There are such historical phenomena that are really important not only for passing the exam, but also for understanding the entire period. For example, if you are just studying the foreign policy of the Soviet Union, but did not pay attention to the fact that the lion's share of events relate to this historical phenomenon, then remembering all this will be extremely difficult for you.

In this article, we will briefly reveal, point by point, the causes of the Cold War, which lasted from 1946/49 to 1989. A publication on this topic will help you answer the most “dumpy” exam question: why did the anti-Hitler coalition disintegrate so quickly, and the allied countries turned out to be enemies after 1946?

Causes

The Cold War is a period of political, economic and military confrontation (confrontation) between states and systems of states. It was mainly between the USSR and the USA, between two systems of economic and political structure. In fact, there are key reasons for this.

• The confrontation was due to mutual distrust between countries, between the Soviet Union and the United States. Added fuel to the fire was the fact that the Soviet army was right in the center of Europe, and nothing prevented it from moving further - to the West.
• There is a big difference in ideologies: capitalism dominated in the USA with its inherent liberalism and neoliberalism; in the Soviet Union, the Marxist-Leninist ideology dominated, which, by the way, envisaged a course towards a world revolution. That is, it was about the overthrow of the bourgeois governments by the forces of the local working class and the establishment of Soviet power.
• Different system of management: in the USA there was a market and mainly natural market mechanisms, which were improved after the Great Depression of the 30s. In the USSR, there was a planned command-administrative system of management.
• The popularity of the post-war USSR was extremely high all over the world: this also added fuel to the fire.

You should also remember about the accompanying prerequisites: in the course of the liberation of the states of Europe from the Nazis and fascists, pro-Soviet and pro-communist regimes were established in them, in which, immediately after the war, industrialization and collectivization of the Soviet type took place. Of course, it was incomparably softer than in the Soviet Union itself, but it was.

Such an unprecedented intervention of the USSR in the internal affairs of the liberated states created a real threat to the existence of other independent states. As a result, no one could give guarantees that the Soviet army would move further: towards England, or France, or the USA. It was these fears, among other things, that W. Churchill expressed in his speech in Fulton on March 5, 1946. By the way, I highly recommend reading this speech, because the text from it may well be included in the exam.

Course of events

As part of a regular post, I do not have the opportunity to talk in detail about these events. In addition, I have already done this in my video tutorials available on our training courses and in. But I still wanted to name the events in order to give you at least some guidance.

• 1949 - the formation of NATO, the testing of the Soviet atomic bomb.
• 1950 - 1953 - The Korean War is the first serious military confrontation in which both sides indirectly and directly participated.
• 1955 - the formation of the Department of Internal Affairs.
• 1956 Suez Crisis.
• 1961 - Cuban Missile Crisis. This is the peak of the confrontation between the USSR and the USA, when these countries, and indeed the whole world, were on the brink of nuclear war. It was this event that initiated the process of defusing international tension under L.I. Brezhnev. It was after this event that subcultures appeared in the West in large numbers, within which young people are trying to find their way in life.
• 1965 - 1975 - Vietnam War.
• 1973 - 75 - negotiations in Helsinki and the adoption of the Final Act on Security and Cooperation in Europe.
• 1979 - 1989 - the war in Afghanistan.

Again, these are just guidelines. I have analyzed everything in detail in my video tutorials, and

The Cold War, whose years are conventionally limited to the period that began a year after the victory of the countries of the anti-fascist coalition and continued until the events of 1991, which resulted in the fall of the Soviet system, was a confrontation between two political blocs that dominated the world stage. Not being a war in the international legal sense of this term, it was expressed in the confrontation between the ideologies of the socialist and capitalist models of government.

The beginning of the confrontation between the two world systems

The prologue of the Cold War was the establishment by the Soviet Union of control over the countries of Eastern Europe, liberated from fascist occupation, as well as the creation of a pro-Soviet puppet government in Poland, while its legitimate leaders were in London. Such a policy of the USSR, aimed at establishing control over the largest possible territories, was perceived by the US and British governments as a threat to international security.

The confrontation between the main world powers was especially acute in 1945 during the Yalta Conference, at which, in fact, the issue of the post-war division of the world into spheres of influence was decided. A vivid illustration of the depth of the conflict was the development by the command of the armed forces of Great Britain of a plan in the event of a war with the USSR, which they launched in April of the same year by order of Prime Minister Winston Churchill.

Another significant reason for the aggravation of contradictions between yesterday's allies was the post-war division of Germany. In its eastern part, controlled by Soviet troops, the German Democratic Republic (GDR) was created, the government of which was completely controlled by Moscow. In the western territories liberated by the Allied forces - the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG). A sharp confrontation immediately began between these states, which caused the closure of borders and the establishment of a long period of mutual hostility.

The anti-Soviet position of the governments of Western countries was largely dictated by the policy pursued by the USSR in the postwar years. The Cold War was the result of an aggravation of international relations caused by a number of Stalin's actions, one of which was his refusal to withdraw Soviet troops from Iran and tough territorial claims against Turkey.

Historical speech by W. Churchill

The beginning of the Cold War (the year 1946), according to most historians, was indicated by the speech of the head of the British government in Fulton (USA), where on March 5 he expressed the idea of ​​the need to create a military alliance of the Anglo-Saxon countries aimed at fighting world communism.

In his speech, Churchill called on the world community not to repeat the mistakes of the 1930s and, united, to put up a barrier on the path of totalitarianism, which had become the fundamental principle of Soviet policy. In turn, Stalin, in an interview with the Pravda newspaper on March 12 of the same year, accused the British Prime Minister of calling for war between the West and the Soviet Union, and likened him to Hitler.

Truman Doctrine

The new impetus that the Cold War received in the post-war years was the statement of the American President Harry Truman, made by him on March 12, 1947. In his address to the US Congress, he pointed out the need to provide all-round assistance to peoples who are fighting against attempts to enslave them by an armed minority within the country and opposing external pressure. In addition, he described the rivalry between the USA and the USSR as a conflict of totalitarianism and democracy.

