The differences between the political and economic systems of Tsarist Russia and the West as origins of the Cold War

Author: Christina Pomoni

Author: Christina Pomoni

Political differences between the United States and the Soviet Union were mostly developed after World War II, when Europe declined leading to the sharing of power between the two nations. In fact, the strong political oppositions, but also the differences of the economic systems between the two super-powers, were a conflict between Communism and Capitalism. In the context of Political Theory, Communism is a theory and system of social and political organization, which theorizes a classless society offering abundance and freedom to all people. However, in practice, Communist regimes were actually totalitarian governments that extremely suppressed the working class in order to preserve their own hold on power. They used violence to accomplish their goal of a classless society. Believing in equality through force, Communism has built a symbol of absolute state control, which has been promoted globally for quite sometime. On the other hand, Capitalism enforces the concept of free trade among nations and it is the economic system where investments, distribution, income, production and pricing of goods and services are determined through the operation of a free market. Capitalism favours the New Trade Theory, which suggests that free trade allows a nation to specialize in the production of certain goods thus attaining economies of scale and lowering the costs of production, while it buys goods that it does not produce from other nations that are similarly specialized. By this mechanism the variety of goods available to consumers in each nation increases, while the average cost of those goods declines. Applying those concepts in the reality of 1945, the United States were favouring free trade and the benefits associated to it such as the increase of a countrys stock of resources and of supplies of labour and capital from foreign investors. On the contrary, the Soviet Union was proclaiming opposition to international commerce in the fear of being opened to Western influences, a fact that might penetrate the power of the Communist totalitarianism. In addition, people in the Soviet Union did not have the right to form political parties and to elect free parliamentary governments, nor did they possess the right of assembly, of speech and of the press. On the contrary, in the United States, the government was elected by free elections, and all people were free to form political parties, while possessing the right of assembly, of speech and of the press. The relationships between the United States and the Soviet Union deteriorated after the Yalta Conference (February 4 to February 11, 1945). At this conference, Stalin promised to allow free elections of parliamentary governments in the area under control of the Soviet Union, which included Poland, East Germany, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria and Czechoslovakia. However, as this promise was never held, the Allies were fiercely opposed to the Soviet Union. As a response, they introduced a new foreign policy of control aiming to keep Communism only to the Eastern block. In addition, President Truman believed that Communists, apart from exercising powerful control over Eastern Europe, they would try to extend their control over Western Europe. The Truman Doctrine of 1947, known as the Marshall Plan, claimed that the United States would provide help only to non-Communist nations. The Marshall Plan aimed at the recovery of non-Communist countries after the World War II and it was broadly considered as a solution to anticipate communist pressure. The Cold War was practically an American-Soviet state of divergence, tension and opposition from 1945 to 1991, when the Soviet Union collapsed.About the Author:

Christina Pomoni has acquired her MBA Finance from the American College of Greece. Her advanced familiarity with financial statement analysis, capital budgeting and market research has been acquired through her professional career at high-esteemed organizations. As part of her long journey, Christina has served as an Equity Research Associate at Telesis Securities (EFG Eurobank) and a Financial & Investment Advisor at ING Group. Besides, having lived at Chicago, IL, Boca Raton, FL and Paris, France has helped her, not only to be a successful professional, but mostly to see life under a more creative and innovative perspective.

Since 2005, Christina provides high quality writing services to numerous websites and research companies contributing her knowledge and expertise. Her areas of specialization are Business, Finance & Investment, Society, Politics & Culture. She also has a very good knowledge of Entertainment, Health & Fitness and Computers & Technology.

Christina currently designs the website of her own writing company. Believing that knowledge is the road to opportunity and development, her mission is to promote her already established knowledge to a growing number of visitors and to provide high quality writing services to meet the most demanding customer requirements.

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