The Socialist countries Most prominent in the twentieth century have been the Soviet Union, Yugoslavia, Cuba or East Germany, but many more have applied this political and philosophical doctrine in their states for many years.
Socialism was one of the most contentious political expressions of the twentieth century. With its defenders and detractors, the true foundations were lost between utopias and totalitarianisms.
It had its heyday during the mid-twentieth century, in what is known as the Cold War, and ended declining in the late 1980s, with the fall of the Soviet Union.
While only a few countries currently maintain this system of social and economic organization, there were many who applied it during the twentieth century. Here we will review some of them.
31 countries that have represented socialism
1- China
Mao proclaiming the establishment of the People's Republic of China in 1949
Since 1949, the People's Republic of China adopted socialism as its form of government, after a long civil war of more than 20 years in which the Chinese Communist Party was erected.
It is currently the most populous country in the world and one of the two main economic regions in the world, the only country competing in GDP with the United States. Xi Jinping is the head of state.
2- North Korea
North Korean citizens paying homage to the statues of leaders Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il
Their conversion to socialism occurred in 1945 with the end of World War II, when the Soviet Union and the United States divided the territories of Korea.
The war between the two nations remains latent because they never signed a peace agreement. Kim Jong-un is the supreme head of state.
3- Cuba
Ministry of the Interior adorned with a steel sculpture by Che Guevara
After the Cuban Revolution, headed by Fidel Castro and Ernesto"Che"Guevara in 1959, Cuba had its transformation to socialism. Something that was ratified in 1961.
Ruled by the Communist Party, it was one of the hottest points of conflict between the United States and the Soviet Union during the Cold War. This generated a 44-year embargo between the island and North America.
The leader of the revolution, Fidel Castro, died in 2016. He presided over Cuba from 1965 to 2011, when he ceded power in his brother Raul.
4- Laos
Memorial Kaysone Phomvihane in Vientiane, (Laos)
The Lao People's Democratic Republic after its independence from France in 1949 and a civil war that lasted until 1975, acquired socialism as a system of government.
With a large ethnic variety and a population that is mostly engaged in agriculture, in Laos there is a socialist state but with a market economy and since 1980 more and more private companies operate in the country.
5- Vietnam
Propaganda of the XIV Meeting of the Communist Party in the city of Ha Đông.
After three decades of war between the north and the south, in 1976 the Socialist Republic of Vietnam was unified under the socialism.
It is its definition opted for a form of socialist parliamentary government with market economy, dominated by the Communist Party.
It is one of the economies that grew the most in the 21st century but with high levels of inequality.
6- Albania
Mount Shpiragu, where inscribed the name of Enver Hoxha, communist leader of Albania from 1944 until his death in 1985
Since its proclamation as an independent country in 1946, Albania is a socialist country.
It had different alliances with Russia and China, that broke during the decade of the 80. At the moment it is in an aperturista stage in economic matter.
7- Bulgaria
Oval Skeleton of the House of the Bulgarian Communist Party
Bulgaria was one of the nations of the Eastern group after World War II.
It maintained a socialist system until in 1990 the Communist Party allowed multiparty elections and thus the country turned to a free market economy.
8- Czechoslovakia
From 1968 until its dissolution in 1992, in which it was divided in Czech Republic and Slovakia, Chechoslovaquia was a socialist nation.
The reformist Alexander Dubček was responsible for reforms during the Spring of Prague, during 1968.
9- Democratic Germany
The Trabant, one of the symbols of the communist bloc of the Democratic Republic of Germany
After World War II, the territory of Germany was divided into two parts in 1949, each with a different system of government.
Under Soviet occupation and with capital in Berlin, the German Democratic Republic was one of the flags of socialism. In 1990, the wall dividing the capital city and the country was demolished, Germany was unified and socialism disappeared of this nation.
10- Hungary
Statue dedicated to communism in Budapest
Its socialist moment occurred between 1947 and 1989, when it was governed by the communist party.
After the opening of the borders with Austria in 1989, things in the country began to change until it became a parliamentary republic with a market economy.
11- Poland
Another country that remained in the East of the world and adopted socialist policies after the Second World War.
In 1989, the socialist government was overthrown and a period of political transformation began in Poland, which led to its becoming a capitalist nation.
12- Romania
The one from Romania is a particular case. During the Second World War he changed sides. First he responded to the German power and then to the Soviet, remaining on the socialist side during the Cold War.
But since 1989, like many other countries, a shift towards Western representative democracy and a capitalist market economy began.
13- Union of Soviet Socialist Republics
It could be considered as the mother of all the battles of socialism. This republic existed between 1922 and 1999, as the sum of 15 subanations that were identified with the idea of a National Government and a centralized economy.
With important changes during its history, the URRS alternated socialist and communist moments, and it was in 1990 that its dissolution was given.
Georgia, Lithuania, Russia, Ukraine, Latvia, Estonia, Belarus, Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Kazakhstan, Armenia, Kyrgyzstan and Moldova were the new countries.
