russian State Archive of Contemporary History. Results. The approval of the Expedition’s establishment was a relatively long and non-linear process. The three-year review witnessed at least two appeals by the CMEA Standing Commission on Geology to the Executive Committee requesting due coordination of most controversial issues. Conclusions. The long and sometimes heated negotiation process resulted in that key provisions of the Agreement on the establishment of IGE were dramatically different from the initial proposals of the Mongolian side. The meetings of 1972–1973 proved decisive for the future functioning of the Expedition, since the former articulated the main goals of the endeavor. When it came to initiate such an expedition, the Mongolian side’s draft implied its work would be paralleled by arrangements on ‘issue no. 11’ to avoid any thematic overlaps, but this idea was opposed by the European socialist countries. In response, the July 1973 meeting launched a new initiative of the Mongolian side suggesting a detailed exploration of three deposits (a project of joint development was then being lobbied by Mongolian representatives in CMEA bodies). In our opinion, the contradictions were rooted in differing visions of the IGE’s goals adopted by Mongolia and European socialist countries. Nevertheless, the very fact of the IGE’s establishment in Mongolia can be viewed as a completely positive experience, since it was one of the few Mongolian initiatives within the CMEA that resulted in the signing of a multilateral agreement.

Bridging the Divide: Some Recollections of Undertaking Comparative Labour Law Research with Former European Socialist Countries

This paper offers some reflections on comparative scientific research in the field of labour law by reference to the former socialist countries of Europe prior to 1989. The focus is primarily upon approaches to collaborative research and techniques for comparative evaluation rather than any attempt to deliver a detailed elaboration of “socialist labour law”. The perspective is that of a British labour lawyer whose contemporaneous activities extended to publication, research and teaching projects in collaboration with a broad range of socialist academic experts of the time. This presentation sets out by noting the relative lack of attention paid to experiences in those socialist legal systems – in part as a result of difficulties in accessing and understanding scientific works published in the official languages of those countries, but also due to widespread scepticism on the parts of non-socialist researchers towards the value of work undertaken by the academic community in the socialist countries. The author points to the importance of studying experiences of these legal systems not only for the sake of historical reflection but also by virtue of insights that those experiences can offer to an appreciation of labour law as it has developed post-1989. The historical context provided by this work thus highlights the opportunity for reflection in relation to concrete national systems, as well as clearly illustrating the timeless importance of conducting comparative research on labour law. Emphasis is placed upon the need for an inclusive approach to the study of labour law in order to discern the totality of developments in that field, rather than limiting the focus to regionally oriented developments as scientific facts and the drawing of conclusions based on them. In the course of presenting this paper, the author also provides an insight into the career of Prof. Željko Potočnjak, whose position as a prominent scholar of labour law in Central and Eastern Europe is considered through the prism of personal recollections and illustrations of the significance accorded to his contributions in that area.

The Sino-Malaysian Rubber Trade, 1950-80: A Global History

AbstractThis article examines the evolution of the Sino-Malaysian rubber trade between 1950 and 1980 from a global perspective. In the 1950s, this trade was one part of a triangular rubber trade extending from Southeast Asia through China to the European socialist countries who were the real buyers of much of the Malayan rubber exported to China. While China stopped its rubber re-exports to the Soviet Union in 1961, the Sino-Malaysian rubber trade continued to evolve under the shadow of global events, especially Malaysia’s economic tensions with industrialized Western countries and China’s military confrontations with its enemies. The engagement of so many global players in this trade brought more pressures, challenges, and opportunities for Malaysia and China as they bargained with each other, consequently contributing to the sharp fluctuation of trade during this period.

Urban Street Architecture, the K67 Kiosk: a Single Solution for All Problems

In the following contribution, the author presents the complex development and evolution of the universally and modularly designed K67 Kiosk – the famous red booth by the Slovenian architect and industrial designer Saša Janez Mächtig – from its conception in the second half of the 1960s through its upgrades and specialisation in the 1970s to today’s modernisation as an interactive self-service multipurpose kiosk for the twenty-first century, the K21. The K67 Kiosk – a product of urban street industrial design architecture – was created under the influence of the architectural trends at the time and due to the growing needs of the city and the development of urban service activities. The miniature street architecture, which used to house newspaper, tobacco, and food shops, small workshops, flower shops, parking and ticket booths, information and tourist offices, gatehouses, etc., became a part of the general urban culture of the former Yugoslav territory, the urban space of former Eastern European socialist countries, the collective consciousness and memory, as well as a cult product.

