Preconditions for the start of the Cold War. Cold War: years, essence

In the second half of the twentieth century, a confrontation between the two strongest powers of their time unfolded on the world political stage: the USA and the USSR. In 1960-80 it reached its climax and was defined as the “Cold War”. The struggle for influence in all spheres, spy wars, the arms race, the expansion of “their” regimes are the main signs of the relationship between the two superpowers.

Prerequisites for the emergence of the Cold War

After the end of World War II, two countries turned out to be the most powerful politically and economically: the United States and the Soviet Union. Each of them had great influence in the world, and sought in every possible way to strengthen its leadership position.

In the eyes of the world community, the USSR was losing its usual image of an enemy. Many European countries, devastated after the war, began to show increased interest in the experience of rapid industrialization in the USSR. Socialism began to attract millions of people as a means of overcoming devastation.

In addition, the influence of the USSR significantly expanded to the countries of Asia and Eastern Europe, where communist parties came to power.

Concerned by such a rapid growth in the popularity of the Soviets, the Western world began to take decisive action. In 1946, in the American city of Fulton, former British Prime Minister Winston Churchill delivered his famous speech in which he accused the Soviet Union of aggressive expansion to the whole world and called on the entire Anglo-Saxon world to rebuff it decisively.

Rice. 1. Churchill's speech in Fulton.

The Truman Doctrine, which he introduced in 1947, further worsened the USSR's relations with its former allies.
This position assumed:

• Providing economic assistance to European powers.
• Formation of a military-political bloc under the leadership of the United States.
• Placement of American military bases along the border with the Soviet Union.
• Support for opposition forces in Eastern European countries..
• Use of nuclear weapons.

Churchill's Fulton speech and the Truman Doctrine were perceived by the USSR government as a threat and a kind of declaration of war.

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Main stages of the Cold War

1946-1991 - the years of the beginning and end of the Cold War. During this period, conflicts between the USA and the USSR either died down or flared up with renewed vigor.

The confrontation between countries was not conducted openly, but with the help of political, ideological and economic levers of influence. Despite the fact that the confrontation between the two powers did not result in a “hot” war, they still took part on opposite sides of the barricades in local military conflicts.

• Cuban Missile Crisis (1962). During the Cuban Revolution in 1959, power in the state was seized by pro-Soviet forces led by Fidel Castro. Fearing aggression from a new neighbor, US President Kennedy placed nuclear missiles in Turkey, on the border with the USSR. In response to these actions, Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev ordered the stationing of missiles in Cuba. A nuclear war could start at any moment, but as a result of the agreement, weapons were removed from the border regions of both sides.

Rice. 2. Caribbean crisis.

Realizing how dangerous manipulation of nuclear weapons is, in 1963 the USSR, USA and Great Britain signed the Treaty Banning Nuclear Weapon Tests in the Atmosphere, in Space and Underwater. Subsequently, a new Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons was also signed.

• Berlin crisis (1961). At the end of World War II, Berlin was divided into two parts: the eastern part belonged to the USSR, the western part was controlled by the United States. The confrontation between the two countries grew more and more, and the threat of the Third World War became more and more tangible. On August 13, 1961, the so-called “Berlin Wall” was erected, dividing the city into two parts. This date can be called the apogee and the beginning of the decline of the Cold War between the USSR and the USA.

Rice. 3. Berlin Wall.

• Vietnam War (1965). The United States started the war in Vietnam, divided into two camps: North Vietnam supported socialism, and South Vietnam supported capitalism. The USSR secretly participated in the military conflict, supporting the northerners in every possible way. However, this war caused an unprecedented resonance in society, in particular in America, and after numerous protests and demonstrations it was stopped.

Consequences of the Cold War

Relations between the USSR and the USA continued to be ambiguous, and conflict situations flared up between the countries more than once. However, in the second half of the 1980s, when Gorbachev was in power in the USSR and Reagan ruled the USA, the Cold War gradually came to an end. Its final completion occurred in 1991, along with the collapse of the Soviet Union.

The Cold War period was very acute not only for the USSR and the USA. The threat of a Third World War using nuclear weapons, the split of the world into two opposing camps, the arms race, and rivalry in all spheres of life kept all of humanity in suspense for several decades.

What have we learned?

When studying the topic “Cold War”, we became acquainted with the concept of “cold war”, found out which countries found themselves in confrontation with each other, what events became the reasons for its development. We also examined the main features and stages of development, learned briefly about the Cold War, found out when it ended and what impact it had on the world community.

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Cold War USSR USA

capitalist And socialist

Manifestations of the Cold War:

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· forcing ;

· periodically occurring international crises

· interventions

· conducting massive "psychological warfare"

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Result:

Beginning of the Arab-Israeli conflict

In 1947, the UN decided to create Jewish and Arab states - Israel and Palestine - in Palestine, a British mandate territory. This decision was caused by the fact that the Jews did not have a national state until that time, as well as the mass extermination of Jews by the Nazis during the Second World War. But the neighboring Arab states, which sought to take possession of the entire territory of Palestine, accepted the UN decision with hostility. As soon as the creation of Israel was proclaimed (May 1948), it was attacked by the armies of seven Arab states. In response, Jewish volunteers from many countries rushed to Israel, and the USSR and Czechoslovakia provided him with weapons, since Stalin in those years hoped that the new country would develop along a socialist path.

