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Text: Director Weijian
Editor: Weijian of the curator
Since modern times, the political pattern of the entire world has undergone tremendous changes.
Except for a few extremely backward regions, most countries have established political systems that adapt to the times.
The number of socialist countries, after the collapse of the Soviet Union, decreased a lot in a short period of time due to the influence of multiple factors. Especially the countries near the Soviet Union basically abandoned socialism.
Today, there are five socialist countries, including China.
We are familiar with the situation in China, so what is the situation of the other four socialist countries, and which country has the highest level of development?
Cuba, the closest socialist country to the United States
The first socialist country mentioned is Cuba, and as can be seen from the world map, Cuba as a socialist country is somewhat special.
Its particularity is reflected in its relatively remote geographical location.
Most countries in the Americas have a capitalist system, except for Cuba, which is a socialist system, which seems a bit out of place.
The reason for this result is the special pattern after the Second World War. One contest after another, under the guidance of the United States and the Soviet Union, began one after another.
Over time, Cuba became a pawn in the superpower scramble.
Before the Soviet Union's involvement in Cuban politics, Cuba was often a subsidiary of the United States, nominally a country, but in fact had no sovereignty at all.
Years of oppression made the Cuban people very dissatisfied with the United States, and when the Soviet Union learned of this situation, it believed that Cuba was a pawn that could be used to contain the United States.
After that, the Soviet Union formulated a policy of wooing Cuba and helping Cuba to establish a socialist system.
After some time, Cuba, under the influence of the Soviet Union, abolished the original system and became a socialist country.
Before the collapse of the Soviet Union, because of Cuba's special and important political significance, the Soviet Union provided a lot of assistance to Cuba's construction, and the degree of development was quite good.
It is a pity that the USSR disappeared from the world almost overnight and became a historical term. Without the support of the Soviet Union, Cuba's development suffered greatly.
In addition to the loss of economic assistance, the most serious problem is the powerful United States sanctions against Cuba. As a capitalist country, it is impossible for the United States to watch Cuba develop freely.
However, even though the United States has repeatedly suppressed Cuba, Cuba has not changed its original intention and has always adhered to the socialist road.
After years of development, although Cuba today cannot be said to be very developed, there is no problem with food and clothing for the people.
According to recent data, Cuba's per capita gross domestic product has surpassed that of many countries, and it is about in the upper middle position, and the standard of living of the population is good.
However, Cuba's economic structure has certain problems, which makes the country's economy good, but if it cannot establish stable trade relations with other countries, Cuba's income will be seriously affected.
Cuba's problems are similar to those of Japan, because the country is small, the land is not suitable for growing crops, and the storage of natural resources is not too large, so many resources need to be imported.
In recent years, the global scale of the epidemic has had a certain impact on Cuba's development, and now that the epidemic has ended, I believe that Cuba will have good development in the near future.
On the whole, Cuba is developing modestly and there is nothing particularly outstanding.
Laos, one of the socialist countries in Southeast Asia
The second socialist country to talk about is Laos in Southeast Asia, and as a neighbor of China, Laos is the same as China in terms of system, but its development is much worse.
Laos has a long history and established a relatively strong regime long ago, but at that time Laos was not an independent country, but part of the kingdom.
After years of changes, Laos established an independent regime, and during the Lancang Kingdom, Laos developed very prosperously.
However, the prosperity of Laos was short-lived, and since then, Laos has been in a state of invasion by other countries.
According to historical records, from the eighteenth century, Laos was repeatedly invaded by neighboring Vietnam, and then by Western capitalist countries, and once became a colony.
Later in World War II, Laos gained independence and soon after established the Kingdom of Laos.
However, the kingdom system was behind the times, and because Laos was too weak, many Western countries wanted to control Laos.
After the end of World War II, the United States and other Western countries intervened in Laos' internal affairs many times, which greatly affected the development of Laos.
Years later, the Lao people could not bear such chaos, and after many struggles, finally established an independent regime in 1975, established a socialist system, and became a socialist country.
It is not difficult to see that the level of development of Laos is not high, after all, it has not kept up with the times for a long time, and it has been invaded by other countries many times, and there is no opportunity for development at all.
After the establishment of the socialist system, the situation in Laos improved. After years of hard work, Laos today is very different from before.
When the socialist system was first established, Laos' level of development was very poor in the world.
Later, after years of development, Laos is still good and has taken off the hat of least developed.
According to recent data, Laos' per capita GDP is about $2,000. Compared with other socialist countries, this data is obviously not a small gap.
However, it is understandable, and it is rare for Laos to have the current situation when it has suffered so many setbacks. It is believed that in the future development, Laos can make greater progress.
Vietnam, with the exception of China, has the best level of development
The third socialist country to talk about is Vietnam, which is the neighbor of Laos. Compared to Laos, Vietnam has a much higher level of development.
The history of Vietnam has many connections with China.
During the pre-Qin period, Vietnam did not have much contact with the Central Plains, and although many princes and kings were interested in conquests in the south after years of conquest, overall exchanges were infrequent .
