Cold War. Its stages and ending

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.

“Cold War” is a term commonly used to designate a period in world history from 1946 to 1989, characterized by the confrontation between two political and economic superpowers - the USSR and the USA, which are the guarantors of the new system of international relations created after the Second World War.

Origin of the term.

It is believed that the expression “Cold War” was first used by the famous British science fiction writer George Orwell on October 19, 1945 in the article “You and the Atomic Bomb.” In his opinion, countries with nuclear weapons will dominate the world, while there will be a constant “cold war” between them, that is, a confrontation without direct military clashes. His forecast can be called prophetic, since at the end of the war the United States had a monopoly on nuclear weapons. At the official level, this expression was heard in April 1947 from the mouth of US Presidential Advisor Bernard Baruch.

Churchill's Fulton speech

After the end of World War II, relations between the USSR and the Western allies began to deteriorate rapidly. Already in September 1945, the Joint Chiefs of Staff approved the idea of the United States launching a first strike against a potential enemy (meaning the use of nuclear weapons). On March 5, 1946, the former Prime Minister of Great Britain, in a speech at Westminster College in Fulton in the United States in the presence of American President Harry Truman, formulated the goals of the “fraternal association of English-speaking peoples,” calling on them to unite in defense of “the great principles of freedom and rights person." “From Stettin on the Baltic to Trieste on the Adriatic, an iron curtain has fallen over the European continent,” and “Soviet Russia wants... the unlimited spread of its power and its doctrines.” Churchill's Fulton speech is considered a turning point to the beginning of the Cold War between East and West.

"Truman Doctrine"

In the spring of 1947, the US President announced his “Truman Doctrine” or the doctrine of “containment of communism”, according to which “the world as a whole must accept the American system”, and the United States is obliged to engage in battle with any revolutionary movement, any claims of the Soviet Union. The defining factor in this case was the conflict between two ways of life. One of them, according to Truman, was based on individual rights, free elections, legitimate institutions and guarantees against aggression. The other is on control of the press and media, imposing the will of the minority on the majority, on terror and oppression.

One of the instruments of containment was the American economic assistance plan, announced on June 5, 1947 by US Secretary of State J. Marshall, who announced the provision of free assistance to Europe, which would be directed “not against any country or doctrine, but against hunger, poverty, despair and chaos."

Initially, the USSR and Central European countries showed interest in the plan, but after negotiations in Paris, a delegation of 83 Soviet economists led by V.M. Molotov left them on the instructions of V.I. Stalin. The 16 countries that joined the plan received significant assistance from 1948 to 1952; its implementation actually completed the division of spheres of influence in Europe. The communists lost their position in Western Europe.

Cominformburo

In September 1947, at the first meeting of the Cominformburo (Information Bureau of Communist and Workers' Parties), A.A.'s report was made. Zhdanov about the formation of two camps in the world - “the imperialist and anti-democratic camp, which has as its main goal the establishment of world domination and the destruction of democracy, and the anti-imperialist and democratic camp, which has as its main goal the undermining of imperialism, the strengthening of democracy and the elimination of the remnants of fascism.” The creation of the Cominform Bureau meant the emergence of a single leadership center for the world communist movement. In Eastern Europe, the communists completely take power into their own hands, many opposition politicians go into exile. Socio-economic transformations following the Soviet model are beginning in countries.

Berlin crisis

The Berlin crisis became a stage in the deepening of the Cold War. Back in 1947 The Western allies set a course for creating occupation zones of the West German state in the territories of the American, British and French. In turn, the USSR tried to oust the allies from Berlin (the western sectors of Berlin were an isolated enclave within the Soviet zone of occupation). As a result, the “Berlin crisis” occurred, i.e. transport blockade of the western part of the city by the USSR. However, in May 1949, the USSR lifted restrictions on transportation to West Berlin. In the autumn of the same year, Germany was divided: in September the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) was created, in October the German Democratic Republic (GDR). An important consequence of the crisis was the founding by the US leadership of the largest military-political bloc: 11 states of Western Europe and the United States signed the North Atlantic Mutual Defense Treaty (NATO), according to which each party pledged to provide immediate military assistance in the event of an attack on any country included in block. In 1952, Greece and Türkiye joined the pact, and in 1955, Germany.

