How did communism collapse in East Germany at the end of the 1980s? For anybody growing up in the post-war era, the division of Germany into capitalist West Germany and communist East Germany seemed set in stone. But the Soviet-backed… Read More ›
Russia
The Hungarian Revolution of 1956 – what happened?
At the height of the Cold War between the Soviet Union and United States, in the 1950s, a communist state tried to throw off the Soviet yoke. Workers and students in Hungary began a revolution, hoping that the Kremlin would… Read More ›
The weird socialism of Albania under Hoxha
As a teenager in the late 1970s, who was very into politics, I met somebody who had been to Albania, then a communist country. What a strange place! Young people were forbidden to wear jeans and grow their hair long…. Read More ›
Hamas is not a socialist party – the Left’s big mistake
The conflict between Israel and Gaza triggered by the Hamas massacre and mass hostage taking within Israel on October 7, 2023 has sparked off mass demonstrations but while this may seem to offer an opportunity to the Left – it’s… Read More ›
Bashar Assad – why did some on the Left support him?
Bashar Assad clung to power in Syria after the Arab Spring with help from Russia and from western useful idiots on social media
Stalinism – how the USSR became a bureaucratic nightmare
How and why the 1917 Russian revolution degenerated into the totalitarian and bureaucratic nightmare of Stalinism
Marxism Explained 