Cold War
- a global confrontation between two military-political blocs led by the USSR and the USA, which did not lead to an open military clash between them. The concept of the “Cold War” appeared in journalism in 1945–1947 and gradually became entrenched in the political vocabulary.

As a result of the Second World War, the balance of power in the world changed. The victorious countries, primarily the Soviet Union, increased their territories at the expense of the defeated states. Most of East Prussia with the city of Königsberg (now Kaliningrad region RF), the Lithuanian SSR received the territory of the Klaipeda region, and the territories of Transcarpathian Ukraine were transferred to the Ukrainian SSR. In the Far East, in accordance with the agreements reached at the Crimean Conference, Southern Sakhalin and the Kuril Islands (including four southern islands, not previously part of Russia). Czechoslovakia and Poland increased their territory at the expense of the German lands.

After World War II, the world was effectively divided into spheres of influence between two blocs with different social systems. The USSR sought to expand the “socialist camp,” led from a single center modeled on the Soviet command-administrative system. In its sphere of influence, the USSR sought the introduction of state ownership of the main means of production and the political dominance of the communists. This system was supposed to control resources that had previously been in the hands of private capital and capitalist states. The United States, in turn, sought to restructure the world in a way that would create favorable conditions for the activities of private corporations and increased influence in the world. Despite this difference between the two systems, their conflict was based on common features. Both systems were based on the principles industrial society, which required industrial growth, and therefore increased resource consumption. The planetary struggle for resources of two systems with different principles for regulating industrial relations could not but lead to clashes. But the approximate equality of forces between the blocs, and then the threat of nuclear missile destruction of the world in the event of a war between the USSR and the USA, kept the rulers of the superpowers from a direct clash. Thus, the phenomenon of the “Cold War” arose, which never resulted in a world war, although it constantly led to wars in individual countries and regions (local wars).

The situation within the Western world has changed. The aggressor countries, Germany and Japan, were defeated and lost their role as great powers, and the positions of England and France were significantly weakened. At the same time, the influence of the United States grew, which controlled about 80% of the gold reserves of the capitalist world and accounted for 46% of world industrial production.

A feature of the post-war period was the people's democratic (socialist) revolutions in the countries of Eastern Europe and a number of Asian countries, which, with the support of the USSR, began to build socialism. A world system of socialism led by the USSR was formed.

The war marked the beginning of the collapse of the colonial system of imperialism. As a result of the national liberation movement, such major countries as India, Indonesia, Burma, Pakistan, Ceylon, and Egypt gained independence. A number of them took the path of socialist orientation. In total, in the post-war decade, 25 states gained independence, and 1,200 million people were freed from colonial dependence.

There has been a shift to the left in the political spectrum of the capitalist countries of Europe. Fascist and right-wing parties left the scene. The influence of the communists grew sharply. In 1945–1947 communists were part of the governments of France, Italy, Belgium, Austria, Denmark, Norway, Iceland and Finland.

During the World War, a single anti-fascist coalition emerged - an alliance of great powers - the USSR, USA, Great Britain and France. The presence of a common enemy helped to overcome differences between capitalist countries and socialist Russia and find compromises. In April-June 1945, the founding conferences of the United Nations were held in San Francisco, including representatives of 50 countries. The UN Charter reflected the principles of peaceful coexistence of states of different socio-economic systems, the principles of sovereignty and equality of all countries of the world.

However, the Second World War was replaced by the Cold War - a war without combat.

Immediate start " cold war"was associated with conflicts in Europe and Asia. War-ravaged Europeans were very interested in the experience of accelerated industrial development in the USSR. Information about the Soviet Union was idealized, and millions of people hoped that the replacement of the capitalist system, which was experiencing Hard times, to a socialist one, can make it possible to quickly restore the economy and normal life. The peoples of Asia and Africa had an even greater interest in the communist experience and assistance of the USSR. who fought for independence and hoped to catch up with the West just as the USSR did. As a result, the Soviet sphere of influence began to expand rapidly, which raised concerns among Western leaders - former allies USSR in the Anti-Hitler Coalition..

On March 5, 1946, speaking in the presence of US President Truman in Fulton, W. Churchill accused the USSR of unleashing global expansion and of attacking the territory of the “free world.” Churchill called on the “Anglo-Saxon world,” that is, the USA, Great Britain and their allies to repel the USSR. The Fulton speech became a kind of declaration of the Cold War.

The ideological justification for the Cold War was the doctrine of US President Truman, put forward by him in 1947. According to the doctrine, the conflict between capitalism and communism is insoluble. The task of the United States is to fight communism throughout the world, “contain communism,” “throw back communism within the borders of the USSR.” American responsibility was proclaimed for events occurring throughout the world, which were viewed through the prism of opposition between capitalism and communism, the USA and the USSR.

The Soviet Union began to be surrounded by a network of American military bases. In 1948, the first bombers with atomic weapons aimed at the USSR were stationed in Great Britain and West Germany. Capitalist countries are beginning to create military-political blocs directed against the USSR.

In 1946–1947, the USSR increased pressure on Greece and Turkey. There was a civil war in Greece, and the USSR demanded that Turkey provide territory for a military base in the Mediterranean, which could be a prelude to the seizure of the country. Under these conditions, Truman declared his readiness to “contain” the USSR throughout the world. This position was called the “Truman Doctrine” and meant the end of cooperation between the victors of fascism. The Cold War has begun.

The characteristic manifestations of the Cold War are as follows:

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


creation of a system of military alliances (NATO, Organization Warsaw Pact, SEATO, SENTO, ANZUS, ANZYUK);


speeding up the arms race and military preparations;


a sharp increase in military spending;


periodically emerging international crises (Berlin crisis, Cuban missile 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 pleasing to one or another bloc (Hungary, Czechoslovakia, Grenada, etc.)


creation of an extensive network of military bases (primarily the United States) on the territory of foreign countries;


waging a massive “psychological war”, the purpose of which was to propagate one’s 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”, the production of ideologically oriented literature and periodicals in foreign languages ​​was financed, and the intensification of class, racial, and national contradictions was actively used.


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


2. Economic and social situation of the USSR and the USA during the Cold War


The Soviet Union ended the war with huge losses. More than 27 million Soviet citizens died at the fronts, in occupied territory, and in captivity. 1,710 cities, over 70 thousand villages and villages, 32 thousand industrial enterprises were destroyed. The direct damage caused by the war exceeded 30% of national wealth. The restoration of the destroyed industry proceeded at a rapid pace. In 1946, there was a certain decline associated with conversion, and from 1947 a steady rise began. In 1948, the pre-war level of industrial production was surpassed, and by the end of the Five-Year Plan it exceeded the level of 1940. The growth was 70%, instead of the planned 48%. This was achieved by resuming production in territories liberated from fascist occupation. The restored factories were equipped with equipment produced in German factories and supplied as reparations. In total, 3,200 enterprises were restored and restarted in the western regions. They produced civilian products, while defense enterprises remained where they were evacuated - in the Urals and Siberia.


In the countries of the capitalist bloc, a campaign of anti-Sovietism unfolded, taking place under the banner of the fight against the “Soviet military threat”, with the USSR’s desire to “export revolution” to other countries of the world. Under the pretext of fighting “subversive communist activities,” a campaign was launched against communist parties, which were portrayed as “agents of Moscow,” “an alien body in the system of Western democracy.” In 1947, communists were removed from the governments of France, Italy and several other countries. In England and the USA, a ban was introduced for communists to hold positions in the army and state apparatus, and mass layoffs were carried out. In Germany, the Communist Party was banned.


The “witch hunt” took on a special scale in the United States in the first half of the 50s, which went down in the history of this country as the period of McCarthyism, named after Republican Senator from Wisconsin D. McCarthy. He ran for the presidency of Democrat Truman. G. Truman himself pursued a rather anti-democratic policy, but the McCarthyites took it to ugly extremes. G. Truman began “testing the loyalty” of government employees, and the McCarthyites adopted the Internal Security Act, according to which the special department for the control of subversive activities, whose task was to identify and register organizations of “communist action” with the aim of depriving them of civil rights. G. Truman ordered the leaders of the Communist Party to be tried as foreign agents, and the McCarthyites passed an immigration restriction law in 1952, which barred entry into the country for people who collaborated with left-wing organizations. After the Republican victory in the elections in 1952, McCarthyism began to flourish. Congress created commissions to investigate un-American activities, to which any citizen could be summoned. On the recommendation of the commission, any worker or employee instantly lost his job.


The apogee of McCarthyism was the 1954 Communist Control Act. The Communist Party was deprived of all rights and guarantees, membership in it was declared a crime and punishable by a fine of up to 10 thousand dollars and imprisonment of up to 5 years. A number of provisions of the law had an anti-trade union orientation, classifying trade unions as subversive organizations “infiltrated by communists.”


With the beginning of the Cold War, the domestic politics THE USSR. The situation of a “military camp”, a “besieged fortress” required, along with the fight against an external enemy, the presence of an “internal enemy”, an “agent of world imperialism”.


In the second half of the 40s. repressions against the enemies of Soviet power resumed. The largest was the “Leningrad Affair” (1948), when such prominent figures as the Chairman of the State Planning Committee N. Voznesensky, the Secretary of the CPSU Central Committee A. Kuznetsov, the Presovminmin of the RSFSR M. Rodionov, the head of the Leningrad party organization P. Popkov were arrested and secretly shot and etc.


When the state of Israel was created after the war, mass migration of Jews from all countries of the world began there. In 1948, arrests of representatives of the Jewish intelligentsia and the fight against “rootless cosmopolitanism” began in the USSR. In January 1953, a group of Jewish doctors at the Kremlin hospital were accused of killing the secretaries of the Central Committee Zhdanov and Shcherbakov through improper treatment and preparing the murder of Stalin. These doctors allegedly acted on instructions from international Zionist organizations.