As a result of the first Arab-Israeli war, Israel defended its independence. According to the truce concluded with the Arabs (1949), a significant part of the never-created Palestinian state became part of it, and the remaining territories went to Jordan and Egypt. But the Palestinian issue remained unresolved, becoming a point of contention between Israel and the surrounding Arab states for many years.

Question No. 82. Successes and contradictions in the development of Western countries at the end of the 20th century and the beginning of the 21st century

Question No. 69. Cold War: causes, manifestations, consequences

After the end of the Second World War, which became the largest and most brutal conflict in the entire history of mankind, a confrontation arose between the countries of the communist camp on the one hand and Western capitalist countries on the other, between the two superpowers of that time, the USSR and the USA. The Cold War can be briefly described as a competition for dominance in the new post-war world.

Cold War- global geopolitical, military, economic and ideological confrontation between USSR and his allies, on the one hand, and USA and their allies - on the other, lasted from 1946 to 1991 (45 years).

The name “war” is arbitrary, since this confrontation was not a war in the literal sense . One of the main components of the confrontation was ideology. The deep contradiction between capitalist And socialist models is the main cause of the Cold War. The two superpowers tried to rebuild the world according to their ideological principles. Over time, confrontation became an element of the ideology of the two sides and helped the leaders of military-political blocs consolidate allies around them “in the face of an external enemy.” The new confrontation required the unity of all members of the opposing blocs.

The USA and the USSR created their spheres of influence, securing them with military-political blocs - NATO and Warsaw Pact (Warsaw Pact Organization). Although the United States and the USSR did not engage in direct military conflict, their competition for influence often led to the outbreak of local armed conflicts around the world.

The Cold War was accompanied by a conventional and nuclear arms race that continually threatened to lead to a third world war. The most famous of such cases when the world found itself on the brink of disaster was the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962. In this regard, in the 1970s, the USSR made efforts to “détente” international tensions and limit arms.

In Eastern Europe, communist governments, having lost Soviet support, were removed even earlier, in 1989-1990. The Warsaw Pact officially ended on July 1, 1989, which can be considered the end of the Cold War.

Manifestations of the Cold War:

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

· forcing arms race and military preparations;

· periodically occurring international crises(Berlin crises, Cuban missile crisis, Korean War, Vietnam War, Afghan War);

· interventions into states of pro-Soviet and pro-capitalist space (“division of the world”), with the goal of overthrowing this or that government under any pretext, and demonstrating their military superiority (Soviet intervention in Hungary, Soviet intervention in Czechoslovakia, US-organized coup in Guatemala, organized US and UK overthrow of the anti-Western government in Iran, US-organized invasion of Cuba, American occupation of the Dominican Republic, American intervention in Grenada, Civil War in the Congo);

· conducting massive "psychological warfare" the purpose of which was to promote its own ideology and way of life. For this purpose, radio stations were created that broadcast to the territory of the countries of the “ideological enemy”), the production of ideologically oriented literature in one’s own country was financed (for example, in the USA, books were published about the possibility of war with the USSR and an assessment was made of NATO forces and the Department of Internal Affairs) and periodicals in foreign languages, Intensification of class, racial, and national contradictions was actively used. The first main directorate of the KGB of the USSR carried out so-called “active measures” - operations to influence foreign public opinion and the policies of foreign states in the interests of the USSR.

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

· boycotts of some Olympic Games. For example, the USA 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.

At the beginning of 1992, the President of Russia announced that nuclear missiles had been retargeted from US and other Western countries to uninhabited territories of the Earth, and the joint declaration of Russia and the United States, signed on February 1, 1992 at Camp David, officially ended the Cold War.

Result:

Victory of the capitalist camp, collapse of the USSR, termination of the Warsaw Pact, collapse of the CMEA, reunification of Germany.

The Cold War is a period of confrontation between the USSR and the USA. The peculiarity of this conflict is that it took place without a direct military clash between the opponents. The reasons for the Cold War lay in ideological and ideological differences.

She seemed to be “peaceful”. There were even diplomatic relations between the parties. But there was a quiet rivalry going on. It affected all areas - the presentation of films, literature, the creation of new weapons, and economics.

It is believed that the USSR and the USA were in a state of Cold War from 1946 to 1991. This means that the confrontation began immediately after the end of World War II and ended with the collapse of the Soviet Union. All these years, each country sought to defeat the other - this is what the presentation of both states looked like to the world.

Both the USSR and America sought to gain support from other states. The States enjoyed sympathy from Western European countries. The Soviet Union was popular among Latin American and Asian states.

The Cold War divided the world into two camps. Only a few remained neutral (possibly three countries, including Switzerland). However, some even identify three sides, meaning China.

Political map of the Cold War world
Political map of Europe during the Cold War

The most acute moments in this period were the Caribbean and Berlin crises. Since their beginning, political processes in the world have deteriorated significantly. The world was even threatened with nuclear war, which was barely avoided.

One of the features of the confrontation is the desire of the superpowers to surpass each other in various fields, including military technologies and weapons of mass destruction. This was called the “arms race.” There was also competition in the field of propaganda in the media, science, sports, and culture.

In addition, it is worth mentioning the total espionage of the two states against each other. In addition, many conflicts took place on the territories of other countries. For example, the United States installed missiles in Turkey and Western European countries, and the USSR installed missiles in Latin American countries.

