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The beginning of the Cold War, the first crises. The Cold War is a time when the guns are silent. Union nuclear weapons

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.”

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Ministry of Education and Science of the Russian Federation

Federal State Autonomous Educational Institution of Higher Professional Education "Ural Federal University named after the first President of Russia B.N. Yeltsin"

Institute of Fundamental Education

Department of Humanitarian Education of Students

engineering and technical areas

Department of Russian History

ABSTRACT

Bydiscipline"Story"

Subject:Coldwar:causes,basicstages,results

Completed by: student gr. FO-150003

V.D. Komarov

Checked by: teacher

Semerikova Olga Mikhailovna

Ekaterinburg

Introduction

Chapter 2. Causes of the Cold War

Chapter 3. Main stages

a) The beginning of the confrontation. Late 40's - early 60's

Chapter 4. Results

a) For Russia

b) For the West

c) for the whole world

Conclusion

List of sources and literature used

Introduction

The theme of the Cold War is the closest to our time and, in a sense, reflects events in the modern structure of the world. But at the same time, the topic is very difficult to consider, because documents on this period will be classified for a long time. However, already now enough information can be obtained from various memoirs, articles and a small number of documents.

The questions that I studied in my work: when the war began and when it ended, what were the reasons, main stages and results of the confrontation between the two superpowers. The goal of my research is to present as fully and clearly as possible all aspects of the Cold War.

The purpose of this work is to show the situation in the world after World War II, during the Cold War and the current situation on our planet, to show how the Cold War affected rival countries and the rest of the world. In my work, I used the historical-genetic research method, analyzing the causes of the Cold War and the stages of its development, describing them in chronological order. The materials for analysis were taken from the works of historians Pyotr Sergeevich Samygin (The World in the second half of the twentieth century) and Aleksey Mitrofanovich Filitov (How the Cold War began). Many authors have also studied this topic.

During the Soviet Union:

Stepanova O. A. The Cold War: a historical retrospective (1982) Egorova N. I. Some problems of the Cold War in American bourgeois historiography of the 60s. (1975)

In post-Soviet times:

Zubok V. M. Historiography of the Cold War in Russia: some results of the decade // Domestic history. - 2003

Bystrova I.V. Modern Russian historiography of the Cold War // New Historical Bulletin. - 2004

Egorova N. I. “New History of the Cold War” in modern foreign studies // New and recent history. 2009

Chapter 1. Preconditions of the Cold War

As a result of the Great Patriotic War and the Second World War, a number of fundamental changes occurred in the balance of power on the world stage. Germany and Japan were defeated and temporarily lost their role as great powers, and the positions of England and France were significantly weakened. At the same time, the share of the United States increased immeasurably: by the end of the war, this country accounted for 46% of world industrial production. The international position of the USSR strengthened. It not only emerged from foreign policy isolation, but became a great power recognized by all international actors. Official confirmation of this status of the Soviet Union was its participation in the formation of the United Nations (1945). In the UN Security Council, the USSR became one of the five permanent members along with the USA, England, France and China.

The victory brought an unprecedented increase in the international authority of the Soviet state, which contributed to the strengthening of leftist forces, primarily communists, in many Western countries. The major capitalist powers were forced to recognize the interests of the USSR in Eastern Europe.

However, each of the allies imagined the outcome of the war in its own way. After its end, there was a divergence of their interests, which resulted in the emergence of a confrontation between the Soviet Union and the rest of the participants in the anti-Hitler coalition based on the struggle for geopolitical superiority, mainly for spheres of influence on the European continent.

As a result, the Second World War was replaced by the Cold War. The term “Cold War” itself was coined by US Secretary of State D. F. Dulles. The essence of this concept lies in the political, economic, ideological confrontation of two systems, balancing on the brink of an armed conflict. The question of who started the Cold War still remains open. It is a well-known fact that already during the war with Germany, plans for a future war with Russia were being developed in England and in some circles in the United States. The atomic bombing of the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki (August 1945) was not so much a military operation as a political act aimed at putting pressure on the USSR.

The territorial expansionism of the Stalinist leadership and its actions aimed at quickly drawing the countries of Central and South-Eastern Europe into the orbit of the exclusive influence of the USSR could not but cause concern among the ruling elites of the USA, Great Britain and other countries.

Chapter 2. Causes of the Cold War

1. The fact that the anti-Hitler coalition was doomed to collapse soon after the elimination of the common enemy - Hitlerism, was well understood by such a cold and far-sighted politician as W. Churchill long before the end of the war. The deep reason for this was the fundamental ideological contradictions in the social structure of the ruling circles of the opposing states, primarily the USSR and the USA, which had already knowingly denied each other the historical right to exist as social systems. Of course, there were real Soviet-American economic, geopolitical and other mutual interests and contradictions, but the main reason for the global confrontation was that interstate relations were so ideological that everything else receded into the background. In the history of international relations, a long period of global confrontation between two world powers began - the USSR and the USA.

A loud manifesto of the Cold War between former allies in the anti-Hitler coalition was the speech of former British Prime Minister W. Churchill in Fulton (USA), delivered on March 5, 1946 in the presence of the new American President G. Truman. The political meaning of this speech and the subsequent propaganda campaign was, first of all, to psychologically prepare the Western public for the subsequent severance of relations between the victorious countries, to erase from the minds of people those feelings of respect and gratitude for the Soviet people that developed during the years of joint struggle with fascism.

In the fall of 1946, liberal-minded figures towards the USSR from the previous administration of F.D. Roosevelt was forced out of key positions in the American government. In March 1947, in the wake of the ever-increasing political confrontation between the USSR and the USA, Truman announced in Congress his decision to stop the spread of “Soviet rule” in Europe at any cost (the “Truman Doctrine”). For the first time, the term “cold war” was released into propaganda circulation.

2. In fairness, it should be noted that the strategic turn of the US foreign policy towards open confrontation with the USSR was largely provoked by the ideology and policies of the Stalinist leadership. Having launched massive ideological and political repressions in its own country and in the Eastern European countries that fell into its sphere of influence, Stalinism turned in the eyes of millions of people into a kind of political bogeyman. This greatly facilitated the work of right-wing conservative forces in the West, who advocated refusal of cooperation with the USSR.

The sad diplomatic experience of the thirties for the USSR and, above all, the experience of Soviet-German relations had a certain influence on the nature of Stalin’s foreign policy in the post-war period. Therefore, Stalin was very suspicious of Western diplomacy, believing that it was impossible to maintain stable long-term relations with it. This resulted in inflexibility, ultimatum notes in relations with the United States and other countries, and often an inadequate reaction to the actions of the West.

