Ideological Causes of the Cold War. Cold War: global confrontation between the USSR and the USA

After the end of World War II, which became the largest and most violent conflict in the history of mankind, a confrontation arose between the countries of the communist camp on the one hand and the 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 rivalry for dominance in the new post-war world.

The main reason Cold War became insoluble ideological contradictions between the 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, played their role.

Historians distinguish the following stages of the Cold War:

March 5, 1946 - 1953 The beginning of the Cold War was marked by Churchill's speech, delivered in the spring of 1946 in Fulton, in which the idea of creating an alliance of Anglo-Saxon countries to fight communism was proposed. The goal of the United States was an economic victory over the USSR, as well as the achievement of military superiority. In fact, the Cold War began earlier, but it was precisely by the spring of 1946, due to the USSR's refusal to withdraw troops from Iran, that the situation seriously escalated.

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 the anti-communist uprising in Hungary, the events in the GDR and, earlier, in Poland, as well as the Suez crisis took place. International tension increased after the development and successful testing of the USSR in 1957 of an intercontinental ballistic missile. But the threat nuclear war retreated because now Soviet Union was able to strike back at US cities. This period of relations between the superpowers ended with the Berlin and Caribbean crises of 1961 and 1962, respectively. It was possible to resolve the Caribbean crisis only during personal negotiations between the heads of state Khrushchev and Kennedy. Also, as a result of the negotiations, a number of agreements on the nonproliferation 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 presence of tension in relations between the USSR and the USA, agreements are signed to limit strategic weapons. A joint space program "Soyuz-Apollo" is being developed. 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 become aggravated again after the entry of Soviet troops into Afghanistan. United States hosted in 1983. ballistic missiles based in Italy, Denmark, England, Germany, Belgium. An anti-space defense system is being developed. The USSR reacts to the actions of the West by withdrawing from the Geneva talks. During this period, the missile attack warning system is in constant combat readiness.

1987 - 1991 The coming to power in the USSR of M. Gorbachev in 1985 led not only to global changes within the country, but also to radical changes in foreign policy, called "new political thinking". Ill-conceived reforms finally 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 support the arms race any longer, as well as the pro-Soviet communist regimes. A certain role was also played by anti-war speeches in the most different corners peace. The results of the Cold War were depressing for the USSR. The reunification of Germany in 1990 became a symbol of the West's victory.

Causes, stages and consequences of the Cold War.

After the end of World War II, which became the largest and most violent conflict in the history of mankind, a confrontation arose between the countries of the communist camp on the one hand and the 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 rivalry for dominance in the new post-war world.

The main cause of the Cold War was the irresolvable ideological contradictions between the 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, played their role.

Historians distinguish the following stages of the Cold War:

· March 5, 1946 - 1953 - The beginning of the Cold War was marked by Churchill's speech delivered in the spring of 1946 in Fulton, which proposed the idea of creating an alliance of Anglo-Saxon countries to fight communism. The goal of the United States was an economic victory over the USSR, as well as achieving military superiority. In fact, the Cold War began earlier, but it was precisely by the spring of 1946, due to the USSR's refusal to withdraw troops from Iran, that the situation seriously escalated.

· 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 the anti-communist uprising in Hungary, the events in the GDR and, earlier, in Poland, as well as the Suez crisis took place. International tension increased after the development and successful testing of the USSR in 1957 of an intercontinental ballistic missile.

However, the threat of nuclear war receded, as the Soviet Union now had the opportunity to retaliate against US cities. This period of relations between the superpowers ended with the Berlin and Caribbean crises of 1961 and 1962, respectively. It was possible to resolve the Caribbean crisis only during personal negotiations between the heads of state - Khrushchev and Kennedy. Also, as a result of the negotiations, a number of agreements on the nonproliferation 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 presence of tension in relations between the USSR and the USA, agreements on the limitation of strategic weapons are signed. A joint space program "Soyuz-Apollo" is being developed. 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 again become aggravated after the entry of Soviet troops into Afghanistan. In 1983 the United States deploys ballistic missiles at bases in Italy, Denmark, England, the FRG, and Belgium. An anti-space defense system is being developed. The USSR reacts to the actions of the West by withdrawing from the Geneva talks. During this period, the missile attack warning system is in constant combat readiness.