Progress of the conflict

The competition between the USSR and America could escalate into the Third World War. Three world wars in one century are hard to imagine, but it could happen many times. Let's list the main stages and milestones of the rivalry - below is the table:

In the 1980s, the Soviet Union began perestroika, and in 1991 it collapsed. As a result, the entire socialist system was defeated. This is what the end of a long-term confrontation that affected all countries of the world looked like.

Reasons for rivalry

When World War II ended, the USSR and America felt like winners. The question arose about a new world order. At the same time, the political and economic systems and ideologies of both states were opposite.

The US doctrine was to “save” the world from the Soviet Union and communism, and the Soviet side sought to build communism throughout the globe. These were the main preconditions for the conflict.

Many experts consider this conflict to be artificial. It’s just that every ideology needed an enemy – both America and the Soviet Union. It is interesting that both sides were afraid of the mythical “Russian/American enemies”, while seemingly having nothing against the population of the enemy country.

The culprits of the conflict can be called the ambitions of leaders and ideologies. It took place in the form of the emergence of local wars - “hot spots”. Let's list some of them.

Korean War (1950-1953)

The story began with the liberation of the Korean Peninsula by the Red Army and the American military from Japanese armed forces. Korea has already been divided into two parts - this is how the preconditions for future events arose.

In the northern part of the country, power was in the hands of the communists, and in the southern part - in the hands of the military. The first were a pro-Soviet force, the second - pro-American. However, in fact there were three interested parties - China gradually intervened in the situation.

Damaged tank
Soldiers in the trenches
Evacuation of the squad

Shooting training
Korean boy on the “road of death”
City defense

Two republics were formed. The communist state became known as the DPRK (in full - the Democratic People's Republic of Korea), and the military founded the Republic of Korea. At the same time, there were thoughts about unifying the country.

The year 1950 was marked by the arrival of Kim Il Sung (leader of the DPRK) to Moscow, where he was promised support from the Soviet government. Chinese leader Mao Zedong also believed that South Korea should be annexed militarily.

Kim Il Sung - leader of North Korea

As a result, on June 25 of the same year, the DPRK army marched on South Korea. Within three days she managed to take Seoul, the South Korean capital. After this, the offensive operation proceeded more slowly, although in September the North Koreans almost completely controlled the peninsula.

However, the final victory did not take place. The United Nations Security Council voted to send international troops to South Korea. The decision was implemented in September, when the Americans arrived on the Korean Peninsula.

It was they who launched the strongest offensive from the territories that were still controlled by the army of Syngman Rhee, the leader of South Korea. At the same time, troops landed on the West Coast. The American military took Seoul and even crossed the 38th parallel, advancing on the DPRK.

Syngman Rhee - leader of South Korea

North Korea was threatened with defeat, but China helped it. His government sent “people's volunteers,” i.e. soldiers, to help the DPRK. A million Chinese troops began to fight with the Americans - this led to the alignment of the front along the original borders (38 parallels).

The war lasted three years. In 1950, several Soviet air divisions came to the aid of the DPRK. It is worth saying that American technology was more powerful than Chinese - the Chinese suffered heavy losses.

The truce came after three years of war - 07/27/1953. As a result, Kim Il Sung, the “great leader,” continued to lead North Korea. The plan for dividing the country after World War II still remains in force, and Korea is led by the grandson of the then leader, Kim Jong-un.

Berlin Wall (13 August 1961 – 9 November 1989)

A decade after the end of World War II, Europe was finally divided between West and East. But there was no clear line of conflict dividing Europe. Berlin was something of an open “window”.

The city was divided into two halves. East Berlin was part of the GDR, and West Berlin was part of the Federal Republic of Germany. Capitalism and socialism coexisted in the city.

Scheme of the division of Berlin by the Berlin Wall

To change the formation it was enough to move to the next street. Every day up to half a million people walked between West and East Berlin. It happened that East Germans preferred to move to the western part.

The East German authorities were concerned about the situation, and the “Iron Curtain” should have been closed due to the spirit of the era. The decision to close the borders was made in the summer of 1961 - the plan was drawn up by the Soviet Union and the GDR. Western states spoke out against such a measure.

The situation became particularly tense in October. US tanks appeared near the Brandenburg Gate, and Soviet military equipment approached from the opposite side. The tankers were ready to attack each other - combat readiness lasted more than a day.

However, then both sides took the equipment to distant parts of Berlin. Western countries had to recognize the division of the city - this happened a decade later. The appearance of the Berlin Wall became a symbol of the post-war division of the world and Europe.

Cuban Missile Crisis (1962)

• Start: October 14, 1962
• Ending: October 28, 1962

In January 1959, a revolution took place on the island, led by 32-year-old Fidel Castro, the leader of the partisans. His government decided to fight American influence in Cuba. Naturally, the Cuban government received support from the Soviet Union.

Young Fidel Castro

But in Havana there were fears about an invasion by American troops. And in the spring of 1962, N.S. Khrushchev had a plan to install USSR nuclear missiles in Cuba. He believed that this would scare the imperialists.

Cuba agreed with Khrushchev's idea. This led to the dispatch of forty-two missiles equipped with nuclear warheads, as well as bombers to carry nuclear bombs, to the island. The equipment was transferred secretly, although the Americans found out about it. As a result, US President John Kennedy protested, to which he received assurances from the Soviet side that there were no Soviet missiles in Cuba.

However, in October, a US spy plane took photographs of missile launch pads, and the US government began to think about a response. On October 22, Kennedy made a televised address to the US population, where he spoke about Soviet missiles on Cuban territory and demanded their removal.

