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 Koenigsberg (now the Kaliningrad region of the Russian Federation) went to the Soviet Union, the Lithuanian SSR received the territory of the Klaipeda region, and the territories of Transcarpathian Ukraine went to the Ukrainian SSR. In the Far East, in accordance with the agreements reached at the Crimean Conference, Southern Sakhalin and the Kuril Islands were returned to the Soviet Union (including the four southern islands that were 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 of an industrial society, which required industrial growth, and therefore increased consumption of resources. 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.

The immediate beginning of the 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 replacing the capitalist system, which had fallen on hard times, with a socialist one could 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 rapidly expand, which aroused the fears of the leaders of Western countries - former allies of the 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, Warsaw Pact Organization, SEATO, CENTO, 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. 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 passed the Internal Security Act, according to which a special department for control of subversive activities was created, whose task was to identify and register organizations of “communist action” in order to deprive 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 internal policy of the USSR sharply tightened. 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 Hitler’s 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 Western European countries 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. The western part of Berlin was also in their hands. In 1948, western Germany was included in the Marshall Plan, but eastern Germany was not. Different parts of the country developed different economic systems, making 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 countries of the 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 - the pro-Soviet Kim Il Sung in the north and the pro-American Syngman Rhee in the south - to rule. 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 did not immediately support the United States. 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 that 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 the 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 the new US President George W. Bush were 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.

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

The main reason for the Cold War was the insoluble ideological contradictions between two models of society - socialist and capitalist. The West feared the strengthening of the USSR. The absence of a common enemy among the victorious countries, as well as the ambitions of political leaders, also played a role.

Historians identify the following stages of the Cold War:

• March 5, 1946 - 1953: The Cold War began with Churchill's speech in Fulton in the spring of 1946, which proposed the idea of ​​creating an alliance of Anglo-Saxon countries to fight communism. The US goal was an economic victory over the USSR, as well as achieving military superiority. In fact, the Cold War began earlier, but it was by the spring of 1946 that, due to the USSR’s refusal to withdraw troops from Iran, the situation seriously worsened.

1953-1962: During this period of the Cold War, the world was on the brink of nuclear conflict. Despite some improvement in relations between the Soviet Union and the United States during Khrushchev's Thaw, it was at this stage that events took place in the GDR and Poland, the anti-communist uprising in Hungary, as well as the Suez Crisis. International tensions increased following the Soviet development and successful testing of an intercontinental ballistic missile in 1957.

However, the threat of nuclear war receded as the Soviet Union was now able to retaliate against US cities. This period of relations between the superpowers ended with the Berlin and Caribbean crises of 1961 and 1962. respectively. The Cuban missile crisis was resolved only through personal negotiations between the heads of state - Khrushchev and Kennedy. As a result of the negotiations, agreements on the non-proliferation of nuclear weapons were signed.

• 1962-1979: The period was marked by an arms race that undermined the economies of rival countries. The development and production of new types of weapons required incredible resources. Despite the tensions between the USSR and the USA, strategic arms limitation agreements were signed. The development of the joint Soyuz-Apollo space program began. However, by the beginning of the 80s, the USSR began to lose in the arms race.
• 1979-1987: Relations between the USSR and the USA deteriorated again after the entry of Soviet troops into Afghanistan. In 1983, the United States deployed ballistic missiles at bases in Italy, Denmark, England, Germany, and Belgium. The development of an anti-space defense system was underway. The USSR responded to the actions of the West by withdrawing from the Geneva negotiations. During this period, the missile attack warning system was in constant combat readiness.
• 1987-1991: the coming to power in the USSR in 1985 entailed not only global changes within the country, but also radical changes in foreign policy, called “new political thinking.” Ill-conceived reforms completely undermined the economy of the Soviet Union, which led to the country's virtual defeat in the Cold War.

The end of the Cold War was caused by the weakness of the Soviet economy, its inability to no longer support the arms race, as well as pro-Soviet communist regimes. Anti-war protests in different parts of the world also played a certain role. The results of the Cold War were dismal for the USSR. The symbol of the victory of the West was the reunification of Germany in 1990.