3. The specific subject of contradictions in the relations of the former allies were, first of all, differences in approaches to the post-war structure of the countries of Central and South-Eastern Europe. After the war, there was a growth in the influence of leftist communist forces, which was seen in the West as a potential threat to the existing system. The United States tried to counter this in every possible way. In turn, the leadership of the USSR considered the West’s desire to influence the nature of political processes in the countries of Central and South-Eastern Europe as an attempt to bring regimes unfriendly to the USSR to power here, to restore a “cordon sanitaire” at the western borders of the country, to deprive it of the fruits of victory, to oust The USSR from the sphere of interests of its security. Not without reason, Stalin perceived with increasing distrust any actions of the former allies in this region, suspecting that they were preparing strategic springboards for themselves for a future war with the USSR. Based simultaneously on the previous idea of ​​a world communist revolution and the global geopolitical tasks of the USSR, Stalin actively contributed to the establishment of socio-political regimes similar to the USSR in Poland, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Bulgaria, Romania, Yugoslavia and Albania. In 1949, largely thanks to the assistance of the USSR, the communists finally won power in China.

4. In fact, one of the specific applied programs of the “Truman Doctrine” was the US plan for the economic revival of Europe (“Marshall Plan”). By offering quite significant economic assistance to war-stricken countries, the United States pursued both political (to achieve regime stability and avert the threat of social explosions on the continent) and economic (to rid its country of oversaturation of capital and goods markets) goals. The leadership of the USSR saw in this plan a US claim to world hegemony and gross interference in the internal affairs of European states. A negative attitude towards the “Marshall Plan” was imposed by Stalin on the governments of Central and South-Eastern Europe and by communists in other regions of the world.

In accordance with the “Truman Doctrine,” the United States and its allies involved the USSR in a ruinous arms race, soon surrounded the USSR with military bases, and in 1949 they created the NATO bloc. The USSR, which was significantly inferior in economic power, responded by tightly closing the country and its allies with the “Iron Curtain”, creating nuclear weapons, and, in opposition to NATO, in 1949 formed the Council for Mutual Economic Assistance from its allies, and later in the mid-50s. -- Warsaw Pact Organization. At the same time, repeatedly in the post-war period the world was put at risk by the irresponsible actions of politicians and the military of the Cold War escalating into a nuclear one. An open test of the military forces of the opposing blocs was the Korean War (1950-1953), which brought humanity to the brink of the third world war.

5. Under these conditions, the United Nations, created in 1945, could become an instrument for maintaining peace. However, the outbreak of confrontation between the USSR and the USA in the Cold War did not allow hopes for the UN to be realized as a mechanism for resolving conflicts; its activities were virtually paralyzed. Instead of becoming an instrument of peace, the UN was turned into a field of diplomatic confrontation and propaganda battles for many years. During these years, the broad public Peace Movement began to play a well-known positive, but still mostly propaganda, role.

Thus, during a difficult period in world history, the USSR and the bourgeois-liberal countries were able to overcome, at least temporarily, their mutual fundamental ideological alienation in order to protect the planet from the real threat of establishing an inhumane fascist “new order.” After the war, the USSR quickly restored its economy and significantly expanded its sphere of international influence. The history of international relations began a long period of global confrontation between two world powers - the USSR and the USA, which was based on deep ideological contradictions on issues of social order.

Chapter 3. Main stages

a) The beginning of the confrontation. Late 40's - early 60's

In the early years, the confrontation was determined by sharp diplomatic attacks, fierce propaganda campaigns, and sharp debates at UN sessions.

International situation in the second half of the 40s. complicated by artificially created crises. Among them, the most significant was the Berlin crisis, which erupted after a separate monetary reform was carried out in West Germany in June 1948. The reaction of the Soviet side was sharp and immediate: according to the instructions of the USSR leadership, transport links between Berlin and the Western occupation zones were interrupted. Essentially it was a blockade of the western sectors of Berlin. In order to break through, the West organized an “air bridge” - the delivery of goods using military transport aircraft - which operated until May 1949.

The psychological atmosphere around the Berlin crisis contributed to the organization of a Western alliance directed against the USSR. The economic union born within the framework of the Marshall Plan quickly turned into a military and political one. On April 4, 1949, the United States and Canada signed, together with 10 Western European countries, the North Atlantic Pact - NATO. That same year, TASS reported that the Soviet Union had an atomic bomb. This meant the elimination of the American monopoly on nuclear weapons. The rivalry between the USSR and the USA entered a new phase, the attribute of which was the arms race.

In contrast to the bloc of Western states, an economic and military-political union of socialist countries is being formed. In 1949, the Council for Mutual Economic Assistance (CMEA) was created - a body for economic cooperation between the states of Eastern Europe, and in 1955 - the Warsaw Military-Political Pact (WPT). The consolidation of existing blocs has led to the bipolarization of the world. The Cold War split the world into two parts, two military-political and economic groupings, two socio-political systems. It increased militarism in politics and thinking.

The development of international relations during the Cold War was determined mainly by the competition between the two superpowers - the USSR and the USA. Their rivalry was of a military-political nature, but at the same time both sides sought to avoid open military conflict due to their uncertainty about its possible outcome. This situation played a decisive role in determining the cyclical nature of post-war world politics. The Cold War was a series of exacerbations and détente in international life. The first major conflict arose in June 1950, during the bloody war on the Korean Peninsula. In 1948, two states were created on Korean territory: in the north - in the Soviet occupation zone - the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) and in the south, controlled by the American administration - the Republic of Korea. Relations between the two Korean states were very tense. Each of them sought to reunite the country under their own rule. Up to 20 states were directly or indirectly involved in the armed conflict. Only in July 1953 was an armistice finally signed in Korea. However, the war ended on the same lines where it began. Korea, like Germany, remained divided.

During these same years, hotbeds of regional tension also emerged. Arab-Israeli, Indo-Pakistani and Indo-Chinese conflicts arose, through which the lines of global superpower rivalry also ran. The year 1953 was a turning point in the development of international relations. This was facilitated by a change of leaders in both countries. In 1954, the Geneva Agreement on Indochina was signed. In 1955, it was possible to agree on the withdrawal of American and Soviet troops from Austria in exchange for its strict neutrality. For the first time after the Potsdam Conference, in 1955, a meeting of the leaders of England, the USA, the USSR and France took place in Geneva. In the same year, the USSR and Germany established diplomatic relations. Finally, in 1959, the first visit of the head of the Soviet government N.S. took place. Khrushchev in the USA.

