Economic and Social System Comparisons

After the end of the Second World War, the world was left with two fundamental economical systems competing for world acceptance (or coercion, depending on whose propaganda news were provided). The United States and the Soviet Union were the champions of capitalism and communism, respectively, two opposite ways of life regulating everything from personal freedoms to ways of life. And upon completion of the war, both tried to expand their zones of influence amongst the community of nations.

The era that preceded the formation of the Soviet Union was earmarked with social unrest, famine, and failed governments. After many struggles, many smaller soviet republics joined to form a large conglomerate nation, known as the Soviet Union in 1922. Vladimir Lenin, leader at the time, replaced the failing capitalist government with a communist government. . At the end of WWII, most of Eastern and Central Europe’s countries were being occupied by the soviet army. They came to be controlled by the Soviet government and pulled back behind an “iron Curtain”. Winston Churchill’s famed Iron curtain remark refers to the countries that fell under the spell of the Soviet Union and shut out the western world ways of capitalism. The countries of

The Soviet Union, which was once a world superpower in the 19th century saw itself in chaos going into the 20th century. These chaoses were marked by the new ideas brought in by the new leaders who had emerged eventually into power. Almost every aspect of the Soviet Union was crumbling at this period both politically and socially, as well as the economy. There were underlying reasons for the collapse of communism in the Soviet Union and eventually Eastern Europe. The economy is the most significant aspect of every government. The soviet economy was highly centralized with a “command economy” (p.1. fsmitha.com), which had been broken down due to its complexity and centrally controlled with corruption involved in it. A strong government

The welfare state in Europe relates to the cold war because shortly after the cold war, the economy began to grow. Health insurance systems were introduced. Social democratic parties were formed, social continuity enforced. The right to welfare and economic growth helped to boost Europe’s economy. More jobs were created as a result of the cold war.

In the battle of ideologies between the dominant power of the democratic world (the United States) and the dominant power of the communist world (the Soviet Union), both countries needed to gain allies to ensure their ultimate victory towards the beginning of the war. After World War II, Europe lay in ruins, devastated from the effects of WWII. America seized

After the First World War, many countries saw political, social and economic changes. The world was plunged into World War 2 because of the Munich Agreement, an agreement regarding Nazi Germany's annexation of portions of Czechoslovakia along the country's borders. This agreement caused many issues between European countries. Many people of the “Big Four” had different views on dealing with aggression. Collective Security was a more effect response to aggression than appeasement.

After World War II, the Eastern and Western Allies started to grow apart. The Eastern Bloc was led by the Soviet Union and promoted communism, while the Western Bloc was led by the United States and promoted capitalism, through democracy. Both wanted their country’s ideals to spread throughout the world, and at the same time, prevent the opposing superpower from taking over. In an attempt to stop the spread of communism, the United States created NATO and the Truman Doctrine, while the Soviet Union tried to stop democracy by creating the Warsaw Pact. At this point, the world was divided, and most third world countries became pawns in the fight of communism versus capitalism.

Europe after the capitulation of Nazi Germany and the subsequent Allied victory in World War II was in ruins from years of fighting and bombing. Cities and infrastructure lay flattened and shortages of vital consumer products of food and fuel persisted across Europe. The economic situation of Europe was also in tatters; many countries suffered from severe inflation, debt, trade deficits, and depleted gold supplies. The United States having remained virtually untouched by the destruction had emerged from World War II stronger than ever before both an industrial economic, and military powerhouse. The Soviet Union though also suffering from the wounds of the war began to establish pro-Soviet communist governments in the Eastern European countries

