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    Socialism in Practice: The Transformation of East Europe
    Socialism in Practice: The Transformation of East Europe
    Socialism in Practice: The Transformation of East Europe
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    Socialism in Practice: The Transformation of East Europe

    By Scott Nearing

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    About this ebook

    First published in 1962, this book is a study by author Scott Nearing on Communism in Eastern Europe, where he spent three months during the winter of 1961-1962. Together with his wife Helen, he visited Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, the German Democratic Republic, Hungary, Poland, Romania and Yugoslavia.

    As self-proclaimed socialists, Nearing’s report “is neither objective nor is it neutral”, but rather seeks to “present to the American people the frightening lack of information in North America concerning [current] developments in East Europe.”

    Based on his personal observation during his travels through Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, the German Democratic Republic, Hungary, Poland, Romania and Yugoslavia, the author stands firm that “news of socialist construction in East Europe should be immensely valuable to Western peoples who want to see order, decency, peace and improvement in the world.”
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherMuriwai Books
    Release dateJan 12, 2017
    ISBN9781787208650
    Socialism in Practice: The Transformation of East Europe

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      Book preview

      Socialism in Practice - Scott Nearing

      This edition is published by Muriwai Books – www.pp-publishing.com

      To join our mailing list for new titles or for issues with our books – muriwaibooks@gmail.com

      Or on Facebook

      Text originally published in 1962 under the same title.

      © Muriwai Books 2017, all rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted by any means, electrical, mechanical or otherwise without the written permission of the copyright holder.

      Publisher’s Note

      Although in most cases we have retained the Author’s original spelling and grammar to authentically reproduce the work of the Author and the original intent of such material, some additional notes and clarifications have been added for the modern reader’s benefit.

      We have also made every effort to include all maps and illustrations of the original edition the limitations of formatting do not allow of including larger maps, we will upload as many of these maps as possible.

      SOCIALISM IN PRACTICE

      THE TRANSFORMATION OF EAST EUROPE

      BY

      SCOTT NEARING

      TABLE OF CONTENTS

      Contents

      TABLE OF CONTENTS 3

      DEDICATION 4

      PREFACE 5

      1. Onset of a Social Revolution 7

      2. Changes in Property Relations 12

      3. Economic and Social Planning 19

      4. Balancing East European Economies 23

      5. Socialist Political Patterns 29

      6. Pressure Power Groups, Old and New 34

      7. The Revolution in Education 40

      8. Health and Social Security for All 45

      9. The Cultural Revolution in East Europe 49

      10. Balance Sheet of Twenty Years 57

      11. Some Question Marks 61

      12. The Socialist Road Ahead 67

      REQUEST FROM THE PUBLISHER 71

      DEDICATION

      TO THE PEOPLES OF EAST EUROPE

      With every good wish for their success in building the East European sector of the socialist world

      PREFACE

      We heard that the people of East Europe were building socialism so we decided to see for ourselves. We did not go to find out what mistakes the East Europeans had made, in which respects they had failed, or how far they had departed from the Western way of life. We went to observe what they were doing and to discover what they are trying to do and hoping to do.

      Three strenuous months spent in East Europe during the winter of 1961-62 do not qualify us as experts, nor do we pretend that this is a scientific study. We had neither the time nor the means to undertake such a job. If the Fund for the Republic or the Soviet Institute of World Economics and Politics had provided half a million dollars, we could have organized a team of experts and with adequate clerical assistance we could have done a job of scientific research. We had, however, neither money nor help apart from the co-operation of peace committees, cultural associations, professional organizations and many friendly individuals in the seven countries we visited: Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, the German Democratic Republic, Hungary, Poland, Rumania and Yugoslavia. We were sorry not to go to Albania, but our passports are stamped Not good for travel to or in Albania.

      Our report is neither objective nor is it neutral. As socialists, we have a deep concern that the transition from capitalism to socialism be made speedily, with a minimum of losses and a maximum of gains to the largest possible number of the world’s people. Insofar as East Europeans have turned their backs on feudalism-capitalism and turned their faces toward socialism-communism we commend them for the wisdom of their choice, rejoice with them in their many spectacular achievements and wish them well as they travel the long peril-beset road that lies ahead.

      Our chief justification for presenting this report to the American people is the frightening lack of information in North America concerning current developments in East Europe. News is obtainable concerning developments in the Soviet Union; less is known of socialist construction in Asia; but with rare exceptions news coverage leaves East Europe almost a blank.

