Reasons for the emergence of the Cold War
The USA and the Soviet Union’s opposing political and economic beliefs caused the Cold War. NATO and the Warsaw Pact were established. Both competed in an arms race.
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Differing political beliefs of the USA and USSR
The United States of America (USA) and the Union of Socialist Soviet Republics (USSR) had very different political and economic beliefs. After World War Two, the USA and the USSR became superpowers. The two superpowers were governed very differently.
The USA is a capitalist society:
- A democracy where voters can choose their government.
- An economy where people and businesses are allowed to work freely.
- A society where people have freedom of speech.
The USSR was a communist society:
- A dictatorship with only one political party. The Communist Party was always in control.
- An economy where the government controlled industry and business.
- A society where everyone was to be equal.
- A society where certain information was censored.
- There was also a desire to spread communism to other countries.
Winston Churchill, the wartime Prime Minister of Britain described the ideological divide between the capitalist West and the communist East, by commenting that an 'Iron Curtain' had descended over Eastern Europe.