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the tremendous industrial growth achieved under stalin抯 regime was
the springboard for the expansion of stalinism beyond the soviet
borders. after the second world war, for the first time in history,
russia openly challenged the west抯 historical hegemony to furnish
models of socioeconomic development for the rest of the world. the
scale of soviet achievement in the heavy industrial sector was
particularly staggering. in a short period of time an industrial
capacity was built characteristic of more economically advanced
countries. in terms of its branch structure and technological
sophistication, the soviet economy now stood at a level comparable
with the industrialized countries of the capitalist west. the ussr
was now second only to the united states in its gross industrial
output. |
western leaders were seriously concerned about the ussr抯 growing
influence in the postwar world. the soviet victory over a fascist
capitalist state served to enhance the global appeal of communist
ideology. following the postwar collapse of european overseas
colonies, many of the newly independent countries in the third world
adopted a socialist orientation. soviet influence appeared to spread
like a tidal wave across the entire globe: from eastern europe to
china, from vietnam to cuba. even within western democracies
themselves the popularity of communist parties was far from
negligible.
the
extreme rivalry and distrust between the two antagonistic camps of
states梠ne led by the ussr, the other by the united
states梩hreatened repeatedly to engulf the world in a global
conflagration. the world entered the era of the cold war that was to
last for nearly a half century (1946?1). at its core was the
intense military, economic, ideological, and political competition
between the two socioeconomic models: the system of capitalism and
the system of socialism.
