Free World (World War II)

Free World (World War II)

"Free World" is a Cold War–era term often used to describe countries that were not in the sphere of influence of, or allied with communist states, particularly the Soviet Union or the People's Republic of China. It is often used interchangeably with "First World".

The term usually refers to countries such as the United States, the United Kingdom, France, West Germany, and organizations such as the European Union and NATO. In addition, the "Free World" occasionally includes the Commonwealth realms, Japan, Israel, and India.

Authoritarian and dictatorial states were also included in the "Free World", provided that they were either capitalistic or anti-communist. Notable examples include Spain under Francisco Franco, apartheid-era South Africa, and Greece under the military junta of the late 1960s and early 1970s.

Read more about Free World (World War II):  Origins, Recent Usage, Criticism, "Leader of The Free World", In Popular Culture

Famous quotes containing the words free, world and/or war:

    The real American type can never be a ballet dancer. The legs are too long, the body too supple and the spirit too free for this school of affected grace and toe walking.
    Isadora Duncan (1878–1927)

    Little of this great world can I speak
    More than pertains to feats of broils and battle,
    And therefore little shall I grace my cause
    In speaking for myself.
    William Shakespeare (1564–1616)

    Nietzsche, to the end of his days, remained a Russian pastor’s son, and hence two-thirds of a Puritan; he erected his war upon holiness, toward the end, into a sort of holy war.
    —H.L. (Henry Lewis)