Changing Alliances
- Cold War - a period of tension between the two superpowers, USA (capitalist) and USSR (communism)
The USA
- Based on two key ideas:
- Democracy - American president and Congress were elected in free elections and could be voted out
- Capitalism - property and business owned by private individuals and companies
- The USA was the world's richest country, however, had extremes of wealth and poverty
- For Americans, rights and freedoms of individual Americans were more important than everyone being equal
- Majority of Americans believed passionately in the American way, felt that Communism threatened their way of life
The USSR
- Based on Communist ideals:
- One party state
- Was elections but Soviet people could only elect Communists
- Industry was ran and organised by the state
- Unemployment and extreme poverty were rare, but standard of living for most Soviet citizens were lower than the average American
- Communists believed the rights of individuals were less important than the good of society as a whole
- As a result, there were many restrictions on individual's freedom
- Soviet leaders believed other countries should be ran the Communist way
- Many citizens in the USSR opposed capitalism