Then an announcement was made about a naval blockade of the island. On October 24, a meeting of the UN Security Council was held at the initiative of the Soviet Union. The situation in the Caribbean Sea has become tense.

About twenty ships of the Soviet Union sailed towards Cuba. The Americans were ordered to stop them even with fire. However, the battle did not take place: Khrushchev ordered the Soviet flotilla to stop.

From 23.10 Washington exchanged official messages with Moscow. In the first of them, Khrushchev said that the behavior of the United States was “the madness of degenerate imperialism,” as well as “pure banditry.”

After several days, it became clear: the Americans want to get rid of their opponent’s missiles by any means necessary. On October 26, N. S. Khrushchev wrote a conciliatory letter to the American president, acknowledging the presence of powerful Soviet weapons in Cuba. However, he assured Kennedy that he would not attack the United States.

Nikita Sergeevich said that this is the path to the destruction of the world. Therefore, he demanded that Kennedy promise not to commit aggression against Cuba in exchange for the removal of Soviet weapons from the island. The US President agreed to this proposal, so a plan for a peaceful resolution of the situation was already being created.

October 27th was the “Black Saturday” of the Cuban Missile Crisis. Then the Third World War could begin. US aircraft flew in squadrons twice a day in the air of Cuba, trying to intimidate the Cubans and the USSR. On October 27, the Soviet military shot down an American reconnaissance aircraft using an anti-aircraft missile.

Pilot Anderson, who was flying it, died. Kennedy decided to begin bombing Soviet missile bases and attacking the island within two days.

But the next day, the authorities of the Soviet Union decided to agree to the US conditions, that is, to remove the missiles. But this was not agreed upon with the Cuban leadership, and Fidel Castro did not welcome such a measure. However, after this the tension decreased and on November 20 the Americans ended the naval blockade of Cuba.

Vietnam War (1964-1975)

The conflict began in 1965 with an incident in the Gulf of Tonkin. Vietnamese coast guard ships fired on American destroyers that were supporting the anti-guerrilla warfare of South Vietnamese troops. This is how one of the superpowers openly entered into the conflict.

At the same time, the other, i.e. the Soviet Union, indirectly supported the Vietnamese. The war was difficult for the Americans and provoked massive anti-war demonstrations by young people. In 1975, the Americans withdrew their troops from Vietnam.

After this, America began internal reforms. The country remained in crisis for 10 years after this conflict.

Afghan conflict (1979-1989)

• Start: December 25, 1979
• Ending: February 15, 1989

In the spring of 1978, revolutionary events took place in Afghanistan that brought the communist movement, the People's Democratic Party, to power. The head of the government was Nur Mohamed Taraki, a writer.

The party soon became mired in internal contradictions, which in the summer of 1979 resulted in a confrontation between Taraki and another leader named Amin. In September, Taraki was removed from power, expelled from the party, after which he was arrested.

Afghan leaders of the 20th century

“Purges” began in the party, causing indignation in Moscow. The situation was reminiscent of the Cultural Revolution in China. The authorities of the Soviet Union began to fear a change in Afghanistan's course to a pro-Chinese one.

Amin voiced requests to send Soviet troops into Afghan territory. The USSR carried out this plan, at the same time deciding to eliminate Amin.

The West condemned these actions - this is how the Cold War worsened. In the winter of 1980, the UN General Assembly voted in favor of the withdrawal of the Soviet army from Afghanistan by 104 votes.

At the same time, Afghan opponents of the communist revolutionary authorities began to fight against Soviet troops. The armed Afghans were supported by the United States. These were “Mujahideen” - supporters of “jihad”, radical Islamists.

The war lasted 9 years and claimed the lives of 14 thousand Soviet soldiers and more than 1 million Afghans. In the spring of 1988, the Soviet Union signed an agreement in Switzerland to withdraw troops. Gradually this plan began to be put into action. The process of military withdrawal lasted from February 15 to May 15, 1989, when the last soldier of the Soviet army left Afghanistan.

Consequences

The latest event in the confrontation is the destruction of the Berlin Wall. And if the causes and nature of the war are clear, the results are difficult to describe.

The Soviet Union had to reorient its economy to finance the military sphere due to rivalry with America. Perhaps this was the reason for the shortage of goods and the weakening of the economy and the subsequent collapse of the state.

Today's Russia lives in conditions where it is necessary to find the right approaches to other countries. Unfortunately, there is no sufficient counterbalance to the NATO bloc in the world. Although 3 countries are still influential in the world - the USA, Russia and China.

The United States, through its actions in Afghanistan - helping the Mujahideen - gave rise to international terrorists.

In addition, modern wars in the world are also fought locally (Libya, Yugoslavia, Syria, Iraq).

reasons:

* The October Revolution of 1917 in Russia created a situation where one state ideologically and financially sought to organize a world revolution.

* During World War II, geopolitical and strategic changes began in the world. The Atlantic Charter, signed in August 1941, confirmed the principles of the construction and activities of the Western world, opposite the USSR.

* The Tehran, Yalta and Potsdam conferences determined the boundaries and zones of influence of world powers after World War II.

* 1946 (February) - speech by I.V. Stalin, a telegram from the American diplomat J. Kennan and W. Churchill’s speech in Fulton. The thoughts expressed in them revealed that the USSR, the USA and the countries of Western Europe express opposing views on all political issues. Thus, the Soviet Union and Western countries made clear the existence of two ideologies and two ways of life, and mutual intolerance.

