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. The USA and the USSR became superpowers after the Second World War.
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.
- An economy where the government controlled industry and business.
- A society where everyone was to be equal.
- A society where information was censored.
- The Communist Party wanted to spread communism to other countries.
Winston Churchill described the effect of this divide by saying that an ‘Iron Curtain’ had descended over Eastern Europe.
Map of Soviet expansion in Eastern Europe