Post-war repressions did not reach the scale of the 30s, there were no high-profile show trials, but they were quite widespread. It should be taken into account that only in national formations From among the peoples of the USSR during the war years, from 1.2 to 1.6 million people fought on the side of Nazi Germany. So the large number of people repressed for collaborating with the enemy is quite understandable. Former prisoners of war were repressed (by order of Commander-in-Chief Stalin, all those captured were classified as traitors to the Motherland). The war and the difficult post-war situation in the country also led to a colossal increase in criminal crime. In total, by January 1953, there were 2,468,543 prisoners in the Gulag.


Returning to the causes of the Cold War, we can say that both the USSR and the USA were its culprits, since both sides sought to establish their hegemony in the world. And at the heart of it all lay the conflict of two systems (capitalist and socialist), or the conflict of democracy and totalitarianism.


The USSR and the USA pursued one interest: world domination of one of the systems: either socialism or capitalism. Both sides pursued a policy of self-preservation, which consisted of preserving and increasing the role and power of world communism, and, on the other hand, world democracy, as well as expanding their spaces, since this was precisely what they saw as their salvation and achievement of the main goal - world power.


3. COLD WAR: MAIN STAGES AND COMPLETION


The Cold War front lay not between countries, but within them. About a third of the population of France and Italy supported the Communist parties. The poverty of war-ravaged Europeans was the breeding ground for communist success. In 1947, US Secretary of State George Marshall announced that the United States was ready to provide European countries with material assistance to restore their economies. Initially, even the USSR joined in the negotiations for assistance, but it soon became clear that American assistance would not be provided to countries ruled by communists. The United States demanded political concessions: the Europeans had to maintain capitalist relations and remove the communists from their governments. Under US pressure, the Communists were expelled from the governments of France and Italy, and in April 1948, 16 countries signed the Marshall Plan to provide them with $17 billion in aid from 1948–1952. Pro-communist governments in Eastern European countries did not participate in the plan. In the context of the intensification of the struggle for Europe, multi-party governments of “people's democracy” in these countries were replaced by totalitarian regimes clearly subordinate to Moscow (only the Yugoslav communist regime of I. Tito broke from obedience to Stalin in 1948 and took an independent position). In January 1949, most countries of Eastern Europe united into an economic union - the Council for Mutual Economic Assistance.


These events cemented the division of Europe. In April 1949, the USA, Canada and most countries of Western Europe created a military alliance - the North Atlantic bloc (NATO). The USSR and the countries of Eastern Europe responded to this only in 1955 by creating their own military alliance - the Warsaw Pact Organization.


The division of Europe had a particularly hard impact on the fate of Germany - the split line ran through the territory of the country. The east of Germany was occupied by the USSR, the west by the USA, Great Britain and France. In their hands was also West Side Berlin. In 1948, western Germany was included in the Marshall Plan, but eastern Germany was not. IN different parts The countries developed different economic systems, which made it difficult to unite the country. In June 1948, the Western allies carried out unilateral monetary reform, abolishing the old-style money. The entire money supply of the old Reichsmarks flowed into East Germany, which was partly the reason why the Soviet occupation authorities were forced to close the borders. West Berlin was completely surrounded. Stalin decided to use the situation to blockade it, hoping to capture the entire German capital and extract concessions from the United States. But the Americans organized an “air bridge” to Berlin and broke the blockade of the city, which was lifted in 1949. In May 1949, the lands located in the western zone of occupation united into the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG). West Berlin became an autonomous self-governing city associated with the Federal Republic of Germany. In October 1949, the German Democratic Republic (GDR) was created in the Soviet zone of occupation.


The rivalry between the USSR and the USA inevitably led to a build-up of armaments by both blocs. Opponents sought to achieve superiority in the field of atomic and then nuclear weapons, as well as in the means of their delivery. Soon, in addition to bombers, missiles became such means. A “race” of nuclear missile weapons began, which led to extreme tension in the economies of both blocs. To meet defense needs, powerful associations of government, industrial and military structures were created - military-industrial complexes (MIC). In 1949, the USSR tested its own atomic bomb. The presence of the bomb in the USSR kept the United States from using atomic weapons in Korea, although this possibility was discussed by high-ranking American military officials.


In 1952, the United States tested a thermonuclear device in which an atomic bomb played the role of a fuse, and the power of the explosion was many times greater than that of an atomic bomb. In 1953, the USSR tested a thermonuclear bomb. From that time on, the United States until the 60s overtook the USSR only in the number of bombs and bombers, that is, in quantity, but not in quality - the USSR had any weapon that the United States had.


The danger of war between the USSR and the USA forced them to act “bypass”, fighting for the resources of the world far from Europe. Immediately after the start of the Cold War, the country Far East turned into an arena of fierce struggle between supporters of communist ideas and the pro-Western path of development. The significance of this struggle was very great, since the Pacific region contained enormous human and raw material resources. The stability of the capitalist system largely depended on control of this region.


The first collision of the two systems occurred in China, the largest country in the world by population. After World War II, northeast China, occupied by the Soviet army, was handed over to the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA), subordinate to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). The PLA received Japanese weapons captured by Soviet troops. The rest of the country was subject to the internationally recognized Kuomintang government led by Chiang Kai-shek. Initially, national elections were planned to be held in China, which would decide who would rule the country. But both sides were not confident of victory, and instead of elections, a civil war broke out in China (1946–1949). It was won by the CCP led by Mao Zedong.


The second major collision of two systems in Asia occurred in Korea. After World War II, this country was split into two zones of occupation - Soviet and American. In 1948, they withdrew their troops from the country, leaving the regimes of their proteges to rule - the pro-Soviet Kim Il Sung in the north and the pro-American Syngman Rhee in the south. Each of them sought to take over the entire country. In June 1950, the Korean War began, in which the United States, China and small units of other countries were involved. Soviet pilots “crossed swords” with American ones in the skies over China. Despite heavy casualties on both sides, the war ended in almost the same positions where it began.


But Western countries suffered important defeats in colonial wars - France lost the war in Vietnam 1946–1954, and the Netherlands in Indonesia in 1947–1949.


The Cold War led to repression in both “camps” against dissidents and people who advocated cooperation and rapprochement between the two systems. In the USSR and Eastern European countries, people were arrested and often shot on charges of “cosmopolitanism” (lack of patriotism, cooperation with the West), “adulation of the West” and “Titoism” (ties with Tito). A “witch hunt” began in the United States, during which secret communists and “agents” of the USSR were “exposed.” The American “witch hunt,” unlike Stalin’s repressions, did not lead to mass terror. But she also had her victims caused by spy mania. Soviet intelligence actually worked in the United States, and American intelligence agencies decided to show that they were able to expose Soviet spies. Employee Julius Rosenberg was chosen to play the role of “chief spy”. He really provided minor services to Soviet intelligence. It was announced that Rosenberg and his wife Ethel had "stolen America's atomic secrets." It subsequently turned out that Ethel did not know about her husband’s collaboration with intelligence. Despite this, both spouses were sentenced to death and, despite a campaign of solidarity with them in America and Europe, executed in June 1953.


The wars in Korea and Vietnam ended in 1953–1954. In 1955, the USSR established equal relations with Yugoslavia and Germany. The Great Powers also agreed to grant neutral status to Austria, which they occupied, and to withdraw their troops from the country.


In 1956, the world situation deteriorated again due to unrest in socialist countries and attempts by Great Britain, France and Israel to seize the Suez Canal in Egypt. But this time, both “superpowers” ​​- the USSR and the USA - made efforts to ensure that conflicts did not escalate. Khrushchev during this period was not interested in intensifying confrontation. In 1959 he came to the USA. This was the first-ever visit by a leader of our country to America. American society made a great impression on Khrushchev. He was especially struck by the successes of agriculture - much more efficient than in the USSR.


However, by this time, the USSR could also impress the United States with its successes in the field of high technology, and above all, in space exploration. In the late 50s and early 60s, a wave of workers' protests swept across the USSR, which were brutally suppressed.


In the 1960s, the international situation changed radically. Both superpowers faced great difficulties: the United States was bogged down in Indochina, and the USSR was drawn into conflict with China. As a result, both superpowers chose to move from the Cold War to a policy of gradual détente (détente).


During the period of “détente,” important agreements were concluded to limit the arms race, including treaties to limit missile defense (ABM) and strategic nuclear weapons (SALT-1 and SALT-2). However, the SALT treaties had a significant drawback. While limiting the overall volumes of nuclear weapons and missile technology, he barely touched upon the deployment of nuclear weapons. Meanwhile, adversaries could concentrate large numbers of nuclear missiles in the most dangerous places in the world, without even violating the agreed total volumes of nuclear weapons.


The detente was finally buried by the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in 1979. The Cold War resumed. In 1980–1982, the United States carried out a series of economic sanctions against the USSR. In 1983, US President Reagan called the USSR an “evil empire.” The installation of new American missiles in Europe has begun. In response to this, General Secretary of the CPSU Central Committee Yuri Andropov stopped all negotiations with the United States.


Under these conditions, the US President decided to “push” the USSR to weaken. According to Western financial circles, the USSR's foreign exchange reserves amounted to 25–30 billion dollars. In order to undermine the economy of the USSR, the Americans needed to inflict “unplanned” damage to the Soviet economy on such a scale - otherwise the “temporary difficulties” associated with the economic war would be smoothed out by a currency “cushion” of considerable thickness. It was necessary to act quickly - in the second half of the 80s. The USSR was supposed to receive additional financial injections from the Urengoy – Western Europe gas pipeline. In December 1981, in response to the suppression of the labor movement in Poland, Reagan announced a series of sanctions against Poland and its ally the USSR. The events in Poland were used as a pretext, because this time, unlike the situation in Afghanistan, the norms of international law were not violated by the Soviet Union. The United States announced a cessation of supplies of oil and gas equipment, which was supposed to disrupt the construction of the Urengoy-Western Europe gas pipeline. However, European allies interested in economic cooperation with the USSR, the USA did not immediately support it. Then Soviet industry was able to independently produce pipes that the USSR had previously intended to purchase from the West. Reagan's campaign against the pipeline failed.