* Proclamation of the Truman Doctrine in 1947; it provided for US support for all free peoples who resist attempts by an armed minority to subjugate them or external pressure.

1. ideological confrontation (iron curtain)

2. creation of military-political blocs (NATO, CMEA, Warsaw)

3. arms race

4. participation in regional conflicts

Progress of the Cold War:

The beginning of the Cold War was marked by a speech by the English ruler Churchill, delivered in Fulton in March 1946. The US government's primary goal was to achieve complete military superiority of the Americans over the Russians. The United States began to implement its policy already in 1947 by introducing a whole system of restrictive and prohibitive measures for the USSR in the financial and trade spheres. In short, America wanted to defeat the Soviet Union economically.

The most culminating moments of the confrontation were 1949-50, when the North Atlantic Treaty was signed, the war with Korea occurred, and at the same time the first atomic bomb of Soviet origin was tested. And with the victory of Mao Zedong, fairly strong diplomatic relations between the USSR and China were established; they were united by a common hostile attitude towards America and its policies.

The military power of the two world superpowers, the USSR and the USA, is so great that if there is a threat of a new war, there will be no losing side, and it is worth thinking about what will happen to ordinary people and the planet as a whole. As a result, from the beginning of the 1970s, the Cold War entered the stage of settling relations. A crisis broke out in the USA due to high material costs, but the USSR did not tempt fate, but made concessions. A nuclear arms reduction treaty called START II was concluded.

The year 1979 once again proved that the Cold War was not over yet: the Soviet government sent troops into Afghanistan, whose inhabitants offered fierce resistance to the Russian army. And only in April 1989 the last Russian soldier left this unconquered country.

In 1988-89, the process of “perestroika” began in the USSR, the Berlin Wall fell, and the socialist camp soon collapsed. And the USSR did not even lay claim to any influence in third world countries.

By 1990, the Cold War was over. It was she who contributed to the strengthening of the totalitarian regime in the USSR. The arms race also led to scientific discoveries: nuclear physics began to develop more intensively, and space research acquired a wider scope.

War is incredible
peace is impossible.
Raymond Aron

Modern relations between Russia and the collective West can hardly be called constructive or, even less, partnership. Mutual accusations, loud statements, increasing saber rattling and the furious intensity of propaganda - all this creates a lasting impression of déjà vu. All this once happened and is being repeated now - but in the form of a farce. Today, the news feed seems to return to the past, to the time of the epic confrontation between two powerful superpowers: the USSR and the USA, which lasted more than half a century and repeatedly brought humanity to the brink of a global military conflict. In history, this long-term confrontation was called the “Cold War.” Historians consider its beginning to be the famous speech of the British Prime Minister (then already former) Churchill, delivered in Fulton in March 1946.

The Cold War era lasted from 1946 to 1989 and ended with what current Russian President Putin called “the biggest geopolitical catastrophe of the 20th century” - the Soviet Union disappeared from the world map, and with it the entire communist system sank into oblivion. The confrontation between the two systems was not a war in the literal sense of the word; an obvious clash between the armed forces of the two superpowers was avoided, but the numerous military conflicts of the Cold War that it gave rise to in different regions of the planet claimed millions of human lives.

During the Cold War, the struggle between the USSR and the USA was carried out not only in the military or political sphere. Competition was no less intense in economic, scientific, cultural and other fields. But the main thing was ideology: the essence of the Cold War was the acute confrontation between two models of government: communist and capitalist.

By the way, the term “Cold War” itself was coined by the cult writer of the 20th century, George Orwell. He used it even before the start of the confrontation itself in his article “You and the Atomic Bomb.” The article was published in 1945. Orwell himself in his youth was an ardent supporter of communist ideology, but in his mature years he was completely disillusioned with it, so he probably understood the issue better than many. The Americans first used the term “Cold War” two years later.

The Cold War involved more than just the Soviet Union and the United States. It was a global competition that involved dozens of countries around the world. Some of them were the closest allies (or satellites) of the superpowers, while others were drawn into the confrontation by accident, sometimes even against their will. The logic of the processes required the parties to the conflict to create their own zones of influence in different regions of the world. Sometimes they were consolidated with the help of military-political blocs; the main alliances of the Cold War were NATO and the Warsaw Pact. On their periphery, in the redistribution of spheres of influence, the main military conflicts of the Cold War took place.

The described historical period is inextricably linked with the creation and development of nuclear weapons. It was mainly the presence of this powerful means of deterrence among the opponents that prevented the conflict from moving into a hot phase. The Cold War between the USSR and the USA gave rise to an unprecedented arms race: already in the 70s, the opponents had so many nuclear warheads that they would be enough to destroy the entire globe several times. And this is not counting the huge arsenals of conventional weapons.

Over the decades of confrontation, there were both periods of normalization of relations between the United States and the USSR (détente) and times of severe confrontation. The crises of the Cold War brought the world to the brink of global catastrophe several times. The most famous of these is the Cuban Missile Crisis, which occurred in 1962.

The end of the Cold War was swift and unexpected for many. The Soviet Union lost the economic race with Western countries. The lag was noticeable already at the end of the 60s, and by the 80s the situation became catastrophic. The most powerful blow to the national economy of the USSR was dealt by the fall in oil prices.

