25/4/2017 communismWhatis'realsocialism'?

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Whatis'realsocialism'?

Ihavebeenassignedamonographaboutthecountriesofrealsocialism.WhileIunderstandthetopicandhavebeensuccessfulatwritingupthe
work,Iamhavingdifficultyinfindingadefinitionfortheterm'realsocialism'(whichwouldformtheintroduction).Iintuitthattheadjective'real'
establishesadifferencebetweenthepursued(socialist)idealandthesocialandeconomicrealityinthecountriesoftheEasternBloc.However,
thepiecesofinformationstrictlyaboutthetermthatIhavefoundarescarceandevenabitcontradictory.

Forinstance,inthecorrespondingWikipediaarticle,itisnotclearwhenexactlywastheterminvented(andbywho).Moreover,thereseemsto
beaconflictbetweenthetwoparagraphsoftheintroduction:

ThetermreferredtotheSoviettypeeconomicplanningenforcedbytherulingcommunistpartiesatthatparticulartime.

Then,inthesecondparagraph:

Fromthe1960sonward,countriessuchasPoland,theGermanDemocraticRepublic,HungaryandCzechoslovakia,begantoarguethattheir
policiesrepresentedwhatwasrealisticallyfeasiblegiventheirlevelofproductivity,evenifitdidnotconformtotheMarxistconceptof
socialism.Theconceptofrealsocialismalludedtoafuturehighlydevelopedsocialistsystem.

However,intheDeutschversionofthearticle,itisstatedthatit[theterm]wasinventedbyErichHoneckeraleaderoftheSocialistUnityParty
ofGermanyin1974,atoneofthesessionsoftheaforementionedparty.Unfortunately,I'mnotverygoodwithDeutsch,soIhaven'tunderstood
muchmore.

Couldyoupleaseexplain

wheredoesthetermcomefrom(whoinventeditandwhen)
whatisits'official'meaning
andwhatdoesit,fromthepopularperspective,mean?

Note:Idonotknowtherulesregardingusingother'sansweroutsideofthissite.Ihavereadthispage,butitreferstoreferencingwhenwritingan
answer,notonhowtouseanswersforone'sownpurpose.Forthepurposeofmakingitclear,Iamnotaskingthatsomeonedoesmytaskfor
me,andIwouldnotcopyortranslateanyanswerdirectly,butratherformanewtextwithalltheunderstandingthatIhavesummedup.Ifthisis
againstthesite'srules,pleaseexcusemeandprovidemewithalinktothecorrespondingpage.Thankyou.

communism socialism

editedApr13at12:47 askedJan10'15at21:57
Community Kalrish
1 128 4

Whocoinedthenameishistory,butyourothertwoquestionsshouldprobablybeaskedatpolitics.SEinstead.
SemaphoreJan11'15at3:35

1 Thetermismorecommonlyknownas"actuallyexistingsocialism"inthecirclesIrunwith.Descriptivetermsaren't
individuallyinventedanddon'thave"official"meanings.SamuelRussellJan11'15at6:11

1 @SamuelRussellFromtheDeutschversionoftheWikipediaarticle,itseemedasifitindeedwasinvented(byErich
Honecker).TheEnglishversion,however,describesitasa"popularizedcatchphrase". Kalrish Jan11'15at
19:53

3 everycommunistclaimshe'sasocialistandallthefailedcommunistregimesweren't"realsocialists"andthat'swhy
theyfailed...Whocoinedthephrase?Impossibletotell.Probablythesecondcommunisttoexcuseforthefirst
communistwhofailed.jwentingApr23'15at9:06

1 @jwentingyouareabsolutelyright.Everynew"ruler"saidthatwemustendmistakesfromthepast,formerleaders
introducedsocialism/communismwrongly,andthatwasthesolereasonofthecrisis,butsincenowwewilldothis
exactlyasitshouldbeVoitcusApr24'15at5:12

1Answer

InPolishtherearetwowordswhichcanbetranslatedtothesameEnglish"realsocialism".