In 1983, US President Ronald Reagan put forward the idea of ​​the “Strategic Defense Initiative” (SDI), or “star wars” - space systems, which could protect the United States from a nuclear attack. This program was carried out in circumvention of the ABM Treaty. The USSR did not have technical capabilities to create the same system. Despite the fact that the United States was also far from successful in this area, communist leaders feared a new round of the arms race.


Internal factors undermined the foundations of the system of “real socialism” much more significantly than the actions of the United States during the Cold War. At the same time, the crisis in which the USSR found itself put on the agenda the issue of “savings on foreign policy.” Despite the fact that the possibilities of such savings were exaggerated, the reforms that began in the USSR led to the end of the Cold War in 1987–1990.


In March 1985, the new General Secretary of the CPSU Central Committee, Mikhail Gorbachev, came to power in the USSR. In 1985–1986 he announced a policy of sweeping changes known as Perestroika. It was also envisaged to improve relations with capitalist countries on the basis of equality and openness (“new thinking”).


In November 1985, Gorbachev met with Reagan in Geneva and proposed a significant reduction in nuclear weapons in Europe. It was still impossible to solve the problem, because Gorbachev demanded the abolition of SDI, and Reagan did not yield. Despite the fact that significant progress was not achieved at this meeting, the two presidents got to know each other better, which helped them reach agreement in the future.


In December 1988, Gorbachev announced at the UN a unilateral reduction of the army. In February 1989 Soviet troops were withdrawn from Afghanistan, where the war between the Mujahideen and the pro-Soviet government of Najibullah continued.


In December 1989, off the coast of Malta, Gorbachev and new president US George Bush was able to discuss the situation of the actual end of the Cold War. Bush promised to make efforts to extend most favored nation treatment to the USSR in US trade, which would not have been possible if the Cold War continued. Despite the persistence of disagreements over the situation in some countries, including the Baltics, the atmosphere of the Cold War has become a thing of the past. Explaining the principles of the “new thinking” to Bush, Gorbachev said: “The main principle that we have accepted and which we follow within the framework of the new thinking is the right of each country to free choice, including the right to review or change the initially made choice. This is very painful, but it is a fundamental right. The right to choose without outside interference.” By this time, the methods of pressure on the USSR had already changed.


The dismantling of the Berlin Wall is considered the last milestone of the Cold War. That is, we can talk about its results. But this is perhaps the most difficult thing. Probably, history will sum up the results of the Cold War; its true results will be visible in decades.

	Planet Earth.
	Collapse of the USSR Decay: CMEA, EEC creation: CIS, European Union, CSTO German reunification, Termination of the Warsaw Pact.
Opponents
ATS and CMEA:	NATO and EEC:
Albania (until 1956)
	France (until 1966)
	Germany (since 1955)
Cuba (since 1961)
Angola (since 1975)
Afghanistan (since 1978)
Egypt (1952-1972)
Libya (since 1969)
Ethiopia (since 1974
	Iran (until 1979)
Indonesia (1959-1965)
Nicaragua (1979-1990)
Mali (until 1968)
Cambodia (since 1975)
Commanders
Joseph Stalin	Harry Truman
Georgy Malenkov	Dwight Eisenhower
Nikita Khrushchev	John Kennedy
Leonid Brezhnev	Lyndon Johnson
Yuri Andropov	Richard Nixon
Konstantin Chernenko	Gerald Ford
Mikhail Gorbachev	Jimmy Carter
Gennady Yanaev	Ronald Reagan
Enver Hoxha	George Bush Sr.
Georgiy Dimitrov
Vylko Chervenkov	Elizabeth II
Todor Zhivkov	Clement Attlee
Matthias Rakosi	Winston Churchill
Janos Kadar	Anthony Eden
Wilhelm Pieck	Harold Macmillan
Walter Ulbricht	Alexander Douglas-Home
Erich Honecker	Harold Wilson
Boleslaw Bierut	Edward Heath
Wladyslaw Gomułka	James Callaghan
Edward Gierek	Margaret Thatcher
Stanislav Kanya	John Major
Wojciech Jaruzelski	Vincent Auriol
Gheorghe Gheorghiu-Dej	Rene Coty
Nicolae Ceausescu	Charles de Gaulle
Klement Gottwald	Konrad Adenauer
Antonin Zapototsky	Ludwig Erhard
Antonin Novotny	Kurt Georg Kiesinger
Ludwik Svoboda	Willy Brandt
Gustav Husak	Helmut Schmidt
Fidel Castro	Helmut Kohl
Raul Castro	Juan Carlos I
Ernesto Che Guevara	Alcide de Gasperi
Mao Zedong	Giuseppe Pella
Kim Il Sung	Amintore Fanfani
Ho Chi Minh	Mario Scelba
	Antonio Segni
Ton Duc Thang	Adone Zoli
Khorlogin Choibalsan	Fernando Tambroni
Gamal Abdel Nasser	Giovanni Leone
Fauzi Selu	Aldo Moro
Adib al-Shishakli	Mariano Rumor
Shukri al-Quatli	Emilio Colombo
Nazim al-Qudsi	Giulio Andreotti
Amin al-Hafez	Francesco Cossiga
Nureddin al-Atassi	Arnaldo Forlani
Hafez al-Assad	Giovanni Spadolini
Abdul Salam Aref	Bettino Craxi
Abdul Rahman Aref	Giovanni Goria
Ahmed Hassan al-Bakr	Ciriaco de Mita
Saddam Hussein	Chiang Kai-shek
Muammar Gaddafi	Lee Seung Man
Ahmed Sukarno	Yoon Bo Song
Daniel Ortega	Park Chung Hee
	Choi Gyu Ha
	Jung Doo Hwan
	Ngo Dinh Diem
	Duong Van Minh
	Nguyen Khanh
	Nguyen Van Thieu
	Tran Van Huong
	Chaim Weizmann
	Yitzhak Ben-Zvi
	Zalman Shazar
	Ephraim Katzir
	Yitzhak Navon
	Chaim Herzog
	Mohammad Reza Pahlavi
	Mobutu Sese Seko

The global geopolitical, economic and ideological confrontation between the Soviet Union and its allies, on the one hand, and the United States and its allies, on the other, lasted from the mid-1940s to the early 1990s.

One of the main components of the confrontation was ideology. The deep contradiction between the capitalist and socialist models is the main cause of the Cold War. The two superpowers - winners of World War II - 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 expression “Cold War” was first used on April 16, 1947 by Bernard Baruch, an adviser to US President Harry Truman, in a speech to the South Carolina House of Representatives.

The internal logic of the confrontation required the parties to participate in conflicts and interfere in the development of events in any part of the world. The efforts of the USA and the USSR were aimed primarily at dominance in the military sphere. From the very beginning of the confrontation, the process of militarization of the two superpowers unfolded.

The USA and the USSR created their spheres of influence, securing them with military-political blocs - NATO and the Warsaw Pact. Although the United States and the USSR never entered into direct military confrontation, their competition for influence often led to outbreaks of local armed conflicts Worldwide.

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, both sides made efforts to “détente” international tensions and limit arms.

The growing technological backwardness of the USSR, along with the stagnation of the Soviet economy and exorbitant military spending in the late 1970s and early 1980s, forced the Soviet leadership to undertake political and economic reforms. The policy of perestroika and glasnost announced by Mikhail Gorbachev in 1985 led to the loss of the leading role of the CPSU and also contributed to the economic collapse in the USSR. Ultimately, the USSR, burdened by an economic crisis, as well as social and interethnic problems, collapsed in 1991.

In Eastern Europe, communist governments, having lost Soviet support, were removed even earlier, in 1989-1990. The Warsaw Pact officially ended on July 1, 1991, which can be considered the end of the Cold War.

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Beginning of the Cold War

The establishment of Soviet control over the countries of Eastern Europe at the end of World War II, in particular the creation of a pro-Soviet government in Poland as opposed to the Polish émigré government in London, led to the fact that the ruling circles of Great Britain and the United States began to perceive the USSR as a threat.

In April 1945, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill ordered the preparation of a plan for war against the USSR. The task was preceded by the conclusions that Churchill presented in his memoirs:

The operation plan was prepared by the joint planning staff of the British War Cabinet. The plan provides an assessment of the situation, formulates the objectives of the operation, determines the forces involved, the directions of attacks by the Western Allied forces and their likely results.

The planners came to two main conclusions:

• when starting a war with the USSR, you must be prepared for a long and expensive all-out war, and for a very possible defeat;
• The numerical superiority of Soviet troops on land makes it extremely doubtful that one of the sides can achieve victory quickly.

It should be pointed out that Churchill indicated in comments on the draft plan presented to him that it was a “precautionary measure” for what he hoped would be a “purely hypothetical case.”

In 1945, the USSR presented territorial claims to Turkey and demanded a change in the status of the Black Sea straits, including recognition of the USSR's right to create a naval base in the Dardanelles.

In 1946, Greek rebels, led by communists and fueled by arms supplies from Albania, Yugoslavia and Bulgaria, where communists were already in power, became more active. At the London meeting of foreign ministers, the USSR demanded the right to a protectorate over Tripolitania (Libya) in order to ensure its presence in the Mediterranean.