In the mid-80s, it became clear to the Soviet leadership that something in the country needed to be changed immediately, otherwise disaster would ensue. The end of the Cold War and the arms race was vital for the USSR. But perestroika, initiated by Gorbachev, led to the dismantling of the entire state structure of the USSR, and then to the collapse of the socialist state. Moreover, the United States, it seems, did not even expect such a outcome: back in 1990, American Soviet experts prepared for their leadership a forecast of the development of the Soviet economy until the year 2000.

At the end of 1989, Gorbachev and Bush, during a summit on the island of Malta, officially announced that the global Cold War was over.

The topic of the Cold War is very popular in Russian media today. When talking about the current foreign policy crisis, commentators often use the term “new cold war.” Is this true? What are the similarities and differences between the current situation and the events of forty years ago?

Cold War: causes and background

After the war, the Soviet Union and Germany lay in ruins, and Eastern Europe suffered greatly during the fighting. The economy of the Old World was in decline.

On the contrary, the territory of the United States was practically not damaged during the war, and the human losses of the United States could not be compared with the Soviet Union or Eastern European countries. Even before the war began, the United States had become the world's leading industrial power, and military supplies to the allies further strengthened the American economy. By 1945, America managed to create a new weapon of unprecedented power - the nuclear bomb. All of the above allowed the United States to confidently count on the role of a new hegemon in the post-war world. However, it soon became clear that on the path to planetary leadership, the United States had a new dangerous rival - the Soviet Union.

The USSR almost single-handedly defeated the strongest German land army, but paid a colossal price for it - millions of Soviet citizens died at the front or during the occupation, tens of thousands of cities and villages lay in ruins. Despite this, the Red Army occupied the entire territory of Eastern Europe, including most of Germany. In 1945, the USSR undoubtedly had the strongest armed forces on the European continent. The position of the Soviet Union in Asia was no less strong. Just a few years after the end of World War II, the Communists came to power in China, making this huge country an ally of the USSR in the region.

The communist leadership of the USSR never abandoned plans for further expansion and the spread of its ideology to new regions of the planet. We can say that throughout almost its entire history, the foreign policy of the USSR was quite tough and aggressive. In 1945, especially favorable conditions developed for the promotion of communist ideology to new countries.

It should be understood that the Soviet Union was poorly understood by most American and Western politicians in general. A country where there is no private property and market relations, churches are blown up, and society is under the complete control of the special services and the party, seemed to them like some kind of parallel reality. Even Hitler's Germany was in some ways more understandable to the average American. In general, Western politicians had a rather negative attitude towards the USSR even before the start of the war, and after its end, fear was added to this attitude.

In 1945, the Yalta Conference took place, during which Stalin, Churchill and Roosevelt tried to divide the world into spheres of influence and create new rules for the future world order. Many modern researchers see the origins of the Cold War in this conference.

To summarize the above, we can say: the Cold War between the USSR and the USA was inevitable. These countries were too different to coexist peacefully. The Soviet Union wanted to expand the socialist camp to include new states, and the United States sought to rebuild the world to create more favorable conditions for its large corporations. However, the main reasons for the Cold War still lie in the area of ​​ideology.

The first signs of a future Cold War appeared even before the final victory over Nazism. In the spring of 1945, the USSR made territorial claims against Turkey and demanded a change in the status of the Black Sea straits. Stalin was interested in the possibility of creating a naval base in the Dardanelles.

A little later (in April 1945), British Prime Minister Churchill gave instructions to prepare plans for a possible war with the Soviet Union. He later wrote about this himself in his memoirs. At the end of the war, the British and Americans kept several Wehrmacht divisions undisbanded in case of conflict with the USSR.

In March 1946, Churchill gave his famous Fulton speech, which many historians consider the “trigger” of the Cold War. In this speech, the politician called on Great Britain to strengthen relations with the United States in order to jointly repel the expansion of the Soviet Union. Churchill thought the growing influence of communist parties in European countries was dangerous. He called not to repeat the mistakes of the 30s and not to follow the lead of the aggressor, but to firmly and consistently defend Western values.

“... From Stettin on the Baltic to Trieste on the Adriatic, an “iron curtain” was lowered across the entire continent. Beyond this line are all the capitals of the ancient states of Central and Eastern Europe. (...) Communist parties, which were very small in all the eastern states of Europe, seized power everywhere and received unlimited totalitarian control. (...) Police governments prevail almost everywhere, and so far there is no genuine democracy anywhere except Czechoslovakia. The facts are: this is, of course, not the liberated Europe we fought for. This is not what is necessary for permanent peace...” - this is how Churchill, undoubtedly the most experienced and insightful politician in the West, described the new post-war reality in Europe. The USSR did not like this speech very much; Stalin compared Churchill to Hitler and accused him of inciting a new war.

It should be understood that during this period, the front of the Cold War confrontation often ran not along the external borders of countries, but within them. The poverty of war-ravaged Europeans made them more susceptible to left-wing ideology. After the war in Italy and France, about a third of the population supported the communists. The Soviet Union, in turn, did everything possible to support the national communist parties.

In 1946, Greek rebels became active, led by local communists and supplied with weapons by the Soviet Union through Bulgaria, Albania and Yugoslavia. It was only in 1949 that the uprising was suppressed. After the end of the war, the USSR for a long time refused to withdraw its troops from Iran and demanded that it be given the right to a protectorate over Libya.