Based on his speech, the American government developed a program that later became known as the Truman Doctrine, which guided all subsequent US presidents during the Cold War. It determined the main mechanisms for deterring the Soviet Union in its attempts to spread its influence in the world.

Taking as a basis the revision of the system of international relations that had taken shape during the reign of Roosevelt, the creators of the doctrine advocated the establishment of a unipolar political and economic system in the world, in which the United States would be the leader. Among the most active supporters of the transition to a new form of international relations, in which the Soviet Union was seen as a potential adversary, were such prominent American political figures of those years as Dean Acheson, Allen Dulles, Loy Henderson, George Kennan and a number of others.

Marshall Plan

At the same time, US Secretary of State George C. Marshall put forward a program of economic assistance to European countries affected by World War II. One of the main conditions for helping to restore the economy, modernize industry, and eliminate trade restrictions was the refusal of states to include communists in their governments.

The government of the Soviet Union, having put pressure on the countries of Eastern Europe controlled by it, forced them to refuse to participate in this project, which was called the Marshall Plan. His goal was to maintain his influence and establish a communist regime in the controlled states.

Thus, Stalin and his political entourage deprived many Eastern European countries of the opportunity to quickly overcome the consequences of the war and went on to further aggravate the conflict. This principle of action became fundamental for the government of the USSR during the Cold War.

"Long telegram"

To a large extent, the aggravation of relations between the USSR and the USA was facilitated by an analysis of the possible prospects for their cooperation, given in 1946 by the American ambassador George F. Kennan in a telegram sent to the country's president. In his lengthy message, called the Long Telegram, the ambassador pointed out that, in his opinion, partnership in resolving international issues should not be expected from the leadership of the USSR, which recognizes only force.

In addition, he emphasized that Stalin and his political environment are full of expansive aspirations and do not believe in the possibility of peaceful coexistence with America. As necessary measures, he proposed a number of actions aimed at containing the USSR within the framework of its sphere of influence that existed at that time.

Transport blockade of West Berlin

Another important stage of the Cold War was the events of 1948 that unfolded around the capital of Germany. The fact is that the US government, in violation of earlier agreements, included West Berlin in the scope of the Marshall Plan. In response to this, the Soviet leadership began its transport blockade, blocking the roads and railways of the Western allies.

The result was a trumped-up accusation against the Soviet Consul General in New York, Yakov Lomakin, of alleged excesses of diplomatic powers and the declaration of persona non grata. As an adequate response, the Soviet government closes its consulates in San Francisco and New York.

Cold War arms race

The bipolarity of the world during the years of the Cold War became the reason for the ever-increasing arms race from year to year, since both warring parties did not exclude the possibility of a final solution to the conflict by military means. At the initial stage, the United States had an advantage in this regard, since already in the second half of the 1940s, nuclear weapons appeared in their arsenal.

Its first use in 1945, which resulted in the destruction of the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, showed the world the monstrous power of this weapon. Then it became obvious that henceforth it was it that could give its owner superiority in resolving any international disputes. In this regard, the United States began to actively increase its reserves.

The USSR did not lag behind them, during the years of the Cold War it also relied on military force and conducted scientific research in this area. After the end of World War II, the intelligence officers of both powers were tasked with detecting and removing all documentation related to nuclear development from the territory of defeated Germany.

Soviet nuclear experts had to be especially in a hurry, because, according to intelligence, in the post-war years, the American command developed a secret plan, code-named "Dropshot", which provided for a nuclear strike on the USSR. There is evidence that some of its options were submitted to President Truman for consideration.

A complete surprise for the American government was the successful test of a nuclear bomb, carried out in 1949 by Soviet specialists at the Semipalatinsk test site. Overseas could not believe that their main ideological opponents in such a short time could become the owners of atomic weapons and thereby establish a balance of power, depriving them of their former advantage.

However, the reality of the fait accompli was beyond doubt. Much later it became known that this success was achieved largely due to the actions of Soviet intelligence operating at the American secret training ground in Los Alamos (New Mexico).

Caribbean crisis

The Cold War, the years of which were not only a period of ideological confrontation, but also a time of armed confrontation in a number of regions of the globe, reached its highest point of exacerbation in 1961. The conflict that broke out that year went down in history as the Caribbean Crisis, which brought the world to the brink of World War III.

Its premise was the deployment by the Americans of their nuclear missiles in Turkey. This gave them the opportunity, if necessary, to strike anywhere in the western part of the USSR, including Moscow. Since in those years the missiles launched from the territory of the Soviet Union could not yet reach the coast of America, the Soviet government responded by placing them in Cuba, which had recently overthrown the pro-American puppet regime of Batista. From this position, even Washington could be hit with a nuclear strike.

Thus, the balance of power was restored, but the American government, not wanting to put up with this, began to prepare an armed invasion of Cuba, where Soviet military facilities were located. As a result, a critical situation has developed in which, if they implemented this plan, a retaliatory nuclear strike would inevitably follow and, as a result, the beginning of a global catastrophe, to which the bipolarity of the world steadily led during the years of the Cold War.

Since such a scenario did not suit either side, the governments of both powers were interested in a compromise solution. Fortunately, at a certain stage, common sense prevailed, and literally on the eve of the American invasion of Cuba, N. S. Khrushchev agreed to comply with Washington’s demands, provided that they did not attack the Island of Freedom and remove nuclear weapons from Turkey. This was the end of the conflict, but the world during the years of the Cold War was more than once placed on the brink of a new clash.

Ideological and information war

The years of the Cold War between the USSR and the USA were marked not only by their rivalry in the field of weapons, but also by a sharp information and ideological struggle. In this regard, it is appropriate to recall Radio Liberty, memorable to the older generation, created in America and broadcasting its programs to the countries of the socialist bloc. Its officially declared goal was the fight against communism and Bolshevism. It does not stop its work even today, despite the fact that the Cold War ended with the collapse of the Soviet Union.

