Non-european members of Warsaw Pact, Eastern Block and Comecon

[mech-eng]

Hi, I want to discuss the non-european members of Warsaw, Pact Eastern Bloc and Comecon. For example, whati is the situation for North Korea, China and India?

 

[SteamKing]

None of these countries has ever been a member of the Warsaw Pact.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warsaw_Pact

The pact was founded in 1955 and disbanded in 1991 with the end of the Soviet Union.

At times, North Korea has been supported by the Soviet Union and the PRC, but the Chinese are concerned that the erratic leadership in North Korea will adversely affect the Chinese relations with Japan and South Korea, especially if some sort of armed conflict were to erupt. Widespread famine has reportedly caused a flood of emigrants from North Korea to northern China, and the Chinese forcibly repatriate any Korean refugees they capture.

India was a one time a trading partner of the Soviet Union, and there were concerns that Soviet influence would destabilize Indian democracy, but in more recent decades India has adopted better trade relations with western countries. Some trade ties continue with Russia.

Comecon was a creation of the Soviet Union in 1949 to foster better relations between the SU and other socialist republics around the world.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comecon

Comecon was thought to have been founded in part to discourage states from taking part in the Marshall Plan which was designed to get countries back on their feet after WWII. Like the SU, Comecon disbanded in 1991. China, India, and North Korea were never members of Comecon.

 

[mech-eng]

Then there is no non-european member of Comecon and Warsaw Pact. But can those countries, maybe
except India, be regarded as Eastern Bloc countries. If not, what countries were non-european members
of East Bloc-only Cuba? Is there a formal concept as Eastern Bloc or is it only a word, a decription?

 

[Evo]

Hi, I want to discuss the non-european members of Warsaw, Pact Eastern Bloc and Comecon. For example, whati is the situation for North Korea, China and India?

Please state, exactly, what you wish to discuss.

 

[mech-eng]

Please state, exactly, what you wish to discuss.

I have understood that there was no non-european member of Warsaw Pact and Comecon
but now I ask for Eastern bloc. Was it formal thing like Warsaw Pact or is it only a word,
a definition for Communist countries and India, Cuba, China, North Korea was from Eastern bloc?

 

[Borek]

"Eastern block" is a definition about as ambiguous as "Western block".

 

[mech-eng]

"Eastern block" is a definition about as ambiguous as "Western block".

Do the countries in #5 belong to there?

 

[Borek]

I don't think India was ever listed as part of the Eastern block. At the same time you missed Mongolia, Vietnam and Cambodia (whatever their exact names were at the time).

But as I signaled earlier, I don't think term "Eastern block" was ever precisely defined, and not only it meant different things at different times, it also meant different things for different people.

 

[mech-eng]

I don't think India was ever listed as part of the Eastern block. At the same time you missed Mongolia, Vietnam and Cambodia (whatever their exact names were at the time).

But as I signaled earlier, I don't think term "Eastern block" was ever precisely defined, and not only it meant different things at different times, it also meant different things for different people.

I think it only meant Communist countries.

 

[Borek]

I think it only meant Communist countries.

So why do you include India on your list?

Plus, you may want to include South Yemen.

 

[mech-eng]

So why do you include India on your list?

Plus, you may want to include South Yemen.

I do not know history of India very well so it might be a communist party in the past. And was South Yemen a communist country? I have heard about South Yemen after at least ten years later. It is not a well known country. Also note that Arabic countries are hard-islamic countries so they can not be communist because communism is against religions.

 

[Borek]

I do not know history of India very well so it might be a communist party in the past. And was South Yemen a communist country? I have heard about South Yemen after at least ten years later. It is not a well known country. Also note that Arabic countries are hard-islamic countries so they can not be communist because communism is against religions.

We are back at the starting point. What is the definition that you want to use?

Eastern block consisted of countries that were democratic only by name, there were no free elections there, the only parties that existed were those allowed to exist by the main party (whatever its name was). In People's Democratic Republic of Yemen all parties other than the socialist one were delegalized.

Nehru may have been leftist, but AFAIK India never stopped to be a democracy.

 

[SteamKing]

Everything You Wanted to Know about the Eastern Bloc (But Were Afraid to Ask):

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eastern_Bloc