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Map of the Soviet
Union & global Communist influence
by James Mayfield (Chairman, European Heritage Library)
 Print
this Article About
the Author Bibliography/Sources
Below is an map the ELA has
published charting the historic power and influence of both
the Soviet Union and communism throughout the last 50 years.
If you have any questions, or if a country or culture was
excluded, feel free to notify us.
Mapping Information &
Extra Notes:
I encourage all readers to
recognize that Communism is by NO MEANS one uniform ideology.
The so-called "Eastern Bloc" during the Cold War
was not one singular orbit. Instead, "Communism"
is fragmented into a variety of competing ideologies that
often bitterly oppose each other. China, the Soviet Union,
Yugoslavia, and Albania -- all "Communist" nations
-- staunchly opposed each other despite being "Communists."
The Soviet Union often had no authority in any fashion over
many parts of the "Eastern Bloc." As a result, this
map must not be understood as depicting a common shared ideological
or political affiliation. See my thesis on most of the world's
effort to consciously create independent ideologies that broke
from both American liberalism and Soviet Communism here.
The supporting nations are
shown in orange. The Warsaw Pact,
a semi-independent confederation of Eastern European Communist
states under Soviet tutelage designed to counter Western Europe's
NATO, is shown in cyan (light blue).
The Yugoslav states are shown in dark
blue. Afghanistan and Yemen are shown in different
colours as their history does not consist of a total overthrow,
but a regional and secretarian schism of Communists within,
or in a civil war.
Albania is shown as a member
of the Warsaw Pact in order to show the dominant influence
of Communism in Albanian politics, especially under the regime
of Enver Hoxha, despite the fact that Albania withdrew from
the Warsaw Pact and entered a state of isolation.
Though many nations in non-Arab
Africa, perhaps most, saw a violent Communist civil war, those
selected for this map (Benin, Angola, Mozambique) saw full
government leadership under communist regimes, sponsoring
the Soviet Union.
Click the below map
for the full-size version! Click on the map to zoom.
If an error has been made,
please notify the EHA Staff.
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ABOUT
THE AUTHOR:
James Mayfield is a historian
and the Chairman of the European Heritage Library. I have
a Cum Laude BA in History with a Minor in Germanic Studies
(language and history), am presently working for my Masters
in History, and plan to immediately progress to my PhD Doctorate.
I have a special academic interest in Europe's diverse ethnic
identities, languages, and cultures, and the political struggles
of native European and immigrant minority identities. See
my staff entry for more information.
BIBLIOGRAPHY/SOURCES
USED:
The image used as the basis
for the map is widely redistributed and is not protected.
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