Second World

2025-10-06T12:58:47Z

2001:56B:9F1F:EAB9:7930:9F36:4BCD:7EFF:

{{Short description|Former group of states aligned with the Soviet Union}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2022}}
[[File:Europe-blocs-49-89x4.svg|thumb|250px|right|Political alignments in Europe during the [[Cold War]] after 1961]]
{{Eastern Bloc sidebar|expanded=all}}

The '''Second World''' was one of the "[[Three-world model|Three Worlds]]" formed by the global political landscape of the [[Cold War]], as it grouped together those countries that were aligned with the [[Eastern Bloc]] of the [[Soviet Union]] and allies in [[Warsaw Pact]]. This grouping was directly opposed to the [[First World]], which similarly grouped together those countries that were aligned with the [[Western Bloc]] of the [[United States]] and allies in [[NATO]]. It included [[Communist state|communist states]] that were originally under the [[Soviet empire|Soviet sphere of influence]], though some eventually broke away from the Soviet ideology (e.g., [[Tito–Stalin split|Yugoslavia's split]] and [[Sino-Soviet split|China's split]]) to develop their own path as [[Socialist state|socialist states]] while retaining their communist governments. Most communist states remained under Soviet influence until the [[Revolutions of 1989]]. In 1991, upon the [[dissolution of the Soviet Union]], only five communist states remained: [[China]], [[Cuba]], [[Laos]], [[North Korea]], and [[Vietnam]]. Though the terms "First World" and "[[Third World]]" continue to see present-day relevance in colloquial speech, albeit with a repurposed definition, the term "Second World" is obsolete outside of a Cold War context.

==Concept==
The concept of "Second World" was a construct of the [[Cold War]] and the term is still largely used to describe former communist countries that are between poverty and prosperity, many of which are now [[capitalist state]]s, such as Eastern Europe. Subsequently, the actual meaning of the terms "First World", "Second World," and "Third World" changed from being based on political ideology to an economic definition.<ref name="AndersenTaylor2006">{{cite book |first1=Margaret L. |last1=Andersen |first2=Howard Francis |last2=Taylor |title=Sociology: Understanding a Diverse Society |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LP9bIrZ9xacC&pg=PA250 |year=2006 |publisher=[[Thomson/Wadsworth]] |isbn=978-0-534-61716-5 |page=250}}</ref> The three-world theory has been criticized as crude and relatively outdated for its nominal ordering, and some sociologists have instead used the words "developed", "developing", and "underdeveloped" as replacement terms for global stratification (which have been criticized as displaying a colonialist mindset);<ref>{{cite web |last=Silver |first=Marc |url=https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2015/01/04/372684438/if-you-shouldnt-call-it-the-third-world-what-should-you-call-it |title=If You Shouldn't Call It The Third World, What Should You Call It? |work=NPR |date=4 January 2015 |access-date=17 March 2018 |archive-date=1 April 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200401165708/https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2015/01/04/372684438/if-you-shouldnt-call-it-the-third-world-what-should-you-call-it |url-status=live }}</ref> nevertheless, the three-world theory is still popular in contemporary literature and media. This might also cause semantic variation of the term between describing a region's political entities and its people.<ref name=Sociology>{{cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/sociology0005gidd |url-access=registration |page=[https://archive.org/details/sociology0005gidd/page/42 42] |quote=second world countries communist. |title=Sociology |last=Giddens |first=Anthony |publisher=Polity |year=2006 |isbn=978-0-7456-3379-4}}</ref>

==Human development==
The Three Worlds Model was used to rank the development of countries and their economies during the Cold War. First World countries were [[Capitalism|capitalist]] and industrial; they shared similar political and economic institutions, and retained influence over parts of the former colonial world. Second World countries advocated [[socialism]] and shared certain characteristics such as centrally planned economic systems, single-party states, and mainly medium income levels.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Bankoff |first1=Greg |last2=Oven |first2=Katie |title=What happened to the Second World? Earthquakes and postsocialism in Kazakhstan |journal=Disasters |volume=44 |issue=1 |pages=3–24 |doi=10.1111/disa.12362 |date=24 June 2019 |pmid=31231813 |s2cid=195327230 |url=https://hull-repository.worktribe.com/OutputFile/2135562 |access-date=24 June 2021 |archive-date=24 June 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210624204425/https://hull-repository.worktribe.com/OutputFile/2135562 |url-status=live }}</ref> The First World and the Second World were competing for political and economic influence over developing nations known as the Third World.

The [[Human Development Index]] is an index used to rank countries and is quantified by looking at a country's human development such as life expectancy, education, and per capita income indicators. The scale is 0–1 and they are put into one of four categories; 0-.55 is low, .55-.70 is medium, .70-.80 is high and very high tops out at .80–1.0. The Second World countries from the Cold War era currently range from medium human development to very high human development in terms of HDI.<ref>{{cite web |title=Second World Countries Population |date=2019-10-24 |access-date=2020-02-21 |url=http://worldpopulationreview.com/countries/second-world-countries/ |website=World Population Review |archive-date=21 February 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200221220337/http://worldpopulationreview.com/countries/second-world-countries/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

==Examples and decline in usage of term==
Some examples of Cold-War definition Second World countries were [[Bulgaria]], [[Czechoslovakia]], [[Hungary]], [[Mongolia]], [[North Korea]], [[Poland]], [[Romania]], the [[Soviet Union]], and the [[East Germany|German Democratic Republic]].

The powerful economies of the West are still sometimes described as "First World", but the term "Second World" became largely [[Obsolescence|obsolete]] following the collapse of the Soviet Union.<ref>{{cite web |last=Andrews |first=Evan |date=2018-08-22 |title=Why are countries classified as First, Second or Third World? |url=https://www.history.com/news/why-are-countries-classified-as-first-second-or-third-world |website=History |publisher=A&E Television Networks |access-date=21 February 2020 |archive-date=21 February 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200221220334/https://www.history.com/news/why-are-countries-classified-as-first-second-or-third-world |url-status=live }}</ref>

==See also==
* [[BRICS]]
* [[Eurasian Economic Union]]
* [[Socialist state]]
* [[Developing country]]
* [[Third world]]
* [[Fourth World]]

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

{{Global economic classifications}}

[[Category:Economic country classifications]]
[[Category:Politics by region]]
[[Category:Imperialism studies]]
[[Category:Cold War terminology]]

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Second World