Central and Eastern Europe, 1944–1993: Detour from the Periphery to the Periphery

by Ivan Berend

• ISBN13: 9780521663526
• ISBN10: 0521663520
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 1999-08-28
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Summary

Ivan Berend uses a vast range of sources, as well as his own personal experience, to analyze the fortunes of the postwar socialist regimes in Eastern Europe. His comparative approach stretches beyond the confines of economic history to produce a work of political economy, encompassing the cultural and personal forces that have influenced the development of the "Eastern Bloc" countries over the past fifty years. The book is distinguished by its unique combination of time, region and topic, and is a major contribution to the economic history of the twentieth century.

Table of Contents

Part I. Out from Europe: The Introduction of State Socialism, its Stalinist Decade and Revolts Against It: 1. Communist seizure of power, 1944-1948

2. The closed society in Stalinist state socialism after 1948

3. Reforms, revolutions and the loosening Bloc, the 1950s and 1960s

Part II. Temporary Success and Terminal Failure: the Post-Stalinist Decades, Modernization, Erosion and Collapse: 1. Post-Stalinist state socialism and its legitimization

2. Economic and social performance of state socialism, 1950-1989

3. Crisis and erosion of state socialism, 1973-1988

4. The collapse: a revolutionary symphony in four movements, 1989

Part III. Back to Europe? Post-1989 Transformation and Pathways to the Future: 1. Building a parliamentary-market system

2. Economic decline - political change - rising nationalism.