After the USSR was defeated in the Cold War, a unipolar world model emerged with the United States as the dominant superpower. However, these are not the only consequences of the Cold War. The rapid development of science and technology, primarily military, began. Thus, the Internet was originally created as a communications system for the American army.

Many documentaries and feature films have been made about the Cold War period. One of them, telling in detail about the events of those years, is “Heroes and Victims of the Cold War.”

The Cold War is the name given to the historical period from 1946 to 1991, which took place under the sign of the confrontation between two major superpowers - the USSR and the USA, which took shape after the end of World War II in 1945. The beginning of the rivalry between the two strongest states on the planet at that time gradually acquired the nature of a fierce confrontation in all spheres - economic, social, political and ideological. Both states created military-political associations (NATO and Warsaw Warsaw), accelerated the creation of nuclear missile and conventional weapons, and also constantly took covert or overt participation in almost all local military conflicts on the planet.

Main reasons for confrontation

• The desire of the United States to consolidate its global leadership and create a world based on American values, taking advantage of the temporary weakness of potential opponents (European states, like the USSR, lay in ruins after the war, and other countries at that time could not even come close to competing with the strengthened overseas “empire” )
• Different ideological programs of the USA and the USSR (Capitalism and Socialism). The authority of the Soviet Union after its defeat of Nazi Germany was unusually high. Including in Western European countries. Fearing the spread of communist ideology and its mass support, the United States began to actively oppose the USSR.

Position of the parties at the beginning of the conflict

The USA initially had a colossal economic head start over its eastern adversary, thanks to which it largely gained the opportunity to become a superpower. The USSR defeated the strongest European army, but paid for it with millions of lives and thousands of destroyed cities and villages. No one knew how long it would take to restore the economy destroyed by the fascist invasion. The territory of the United States, unlike the USSR, did not suffer at all, and the losses against the background of the losses of the Soviet army looked insignificant, since it was the Soviet Union that took the strongest blow from the fascist core of all of Europe, single-handedly fighting Germany and its allies from 1941 to 1944.

The United States participated in the war in the European Theater of Operations for less than a year - from June 1944 to May 1945. After the war, the United States became a creditor to Western European states, effectively formalizing their economic dependence on America. The Yankees proposed the Marshall Plan to Western Europe, an economic assistance program that by 1948 had been signed by 16 states. Over 4 years, the United States had to transfer 17 billion to Europe. dollars.

Less than a year after the victory over fascism, the British and Americans began to look anxiously at the East and look for some kind of threat there. Already in the spring of 1946, Winston Churchill delivered his famous Fullton speech, which is usually associated with the beginning of the Cold War. Active anti-communist rhetoric begins in the West. By the end of the 40s, all communists were removed from the governments of Western European states. This was one of the conditions under which the United States provided financial assistance to European countries.

The USSR was not included in the financial assistance program for obvious reasons - it was already considered an enemy. The countries of Eastern Europe that were under communist control, fearing the growth of US influence and economic dependence, also did not accept the Marshall Plan. Thus, the USSR and its allies were forced to restore the destroyed economy exclusively on their own, and this was done much faster than expected in the West. The USSR not only quickly restored infrastructure, industry and destroyed cities, but also quickly eliminated the US nuclear monopoly by creating nuclear weapons, thereby depriving the Americans of the opportunity to strike with impunity.

Creation of the military-political blocs of NATO and the Warsaw Department

In the spring of 1949, the United States initiated the creation of the NATO military bloc (North Atlantic Alliance Organization), citing the need to “fight the Soviet threat.” The union initially included Holland, France, Belgium, Luxembourg, Great Britain, Iceland, Portugal, Italy, Norway, Denmark, as well as the USA and Canada. American military bases began to appear in Europe, the number of armed forces of European armies began to increase, and the amount of military equipment and combat aircraft increased.

The USSR responded in 1955 by creating the Warsaw Pact Organization, just as the West had done. The ATS included Albania, Bulgaria, Hungary, the GDR, Poland, Romania, the USSR and Czechoslovakia. In response to the buildup of military forces by the Western military bloc, the armies of socialist states also began to strengthen.