Kontrola państwowa w europejskich państwach socjalistycznych

The article discusses present condition of the state control in the european socialist countries also taking into account the more general issues of the evolu- tion of this institution in the socialist constitutionalism. The research material was gathered into four main classification groups considering the position of the organs of control in the structure of state apparatus: a) the party and state control — now in the GDR; b) control situated near the central representative organs — now in Rumania, Bulgaria and the USSR; c) control functioning as a government department of state administration — now in Czechoslovakia, Hungary and Poland; d) control functioning in the form of a specificly created chamb- er situated beyond the state apparatus — in Yugoslavia. The above classifica- tion allows us at the same time to point out the principal tendencies in placing the organs of control in the structure of the state apparatus, e.g. in Bulgaria where state control was first functioning as a government department later reor- ganized into party and state control system and beginning with 1974 placed near the central representative organs. Thus, while discussing specific' classification group the Author tried to present the evolution of the system of control in a particular country.The Author developed also a wider issue of connections in between state and party control, highly specialized control of the government departments as well as social supervision in each discussed country. The final part of the article tends to present more general common tendencies charaterizing socialist control regardless of its position in the structure of the state apparatus. In particular, the following issues were stressed: the role of state control in safeguarding the rule of law; involving the working people into the management of the state by way of participation in the organs of social supervision; connections in between state control and party control and their mutual inspirations; the influence of science on further improvement of the socialist control.

The report of Ivan Kostiushko to the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union on the reform of the Institute of the Slavic Studies in 1968

The publication opens a cycle of studies about the history of the Institute of Slavic Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences, and of the Russian Slavic studies in the second half of 1940s–1960s in general. This paper focuses on the report of the Soviet historian of Poland Ivan Kostiushko on the project to transform the Institute of Slavic Studies into an Institute of European Socialist Countries. The main idea of the Kostiushko’s report reached beyond the discussion about the reform of the Institute of Slavic Studies, concerning principle points of transformation of the historical studies in the Academy of Sciences of the Soviet Union. Kostiushko’s proposition was rejected by governing bodies of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union and the Academy of Sciences as well as by historians, who specialized in Slavic studies. Kostiushko’s report, however, presented significant issues about ways and forms of the evolution of historical studies and Slavic studies in the USSR in the 1960s.

A systematic review on Post-Cold War Eastern European Patterns Led by Constructivism

This article will explain the reasons why the former European socialist countries chose to embrace the West after the drastic changes in Eastern Europe, and the post-Cold War Eastern European Patterns Led by constructivism. This will find a more plausible theory in the theory of international relations to explain what happened in a specific area in this specific historical period. Literature review is applied in this article to explore definitions of theories and specific policies and data across countries. This article uses some authoritative books on international relations, as well as materials from the World Trade Organization. Some of these materials are the most targeted data provided by the International Trade Organizations to indicate the policy tendency of former Yugoslav countries. In the article, the cases from different regions point out that constructivism is the most reasonable explanation for the former European socialist countries to embrace the West after the dramatic change in Eastern Europe. The article will provide some more specific policy trends in the history of the region for the situation in Eastern Europe that has gradually heated up in recent times. Under the influence of constructivism, the vast majority of former socialist countries in Eastern Europe invariably adopt pro-Western behaviors. There are many reasons for constructivism to become the mainstream theory of diplomacy in Eastern Europe, including the legacy of history and the influence of the "Iron Curtain".

Translation under Communism

The last decade has seen several book publications and a significant number of articles in English presenting developments in translation behind the Iron Curtain, and this interest is certainly not waning. The latest book addition to this body of work—Translation under Communism, edited by Christopher Rundle (University of Bologna), Anne Lange, and Daniele Monticelli (both Tallinn University)—offers a selection of perspectives on the role that translation played in the USSR and eastern European socialist countries during diverse periods under communist rule.

Education, Health Care, and Poverty in Cuba

Abstract Cuba’s economic integration into European socialist countries, led by the Soviet Union, offered the possibility of Cubans studying in these countries. A large number of professionals were trained in different fields. This at the same time created better opportunities and higher quality for the national education system at all levels due to academic mobility at all levels. To think about the term ‘revolution’ in Cuba, one must believe in a movement of ideas that promote progress. However, most of us in the Western world come to believe that progress has an equivalency of economic gain.

