Well, actually, Hungary received loads of raw materials and cheap
energy from the SU, and besides some agricultural goods initially,
had not a lot to give back. Perhaps your sources need checking up on
this.
I think the SU collapsed due to the resources spent on military
hardware and software and the incredible waste, incompetence
and corruption that was/is due to the burocracy that burgeons
in the lack of democracy everywhere.
Eva
> << But another thought has crossed my mind recently. We must not overlook
> that
> when the Soviet Union collapsed, Russia lost its eastern European satellites
> and its ties with its former republics were greatly weakened. The
> impression one gets from talking with people from former satellites such as
> Poland or Hungary is that, over a four decade period, the Russians bled
> these countries dry. The republics were bled over a much longer period.
> One cannot help but wonder about the extent to which the loss of the ability
> to bleed affected Russia. How dependent was Russia on a continuous flow of
> tribute from its empire? To what extent did Russia have an economy of its
> own, and to what extent was it dependent on the economies of others? Look
> at it this way: At least some eastern European countries are now thriving
> while Russia continues to decline. >>
>
> Yes but.
>
> The Central Asia countries were bleeding Russia and other dry in the FSU.
> This would at least partially offset the SU using the Eastern European
> satellites as economic colonies.
>
> Unlike Poland, Hungary, and the Czech Republic, Russia had no prior experience
> in capitalism.
>
> Jerry Harp
>
>
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