How did communist governments affect the economies of the various European countries like East Germany, Hungary?

Communist governments had a disastrous effect on the economies of countries like Hungary and East Germany.

Explanation:

When communism managed to take over over East and most of Central Europe, the countries and the people under it suffered greatly. Communism brought its economic system with it, the command economy, and this economic type is almost impossible to sustain for longer periods of time, not to mention that in some countries it is on the verge of collapse from day one.

Basically, the economies were closed, and in an atempt to be self-sustaining. In countries like Hungary and East Germany that is simply terrible judgment of the situation as they simply don't have resources for something like that to be functional. This led to economies that were in a dire situation, with low production, very few products available to the people, and on top of that in limited amounts. Poverty was rapidly increasing and the majority of the people were struggling to survive.