14- Yugoslavia
Located on the Balkan peninsula, this extinct nation was infamous for the fierce separatist wars of the late 1980s and early 1990s.
From 1963 until his disappearance it was renamed Federal Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (RFSY), which was the longest Yugoslav state, with Marshal Tito in power.
After its dissolution in the 90, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Slovenia, Macedonia, Montenegro and Serbia emerged.
15- Angola
One particular case is Angola, which was in civil war for much of the 20th century and had a socialist form of government in that period.
Between 1975, from the liberation of Portugal until 1990 was the Popular Movement of Liberation of Angola the person in charge of the state. This party is still part of the Socialist International.
16- Norway
One of the most successful cases of modern socialism, thanks to the Nordic welfare model. It is the third richest country in the world according to its GDP per capita and one of the lowest unemployment in the world.
The state is responsible for financing social welfare, which includes health, education, housing, work and pleasure. Citizens must pay their taxes, which affect all but progressively.
However, it maintains in part a liberal economy, which allows it to take advantage of being the third oil producing country in the world.
17- Finland
Finland shares with Norway the Nordic welfare state, still in force, but with less economic development and more limited resources. It is also one of the countries with the lowest rates of corruption on the planet.
18- Sweden
It is a case similar to that of Norway but from 1990, by a strong economic recession, it became a capitalist market economy.
19- Iceland
Another country that applies the Nordic welfare state but in recent years was adopting a market economy. The UN called it the third most developed country in the world.
20- Denmark
Denmark can also be considered a socialist country because it shares the Nordic welfare state but with a market economy for several decades.
21- Libya
With the coming to power of Muammar Gaddafi in 1969, Libya became a socialist state, called Yamahiriya,"State of the masses."
Although the quality of life rates increased during this process, also internal conflicts. The civil war ended in 2011 with the death (executed in the street) of Gaddafi.
22- Benin
It could also be considered a socialist state during the period of the People's Republic of Benin between 1975 and 1990, until the ruling party abandoned Marxism-Leninism.
23- Algeria
It could be said that Algeria was born as a socialist republic. From 1962 that became independent had socialist governments, supported by the USSR during the Cold War. But excessive corruption led to internal conflicts that ended with this system in 1990.
24- Egypt
One of the pharaohs of the planet for its extensive civilization, had a socialist period also during the Cold War.
From 1961 the industry was nationalized, the Arab Socialist Union was founded and an agrarian reform was carried out, that lasted until 1970 with the death of Gamal Abdel Nasser, the leader of the revolution.
25- Syria
It is a case similar to Egypt, with whom shared the Arab Socialist Union until 1970 when he took power Hafez al Assad, who passed away in 2000 and left power in his son Bashar. Since then the country has been plunged into a bloody civil war.
26- Iraq
Another of the Arab socialist countries, like Syria (with which it shares its great ethnic complexity) and Egypt. It was Ahmed Hasan al-Bakr who intensified the socialist system until Saddam Hussein came to power in 1979.
27- South Yemen
Unlike its Arab neighbors, South Yemen adopted a doctrine more linked to Marxism-Leninism until 1986 when the civil war broke out.
28- People's Republic of the Congo
This African nation had a socialist state from 1970 to 1991 under the government of the Congolese Labor Party.
The socialist experiment ended when the Sovereign National Council assumed power and withdrew the popular name from the name of the country.
29- Cambodia
"Democratic Kampuchea"was the name of this country during its socialist stage. But a heavy slaughter of the ruling party, which ended with a quarter of the population, led the UN to end an internal war of almost two decades in 1991.
30- Mongolia
Another country that was born socialist after a long period of struggle for its independence from China.
Thanks to the support of the USSR, the People's Republic was constituted in 1924 and ratified in 1946, but in 1990 a change of government ended the system.
31- Chile
Between 1970 and 1973, Chile was governed by Salvador Allende, who tried to carry out a socialist government.
On September 11, 1973, a coup ended Allende's life with the socialist project and established a fierce military dictatorship with economic liberalism by the hand of Augusto Pinochet, who left power in 1990.
Some reflections on socialism
"The meaning of peace is the absence of opposition to socialism,"said Karl Marx, one of the main proponents of this doctrine. The philosopher took these beliefs after reading the writings of the monk Ferdinando Facchinei, who in 1766 expounded the ideas of the social contract as the foundation of the organization of human societies.
For the SAR, socialism is:"System of social and economic organization based on the ownership and collective or state administration of the means of production and distribution of goods".
"Socialism will mean a leap from the realm of need to the realm of freedom,"said Leon Trotsky, another of the militants.
Socialism has as its central foundation the collective planning and organization of social and economic life. That is why socialism varies depending on the intrinsic characteristics of each country.
"Almost no one today, from the extreme left to the far right, considers the traditional socialism of state ownership and operation of the means of production possible or desirable,"said Milton Friedman, one of the detractors of this system.
"Socialism is not a malicious force. It is a well-intentioned force that men have deformed and finished destroying,"explained Juan Domingo Perón on the decadence of socialism in the world.