NATO and ATS symbols

Local military conflicts

Two military-political blocs have launched a large-scale confrontation with each other across the planet. Direct military conflict was feared on both sides, since its outcome was unpredictable. However, there was a constant struggle in various parts of the globe for spheres of influence and control over non-aligned countries. Here are just a few of the most striking examples of military conflicts in which the USSR and the USA participated indirectly or directly.

1.Korean War (1950-1953)
After World War II, Korea was divided into two states - in the Republic of Korea, pro-American forces were in power in the South, and in the north, the DPRK (Democratic People's Republic of Korea) was formed, in which the communists were in power. In 1950, a war began between two Koreas – “socialist” and “capitalist”, in which, naturally, the USSR supported North Korea, and the USA supported South Korea. Soviet pilots and military specialists, as well as detachments of Chinese “volunteers,” fought unofficially on the side of the DPRK. The United States provided direct military assistance to South Korea, openly intervening in the conflict, which ended with peace and the status quo in 1953.

2. Vietnam War (1957-1975)
In essence, the scenario for the beginning of the confrontation was the same - Vietnam after 1954 was divided into two parts. In North Vietnam, communists were in power, and in South Vietnam, political forces oriented toward the United States. Each side sought to unite Vietnam. Since 1965, the United States has provided open military assistance to the South Vietnamese regime. Regular American troops, along with the army of South Vietnam, took part in military operations against North Vietnamese troops. Hidden assistance to North Vietnam with weapons, equipment and military specialists was provided by the USSR and China. The war ended with the victory of the North Vietnamese communists in 1975.

3. Arab-Israeli wars
In a series of wars in the Middle East between the Arab states and Israel, the Soviet Union and the Eastern Bloc supported the Arabs, and the US and NATO supported the Israelis. Soviet military specialists trained the troops of the Arab states, which were armed with tanks and aircraft supplied from the USSR, and the soldiers of the Arab armies used Soviet equipment and equipment. The Israelis used American military equipment and followed the instructions of US advisers.

4. Afghan war (1979-1989)
The USSR sent troops to Afghanistan in 1979 in order to support a political regime oriented towards Moscow. Large formations of Afghan Mujahideen fought against Soviet troops and the government army of Afghanistan, who enjoyed the support of the United States and NATO, and accordingly armed themselves with them. Soviet troops left Afghanistan in 1989, and the war continued after their departure.

All of the above is just a small part of the military conflicts in which the superpowers participated, covertly or almost openly fighting each other in local wars.

1 - American soldiers in positions during the Korean War
2-Soviet tank in the service of the Syrian army
3-American helicopter in the skies over Vietnam
4-Column of Soviet troops in Afghanistan

Why have the USSR and the USA never entered into direct military conflict?

As mentioned above, the outcome of the military conflict between the two large military blocs was completely unpredictable, but the main limiting factor was the presence of nuclear missile weapons in huge quantities both in the United States and in the Soviet Union. Over the years of confrontation, the parties have accumulated such a number of nuclear warheads that would be enough to repeatedly destroy all life on Earth.

Thus, a direct military conflict between the USSR and the USA inevitably meant an exchange of nuclear missile strikes, during which there would be no winners - everyone would be losers, and the very possibility of life on the planet would be called into question. Nobody wanted such an outcome, so the parties did their best to avoid open military conflict with each other, but nevertheless periodically tested each other’s strength in local conflicts, helping a state covertly or directly participating in hostilities.

So, with the beginning of the nuclear era, local conflicts and information wars became almost the only ways to expand their influence and control over other states. This situation continues to this day. The possibility of the collapse and liquidation of such major geopolitical players as modern China and Russia lies only in the sphere of attempts to undermine the state from the inside through information wars, the goal of which is a coup d'état followed by destructive actions of puppet governments. There are constant attempts by the West to find the weak points of Russia and other uncontrolled states, to provoke ethnic, religious, political, etc. conflicts.

End of the Cold War

In 1991, the Soviet Union collapsed. There was only one superpower left on planet Earth - the USA, which tried to rebuild the whole world on the basis of American liberal values. Within the framework of globalization, there is an attempt to impose on all humanity a certain universal model of social order, modeled on the USA and Western Europe. However, this has not yet been achieved. There is active resistance in all parts of the globe against the inculcation of American values, which are unacceptable to many peoples. History moves on, the struggle continues... Think about the future and the past, try to understand and comprehend the world around you, develop and do not stand still. Passively waiting and wasting your life is essentially a regression in your development. As the Russian philosopher V. Belinsky said - those who do not go forward go back, there is no standing position...