At the same time, however, events occurred that made a new intensification of rivalry between the Soviet Union and the United States inevitable. Beginning in the 50s, the Soviet leadership began to actively support the liberation movement in the so-called “third world” countries. In 1955, the USSR provided protection to the President of Egypt G.A. Nasser, when he, after the nationalization of the Suez Canal, was attacked by England, France and Israel. In 1957, the Soviet Union successfully tested an intercontinental ballistic missile and launched an artificial satellite into Earth orbit. This event for the first time created the hypothetical possibility of a nuclear attack by the USSR on US territory.

The emergence of a new round of tension occurred in connection with the problem of West Berlin.” Since 1958, N.S. Khrushchev began to seek a change in his status. The meeting of the Soviet leader with the new US President D. Kennedy, which took place in April 1961 in Vienna, was an obvious failure of the Soviet foreign policy course. In August 1961, by decision of the political leadership of the Warsaw Pact countries, a line of fortifications was erected in Berlin, completely isolating West Berlin from the rest of the GDR.

b) The apogee of the Cold War. Caribbean crisis

cold war cuban crisis

The most acute was the Caribbean crisis of 1962, caused by the USSR's deployment of medium-range nuclear missiles in Cuba in close proximity to the United States. The world was on the verge of nuclear war. It was avoided only thanks to a timely secret compromise between D. Kennedy and N. S. Khrushchev, within the framework of which Soviet missiles were withdrawn from Cuba in exchange for the US promise to renounce aggression against this country and the dismantling of American nuclear missiles in Turkey.

The Cuban Missile Crisis gave way to a period of relative détente in Soviet-American relations and international relations in general. On August 15, 1963, a treaty banning nuclear tests in the atmosphere, space and under water was signed, becoming the first strategic arms control agreement. At the same time, the Caribbean crisis led to a final division within the socialist camp. Soviet-Chinese relations have reached extreme severity. In 1963, the Chinese leadership formulated a statement regarding the territorial claims of this country to the USSR; This diplomatic step was accompanied by a number of provocations at the border. The culmination was the armed conflict of 1969 in the area of ​​​​Damansky Island.

By the beginning of the 70s. The atomic arms race between the two superpowers led to an oversaturation of their arsenals, effectively putting the world in the face of a nuclear disaster. The attitude of the public in Western countries to the course of their governments has also changed. The generally balanced policy of the USSR regarding the US war in Vietnam and the Middle East crisis of 1967 also played an important role in achieving detente.

In the first half of the 70s. International relations have entered an era of détente. In 1969, the Warsaw Pact countries proposed convening the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe (CSCE). On August 12, 1970, a Soviet-West German treaty was signed, according to which the post-war borders in Europe were recognized as final and the renunciation of the use of force was recorded. In December 1970, a similar agreement was concluded between the Federal Republic of Germany and Poland, and in December 1973 - between the Federal Republic of Germany and Czechoslovakia. In December 1972, mutual recognition of the Federal Republic of Germany and the GDR took place. In September 1971, an agreement was signed between the USA, USSR, England and France on West Berlin, which was also based on the concept of non-use of force or threat of force in resolving issues related to the status of this city. In May 1972, the first visit in the history of Soviet-American relations to Moscow by US President R. Nixon took place, during which the Treaty on the Limitation of Air Defense Systems, the Interim Agreement on the Limitation of Strategic Offensive Arms (SALT-1), as well as the document , fixing “Fundamentals of relations between the USSR and the USA.” These agreements, along with the Agreement on the Prevention of Nuclear War signed in 1973, were the most important documentary acts that marked a turn from confrontation to détente in relations between the two superpowers. In March 1975, the Convention on the Prohibition of the Development and Stockpiling of Bacteriological and Toxic Weapons and on Their Destruction came into force. In 1976, a Soviet-American treaty was signed regulating underground nuclear explosions for peaceful purposes.

The culmination of the détente process was the signing of the Final Act of the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe on August 1, 1975 in Helsinki. The basic element of this document was a declaration of the principles of relations between the countries participating in the meeting: their sovereign equality; non-use of force or threat of force; the inviolability of post-war borders; peaceful settlement of disputes; non-interference in internal affairs; respect for human rights, etc. However, against the background of detente, regional conflicts continued to flare up. In 1971, another war began between India and Pakistan. In 1973, a new Arab-Israeli war broke out.

The fate of détente was short-lived. The main reason for its breakdown was not only the diametrically opposed understanding of the causes and prospects of detente, but also the ensuing attempts to use it to change the balance of forces in the world in their favor. Since 1976, the Soviet leadership began to deploy medium-range nuclear missiles (INM) on the territory of the GDR and Czechoslovakia, which created an additional threat to Western European countries. The confrontation between the USSR and the USA also grew within the framework of local conflicts (in Angola, Mozambique, Ethiopia, Nicaragua, etc.). The final collapse of détente occurred after the entry of Soviet troops into Afghanistan in December 1979. The international atmosphere again acquired the features of confrontation. Under these conditions, the supporter of a tough approach to the USSR, R. Reagan, won the presidential elections in the United States. In the United States, plans began to be developed for the Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI), which provides for the creation of a nuclear shield in space. In 1983, NATO began deploying new American medium-range nuclear missiles in Europe. This sharply worsened the strategic position of the USSR. A new round of the nuclear missile arms race was planned.

c) Discharge. New round. End of the confrontation

After the victory of the revolution in Cuba, which overthrew the pro-American dictator, friendly relations were established between the new regime and the USSR. In the Soviet Union, it was sometimes joked that the name of the island of Cuba stood for “Communism off the coast of America.”

The fact of the creation of a pro-communist state in close proximity to the United States, as well as the revolutionary example of Cuba for Latin America, aroused fears in Washington. In the spring of 1961, with the help of American intelligence services, a landing of opponents of the new Cuban regime was organized on the island. However, their attempt to overthrow the government of F. Castro failed. Subsequently, a military agreement was concluded between the USSR and Cuba on the deployment of Soviet missiles on Cuban territory. They were brought to the island in secrecy. Soon this became known in the USA. In response, the government of President John Kennedy announced a blockade of the island and sent a large contingent of naval forces there. The Soviet fleet was sent towards them. The matter was taking an extremely dangerous turn. Only as a result of urgent consultations between N.S. Khrushchev and J. Kennedy, which took place through intermediaries (diplomats and representatives of the intelligence services), after mutual concessions, was it possible to avoid the Third World War. Soviet missiles were exported from Cuba, and American ones from Turkey.

The second stage of international relations covers the first half of the 70s. It went down in history under the name “detente”. The reason for the weakening of international tension was the achievement of military-strategic equality between NATO and the Warsaw Pact. Both sides agreed to conclude a wide range of agreements and create guarantees for security in general.