"Arms race"

Another characteristic feature of the Cold War was the “arms race.” In April 1950, the National Security Council Directive “Goals and Programs of the United States in the Field of National Security” (NSC-68) was adopted, which was based on the following provision: “The USSR strives for world domination, Soviet military superiority is increasingly increasing, due to why negotiations with the Soviet leadership are impossible.” Hence the conclusion was drawn about the need to build up American military potential. The directive focused on a crisis confrontation with the USSR “until there is a change in the nature of the Soviet system.” Thus, the USSR was forced to join the arms race imposed on it. In 1950-1953 The first armed local conflict involving two superpowers occurred in Korea.

After the death of I.V. Stalin's new Soviet leadership, headed by G.M. Malenkov, and then took a number of major steps to ease international tensions. Stating that “there is no controversial or unresolved issue that could not be resolved peacefully,” the Soviet government agreed with the United States to end the Korean War. In 1956 N.S. Khrushchev proclaimed a course to prevent war and stated that “there is no fatal inevitability of war.” Later, the CPSU Program (1962) emphasized: “The peaceful coexistence of socialist and capitalist states is an objective necessity for the development of human society. War cannot and should not serve as a way to resolve international disputes.”

In 1954, Washington adopted the military doctrine of “massive retaliation,” which provided for the use of the full power of American strategic potential in the event of an armed conflict with the USSR in any region. But at the end of the 50s. the situation changed dramatically: in 1957, the Soviet Union launched the first artificial satellite, and in 1959, it put into operation the first submarine with a nuclear reactor on board. In the new conditions of weapons development, a nuclear war lost its meaning, since it would not have a winner in advance. Even taking into account the superiority of the United States in the number of accumulated nuclear weapons, the nuclear missile potential of the USSR was sufficient to inflict “unacceptable damage” on the United States.

In the circumstances of the nuclear confrontation, a series of crises occurred: on May 1, 1960, an American reconnaissance plane was shot down over Yekaterinburg, the pilot Harry Powers was captured; in October 1961, the Berlin crisis broke out, the “Berlin Wall” appeared, and a year later the famous Cuban missile crisis occurred, which brought all of humanity to the brink of nuclear war. A peculiar outcome of the crises was the ensuing detente: on August 5, 1963, the USSR, Great Britain and the USA signed in Moscow an agreement banning nuclear weapons tests in the atmosphere, in outer space and under water, and in 1968 a treaty on the non-proliferation of nuclear weapons.

In the 60s when the Cold War was in full swing, in the context of confrontation between two military blocs (NATO and the Warsaw Pact since 1955), Eastern Europe was under the complete control of the USSR, and Western Europe was in a strong military-political and economic alliance with the USA, the main The “third world” countries became the arena for the struggle between the two systems, which often led to local military conflicts around the world.

"Discharge"

By the 70s, the Soviet Union had achieved approximate military-strategic parity with the United States. Both superpowers, based on their combined nuclear and missile power, have acquired the possibility of “guaranteed retaliation,” i.e. causing unacceptable damage to a potential enemy with a retaliatory strike.

In his message to Congress on February 18, 1970, President R. Nixon outlined three components of US foreign policy: partnership, military force and negotiations. The partnership was about allies, military force and negotiations were about “potential adversaries.”

What is new here is the attitude towards the enemy, expressed in the formula “from confrontation to negotiations.” On May 29, 1972, the countries signed the “Fundamentals of Relations between the USSR and the USA, emphasizing the need for peaceful coexistence of the two systems. Both sides committed themselves to doing everything possible to prevent military conflicts and nuclear war.

