Which of these East European countries feel the most nostalgic for communist past ?

[Melki]

Two decades after the fall of communism we can observe growing nostalgia for the past in the Central and Eastern Europe.

This phenomenon seems to be particularly strong in Russia and in some former Soviet Republics. Standard of living considerably fell in many working class suburbs and in rural areas. Moreover, USSR was the second most powerful country in the world.
Stalin is no longer considered as a war criminal, he became an iconic figure for many youngsters.

Nostalgia for communism is also very present in Romania, despite being a EU-member, even though Nicolae Ceaușescu was one of the worst dictators of the communist block. Romania was wealthier and more influential than today. It's true that during the 70's, Income per capita was higher in Central and Eastern Europe than in countries like Ireland, Spain or Portugal.

Poland, ex-Czechoslovachia and Hungary have considerably improved their standard of living after the fall of Iron Curtain. As far as I am concerned (some of my best friends are Polish, Czech and Slovaks), these countries are the least concerned about this phenomenon. The Catholic Church is very influential in Poland, and played an active role during communist era. Hungarians and Czechs also bear in mind the Soviet military interventions that occured in 1956 and 1968 respectively.

Former East-Germany is a special case. East-Germans seem to miss their old way of life, extinct everyday products: this is the famous "Ostalgie". But in fact, many East-Germans were happy to move to the wealthier western part of their reunited country. No one would actually be happy to live again in good old "DDR".

Ex-Yugoslavia seems to be a particular case. They had relatively more freedom than the countries placed under Soviet leadership. But the war in the 90's left a big scar, especially in Bosnia, Kosovo. Former Yugoslavia is atypical: there's a huge difference between wealthy Slovenia and Third-World Kosovo.

What is your opinion ? According yo you, which States are the most nostalgic for communism ? I would personally answer Russia, Belarus and Romania

[Melki]

OK, just great, I can't neither delete my own post, nor change the poll (forgot to add Bulgaria). I had to post a new thread but I have the same problem. Can a moderator help me please ?

[Bezprym]

You should remove some countries, not add. Or change the title.

[knowledge is king]

Communism is evil by it nature.
It encourages poverty and eliminates competition.

[Melki]

Thanks but I can't even change the title. Sorry, I'm quite new here and not well acquainted with the forum. Besides, this is the obsolete thread I'd like to delete.

[Bezprym]

Thanks but I can't even change the title. Sorry, I'm quite new here and not well acquainted with the forum. Besides, this is the obsolete thread I'd like to delete.

So you want me to change something or to delete whole thread?

[Melki]

Actually, there are two similar threads, one with and the other without Bulgaria. Could you remove the redundant one (the one without Bulgaria) and enable the forum users to choose 3 options, please ? Thank you very much in advance?

[Bezprym]

I have removed one thread already. There only a possibility of multiple choice, or one choice - there cannot be three. I'm adding Bulgaria. Are you sure you don't want to change the name?

[Melki]

Thank you Bezprym.

In fact, I think it's hard to choose only one country, in that case a multiple-choice poll would have been perfect. But if there's no other possibility, then it would be better to change the title.

[Bezprym]

Ok, let me explain.

First of all, you have mentioned not Eastern European countries, but former Eastern Bloc countries. Eastern Bloc is not a synonyme for Eastern Europe, at least not anymore. That is why I asked about the title - I would expect such a thing rather from an American, whose knowledge of geography tends to be on extremely low level.

Secondly, you mentioned the former Yugoslav republics, which in my opinion is a mistake. Putting Serbia, which is a direct decendant of Yugoslavia, altogether with other republics where opinion about Yugoslav part is slightly different from Serbian, is a wrong decision. In fact, you could simply name all countries, nothing bad would happen.

Thirdly, and lastly, Caucasian countries. They are not the same, and should not be together neither.