Between the Soviet Union and the United States during the 70s. Over 23 agreements and treaties were concluded, most of which related to arms limitation. The main ones were the Agreement on Measures to Reduce the Risk of Nuclear War between the USSR and the USA (1971), the Treaty on the Limitation of Anti-Ballistic Missile Systems (ABM) (1972), the Basics of Relations between the USSR and the USA (1972), The Treaty on the Prevention of Nuclear War (1973), a set of treaties limiting nuclear weapons testing, and the Strategic Arms Limitation Treaty (SALT II) (1972). The conclusion of these and other bilateral agreements between the Warsaw Pact countries and NATO states made it possible to reach broader agreements. The Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe (CSCE) occupied a central place among them.

From July 1973 to August 1975, its meetings were held in Helsinki (Finland) and Geneva (Switzerland). They were attended by representatives of 33 European countries, as well as the USA and Canada. The document developed during numerous meetings and consultations - the Final Act of the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe (Helsinki Act) - was adopted on August 1, 1975. The agreement provided for compliance with the principles of equality, non-use of force or the threat thereof, inviolability of borders, territorial integrity, peaceful settlement of disputes, non-interference in internal affairs, respect for human rights, equality of peoples, compliance with international law. In fact, the Helsinki Act concretized the ideas of the UN Charter. The concluded treaties and agreements seriously weakened the confrontation between the opposing blocs. At the same time, they were unable to completely eliminate the objectively existing contradictions both between them and between individual powers. This was due to the differences in their socio-political systems, ideological attitudes, and finally, their foreign policy interests. Therefore, the weakening of international tensions ultimately gave way to a new confrontation.

The third stage in the development of international relations (late 70s - late 80s) coincided with the next round of confrontation between the Soviet Union and America. All the features characteristic of the Cold War reappeared. Each side viewed events taking place in the world through the prism of a possible threat to their military-political security. The confrontation in the Middle East between Israel and the Arab states, and socio-political changes in the countries of Asia, Africa and Latin America were the focus of attention in Washington and Moscow. In a number of cases, as was the case in Afghanistan and Latin America, the USSR and the USA directly intervened in events. The main thing for them was to prevent the other side from strengthening. The “Star Wars” program, or, officially, the Strategic Defense Initiative, proclaimed by the administration of US President R. Reagan, became a symbol of the times. The essence of the doctrine put forward was to create a system using space, which allows the use of missile weapons with virtually no restrictions. This expensive project was never realized. But the funds that the Soviet Union was forced to spend on a similar program significantly undermined its economy.

Changes in Soviet-American relations began with the coming to power in the USSR of the General Secretary of the CPSU Central Committee M. S. Gorbachev in 1985 and his political course, which went down in history under the name “perestroika.” It was during this period that Europe's position in international affairs strengthened. Changes gradually spread to Eastern European countries. The communist regimes there experienced a serious crisis. During 1989-1991. Communist regimes in Eastern Europe were ended. In December 1991, the Soviet Union ceased to exist.

Chapter 4. Results

Thus ended the Cold War, and the system of international relations underwent significant changes.

A) For Russia

· in foreign policy terms - the loss of the fundamental alliance - the Warsaw Pact Organization, which allowed the USSR to take a strong position in Eastern and Central Europe, the loss of military bases in key areas of the Russian defensive system; the loss of allies and vassals, one way or another dependent on Moscow, in all parts of the Earth.

· in economic terms - the loss of the huge market of the Council for Mutual Economic Assistance, cooperation with the states of the socialist camp, loss of sources of minerals; the collapse of the unique economic organism of the Soviet economy, created with unprecedented efforts in the pre-war decade and restored in the brutal post-war years.

· In domestic political terms, the greatest force collapsed - the Soviet community of peoples, which even survived such trials as the Great Patriotic War.

· in social terms, the community of three hundred million people, who managed to carry out their own industrialization only through a sense of social and historical unity and class cooperation, was lost, an approximately equal standard of living collapsed, social inequality arose, a potential source of innumerable troubles and historical division.

b) For the West

· in foreign policy terms, extremely favorable results were achieved - the former enemy surrendered his positions in his favor, giving him positions of practical hegemony in the modern world;

· The Warsaw Pact organization has sunk into eternity, giving the West complete superiority in the territory of Russia's former close and closest allies - from Bulgaria and Mongolia to Ukraine and the Baltic states. Eight of the fifteen former Soviet republics hosted American troops.

· in the arena of the world economy, the West has completely taken over the world stage, promoting globalization as an instrument of worldwide pressure and economic enslavement;

· in social terms, the West, as the industrial center of the world, has become even more detached from the poor five billion, hundreds of times exceeding the per capita consumption level of the vast majority of the Earth's inhabitants. An economic ideology (liberalism) has established itself in the world, which justifies the inequality of the countries of the world, and its practical implementation according to IMF recipes actually further contributes to the lag of non-Western communities from the West.

· victory in the Cold War led to the collapse of the USSR-oriented leftist forces (except for the DPRK), ready to keep pro-Western governments under their pressure; ultra-conservative forces emerged and strengthened in the Western world, especially noticeable in the United States; this neoconservative revolution brought supporters of power politics to power in the most powerful Western countries.

Conclusion

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. The Cold War showed the whole world that with the development of technology, the war moved to a new level, and now everyone understands that the third world war could be fatal for all humanity. The defeat of the USSR in this war showed that the planned system was less effective than the market system, and that the country's complete focus on the development of the military industry caused a number of problems associated with economic dependence on exporters. One of the few positive results of the confrontation for Russia was the well-developed space industry that remained after the collapse of the USSR. Also, watching everything that was happening, the whole world came to the conclusion that the build-up of military power in response to the military development of other powers weakens the country according to all other plans, and can lead the country to an economic crisis. It is obvious that such confrontations will have much more negative consequences than positive ones.