The structural documents of these intentions were the Treaty on the Limitation of Anti-Ballistic Missile Systems (ABM) and the Interim Agreement on Certain Measures in the Field of Limitation of Strategic Offensive Arms (SALT-1), which sets a limit on the buildup of arms. Later, in 1974, the USSR and the USA signed a protocol according to which they agreed to missile defense in only one area: the USSR covered Moscow, and the USA covered a base for launching interballistic missiles in the state of North Dakota. The ABM Treaty was in force until 2002, when the United States withdrew from it. The result of the policy of “détente” in Europe was the holding of the Pan-European Conference on Security and Cooperation in Helsinki in 1975 (CSCE), which proclaimed the renunciation of the use of force, the inviolability of borders in Europe, respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms.

In 1979, in Geneva, at a meeting between US President J. Carter and the General Secretary of the CPSU Central Committee, a new treaty on the limitation of strategic offensive arms (SALT-2) was signed, which reduced the total number of nuclear delivery vehicles to 2,400 and provided for curbing the process of modernization of strategic weapons. However, after the entry of Soviet troops into Afghanistan in December 1979, the United States refused to ratify the treaty, although its provisions were partially respected by both sides. At the same time, a rapid reaction force was created to protect American interests anywhere in the world.

Third World

Apparently in the late 70s. in Moscow, there was a point of view that in the conditions of achieved parity and the policy of “détente”, it was the USSR that took the foreign policy initiative: there was a build-up and modernization of conventional weapons in Europe, the deployment of medium-range missiles, a large-scale build-up of naval forces, active participation in supporting friendly regimes in countries third world. Under these conditions, a course of confrontation prevailed in the United States: in January 1980, the president proclaimed the “Carter Doctrine,” according to which the Persian Gulf was declared a zone of American interests and the use of armed force to protect it was allowed.

With the coming to power of R. Reagan, a program of large-scale modernization of various types of weapons using new technologies was undertaken, with the goal of achieving strategic superiority over the USSR. It was Reagan who made the famous words that the USSR is an “evil empire”, and America is “the people chosen by God” to implement the “sacred plan” - “to leave Marxism-Leninism on the ashes of history.” In 1981-1982 restrictions were introduced on trade with the USSR, and in 1983 the Strategic Defense Initiative program, or the so-called “Star Wars,” was adopted, designed to create a multi-layered defense of the United States against intercontinental missiles. At the end of 1983, the governments of Great Britain, Germany and Italy agreed to the deployment of American missiles on their territory.

The end of the Cold War

The last stage of the Cold War is associated with serious changes that took place in the USSR after the country's new leadership, led by Russia, came to power, pursuing a policy of “new political thinking” in foreign policy. A real breakthrough occurred at the highest level between the USSR and the USA in November 1985, the parties came to the consensus that “a nuclear war should not be unleashed, there can be no winners in it,” and their goal was “to prevent an arms race in space and ending it on Earth." In December 1987, a new Soviet-American meeting took place in Washington, which ended with the signing of the Treaty on the Elimination of Intermediate-Range and Shorter-Range Missiles (from 500 to 5.5 thousand km) in nuclear and non-nuclear equipment. These measures included regular mutual monitoring of the implementation of agreements, thus, for the first time in history, an entire class of advanced weapons was destroyed. In 1988, the USSR formulated the concept of “freedom of choice” as a universal principle of international relations, and the Soviet Union began withdrawing its troops from Eastern Europe.