Best regards, administration mind-point

The Cold War is a global geopolitical, military, economic and informational confrontation between the USSR and its allies, on the one hand, and the United States and its allies, on the other, which lasted from 1946 to 1991.

The name “cold” is arbitrary here, since this confrontation was not a war in the literal sense. One of the main components of the war was ideology. The deep contradiction between the capitalist and socialist models is the main cause of the war. The two victorious superpowers in 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 before 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 political 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 Department. The United States and the USSR regularly entered into direct military confrontation (52 heated episodes around the world).

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

The policy of perestroika and glasnost, announced by the General Secretary of the CPSU Central Committee Mikhail Gorbachev in 1985, led to the loss of the leading role of the CPSU. In 1991, the USSR collapsed, which put an end to the Cold War.

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.

1. 1946-1953: the beginning of the confrontation

2. 1953-1962: On the brink of nuclear war - the nuclear arms race, the Berlin crisis of 1961 and the Cuban missile crisis (1962).

3. 1962-1979: “Détente” policy aimed at reducing the aggressiveness of the confrontation between the countries of the socialist and capitalist camps.

4. 1979-1987: A new round of confrontation (with the entry of Soviet troops into Afghanistan)

5.1987-1991: Gorbachev’s “new thinking” and the end of the confrontation.

Consequences: 1 division of the world along ideological lines - with the beginning of the Cold War and the formation of military-political blocs. Led by the USA and the USSR, the whole world found itself in a state of division into “us” and “strangers”. This created numerous practical difficulties, as it put many obstacles in the way of economic, cultural and other cooperation, but first of all it had negative psychological consequences - humanity did not feel like a single whole. In addition, there was a constant fear that the confrontation could go into an acute phase and end in a world war using nuclear weapons;

2. dividing the world into spheres of influence and fighting for them - in fact, the entire planet was considered by the opposing sides as a springboard in the fight against each other. Therefore, certain regions of the world were spheres of influence, for control over which there was a fierce struggle between the superpowers at the level of economic policy, propaganda, support for certain forces in individual countries and secret operations of the special services. As a result, severe disagreements were provoked in various regions, which after the end of the Cold War led to numerous hotbeds of tension, the emergence of local armed conflicts and full-scale civil wars (the fate of Yugoslavia, “hot spots” in the territory of the former USSR, numerous conflicts in Africa, and so on) ;

3. militarization of the world economy - huge material, natural, technical and financial resources were directed into the military industry and into the arms race. In addition to the fact that this undermined the economic potential of many countries (primarily from the socialist camp), it also became a very serious factor in the subsequent emergence of local conflicts and global terrorism. After the end of the Cold War, a large amount of weapons and weapons remained, which through the black market began to fuel “hot spots” and extremist organizations;

4. the formation of a number of socialist regimes - the end of the Cold War marked anti-communist and anti-socialist revolutions in many countries, primarily in Europe. However, a number of countries have retained socialist regimes, and in a rather conservative form. This is one of the factors of instability of modern international relations: for example, for the United States it is still very unprofitable to have a socialist state (Cuba) near its borders, and the DPRK, whose political regime is very close to Stalinism, is an irritant for the West, South Korea and Japan due to information about work on the creation of North Korean nuclear weapons;

5. The Cold War was not really that “cold” - the fact is that this confrontation was called a Cold War because it did not lead to an armed conflict between the superpowers and their most powerful allies. But meanwhile, in a number of places in the world, full-scale military conflicts took place, partly provoked by the actions of superpowers, as well as with their direct participation in them (the Vietnam War, the War in Afghanistan, a whole list of conflicts on the African continent);

6. The Cold War contributed to the emergence of some countries into leading positions - after the end of World War II, the United States actively supported the economic revival and development of West Germany and Japan, which could be its allies in the fight against the USSR. The Soviet Union also provided some assistance to China. At the same time, China developed independently, but while the rest of the world was focused on the confrontation between the USA and the USSR, China received favorable conditions for transformation;

