Did the communist world have its own tabletop RPGs?
When the Warsaw Pact was still around, many of them were exporting weapons of similar design based on what the Soviets had like the AK-47 and T-55. China, Yugoslavia, and North Korea to some extent were also doing the same. But abroad among customers of Soviet-style weapons, what was the reputation of the products being offered by the individual states of the Eastern Bloc and those aligned with them or at one point? Did any state had a reputation for low/high prices, good quality, or lack of quality? Did a T-72 or BMP-1 for example produced in the USSR was considered more desireable than a liscense production from Poland or Czechoslovakia? I once heard a few years ago from a foreign volunteer among the Kurds in Syria saying that the SDF fighters believed any good quality Eastern Bloc firearm they had access to was Russian while any gun of similar design that was of poor quality was dismissed as Romanian. I'm not sure if they could tell the origins of where their guns even came from, but that was the local beliefs. Late and Post-Cold War Soviet-pattern weapons like the AK-74 or AK-103 were very rare within the SDF and only elite fighters had them before switching over to Western weapons supplied by the US and allies. Most of the stuff in circulation among the regulars was basically the same be it Ak-47s from Russia, Hungary, Romania, China, etc.
Are there any decent books dispelling the liberal narrative that life in the former Soviet republics and or eastern bloc was much better after their fall?
What if Yugoslavia was part of the eastern bloc during the Cold War?
How would this change the eastern bloc?
How would this change things in regards to Yugoslaviaβs foreign policy?
How would this change the break up of Yugoslavia?
Would the non aligned movement still have occurred?
Just curious :)
https://youtu.be/OaQnQqkqrDY
what actions did the DPRK or Cuba undertook to keep themselves from betrayal like the Soviets and Eastern Europe?
Most people on this sub seem to be Americans rightfully pissed off at how car-dependent they are. There aren't too many central/eastern Europeans so I thought to discuss the anti-car movement here. (mostly from Poland but I researched and compared other countries around me too.)
In general, things have gotten worst since the end of communism. Under socialism, people couldn't buy a car. You had to wait 10-15 years minimum to be given a car for non-working purposes. Just getting a bike required waiting a year or so if you wanted it for non-working purposes. As a result, people were dependent on public transportation (which was very slow and outdated) or walking. Thankfully, socialist cities were designed so that everything essential can be within walking distance for everyone. This was hit-or-miss since some apartments were a little further away from work, school, and other places so those people had to rely on public transport or bikes. I think just about everyone here has a grandpa or uncle who rode a bike for over an hour both ways every day on his way to and from work. FYI: Bikes were generally available for everyone if they needed them to get to work.
So then liberalism happened in the 90s and things changed. People wanted to embrace the western lifestyle of private ownership. Buying a car became a stepping stone to becoming an adult. Big cities became filled with cars and just about everyone saved up and ended up having one. (this was the 1990s when the economy was really shit so people reeeeeeeally wanted cars.)
I would say that things changed depending on the countries' EU status. EU states faced pressure to curb down on cars and caved in for the most part but the effects are really hard to see today. There are cars everywhere and perhaps more importantly, culturally they're still very relevant. One of the worst aspects is that cars have become a symbol of the independent working man contrasting with the bourgeoisie city bike rider.
The situation is even worst outside the EU. Russia loves cars. The problem with Russia is that it's a very urban country and filled with cars. Traffic jams and accidents are a part of everyday life. (I'm sure you've all seen a dozen dash cams videos from Russia.) Like in Poland and other new EU countries; owning a car is a sign of prestige.
What's frustrating is that I don't really know who to blame. It seems more like a cultural problem than anything else. Most cities here are designed for public transp
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The only thing that I clearly recall is when she takes objective stock of her physical condition after some months or years of castle life. I remember her saying something like she has grown 'pasty', lost all her muscle tone and gained weight. I know she starts training again,and I'm fairly sure she had red hair. But for my life I remember nothing about the plot at all. It could have been espionage/politics though. Def not magic or fantasy, and not romanticised or a romance. Quite a gritty, pragmatic feel. Not a trauma/drama novel.
I am sure the author was contemporary, but I think the book's era was late 19th or early 20th century. Some memory of caravans and campfires, so her family may have been Travellers.
It's not eating me up, but I'm sure curious to know what it was.
I think this might be an almost impossible question. I'm looking for an early 1980's game. Probably 1985-6 was when I played it since I was not school age yet.
Platform(s): Not sure I played it on a home made computer (by my parents) game was loaded from a cassette. It seems likely it was some clone of a zx spectrum.
Genre: not really sure, the goal was getting past some kind of bloodsucking birds that would attack from above I'm not sure I ever got past like level 2.
Estimated year of release: 1984?
Graphics/art style: extremely minimalist there would be pixelated birds/bats attacking me
Added: I think the birds were attacking as if from the inside of the screen. By which I mean they would get bigger as they got closer as if approaching from afar but not from the top or side as would be the usual case in sidescrolling games or invaders.
Notable characters: No idea
Notable game play mechanics: Avoiding the killer birds I think?
Other details:
I never got far but I think the goal was to somehow save castles from the bats/vampires/birds. The game had stages for each of the castles/forts and it might have been possible to choose which to go to first.
We called the birds LuΕΓ‘ci or in english Black kite.
Also in response to the first comments: The game had much more minimalist graphics than most. Certainly nowhere near as high end as smurfs or even the Forbidden forest I think.
I also didn't include Albania, mainly because there isn't enough options, and because I see it ase kinda controversial
Oh and east Germany isn't here because everyone would pick it and it doesn't really exist anymore
As of today December 6, 2050 i King Toxicbroforce of Ukraine officially announce a military and economic alliance known as the eastern bloc the goal of this pact will be mutual defense for eastern bloc nations and economic support, any Eastern European nations who would like to join reply to this post and together we can grow stronger
Thank you and God bless Ukraine πΊπ¦
Could a Soviet citizen buy an East German television, or a Romanian car, or a Cuban radio? Conversely, did the USSR export its products to other eastern bloc countries?
I saw on Etsy that there was a wide variety of "Socialist Realism" amateur art for sale from former Soviet and Eastern Bloc states and it got me to wondering. How were hobbies that required material practiced seemingly quite widely in states that regularly had shortages of consumer goods and where basic goods could be quite difficult to get?
How would people get their hands on things like canvases, paints, musical instruments, cameras/film, or perhaps even electronics or model trains? Were there organizations, official or otherwise, for hobbyists or clubs for shared interests?
Thanks in advance for any answers.
Hello everyone.
I was thinking about writing a book (on various topics to do with stuff like the USSR that interest me) and was going to do a chapter on the Eastern Bloc. Now, I already have arguments as to why the West was richer than the east (marshall plan, German Rhineland industry, etc.) but I'm not too sure as to what to write for a chapter on uprisings in the Warsaw Pact Nations. I know the standard western narrative of "people no like commies and tankies murder civilians" but I am looking for a second opinion. I thought this would be the best place for it. Any help would be greatly appreciated :)
P.S. If anyone could include sources for the bibliography that'd be amazing.
Stole this from r/askhistorians , as this was unanswered.