The Berlin plans of Kamianets-Podilskyi

The article discusses five manuscript plans of Kamianets-Podilskyi which are present in Berlin. Four of them are available in the collections of the Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin (The Berlin State Library) and one – at the Geheimes Staatsarchiv Preußischer Kulturbesits (Secret State Archive of Prussian Cultural Heritage). Despite the fact that the list of maps and plans of areas present in the former socialist countries in Europe was published in 1976, these plans remained unknown to both, Polish and Ukrainian researchers analysing the history of fortification. Three of the discussed four plans are especially important. The first one is the plan by Christian Dahlke, an engineer who fortified Kamianets-Podilskyi, the later commanding officer of this fortress. The second one is an anonymous plan from 1740, most probably created during the inspection of the fortress reinforcements which was carried out by Saxon engineers. The third one is the plan by G. de Hundt. Identical versions of this plan are located in Cracow, in Vienna and in Moscow. Due to the fact that both, Austria as well as Russia, conducted military activities in Podolia in the 18th century, nearly identical plans of the Kamianets-Podilskyi Fortress, present in the capitals of those countries, indicate that G. de Hundt worked not only for the Polish king, but also for foreign intelligences.

“Routes of Friendship”: Organization of International Tourism in Countries of Socialist Camp in 1950-1980s

The institutional foundations, organizational features, the main trends and problems of cooperation between European member states of the Council for Mutual Economic Assistance (CMEA) in the field of international tourism in the second half of the 1950s — 1980s are described in the article. Specific examples show the formula for building bilateral cooperation in this area, as well as organizational principles and main directions of work of special annual meetings of tourist operators and government agencies in the field of tourism. Particular attention is paid to the description of the mechanisms of mutual settlements between socialist countries for the rendered mutual tourist services, including in a non-currency form. Based on the analysis of publications of the Soviet period and archival sources, the author concluded that syncretism of economic, economic and ideological approaches was characteristic of large-scale international tourist exchange between European socialist countries, and the Soviet Union played not so much the role of a “big brother” with a decisive vote as an ideological “mentor”. It is emphasized that, despite the declaration of the systemic advantages of “socialist tourism”, in general, it was characterized by numerous organizational difficulties.

An entangled history of postcolonial and socialist education: institutional transfer for educational equality and national development

ABSTRACT Searching for development paths and suitable educational policies, postcolonial governments often turned to the experiences of other countries and sought to adapt these to their own contexts. Research on such processes has largely neglected the resulting entanglements between postcolonial and European socialist countries, and between different postcolonial countries. This gap in research is addressed in this article by tracing a world-spanning history of educational transfers that has its origins in the Workers’ Faculties of the early Soviet Union. Workers’ Faculties were established with two goals: quickly channelling members of formerly disadvantaged social groups into higher education by providing university-preparatory education to workers and peasants; and providing suitably educated cadres for the development of a socialist society. After World War 2, institutions drawing on the Soviet experiences and combining these two goals were established in European, Asian, Latin American, and African countries. Tracing the processes of transfers and local interpretations of these institutions gives insights into an entangled history of postcolonial and socialist education, but also into how tensions between education as a means to provide social equality and education as a tool for (socialist) development played out in various national contexts.

БАЛКАНЫ / ЮГО-ВОСТОЧНАЯ ЕВРОПА: РЕГИОН-ЗАГАДКА И РЕГИОН ЗАГАДОК

Based on the study of various types of sources and analysis of Russian and foreign literature, the author conceptually substantiates an approach to the study of the Balkan region / South-Eastern Europe. One of the main problems considered in the article is the change in the course of the history of the 19 th-21 st centuries the ratio of the concepts of «Balkans/South-Eastern Europe», «Eastern Europe», «Central-Eastern and South-Eastern Europe», «Western Balkans», «Western Balkan countries» and «European Western Balkans». The author characterizes various historical stages of the development of the region in the context of world wars and revolutions of the 20 th century, shows the specifics of political and ethnic processes, the internal political situation in each country and relations between the states of the region, the correlation between the processes of regionalization and globalization. With the disappearance of Eastern Europe in the form in which it existed in 1949-1991, after the anti-communist social and national revolutions in the former socialist countries of Europe in 1989-1992, an integral part of the process of national self-determination was the change in the regional self-identification of each people, society and state. If in the 2000 s, positive dynamics prevailed both in terms of internal political development, intraregional and global international relations, then in the 2010 s, the forward movement has stalled in terms of both the internal economic, social and political development of the states of the region, and the settlement of interethnic and interstate conflicts in the region against the background of a general aggravation of international relations. The article examines the role of regional identification and self-identification as elements of national self-awareness. The author also characterizes the challenges facing the countries of the region in the short, medium and long terms and indicates that the choice of the Balkans / South-Eastern Europe, despite the specificity caused by their historical fate, and all the difficulties of development and conflicts, has already been made: the Balkans (like Russia as well) is an integral part of Europe.