In November 1989, during spontaneous protests, the symbol of the Cold War - the concrete wall dividing West and East Berlin - was destroyed. A series of “velvet revolutions” are taking place in Eastern Europe, and communist parties are losing power. On December 2-3, 1989, a meeting took place in Malta between the new US President George W. Bush and M.S. Gorbachev, at which the latter confirmed the “freedom of choice” for the countries of Eastern Europe, proclaimed a course of a 50% reduction in strategic offensive weapons. The Soviet Union was abandoning its zone of influence in Eastern Europe. Following the meeting, M.S. Gorbachev declared that “the world is emerging from the Cold War era and entering a new era.” For his part, George Bush emphasized that “the West will not try to take any advantage from the unusual changes taking place in the East.” In March 1991, the Department of Internal Affairs was officially dissolved, and in December the Soviet Union collapsed.

And the United States of America lasted for more than 40 years and was called the Cold War. The years of its duration are estimated differently by different historians. However, we can say with complete confidence that the confrontation ended in 1991, with the collapse of the USSR. The Cold War left an indelible mark on world history. Any conflict of the last century (after the end of World War II) must be viewed through the prism of the Cold War. This was not just a conflict between two countries.

It was a confrontation between two opposing worldviews, a struggle for dominance over the entire world.

Main reasons

The year the Cold War began was 1946. It was after the victory over Nazi Germany that a new world map and new rivals for world domination emerged. The victory over the Third Reich and its allies cost the whole of Europe, and especially the USSR, enormous bloodshed. The future conflict emerged at the Yalta Conference in 1945. At this famous meeting of Stalin, Churchill and Roosevelt, the fate of post-war Europe was decided. At this time, the Red Army was already approaching Berlin, so it was necessary to carry out the so-called division of spheres of influence. Soviet troops, seasoned in battles on their territory, brought liberation to other peoples of Europe. In the countries occupied by the Union, friendly socialist regimes were established.

Spheres of influence

One of these was installed in Poland. At the same time, the previous Polish government was located in London and considered itself legitimate. supported him, but the Communist Party, elected by the Polish people, de facto ruled the country. At the Yalta Conference, this issue was especially acutely considered by the parties. Similar problems were also observed in other regions. The peoples liberated from Nazi occupation created their own governments with the support of the USSR. Therefore, after the victory over the Third Reich, the map of the future Europe was finally formed.

The main stumbling blocks of the former allies in the anti-Hitler coalition began after the division of Germany. The eastern part was occupied by Soviet troops, the Western territories were proclaimed, which were occupied by the Allies and became part of the Federal Republic of Germany. Infighting immediately began between the two governments. The confrontation ultimately led to the closure of the borders between Germany and the GDR. Espionage and even sabotage actions began.

American imperialism

Throughout 1945, the allies in the anti-Hitler coalition continued close cooperation.

These were acts of transfer of prisoners of war (who were captured by the Nazis) and material assets. However, the following year the Cold War began. The years of the first aggravation occurred precisely in the post-war period. The symbolic beginning was Churchill’s speech in the American city of Fulton. Then the former British minister said that the main enemy of the West is communism and the USSR, which personifies it. Winston also called on all English-speaking nations to unite to fight the “red infection.” Such provocative statements could not but cause a response from Moscow. After some time, Joseph Stalin gave an interview to the newspaper Pravda, in which he compared the English politician with Hitler.

Countries during the Cold War: two blocs

However, although Churchill was a private person, he only outlined the course of Western governments. The United States has dramatically increased its influence on the world stage. This happened largely thanks to the war. No combat operations took place on American soil (with the exception of Japanese bomber raids). Therefore, against the backdrop of devastated Europe, the States had a fairly powerful economy and armed forces. Fearing the outbreak of popular revolutions (which would be supported by the USSR) on their territory, capitalist governments began to rally around the United States. It was in 1946 that the idea of creating a military unit was first voiced. In response to this, the Soviets created their own unit - the ATS. It even got to the point where the parties were developing a strategy of armed struggle with each other. At the direction of Churchill, a plan for a possible war with the USSR was developed. The Soviet Union had similar plans. Preparations began for a trade and ideological war.