After Qin Shi Huang unified the Central Plains, he shifted his attention to the land of Baiyue in the south, and soon after, he sent a large army to attack Baiyue, and the strength of the two sides was very different, and Vietnam and the entire Baiyue became the territory of the Qin Dynasty.
Later, civil strife in the late Qin Dynasty led Baiyue to break away from the control of the Central Plains and establish the state of Nanyue.
When Emperor Wudi of Han finished fighting the Xiongnu, in order to create a spiritual deterrent to the Xiongnu and expand his territory, he immediately launched a war against the state of South Vietnam, and part of Vietnam became the territory of the Han Dynasty.
Over the years, Vietnam's relations with China have been dependent and independent.
Generally speaking, Vietnam has been a dependent state for a relatively long time and has existed independently for a relatively short time.
After all, many times, China's power is absolutely strong in the entire East Asian region.
Vietnam's fate in modern times has many similarities with China's, and Vietnam's situation is a little worse than China's, and it has been a colony for a long time.
However, Vietnam's later development was very good, and this result was due to the emergence of a leader named Ho Chi Minh in Vietnam. The emergence of Ho Chi Minh has had a great impact on the development of Vietnam.
When Japan invaded Southeast Asia, Vietnam was not directly occupied like Laos, but under the leadership of Ho Chi Minh and others, it launched an active and effective resistance, and after years of efforts, finally won the victory.
Later, France invaded Vietnam in an attempt to control and turn Vietnam into a French colony. As a result, under the leadership of Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam did not flinch in the face of the powerful France and began to resist the French invasion.
Although Vietnam was divided in two with the strong intervention of France, Ho Chi Minh did not give up, but continued to accumulate strength, and most importantly, sought Chinese assistance.
After the outbreak of the Vietnam War, the Vietnamese army led by Ho Chi Minh fought against a powerful enemy, and China did not stand idly by and provided a lot of strong support.
In the end, Ho Chi Minh led the Vietnamese people to defeat the aggressors, and the north and south of Vietnam were reunited.
Independence and unity are important for the development of a country.
Although there was friction between Vietnam and China later, the great contribution of Ho Chi Minh and the efforts of subsequent leaders greatly increased the speed of Vietnam's development.
Although it cannot be compared with China, it is ranked among the developing countries and Southeast Asia.
This result was directly related to the victory in the Vietnam War that year.
According to recent data, Vietnam's GDP is about $350 billion, and the per capita GDP is about $3,500.
In Southeast Asia, Vietnam's economic level is already very good.
In recent years, Vietnam's development has been stable and improving, and although it has been affected by the global epidemic, the overall development trend is quite good.
North Korea, a socialist country mainly developing militarily
The last socialist country to talk about is North Korea, which is also a socialist country in East Asia, and North Korea is somewhat special, unlike China, Vietnam, and Laos.
The relationship between North Korea and China is relatively close, and the basic situation is similar to that of Vietnam, and during the period of Qin Shi Huang and Han Wudi, Korea was once Chinese territory.
For a long time, North Korea was a client state of China. In modern times, the situation in North Korea, Vietnam and China has been relatively similar, and they have all suffered invasions from Japan and Western countries.
After the end of World War II, North Korea's experience was somewhat similar to Vietnam's. Vietnam was divided into two by the French invasion, and Korea was divided into two parts due to the intervention of the United States and the Soviet Union.
After the outbreak of the Korean War, North Korea received assistance from China, and millions of volunteers crossed the Yalu River to resist American aggression with the Korean military and civilians.
The only difference is that after the end of the Korean War, the Korean Peninsula was not reunified, and it was still the same as before, with North Korea in the north and South Korea in the south, and the political systems of the two countries were completely different.
Without reunification, it will have a great impact on the development of the DPRK. For years, North Korea has been worried about relations with South Korea, after all, the damage to the economy if war breaks out is enormous.
So for North Korea, military development is far more important than economy.
Later, North Korea has always implemented a planned economy, devoting almost all the resources that can be mobilized to military construction.
After years of development, North Korea's military strength has greatly improved.
Although it is a developing country, the number of armed forces exceeds that of many developed countries and ranks fourth in the world.
In addition, North Korea also has intercontinental ballistic missiles that can attack from a long distance, and most countries in the world are within the range of this weapon.
Over the years, North Korea has also made great progress in its research in the field of nuclear weapons, and its national sovereignty has been well guaranteed.
Because of the importance attached too much to military development, North Korea's economic level is not high.
In order to devote more resources to military construction, Vietnam has implemented many policies. After years of development, the living standards of the people of the DPRK have basically remained near the subsistence line.
The general situation is that hunger does not die, but the vast majority of people are not rich, those who can work have jobs, and unemployment is very low.
According to recent data, North Korea's GDP is about $30 billion, and its per capita GDP is about $1,200, which is not high in the entire world.
On the whole, the four socialist countries other than China, Vietnam has the best level of development, and is a developing country with great potential.
Resources:
The choice of the Communist Party of Vietnam for the path of socialist development