Popular democracies in the Cold War: their characteristics

We explain what the popular democracies of the Cold War were, as well as their history, characteristics and end.

Popular democracies were one-party regimes controlled by the Communist Party.

What were the popular democracies of the Cold War?

The “popular democracies” were the government regimes of the Central and Eastern European countries that came under the orbit of the Soviet Union during the Cold War. They were formed after the Allied victory in World War II (1939-1945) and functioned as “satellite states” of the Soviet Union.

Popular democracies were part of the eastern or communist bloc of the Cold Warfacing the Western or capitalist bloc (dominated by the United States). They were separated from the Western nations of Europe by a dividing line known as the “Iron Curtain.”

Popular democracies They were one-party regimes dominated by the local Communist Partywhich was controlled by the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. They had a centralist and authoritarian form of government, and their economy was organized according to the principle of state economic planning, characteristic of state communism.

Some European popular democracies moved away from the Soviet orbit, such as Yugoslavia and Albania, and when the disintegration of the Soviet Union and the communist bloc began At the end of the 20th century, Eastern European countries turned to parliamentary governments. and market economies.

The historical context

Communism is a political ideology that emerged in Europe in the 19th century and inspired the Bolshevik Revolution of 1917 in Russia. After the death of Lenin (leader of the Bolshevik revolution) In 1924, Stalin was given authority over the Soviet Union. (which integrated Russia and other socialist republics that were part of a single federal state, governed by the Communist Party of the Soviet Union).

During Stalin’s rule, The Soviet Union (USSR) achieved an unprecedented level of industrialization, albeit at a great human cost.. During the 1930s, Stalin established a totalitarian system based on population control and repression of any dissent (including the Great Purge of 1936–38). The Soviet economy was based on the forced collectivization of agriculture (expropriation of farmland, which was converted into state farms, and requisitioning of grain), centralized economic planning, and the primacy of heavy industry.

During World War II (1939-1945), in order to promote patriotic unity against the German invader, Soviet repression eased and thousands of prisoners were released. The intervention of the Soviet Union and the United States in the war defined the Allied triumph against the Nazis.

The 1945 victory increased the cult of Stalin, who was considered, within the Soviet Union, the “father of victory.” This victory also divided the world into two blocks, presided over by the two great victorious powers: the Soviet Union (eastern or communist bloc) and the United States (western or capitalist bloc). These two blocks were the protagonists of the Cold War that lasted until 1991.

The rise of popular democracies

Popular democracies were implemented by the USSR in the areas occupied by the Red Army.

After World War II, The triumphant Red Army extended the Soviet system to Central and Eastern Europe.that is, to the areas occupied by its troops. An imaginary “iron curtain” was soon established, separating the Soviet Union’s satellite states (in the east) from the Western countries that had come under the hegemony of the United States and had parliamentary regimes and market economies.

Germany, for its part, was divided into a western zone, under the control of the capitalist nations, and an eastern zone, under Soviet control.

Meanwhile, as new difficulties arose in the post-war period in the Soviet Union, such as the famine of 1946 that affected millions of Soviets, Stalin gave new impetus to mass deportations to the Gulag (concentration camps and forced labour) which led to the arrest of more than two and a half million people in a very short time. Repressive policies were also implemented in the satellite states (which adopted the name of “people’s democracies”).

The outbreak of the Cold War precipitated the establishment, in the areas of Central and Eastern Europe occupied by the Red Army, of “people’s democracies” (which, despite their name, were one-party regimes dominated by the country’s Communist Party and under strict control of the government of the Soviet Union). With the exception of Albania and Yugoslavia, where the triumphant indigenous communist guerrilla brought the communists directly to power, The Soviet occupation authorities established popular democracies in a short period that culminated in 1948. with the Prague coup (which allowed the imposition of a communist government in Czechoslovakia).

The construction of popular democracies followed similar stages in all countries. Following “denazification” (the elimination or arrest of Axis collaborators, which affected mainly the wealthier classes), “National Front” governments were formed in which the communists reserved the most important ministries for themselves. Within a few months, the other parties were banned and a Soviet-style communist dictatorship was established. Poland, the German Democratic Republic (which was established as such in 1949, but was already functioning as a people’s democracy in 1948), Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Romania and Bulgaria became satellite states of the Soviet Union.

The relationship of the USSR with the popular democracies

The formation of popular democracies in Eastern Europe was completed with the Prague coup.

In the economic field, The Soviet government established a real system of domination over the popular democraciesIn East Germany and other countries that had been part of the Third Reich, entire factories and products of all kinds were dismantled and transferred to the Soviet Union.

In all the popular democracies, the economic model implemented by Stalin in the Soviet Union was established, with some slight variations. Through the signing of bilateral agreements between the Soviet Union and the popular democracies, Economic activities were organized according to Moscow’s guidelines and interests.Some organizations, such as the Cominform (1947) and COMECON (1949), had the function of coordinating cultural and economic policies among the countries of the Eastern bloc under Soviet supervision.

The new communist countries experienced a wave of purges (dismissal or persecution of officials and political leaders) during the last years of Stalin’s dictatorship (1948-1952). Any attempt to initiate a national path to socialism that did not follow the Soviet model to the letter was accused of being “deviationist.” and referred to as “Trotskyist” or “Titoist”, in reference to the Yugoslav leader Tito (who had broken relations with the Soviet Union in 1948, although he maintained a socialist government in Yugoslavia). Repression in the popular democracies led to the imprisonment and execution of many communist leaders and activists.

Purges in popular democracies

The beginning of the Cold War and the Yugoslav schism provoked a new wave of purges in the communist world, especially in the new popular democracies. Beginning in the summer of 1948 and in just three years, it is estimated that 25% of communist militants were affected by the purges promoted by the Soviet government.

A real campaign of terror spread across Eastern Europe. Informers were encouraged and torture was used. Hundreds of veteran militants holding high positions, such as Traicho Kostov in Bulgaria, Rudolf Slansky in Czechoslovakia and Laszlo Rajk in Hungary, They were tried and executed, accused of crimes such as “Trotskyism”, “Titoism” and even “Zionism””.

These former militants were replaced by newcomers who owed their entire political career to Stalin’s will. Through this campaign HE produced the sovietization of the national communist partieswhich henceforth became transmission belts for orders issued from Moscow.

Popular democracies after Stalin’s death

Popular democracies resorted to military interventions to suppress protests.

Communist regimes in Central and Eastern Europe were characterized by great instability. They were generally perceived by a large part of the population as political systems “imposed” by the Red Army. At the same time, state planning of the economy, while in some cases guaranteeing access to public services, fostered a bureaucratic system that was often inefficient. Despite the creation of economic coordination bodies, Popular democracies had difficulty meeting the economic demands of their population.

Added to this was the degree of Political surveillance, persecution of dissent and lack of freedoms which, in a way, explains the political fragility of popular democracies and the repression that the Soviet Union and the communist parties of these countries had to apply in order to maintain their dominance. Sometimes, recourse was had to the Warsaw Pact (1955), a military alliance signed between the socialist governments of the Eastern bloc, for this repression.

After Stalin’s death in 1953, Various revolts occurred in the popular democracies:

• In 1953, protests arose due to the harsh economic conditions to which the workers of East Berlin were subjected spread to most of the German Democratic Republic. The Soviet army, which occupied the…