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Damage caused by the second World War:

During the second world war, millions of lives were lost on all sides.

Bombing and fighting on the ground had destroyed houses, factories, shops and entire cities. By 1945, there were millions of sick, hungry and homeless refugees throughout Europe and the rest of the world.

The disruption to all the countries at the end of the war meant it was very difficult to be sure about the numbers of killed and wounded. What is certain is that the USSR lost millions of its people as a result of the war with Germany, and Stalin was determined to make the USSR secure in future. In addition, China also suffered millions of civilian casualties owing to its war with Japan.

The rise of the superpowers

Before the war there were many countries who could claim to be superpowers, such as the USA, the USSR, Britain, France, Germany and Japan. By 1945, it had become clear that the military strength of the USA and the USSR put them in a league of their own as superpowers.

Conflicting ideologies: Communism and Capitalism

During the war, the communist superpower, the USSR, had united with the capitalist superpower, the USA, to defeat fascism. However, Communism and Capitalism were very different ideologies and economic systems strongly opposed to one another. With Germany and Japan defeated, the reason for this co-operation was gone. Differences of opinion soon begun to emerge.

The USA

What were the main political and economic features of the USA?

A democratic system of government. The President and Congress of the USA were chosen in free democratic elections.

A capitalist economy. Business and property were privately owned. Individuals could make profits in business or move jobs if they wished.

The USA was the world's wealthiest country, but under the capitalism there were always great contrasts-some people were very rich and others wer very poor.

Americans believed in the freedom of the individual and in government consent.

In the 1920s and 1930s, the USA had followed a policy of isolationism. Now faced by Communism extending into eastern Europe, the US government was prepared to help and support people and countries that wanted to become democracies with capitalist economics. This was seen as simply the defence of people's freedom against a system they did not want.

The USSR

The USSR was a Communist state under Stalin's dictatorship.

People could vote in elections for the Supreme Soviet. But they could only vote for members of the Communist Party, and the Supreme Soviet had no real power. The USSR was governed by Stalin and committees of the Communist party.

In the Commnist system, people's lives were closely controlled. The rights of individuals were seen as less important than the good of society as a whole.

It had a planned economy. The government owned all industry and planned what every factory produced.

The standard of living in the USSR was much lower than in the USA, but unemployment was low, and there were not the extremes of wealth and poverty like in the USA.

Unlike the USA, the USSR had been attacked many times in the past. Stalin was determined that this would never happen again. In his view, the USSR could only be safe if the countries on its borders were controlled by the Communist governments. He believed that if he did not set up other Communist governments, the USA would set up hostile countries on his borders.

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