Document B informs about that economical and social improvement of the Soviet union, which allows people to look at positive affects of the Soviet Union. In the literacy rate category of document B, Soviet Union had 25% literacy rate in 1915 and 99% literacy rate in 1980. This shows an enormous improvement in education. This also serves as an example that the formation of Soviet Union did not result in a complete negative outcome. Document B also states that in 1980 Soviet Union was the first or second in the world in the production of steel, cotton, wheat, sugar, aluminium, gold and oil. This shows a huge economical advancement both locally and internationally. The area category of the document also states that Soviet Union had 8649000 mi.² of land which portrays how big it actually was. Using that information, Soviet Union’s influence can be found. Therefore it is very important to include this information in textbook because it shows the growth of countries during the Soviets

Communism not only had a large impact in Russia and the United States, it interrupted the lifestyles of many other countries, such as Europe. During this time frame, Europe was still very weak from the effects of World War II. The Soviet Union saw this as an opportunity to take control of Europe. “The Soviet Union wanted to

World War II shocked and dismantled many Eastern European countries leaving Europe in a state of shock, with many unanswered, open ended questions. Buildings were blown up, streets cracked, people slaughtered, and governments destroyed. As turmoil struck Eastern Europe, an opportunity arose for a new political system to come into power. However, this process is never a simple one; two common political ideologies fought to control the heart of Europe. Capitalism led by the Western Allies, funded by the United States Marshall Plan, spread providing a short time of economic prosperity. The American’s plan however could not venture as far east as West Germany with Moscow’s direction of Communism led by Joseph Stalin and he took over a large portion of Eastern Europe with many open statements and empty promises. These two ideologies caused an enlarged time of tension stemming from the drastically different values they were known to embrace, leading to a horrific time known as the cold war.

The United States and the Soviet Union had fought together as allies against Nazi Germany during World War II. When the war had ended, the Soviet Union had maintained a large presence in much of Eastern and Central Europe. Communist governments, allied with the Soviet Union, were soon established within this region. Winston Churchill, who had served as British Prime Minister during World War II, had warned that an “iron curtain” divided Western and Eastern Europe. He was fearful communism would spread through war-torn Europe. The United States and the Soviet Union were now engaged in a new period of conflict, later known as the Cold War. The United States had provided assistance to Europe in an effort to contain Soviet

The United States, on the other hand, was recovering from multiple devastations. World War II had taken a toll on the citizens due to the casualties and the unnecessary battles. Therefore, they were caught off guard, and it allowed Russia to advance more, but they still didn’t get too far ahead. This was because of France and the United Kingdom. They were able to get Russia under control, for the most part, until the United States was filled in. At that point, Winston Churchill made ‘The Sinews of Peace’ speech, also known as The Iron Curtain speech, in Fulton, Missouri, USA. The speech really helped everyone get back into the game, and unite together. In 1949, NATO was created, just for the Cold War. NATO, an acronym for North Atlantic Treaty Organization, originally had the United States, the United Kingdom, Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, France, Canada, Portugal, Italy, Norway, Denmark, and Iceland as members. Its purpose was to keep an alliance against Communist Russia and their allies. Just a few months after this, Russia tested its atomic bomb it had built, and by no surprise, it was in fact lethal. Knowing that Russia could also use atomic bombs now, NATO members were panicked, and needed an upper hand. Luckily for them, China had just been overtaken by Communist leader Mao Zedong. This was good because it let the Powers know that Russia would fracture its power, leaving weak spots for them to poke at, and eventually break Russia’s shield.

By the early 1990s, Soviet domination in Eastern Europe had ended. A number of individuals played a part in the collapse of the Soviet Union. Understanding the role that each played is an important part of understanding the process that changed European politics and geography.

During the Cold War, much of Europe’s geography was affected by the differing political stances of the countries making up Eastern and Western Europe. As the second world war went on, a rift between the three major super powers of the world (The United States, Britain, and the Soviet Union) began to grow. Britain and the United States stayed together while the Soviet Union began to drift away from the Allied powers. It was at the meetings of Yalta and Potsdam, meetings where the allied powers were discussing the world and it’s borders for the post war world, where this rift began to grow larger due to many disagreements. During WWII, the Soviets lost 27 to 36 million soldiers, while the United States lost only about five thousand.