      We return from our winter’s trip with the firm conviction that news of socialist construction in East Europe should be immensely valuable to Western peoples who want to see order, decency, peace and improvement in the world. This conclusion is based partly upon our personal observations—the reports of our five senses. It is based partly on conversations and discussions with people in countryside, town and city; with people from all walks of life, particularly younger people, because the revolution draws its vim and drive from the enthusiasm and idealism of men and women who have not yet reached middle life. It is based upon extensive reading of printed matter originating in East Europe, plus firsthand reports from Westerners who have spent considerable parts of their lives as observers and participants in the East European scene.

      During our all-too-brief stay in East Europe, we visited numerous economic and social departments, many organizations, establishments, enterprises and institutions, and spoke with many people. We wish to thank all these friends for the hospitality and assistance which made this trip and report possible.

      Special thanks and appreciation are extended to Helen K. Nearing for her invaluable assistance in gathering of materials for this report and preparing the manuscript for the printer.

      SCOTT NEARING

      Harborside, Maine

      July 15, 1962

      1. Onset of a Social Revolution

      East Europe, politically, has had a long record of conquest, sub-ordination, dependence and exploitation. For thousands of years the territory was overrun by migrants from Asia and northern Europe. Its rich plains, its fertile valleys and its strategic location on the Mediterranean waterfront, astride the east-west trade routes between Europe and Asia and the north-south Africa-Europe traffic, made East European territory the logical seat of empire or the logical prize of empire builders. It was infiltrated, invaded and colonized by the Greeks; conquered and incorporated into the Roman Empire and, with the rise of Islam, much of the area was brought under Turkish domination.

      After centuries of exposure to the benefits, lures and destructive conflicts of Western civilization, East Europe in 1900 was the seat of the loosely aggregated, unassimilated, jostling principalities and monarchies which constituted the Habsburg Empire.

      The War of 1914-18 harried and disorganized East Europe. At the end of the war a number of the nationalist groups composing Austro-Hungary established independent governments. The states which emerged from the dismemberment of the Austro-Hungarian Empire were either republics (after the French and United States models) or limited monarchies.

      Invaded and occupied by the Nazis between 1939 and 1945 and heavily damaged in the course of that general war, East Europe was liberated by the Soviet armies in 1945. Since that date Albania, Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, the German Democratic Republic, Hungary, Poland, Rumania and Yugoslavia have cleared up war wreckage, organized socialist republics and begun building socialism.

      Economically, East Europe made its living by farming, forestry, mineral production, transportation, trade and commerce. The surplus grain which it produced during the present century had been going to West Europe in exchange for Western manufactures and services. Tiny peasant holdings barely large enough to provide a subsistence for their proprietors existed side by side with large estates, a few of which were farmed with machinery.

      Eastern Europe was largely pre-industrial in 1900. Its economy was built on primitive agriculture. Its power structure in the countryside rested on landlords, clerics and the military. The agricultural masses lived at or near the subsistence level. Wages and living standards in industry and transport were held down by the low countryside standards. Under-employment, poverty and backwardness limited the lives of a great majority of East Europe’s population.

      Austro-Hungary was predominantly agrarian, studded with capital cities and city centers of trade, commerce and some industry. The cities, for the most part, were pale reflections of the metropolitan centers of the West. These, and the commercial, industrial and mining centers (often financed by foreign capital and relying on technical help from the West) contrasted sharply with the agrarian segment of the East European economy.

      The countryside was divided into four parts: widespread land holdings and sumptuous palaces and mansions of the landed aristocracy; the lavish establishments of the clergy; the comfortable quarters of the bourgeoisie in the towns; and the generally inadequate, unhealthy, cramped housing of the peasantry, who made up the majority of East Europe’s population. Millions were employed on the great lay and clerical estates which occupied much of the best land in East Europe. Some peasants owned the land they worked; most worked for a mere pittance.

      Aside from its dependence on the West European market (which was flooded with cheap grain and meat from Australia, Canada and Argentina), East Europe suffered from four curses: the shocking poverty of its countryside; widespread illiteracy; the under-employment of a temperate zone agrarian economy which lacked industrial part-time jobs; and scourges such as malaria and tuberculosis, unrelieved by adequate health services.

      Class lines were sharply drawn. On one side were wealth, privilege and unearned income; on the other, poverty, underemployment, illiteracy and ill health. Palaces and cathedrals were surrounded by hovels and slums. Among the privileged were the nobility, the gentry, the clergy, the managers of commerce and industry, government officials, the military, and a host of small proprietors. In the cities were the badly-housed underpaid wage workers. In the countryside were millions of wretchedly housed exploited tenants, peasants and farm laborers.

      Writing on The Economy of Yugoslavia,{1} Milutin Bogosavljevic describes the situation between 1920 and 1940: "Yugoslavia

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