The years of confrontation between the two world systems are characterized by the fact that any major event that took place in the world was inevitably given an ideological coloring. For example, Soviet propaganda presented the first space flight of Yuri Gagarin as evidence of the triumph of the Marxist-Leninist ideology and the victory of the society created on its basis.

Foreign policy of the USSR during the Cold War

As mentioned above, in the field of foreign policy, the actions of the Soviet leadership were aimed at creating states in Eastern Europe organized according to the principle of Stalinist socialism. In this regard, by supporting the people's democratic movements that were emerging everywhere, the government of the USSR made efforts to place pro-Soviet-oriented leaders at the head of these states and thereby keep them under its control.

Such a policy served to create a so-called security sphere near the western borders of the USSR, legally fixed by a number of bilateral agreements with Yugoslavia, Bulgaria, Hungary, Poland, Albania, Romania and Czechoslovakia. The result of these agreements was the creation in 1955 of a military bloc called the Warsaw Pact Organization (OVD).

Its establishment was a response to America's creation in 1949 of the North Atlantic Military Alliance (NATO), which included the United States, Great Britain, Belgium, France, Canada, Portugal, Italy, Denmark, Norway, Iceland, the Netherlands and Luxembourg. Subsequently, several more military blocs were created by Western countries, the most famous of which are SEATO, CENTO and ANZUS.

Thus, a military confrontation was identified, the cause of which was the foreign policy during the years of the Cold War, pursued by the most powerful and influential world powers - the USA and the USSR.

Afterword

After the fall of the communist regime in the USSR and its final collapse, the Cold War ended, the years of which are usually determined by the interval from 1946 to 1991. Despite the fact that tensions between East and West persist to this day, the world has ceased to be bipolar. Gone is the tendency to view any international event in terms of its ideological context. And although hotbeds of tension periodically arise in certain areas of the world, they do not put humanity as close to unleashing the Third World War as it was during the Caribbean crisis of 1961.

Introduction. 2

1. Causes of the Cold War. 3

2. "Cold War": beginning, development. 6

2.1 Beginning of the Cold War.. 6

2.2 Climax of the Cold War.. 8

3. Consequences, results and lessons of the cold war. eleven

3.1 Political, economic and ideological consequences of the cold war.. 11

3.2 Outcomes of the Cold War and whether its outcome was predetermined.. 14

Conclusion. 17

Literature. 19

Introduction

Not only history, but also the attitude towards it, knows sharp turns that mark the qualitative stages of the political, social, and moral development of human society. With a fair degree of reliability, we can say that when civilization steps over power beliefs, everyone will agree that the Cold War - one of the saddest chapters of the 20th century - was the product of primarily human imperfections and ideological prejudices. She might not have been. It would not exist if the actions of people and the actions of states corresponded to their words and declarations.

However, the cold war has descended on mankind. The question arises: why did yesterday's military allies suddenly turn into enemies who are cramped on the same planet? What prompted them to exaggerate the old mistakes and add many new ones to them? This did not fit with common sense, not to mention the allied duty and elementary concepts of decency.

The Cold War did not break out suddenly. She was born in the crucible of the "hot war" and left a very noticeable imprint on the course of the latter. Very many in the United States and England perceived interaction with the USSR in the fight against aggressors as forced, contrary to their attachments and interests, and secretly, and some people clearly dreamed that the battles, which London and Washington had been watching for a long time, would exhaust the forces of Germany as well. and the Soviet Union.

Many did not just dream, but worked out strategies and tactics behind tightly closed doors with the expectation of gaining a “decisive advantage” in the final direct war, when the time came to take stock, and to actively use this advantage against the USSR.

G. Hopkins, an adviser to F. Roosevelt, wrote in 1945 that some people across the ocean "really wanted our (American armies), having passed through Germany, to start a war with Russia after the defeat of Germany." And who knows how things would have turned out in reality if the cards had not been confused by the unfinished war with Japan and the need for help from the Red Army, in order, as it was then calculated, to “save up to a million American lives.”

The relevance of the study is that the Cold War was a sharp confrontation between the two systems on the world stage. It became particularly acute in the late 1940s and 1960s. There was a time when the sharpness subsided somewhat, and then intensified again. The Cold War covered all spheres of international relations: political, economic, military and ideological.

At present, in connection with the deployment of the US anti-missile system and the negative attitude of representatives of a number of countries, including Russia, to this, since the missiles will be located near Russian borders, this topic is becoming especially acute.

Purpose of the work: to consider the "cold war" in Russia, its causes and origins, development.

1. Causes of the Cold War

The prologue of the "cold war" can be attributed even to the final stage of the Second World War. In our opinion, the decision of the leadership of the United States and Britain not to inform the USSR about the work on the creation of atomic weapons played an important role in its origin. To this we can add Churchill's desire to open a second front not in France, but in the Balkans and move not from West to East, but from south to north, in order to block the path of the Red Army. Then, in 1945, there were plans to push the Soviet troops from the center of Europe to the pre-war borders. And finally, in 1946, a speech in Fulton.

In Soviet historiography, it was generally accepted that the Cold War was unleashed by the United States and its allies, and the USSR was forced to take retaliatory, most often adequate, measures. But at the very end of the 1980s and into the 1990s, other approaches emerged in the coverage of the Cold War. Some authors began to argue that it is generally impossible to determine its chronological framework and establish who started it. Others call both sides, the US and the USSR, responsible for the emergence of the Cold War. Some accuse the Soviet Union of foreign policy mistakes that led, if not to a direct unleashing, then to the expansion, aggravation and long-term continuation of the confrontation between the two powers.

The very term "cold war" was coined in 1947 by the US Secretary of State. They began to designate the state of political, economic, ideological and other confrontation between states and systems. One Washington government document of that time states that the "cold war" is a "real war" in which the stake is "the survival of the free world."

