How were the Soviet Union and the United States fundamentally different?

Not only was the Soviet Union communist, they were totalitarian, meaning all the power was with the rulers. The United States was capitalist which meant that people could own land and businesses and compete for themselves.

What did the Soviet Union and the United States agree on?

To lessen the threat of an accidental nuclear war, the United States and the Soviet Union agree to establish a “hot line” communication system between the two nations. Possible nuclear conflict was avoided only when Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev agreed that his country would not install nuclear weapons in Cuba.

What caused the Soviet Union and the US to form an alliance?

In 1949, the prospect of further Communist expansion prompted the United States and 11 other Western nations to form the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). The Soviet Union and its affiliated Communist nations in Eastern Europe founded a rival alliance, the Warsaw Pact, in 1955.

Which two countries were known as the superpower?

If you recall your World War II history, the United States and the Soviet Union were allies during the war. Together, these nations and others brought about the downfall of Hitler’s Third Reich. When the war ended in 1945, these two countries emerged as world super powers.

What happened to the Soviet Union after 1991?

Post-Soviet Russia The Yeltsin presidency (1991–99) The U.S.S.R. legally ceased to exist on December 31, 1991. The new state, called the Russian Federation, set off on the road to democracy and a market economy without any clear conception of how to complete such a transformation in the world’s largest country.

What happened to Russia after it gained independence from the USSR?

Like most of the other former Soviet republics, it entered independence in a state of serious disorder and economic chaos. Upon independence, Russia faced economic collapse.

What was the policy of detente between the US and the USSR?

The Soviet Union and the United States stayed far apart during the next three decades of superpower conflict and the nuclear and missile arms race. Beginning in the early 1970s, the Soviet regime proclaimed a policy of détente and sought increased economic cooperation and disarmament negotiations with the West.

What was the relationship between the United States and the Soviet Union?

Relations between the Soviet Union and the United States were driven by a complex interplay of ideological, political, and economic factors, which led to shifts between cautious cooperation and often bitter superpower rivalry over the years.