In France and Italy, the Communist Parties became the largest political parties and the Communists entered the governments. After the withdrawal of the bulk of American troops from Europe, the USSR became the dominant military force in continental Europe. Everything was favorable for Stalin to establish complete control over Europe, if he so desired.

Part politicians The West began to advocate the pacification of the USSR. This position was most clearly expressed by US Secretary of Commerce Henry Wallace. He considered the USSR's claims to be justified and proposed to agree to a kind of division of the world, recognizing the USSR's right to dominance in a number of areas of Europe and Asia. Churchill had a different point of view.

The formal beginning of the Cold War is often considered to be March 5, 1946, when Winston Churchill (at that time no longer serving as Prime Minister of Great Britain) made his famous speech in Fulton (USA, Missouri), in which he put forward the idea of ​​​​creating a military alliance of Anglo-Saxon countries with goal of the fight against 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 occupation troops from Iran (the troops were withdrawn only in May 1946 under pressure from Great Britain and the USA). Churchill's speech outlined a new reality, which the retired British leader, after protesting his deep respect and admiration for “the valiant Russian people and my wartime comrade Marshal Stalin,” defined as follows:

...From Stettin in the Baltic to Trieste in the Adriatic, the Iron Curtain stretched across the continent. On the other side of the imaginary line are all the capitals of the ancient states of Central and Eastern Europe. (...) The 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, except in Czechoslovakia, there is no real democracy anywhere. Türkiye and Persia are also deeply alarmed and concerned about the demands that the Moscow government is making on them. The Russians made an attempt in Berlin to create a quasi-communist party in their zone of occupation of Germany (...) If the Soviet government now tries to separately create a pro-communist Germany in its zone, it will cause new serious difficulties in the British and American zones and divide the defeated Germans between the Soviets and the Western democracies. (...) The facts are: this, of course, is not the liberated Europe for which we fought. This is not what is needed for permanent peace.

Churchill called not to repeat the mistakes of the 30s and to consistently defend the values ​​of freedom, democracy and “Christian civilization” against totalitarianism, for which it is necessary to ensure close unity and cohesion of the Anglo-Saxon nations.

A week later, J.V. Stalin, in an interview with Pravda, put Churchill on a par with Hitler and stated that in his speech he called on the West to go to war with the USSR.

1946-1953: beginning of the confrontation

On March 12, 1947, US President Harry Truman announced his intention to provide military and economic assistance in the amount of $400 million to Greece and Turkey. At the same time, he formulated the objectives of US policy aimed at helping “free peoples resisting attempts at enslavement by an armed minority and external pressure.” In this statement, Truman, in addition, defined the content of the emerging rivalry between the USA and the USSR as a conflict between democracy and totalitarianism. This is how the Truman Doctrine was born, which became the beginning of the transition from post-war cooperation between the USSR and the USA to rivalry.

In 1947, at the insistence of the USSR, the socialist countries refused to participate in the Marshall Plan, according to which the United States provided economic assistance to countries affected by the war in exchange for the exclusion of communists from the government.

The efforts of the USSR, in particular Soviet intelligence, were aimed at eliminating the US monopoly on the possession of nuclear weapons (see the article Creation of the Soviet atomic bomb). On August 29, 1949, the Soviet Union conducted its first nuclear bomb tests at the Semipalatinsk nuclear test site. American scientists from the Manhattan Project had previously warned that the USSR would eventually develop its own nuclear capability - nevertheless, this nuclear explosion had a stunning impact on US military strategic planning - mainly because US military strategists did not expect that they would will have to lose its monopoly so soon. At that time, it was not yet known about the successes of Soviet intelligence, which managed to penetrate Los Alamos.

In 1948, the United States adopted the “Vandenberg Resolution” - the official US renunciation of the practice of non-alignment with military-political blocs outside the Western Hemisphere in peacetime.

Already on April 4, 1949, NATO was created, and in October 1954, Germany was admitted to the Western European Union and NATO. This step caused a negative reaction from the USSR. In response, the USSR began to create a military bloc that would unite the Eastern European countries.

At the end of the 1940s, repressions against dissidents intensified in the USSR, who, in particular, began to be accused of “worshipping the West” (see also the article Fighting Cosmopolitanism), and a campaign was launched in the United States to identify communist sympathizers.

Although the USSR now also had nuclear capabilities, the United States was far ahead in both the number of warheads and the number of bombers. In any conflict, the United States could easily bomb the USSR, while the USSR would have difficulty responding.

The transition to large-scale use of jet fighter-interceptors somewhat changed this situation in favor of the USSR, reducing the potential effectiveness of American bomber aircraft. In 1949, Curtis LeMay, the new commander of the US Strategic Air Command, signed a program for the complete transition of bomber aircraft to jet propulsion. In the early 1950s, the B-47 and B-52 bombers began to enter service.

The most acute period of confrontation between the two blocs (USSR and the USA with their allies) occurred during the Korean War.

1953-1962: on the brink of nuclear war

With the onset of Khrushchev’s “thaw,” the threat of world war receded - this was especially true in the late 1950s, which culminated in Khrushchev’s visit to the United States. However, these same years included the Events of June 17, 1953 in the GDR, the events of 1956 in Poland, the anti-communist uprising in Hungary, and the Suez Crisis.

In response to the numerical increase in Soviet bomber aircraft in the 1950s, the United States created a fairly strong layered air defense system around large cities, involving the use of interceptor aircraft, anti-aircraft artillery and surface-to-air missiles. But the focus was still on the construction of a huge armada of nuclear bombers, which were destined to crush the defensive lines of the USSR - since it was considered impossible to provide effective and reliable defense of such a vast territory.

This approach is firmly rooted in strategic plans USA - it was believed that there was no reason for special concern until strategic forces The United States' power exceeds the overall potential of the Soviet Armed Forces. Moreover, according to American strategists, the Soviet economy, destroyed during the war, was unlikely to be capable of creating an adequate counterforce potential.

However, the USSR quickly created its own strategic aviation and tested in 1957 the R-7 intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), capable of reaching US territory. Since 1959, serial production of ICBMs began in the Soviet Union. (In 1958, the United States also tested its first Atlas ICBM). Since the mid-1950s, the United States has begun to realize that if nuclear war The USSR will be able to deliver a counter-value strike against American cities. Therefore, since the late 1950s, military experts have recognized that an all-out nuclear war between the United States and the USSR has become impossible.

The scandal with the American U-2 spy plane (1960) led to a new aggravation of relations between the USSR and the USA, the peak of which was the Berlin crisis of 1961 and the Cuban missile crisis (1962).

1962-1979: "Détente"

The ongoing nuclear arms race, the concentration of control of Western nuclear forces in the hands of the United States, and a number of incidents with nuclear weapons carriers caused increasing criticism of US nuclear policy. Contradictions in the principles of nuclear weapons management in the NATO command led to France's withdrawal in 1966 from participation in the formation of the armed forces of this organization. On January 17, 1966, one of the largest incidents involving nuclear weapons occurred: after a collision with a tanker aircraft, a US Air Force B-52 bomber crash-dropped four thermonuclear bombs over the Spanish village of Palomares. After this incident, Spain refused to condemn France's withdrawal from NATO and limited military activities of the US Air Force in the country, suspending the 1953 Spanish-American Treaty on Military Cooperation; Negotiations to renew this treaty in 1968 ended in failure.

Regarding the competition between two systems in space, Vladimir Bugrov noted that in 1964, Korolev’s main opponents managed to create the illusion with Khrushchev that it was possible to land on the Moon before the Americans; according to the scientist, if there was a race, it was between the chief designers.

In Germany, the coming to power of the Social Democrats led by Willy Brandt was marked by a new “Eastern policy”, which resulted in the Moscow Treaty between the USSR and the Federal Republic of Germany in 1970, which established the inviolability of borders, the renunciation of territorial claims and declared the possibility of uniting the Federal Republic of Germany and the German Democratic Republic.

In 1968, attempts at democratic reform in Czechoslovakia (Prague Spring) prompted military intervention by the USSR and its allies.

However, Brezhnev, unlike Khrushchev, had no inclination either for risky adventures outside the clearly defined Soviet sphere of influence, or for extravagant “peaceful” actions; The 1970s passed under the sign of the so-called “détente of international tension”, manifestations of which were the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe (Helsinki) and the joint Soviet-American space flight (the Soyuz-Apollo program); At the same time, treaties on the limitation of strategic arms were signed. This was largely determined by economic reasons, since the USSR already then began to experience an increasingly acute dependence on the purchase of consumer goods and food (for which foreign currency loans were required), while the West, during the years of the oil crisis caused by the Arab-Israeli confrontation, was extremely interested in the Soviet oil. In military terms, the basis for “detente” was the nuclear-missile parity of blocs that had developed by that time.

On August 17, 1973, US Secretary of Defense James Schlesinger put forward the doctrine of a “blinding” or “decapitation” strike: defeating enemy command posts and communications centers using medium- and shorter-range missiles, cruise missiles with laser, television and infrared targeting systems. This approach assumed a gain in “flight time” - the defeat of command posts before the enemy had time to decide on a retaliatory strike. The emphasis in deterrence has shifted from the strategic triad to medium- and shorter-range weapons. In 1974, this approach was enshrined in key documents on US nuclear strategy. On this basis, the United States and other NATO countries began modernizing Forward Base Systems - American tactical nuclear weapons located in Western Europe or off its coast. At the same time, the United States began creating a new generation of cruise missiles capable of hitting specified targets as accurately as possible.

These steps raised concerns in the USSR, since US forward-deployed assets, as well as the “independent” nuclear capabilities of Great Britain and France, were capable of hitting targets in the European part of the Soviet Union. In 1976, Dmitry Ustinov became the USSR Minister of Defense, who was inclined to take a tough response to US actions. Ustinov advocated not so much for building up the ground group of conventional armed forces, but for improving the technical park Soviet army. The Soviet Union began modernizing the delivery systems for medium- and shorter-range nuclear weapons in the European theater of operations.

