The Second World used to be the communist block [1] but not necessarily meaning that it was worse off than the First one. Western Europe had many communist/socialist parties looking forward to implementing a socialist kind society. They were thinking about it as an improvement.
About the origin of those terms see [2].
The Second World term was seldom used in Europe even during the 70s as far as I can remember. There is no more second world now. We jump straight from first to third world. It feels sadly right if we agree that the gap is widening.
By the way, nobody in Europe would think Russia is a third world country. It's first world.
About the origin of those terms see [2].
The Second World term was seldom used in Europe even during the 70s as far as I can remember. There is no more second world now. We jump straight from first to third world. It feels sadly right if we agree that the gap is widening.
By the way, nobody in Europe would think Russia is a third world country. It's first world.
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_World
[2] http://www.nationsonline.org/oneworld/third_world_countries....