ABSTRACT
The Soviet economic system was founded on classical Leninist “socialist” principles (Lenin 1917). Stalin imposed his version of the model on Central-Eastern Europe in the early post-war era. Soviet and Central European Communist Party rulers before 1954 had criminalized private property (nationalization of the means of production), private business (markets) and entrepreneurship. It was illegal for non-state actors to own income-producing assets, engage in forprofit activities, or use nationalized assets on the state’s behalf without official authorization, although some marginal private activities were tolerated in various countries. The intention was to substitute the “rule of wise communist men” (socialism at the penultimate stage before the advent of stateless communism) for the “freely competitive rule of men” (capitalist rule).