Under the pretext of modernizing the outdated RSD-4 and RSD-5 (SS-4 and SS-5) systems, the USSR began deploying RSD-10 Pioneer (SS-20) medium-range missiles on its western borders. In December 1976, the missile systems were deployed, and in February 1977, they were put on combat duty in the European part of the USSR. In total, about 300 missiles of this class were deployed, each of which was equipped with three independently targetable multiple warheads. This allowed the USSR to destroy NATO military infrastructure in Western Europe in a matter of minutes - control centers, command posts and, especially, ports, which in case of war made it impossible for American troops to land in Western Europe. At the same time, the USSR modernized the general-purpose forces stationed in Central Europe - in particular, it modernized the Tu-22M long-range bomber to a strategic level.

The actions of the USSR caused a negative reaction from NATO countries. On December 12, 1979, NATO made a double decision - the deployment of American medium- and shorter-range missiles on the territory of Western European countries and at the same time the start of negotiations with the USSR on the issue of Euromissiles. However, the negotiations reached a dead end.

1979-1986: a new round of confrontation

A new aggravation occurred in 1979 in connection with the entry of Soviet troops into Afghanistan, which was perceived in the West as a violation of the geopolitical balance and the USSR’s transition to a policy of expansion. The aggravation reached its peak in the fall of 1983, when Soviet air defense forces shot down a South Korean civilian airliner, which, according to media reports, had about 300 people on board. It was then that US President Ronald Reagan called the USSR an “evil empire.”

In 1983, the United States deployed Pershing-2 medium-range ballistic missiles on the territory of Germany, Great Britain, Denmark, Belgium and Italy within 5-7 minutes of approach from targets on the European territory of the USSR and air-launched cruise missiles. In parallel, in 1981, the United States began production of neutron weapons - artillery shells and missile warheads short range"Lance." Analysts suggested that these weapons could be used to repel the advance of Warsaw Pact troops in Central Europe. The United States also began developing a space missile defense program (the so-called “Star Wars” program); both of these large-scale programs extremely worried the Soviet leadership, especially since the USSR, which maintained nuclear missile parity with great difficulty and strain on the economy, did not have the means to adequately fight back in space.

In response, in November 1983, the USSR withdrew from the Euromissile negotiations held in Geneva. General Secretary of the CPSU Central Committee Yuri Andropov said that the USSR would take a number of countermeasures: it would deploy operational-tactical nuclear weapons launch vehicles on the territory of the GDR and Czechoslovakia and move Soviet nuclear submarines closer to the US coast. In 1983-1986. Soviet nuclear forces and missile warning systems were on high alert.

According to available data, in 1981, Soviet intelligence services (KGB and GRU) launched Operation Nuclear Missile Attack (Operation RYAN) - monitoring the possible preparation of NATO countries for the start of a limited nuclear war in Europe. The concerns of the Soviet leadership were caused by the NATO exercises “Able archer 83” - in the USSR they feared that, under their cover, NATO was preparing to launch “Euromissiles” at targets in the Warsaw Pact countries. Similarly in 1983-1986. NATO military analysts feared that the USSR would launch a pre-emptive “disarming” strike on the Euromissile bases.

1987-1991: Gorbachev’s “new thinking” and the end of the confrontation

With the coming to power of Mikhail Gorbachev, who proclaimed “socialist pluralism” and “the priority of universal human values ​​over class values,” the ideological confrontation quickly lost its severity. In a military-political sense, Gorbachev initially tried to pursue a policy in the spirit of “detente” of the 1970s, proposing arms limitation programs, but negotiating rather harshly over the terms of the treaty (meeting in Reykjavik).

However, the development of the political process in the USSR towards the rejection of communist ideology, as well as the dependence of the USSR economy on Western technologies and loans due to a sharp drop in oil prices led to the USSR making broad concessions in the foreign policy sphere. It is widely believed that this was also due to the fact that increased military spending as a result of the arms race became unsustainable for the Soviet economy, but a number of researchers argue that the relative level of military spending in the USSR was not excessively high.

In 1988, the withdrawal of Soviet troops from Afghanistan begins. The fall of the communist system in Eastern Europe in 1989-1990. led to the liquidation of the Soviet bloc, and with it the virtual end of the Cold War.

Meanwhile, the Soviet Union itself was experiencing a deep crisis. The central authorities began to lose control over the union republics. On the outskirts of the country there were fires interethnic conflicts. In December 1991, the final collapse of the USSR occurred.

Manifestations of the Cold War

• An acute political and ideological confrontation between the communist and Western liberal systems, which has engulfed almost the entire world;
• creation of a system of military (NATO, Warsaw Pact Organization, SEATO, CENTO, ANZUS, ANZYUK) and economic (EEC, CMEA, ASEAN, etc.) alliances;
• creation of an extensive network of military bases of the USA and the USSR on the territory of foreign states;
• speeding up the arms race and military preparations;
• a sharp increase in military spending;
• periodically emerging international crises (Berlin crises, Cuban missile 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 pleasing to one or another bloc (Soviet intervention in Hungary, Soviet intervention in Czechoslovakia, American operation in Guatemala, the US- and UK-organized overthrow of the anti-Western government in Iran, the US-organized invasion of Cuba, the American intervention in Dominican Republic, American 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;
• waging a massive “psychological war”, the purpose of which was to propagate one’s 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 production of ideologically oriented literature and periodicals in foreign languages ​​was financed, and the 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.
• support for anti-government forces abroad - the USSR and its allies supported financially communist parties and some other leftist parties in Western countries and developing countries, as well as national liberation movements, including terrorist organizations. Also, the USSR and its allies supported the peace movement in Western countries. In turn, the intelligence services of the United States and Great Britain supported and took advantage of such anti-Soviet organizations as the People's Labor Union. The United States also secretly provided material assistance to Solidarity in Poland since 1982, and also provided material assistance 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 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.

Lessons from the Cold War

Joseph Nye, a professor at Harvard University (USA), speaking at the conference “From Fulton to Malta: How the Cold War Began and How It Ended” (Gorbachev Foundation, March 2005), pointed out the lessons that should be learned from the Cold War:

• bloodshed as a means of resolving global or regional conflicts is not inevitable;
• the presence of nuclear weapons among the warring parties and the understanding of what the world could become after a nuclear conflict played a significant deterrent role;
• the course of development of conflicts is closely related to the personal qualities of specific leaders (Stalin and Harry Truman, Mikhail Gorbachev and Ronald Reagan);
• military power is significant, but not decisive (the USA was defeated in Vietnam, and the USSR in Afghanistan); in the era of nationalism and the third industrial (information) revolution, it is impossible to control the hostile population of an occupied country;
• in these conditions, the economic power of the state and the ability of the economic system to adapt to the requirements of modernity, the ability for constant innovation, acquire a much greater role.
• the use of soft forms influence, or soft power, that is, the ability to achieve what you want from others without coercing (intimidating) them or buying their consent, but attracting them to your side. Immediately after the defeat of Nazism, the USSR and communist ideas had serious potential, but most of it was lost after the events in Hungary and Czechoslovakia, and this process continued as the Soviet Union used its military power.

Memory of the Cold War

Museums

• The Cold War Museum is a military history museum and museum and entertainment complex in Moscow.
• The Cold War Museum (UK) is a military history museum in Shropshire.
• Cold War Museum (Ukraine) is a naval museum complex in Balaklava.
• The Cold War Museum (USA) is a military history museum in Lorton, Virginia.

Medal "For Victory in the Cold War"

In early April 2007, a bill was introduced into both houses of the US Congress to establish a new military award for participation in the Cold War ( Cold War Service Medal), supported by a group of senators and congressmen from the Democratic Party led by the current US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. The medal is proposed to be awarded to all those who served in the armed forces or worked in US government departments during the period from September 2, 1945 to December 26, 1991.

As Hillary Clinton stated, “Our victory in the Cold War was made possible only by the willingness of millions of Americans in uniform to repel the threat that came from behind the Iron Curtain. Our victory in the Cold War was a tremendous achievement, and the men and women who served during that time deserve to be rewarded."

Congressman Robert Andrews, who introduced the bill in the House, said: “The Cold War was a global military operation that was extremely dangerous and at times deadly for the brave soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines who fought in the campaign. The millions of American veterans who served around the world to help us win this conflict deserve to receive a unique medal to recognize and honor their service.”

In the United States, there is an Association of Cold War Veterans, which also demanded that the authorities recognize their merits in the victory over the USSR, but only managed to achieve the issuance of certificates from the Ministry of Defense confirming their participation in the Cold War. The Veterans Association issued its own unofficial medal, the design of which was developed by a leading specialist at the US Army Institute of Heraldry, Nadin Russell.

TOPIC 19. “COLD WAR”

The concept of the Cold War.

The term “Cold War” was introduced by the American journalist W. Lippman.

- The Cold War is a state of intense confrontation in relations between capitalist and socialist countries led by the USA and the USSR.

- The Cold War was accompanied by:

1) the arms race and intensive preparations for a “hot” war;

2) rivalry in all spheres of public life;

3) acute ideological struggle and the creation of an image of an external enemy;

4) the struggle for spheres of influence in the world;

5) local armed conflicts.

2. Chronological framework of the Cold War. –

1946-1991.

Causes of the Cold War.

The absence of a common enemy among the countries of the anti-Hitler coalition.

The desire of the USSR and the USA to dominate the post-war world.

Contradictions between capitalist and socialist socio-political systems.

Political ambitions of the leaders of the USSR (Joseph Stalin) and the USA (Harry Truman).