7. scientific, technical and technological development - the Cold War stimulated the development of both fundamental science and applied technologies, which were initially sponsored and developed for military purposes, and were later repurposed for civilian needs and influenced the growth of the standard of living of ordinary people. A classic example is the Internet, which originally appeared as a communications system for the American military in the event of a nuclear war with the USSR;

the formation of a unipolar world model - the United States, which actually won the Cold War, became the only superpower. Relying on the NATO military-political mechanism they created to confront the USSR, as well as on the most powerful military machine, which also appeared during the arms race with the Soviet Union, the States received all the necessary mechanisms to protect their interests in any part of the world, regardless of the decisions of international organizations and the interests of other countries. This was especially evident in the so-called “export of democracy” carried out by the United States since the turn of the 20th-21st centuries. On the one hand, this means the dominance of one country, on the other, it leads to growing contradictions and resistance to this dominance.

a state of tense confrontation between the USSR and the USA and their allies, which continued with some easing from 1946 to the end of the 1980s.

Excellent definition

Incomplete definition ↓

"COLD WAR"

term defining the course of imperialism. spare circles powers began to carry out measures against the Sov. Union and other socialist state at the end of the 2nd World War 1939-1945. It came into use shortly after W. Churchill openly called on March 5, 1946 (in Fulton, USA) for the creation of the Anglo-American. union to fight “world communism led by Soviet Russia.” Initiators of the "X. century." extended it to all areas of relations with socialist countries - military, political, economic, ideological - putting the policy “from a position of strength” at the basis of these relations. "X. century." meant: extreme aggravation of international environment; rejection of the principles of peaceful coexistence of states with different social systems; creation of closed military-political. alliances (NATO, etc.); a forced arms race, including nuclear and other weapons of mass destruction with the threat of their use (“nuclear diplomacy”); attempts to organize a blockade of socialist countries; intensification and expansion of subversive activities of the imperialist. intelligence; rampant anti-communist propaganda and ideological sabotage against socialist countries under the guise of "psychological warfare". One of the forms "X. century." appeared proclaimed in the USA in the 50s. the doctrine of "brinkmanship". In internal capitalist politics state in "X. century." was accompanied by increased reaction and suppression of progressive forces. Causing serious complications in the international environment, inspirers of the "X. century." at the same time, they were unable to achieve their main task - to weaken the Soviet Union, slow down the process of development of the forces of world socialism, and prevent the growth of anti-imperialist, national liberation movements. struggle of peoples. As a result of the active peace-loving foreign policy of the USSR and other socialists. countries and the efforts of the world progressive community aimed at defusing international. tension, to the beginning 60s The inconsistency of the policy of the “10th century” was revealed, which prompted President Kennedy to search for ways to resolve controversial issues with the USSR. After a new complication, international situation related to the war. US actions in Vietnam (1964-73), aggravation of the situation in Bl. East as a result of an Israeli attack on the Arab. country in 1967 and constant attempts at anti-Soviet, anti-socialist. forces to increase tension on the continent of Europe, beginning. 70s was marked by a number of important summit meetings (USSR - USA, USSR - Germany, USSR - France, etc.), multilateral and bilateral meetings (including the meetings on security and cooperation in Europe, reduction of weapons and armed forces, which opened in 1973 to the Center Europe, the Middle East settlement) and agreements (among them - treaties between the Federal Republic of Germany and the Soviet Union, the Federal Republic of Germany and Poland, the Federal Republic of Germany and the German Democratic Republic, the Federal Republic of Germany and Czechoslovakia; the Quadripartite Agreement on West Berlin; a number of agreements between the USSR and the USA, incl. The 1973 Agreement on the Prevention of Nuclear War, the 1974 Treaty on the Limitation of Underground Tests of Nuclear Weapons, and other agreements serving to limit arms; the 1973 Paris Agreement on ending the war and restoring peace in Vietnam), prepared on the initiative and with the active participation of the USSR and other socialist countries . Commonwealth. Marking a turn in world politics and the collapse of the “10th century,” these actions open up the prospect of strengthening relations of peaceful competition and cooperation between countries belonging to different social systems. D. Asanov. Moscow.