List used sources and literature

1. Ilyinsky I.M. Cold War: a new stage

URL: http://www.zpu-journal.ru/zpu/contents/2015/3/Ilinskiy_Cold-War-New-Stage/fulltext/

2. Causes of the Cold War - Federal portal PROTOWN.ru

URL: http://www.protown.ru/information/hide/5871.html

3. Section 6. The world in the second half of the twentieth century

Book: Samygin P.S. 17 History / P.S. Samygin and others - Ed. 7th. -- Rostov n/a: “Phoenix”, 2007

4. Soviet foreign policy during the Cold War (1945-1985)

Book: Flitov A.M. How the Cold War began. M., 1995.

https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cold_war

5. ILYINSKY I. M. COLD WAR: A NEW STAGE

URL: http://www.zpu-journal.ru/zpu/contents/2015/3/Ilinskiy_Cold-War-New-Stage/

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    The Cuban Missile Crisis is one of the most tense moments of the Cold War. International situation in the summer and autumn of 1962 and relations between the USSR, Cuba and the USA. The main reasons that prompted Khrushchev to deploy nuclear missiles in Cuba. Peaceful resolution of the conflict.

    abstract, added 02/23/2011

    The unification of Western European countries and the United States against the USSR after the end of World War II. Anti-Stalin demonstrations and revolution in Hungary. International consequences of the construction of the Berlin Wall. The Cuban Missile Crisis as the culmination of the Cold War.

    abstract, added 11/15/2010

    The beginning of the Cold War in Russian historiography. Stages of the evolution of the image of America in the USSR in the period 1946-1953. The Great Patriotic War and features of propaganda. The image of America at the stage from Victory to Fulton: prerequisites for the post-war image of the enemy.

    course work, added 04/08/2010

    Russia and the world during the Cold War, its prerequisites and consequences. Russia and the world after the Great Patriotic War (1946–1960). The confrontation between the two systems in the 1960s–mid-1980s. The end of the Cold War, the elimination of hot spots.

    abstract, added 04/26/2010

    Causes, course and results of the 1962 Caribbean crisis. Characteristics of foreign policy relations of the USSR, Cuba and the USA on the eve of the conflict, prerequisites. The relationship between the strategic nuclear forces of the USSR and the USA. Development of the Caribbean conflict, hidden and open phases.

    abstract, added 07/31/2011

    Relations between the USSR and the USA during the Cold War. The causes and main events of the Cold War period, summing up its results. Conventional and nuclear arms race. Warsaw Pact or Treaty of Friendship, Cooperation and Mutual Assistance.

    abstract, added 09/28/2015

    Analysis of the Caribbean crisis as one of the geopolitical factors of the Cold War era. The role of J. Kennedy and N. Khrushchev in resolving the crisis. Results and consequences of the conflict in the context of international relations. Assessments of the Caribbean crisis in historiography.

    course work, added 03/15/2011

    The split of the world and the beginning of the Cold War. Bipolar world in the 50-90s of the twentieth century. The world after the Cold War. The establishment of communist power in Eastern European countries in 1947-1948. The split in Soviet-American relations and the features of their improvement.

    abstract, added 01/14/2010

    Events of post-war foreign policy of the Soviet Union. The beginning of the Cold War between the USSR and the USA and the reasons for its occurrence. Creation of a bloc of socialist countries with the aim of encircling the territory of the USSR with friendly countries. Creation of alliance systems in Europe.

    presentation, added 09/01/2011

    The essence of the Cold War, its origins and main causes, its place in world history. The prerequisites for the war, the relations between the two opponents - the USSR and the USA on the eve of its outbreak. "Hot spots" of the war, the position of the warring parties and ways of reconciliation.

The beginning of the Cold War. The beginning of the Cold War is formally considered to be March 5, 1946, when Winston Churchill delivered his famous speech in Fulton (USA). 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. 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. Turkey 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 Western democracies states. (...) 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.

Military-political blocs opposing each other in Europe Over the years, the tension in the confrontation between the blocs has changed. Its most acute phase occurred during the Korean War, which was followed in 1956 by events in Poland and Hungary; with the onset of Khrushchev’s “thaw”, however, tension subsided, this was especially characteristic of the late 1950s, culminating in Khrushchev’s visit to the USA; the scandal with the American U-2 spy plane (1960) led to a new aggravation, the peak of which was the Cuban Missile Crisis (1962); under the impression of this crisis, detente sets in again, darkened, however, by the suppression of the Prague Spring.


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.

A new aggravation occurred in 1979 in connection with the Soviet invasion of 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 spring of 1983, when Soviet air defense shot down a South Korean civilian airliner with almost three hundred people on board. It was then that US President Ronald Reagan coined the catchphrase “evil empire” in relation to the USSR. During this period, the United States deployed its nuclear missiles in Western Europe and 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 supported the nuclear missile partnership with great difficulty and strain on the economy, did not have the means to adequately fight back in space.

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).

History of the creation of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) - a military-political alliance

Already after the Yalta agreements, a situation arose in which the foreign policy of the victorious countries in World War II was more focused on the future post-war balance of power in Europe and the world, and not on the current situation. The result of this policy was the actual division of Europe into western and eastern territories, which were destined to become the basis for future springboards of influence of the USA and the USSR. In 1947-1948 the start of the so-called the Marshall Plan, according to which huge amounts of US funds were to be invested in war-torn European countries. The Soviet government under the leadership of I.V. Stalin did not allow delegations from countries under Soviet control to participate in the discussion of the plan in Paris in July 1947, although they had invitations. Thus, 17 countries that received assistance from the United States were integrated into a single political and economic space, which determined one of the prospects for rapprochement.

In March 1948, the Treaty of Brussels was concluded between Belgium, Great Britain, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and France, which later formed the basis of the Western European Union (WEU). The Brussels Treaty is considered to be the first step towards the formation of the North Atlantic Alliance. In parallel, secret negotiations were conducted between the USA, Canada and Great Britain on the creation of a union of states based on common goals and an understanding of the prospects for joint development, different from the UN, which would be based on their civilizational unity. Detailed negotiations between European countries and the United States and Canada on the creation of a single union soon followed. All these international processes culminated in the signing of the North Atlantic Treaty on April 4, 1949, introducing a system of common defense for twelve countries. Among them: Belgium, Great Britain, Denmark, Iceland, Italy, Canada, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, USA, France. The treaty was aimed at creating a common security system. The parties pledged to collectively defend whoever was attacked. The agreement between the countries finally came into force on August 24, 1949 after ratification by the governments of the countries that acceded to the North Atlantic Treaty. An international organizational structure was created to control huge military forces in Europe and around the world.

Thus, in fact, from its founding, NATO was focused on countering the Soviet Union and, later, the countries participating in the Warsaw Pact (since 1955). Summarizing the reasons for the emergence of NATO, it is first of all worth mentioning economic, political, social; a large role was played by the desire to ensure joint economic and political security, awareness of potential threats and risks for Western civilization. At the heart of NATO, first of all, is the desire to prepare for a new possible war, to protect itself from its monstrous risks. It, however, also determined the strategies of the military policy of the USSR and the countries of the Soviet bloc.

KOREAN WAR (1950-1953)

The war between North Korea and China against South Korea and the United States is a series of American allies for control of the Korean Peninsula.