The beginning of the Cold War.

A cooling in relations between the USSR and the USA appeared immediately after the end of World War II.

On the one hand, the United States was concerned about the growing influence of the USSR and the spread of socialism in the world.

On the other hand, victory in the war, powerful economic potential, and possession of atomic weapons gave the American leadership the opportunity to declare the US right to govern post-war world.

The Cold War began in March 1946 with a speech in Fulton by former British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, in which he declared the need to pit the Soviet Union against the might of the Anglo-Saxon world to protect Western democracies from communism.

The proclamation in 1947 by US President Henry Truman of a doctrine to contain and roll back socialism further worsened the USSR's relations with its former allies.

Churchill's Fulton speech and the Truman Doctrine were perceived by the Soviet leadership as a call for war against the USSR.

Truman Doctrine.

US President G. Truman outlined a program of measures to prevent Soviet expansion in the world.

The Truman Doctrine provided:

1) Providing large-scale economic assistance to European countries.

2) Creation of a military-political alliance of Western countries under the leadership of the United States.

3) Placement of a network of US military bases along the borders of the USSR.

4) Support for internal opposition in Eastern European countries.

5) Use of nuclear weapons to blackmail the Soviet leadership.

The planned measures were supposed to prevent the further spread of socialism and push socialism back to the borders of the USSR.

The degree of guilt of the superpowers in starting the Cold War.

There are three points of view on the issue of the guilt of the superpowers in starting the Cold War.

-1st point of view: the United States is to blame for starting the Cold War. Arguments:

1) Creation of an atomic bomb and development of plans for waging war against the USSR using atomic weapons (Dropshot plan, etc.).

2) Fulton speech by W. Churchill, delivered in the presence of US President G. Truman.

4) Creation of military bases along the borders of the USSR.

5) Creation of the Federal Republic of Germany.

6) Creation of NATO.

7) Participation in the Korean War.

-2nd point of view: the USSR is to blame for starting the Cold War. Arguments:

1) J.V. Stalin’s course towards a tough confrontation with the West and a new war.

2) Establishment of Soviet control over the countries of Eastern Europe and attempts to expand the sphere of Soviet influence in other regions of the world.

3) Blockade of West Berlin.

4) Participation in the Korean War.

5) Creation of the atomic bomb and inclusion in the arms race.

6) Leadership of the international communist movement.

-3rd point of view: the USSR and the USA are equally responsible for the outbreak of the Cold War.

Consequences of the Cold War for the USSR.

Huge expenses for the arms race.

Large expenses for supporting satellite countries (states included in the Warsaw Warfare).

Establishment of the “Iron Curtain”, restriction of contacts with Western countries.

Lack of access to the latest foreign technologies, technological lag behind Western countries.

Toughening of domestic policy.

Its beginning was associated with atomic weapons. The American military, thinking in the usual categories of naked force, began to look for the appropriate means to strike the “enemy,” that is, the Soviet Union. The philosophical stone in solving a problem that seemed insoluble in the recommendations dating back to 1943-1944 was atomic weapons. Support for the position of the United States by the majority of countries in the world was combined with their exceptional position as holders of a monopoly on the atomic bomb: the Americans again demonstrated their power by conducting test explosions on Bikini Atoll in the summer of 1946. Stalin made a number of statements during this period in order to downplay the importance of the new weapon. These statements set the tone for all Soviet propaganda. But the behavior of the representatives of the Soviet Union in private showed their great concern in reality.

But the American monopoly on nuclear weapons lasted only four years. In 1949, the USSR tested its first atomic bomb. This event was a real shock for the Western world and important milestone"Cold War". In the course of further accelerated development in the USSR, nuclear and then thermonuclear weapons were soon created. Fighting has become very dangerous for everyone, and is fraught with very bad consequences. The nuclear potential accumulated over the years of the Cold War was enormous, but the gigantic stockpiles of destructive weapons were of no use, and the costs of their production and storage were growing. If earlier they said “we can destroy you, but you cannot destroy us,” now the wording has changed. They began to say “you can destroy us 38 times, and we can destroy you 64 times!” The debate is fruitless, especially considering that if a war broke out and one of the opponents used nuclear weapons, very soon there would be nothing left not only of him, but of the entire planet.

The arms race was growing at a rapid pace. As soon as one of the sides created some fundamentally new weapon, its opponent threw all its forces and resources into achieving the same thing. Crazy competition affected all areas of the military industry. We competed everywhere: in creating the latest systems small arms(the US responded to the Soviet AKM with the M-16), in new designs of tanks, aircraft, ships and submarines, but perhaps the most dramatic competition was in the creation of rocketry. The entire so-called peaceful space in those days was not even the visible part of the iceberg, but a snow cap on the visible part. The USA has overtaken the USSR in the number of nuclear weapons. The USSR overtook the USA in rocket science. The USSR was the first in the world to launch a satellite, and in 1961 it was the first to send a man into space. The Americans could not stand such obvious superiority. The result is their landing on the moon. At this point, the parties reached strategic parity. However, this did not stop the arms race. On the contrary, it has spread to all sectors that have at least some connection with weapons. This could, for example, include the race to create supercomputers. Here the West took unconditional revenge for lagging behind in the field of rocket science, since for purely ideological reasons the USSR missed a breakthrough in this area.

The arms race has even affected education. After Gagarin's flight, the United States was forced to reconsider the foundations of the education system and introduce fundamentally new teaching methods.

The arms race was subsequently voluntarily suspended by both sides. A number of treaties were concluded limiting the accumulation of weapons.

We don’t want a single inch of someone else’s land. But we will not give up our land, not a single inch of our land, to anyone.

Joseph Stalin

The Cold War is a state of contradiction between the two dominant world systems: capitalism and socialism. Socialism was represented by the USSR, and capitalism, in this way, by the USA and Great Britain. Today it is popular to say that the Cold War is a confrontation at the USSR-USA level, but they forget to say that the speech of British Prime Minister Churchill led to the formal declaration of war.

Causes of the war

In 1945, contradictions began to appear between the USSR and other participants in the anti-Hitler coalition. It was clear that Germany lost the war, and now the main question is post-war structure peace. Here everyone tried to pull the blanket in their direction, to take a leading position relative to other countries. The main contradictions were European countries: Stalin wanted to subordinate them to the Soviet system, and the capitalists sought to prevent the Soviet state from entering Europe.

The causes of the Cold War are as follows:

• Social. Uniting the country in the face of a new enemy.
• Economic. The struggle for markets and resources. The desire to weaken the economic power of the enemy.
• Military. An arms race in case of a new open war.
• Ideological. The enemy society is presented exclusively in negative connotations. The struggle of two ideologies.

The active stage of the confrontation between the two systems begins with the US atomic bombing of the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. If we consider this bombing in isolation, it is illogical - the war has been won, Japan is not a competitor. Why bomb cities, and even with such weapons? But if we consider the end of the Second World War and the beginning of the Cold War, then the goal of bombing is to show a potential enemy one’s strength, and to show who should be in charge in the world. And the factor of nuclear weapons was very important in the future. After all, the USSR only had an atomic bomb in 1949...

Beginning of the war

If we briefly consider the Cold War, its beginning today is associated exclusively with Churchill’s speech. That is why they say that the beginning of the Cold War is March 5, 1946.

Churchill's speech March 5, 1946

In fact, Truman (US President) gave a more specific speech, from which it became clear to everyone that the Cold War had begun. And Churchill’s speech (it’s not difficult to find and read on the Internet today) was superficial. It talked a lot about the Iron Curtain, but not a word about the Cold War.

Interview with Stalin from February 10, 1946

On February 10, 1946, the Pravda newspaper published an interview with Stalin. Today this newspaper is very difficult to find, but this interview was very interesting. In it, Stalin said the following: “Capitalism always gives rise to crises and conflicts. This always creates a threat of war, which is a threat to the USSR. Therefore, we must restore at an accelerated pace Soviet economy. We must give priority to heavy industry over consumer goods."

This speech of Stalin turned around and it was on it that all Western leaders relied on the desire of the USSR to start a war. But, as you can see, in this speech by Stalin there was not even a hint of the militaristic expansion of the Soviet state.

The real start of the war

To say that the beginning of the Cold War is connected with Churchill's speech is a little illogical. The fact is that at the time of 1946 it was simply the former Prime Minister of Great Britain. It turns out to be a kind of theater of the absurd - the war between the USSR and the USA is officially started by the former Prime Minister of England. In reality, everything was different, and Churchill’s speech was just a convenient excuse, which was later advantageous to write off everything on.

The real beginning of the Cold War should be dated back to at least 1944, when it was already clear that Germany was doomed to defeat, and all the allies pulled the blanket over themselves, realizing that it was very important to gain dominance over the post-war world. If we try to draw a more precise line for the beginning of the war, then the first serious disagreements on the topic of “how to live further” between the allies occurred at the Tehran Conference.

Specifics of war

To properly understand the processes that took place during the Cold War, you need to understand what this war was like in history. Today they are increasingly saying that it was actually the Third World War. And this is a huge mistake. The fact is that all the wars of mankind that happened before, including the Napoleonic Wars and World Wars 2, were warriors of the capitalist world for the rights to dominate a certain region. The Cold War was the first global war in which there was a confrontation between two systems: capitalist and socialist. Here it may be objected to me that in the history of mankind there have been wars where the cornerstone was not capital, but religion: Christianity against Islam and Islam against Christianity. This objection is partly true, but only out of happiness. The fact is that any religious conflicts cover only part of the population and part of the world, while the global cold war has covered the whole world. All countries of the world could be clearly divided into 2 main groups:

1. Socialist. They recognized the dominance of the USSR and received funding from Moscow.
2. Capitalist. They recognized US dominance and received funding from Washington.

