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The Polish People's Republic was a country in Central Europe that existed from 1947 to 1989 as the predecessor of the modern-day Republic of Poland. From 1947 to 1952 it was known as the Republic of Poland, and it was also often simply known as Poland. With a population of approximately 37.9 million near the end of its existence, it was the second most-populous communist and Eastern Bloc country in Europe. A unitary state with a Marxist–Leninist government, it was also one of the main signatories of the Warsaw Pact alliance. The largest city and official capital since 1947 was Warsaw, followed by the industrial city of Łódź and cultural city of Kraków. The country was bordered by the Baltic Sea to the north, the Soviet Union to the east, Czechoslovakia to the south, and East Germany to the west.
Systembolaget, colloquially known as systemet or bolaget, is a government-owned chain of liquor stores in Sweden. It is the only retail store allowed to sell alcoholic beverages that contain more than 3.5% alcohol by volume. Systembolaget acts as a portal for private companies selling alcohol on the Swedish market and as of 2023, it represents 1,200 vendors ranging from small local breweries to large scale importers and multinational companies, selling products from a total of over 5,000 producers from all over the world.
Intershop was a chain of government-owned and operated retail stores in the German Democratic Republic in which only hard currencies could be used to purchase high-quality goods, usually from or associated with Western countries. The East German mark was not accepted as payment. Intershop was originally oriented towards visitors from Western countries, and later became an outlet where East Germans could purchase goods they could not otherwise obtain. An unintended consequence was that ordinary East Germans had some insight into the selection of goods available in the West, which they could then compare with the rather limited offerings available in their own country.
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A duty-free shop is a retail outlet whose goods are exempt from the payment of certain local or national taxes and duties, on the requirement that the goods sold will be sold to travelers who will take them out of the country, who will then pay duties and taxes in their destination country. Which products can be sold duty-free vary by jurisdiction, as well as how they can be sold, and the process of calculating the duty or refunding the duty component.
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Corecom was a chain of hard-currency stores during the Communist rule in Bulgaria. Goods were often priced cheaper than in the West, however, they were still inaccessible for most Bulgarians because the national currency, the lev, was not accepted at the stores. Apart from Western diplomats and visitors, access to hard currency was a privilege of the nomenklatura and a few other people who were authorised to travel abroad or do business with Westerners. Anyone purchasing goods at Corecom but not authorised to possess foreign currency ran the risk of investigation by the authorities.
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Beriozka was the overall name applied to two chains of state-run retail stores in the Soviet Union that sold goods in exchange for foreign currency. Beriozkas sold luxury goods such as chocolate and caviar that were often unavailable or unaffordable in traditional Soviet markets and shops. In English-language advertisements and signs, the spelling was always "Beriozka" rather than the more conventional transliteration "Beryozka." Beryozka existed between 1964 and 1990 up to the point of the Soviet Union dissolution.
Trade is a key factor of the economy of China. In the three decades following the dump of the Communist Chinese state in 1949, China's trade institutions at first developed into a partially modern but somewhat inefficient system. The drive to modernize the economy that began in 1978 required a sharp acceleration in commodity flows and greatly improved efficiency in economic transactions. In the ensuing years economic reforms were adopted by the government to develop a socialist market economy. This type of economy combined central planning with market mechanisms. The changes resulted in the decentralization and expansion of domestic and foreign trade institutions, as well as a greatly enlarged role for free market in the distribution of goods, and a prominent role for foreign trade and investment in economic development.
Eastern Bloc media and propaganda was controlled directly by each country's communist party, which controlled the state media, censorship and propaganda organs. State and party ownership of print, television and radio media served as an important manner in which to control information and society in light of Eastern Bloc leaderships viewing even marginal groups of opposition intellectuals as a potential threat to the bases underlying communist power therein.
Nechezol was a Romanian coffee substitute, imposed on the market in the last years of communism in Romania.
References
- 1 2 3 4 5 Eastern Europe - Economic Affairs - 1984 U.S. military report
- 1 2 3 Romanian Stores Go to Highest Bidder - Los Angeles Times
- 1 2 Hard Currency Shops in Eastern Europe - Radio Free Europe - October 27, 1977 Archived July 28, 2011, at the Wayback Machine
- 1 2 Bonn Rheinischer-Merkur - January 1, 1988
- ↑ Communism Unwrapped: Consumption in Cold War Eastern Europe, page 35
- 1 2 Comturist SA (Romania)