What were the causes of the Cold War?

The economic reasons for the change in US policy was that the US had grown immeasurably rich during the war years. With the end of the war, they were threatened by an overproduction crisis. At the same time, the economies of European countries were destroyed, their markets were open to American goods, but there was nothing to pay for these goods. The United States was afraid to invest in the economies of these countries, since the influence of leftist forces was strong there and the environment for investment was unstable.

In the United States, a plan was developed, called the Marshall. European countries were offered assistance to restore the destroyed economy. Loans were given to buy American goods. The proceeds were not exported, but invested in the construction of enterprises in these countries.

The Marshall Plan was accepted by 16 states of Western Europe. The political condition for the assistance was the removal of communists from governments. In 1947, the communists were withdrawn from the governments of Western European countries. Assistance was also offered to Eastern European countries. Poland and Czechoslovakia began negotiations, but under pressure from the USSR, they refused to help. At the same time, the United States tore up the Soviet-American agreement on loans and passed a law prohibiting exports to the USSR.

The ideological basis of the Cold War was the Truman Doctrine, put forward by the President of the United States in 1947. According to this doctrine, the conflict between Western democracy and communism is irreconcilable. The tasks of the United States are the fight against communism throughout the world, "the containment of communism", "the throwing back of communism into the borders of the USSR." American responsibility was proclaimed for the events taking place all over the world, all these events were viewed through the prism of confrontation between communism and Western democracy, the USSR and the USA.

When talking about the origins of the Cold War, many historians believe it is illogical to try to completely whitewash one side and place all the blame on the other. By now, American and British historians have long accepted partial responsibility for what happened after 1945.

In order to understand the origin and essence of the Cold War, let us turn to the events in the history of the Great Patriotic War.

Since June 1941, the Soviet Union fought Nazi Germany in heavy combat. Roosevelt called the Russian front "the biggest support."

The great battle on the Volga, according to the biographer of Roosevelt and his assistant Robert Sherwood, "changed the whole picture of the war and the prospects for the near future." As a result of one battle, Russia became one of the great world powers. The victory of the Russian troops on the Kursk Bulge dispelled all doubts in Washington and London about the outcome of the war. The collapse of Nazi Germany was now only a matter of time.

Accordingly, in the corridors of power in London and Washington, the question arose of whether the anti-Hitler coalition had exhausted itself, was it not time to blow the anti-communist rally?

Thus, already during the course of the war, plans were being considered in some circles in the United States and England, having passed through Germany, to start a war with Russia.

It is widely known that Germany negotiated a separate peace with the Western powers at the end of the war. In Western literature, the Wolf case is often described as the first operation of the Cold War. It can be noted that the “Wolf-Dallas affair” was the largest operation against F. Roosevelt and his course, launched during the life of the president and designed to disrupt the implementation of the Yalta agreements.

Truman succeeded Roosevelt. At a meeting at the White House on April 23, 1945, he questioned the usefulness of any agreements with Moscow. “It needs to be broken now or never…” he said. This refers to Soviet-American cooperation. So Truman's actions crossed out the years of Roosevelt's work, when the foundations of mutual understanding with Soviet leaders were laid.

On April 20, 1945, at a meeting with the American president, in an unacceptable form, he demanded that the USSR change its foreign policy in a spirit pleasing to the United States. Less than a month later, without any explanation, deliveries to the USSR under Lend-Lease were stopped. In September, the United States set unacceptable conditions for the Soviet Union to receive the previously promised loan. As Professor J. Geddis wrote in one of his works, the USSR was demanded that “in exchange for an American loan, it should change its system of government and abandon its sphere of influence in Eastern Europe.”

Thus, contrary to sober thinking, the concept of permissiveness, based on the monopoly possession of atomic weapons, has taken the leading place in politics and strategy.

2. "Cold War": the beginning, development

2.1 Start of the Cold War

So, at the final stage of the war, the rivalry between the two tendencies in the politics of the United States and Britain sharply escalated.

During the Cold War, the use of force or the threat of force became the rule. The desire to establish its dominance, to dictate on the part of the United States began to manifest itself long ago. After the Second World War, the United States used all means to achieve its goal - from negotiations at conferences, in the United Nations to political, economic and even military pressure in Latin America, in Western Europe, and then in the Near, Middle and Far East. The main ideological cover for their foreign policy doctrine was the struggle against communism. Characteristic in this respect were the slogans: "rejection of communism", "politics on the edge of a knife", "balancing on the brink of war".

From document NSS 68, declassified in 1975 and approved in April 1950 by President Truman, it is clear that the United States then decided to build relations with the USSR only on the basis of constant crisis confrontation. One of the main goals in this direction was to achieve US military superiority over the USSR. The goal of American foreign policy was to "accelerate the decay of the Soviet system."

Already in November 1947, the United States began to put into effect a whole system of restrictive and prohibitive measures in the areas of finance and trade, which marked the beginning of the economic war of the West against the East.

During 1948 there was a progressive advancement of mutual claims in the economic, financial, transport and other spheres. But the Soviet Union took a more accommodating position.

American intelligence reported that the USSR was not preparing for war and was not conducting mobilization measures. At the same time, the Americans understood the loss of their operational and strategic position in the center of Europe.

This is evidenced by an entry in the diary of influential US politician William Leahy on June 30, 1948: “The American military situation in Berlin is hopeless, since there are no sufficient forces anywhere and there is no information that the USSR is experiencing inconvenience due to internal weakness. It would be in the US interests to withdraw from Berlin. However, soon the Soviet side agreed to lift the blockade.

Such is the outline of the events that threatened to lead mankind to a third world war in 1948.

2.2 Climax of the Cold War

The years 1949-1950 were the culmination of the Cold War, marked by the signing of the North Atlantic Treaty on April 4, 1949, whose "openly aggressive character" was tirelessly exposed by the USSR, the war in Korea and the rearmament of Germany.