There were also “uncertain” ones. There were few such countries, but they existed. Their main specificity was that outwardly they could not decide which camp to join, so they received funding from two sources: from Moscow and Washington.

Who started the war

One of the problems of the Cold War is the question of who started it. Indeed, there is no army here that crosses the border of another state and thereby declares war. Today you can blame everything on the USSR and say that it was Stalin who started the war. Nose evidence base This hypothesis is in trouble. I will not help our “partners” and look for what motives the USSR might have had for the war, but I will give facts why Stalin did not need the aggravation of relations (at least not directly in 1946):

• Nuclear weapon. The USA introduced it in 1945, and the USSR in 1949. You can imagine that the ultra-calculating Stalin wanted to worsen relations with the United States when the enemy had a trump card up his sleeve - nuclear weapons. At the same time, let me remind you, there was also a plan for the atomic bombing of the largest cities of the USSR.
• Economy. USA and UK, each by and large, they made money during World War II, so they had no economic problems. The USSR is a different matter. The country needed to restore the economy. By the way, the USA had 50% of the world GNP in 1945.

The facts show that in 1944-1946 the USSR was not ready to start a war. And Churchill’s speech, which formally began the Cold War, was not delivered in Moscow, and not at its suggestion. But on the other hand, both opposing camps were extremely interested in such a war.

Back on September 4, 1945, the United States adopted “Memorandum 329,” which developed a plan for the atomic bombing of Moscow and Leningrad. In my opinion, this is the best proof of who wanted war and aggravation of relations.

Goals

Any war has goals, and it is surprising that most of our historians do not even try to determine the goals of the Cold War. On the one hand, this is justified by the fact that the USSR had only one goal - the expansion and strengthening of socialism by any means. But Western countries were more inventive. They sought not only to spread their global influence, but also to deal spiritual blows to the USSR. And this continues to this day. The following US goals in the war can be identified in terms of historical and psychological impact:

1. Replace the concepts with historical level. Note that today, under the influence of these ideas, everyone historical figures Russia, which bowed to Western countries, is presented as ideal rulers. At the same time, everyone who advocated the rise of Russia is presented as tyrants, despots and fanatics.
2. Development of an inferiority complex among Soviet people. They were always trying to prove to us that we were somehow different, that we were to blame for all the problems of humanity, and so on. Largely because of this, people so easily accepted the collapse of the USSR and the problems of the 90s - it was “payback” for our inferiority, but in fact, the enemy simply achieved the goal in the war.
3. Denigration of history. This stage continues to this day. If you study Western materials, then our entire history (literally all of it) is presented as one continuous violence.

There are, of course, pages of history with which our country can be reproached, but most of the stories are just made up. Moreover, liberals and Western historians for some reason forget that it was not Russia that colonized the whole world, it was not Russia that destroyed indigenous people America, it was not Russia that shot Indians with cannons, tying 20 people in a row to save cannonballs, it was not Russia that exploited Africa. There are thousands of such examples, because every country in history has unpleasant stories. Therefore, if you really want to delve into the bad events of our history, please do not forget that Western countries have no less such stories.

Stages of the war

The stages of the Cold War are one of the most controversial issues, since it is very difficult to gradate them. However, I can suggest dividing this war into 8 key stages:

• Preparatory (193-1945). The world war was still going on and formally the “allies” acted as a united front, but there were already differences and everyone began to fight for post-war world domination.
• Beginning (1945-1949). The time of complete US hegemony, when the Americans managed to make the dollar the single world currency and the country’s position was strengthened in almost all regions except those in which the USSR army was located.
• Rise (1949-1953). Key factors of 1949 that make it possible to single out this year as a key one: 1 - the creation of atomic weapons in the USSR, 2 - the economy of the USSR is reaching the levels of 1940. After this, active confrontation began, when the United States could no longer talk to the USSR from a position of strength.
• First discharge (1953-1956). The key event was the death of Stalin, after which the beginning of a new course was announced - a policy of peaceful coexistence.
• A new round of crisis (1956-1970). Events in Hungary led to a new round of tension that lasted almost 15 years, which included the Cuban missile crisis.
• Second discharge (1971-1976). This stage of the Cold War, in short, is associated with the beginning of the work of the commission to relieve tension in Europe, and with the signing of the Final Act in Helsinki.
• Third crisis (1977-1985). A new round when the Cold War between the USSR and the USA reached its climax. The main point of confrontation is Afghanistan. In terms of military development, the country staged a “wild” arms race.
• End of the war (1985-1988). The end of the Cold War occurred in 1988, when it became clear that the “new political thinking” in the USSR was ending the war and so far only de facto recognized the American victory.

These are the main stages of the Cold War. As a result, socialism and communism lost to capitalism, since the moral and psychological influence of the United States, which was openly directed at the leadership of the CPSU, achieved its goal: the party leadership began to put its personal interests and benefits above socialist foundations.

Forms

The confrontation between the two ideologies began back in 1945. Gradually, this confrontation spread to all spheres of public life.

Military confrontation

The main military confrontation of the Cold War era is the struggle of two blocs. On April 4, 1949, NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) was created. NATO includes the USA, Canada, England, France, Italy and a number of small countries. In response, on May 14, 1955, the Warsaw Pact Organization was created. Thus, a clear confrontation between the two systems emerged. But again it should be noted that the first step was taken by Western countries, which organized NATO 6 years earlier than the Warsaw Pact.

The main confrontation, which we have already partially discussed, is atomic weapons. In 1945, these weapons appeared in the United States. Moreover, America developed a plan to launch nuclear strikes on the 20 largest cities of the USSR, using 192 bombs. This forced the USSR to do even the impossible to create its own atomic bomb, the first successful tests of which took place in August 1949. Subsequently, all this resulted in an arms race on a huge scale.

Economic confrontation

In 1947, the United States developed the Marshall Plan. According to this plan, the United States provided financial assistance to all countries that suffered during the war. But in this regard there was one limitation - only those countries that shared the political interests and goals of the United States received assistance. In response to this, the USSR begins to provide assistance in reconstruction after the war to countries that have chosen the path of socialism. Based on these approaches, 2 economic blocks were created:

• Western European Union (WEU) in 1948.
• Council for Mutual Economic Assistance (CMEA) in January 1949. In addition to the USSR, the organization included: Czechoslovakia, Romania, Poland, Hungary and Bulgaria.

Despite the formation of alliances, the essence did not change: ZEV helped with US money, and CMEA helped with USSR money. The rest of the countries only consumed.

In the economic confrontation with the USA, Stalin took two steps that had an extremely negative impact on the American economy: on March 1, 1950, the USSR moved away from calculating the ruble in dollars (as was the case throughout the world) to gold backing, and in April 1952, the USSR, China and Eastern European countries are creating a trade zone alternative to the dollar. This trade zone did not use the dollar at all, which means the capitalist world, which previously owned 100% of the world market, lost at least 1/3 of this market. All this happened against the backdrop of the “economic miracle of the USSR.” Western experts said that the USSR would be able to reach the 1940 level after the war only by 1971, but in reality this happened already in 1949.

Crises

Cold War crises

Event	date
	1948
Vietnam War	1946-1954
	1950-1953
	1946-1949
	1948-1949
	1956
	Mid 50's - mid 60's
	Mid 60's
War in Afghanistan

These are the main crises of the Cold War, but there were others, less significant. Next, we will briefly consider what the essence of these crises was and what consequences they led to the world.

Military conflicts

In our country, many people do not take the Cold War seriously. We have in our minds the understanding that war is “checkers drawn,” weapons in hand and in the trenches. But the Cold War was different, although even it was not without regional conflicts, some of which were extremely difficult. The main conflicts of those times:

• The split of Germany. Education of the Federal Republic of Germany and the German Democratic Republic.
• Vietnam War (1946-1954). Led to the division of the country.
• Korean War (1950-1953). Led to the division of the country.

Berlin crisis of 1948

To properly understand the essence of the Berlin crisis of 1948, you should study the map.

Germany was divided into 2 parts: western and eastern. Berlin was also in the zone of influence, but the city itself was deep in eastern lands, that is, on the territory controlled by the USSR. In an effort to put pressure on West Berlin, the Soviet leadership organized its blockade. This was a response to the recognition of Taiwan and its acceptance into the UN.

England and France organized an air corridor, supplying the residents of West Berlin with everything they needed. Therefore, the blockade failed and the crisis itself began to slow down. Realizing that the blockade was leading nowhere, the Soviet leadership lifted it, normalizing life in Berlin.

The continuation of the crisis was the creation of two states in Germany. In 1949, the western states were transformed into the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG). In response, the German Democratic Republic (GDR) was created in the eastern states. It is these events that should be considered the final split of Europe into 2 opposing camps - West and East.

Revolution in China

In 1946, civil war began in China. The Communist bloc staged an armed coup in an effort to overthrow the government of Chiang Kai-shek of the Kuomintang party. The civil war and revolution became possible thanks to the events of 1945. After the victory over Japan, a base was created here for the rise of communism. Starting in 1946, the USSR began supplying weapons, food and everything necessary to support the Chinese communists who were fighting for the country.

The revolution ended in 1949 with the formation of the Chinese People's Republic(PRC), where all power was in the hands of the Communist Party. As for the Chiang Kai-shekites, they fled to Taiwan and formed their own state, which was very quickly recognized in the West, and even accepted it into the UN. In response to this, the USSR leaves the UN. This important point, as it had a major influence on another Asian conflict, the Korean War.

Formation of the State of Israel

From the first meetings of the UN, one of the main issues was the fate of the state of Palestine. At that time, Palestine was actually a colony of Great Britain. The division of Palestine into a Jewish and Arab state was an attempt by the USA and the USSR to strike at Great Britain and its positions in Asia. Stalin approved the idea of ​​​​creating the state of Israel, because he believed in the strength of the “left” Jews, and hoped to gain control over this country, strengthening his position in the Middle East.