Arms race

The arms race between the two countries was one of the most significant phenomena that the Cold War brought. Years of confrontation led to the creation of unique means of warfare that are still in use today. In the second half of the 40s, the United States had a huge advantage - nuclear weapons. The first nuclear bombs were used back in World War II. The Enola Gay bomber dropped shells on the Japanese city of Hiroshima, practically razing it to the ground. It was then that the world saw the destructive power of nuclear weapons. The United States began to actively increase its stockpiles of such weapons.

A special secret laboratory was created in the state of New Mexico. Strategic plans for future relations with the USSR were built on the basis of nuclear advantage. The Soviets, in turn, also began to actively develop a nuclear program. The Americans considered the presence of charges with enriched uranium as the main advantage. Therefore, intelligence hastily removed all documents on the development of atomic weapons from the territory of defeated Germany in 1945. Soon a secret strategic document was developed, which envisaged a nuclear strike on the territory of the Soviet Union. According to some historians, variations of this plan were presented to Truman several times. Thus ended the initial period of the Cold War, the years of which were the least tense.

Union nuclear weapons

In 1949, the USSR successfully conducted the first tests of a nuclear bomb at the Semipalatinsk test site, which was immediately announced by all Western media. The creation of the RDS-1 (nuclear bomb) became possible largely thanks to the actions of Soviet intelligence, which also penetrated the secret test site in Los Alamossa.

Such a rapid creation of nuclear weapons came as a real surprise to the United States. Since then, nuclear weapons have become the main deterrent to direct military conflict between the two camps. The precedent in Hiroshima and Nagasaki showed the whole world the terrifying power of the atomic bomb. But in which year was the Cold War the most brutal?

Caribbean crisis

During all the years of the Cold War, the situation was most tense in 1961. The conflict between the USSR and the USA went down in history as its prerequisites existed long before. It all started with the deployment of American nuclear missiles in Turkey. The Jupiter charges were placed in such a way that they could hit any targets in the western part of the USSR (including Moscow). Such a danger could not go unanswered.

A few years earlier, a popular revolution began in Cuba, led by Fidel Castro. At first, the USSR did not see any promise in the uprising. However, the Cuban people managed to overthrow the Batista regime. After this, the American leadership declared that it would not tolerate a new government in Cuba. Immediately after this, close diplomatic relations were established between Moscow and Liberty Island. Soviet armed units were sent to Cuba.

Beginning of the conflict

After the deployment of nuclear weapons in Turkey, the Kremlin decided to take urgent countermeasures, since for this period it was impossible to launch atomic missiles at the United States from the territory of the Union.

Therefore, the secret operation "Anadyr" was hastily developed. The warships were tasked with delivering long-range missiles to Cuba. In October, the first ships reached Havana. The installation of launch pads has begun. At this time, American reconnaissance planes flew over the coast. The Americans managed to obtain several photographs of tactical divisions whose weapons were aimed at Florida.

Aggravation of the situation

Immediately after this, the US military was placed on high alert. Kennedy held an emergency meeting. A number of senior officials called on the President to immediately launch an invasion of Cuba. In the event of such a development of events, the Red Army would immediately launch a nuclear missile strike on the landing force. This could well lead to a worldwide conflict. Therefore, both sides began to look for possible compromises. After all, everyone understood what such a cold war could lead to. Years of nuclear winter were definitely not the best prospect.

The situation was extremely tense, everything could change literally at any second. According to historical sources, at this time Kennedy even slept in his office. As a result, the Americans put forward an ultimatum - to remove Soviet missiles from Cuba. Then the naval blockade of the island began.

Khrushchev held a similar meeting in Moscow. Some Soviet generals also insisted not to give in to Washington's demands and, if necessary, to repel an American attack. The main blow of the Union could not have been in Cuba at all, but in Berlin, which was well understood in the White House.

"Black Saturday"

The world suffered the greatest blows during the Cold War on October 27, Saturday. On this day, an American U-2 reconnaissance aircraft flew over Cuba and was shot down by Soviet anti-aircraft gunners. Within a few hours, this incident became known in Washington.