It began on June 25, 1950 with a surprise attack by North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea) on South Korea (Republic of Korea). This attack was carried out with the consent and support of the Soviet Union. North Korean troops quickly advanced beyond the 38th parallel separating the two countries and within three days captured the capital of South Korea, Seoul.

The UN Security Council recognized Pyongyang as an aggressor and called on all UN member states to provide assistance to South Korea. In addition to the United States, England, Turkey, Belgium, Greece, Colombia, India, the Philippines and Thailand sent troops to Korea. The Soviet representative at that moment boycotted the meetings of the Security Council and was unable to use his veto power.

After the North Koreans refused to withdraw their troops beyond the demarcation line, two American divisions began to be transferred to Korea on July 1. One of them was defeated, and its commander was captured. The other was able, together with South Korean troops, to retreat to a bridgehead created near the port of Busan. By the end of July, it was the only territory on the Korean Peninsula held by UN troops. Their Supreme Commander was General Douglas MacArthur, a hero of the war against Japan in the Pacific. He developed a plan for a grand landing operation at the port of Incheon. If successful, the communications of the North Korean army besieging the Busan bridgehead would have been cut off.

On September 15, American and South Korean Marines landed at Inchon. The American fleet dominated the sea, and aviation dominated the air, so the North Koreans could not interfere with the landing. On September 28, Seoul was captured. The North Korean army that fought at Busan was partly captured and partly turned to guerrilla warfare in the mountains. On October 1, UN troops crossed the 38th parallel and took the North Korean capital of Pyongyang on October 19. On the 27th, the Americans reached the Yalu River on the Korean-Chinese border.

In early January 1951, Chinese and North Korean forces recaptured Seoul, but at the end of the month the American 8th Army launched a counteroffensive. By the end of March, Chinese troops were driven back beyond the previous demarcation line.

At this moment, differences emerged in the American military-political leadership. MacArthur proposed striking Chinese territory

At the end of April, Chinese and North Korean troops launched a new offensive, but were driven back 40-50 km north of the 38th parallel. After this, on July 8, 1951, the first negotiations between representatives of the warring parties began. Meanwhile, the war took on a positional character with extensive use of minefields and barbed wire barriers. Offensive operations now had purely tactical goals. The Chinese numerical superiority was offset by the American superiority in firepower. Chinese troops advanced in thick lines straight through the minefields, but their waves crashed against American and South Korean fortifications. Therefore, the losses of the “Chinese people’s volunteers” were many times greater than the enemy’s losses.

On July 27, 1953, a ceasefire agreement was finally reached in the town of Panmanjung near the 38th parallel. Korea was divided along the 38th parallel into the Democratic People's Republic of Korea and the Republic of Korea. There is no peace treaty between North and South to this day.

The total losses of the parties in the Korean War were, according to some estimates, 2.5 million people. Of this number, approximately 1 million is due to Chinese army losses. The North Korean army lost half as much - about half a million people. South Korea's armed forces were missing about a quarter of a million men. The losses of American troops amounted to 33 thousand killed and 2-3 times more wounded. Troops of other states fighting under the UN flag lost several thousand people dead. At least 600 thousand people were killed and wounded civilians in North and South Korea.

Bibliography

Story. Russia and the world in the XX - early XXI centuries. Grade 11. Aleksashkina L.N. and others - M., 2010, 432 p.

Story. Russia and the world. Grade 11. A basic level of. Volobuev O.V., Klokov V.A. and others - M., 2013, 352 p.

Ilyina T.V. History of art. Domestic art: Textbook. - M., 2003, 324 p.

Simkina N.N. Culture of Russia in the 20th century: Textbook. allowance / N.N. Simkina. - Bryansk: BSTU, 2004.

Khutorsky V.Ya. Russian history. Soviet era (1917-1993). - M., 1995.

Current international relations between East and West can hardly be called constructive. In international politics today it is becoming fashionable to talk about a new round of tension. What is at stake is no longer a struggle for the spheres of influence of two different geopolitical systems. Today, the new Cold War is the fruit of the reactionary policies of the ruling elites of a number of countries and the expansion of international global corporations in foreign markets. On the one hand, the United States, the European Union, the NATO bloc, on the other, the Russian Federation, China and other countries.

Russia's foreign policy inherited from the Soviet Union continues to be influenced by the Cold War, which kept the whole world in suspense for 72 long years. Only the ideological aspect has changed. There is no longer any confrontation between communist ideas and the dogmas of the capitalist path of development in the world. The emphasis is shifting to resources, where the main geopolitical players are actively using all available opportunities and means.

International relations before the start of the Cold War

On a cold September morning in 1945, a capitulation was signed by official representatives of Imperial Japan aboard the American battleship Missouri, anchored in Tokyo Bay. This ceremony marked the end of the bloodiest and most brutal military conflict in the history of human civilization. The war, which lasted 6 years, engulfed the entire planet. During the hostilities that took place in Europe, Asia and Africa at various stages, 63 states became participants in the bloody massacre. 110 million people were drafted into the armed forces of the countries involved in the conflict. There is no need to talk about human losses. The world has never known or seen such a large-scale and mass murder. The economic losses were also colossal, but the consequences of the Second World War and its results created ideal conditions for the start of the Cold War, another form of confrontation, with other participants and with other goals.

It seemed that on September 2, 1945, the long-awaited and long-lasting peace would finally come. However, just 6 months after the end of World War II, the world again plunged into the abyss of another confrontation - the Cold War began. The conflict took other forms and resulted in a military-political, ideological and economic confrontation between two world systems, the capitalist West and the communist East. It cannot be argued that Western countries and communist regimes were going to continue to coexist peacefully. Plans for a new global military conflict were being developed at military headquarters, and ideas for the destruction of foreign policy opponents were in the air. The condition in which the Cold War arose was only a natural reaction to the military preparations of potential opponents.

This time the guns did not roar. Tanks, warplanes and ships did not come together in another deadly battle. A long and grueling struggle for survival between the two worlds began, in which all methods and means were used, often more insidious than a direct military clash. The main weapon of the Cold War was ideology, which was based on economic and political aspects. If previously large and large-scale military conflicts arose mainly for economic reasons, on the basis of racial and misanthropic theories, then in the new conditions a struggle for spheres of influence unfolded. The inspirers of the Crusade against Communism were US President Harry Truman and former British Prime Minister Winston Churchill.