The Palestinian problem was resolved in November 1947 at the UN Assembly, where the position of the USSR played a key role. Therefore, we can say that Stalin played a key role in the creation of the state of Israel.

The UN Assembly decided to create 2 states: Jewish (Israel) and Arab (Palestine). In May 1948, Israel’s independence was declared and immediately Arab countries declared war on this state. The Middle East crisis has begun. Great Britain supported Palestine, the USSR and the USA supported Israel. In 1949, Israel won the war and immediately a conflict arose between the Jewish state and the USSR, as a result of which Stalin broke off diplomatic relations with Israel. The United States won the battle in the Middle East.

Korean War

The Korean War is an undeservedly forgotten event that is little studied today, which is a mistake. After all, the Korean War is the third most fatal in history. During the war years, 14 million people died! Only two world wars had more casualties. The large number of casualties is due to the fact that this was the first major armed conflict of the Cold War.

After the victory over Japan in 1945, the USSR and the USA divided Korea (a former colony of Japan) into zones of influence: a united Korea - under the influence of the USSR, South Korea- under the influence of the USA. In 1948, 2 states were officially formed:

• Korean Folk democratic republic(DPRK). Zone of influence of the USSR. Head: Kim Il Sung.
• The Republic of Korea. US zone of influence. Director: Lee Seung Mann.

Having secured the support of the USSR and China, Kim Il Sung started the war on June 25, 1950. In fact, it was a war for the unification of Korea, which the DPRK planned to end quickly. The factor of a quick victory was important, since this was the only way to prevent the United States from intervening in the conflict. The beginning was promising; UN troops, which were 90% Americans, came to the aid of the Republic of Korea. After this, the DPRK army was retreating and was close to collapse. The situation was saved by Chinese volunteers who intervened in the war and restored the balance of power. After this, local battles began and the border between North and South Korea was established along the 38th parallel.

First détente of the war

The first détente in the Cold War occurred in 1953 after the death of Stalin. An active dialogue began between the warring countries. Already on July 15, 1953, the new government of the USSR, headed by Khrushchev, announced its desire to build new relations with Western countries based on a policy of peaceful coexistence. Similar statements were made from the opposite side.

A big factor in stabilizing the situation was the end of the Korean War and the establishment of diplomatic relations between the USSR and Israel. Wanting to demonstrate to the panicked countries the desire for peaceful coexistence, Khrushchev withdrew Soviet troops from Austria, having obtained a promise from the Austrian side to maintain neutrality. Naturally, there was no neutrality, just as there were no concessions or gestures from the United States.

Détente lasted from 1953 to 1956. During this time, the USSR established relations with Yugoslavia and India, and began to develop relations with African and Asian countries that had only recently freed themselves from colonial dependence.

A new round of tension

Hungary

At the end of 1956, an uprising began in Hungary. Local residents, realizing that the position of the USSR after Stalin's death had become noticeably worse, rebelled against the current regime in the country. As a result, the Cold War came to its most important point. For the USSR there were 2 ways:

1. Recognize the revolution's right to self-determination. This step would give all other countries dependent on the USSR the understanding that they could leave socialism at any moment.
2. Suppress the rebellion. This approach was contrary to the principles of socialism, but this was the only way to maintain a leading position in the world.

Option 2 was chosen. The army suppressed the rebellion. To suppress in some places it was necessary to use weapons. As a result, the revolution was defeated, and it became clear that “détente” was over.

Caribbean crisis

Cuba is a small state near the United States, but it almost brought the world to nuclear war. At the end of the 50s, a revolution took place in Cuba and power was seized by Fidel Castro, who declared his desire to build socialism on the island. For America, this was a challenge - a state appeared near their border that acts as a geopolitical adversary. As a result, the United States planned to resolve the situation militarily, but was defeated.

The Krabi Crisis began in 1961 after the USSR secretly delivered missiles to Cuba. This soon became known, and the US President demanded that the missiles be withdrawn. The parties escalated the conflict until it became clear that the world was on the verge of a nuclear war. As a result, the USSR agreed to withdraw missiles from Cuba, and the United States agreed to withdraw its missiles from Turkey.

"Prague Vienna"

In the mid-1960s, new tensions arose, this time in Czechoslovakia. The situation here was very reminiscent of the one that existed earlier in Hungary: democratic trends began in the country. Mostly young people opposed the current government, and the movement was led by A. Dubcek.

A situation arose, as in Hungary, - allowing for a democratic revolution meant giving an example to other countries that the socialist system could be overthrown at any time. Therefore, the Warsaw Pact countries sent their troops to Czechoslovakia. The rebellion was suppressed, but the suppression caused outrage throughout the world. But it was a cold war, and, of course, any active actions by one side were actively criticized by the other side.

Détente in war

The peak of the Cold War came in the 50s and 60s, when the aggravation of relations between the USSR and the United States was so great that war could break out at any moment. Starting in the 70s, the war began to detente and the subsequent defeat of the USSR. But in this case I want to dwell briefly on the USA. What happened in this country before “détente”? In fact, the country ceased to be a people's country and came under the control of capitalists, under which it remains to this day. One can say even more - the USSR won the Cold War against the USA in the late 60s, and the USA, as a state of the American people, ceased to exist. The capitalists seized power. The apogee of these events was the assassination of President Kennedy. But after the United States became a country representing capitalists and oligarchs, they already won the Cold War of the USSR.

But let's return to the Cold War and détente in it. These signs were identified in 1971 when the USSR, USA, England and France signed agreements to begin the work of a commission to resolve the Berlin problem, as a point of constant tension in Europe.

Final Act

In 1975, the most significant event of the Cold War détente occurred. During these years, a pan-European meeting on security was held, in which all European countries took part (of course, including the USSR, as well as the USA and Canada). The meeting took place in Helsinki (Finland), so it went down in history as the Helsinki Final Act.

As a result of the congress, an Act was signed, but before that there were difficult negotiations, primarily on 2 points:

• Freedom of the media in the USSR.
• Freedom to travel “from” and “to” the USSR.

A commission from the USSR agreed to both points, but in a special formulation that did little to oblige the country itself. The final signing of the Act became the first symbol that the West and East could come to an agreement among themselves.

New aggravation of relations

In the late 70s and early 80s, a new round of the Cold War began, when relations between the USSR and the USA became tense. There were 2 reasons for this:

The United States deployed medium-range missiles in Western European countries that were capable of reaching the territory of the USSR.

The beginning of the war in Afghanistan.

As a result, the Cold War reached a new level and the enemy took up the usual business - an arms race. It hit the budgets of both countries very hard and ultimately led the United States to a terrible economic crisis 1987, and the USSR to defeat in the war and subsequent collapse.

Historical meaning

Surprisingly, in our country the Cold War is not taken seriously. Best fact, demonstrating the attitude towards this historical event in our country and in the West, is the spelling of the name. In all our textbooks, “Cold War” is written in quotation marks and with a capital letter, in the West – without quotation marks and with a small letter. This is the difference in attitude.

It really was a war. It’s just that in the understanding of people who have just defeated Germany, war is weapons, shots, attack, defense, and so on. But the world has changed and in the Cold War, contradictions and ways to resolve them came to the fore. Of course, this also resulted in real armed clashes.

In any case, the results of the Cold War are important, since as a result of its results the USSR ceased to exist. This ended the war itself, and Gorbachev received a medal in the United States “for victory in the Cold War.”

Holodnaya voyna (1946—1989...present)

In short, the Cold War is an ideological, military and economic confrontation between the two strongest powers of the 20th century, the USSR and the USA, which lasted 45 years - from 1946 to 1991. The word “war” here is conditional; the conflict continued without the use of military force, but this did not make it any less severe. If we talk briefly about the Cold War, then the main weapon in it was ideology.

The main countries of this confrontation are the Soviet Union and the United States. The USSR has caused concern in Western countries since its inception. The communist system was the extreme opposite of the capitalist one, and the spread of socialism to other countries caused an extremely negative reaction from the West and the United States.

Only the threat of Nazi Germany's seizure of Europe forced the former fierce opponents to become temporary allies in World War II. France, Great Britain, the USSR and the USA created an anti-Hitler coalition and jointly fought against German troops. But the conflicts were forgotten only for the duration of the war.

After the end of the bloodiest war of the 20th century, a new division of the world into spheres of influence between the major victorious countries began. The USSR extended its influence to Eastern Europe. The strengthening of the Soviet Union caused serious concerns in England and the United States. The governments of these countries already in 1945 were developing plans to attack their main ideological enemy. British Prime Minister William Churchill, who hated the communist regime, made an open statement in which he emphasized that military superiority in the world should be on the side of Western countries, not the USSR. Statements of this kind caused increased tension between Western countries and the Soviet Union.

In short, the Cold War began in 1946, immediately after the end of World War II. Churchill’s speech in the American city of Fulton can be considered its beginning. She showed true attitude Western allies to the USSR.
In 1949, the West created the NATO military bloc in order to protect against possible aggression from the USSR. The Soviet Union and its allied countries also formed in 1955, as opposed to Western countries its military alliance - the Warsaw Pact Organization.

The main participants in the conflict - the USSR and the USA - did not enter into hostilities, but the policies they pursued led to the emergence of many local conflicts in many regions of the world.
The Cold War was accompanied by increased militarization, an arms race and ideological warfare. The Cuban Missile Crisis that occurred in 1962 showed how fragile the world is under such conditions. A real war was barely averted. After him, the USSR came to understand the need for disarmament. Mikhail Gorbachev, starting in 1985, pursued a policy of establishing more trusting relations with Western countries.