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Economic System Of Socialism
The Economic System of Socialism (ESS) was an economic policy implemented in East Germany between 1968 and 1970, which was introduced and led by the country's autocratic leader, Walter Ulbricht. It focused on high technology sectors in an attempt to make self-sufficient growth possible. Overall, centralized planning was reintroduced in the so-called structure-determining areas, which included electronics, chemicals, and plastics. Industrial combines were formed to vertically integrate industries involved in the manufacture of vital final products. Price subsidies were restored to accelerate growth in favored sectors. The annual plan for 1968 set production quotas 2.6% higher in the structure-determining areas than in the remaining sectors in order to achieve industrial growth in these areas. The state set the 1969–1970 goals for high-technology sectors even higher still. Failure to meet the ESS's goals resulted in the termination of the reform effort in 1970. Background In orde ...
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Economy
An economy is an area of the production, distribution and trade, as well as consumption of goods and services. In general, it is defined as a social domain that emphasize the practices, discourses, and material expressions associated with the production, use, and management of scarce resources'. A given economy is a set of processes that involves its culture, values, education, technological evolution, history, social organization, political structure, legal systems, and natural resources as main factors. These factors give context, content, and set the conditions and parameters in which an economy functions. In other words, the economic domain is a social domain of interrelated human practices and transactions that does not stand alone. Economic agents can be individuals, businesses, organizations, or governments. Economic transactions occur when two groups or parties agree to the value or price of the transacted good or service, commonly expressed in a certain currency. Ho ...
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Information Revolution
The term information revolution describes current economic, social and technological trends beyond the Industrial Revolution. Many competing terms have been proposed that focus on different aspects of this societal development. The British polymath crystallographer J. D. Bernal introduced the term "''scientific and technical revolution''" in his 1939 book ''The Social Function of Science'' to describe the new role that science and technology are coming to play within society. He asserted that science is becoming a "productive force", using the Marxist Theory of Productive Forces. After some controversy, the term was taken up by authors and institutions of the then- Soviet Bloc. Their aim was to show that socialism was a safe home for the scientific and technical ("technological" for some authors) revolution, referred to by the acronym STR. The book ''Civilization at the Crossroads'', edited by the Czech philosopher Radovan Richta (1969), became a standard reference for this top ...
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New Course
The New Course (German: ''Neuer Kurs'') was an economic policy that aimed to improve the standard of living, increase the availability of consumer goods in East Germany (the GDR), lower the price of foodstuffs, small businesses and farms would be returned to the private sector. History The New Course was initiated in the Soviet Union, but would be applied to the satellite countries under its influence, including the GDR. The Council of Ministers believe the previous mistakes made should be corrected. The Minister President described the need to rehabilitate many social programs; including the distribution of ration cards, methods of tax collection amongst others. The plan was instituted in June 1956. Policy description There were three major thrusts of the new course: improvement of consumer goods, the end of terror, and a relaxation of ideological standards. It was announced in March 1953, after the death of Soviet premier Joseph Stalin. Investment in heavy industry was to be cu ...
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Eastern Bloc Economies
The Eastern Bloc, also known as the Communist Bloc and the Soviet Bloc, was the group of socialist states of Central and Eastern Europe, East Asia, Southeast Asia, Africa, and Latin America under the influence of the Soviet Union that existed during the Cold War (1947–1991). These states followed the ideology of Marxism–Leninism, in opposition to the capitalist Western Bloc. The Eastern Bloc was often called the Second World, whereas the term " First World" referred to the Western Bloc and "Third World" referred to the non-aligned countries that were mainly in Africa, Asia, and Latin America but notably also included former pre-1948 Soviet ally SFR Yugoslavia, which was located in Europe. In Western Europe, the term Eastern Bloc generally referred to the USSR and Central and Eastern European countries in the Comecon (East Germany, Poland, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria, and Albania). In Asia, the Soviet Bloc comprised Mongolia, Vietnam, Laos, Kampuchea, Nor ...
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Constitution Of East Germany
The Constitution of East Germany refers to the constitution of the German Democratic Republic (), commonly known as East Germany. Its original constitution was promulgated on 7 October 1949. It was heavily based on the "Weimarer Reichsverfassung", (Weimar Constitution) and nominally established the GDR as a liberal democratic republic. In 1968 the East German government adopted a new, fully Communist constitution that was based on Marxism-Leninism, political unitarism, and collective leadership. There were further amendments to the 1968 constitution in 1974. With the political events of 1989, there were attempts to draft a new constitution for East Germany, but these efforts never materialized due to the dissolution of East Germany and the accession of its Länder (or states) into the neighboring Federal Republic. Background In 1947 the German People's Congress met in Berlin. The People's Congress was meant to be an alternative to the Western London Conference of Foreign Mini ...
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State Council Of East Germany
The State Council of East Germany (German: ''Staatsrat der DDR'') was the collective head of state of the German Democratic Republic (East Germany) from 1960 to 1990. Origins When the German Democratic Republic was founded in October 1949, its constitution in its formal structure resembled a bourgeois, federalist democratic system in order to portray the GDR as the legitimate continuation of the prewar Weimar Republic in opposition to the separatist Federal Republic. One of the "bourgeois" features of the constitution (in Article 66) was the office of President, which was filled by Wilhelm Pieck, formerly the leader of the eastern branch of the Communist Party of Germany and now one of the two chairmen of the Socialist Unity Party of Germany (SED). However, from the start, the East German government was completely controlled by the SED, and over time its actual power structure grew closer to the model of the Stalinist USSR. When Pieck died on 7 September 1960, the SED opted aga ...
