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List of socialist states

List of self-declared socialist states From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

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This article is about self-proclaimed socialist states. For countries governed by Marxist–Leninist communist parties, see Communist state.

Several past and present states have declared themselves socialist states or in the process of building socialism. The majority of self-declared socialist countries have been Marxist–Leninist or inspired by it, following the model of the Soviet Union or some form of people's or national democracy. They share a common definition of socialism, and they refer to themselves as socialist states on the road to communism with a leading vanguard party structure, hence they are often called communist states. Meanwhile, the countries in the non-Marxist–Leninist category represent a wide variety of different interpretations of the term socialism, and in many cases the countries do not define what they mean by it. Modern uses of the term socialism are wide in meaning and interpretation.

Because a sovereign state is a different entity from the political party that governs that state at any given time, a country may be ruled by a socialist party without the country itself claiming to be socialist or the socialist party being written into the constitution. This has occurred in both one-party and multi-party political systems. In particular, there are numerous cases of social democratic and democratic socialist parties winning elections in liberal democratic states and ruling for a number of terms until a different party wins the elections. While socialist parties have won many elections around the world and most elections in the Nordic countries, none of those countries have adopted socialism as a state ideology or written the party into the constitution.

Several countries with liberal democratic constitutions mention socialism. India is a democracy that has been governed by non-socialist parties on many occasions, but its constitution makes references to socialism. Certain other countries, such as Hungary,[1] Myanmar,[2] and Poland[3] have constitutions that make references to their communist and socialist past by recognizing or condemning it, but without claiming to be socialist in the present.

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Overview

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Self-identification is the only criterion used by the list, therefore it includes all countries that have claimed to be socialist, even if their claims are disputed. All countries that have not claimed to be socialist are excluded, even in cases where certain outside observers regarded those countries as socialist. Mao Zedong and the Communist Party of China considered the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom (1851-64) to be a proto-communist state, although the kingdom never declared itself socialist, hence it is not included on this list.[4] The list includes countries that assert in their constitutions that they are based on socialism, regardless of their economic or political system. It does not list countries that do not have constitutional references to socialism as socialist states, even in cases where the government is currently run by a socialist party or other left-wing (centre-left and far-left) parties. Countries that maintain constitutional references to socialism are listed, even when non-socialist parties govern those countries. The list is best understood as a list of countries that explicitly claim to be socialist, and it does not reflect the actual economic systems themselves.

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A combined map of all countries that declared themselves socialist states under any definition at some point in their history, color-coded for the number of years they said they were socialist:
  •   Over 70 years
  •   60–70 years
  •   50–60 years
  •   40–50 years
  •   30–40 years
  •   20–30 years
  •   10–20 years
  •   Under 10 years
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States that had communist governments in red, states that the Soviet Union believed at one point to be moving toward socialism in orange and other socialist states in yellow. Not all of the bright red states remained Soviet allies:
  States that have or had a socialist government
  States that the Soviet Union believed to be moving toward socialism
  States with constitutional references to socialism
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Current self-declared socialist states

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Currently there are 5 communist states and 11 non-communist socialist states.

Communist states

Main articles: Communist state and Socialist state
For a more comprehensive list, see List of communist states.
More information Country, Dates/Years ...

Other states

See also: Socialism in liberal democratic constitutions
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Socialist autonomous regions

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These are territories that have claimed autonomy and declared themselves as socialist under some interpretation of the term. While these regions have created stable institutions of governance that have existed for a considerable period of time, they are not widely recognized as autonomous by the international community and officially are parts of other sovereign states under international law.

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Former self-declared socialist states

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Marxist–Leninist states

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Non-Marxist–Leninist states

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Ephemeral socialist states and polities

See also: List of historical unrecognized states and dependencies

These are short-lived political entities that emerged during wars, revolutions, or unrest and declared themselves socialist under some interpretation of the term, but which did not survive long enough to create a stable government or achieve international recognition.