The tactics and strategy of confrontation have changed, new forms and methods of struggle have appeared. It is not for nothing that the global Cold War received such a name. During the conflict there was no hot phase, the warring parties did not open fire on each other, however, in terms of its scale and the amount of losses, this confrontation can easily be called the Third World War. After the Second World War, the world, instead of detente, again entered a period of tension. During the hidden confrontation between two world systems, humanity witnessed an unprecedented arms race; the countries participating in the conflict plunged into the abyss of spy mania and conspiracies. Clashes between the two opposing camps took place on all continents with varying degrees of success. The Cold War lasted for 45 years, becoming the longest military-political conflict of our time. This war also had its decisive battles, and there were periods of calm and confrontation. There are winners and losers in this confrontation. History gives us the right to assess the scale of the conflict and its results, making the right conclusions for the future.

Causes of the Cold War that broke out in the 20th century

If we consider the situation in the world that has developed since the end of the Second World War, it is not difficult to notice one important point. The Soviet Union, which bore the main burden of the armed struggle against Nazi Germany, managed to significantly expand its sphere of influence. Despite the enormous human losses and the devastating consequences of the war on the country's economy, the USSR became a leading world power. It was impossible not to take this fact into account. The Soviet Army stood in the center of Europe, and the positions of the USSR in the Far East were no less strong. This in no way suited the Western countries. Even taking into account the fact that the Soviet Union, the USA and Great Britain nominally remained allies, the contradictions between them were too strong.

These same states soon found themselves on opposite sides of the barricades, becoming active participants in the Cold War. Western democracies could not come to terms with the emergence of a new superpower and its growing influence on the world political scene. The main reasons for rejection of this state of affairs include the following aspects:

  • the enormous military power of the USSR;
  • the growing foreign policy influence of the Soviet Union;
  • expansion of the sphere of influence of the USSR;
  • spread of communist ideology;
  • activation in the world of people's liberation movements led by parties of Marxist and socialist persuasions.

Foreign policy and the Cold War are links in the same chain. Neither the United States nor Great Britain could calmly look at the capitalist system collapsing before their eyes, at the collapse of imperial ambitions and the loss of spheres of influence. Great Britain, having lost its status as a world leader after the end of the war, clung to the remnants of its possessions. The United States, emerging from the war with the world's most powerful economy and in possession of the atomic bomb, sought to become the sole hegemon on the planet. The only obstacle to the implementation of these plans was the mighty Soviet Union with its communist ideology and policy of equality and brotherhood. The reasons that prompted the latest military-political confrontation also reflect the essence of the Cold War. The main goal of the warring parties was the following:

  • destroy the enemy economically and ideologically;
  • limit the enemy's sphere of influence;
  • try to destroy his political system from within;
  • bringing the enemy's socio-political and economic base to complete collapse;
  • overthrow of ruling regimes and political liquidation of state entities.

In this case, the essence of the conflict was not very different from the military version, because the goals set and the results for the opponents were very similar. The signs characterizing the state of the Cold War also very much resemble the state in world politics that preceded the armed confrontation. This historical period is characterized by expansion, aggressive military-political plans, increased military presence, political pressure and the formation of military alliances.

Where does the term "Cold War" come from?

This phrase was first used by the English writer and publicist George Orwell. In this stylistic way, he outlined the state of the post-war world, where the free and democratic West was forced to face the brutal and totalitarian regime of the communist East. Orwell clearly outlined his rejection of Stalinism in many of his works. Even when the Soviet Union was an ally of Great Britain, the writer spoke negatively about the world that awaited Europe after the end of the war. The term invented by Orwell turned out to be so successful that it was quickly picked up by Western politicians, using it in their foreign policy and anti-Soviet rhetoric.

It was with their initiative that the Cold War began, the start date of which was March 5, 1946. The former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom used the phrase “cold war” during his speech in Fulton. During the statements of a high-ranking British politician, the contradictions between the two geopolitical camps that emerged in the post-war world were publicly voiced for the first time.

Winston Churchill became a follower of the British publicist. This man, thanks to whose iron will and strength of character Britain emerged from the bloody war, the winner, is rightfully considered the “godfather” of the new military-political confrontation. The euphoria in which the world found itself after the end of World War II did not last long. The balance of power that was observed in the world quickly led to the fact that two geopolitical systems collided in a fierce battle. During the Cold War, the number of participants on both sides was constantly changing. On one side of the barricade stood the USSR and its new allies. On the other side stood the United States, Great Britain and other allied countries. As in any other military-political conflict, this era was marked by its acute phases and periods of detente; military-political and economic alliances were formed again, in the person of which the Cold War clearly identified the participants in the global confrontation.

The NATO bloc, the Warsaw Pact, and bilateral military-political pacts have become a military instrument of international tension. The arms race contributed to the strengthening of the military component of the confrontation. Foreign policy took the form of open confrontation between the parties to the conflict.

Winston Churchill, despite his active participation in the creation of the anti-Hitler coalition, pathologically hated the communist regime. During the Second World War, Britain, due to geopolitical factors, was forced to become an ally of the USSR. However, already during the military operations, at a time when it became clear that the defeat of Germany was inevitable, Churchill understood that the victory of the Soviet Union would lead to the expansion of communism in Europe. And Churchill was not mistaken. The leitmotif of the subsequent political career of the British ex-prime minister was the theme of confrontation, the Cold War, a state in which it was necessary to contain the foreign policy expansion of the Soviet Union.

The British ex-prime minister considered the United States to be the main force capable of successfully resisting the Soviet bloc. The American economy, American armed forces and navy were to become the main instrument of pressure on the Soviet Union. Britain, finding itself in the wake of American foreign policy, was assigned the role of an unsinkable aircraft carrier.

At the instigation of Winston Churchill, the conditions for the outbreak of the Cold War were clearly outlined overseas. At first, American politicians began to use this term during their election campaign. A little later they started talking about the Cold War in the context of the foreign policy of the United States.

Major milestones and events of the Cold War

Central Europe, in ruins, was divided into two parts by the Iron Curtain. East Germany found itself in the Soviet zone of occupation. Almost all of Eastern Europe came under the influence of the Soviet Union. Poland, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Bulgaria, Yugoslavia and Romania, with their people's democratic regimes, unwittingly became allies of the Soviets. It is incorrect to believe that the Cold War is a direct conflict between the USSR and the USA. Canada and all of Western Europe, which was in the zone of responsibility of the United States and Great Britain, entered the orbit of confrontation. The situation was similar on the opposite side of the planet. In the Far East in Korea, the military-political interests of the United States, the USSR and China collided. In every corner of the globe, pockets of confrontation arose, which subsequently became the most powerful crises of Cold War politics.

