Is it really 65 percent? Lithuanians think that it was better to live in communist times?

The biggest sympathies – in Hungary?

A photo shared by a Facebook user these days shows a map with the outlines of Eastern European and Balkan countries, from Russia to Albania.

Each one has various percentages written on it, and at the top it explains what they mean: the proportion of people who answered yes to the question “Was life better under communism?”

Screenshot There hasn’t been a Facebook/Trust poll with results that reflect these numbers, at least in recent years

In Lithuania, 65 percent think so. population – the same or similar as in Montenegro, North Macedonia and Slovakia. Fewer people who think like that live in Slovenia, Albania, Croatia, Poland, the Czech Republic, and Romania.

Also read: 100 years ago, the USSR was created: the country that was the first in space and starved millions

Allegedly, even in Russia, only 60% answered the question positively. people, so less than in our country.

The people of Hungary (92%), Bulgaria (88%), Serbia (81%) and Ukraine (75%) expressed the greatest support for communism.

“Interesting polls are conducted by Gallup, a public opinion research (brainwashing) center in Eastern and Central Europe in the US (CIA, of course, an agent’s office), – this information commented the internet user who shared the map. – There are even more interesting results of the survey “Was life better under communism?” (language not corrected – last ed.).

The man was also surprised that despite more than half a century of US-NATO propaganda about the USSR, people claim that “it was better with the communists”.

Sources of information are also indicated at the bottom of the map: website opendemocracy.netINSCOP, „Gallup“.

Also read: The USSR is admired again: legends about life without taxes and rising prices have been rekindled

However, although following the political development of this region and international current events, the results of some states may appear to be plausible, and the sources are reliable, the picture raises certain doubts.

Also read: The myth of the “good” USSR does not disappear: what did it really mean to live under the occupation?

Mainly because it only shares a graph, without any references to the full study or studies from which the figures are taken, it doesn’t explain when the surveys were conducted, how many people were surveyed.

in 1998 most praised the socialist economy

Gallup is indeed an authoritative, world-renowned US analytical and consulting firm company. But after searching her website for information about a similar survey, thrown away texts from a few to a dozen years old, many of them dealing with communism and socialism in the United States.

Searching the internet by is not much more effective specified numbers ar the name of the company and the question about communism written on the graph: the same graphic is only found on the social network Reddit, there is no information about the mentioned results of any survey.

Scanpix/AP Photo/Young Communists of Russia

A Google search turns up a post on Gallup’s website a decade ago the text, that former Soviet countries see more damage than the collapse of the (USSR) 32 years ago. However, the opinion of Lithuanian residents was not asked for this survey.

Also read: The historian debunks the most popular myths about how it was good to live in the Soviet era

However, it was published there five years earlier article about the fact that “former Soviet societies value democracy”. Lithuania is not mentioned in it at all (the survey was conducted only in 6 former republics of the USSR).

One of the articles found by Google is the “Open Democracy” website, published in 2015. in November.

The short essay tells about the nostalgia for communists in Eastern Europe – that people yearn for the past, why this situation has arisen. There is also not a word about Lithuania here: it is written about the processes in this region in general, and how much more attention is paid to Poland, Bulgaria, East Germany.

Finally, it was mentioned that 54 percent residents of post-communist countries positively evaluated the system of socialist economy. In Ukraine and Belarus, there were even 90 percent of them, respectively. and 78 percent

But this survey was conducted in 1998. – a quarter of a century ago, so its results hardly reflect today’s position. True, it is not known whether opinions are asked before or after the start to the Russian financial crisiswhich may have had a bearing on the answers.

Polls showed the opposite opinion

One reverse image search showsthat on this schedule at least from 2021 is shared forums, blogs, social networks, even on meme pages. As far as I could find, the earliest it was published was on October 16 of that year (here, here), on October 20.

The map is difficult to find on news portals, newspaper web pages, other media, think tanks, academic institutions, etc. on websites that could be considered reliable sources.

Screenshot from yablor.ru/Graphic about the allegedly positive attitude of the population of former Eastern Bloc countries towards communism has been distributed for several years

The schedule has been particularly active in the last couple of years distributed on Russian forums, blogs, websites and social media accounts (for example here, here).

