communism and capitalism
Post on 25-Jun-2015
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LEARNING INTENTIONS
• Explain what is meant by Communism and Capitalism
• Describe why the two ideologies helped cause the Cold War
During the Cold War, the USA and Soviet Union were
divided by ideology.
An ideology is the belief of how a country should
be run.
The USA believed in Capitalism.
This is the belief that governments
should play only a small role in people’s
lives.
Instead people are free to own property
and set up businesses.
Many people supported capitalism because it gives freedom; people can choose what to do
with their lives, including voting in
elections.
However other people think it is unfair because it leads to
some people being very poor.
The Soviet Union supported Communism.
This is the belief that everyone should be equal, meaning the government control
most things.
e.g. companies would not be privately owned
The Soviets believed that if everyone was
equal it would create a fairer society and
reduce crime.
However others felt that Communism gave the government too much
control, and took away freedom including limiting election
choices.
Russia became a communist country after a revolution in 1917. This replaced the Tsar
(King) with the communist Bolshevik
Party.
The Russians then pulled out of World War One and
refused to pay international debts, angering the USA.
Russia then fell into Civil War between the Reds (Communists) and
Whites. The USA supported the Whites,
but the Reds won.
After the civil war, Russia joined with other
Communist supporting countries to form the Soviet Union (USSR).
The USSR set up Comintern in 1919 to
help promote Communism in countries around the world. This was
replaced by Cominform in 1947.
The Soviets also used Comecon to spread their financial
control of Eastern Europe.
The Soviet desire to spread Communism
caused fear in the USA, where the ‘red scare’ led many to
worry about a Communist takeover.
There were famous trials and
investigations into this, led by Senator Joseph McCarthy.
The US offered financial assistance to Europe to rebuild after WW2, called
Marshall Aid.
The Soviets believed this was a ploy to spread Capitalism.
The USSR were denied access to this money.
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