1949 was an "extremely dangerous" year, since the USSR no longer doubted that the Americans would remain in Europe for a long time. But it also brought satisfaction to the Soviet leaders: the successful test of the first Soviet atomic bomb in September 1949 and the victory of the Chinese Communists.

The strategic military plans of that time reflected the national interests and capabilities of the country, the realities of that time. Thus, the national defense plan for 1947 set the following tasks for the Armed Forces:

ü To ensure a reliable repulse of aggression and the integrity of the borders in the west and east, established by international treaties after the Second World War.

ü To be ready to repulse an enemy air attack, including with the use of atomic weapons.

ü The Navy must repulse possible aggression from the maritime sectors and provide support for the actions of the ground forces for this purpose.

Soviet foreign policy decisions during the period of the Cold War's emergence were mainly of a reciprocal nature and were determined by the logic of struggle, not the logic of cooperation.

In contrast to its policy pursued in other regions of the world, in the Far East of the USSR, since 1945, it acted with extreme caution. The entry of the Red Army into the war with Japan in August 1945 allowed him to restore in this region the positions lost in 1905 by the tsarist empire. On August 15, 1945, Chiang Kai-shek agreed to the Soviet presence in Port Arthur, Dairen and Manchuria. With Soviet support, Manchuria became an autonomous communist state headed by Gao Gang, who apparently had close ties to Stalin. At the end of 1945, the latter called on the Chinese Communists to find a common language with Chiang Kai-shek. This position has been confirmed several times over the years.

The fact that, starting from the summer of 1947, the political and military situation changed in favor of the Chinese Communists did not generally change the reserved attitude of the Soviet leadership towards the Chinese Communists, who were not invited to the meeting dedicated to the founding of the Comintern.

The enthusiasm of the USSR about the "Chinese brothers in arms" manifested itself only after the final victory of Mao Zedong. On November 23, 1949, the USSR established diplomatic relations with Beijing. One of the main factors in the agreement was the general hostility towards the US. That this was the case was openly confirmed a few weeks later, when the Security Council refused to expel Nationalist China from the UN, the USSR withdrew from all its bodies (until August 1950).

It was thanks to the absence of the USSR that the Security Council was able on June 27, 1950 to adopt a resolution on the introduction of American wax into Korea, where the North Koreans had crossed the 38th parallel two days earlier.

According to some modern versions, Stalin pushed North Korea to this step, who did not believe in the possibility of retaliatory actions by the United States after they “abandoned” Chiang Kai-shek and wanted to compete with Mao in the Far East. Nevertheless, when China, in turn, entered the war on the side of North Korea, the USSR, having come across a firm position from the United States, tried to maintain the local nature of the conflict.

To a greater extent than the conflict in Korea, the "headache" of Soviet foreign policy in the early 1950s was the question of the integration of the FRG into the Western political system and its rearmament. On October 23, 1950, the foreign ministers of the Eastern European camp, who gathered in Prague, proposed signing a peace treaty with Germany, providing for its demilitarization and the withdrawal of all foreign troops from it. In December, the Western countries agreed to a meeting, but demanded that it discuss all the problems on which the confrontation between the West and the East took place.

In September 1951, the US Congress passed the Mutual Security Act, which granted the right to finance emigrant anti-Soviet and counter-revolutionary organizations. On its basis, significant funds were allocated for the recruitment of persons living in the Soviet Union and other countries of Eastern Europe, and payment for their subversive activities.

Speaking of the "cold war" one cannot but touch upon the topic of conflicts that can escalate into a nuclear war. Historical analyzes of the causes and course of crises during the Cold War leave much to be desired.

So far, there are three well-documented cases in which American policy has taken a course for war. In each of them, Washington knowingly risked nuclear war: during the Korean War; in the conflict over the Chinese islands of Kuemoi and Matsu; in the Cuban crisis.

The Caribbean crisis of 1962 convincingly testified that the nuclear missile arsenals of both powers were not only sufficient, but also excessive for mutual destruction, that a further quantitative increase in nuclear potential could not give advantages to either country.

Thus, already in the early 60s, it became obvious that even in the conditions of the Cold War, only compromises, mutual concessions, understanding of each other's interests and the global interests of all mankind, diplomatic negotiations, the exchange of truthful information, the adoption of emergency rescue measures against the emergence of the immediate threat of nuclear war are in our time effective means of conflict resolution. This is the main lesson of the Caribbean crisis.

Being a product of the psychology of the Cold War, it clearly showed the vital need to discard the categories of the old thinking and adopt a new way of thinking, adequate to the threats of the nuclear missile age, global interdependence, the interests of survival and universal security. The Caribbean crisis ended, as you know, in a compromise, the USSR removed Soviet ballistic missiles and Il-28 medium-range bombers from Cuba. In response, the United States gave guarantees of non-interference in the affairs of Cuba and removed the Jupiter missiles from Turkey, and then from Great Britain and Italy. However, militaristic thinking was far from outlived, continuing to dominate politics.

In September 1970, the London International Institute for Strategic Studies announced that the USSR was approaching nuclear parity with the United States. On February 25, 1971, Americans heard President Nixon say on the radio: "Today, neither the United States nor the Soviet Union has a clear nuclear advantage."

In October of the same year, preparing for the Soviet-American summit, he said at a press conference: “If there is a new war, if there is a war between superpowers, then no one will win. That is why the moment has come to resolve our differences, to resolve them taking into account our differences of opinion, recognizing that they are still very deep, recognizing, however, that at the moment there is no alternative to negotiations.

Thus, the recognition of the realities of the nuclear age led in the early 1970s to a revision of policy, to a turn from the Cold War to detente, to cooperation between states with different social systems.