Korean War 1950-53 became the first result of the confrontation between geopolitical systems. Communist China and the USSR tried to expand their sphere of influence on the Korean Peninsula. Even then it became clear that armed confrontation would become an inevitable companion to the entire period of the Cold War. Subsequently, the USSR, the USA and their allies did not take part in military operations against each other, limiting themselves to using the human resources of other participants in the conflict. The stages of the Cold War are a whole series of events that, to one degree or another, influenced global foreign policy development. Equally, this time can be called a roller coaster ride. The end of the Cold War was not part of the plans of either side. The fight was to the death. The political death of the enemy was the main condition for the beginning of detente.

The active phase is replaced by periods of detente, military conflicts in different parts of the planet are replaced by peace agreements. The world is divided into military-political blocs and alliances. Subsequent Cold War conflicts brought the world to the brink of a global catastrophe. The scale of the confrontation grew, new subjects appeared in the political arena, causing tension. First Korea, then Indochina and Cuba. The most acute crises in international relations were the Berlin and Caribbean crises, a series of events that threatened to bring the world to the brink of a nuclear apocalypse.

Each period of the Cold War can be described differently, taking into account the economic factor and the geopolitical situation in the world. The mid-50s and early 60s were marked by increased international tension. The warring parties took an active part in regional military conflicts, supporting one side or another. The arms race picked up pace. Potential opponents entered a steep dive, where the count of time was no longer decades, but years. The economies of the countries were under enormous pressure from military expenditures. The end of the Cold War was the collapse of the Soviet bloc. The Soviet Union disappeared from the political map of the world. The Warsaw Pact, the military Soviet bloc that became the main opponent of the military-political alliances of the West, has sunk into oblivion.

Final salvos and results of the Cold War

The Soviet socialist system turned out to be unviable in the intense competition with the Western economy. This was due to the lack of a clear understanding of the path for further economic development of socialist countries, the insufficiently flexible mechanism for managing state structures and the interaction of the socialist economy with the main world trends in the development of civil society. In other words, the Soviet Union could not withstand the confrontation economically. The consequences of the Cold War were catastrophic. Within just 5 years, the socialist camp ceased to exist. First, Eastern Europe left the zone of Soviet influence. Then it was the turn of the world's first socialist state.

Today the USA, Great Britain, Germany and France are already competing with communist China. Together with Russia, Western countries are waging a stubborn struggle against extremism and the process of Islamization of the Muslim world. The end of the Cold War can be called conditional. The vector and direction of action has changed. The composition of the participants has changed, the goals and objectives of the parties have changed.

Lesson type: combined;

Method: lecture with elements of conversation;

Target: reveal causes and consequences

"Cold War", consolidate the received

previous knowledge, stimulate

creative activity of students.

Interdisciplinary connections: social studies, geography.

DURING THE CLASSES,

1. Organizational moment;

2. Checking homework

Oral survey

1. What major changes occurred in international relations after the war?

2. Causes of the Cold War.

Historical dictation

3. Studying new material;

4. Consolidation of new material and homework.

PLAN

Formation of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).

Berlin crisis of 1948

The Korean War is the first experience of the Cold War era.

Caribbean crisis.

1. Formation of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). On April 4, 1949, Western countries formed the military-political organization of the North Atlantic Treaty (NATO). Its founders were the USA, Canada, Great Britain, France, Italy, Belgium, Holland, Luxembourg, Norway, Denmark, Iceland and Portugal. The Treaty establishing NATO was supplemented by mutual assistance agreements between its members. Greece and Turkey joined NATO in 1952, and Germany joined in 1955.

The response to Germany's entry into NATO in 1955 was the creation of the Warsaw Pact Organization, a military-political alliance of the USSR with its friendly countries of Eastern Europe.

The emergence in Europe of two opposing military-political alliances was not just a product of the struggle between the USSR and the USA for world leadership. Each of them defended a certain model of the world order, a way of life of peoples, linking the implementation of their national-state interests with their approval.

The rivalry between the “two camps” took place in different forms – ideological, economic. But since the parties did not exclude the possibility of a direct military clash, special importance was attached to the build-up of military forces.

2. Berlin crisis of 1948 After the war, it was agreed that Germany should become a peace-loving, democratic state. However, in conditions when the territory of Germany and its capital was divided into zones of occupation by the USA, Great Britain, France, and the USSR, the issue never found a solution. Therefore, the formation of two German states began on German territory. In 1948, currency reform was carried out in West Germany. In response, the USSR closed the border between the occupation zones, fearing the flow of devalued currency into East Germany. West Berlin was blocked. The leadership of the USSR assumed that Western countries would make concessions on the German issue, but this did not happen. The Berlin crisis froze the question of a united Germany for more than 40 years. In 1949, two German states, the Federal Republic of Germany and the German Democratic Republic, were created and became members of NATO and the Warsaw Division, respectively.

3. The Korean War, as the first experience of the Cold War era. The second conflict took place in Asia. In 1949, the Chinese Civil War ended in Communist victory. The remnants of the anti-communist forces, under the cover of the US Navy, were evacuated to the island of Taiwan. Under these conditions, the communist regime of North Korea attempted to unify the country, in the south of which there was a regime in power oriented toward an alliance with the United States. US diplomacy took advantage of the fact that the USSR boycotted the work of the UN, protesting the West's non-recognition of the communist government of China. In the absence of a representative of the USSR, the UN Security Council recognized North Korea as an aggressor. This gave the United States and its allies the legal basis to send troops to Korea.

In the war of 195-=1953. US forces and their allies came into direct conflict with Chinese troops who came to the aid of North Korea. In air battles there was a test of strength of Soviet and American aviation. The US command was considering the use of nuclear weapons. But ultimately the front stabilized.

A similar situation arose in Indochina, where France, having lost direct control over Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia, sought to maintain a pro-Western dictatorial regime in power in Vietnam. National liberation

the forces that adopted a communist orientation received assistance from China and the USSR. By 1954 it became clear that neither side was capable of success.

4. Caribbean crisis. The most acute conflict was the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962. The victory in 1959 in Cuba of the revolutionary movement led by F. Castro and his choice of a course for socialist development caused concern in the United States.

The USSR deployed medium-range missiles with nuclear warheads on Cuban territory. This step (taken in secret from the world community) became known to the US government thanks to aerial reconnaissance. Retaliatory measures - the introduction of a naval blockade of Cuba and preparations for attacks on Soviet bases on the island brought the world to the brink of nuclear war.

The resolution of the conflict became possible thanks to the restraint and common sense of Kennedy and Khrushchev. The missiles were removed from Cuba, and the US blockade was lifted.

Homework.

Fill out the table in your homework notebook.

Answer the question.

1. Why was the realization of the futility of the military way of resolving international crises in the mid-1950s. did not push the USSR and the USA to abandon the Cold War policy?

Heading: Tabletops
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