Socialism is an economic ideology that was coined by Karl Marx and popularized by the many socialist revolutions in the 20th Century. Many of them no longer practice socialism at such of high level, others no longer exist. This list I will take a quick dive into a country's history under socialism and how long has the socialist ruling class lasted in power.
The Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela is the name given to the current Venezuela that was taken toward the route of socialism after the election of Hugo Chavez. The Current President Nicolás Maduro is furthering Chavez's socio-economic policies of relying on oil sales and importations. These policies turned the once great Venezuela from the richest country in South America to the poorest. It's estimated that 4 million people have fled the country while the remaining populous live in poverty. Rising instances of protests and violent organizations against the Venezuelan government are speaking out, but their situation is only getting worse and worse as the US eyes intervention.
The Soviet Union is one of the most well known if not the most well known socialist country. It became a country, a superpower, and a fallen nation all in a span of 74 years after battling with the US for dominance. The USSR is a product of the October Revolution and was led by Lenin until his death, who unknowingly passed the torch to Stalin. Stalin would really bring the USSR to superpower status, but he did so with an iron fist. He helped control eastern Europe and support many other rising communist countries rising after WW2. His death would throw the country into a downward spiral with power struggles, failed wars, and incompetent leadership would force the fall of the USSR in 1991.
North Korea is a product of the Korean War in which its allies in China and The USSR helped it kick off the war with an invasion of South Korea. The Kim Dynasty has ruled over NK since 1948 and with it, years of isolation and propaganda has kept its people brainwashed. The small country is packed full of natural resources, but they're wasted and misused. The people of NK are forced into conscription and serve as a 4 million strong military force. The country is full of starvation and malnutrition as people are forced to portray a happy and prospering country. Millions of people are thrown into work camps and used as slave labor to dig up resources. Recently the NK has been threatening two things, peace or a nuclear strike as Sk and NK are experiencing a change in feelings towards each other.
The Derg, led by Mengistu took control of Ethiopia after the fall of the monarchy and fought against other socialists for control. Thousands of Ethiopia’s best-educated and idealistic young people were killed or exiled; in all, as many as 100,000 people were killed, and thousands more were tortured or imprisoned. This event is called the red terror a response to a series of attacks on the Derg known as the white terror. After a series of skirmishes and armed conflicts for Ethiopia Mengistu implemented socialist policies, land reform is a large one. These socialist policies led to a famine that was made worse being individuals' response to it was limited and ineffective. Civil strife and resistance started to take place as the armed conflicts currently being fought started to drain the resources of Ethiopia even more. The country started to go o the decline at a dramatic rate until it was too much to handle and Mengistu left the country in a poor state.
Cuba became socialist after Fidel led the Cuban revolution and overthrew the pro-US government. Cuba was doing well during the cold war when it had strong allies to trade resources with, but once the USSR dissolved the country was thrown into an economic depression. Famine struck the small country and forced the people in a state of rationing food, energy, and land. People are forced to live in overcrowded homes, small amounts of food and use anything and everything as a vehicle. Since Fidel's death, new economic reforms have been passed that allowed the country to experience more capitalism with thousands of entrepreneurs arising in the country.
