<P> The Cold War split the temporary wartime alliance against Nazi Germany , leaving the Soviet Union and the United States as two superpowers with profound economic and political differences . The USSR was a Marxist -- Leninist state led by its Communist Party of the Soviet Union , which in turn was dominated by a leader with different titles over time , and a small committee called the Politburo . The Party controlled the press , the military , the economy and many organizations . It also controlled the other states in the Eastern Bloc , and funded Communist parties around the world , sometimes in competition with Communist China , particularly following the Sino - Soviet split of the 1960s . In opposition stood the capitalist West , led by the United States , a federal republic with a two - party presidential system . The First World nations of the Western Bloc were generally liberal democratic with a free press and independent organizations , but were economically and politically entwined with a network of banana republics and other authoritarian regimes throughout the Third World , most of which were the Western Bloc 's former colonies . Some major Cold War frontlines such as Vietnam , Indonesia , and the Congo were still Western colonies in 1947 . </P>
<P> The Cold War split the temporary wartime alliance against Nazi Germany , leaving the Soviet Union and the United States as two superpowers with profound economic and political differences . The USSR was a Marxist -- Leninist state led by its Communist Party of the Soviet Union , which in turn was dominated by a leader with different titles over time , and a small committee called the Politburo . The Party controlled the press , the military , the economy and many organizations . It also controlled the other states in the Eastern Bloc , and funded Communist parties around the world , sometimes in competition with Communist China , particularly following the Sino - Soviet split of the 1960s . In opposition stood the capitalist West , led by the United States , a federal republic with a two - party presidential system . The First World nations of the Western Bloc were generally liberal democratic with a free press and independent organizations , but were economically and politically entwined with a network of banana republics and other authoritarian regimes throughout the Third World , most of which were the Western Bloc 's former colonies . Some major Cold War frontlines such as Vietnam , Indonesia , and the Congo were still Western colonies in 1947 . </P>
the cold war was a political conflict over what two government types
the cold war was a political conflict over what two government types
Communist liberal democratic
Communist liberal democratic