Dynamics of the Soviet-East European Relations in the 1970s

In spite of the highly asymmetric power structure favorable to the Soviet Union, the relations between her and the East-European brother" states were unfolded very dynamical1y on the basis of their respective political, military, and economic conditions. However, the devastation of Marxism-Leninism as the official ideology and the increasing economic stagnation derived from various systemic and unsystematic problems determined the general nature of the socialist states on the regional level as well as on the party-state'level in the 1970s. As the Soviet bloc" states tried to compromise the pressures from below" by establishing a social compact," i.e. by providing the mass with short-term economic benefits, the Soviet Union, in the international context of sharp competition among egocentric states, exhibited a strong tendency to buy the East European states politico-military compliance with economic compensation. The result, however, was unsatisfactory. Under the circumstances of deteriorating economy, the legitimacy of the East-European one party systems was eroded and, in addition to it, the degree of their dependence upon the Soviet Union was still more increased. Also, the Soviet Union had to bear the burden in her own way. That is, due to her monopolistic and monopsonistic position in the region, the Soviet Union had to commit to fix up the adverse situation in the region by providing the unpopular regimes with greater p이tical and economic supports beyond her own actual capabilities. In the end, such management and the system itself of the Soviet-East European socialist international relations proved, for both of them, to be mutually unproductive and destructive ones