3. Consequences, results and lessons of the cold war

3.1 Political, economic and ideological consequences of the Cold War

The United States constantly sought to preempt the USSR and be the initiators both in politics and in the economy and, especially, in military affairs. First, they rushed to use their advantage, which consisted in the possession of an atomic bomb, then in the development of new types of military equipment and weapons, thereby pushing the Soviet Union to prompt adequate action. Their main goal was to weaken the USSR, to break it up, to tear its allies away from it. By drawing the USSR into the arms race, the United States thus forced it to strengthen the army at the expense of funds intended for internal development, for improving the well-being of the people.

In recent years, some historians have accused the Soviet Union of adopting and implementing measures that allegedly helped the United States pursue its policy of confrontation, to intensify the Cold War. However, the facts say otherwise. The United States, together with the Western allies, began to carry out its special line from Germany. In the spring of 1947, at a session of the Ministerial Council, representatives of the United States, Britain and France announced their rejection of the decisions previously agreed with the Soviet Union. With their unilateral actions, they put the eastern zone of occupation in a difficult situation and consolidated the split of Germany. By carrying out a currency reform in the three western zones in June 1948, the three powers actually provoked the Berlin crisis, forcing the Soviet occupation authorities to protect the eastern zone from currency fraud and protect its economy and monetary system. For these purposes, a system of checking citizens arriving from West Germany was introduced and the movement of any transport was prohibited in case of refusal to check. The Western occupation authorities forbade the population of the western part of the city from accepting any aid from East Germany and organized the supply of West Berlin by air, while at the same time intensifying anti-Soviet propaganda. Later, such an informed person as J. F. Dulles spoke about the use of the Berlin crisis by Western propaganda.

In line with the Cold War, the Western powers carried out such foreign policy actions as the split of Germany into two states, the creation of a Western military alliance and the signing of the North Atlantic Pact, which was already mentioned above.

This was followed by the creation of military blocs and alliances in different parts of the world under the pretext of ensuring mutual security.

In September 1951, the USA, Australia and New Zealand create a military-political union (ANZUS).

On May 26, 1952, representatives of the USA, England and France, on the one hand, and the FRG, on the other, sign in Bonn a document on the participation of West Germany in the European Defense Community (EOC), and on May 27, the FRG, France, Italy, Belgium, Holland and Luxembourg conclude an agreement in Paris on the creation of this bloc.

In September 1954, in Manila, the United States, England, France, Australia, New Zealand, Pakistan, the Philippines and Thailand sign the Southeast Asia Collective Defense Treaty (SEATO).

In October 1954, the Paris Agreements were signed on the remilitarization of the FRG and its inclusion in the Western Union and NATO. They come into force in May 1955.

In February 1955, a Turkish-Iraqi military alliance (the Baghdad Pact) was created.

The actions of the US and its allies demanded retaliatory measures. On May 14, 1955, a collective defensive alliance of socialist states was formalized - the Warsaw Pact Organization. This was a response to the creation of the NATO military bloc and the inclusion of the FRG in it. The Warsaw Treaty of Friendship, Cooperation and Mutual Assistance was signed by Albania, Bulgaria, Hungary, East Germany, Poland, Romania, the USSR and Czechoslovakia. It was exclusively defensive in nature and was not directed against anyone. Its task was to protect the socialist gains and the peaceful labor of the peoples of the countries participating in the treaty.

In the event of the creation of a system of collective security in Europe, the Warsaw Pact was to lose its force from the date of entry into force of the all-European treaty.

To make it difficult for the Soviet Union to resolve issues of post-war development, the United States imposed a ban on economic ties and trade with the USSR and the countries of Central and South-Eastern Europe. The delivery to these countries of even previously ordered and already finished equipment, vehicles and various materials was interrupted. A list of items prohibited for export to the USSR and other countries of the socialist camp was specially adopted. This created certain difficulties for the USSR, but also caused serious damage to the industrial enterprises of the West.

In September 1951, the American government annulled the trade agreement that had existed since 1937 with the USSR. Adopted at the beginning of January 1952, the second list of goods prohibited for export to the socialist countries was so wide that it included goods from almost all branches of industry.

3.2 Outcomes of the Cold War and whether its outcome was predetermined

What was the Cold War for us, what are its results and lessons from the point of view of the changes that have taken place in the world?

It is hardly legitimate to characterize the Cold War in unilateral terms, either as another conflict in human history or as a lasting peace. J. Gaddis adhered to this point of view. Apparently, this historical phenomenon carried the features of both.

In this regard, I agree with Academician G. Arbatov, who believes that the antagonisms and instability generated by the Second World War carried the same possibility of a military conflict as those that developed after the First World War.

In any case, both the Berlin Crisis of 1953 and, especially, the Caribbean Missile Crisis of October 1962 could well have culminated in a third world war. A general military conflict did not arise only due to the "dissuasive" role of nuclear weapons.

Political scientists and ideologists around the world have tried many times to clearly define the concept of the Cold War and identify its most characteristic features. From the position of today, in conditions when the Cold War has become a thing of the past, it is quite obvious that it was primarily a political course of the confronting parties, pursued from a position of strength on a peculiar ideological basis.

In the economy and trade, this manifested itself in blocs and discriminatory measures against each other. In propaganda activities - in the formation of the "image of the enemy." The goal of such a policy in the West was to contain the spread of communism, to protect the "free world" from it. In the East, the goal of such a policy was also seen in the protection of peoples, but from the "pernicious influence of the decaying Western world."

Now it is futile to look for the fault of any one of the parties as the main cause of the Cold War. Quite obviously, there was a general "blindness", in which instead of political dialogue, preference was given to confrontation between the leading states of the world - the USSR and the USA.

The transition to confrontation happened imperceptibly quickly. Another circumstance of exceptional importance was the fact that nuclear weapons appeared on the world stage.

The Cold War, as a whole complex of phenomena, had a huge impact on the general growth of tension in the world, on the increase in the number, scale and bitterness of local conflicts. There is no doubt that without the established climate of the Cold War, many crises in various regions of the planet would certainly have been able to be extinguished by the concerted efforts of the world community.

