The Cold War: Clash of Economies

[The Andy-Man]

How many of you think that the Cold War would have been much much worse had the USSR been a free market capitalist Society on par with the USA???

[MikeH]

Then there would have been no need for the war 'cause they weren't commies. So clearly it'd have been a lot better.

[The Andy-Man]

but why, surley, because they have the same interests economicly, there would be more chance of them clashing over seas, ie. who gets the South American market etc

[GePap]

Well, if the USSR had been a capitalist state, there would have been no WW2, or it would have been very different, so no idea if Russia would have been in a #2 position at that time anyway.

[DinoDoc]

Originally posted by GePap
Well, if the USSR had been a capitalist state, there would have been no WW2,

Why?

[Ramo]

Presumably because it was started by Hitler's drive to crush the Bolsheviks. But I'm not convinced there wouldn't be any WWII.

[Shogun Gunner]

Hitler wanted resources. There would have been a WW2, or at least a war with Russia for resources, or ethnic purity reasons if you eliminate hatred of communism as a reason.

There was serious concern within the German High Command on the issue of attacking Russia in '41. Germany imported quite a bit of raw materials and food from Russia and the Germans would be attacking their main source of foreign supply. The promise of blitzkreig was enticing and a compelling argument for attacking Soviet Union and siezing these resources outright.

Post WW2:
If the Soviet Union was a free market society, the Cold War would have been far more dangerous and competitive. The whole Russian military doctrine was based on a quick win for several reasons - one being their fragile logistics ability. Their economy would not have survived prolonged hostilities. They could barely manage the logistics of 'invading" Czechoslovkia in '68.

[Ned]

Re: The Cold War: Clash of Economies

Originally posted by The Andy-Man
How many of you think that the Cold War would have been much much worse had the USSR been a free market capitalist Society on par with the USA???

Don't have to speculate on this one. All we have to do is look at China. As China moves to become more free market, its relations to its neighbors and the rest of the world improve dramatically as good relations are necessary for trade.

[chequita guevara]

Without a communist threat, fascism would never have come to power. Thus, no WWII.

[Ned]

Originally posted by chegitz guevara
Without a communist threat, fascism would never have come to power. Thus, no WWII.

Maybe. However, wasn't Hitler more of a reaction to the bad peace treaty than a reaction to communism?

[SlowwHand]

Re: The Cold War: Clash of Economies

Originally posted by The Andy-Man
How many of you think that the Cold War would have been much much worse had the USSR been a free market capitalist Society on par with the USA???

You need to remember that the USSR really had no economy, per se.
They had an abundance of lines, waiting to get items before the supply ran out, toilet paper for instance.

And Hitler was a reaction to madness, Ned.

[The Andy-Man]

i am talking hypotheticaly, and deliberatly ignoring WW2. What i want to know is, what would have happened IF they had been capitalist in 45.

As to modern china, it is already clear that US buissness' are getting angry as they are finding it hard to compete with cheap chinese exports, and there are lots of arguments about economic things bewteeen US and china that i don't really understand.

~Could this sort of thing, and much worse, have taken place withe a free market USSR? I think so, because, as i said earlier, their interests would be more liley to collide.

[chequita guevara]

Originally posted by Ned


Maybe. However, wasn't Hitler more of a reaction to the bad peace treaty than a reaction to communism?

Without the support of big business, his movement would either have never taken off or it would have been crushed by the government. The only reason the big capitalists let Hitler take over is that they were more scared of Marx than him.

[Shogun Gunner]

When you calculate all of Russia/Soviet Union's natural resources, people and geographical advantages what you have is a fearsome competitor.

However, as with everything in life, people make the difference more than anything else. One of the reasons Germany whooped up so badly on Russia in WW2, was the strength of the NCO and lower ranking soldiers to make decisions and take intiative on the battlefield. The Russians had a highly controlled, structured command chain. This strongly limited their warfighting abilities.

So, a different political and economic enviornment would have greatly reduced many of the causes to Russian inefficiency and low production. So, yes there would be a tough competitor in a free-market Russia.

[chequita guevara]

Originally posted by The Andy-Man
i am talking hypotheticaly, and deliberatly ignoring WW2. What i want to know is, what would have happened IF they had been capitalist in 45.

There would have been no Cold War if, some how, miraculously, the USSR became capitalist over night in 1945. The Cold War was the US attempt to contain the Communist threat. Instead Russia would have been just another dirt poor neo-colony ala China and India.