The US Congress advised the President to launch an invasion immediately. The President decided to write a letter to Khrushchev, where he repeated his demands. Nikita Sergeevich responded to this letter immediately, agreeing to them, in exchange for a US promise not to attack Cuba and to remove missiles from Turkey. In order for the message to reach as quickly as possible, the appeal was made via radio. This is where the Cuban crisis ended. From then on, the tension in the situation began to gradually decrease.

Ideological confrontation

Foreign policy during the Cold War for both blocs was characterized not only by competition for control over territories, but by a tough information struggle. Two different systems tried in every possible way to show the whole world their superiority. The famous Radio Liberty was created in the USA, which was broadcast to the territory of the Soviet Union and other socialist countries. The stated purpose of this news agency was to fight Bolshevism and communism. It is noteworthy that Radio Liberty still exists and operates in many countries. During the Cold War, the USSR also created a similar station that broadcast to the territory of capitalist countries.

Every significant event for humanity in the second half of the last century was considered in the context of the Cold War. For example, Yuri Gagarin's flight into space was presented to the world as a victory for socialist labor. Countries spent enormous resources on propaganda. In addition to sponsoring and supporting cultural figures, there was a wide agent network.

Spy games

The espionage intrigues of the Cold War were widely reflected in art. The secret services went to all sorts of tricks to stay one step ahead of their opponents. One of the most typical cases is Operation Confession, which is more like the plot of a spy detective story.

Even during the war, the Soviet scientist Lev Termin created a unique transmitter that did not require recharging or a power source. It was a kind of perpetual motion machine. The listening device was named "Zlatoust". The KGB, on Beria’s personal orders, decided to install “Zlatoust” in the US Embassy building. For this purpose, a wooden shield was created depicting the coat of arms of the United States. During the visit of the American ambassador, a ceremonial assembly was held at the children's health center. At the end, the pioneers sang the US anthem, after which the touched ambassador was presented with a wooden coat of arms. He, unaware of the trick, installed it in his personal account. Thanks to this, the KGB received information about all the ambassador’s conversations for 7 years. There were a huge number of similar cases, open to the public and secret.

Cold War: years, essence

The end of the confrontation between the two blocs came after the collapse of the USSR, which lasted 45 years.

Tensions between West and East continue to this day. However, the world ceased to be bipolar when Moscow or Washington was behind any significant event in the world. In which year was the Cold War the most brutal, and closest to a “hot” one? Historians and analysts are still debating this topic. Most agree that this is the period of the “Cubicle crisis,” when the world was one step away from nuclear war.

What was the reason for such a long “cold” confrontation between the West and the East? There were deep and intractable differences between the model of society represented by the United States of America and the system of socialism led by the Soviet Union.

Both world powers wanted to strengthen their economic and political influence and become the undisputed leaders of the world community.

The United States was extremely unhappy that the USSR had established its influence in a number of Eastern Europe. Now the communist movement has come to dominate there. Reactionary circles in the West feared that communist ideas would penetrate further into the West, and that the resulting socialist camp would be able to seriously compete with the capitalist world in the economic and sphere.

Historians consider the beginning of the Cold War to be the speech of the leading English politician Winston Churchill, which he delivered in Fulton in March 1946. In his speech, Churchill warned the Western world against mistakes, directly speaking about the impending communist danger, in the face of which it is necessary to unite. The provisions expressed in this speech became an actual call for unleashing a “cold war” against the USSR.

Progress of the Cold War

The Cold War had several climaxes. Some of them were the signing of the North Atlantic Treaty by a number of Western states, the Korean War and the testing of nuclear weapons in the USSR. And in the early 60s, the world followed with alarm the development of the so-called Caribbean crisis, which showed that the two superpowers had such powerful weapons that there would be no winners in a possible military confrontation.