Speaking about the peculiarities of the Cold War, it should be said that in our country for a long time everything that was connected with nuclear weapons was anathematized. Supposedly for moral reasons. Again, the question arises of what prevented the development of an armed conflict, when the world was literally on the verge of war?

It is, in my opinion, the fear of total annihilation, which has sobered up politicians, reoriented public opinion, and made us remember eternal moral values.

The fear of mutual destruction has led to the fact that international politics has ceased to be exclusively "the art of diplomats and soldiers." New subjects actively joined in it - scientists, transnational corporations, mass media, public organizations and movements, individuals. They all brought their own interests, beliefs, and goals to it, including those based solely on moral considerations.

So who won this war?

Now, after the passage of time, which put everything in its place, it became clear that the winner was humanity as a whole, since the main result of the Caribbean crisis, as well as the Cold War as a whole, was an unprecedented strengthening of the moral factor in world politics.

Most researchers note the exceptional role of ideology in the Cold War.

In this case, the words spoken by General de Gaulle are true: “since the birth of the world, the banner of ideology has, it seems, covered nothing but human ambitions.” A country that proclaimed itself the bearer of universal moral values ​​unceremoniously discarded morality when it came to its own interests or the ability to win even one point in the political struggle with the enemy.

The question is legitimate: if the policy of the West in post-war history was based not on momentary state interests, but solely on the principles proclaimed in international law, in democratic constitutions, and finally in biblical commandments, if the demands of morality were addressed primarily to themselves, - would there be an arms race and local wars? There is no answer to this question yet, since humanity has not yet accumulated the experience of a policy based on moral principles.

At present, the "triumph" of the United States, won by them in the short term, now seems to the Americans to be something completely different, maybe even a defeat in the long term.

As for the other side, having suffered a defeat in the short term, the Soviet Union, or rather, its heirs, by no means deprived themselves of chances in the long term. Reforms and changes in Russia give her a unique opportunity to answer the questions facing civilization as a whole. The chance that Russia gave to the world today, having saved it from an exhausting arms race and a class approach, it seems to me, can be qualified as a moral achievement. And in this regard, I agree with the authors of the article “Were there any winners in the Cold War” B. Martynov.

This circumstance is also noted by many foreign politicians.

I believe that its outcome was predetermined, since a military balance had developed in the world and in the event of a nuclear threat there would have been no survivors.

Conclusion

The Cold War, quite naturally, became a kind of fusion of the traditional, forceful confrontation not only between two military blocs, but also between two ideological concepts. Moreover, the struggle around moral values ​​was of a secondary, auxiliary nature. A new conflict was avoided only thanks to the presence of nuclear weapons.

Fear of mutually assured destruction, on the one hand, has become a catalyst for moral progress in the world (the problem of human rights, ecology), and on the other hand, the cause of the economic and political collapse of the society of so-called real socialism (the unbearable burden of the arms race).

As history shows, not a single socio-economic model, no matter how economically effective it is, has a historical perspective, if it is not based on any firm moral postulates, if the meaning of its existence is not oriented towards the achievement of universal humanistic ideals.

The triumph of moral values ​​in politics and in the life of society can become the common victory of mankind as a result of the Cold War. Russia's contribution to achieving this goal determined its position in the world in the long term.

The end of the Cold War should not, however, lull the peoples and governments of the two great states, as well as the entire population. The main task of all healthy, realistically thinking forces of society is to prevent a second return to it. This is also relevant in our time, because, as noted, a confrontation is possible due to the deployment of a missile defense system, as well as in connection with the conflicts that have recently arisen between Russia and Georgia, Russia and Estonia, the former Soviet republics.

Refusal of confrontation of thinking, cooperation, mutual consideration of interests and security - such is the general line in relations between countries and peoples living in the nuclear missile era.

The years of the Cold War give grounds for the conclusion that, in opposing communism and revolutionary movements, the United States first of all fought against the Soviet Union, as the country that represented the greatest obstacle in realizing their main goal - establishing their dominance over the world.

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The Cold War is a global military, geopolitical and economic confrontation between the Soviet Union and supported by various allies from all sides. This confrontation continued for almost fifty years (from 1946 to 1991).

The Cold War was not a military battle in the truest sense. The basis for the disputes was the ideology of the two most powerful states on the planet at that time. Scientists characterize this confrontation as a very deep contradiction between the socialist and capitalist systems. It is symbolic that the Cold War began immediately after the end of World War II, as a result of which both countries remained victorious. And since devastation prevailed in the world at that time, ideal conditions were created for planting many territories by their people. But, unfortunately, the United States and the USSR at that time disagreed in their opinions, so each side wanted to get ahead of the rival and make sure that on a vast territory where people did not know what to believe in and how to live, as soon as possible to implant their ideology. As a consequence, the people of the losing states will trust the winning country and enrich it at the expense of their human and natural resources.

This confrontation is divided into stages of the Cold War, among which are the following:

Beginning (1946-1953). This stage can be characterized as attempts by the USSR and the USA to hold the first events in Europe that would be aimed at imposing their ideology. As a result, since 1948, the possibility of starting a new war has hung over the world, so both states began to rapidly prepare for new battles.

On the verge (1953-1962). During this period, relations between the opponents improved slightly and they even began to make friendly visits to each other. But at this time, the European states, one by one, start revolutions in order to independently lead their country. The USSR, in order to eliminate the indignation, actively began the bombing of the outbreak of conflicts. The United States could not allow such liberties to the enemy and began to set up their air defense system themselves. As a result, the relationship deteriorated again.

Stage of detente (1962-1979). During this period, more conservative rulers came to power in the warring countries, who were not particularly willing to conduct an active confrontation, which could well lead to war.

A new round of confrontation (1979-1987). The next stage began after the Soviet Union sent troops to Afghanistan and several times shot down foreign civilian aircraft that flew over the state. These aggressive actions provoked the United States to deploy its forces on the territory of several European countries, which naturally pissed off the USSR.