In 1947, the Americans developed the so-called Marshall Plan, which provided for significant financial assistance to the states of Central and Western Europe. This program included 17 countries, the total amount of transfers was $17 billion. In exchange for money, the Americans demanded political concessions: the recipient countries had to exclude communists from their governments. Naturally, neither the USSR nor the countries of the “people's democracies” of Eastern Europe received any help.

One of the real “architects” of the Cold War can be called Deputy American Ambassador to the USSR George Kennan, who in February 1946 sent telegram No. 511 to his homeland. It went down in history under the name “Long Telegram”. In this document, the diplomat admitted the impossibility of cooperation with the USSR and called on his government to firmly confront the communists, because, according to Kennan, the leadership of the Soviet Union respects only force. Later, this document largely determined the US position towards the Soviet Union for many decades.

That same year, President Truman announced a “policy of containment” of the USSR throughout the world, later called the “Truman Doctrine.”

In 1949, the largest military-political bloc was formed - the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, or NATO. It included most countries of Western Europe, Canada and the USA. The main task of the new structure was to protect Europe from Soviet invasion. In 1955, the communist countries of Eastern Europe and the USSR created their own military alliance, called the Warsaw Pact Organization.

Stages of the Cold War

The following stages of the Cold War are distinguished:

• 1946 – 1953 The initial stage, the start of which is usually considered to be Churchill’s speech in Fulton. During this period, the Marshall Plan for Europe was launched, the North Atlantic Alliance and the Warsaw Pact Organization were created, that is, the main participants in the Cold War were determined. At this time, the efforts of Soviet intelligence and the military-industrial complex were aimed at creating their own nuclear weapons; in August 1949, the USSR tested its first nuclear bomb. But the United States for a long time retained a significant superiority both in the number of charges and in the number of carriers. In 1950, the war began on the Korean Peninsula, which lasted until 1953 and became one of the bloodiest military conflicts of the last century;
• 1953 - 1962 This is a very controversial period of the Cold War, during which the Khrushchev “thaw” and the Cuban Missile Crisis occurred, which almost ended in a nuclear war between the United States and the Soviet Union. These years included anti-communist uprisings in Hungary and Poland, another Berlin crisis and a war in the Middle East. In 1957, the USSR successfully tested the first intercontinental ballistic missile capable of reaching the United States. In 1961, the USSR conducted demonstration tests of the most powerful thermonuclear charge in the history of mankind - the Tsar Bomba. The Cuban Missile Crisis led to the signing of several nuclear non-proliferation documents between the superpowers;
• 1962 – 1979 This period can be called the apogee of the Cold War. The arms race is reaching its maximum intensity, tens of billions of dollars are being spent on it, undermining the economies of rivals. Attempts by the government of Czechoslovakia to carry out pro-Western reforms in the country were thwarted in 1968 by the entry of troops of Warsaw Pact members into its territory. Tension in relations between the two countries, of course, was present, but Soviet Secretary General Brezhnev was not a fan of adventures, so acute crises were avoided. Moreover, in the early 70s, the so-called “detente of international tension” began, which somewhat reduced the intensity of the confrontation. Important documents relating to nuclear weapons were signed, and joint programs in space were implemented (the famous Soyuz-Apollo). In the conditions of the Cold War, these were extraordinary events. However, “détente” ended by the mid-70s, when the Americans deployed medium-range nuclear missiles in Europe. The USSR responded by deploying similar weapons systems. Already by the mid-70s, the Soviet economy began to noticeably slip, and the USSR began to lag behind in the scientific and technical sphere;
• 1979 - 1987 Relations between the superpowers deteriorated again after Soviet troops entered Afghanistan. In response to this, the Americans boycotted the Olympics, which the Soviet Union hosted in 1980, and began helping the Afghan Mujahideen. In 1981, a new American president, Republican Ronald Reagan, came to the White House, who became the toughest and most consistent opponent of the USSR. It was with his initiative that the Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI) program began, which was supposed to protect the American territory of the United States from Soviet warheads. During the Reagan years, the United States began to develop neutron weapons, and military spending increased significantly. In one of his speeches, the American president called the USSR an “evil empire”;
• 1987 - 1991 This stage marks the end of the Cold War. A new General Secretary came to power in the USSR - Mikhail Gorbachev. He began global changes within the country and radically revised the state's foreign policy. Another discharge has begun. The main problem of the Soviet Union was the state of the economy, undermined by military expenditures and low prices for energy, the state's main export product. Now the USSR could no longer afford to conduct a foreign policy in the spirit of the Cold War; it needed Western loans. In just a few years, the intensity of the confrontation between the USSR and the USA practically disappeared. Important documents concerning the reduction of nuclear and conventional weapons were signed. In 1988, the withdrawal of Soviet troops from Afghanistan began. In 1989, pro-Soviet regimes in Eastern Europe began to crumble one after another, and at the end of the same year the Berlin Wall was broken. Many historians consider this event to be the real end of the Cold War era.

Why did the USSR lose in the Cold War?

Despite the fact that every year the events of the Cold War are moving further away from us, topics related to this period are of increasing interest in Russian society. Domestic propaganda tenderly and carefully nurtures the nostalgia of part of the population for those times when “sausage was two to twenty and everyone was afraid of us.” Such a country, they say, has been destroyed!

Why did the Soviet Union, having enormous resources, a very high level of social development and the highest scientific potential, lose its main war - the Cold War?