Awareness of this fact led politicians to the idea that political confrontation and arms build-up should be brought under control. The desire of the USSR and the USA to strengthen their military power led to enormous budget expenditures and undermined the economies of both powers. Statistics suggested that both economies could not continue to maintain the pace of the arms race, so the governments of the United States and the Soviet Union eventually entered into a treaty to reduce their nuclear arsenals.

But the Cold War was far from over. It continued in the information space. Both states actively used their ideological apparatuses to undermine each other's political power. Provocations and subversive activities were used. Each side tried to present the advantages of its social system in a favorable light, while simultaneously belittling the achievements of the enemy.

The end of the Cold War and its results

As a result of the harmful effects of external and internal factors, by the mid-80s of the last century, the Soviet Union found itself in a deep economic and political crisis. The process of perestroika began in the country, which was essentially a course to replace socialism with capitalist relations.

These processes were actively supported by foreign opponents of communism. The collapse of the socialist camp began. The culmination was the collapse of the Soviet Union, which broke up into several independent states in 1991. The goal of the opponents of the USSR, which they set several decades earlier, was achieved.

The West won an unconditional victory in the Cold War with the USSR, and the United States remained the world's only superpower. This was the main result of the “cold” confrontation.

Still, some analysts believe that the collapse of the communist regime did not lead to a complete end to the Cold War. Russia, which has nuclear weapons, although it has taken the capitalist path of development, still remains an annoying obstacle to the implementation of the aggressive plans of the United States, striving for complete world domination. The ruling American circles are particularly irritated by the desire of the renewed Russia to pursue an independent foreign policy.

The recent winners of German fascism, the USSR and the USA, more than once became bitter opponents in the 20th century. Including in real wars. The main one is the 45-year Cold War. Shots were not always heard there, but there was a direct danger of not just the Third World War, but also a global universal catastrophe.

Greetings from Orwell

The term "Cold War" is not political or military. The author of this expression is the writer George Orwell, whose pen includes Animal Farm, Animal Farm and 1984. He published it in an article entitled “You and the Atomic Bomb,” published just a month after the end of World War II.

Iranian incident

Most historians define the start date of the global military and ideological confrontation between the participants in the process as March 5, 1946. Speaking in Fulton, America, Winston Churchill called for combating the spread with the help of a union of English-speaking countries.

The reason for such harsh words from Churchill was Stalin’s refusal to immediately withdraw from Iranian territory. But the main reason was the natural reluctance of the recent allies to allow the expansion of Soviet influence in the East. A year later, the British ex-prime minister was supported by US Secretary of State George Marshall and President Harry Truman. They presented a plan to help European countries affected by fascism in exchange for governments without communists, and a containment doctrine based on surrounding the USSR with military bases unfriendly to it.

Berlin Stumbling Wall

Moving from words to deeds, yesterday's allies began to actively form military-political organizations. And from the 55th, an alliance called NATO began to actively oppose the Warsaw Pact of socialist countries with headquarters in Moscow. The apotheosis of their initial confrontation is recognized as the appearance of the Berlin Wall in 1961, which divided the eastern (pro-Soviet) and western regions of the German capital for almost 30 years. Together with blocks of states.

Gun oil, cartridges and ballistic missiles were added to the “fire” of rivalry by the not-so-Cold Wars that split Korea and Vietnam. And also the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962, when the Soviets with missiles on board were already standing off the coast of the United States, awaiting the command “Start!”

Short word "Afghan"

The seventies could well be considered a decade of constant negotiations, peace initiatives, mutual disarmament and, finally, the end of the arms race. If in December 1979 the USSR had not sent the 40th to Afghanistan and had not removed President Amin, who did not suit him. Having done this as a logical reaction to the appearance of American missiles near its border with Turkey.