A search for the survey with the results cited in the graph leads to the page of the Pew Research Center, a company not mentioned in it, where a 2019 study on the 30th anniversary of the fall of communism was published research report. It turns out that not many regretted the 1989-1991. huge changes that have taken place.

At the time, residents of Central and Eastern European countries that joined the European Union (EU) believed that this membership was beneficial for their countries.

Also read: The historian explained how much “free” apartments in the USSR really cost

They largely supported the changes that occurred after the fall of communism. The transition to democracy and capitalism was approved by 85 percent. Polish. True, more than a third of Bulgarians and Ukrainians, as well as about half of the Russian population, did not approve of it.

Screenshot from pewresearch.org/Majority of former Eastern Bloc population favors multi-party system and market economy

For the first time, questions about democracy and market economy for the residents of the region was asked in 1991, later – in 2009 In Hungary, Lithuania and Ukraine, support for both areas has decreased, and has increased significantly again in the last decade. Russia is the only country with support for multiparty democracy and capitalism since 2009. decreased significantly.

Majorities of Poles, Czechs and Lithuanians, more than 4 in 10 Hungarians and Slovaks believe that the economic situation of the majority of their country’s population is better today than during communism. According to the Pew Research Center, people in these five countries now hold this view more than they did in 2009, when Europe was struggling with the effects of the global financial crisis.

In Russia, Ukraine and Bulgaria, more than half of the population say that most people are worse off now than under communism.

It is interesting that the economic prospects in the countries of this region are evaluated better than in the so-called old countries of the EU. 6 out of 10 Ukrainians, Lithuanians and Poles believe that their children will be financially better off than their parents when they grow up.

Screenshot from pewresearch.org/Most former Eastern Bloc residents rated the economic outlook better than Western European countries

In Greece, Spain, Italy, the United Kingdom, and France, this opinion is held by about a quarter of people or even less.

For this study in 2019 18,979 people were interviewed in 17 countries in May-August. His results were also described in the UK newspaper “The Guardian”.

Romanians really felt nostalgic for the past

Some netizens sharing the map questioned the reliability of the information on it. Almost a year ago, one Reddit user, having mentioned graph, added I can’t find the numbers in it anywhere. The Internet user pointed out that on the map the Crimean peninsula is assigned to Russia, which has occupied it.

Scanpix/Sputnik photo/Bridge construction in the Kerch Strait

Another Reddit user suggested reading almost 10 years old record, which provided several references to various studies showing that Eastern Europeans longed for communism. However, the numbers mentioned in them also do not match those seen in the graph in question.

Open Democracy can be found on the above website article about nostalgia for communism in Romania. It presents the work carried out by INSCOP Research investigation results that 44.4 percent Romanians a decade ago were convinced, that living conditions were better during communism. Even more – 47.5 percent. respondents statedthat dictator Nicolae Ceausescu played a positive role in the country’s history.

Wikimedia Commons nutr./Nicolae Ceausescu on žmona 1986 m.

„INSCOP Research“, whose name is also mentioned in the discussed graph, are in the same 2013. established social and market research company.

An internet search for her research on attitudes towards communism suggests to be carried out in Romaniawhere this company operates.

From this information, it can be concluded that INSCOP Research had found out that at a given time approximately 45% of Romanians actually had a positive view of communism. These data agree with those presented in the graph. It is not clear from which and by whom the other figures are taken.

Also read: Money in the USSR: it was there, but some goods had to wait for decades

Even if they are real and show public opinion about communism, it is impossible to tell from the graph whether people’s opinions were asked in all countries at the same time, whether the question was asked exactly as written, whether the polls were representative and conducted by reliable researchers. If at least one answer is negative, the graph cannot be relied upon to draw any general conclusions.

15min verdict: missing context. The Internet search engine does not find a specific reliable survey, the results of which coincide with those presented in the graph. Other public opinion polls on a similar topic show opposite results.

The publication was prepared in 15 minutes in partnership with Metait aims to stop the spread of misleading news on the social network. More about the program and its rules – here.