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See also

Notes

  1. [N 1]
    The sovereignty of the People's Republic of China is disputed by the Republic of China. For more information, see Cross-Strait relations. Hong Kong and Macau are administrated by the People's Republic of China under the "One country, two systems" principle. For an overview of the principle, see "One Country, Two Systems".
  2. [N 2]
    Cuba maintained its 1940 pre-socialist constitution, despite the rebel victory in the Cuban Revolution on 1 January 1959, until a new Marxist–Leninist constitution was adopted in 1976.
  3. [N 3]
    The sovereignty of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea is disputed by the Republic of Korea. For more information, see North Korea–South Korea relations.
  4. [N 4]
    This date marks the founding of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea as a Marxist-Leninist state. According to North Korea: A Country Study by Robert L. Worden, Marxism–Leninism was abandoned immediately after the start of de-Stalinisation in the Soviet Union and it has been totally replaced by Juche since at least 1974.[5] In 1992, the state constitution replaced all references to Marxism-Leninism with references to the Juche ideology.[6] The government still considers the state to be a socialist state, and has reasserted its commitment to communism in 2021.[7]
  5. [N 5]
    The ideology of the Workers' Party of Korea, and thus the government's official state ideology, has been distinguished from orthodox Marxism–Leninism.
  6. [N 6]
    Previously known as the Democratic Republic of Vietnam from 2 September 1945 until 25 April 1976.[8] Reunified with the Republic of South Vietnam on 2 July 1976.[9][10]
  7. [N 7]
    Known as the Albanian Communist Party until 1948.
  8. [N 8]
    Part of the Soviet Union but admitted into the United Nations as a separate entity.
  9. [N 9]
    The Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic proclaimed its "political and economic independence" from the Soviet Union on 25 August 1991.[33] The Soviet Union itself was dissolved on 26 December 1991.
  10. [N 10]
    Until 12 September 1984.
  11. [N 11]
    From 12 September 1984.
  12. [N 12]
    Until 31 October 1956.
  13. [N 13]
    From 1 November 1956.
  14. [N 14]
    2 September 1945 is celebrated as the National Day of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, the successor to the Democratic Republic of Vietnam.
  15. [N 15]
    Until 21 December 1948.
  16. [N 16]
    From 21 December 1948.
  17. [N 17]
    The Communist Party of the Soviet Union ceased operations in Russian territory on 6 November 1991 with the Soviet Union itself being dissolved on 26 December 1991. However, the 1978 Russian Constitution with amendments remained in effect until its final abolition on 12 December 1993 when it was replaced with the current constitution.
  18. [N 18]
    Known as the Russian Social Democratic Labor Party (Bolsheviks) until March 1918, the Russian Communist Party (Bolsheviks) until December 1925 and the All-Union Communist Party (Bolsheviks) until October 1952. In 1990, CPSU branches in the Russian SFSR regions formed the Communist Party of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic.
  19. [N 19]
    The annexation of the Baltic republics in 1940 is considered an illegal occupation by the current Baltic governments and by a number of Western entities, including the United States and the European Union, who assert that the states were independent countries occupied by the Soviet Union. According to Article 76 of the Constitution of the Soviet Union, the Baltic republics were officially sovereign entities in a federation. However, the Soviet Union was heavily centralized and was de facto a single federal state.
  20. [N 20]
    The Communist Party of the Soviet Union ceased ruling the country on 6 March 1990, when the Congress of People’s Deputies amended Article 6 of the Soviet Constitution. The Soviet Union itself was dissolved on 26 December 1991.
  21. [N 21]
    The Communist Party of the Soviet Union ceased ruling the country on 6 March 1990, when the Congress of People’s Deputies amended Article 6 of the Soviet Constitution and provided a pathway to a multi-party system. However, the Soviet Union would remain constitutionally committed to socialism until it was dissolved on 26 December 1991.
  22. [N 22]
    On 24 August 1991, the Supreme Soviet of the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic declared independence from the Soviet Union and renamed the country to Ukraine.[61] The Soviet Union itself was dissolved on 26 December 1991. Afterward the 1978 socialist constitution, with some amendments remained in force until 28 June 1996, when it was replaced with the present day Constitution of Ukraine. The newly splintered Communist Party of Ukraine would remain in power until 2002.
  23. [N 23]
    Until 1978.
  24. [N 24]
    From 1978.
  25. [N 25]
    Known as the Communist Party of Yugoslavia until 1952.
  26. [N 26]
    Date when the League of Communists of Yugoslavia dissolved. Yugoslavia itself collapsed on 27 April 1992 amid tensions during the Yugoslav Wars.
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References

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