How can we get a TL in which Communism falls in Eastern Europe around the time as it did in OTL, but most of the countries that formed the former East Bloc decide to hold on to the State-owned industries they built up during Communist times (particularily in the manufacturing of consumer electronics) and this still holds on by the present day?
They main divergence that I think could make this possible is these nations amassing less debt during the Cold War, and more politicians who support State-owned factories coming to the front after the fall of the Soviet Union.
A rough outline I've been thinking about:
-In 1963 the Partial Nuclear Test Ban Treaty is ratified by more strict conditions to limit nuclear testing to a greater degree. This leaves the East Bloc allocating fewer funds to building nuclear weapons and heavy industry, and more funds to manufacturing consumer goods. This leads to a higher standard of living in the East and more people who support aspects of a State-run economy and more people interested in becoming factory workers and engineers. The result is more effective workplaces where most people concentrate on their work seriously, rather than trying to goof off behind the back of the boss until they can finally go home.
-Both the USA and the USSR concentrate more on the Space Race. In this TL, it is the Soviets who land on the Moon first, although post-Soviet politicians reveal that their Lunar Lander was a death trap and the Cosmonaut almost died, ascending towards the orbiting spacecraft in an overheating cabin with vacuum tubes blowing up around him
-In Poland and Hungary, Gierek and Kádár respectively don't start the "tradition" of borrowing foreign loans to finance the raising of living standards. This initially results in a greater degree of poverty, but by 1980 their economies aren't on the brink of collapse.
-Ronald Reagan doesn't get to become the president of the USA, thus no Strategic Defense Initiative. This amplifies the effects of the 1963 divergence with the more strict test ban.
-Lech Wałęsa, the electrician still becomes a labor activist, demanding more freedom from the Soviets to Poland, but in this TL, he is more sympathetic towards State-owned industrial production and more skeptical of Capitalism. His views are still patriotic, but less Conservative, and still manages to become the first president of post-Soviet Poland. (This is a somewhat more fanciful guess, but he could make the new State Emblem of Poland a wrench crossed with a soldering iron in an X-shape, with a transistor between and under them, with the Polish Eagle in the background. This is the inspiration for the title of the thread BTW)
He could be the figurehead of the pro-State-industry movement for post-Communist Eastern Europe.
In the post-Communist period, former East Bloc countries start manufacturing mainly basic electronic components for both the domestic and foreign market, and legacy components for devices and machines in Western countries, which don't require more advanced microelectronics. This could result in profitable industries even if they are technologically behind the West at this point.
For example, Polish and Hungarian computers are nothing to be particularily proud of, (being around the level of a Commodore 64 in the early 90s) but wires, resistors, capacitors, switches, plugs, circuit boards, machine casings, fuseboxes, circuit breakers, vacuum tubes, and discrete transistors made in the former East Bloc do reach many parts of the world.
How plausible is this TL? Is a State-industrial post-Communist Eastern Europe possible in your opinion?
They main divergence that I think could make this possible is these nations amassing less debt during the Cold War, and more politicians who support State-owned factories coming to the front after the fall of the Soviet Union.
A rough outline I've been thinking about:
-In 1963 the Partial Nuclear Test Ban Treaty is ratified by more strict conditions to limit nuclear testing to a greater degree. This leaves the East Bloc allocating fewer funds to building nuclear weapons and heavy industry, and more funds to manufacturing consumer goods. This leads to a higher standard of living in the East and more people who support aspects of a State-run economy and more people interested in becoming factory workers and engineers. The result is more effective workplaces where most people concentrate on their work seriously, rather than trying to goof off behind the back of the boss until they can finally go home.
-Both the USA and the USSR concentrate more on the Space Race. In this TL, it is the Soviets who land on the Moon first, although post-Soviet politicians reveal that their Lunar Lander was a death trap and the Cosmonaut almost died, ascending towards the orbiting spacecraft in an overheating cabin with vacuum tubes blowing up around him
-In Poland and Hungary, Gierek and Kádár respectively don't start the "tradition" of borrowing foreign loans to finance the raising of living standards. This initially results in a greater degree of poverty, but by 1980 their economies aren't on the brink of collapse.
-Ronald Reagan doesn't get to become the president of the USA, thus no Strategic Defense Initiative. This amplifies the effects of the 1963 divergence with the more strict test ban.
-Lech Wałęsa, the electrician still becomes a labor activist, demanding more freedom from the Soviets to Poland, but in this TL, he is more sympathetic towards State-owned industrial production and more skeptical of Capitalism. His views are still patriotic, but less Conservative, and still manages to become the first president of post-Soviet Poland. (This is a somewhat more fanciful guess, but he could make the new State Emblem of Poland a wrench crossed with a soldering iron in an X-shape, with a transistor between and under them, with the Polish Eagle in the background. This is the inspiration for the title of the thread BTW)
He could be the figurehead of the pro-State-industry movement for post-Communist Eastern Europe.
In the post-Communist period, former East Bloc countries start manufacturing mainly basic electronic components for both the domestic and foreign market, and legacy components for devices and machines in Western countries, which don't require more advanced microelectronics. This could result in profitable industries even if they are technologically behind the West at this point.
For example, Polish and Hungarian computers are nothing to be particularily proud of, (being around the level of a Commodore 64 in the early 90s) but wires, resistors, capacitors, switches, plugs, circuit boards, machine casings, fuseboxes, circuit breakers, vacuum tubes, and discrete transistors made in the former East Bloc do reach many parts of the world.
How plausible is this TL? Is a State-industrial post-Communist Eastern Europe possible in your opinion?