The US response was extensive and long-term assistance to the irreconcilable Afghan mujahideen, a boycott of the 1980 Olympics in Moscow and another “cold snap”. However, the parties had enough reasons to be dissatisfied with each other even without the war in Afghanistan. Historians recognize the overthrow of President Allende in Chile, the war with the participation of Soviet and Cuban soldiers in the former African colonies of Portugal, and the Shield-79 exercises of the Warsaw Pact countries as episodes, and very hot ones.

We are done with the war

The eighties began with the much larger offensive exercise Shield-82, the destruction of a South Korean passenger airliner that flew into the USSR, and Reagan’s declaration of the Soviet Union as an “Evil Empire.” They continued with a boycott of the American Olympics-84 by almost all socialist countries, an attack by the US Army on Grenada and the brazen landing of a sports plane piloted by the German Matthias Rust on Red Square.

And they ended with the return of Soviet troops from Afghanistan, the change of political leadership in the USSR, the fall of the communist regimes of Eastern Europe, the dismantling of the Berlin Wall piece by piece and the cessation of the existence of not only the Warsaw Pact that restrained NATO, but also the Soviet Union itself. The final outcome of the Cold War was summed up on December 25, 1991, without hiding the victorious triumph, by US President George H. W. Bush.

The Cold War is a confrontation between the world systems of socialism (the socialist bloc of states led by the USSR) and capitalism (Western democracies - the USA), expressed in the arms race, fierce ideological struggle, peripheral armed conflicts mainly in countries of Africa, Asia, Latin America, instigated and supported by opposing sides.

The term "Cold War" was first coined by US Representative to the UN Atomic Energy Committee Bernard Baruch in a speech in the South Carolina House of Representatives on April 16, 1947.

Cold War years 1946 - 1991

Formal start of the Cold War

The beginning of the Cold War is considered to be Winston Churchill’s speech in Fulton (Missouri, USA), in which he described the situation in the world after the end of World War II:

“From Stettin on the Baltic to Trieste on the Adriatic, an iron curtain has descended across the continent. On the other side of the curtain are all the capitals of the ancient states of Central and Eastern Europe - Warsaw, Berlin, Prague, Vienna, Budapest, Belgrade, Bucharest, Sofia. All of these famous cities and the populations in their areas found themselves within what I call the Soviet sphere, all of them in one form or another subject not only to Soviet influence, but also to the significant and increasing control of Moscow .... Communist parties, which were very small in number in all these states of Eastern Europe, have achieved exceptional strength, far superior to their numbers, and are everywhere striving to establish totalitarian control. Almost all of these countries are governed by police governments... With the exception of the British Commonwealth and the United States, where communism is in its infancy, the communist parties, or fifth columns, pose an ever-increasing challenge and danger to Christian civilization."

The end of the Cold War was the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991 and the subsequent disappearance of the Socialist camp

Cold War conflicts

Korean War 1950-1953
Uprising in the GDR 1953
First Arab-Israeli War 1956
Hungarian uprising 1956
Vietnam War 1965-1974
Second Arab-Israeli War 1967
Uprising in Czechoslovakia 1968
Third Arab-Israeli War 1973
Military coup in Chile 1973
Angolan Civil War 1975-2002
Afghan War 1979-1989
Civil War in Nicaragua 1981-1990

Only once, in 1962, during the so-called Cuban Missile Crisis, the USSR and the USA almost came into personal confrontation

Stages of the Cold War

Churchill's speech
Creation of NATO bloc 1949
McCarthyism period in the USA 1950-1953
“The fight against cosmopolitanism” in the USSR 1948-1953
"Thaw" in the USSR 1953-1964
Creation of the Warsaw Pact organization 1955
Festival of Youth and Students in Moscow 1957
Construction of the Berlin Wall 1961
Cuban Missile Crisis 1962
Brezhnev Doctrine 1968
International détente 1972-1975
Boycott of the 1980 and 1984 Olympic Games
Destruction of a South Korean Boeing 1983 passenger airliner by Soviet air defenses
Beginning of Perestroika in the USSR 1986
German reunification 1990
Charter of Paris November 21, 1990.