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The Cold War and the Social and Economic History of the Twentieth Century

  • Asia Review
  • Abbr : SNUACAR
  • 2015, 5(1), pp.231~242
  • Publisher : 아시아연구소
  • Research Area : Social Science > Social Science in general

Wilfried Loth 1

1Universität Duisburg-Essen, Germany

Candidate

ABSTRACT

The Cold War was not only about power politics, security andhegemony―it was also a conflict between differing theories of howto organize economies and societies at the various stages of industrialdevelopment. Ideologies and belief systems helped define the Cold Warfront lines, but social conflict also largely determined its course andoutcome. Beginning with the Marxist challenge to the capitalist system,multiple social concepts emerged during the course of the Cold Warwithout any clear popular model emerging. In the long run, however,collectivist and centrally-planned economies exhibited some strengthsin modernizing less developed societies albeit at great costs. Oppositely,free-market economies showed greater productivity, at least after havingaccepted state-run systems of social welfare and a certain degree ofplanning at the national and international levels. That political freedomfavoured productivity and innovation ought to be one of the major lessonsof the twentieth century.

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