Thefirst,mostcommonlyknown,is"socrealizm",whichinfactis"socialistrealism",atrendinart
(whatever"art"means).

Thesecond(theoneyouaskabout)is"socjalizmrealny".

ThePolishWikipediasaysthetermwasintroducedintheUSSRin1970s.bypropaganda.
https://history.stackexchange.com/questions/18899/whatisrealsocialism 1/2
25/4/2017 communismWhatis'realsocialism'?HistoryStackExchange
This1970s.seemstobegoodbeginning.

The"realsocialism"wascreatedinthemomentwhenitwasclearthatcommunismisnolonger
acceptable.Firstofall,considerthecommunisteras(sincetheendofWW2,astheyare
commoninallSovietBloc):

installingtheregime(19441950s)theeraofterror.Althoughtherewerestrongpropaganda
against"enemiesofthepeople",itwascommonlyrecognizednotasgoodasitlooks.This
wasalsotimeofbuildingheavyindustry(mills,minesetc.)asitwasbelievedtobethe
fastestwaytoreachtheWest.Also,thisworshipedworkersandsomeworkerswere
celebritiesthesetimes.Inthesetimesthearttrend"socrealizm"wasofficial.Thetimeswere
endedbytwomajorevents:deathofStalin(1953)andeventsinHungary (1956),whichled
tobloodysuppression.TheHungarianrevolutionwasknownintheBlocandcouldnotbe
keptsecret.
Overinvestinginheavyindustryandfailureofplannedeconomyledtosomecrisisthen.
This,combinedwithKhrushchev 'sspeech(whichcouldhavebeenanelementofcourt
games),finishedtheideaofintroducingthecommunism.Itwasnowallowednottosay
"comrade"tooneanother(althoughpartymemberskeptit),theHungarianeventswereonly
anaccident,terriblemistake,heavyindustryinvestmentswerereduced,"socrealizm"ended
inart,andanewerabegun.
Thiseralasteduntil1968,theinvasiononCzechoslovakia.ThesuccessofWarsawPact
interventionwasPyrrhic,becausethisdidnotsolveeconomicproblems,wasnotaccepted
bypeopleofinterveningcountries(inPolanditisstillembarrassing)andeventuallyledagain
tooverthrowleadersintheBloc.

Thismoment(withfewyearstolerance)canbesaidasthestartofthe"realsocialism".Thereal
socialismwasbettersocialismthancommunismandthiswhatwasafterit.Itwasnow"real",soit
endedorfantastic(ie.dreamlike)visions.Itwasredesignedtofulfillmodernrequirements.This
wasaformofcooperationbetweenthepartyandthepeople(inPolandEdwardGierek askedon
ameetingwithworkers"comrades,youwillhelpme,won'tyou?"thiswasaverydirect
addressing).

Idon'tknowhowitlookedinotherSovietBloccountries,buteconomysuccessseemedtoback
upthenewera.ThiswasthetimewhenWesternculturewasreintroduced(likerockandroll,
TV,carsetc.).InPolandthiswaspaidbytakingloans,butwasgoodtoexplaininitialsuccesses
ofthispolitics.

Althoughagaininthebeginningof1980sthisledtoanotherriots,thereasoningwaskept:the
systemisgood,butitwasincorrectlyintroduced.Therealsocialismissuchkindofsocialismthat
takesintoaccounttruelife,itisnotonlyavision.Thisisapractice,notatheory.

Theterm"realsocialism"isstillinuse(andwiththesamecontext,soitisgood,butpoorly
introduced).Onasocialistpagethereisanessay"Whatistherealsocialism?",sohowthe
socialismshouldchangetomeetthecurrenterarequirements.

answeredApr23'15at6:24
Voitcus
3,564 2 31 70

Thisisafantasticanswer.Thankyou! Kalrish Apr23'15at20:05

ThisisinstrongagreementwithwhatIunderstandfrommy(Polish)wife.andy256Apr24'15at0:56

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