The USSR emerged as a result of an unprecedented social experiment to create a just society in a single country. Similar ideas appeared in different historical periods, but usually remained projects. The Bolsheviks should be given their due: they were the first to realize this utopian plan on the territory of the Russian Empire. Socialism has a chance to take its revenge as a fair system of social order (socialist practices are becoming more and more clearly visible in the social life of the Scandinavian countries, for example) - but this was not feasible at a time when they tried to introduce this social system in a revolutionary, forced way. We can say that socialism in Russia was ahead of its time. It has hardly become such a terrible and inhumane system, especially in comparison with the capitalist one. And it is even more appropriate to remember that historically it was the Western European “progressive” empires that caused the suffering and death of the largest number of people around the world - Russia is far in this respect, in particular, from Great Britain (probably it is the true “evil empire” ", a weapon of genocide for Ireland, the peoples of the American continent, India, China and many others). Returning to the socialist experiment in the Russian Empire at the beginning of the 20th century, we must admit: it cost the peoples living in it countless sacrifices and suffering throughout the century. The German Chancellor Bismarck is credited with the following words: “If you want to build socialism, take a country that you don’t feel sorry for.” Unfortunately, it turned out that Russia was not sorry. However, no one has the right to blame Russia for its path, especially considering the foreign policy practice of the past 20th century in general.

The only problem is that under Soviet-style socialism and the general level of productive forces of the 20th century, the economy does not want to work. From the word absolutely. A person who is deprived of material interest in the results of his work works poorly. And at all levels, from an ordinary worker to a high official. The Soviet Union - having Ukraine, Kuban, Don and Kazakhstan - was already forced to buy grain abroad in the mid-60s. Even then, the food supply situation in the USSR was catastrophic. Then the socialist state was saved by a miracle - the discovery of “big” oil in Western Siberia and the rise in world prices for this raw material. Some economists believe that without this oil, the collapse of the USSR would have happened already at the end of the 70s.

Speaking about the reasons for the defeat of the Soviet Union in the Cold War, of course, we should not forget about ideology. The USSR was initially created as a state with a completely new ideology, and for many years it was its most powerful weapon. In the 50s and 60s, many states (especially in Asia and Africa) voluntarily chose the socialist type of development. Soviet citizens also believed in the construction of communism. However, already in the 70s it became clear that the construction of communism was a utopia that could not be realized at that time. Moreover, even many representatives of the Soviet nomenklatura elite, the main future beneficiaries of the collapse of the USSR, stopped believing in such ideas.

But it should be noted that today many Western intellectuals admit: it was the confrontation with the “backward” Soviet system that forced capitalist systems to mimic, to accept unfavorable social norms that originally appeared in the USSR (8-hour working day, equal rights for women , all kinds of social benefits and much more). It would not be amiss to repeat: most likely, the time of socialism has not yet come, since there is no civilizational basis for this and no corresponding level of development of production in the global economy. Liberal capitalism is by no means a panacea for world crises and suicidal global wars, but rather, on the contrary, an inevitable path to them.

The USSR's loss in the Cold War was due not so much to the power of its opponents (although it was certainly great) as to the insoluble contradictions inherent within the Soviet system itself. But in the modern world order, internal contradictions have not decreased, and security and peace have certainly not increased.

Results of the Cold War

Of course, the main positive result of the Cold War is that it did not develop into a hot war. Despite all the contradictions between the states, the parties were smart enough to realize what edge they were on and not to cross the fatal line.

However, other consequences of the Cold War are difficult to overestimate. In fact, today we live in a world that was largely shaped by that historical period. It was during the Cold War that the system of international relations that exists today emerged. And at the very least, it works. In addition, we should not forget that a significant part of the world elite was formed during the years of confrontation between the USA and the USSR. You could say they come from the Cold War.

The Cold War influenced almost all international processes that took place during this period. New states arose, wars began, uprisings and revolutions broke out. Many countries in Asia and Africa gained independence or got rid of the colonial yoke thanks to the support of one of the superpowers, which thus sought to expand their own zone of influence. Even today there are countries that can safely be called “relics of the Cold War” - for example, Cuba or North Korea.

It should be noted that the Cold War contributed to the development of technology. The confrontation between the superpowers gave a powerful impetus to the study of outer space, without it it is unknown whether the landing on the Moon would have taken place or not. The arms race contributed to the development of missile and information technologies, mathematics, physics, medicine and much more.

If we talk about the political results of this historical period, the main one, without a doubt, is the collapse of the Soviet Union and the collapse of the entire socialist camp. As a result of these processes, about two dozen new states appeared on the political map of the world. Russia inherited from the USSR the entire nuclear arsenal, most of the conventional weapons, as well as a seat in the UN Security Council. And as a result of the Cold War, the United States significantly increased its power and today, in fact, is the only superpower.

The end of the Cold War led to two decades of rapid growth in the global economy. Vast territories of the former USSR, previously closed by the Iron Curtain, have become part of the global market. Military spending dropped sharply, and the freed up funds were used for investment.

However, the main result of the global confrontation between the USSR and the West was clear proof of the utopianism of the socialist model of the state in the conditions of social development of the late 20th century. Today in Russia (and other former Soviet republics) debates about the Soviet stage in the country's history continue. Some see it as a blessing, others call it the greatest disaster. At least one more generation must be born so that the events of the Cold War (as well as the entire Soviet period) will be looked at as a historical fact - calmly and without emotion. The communist experiment is, of course, the most important experience for human civilization, which has not yet been “reflected on.” And perhaps this experience will still benefit Russia.

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