External Challenges to Soviet Ideology in the Second Half of the 1960s and in the 1970s

The Soviet Union's foreign policy challenges of the 1960s and 1970s had an ideological aspect to them. Contradictions between Soviet Communism and Eastern European socialist models of development became more pronounced. Eastern European socialist countries began to emphasize the variety of models for “building socialism” and offered their own theories, not sanctioned by Moscow, of the construction of socialism in other European countries. Certain “ideological dangers” for the USSR also came from the Communist parties of capitalist countries. Authority of the Soviet Union and the CPSU among Western communists had declined. The weakening of the influence of Soviet ideology in the world had become evident. As a result, Western communists began to distance themselves from the USSR and the “Socialist Bloc” countries. In the post-war years, the authorities and the elites of the “Capitalist Bloc” countries took additional measures to reduce the popularity of the Communist ideology by promoting the idea of “social compromise instead of social revolution”. One of the most significant challenges to Soviet ideology was also the “convergence theory”. The socio-economic models developed in capitalist countries — especially the concept of the “welfare state” — presented another serious challenge. As a result of these trends and an increase in the standard of living in capitalist countries, there was a “de-ideologization” as well as a decrease in mass revolutionism of the population. The external challenges to Soviet ideology were regarded in Moscow with dismay. New ideological and socio-political concepts in capitalist countries were perceived negatively by the Kremlin. The external challenges had a negative impact on the mass consciousness of Soviet citizens. The article concludes that during the period under review, the challenges posed to Soviet ideology from abroad began to be complex. This article also gives classification of these challenges and reveals main ways of their manifestation.

The COURAGE Registry: A Gateway to the Cultural Heritage of Eastern European Nonconformism

The COURAGE Registry is a digital research tool that allows exploring the legacy of cultural opposition in former Eastern European socialist countries by cataloging and describing relevant collections on dissident culture across Eastern Europe and worldwide. The linked database reveals a great variety of nonconformist cultural practices that were formerly largely unknown and promotes comparative research of similar phenomena in Eastern European societies and cultures. The researchers on the project tended to treat visual sources as traces of the past equally as important as written documents. Images were not only illustrations of the given narratives but, in some cases, visual documents were the only sources that preserved the memory of the alternative or underground activity, while in other cases, it was the act of taking pictures that resulted in the confrontation with official cultural policy. This article aims to provide insight into the basic dilemmas and issues that the project faced dealing with images for the database through three examples. Firstly, we focus on the photo documentation of an exhibition of the Hungarian art group Inconnu that was made by the secret police following the destruction of the artworks. Secondly, we show how photos were also taken by official photographers who operated in the so-called “grey zone.” Finally, our third example refers to Fortepan, a unique public initiative that focuses on the digital preservation of private photographs created between 1900 and 1990.

Cuba – EU: the difficult way to cooperation

The article explores the development of relations between Cuba and the European countries during the postsoviet period. Having lost the access to the markets of the USSR and the European socialist countries, Cuba objectively was interested in finding new partners both for the replacement of the sources of industrial goods delivery and for exporting its own products. European countries seemed to be an adequate substitution of Russia (except petroleum products delivery). The article highlights how the economic interests of the EU to enter the capacious Cuban market contradicted principals of democracy and human rights. That was the reason for freezing periodically the progress in the economic links. The main obstacle for the bilateral economic cooperation was the EU Common Position, approved in 1996. The cancellation of the EU Common Position, together with developing of bilateral relations of individual countries enables the EU to become a strategic economic partner of Сuba. The analysis of the bilateral partnership provides better understanding how Cuban leaders act on the international scene.

