Comecon or the "Council for Mutual Economic Assistance" (CMEA) was an economic organization with the intention of fostering friendlier relationships between the Soviet Unions and its allies.
Comecon was established in January of 1949 under the ideas of monitoring economic developments of Eastern Europe and to respond to the Marshall Plan. The original members of the organization consisted of the Soviet Union, Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, and Romania. The German Democratic Republic joined Comecon in September of 1950 with the Mongolian People's Republic joining in June of 1962. Comecon continued to expand with Cuba joining in 1972 and Vietnam in 1978.
For Stalin, Comecon was a way for him to exert further power on Eastern Europe via the nations that were under communist governments. The concept was to regulate and partake in trade with multiple nations but excluding the West and because the Soviet Union was at the head of the organization, they had the most power in the cycle and were, therefore, able to receive goods at a cheaper price as well as raw materials. Comecon worked in tandem with Stalin's "Cult of Personality" and also led to the formation of the Cominform or the Communist Information Bureau or Information Bureau of the communist and Worker's Parties. Cominform was founded in Poland in a small village called Wilco Gora in September of 1947. The members consisted of mainly the original members of Comeon: the Soviet Union, Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Poland, Romania, Yoglsaiva and France and Italy. The Yugoslavs were the main supports of Cominform and led to it being led by the former president of Yugoslavia, Josip Broz Tito and therefore led to the capital of Serbia, Belgrade to become the seat of the organization. This change in power and continued disagreements led to mounting tensions between Russia and Yugoslavia and resulted in Yugoslavia's expulsion from the Cominform in June of 1948.
The main intentions of Cominform was to build public propaganda and encourage international parties of the importance of communism. They also wanted to obstruct the Marshall Plan and the Truman Doctrine with the Cominform becoming used more for Soviet regulation than their intentions of a true revolution. Finally, Coniform disbanded on April 17, 1956.
Both Cominform and Comecon were instrumental in Russia's vision of a world that was limited to communism and put Soviet Russia at the helm of the countries. The importance of the two organizations was eventually considered failed due to the aggression and power struggle between the communist nations but are still remembered today.
Sources:
http://www.nytimes.com/1988/01/03/world/warsaw-pact-and-comecon-formal-ties.html
http://www.projectgcse.co.uk/gcse_history/cominform_and_comecon
https://www.britannica.com/topic/Comecon
https://www.britannica.com/topic/Cominform
Great post, Madison! I like how you focused on the motives behind Comecon's creation and some of the disputes in the USSR it caused. Perhaps this economic tension and power imbalance was something that factored into the uprisings against the Soviet Union later on. However, Comecon was not without its successes. Through Comecon's initiatives, Eastern Europe was able to organize a railroad and electric power grid which benefitted many citizens and raised their standards of living. Additionally, Comecon fostered the International Bank for Economic Cooperation in 1963. This international bank helped to facilitate more peaceful trading among members. Interestingly, Vietnam and Cuba also later joined despite not being in Eastern Europe.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.britannica.com/topic/International-Bank-for-Economic-Cooperation