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Willi Stoph
Wilhelm Stoph (9 July 1914 – 13 April 1999) was a German politician. He served as Chairman of the Council of Ministers (Prime Minister) of the German Democratic Republic (East Germany) from 1964 to 1973, and again from 1976 until 1989. He also served as chairman of the State Council (head of state) from 1973 to 1976. Biography Stoph was born in Berlin in 1914; his father died the following year in World War I. In 1928, Stoph joined the Communist Youth League of Germany (Kommunistischer Jugendverband Deutschlands; KJVD) and in 1931 he joined the Communist Party of Germany. He was conscripted into the Wehrmacht from 1935 to 1937, and served during World War II from 1940 to 1945. He was awarded the Iron Cross 2nd Class and rose to the rank of Unteroffizier. As the war ended, according to historian Harris Lentz, "Stoph worked with the Communist-dominated Socialist Unity party and served on the party's executive committee from 1947." Following the establishment of the GDR i ...
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Erich Honecker
Erich Ernst Paul Honecker (; 25 August 1912 – 29 May 1994) was a German communist politician who led the German Democratic Republic (East Germany) from 1971 until shortly before the fall of the Berlin Wall in November 1989. He held the posts of General Secretary of the Socialist Unity Party of Germany (SED) and Chairman of the National Defence Council; in 1976, he replaced Willi Stoph as Chairman of the State Council, the official head of state. As the leader of East Germany, Honecker had close ties to the Soviet Union, which maintained a large army in the country. Honecker's political career began in the 1930s when he became an official of the Communist Party of Germany, a position for which he was imprisoned by the Nazis. Following World War II, he was freed by the Soviet army and relaunched his political activities, founding the SED's youth organisation, the Free German Youth, in 1946 and serving as the group's chairman until 1955. As the Security Secretary of the SED C ...
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Alfred Neumann (East Germany)
Alfred "Ali" Neumann (15 December 1909 – 8 January 2001) was an East German politician. He was a member of the Politburo of the Central Committee of the Socialist Unity Party of Germany, and for a short time, he was East German Minister of Materials Management. Life Neumann was born in Berlin-Schöneberg and completed training as a joiner. In 1919, he joined the worker's sport club "Fichte" (" Fir" or "Spruce"), which in 1928 became a member of the "Fighting Community for Red Sport Unity" (''"Kampfgemeinschaft für Rote Sporteinheit"''; KG). Neumann became a member of the Communist Party of Germany (KPD) in 1929, and in 1930, a member of the KG state leadership. Second World War In 1933-1934 he worked together with Karl Maron illegally – for Hitler had come to power by now – for the KG. In 1934, he emigrated through Sweden and Finland to the USSR, where he worked as a sport teacher. In 1938, he was expelled from the Soviet Union as he had no Soviet citizenship, and he went ...
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Prague Spring
The Prague Spring ( cs, Pražské jaro, sk, Pražská jar) was a period of political liberalization and mass protest in the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic. It began on 5 January 1968, when reformist Alexander Dubček was elected First Secretary of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia (KSČ), and continued until 21 August 1968, when the Soviet Union and most of Warsaw Pact members invaded the country to suppress the reforms. The Prague Spring reforms were a strong attempt by Dubček to grant additional rights to the citizens of Czechoslovakia in an act of partial decentralization of the economy and democratization. The freedoms granted included a loosening of restrictions on the media, speech and travel. After national discussion of dividing the country into a federation of three republics, Bohemia, Moravia-Silesia and Slovakia, Dubček oversaw the decision to split into two, the Czech Socialist Republic and Slovak Socialist Republic. This dual federation was the only for ...
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1970 Polish Protests
The 1970 Polish protests ( pl, Grudzień 1970, lit=December 1970) occurred in northern Poland during 14–19 December 1970. The protests were sparked by a sudden increase in the prices of food and other everyday items. Strikes were put down by the Polish People's Army and the Citizen's Militia, resulting in at least 44 people killed and more than 1,000 wounded. Background In December 1970, the government suddenly announced major increases in the prices of basic foodstuffs, especially dairy products, after bad harvests throughout the year. The increases proved to be a major shock to ordinary citizens, especially in the larger cities. Events Demonstrations against the price increases broke out in the northern Baltic coastal cities of Gdańsk, Gdynia, Elbląg, and Szczecin. The regime was concerned about an emerging wave of sabotage, which may have been inspired by the secret police, who wanted to legitimize a harsh response to the protestors. Another possible reason why the secr ...
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Europe-Asia Studies
''Europe-Asia Studies'' is an academic peer-reviewed journal published 10 times a year by Routledge on behalf of the Institute of Central and East European Studies, University of Glasgow, and continuing (since vol. 45, 1993) the journal ''Soviet Studies'' (vols. 1-44, 1949–1992), which was renamed after the dissolution of the Soviet Union. The journal focuses on political, economic and social affairs of the countries of the former Soviet bloc and their successors, as well as their history in the 20th century. Both Europe-Asia Studies and Soviet Studies are available online with subscription via JSTOR from 1949 onwards. According to the ''Journal Citation Reports'', the journal has a 2020 impact factor of 2.102, ranking it --- out of 161 journals in the category "Political Science". References External links''Europe-Asia Studies''@ JSTOR''Soviet Studies''@ JSTOR See also * Central Asian Survey * Problems of Post-Communism ''Problems of Post-Communism'' is a bimonthly peer-revi ...
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