Gorbachev's coming to power and the end of the confrontation (1987-1991). The new one did not want to continue the struggle for ideology in other European countries. Moreover, his policy was aimed at eliminating the communist government, which was the ancestor of political and economic repressions towards the United States.

The end of the Cold War was marked by the fact that he made great concessions and did not particularly claim power in Europe, especially since the defeated countries had already moved away from devastation and began independent development. The USSR began to experience a deep crisis, which led to the final one in December 1991. Thus, the Cold War did not bring a positive result to our state, but became one of the elements that led to the collapse of a great state.

The aggravation of relations between the former allies in the anti-Hitler coalition led to a split in the world into two opposing military bloc systems. This confrontation, which lasted for more than four decades, not only determined the state of international relations, but also had a direct impact on the nature of the socio-economic and socio-political development of most countries of the world.

From the point of view of the objective interests of peoples and states, the Cold War was not beneficial to anyone. Most of Europe lay in ruins, the restoration of its economy, as well as the national economy of the USSR, required conditions for peace and cooperation. The only power that gained strength during the war years was the United States. The national income of this country increased from $64 billion in 1938 to $160 billion in 1944. The United States accounted for 60% of world industrial production, up to 80% of the world's gold reserves. But the United States also did not gain anything from breaking relations of cooperation with the USSR. The United States could prevent a decline in production after the curtailment of military orders only with the full implementation of the principle of free trade, which was impossible in the conditions of the Cold War.

The post-war world and the causes of the Cold War. The transition from cooperation between the former allies in the anti-fascist coalition to confrontation between them did not happen immediately.

The most important reason for the aggravation of relations between the USSR and the USA was the lack of mutual trust. For I.V. Stalin, especially after the German attack on the USSR, was characterized by extreme suspicion of the intentions of the leaders of foreign states. This suspicion was supported by the theoretical conclusions of the 1920s and 1930s. about the inevitability of fascisation of the bourgeois democracies.

The leadership of the USSR sought to surround its territory with a belt of friendly states controlled by the communists. This was perceived in the United States and Great Britain as an aggressive policy that violated the principle of the freedom of peoples to choose their own path of development. The leaders of the Western countries believed that the successes of the communists could not be the product of the free expression of their will by the peoples, especially in countries where Soviet troops were stationed. From the point of view of the leadership of the USSR, on the contrary, any other choice, except in favor of the communist parties, could only be the product of dictate, external influence.

In the autumn of 1945, the Soviet Union reacted extremely negatively to the demands of Western diplomacy to change the composition of the governments of Bulgaria and Romania on the grounds that only communists were represented in them. Moscow considered that the West intended to restore the barrier of states unfriendly to the USSR, separating it from Western Europe, capable of becoming a springboard for an attack on it.

March 5, 1946 is often considered the formal start of the Cold War, when Winston Churchill(at that time no longer holding the post of Prime Minister of Great Britain) delivered his famous speech in Fulton (USA-Missouri), in which he put forward the idea of ​​​​creating a military alliance of the Anglo-Saxon countries in order to fight world communism. In fact, the aggravation of relations between the allies began earlier, but by March 1946 it intensified due to the USSR's refusal to withdraw the occupying troops from Iran (the troops were withdrawn only in May 1946 under pressure from Great Britain and the United States).

Manifestations of the Cold War

Acute political and ideological confrontation between the communist and Western liberal systems, which engulfed almost the entire world;

Creation of a system of military (NATO, Warsaw Pact Organization, SEATO, CENTO, ANZUS, ANZUK) and economic (EEC, CMEA, ASEAN, etc.) unions;

Creation of an extensive network of military bases of the USA and the USSR on the territory of foreign states;

Forcing the arms race and military preparations;

A sharp increase in military spending;

Periodically emerging international crises (Berlin crises, Caribbean crisis, Korean War, Vietnam War, Afghan War);

The unspoken division of the world into “spheres of influence” of the Soviet and Western blocs, within which the possibility of intervention was tacitly allowed in order to maintain a regime that was pleasing to one or another bloc (Soviet intervention in Hungary, Soviet intervention in Czechoslovakia, the American operation in Guatemala, the overthrow of the anti-Western organized by the United States and Great Britain). government in Iran, US-sponsored invasion of Cuba, US intervention in the Dominican Republic, US intervention in Grenada)

The rise of the national liberation movement in colonial and dependent countries and territories (partly inspired by the USSR), the decolonization of these countries, the formation of the "third world", the Non-Aligned Movement, neo-colonialism;

Conducting a massive "psychological war", the purpose of which was to promote their own ideology and way of life, as well as to discredit the official ideology and way of life of the opposite bloc in the eyes of the population of "enemy" countries and the "third world". For this purpose, radio stations were created that broadcast to the territory of the countries of the “ideological enemy” (see the articles Enemy Voices and Foreign Broadcasting), the release of ideologically directed literature and periodicals in foreign languages ​​was financed, and class, racial, national contradictions were actively used. First main control e KGB of the USSR carried out so-called "active measures" - operations to influence foreign public opinion and the policy of foreign states in the interests of the USSR.

Support for anti-government forces abroad - The USSR and its allies provided material support to communist parties and some other leftist parties in Western and developing countries, as well as national liberation movements, including terrorist organizations. Also, the USSR and its allies supported the movement for peace in the countries of the West. In turn, the US and British intelligence agencies supported and took advantage of such anti-Soviet organizations as the People's Labor Union. Since 1982, the United States has also secretly provided material assistance to Solidarity in Poland, and also provided material assistance to the Afghan Mujahideen and the Contras in Nicaragua.

Reduction of economic and humanitarian ties between states with different socio-political systems.

Boycotts of some Olympic Games. For example, the United States and a number of other countries boycotted the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow. In response, the USSR and most socialist countries boycotted the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles.