Cold War - communism vs capitalism???

[Alfred001]

I'm reading some bits of history about the Cold War and I'm finding some things confusing.

 

There are repeated instances where a communism vs capitalism rhetoric is invoked and where decisions were made on such grounds (for ex. when N Korea invaded S Korea and the UN Security Council was convened USSR didn't attend because China was not admitted into the council (or UN?) because they were communist).

 

I don't understand this, how could a country be hostile to another country because they have a different economic system? Is it because of the mistreatment that communist countries subjected their people to? But that kind of oppression surely isn't necessarily part of the ideology (well, I guess if it always is present in practice that's what matters).

 

Also, on why did the Americans try to help the White Russians during the Bolshevik Revolution?

Edited August 11, 2012 by Alfred001

[Iota]

There was a lot of fear that Communism would catch on. That wasn't good news for the Capitalist countries, so they actively countered its influence. For e.g. US interfered with Vietnam because it was fairly certain that communism would be voted in.

 

If Capitalism became a minority, there was a possibility it would be lost, because the rest of the Communist world would condemn it, and their propaganda could become dominant.