Cuba – EU: the difficult way to cooperation

The article analyzes the development of relations between Cuba and European countries during past soviet period. The main characteristic of this process was its unevenness. Having lost the markets of the USSR and European socialist countries Cuba objectively was interested in finding new partners both for replacement of the sources of industrial goods delivery and for exporting its own products. European countries seemed to be adequate substitution of Russia (except petroleum deliveries). The article describes how the economic interests of the EU to enter the capacious Cuban market contradicted with principals of democracy and human rights. That was the reason of freezing periodically the progress in the economic links. The problem was partly resolved when the decisions taken for political reasons did not apply to “EU-Cuba” relations. The main obstacle for the bilateral economic cooperation was the EU’ Common Position, approved in 1996 which didn’t permit for both sides to subscribe the agreement of cooperation. The cancellation of the EU’ Common Position, together with developing of bilateral relations of individual countries with Cuba gives the EU possibilities to become a strategic economic partner of the Island. The analysis of the development EU – Cuba partnership helps to understand better how Cuban leaders act on the international scene.

Expert Opinions on Foreign Law in Court: Applied Comparative Law in the Munich Institute for East European Law

Comparative law has many facets. It often consists of basic research for academic purposes, but it may have a practical side as well. A genuine combination of basic and applied comparative legal research are expert opinions on foreign law for a domestic court. The expert researcher has to fully comprehend the foreign law on the books as well as in action, and has to be able to translate this foreign law into the legal background of the domestic court and into the procedural setting of the law-suit at hand. Taking the ‘Munich Institute for East European Law’ as an example, this essay describes the continuous basic research as a prerequisite for expertise on foreign law, as well as the practice of writing expert opinions for courts of law and authorities with regard to the law of the formerly socialist countries in Europe.

Actor power in the restitution processes of forests in three European countries in transition

The political and economic transformations that have taken place since the early nineties in the former socialist countries in Europe have significantly influenced reforms of their forestry institutions. As part of these reforms, restitution processes were initiated with the aim of recognising private ownership of forests and returning forests to their former owners or heirs. Using institutional and actor perspectives, this paper analyses the power relations of the key actors in the restitution processes in three European countries: the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Serbia. The methodological approach combines multiple research methods: document analysis and a literature review to explain the restitution processes, and semi-structured in-depth interviews for analysing the actors' power in this process.The results show that actors' power in the analysed restitution processes varied greatly between actor types and in different phases in the processes. In the initial phase, considerable power was wielded by the public, which demanded change, and by the policy makers, who enabled the necessary legislative changes. As the processes advanced, the power shifted to liable entities who administered the restitution processes. The analysed countries followed different pathways and had varying dynamics throughout their restitution processes due to their diverse historical and political legacies but the power of the respective types of responsible actors did not vary much between analysed countries. While the cases of the Czech Republic and Slovakia are relatively similar, Serbia proves to be different in terms of initial drivers as well as the phases and speed of the process. In the Czech Republic and Slovakia, the result of restitution has been the creation of a large number of small-scale private forest owners, while in Serbia property was given back principally to the church, a large-scale forest owner. These owner categories (small-scale private forest owners and church) were formally recognised as new in all three countries but their specific interests were not adequately translated to existing policy and management documents. The state forestry administration in each country has retained power in the field by continuing its supervisory and regulatory role in forest management. Even though the restitution processes are coming to an end in all analysed post-socialist countries, it can be noted that private forest owners are still under strong state supervision when it comes to forest management rights.

Paternalistic internationalism and (de)colonial practices of Cold War higher education exchange: Bulgaria's connections with Cuba and Angola

This article presents the findings of an archival study on the Cold War higher education (HE) exchange between Bulgaria and Cuba and Angola carried out at the Open Society Archive. Although research on the internationalization of HE mostly focuses on the introduction of new managerial governance and global rankings, scholars studying socialist countries mostly address the intricacies of student exchange. Focusing on policy transfer and expert exchange, I discuss both limitations of the framing of the subject in both Western liberal and socialist official sources and the asymmetries of the exchange between socialist countries. Exploring the exchanges between Bulgaria and Cuba and Bulgarian and Angola, my case study shows that East European socialist countries based their cooperation with developing countries in the Global South on the premise of the dominance of Eurocentric knowledge and extractivist practices in return for knowledge and technology.