· 1987 - 1991 - Gorbachev's coming to power in the USSR in 1985 led not only to global changes within the country, but also to radical changes in foreign policy, called "new political thinking". Ill-conceived reforms finally 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 support the arms race any longer, and also by the pro-Soviet communist regimes. Anti-war speeches in various parts of the world also played a certain role. The results of the Cold War were depressing for the USSR. A symbol of the victory of the West. was the reunification in 1990 of Germany.

Effects:

In fact, the cold war had an impact on almost all aspects of human life, in addition, its consequences in various countries had their own characteristics. If we try to highlight some of the main, most general consequences of the Cold War, we should mention the following:

· division of the world according to ideological principle - with the beginning of the Cold War and the formation of military-political blocs. Led by the USA and the USSR, the whole world found itself in a state of division into "us" and "them". This created numerous practical difficulties, as it put many obstacles in the way of economic, cultural and other cooperation, but first of all it had negative psychological consequences - humanity did not feel like a single whole. In addition, the fear was constantly fanned that the confrontation could go into an acute phase and end in a world war with the use of nuclear weapons;

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

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

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

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

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

scientific, technical and technological development - the cold war stimulated the development of both basic science and applied technologies, which were originally sponsored and developed for military purposes, and then were repurposed for civilian needs and influenced the growth of living standards ordinary people. A classic example is the Internet, which originally appeared as a communication system for the US military in the event of a nuclear war with the USSR;

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

Results of the Cold War

It was obvious that the huge costs incurred by the superpowers could not continue indefinitely, and as a result, the confrontation between the two systems was reduced to confrontation in the economic sphere. It was this component that turned out to be decisive in the end. The more efficient economy of the West made it possible not only to maintain military and political equality, but also to meet the growing needs modern man, which, due to purely market mechanisms of management, she was able to competently manipulate. At the same time, the heavy-weight economy of the USSR, focused only on the production of weapons and means of production, could not, and did not want to, compete with the West in the economic sphere. In the end, this was reflected at the political level, the USSR began to lose the struggle not only for influence in the countries of the third world, but also for influence within the socialist community.

As a result, the socialist camp collapsed, confidence in the communist ideology was undermined, although the socialist regimes in some countries of the world survived and over time their number began to increase (for example, in Latin America). Russia, successor of the USSR, retained its status nuclear power and a place in the UN Security Council, however, due to the most difficult domestic economic situation and the fall of the UN influence on international politics it doesn't look like a real achievement. Western values, primarily everyday and material, began to be actively introduced in the post-Soviet space, and military power country has dropped significantly.

The United States, on the contrary, strengthened its position as a superpower, from that moment - the only superpower. The primary goal of the West in the "Cold War" - the non-proliferation of the communist regime and ideology around the world was achieved. The socialist camp was destroyed, the USSR was defeated, and the former Soviet republics temporarily fell under political influence America.

Conclusion

The results of the Cold War, which ended in 1991 with the collapse of the Soviet Union and the entire socialist camp, can be divided into two categories: those that are important for all mankind, since almost all countries of the world were involved in the Cold War in one way or another, and those that affected on its two main participants - the USA and the USSR.

As a global positive outcome of the war, it can be noted that " cold war” never developed into “Hot”, despite the reality of the Third World War, for example during the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962. It was timely understood and realized that a global conflict with the use of nuclear weapons could lead to disastrous consequences, up to the death of the entire planet.

Also, the end of the confrontation was the end of the ideological division of the world according to the principle of "friend or foe" and removed the psychological pressure that people were under all this time.

The arms race has given rise to unprecedented scientific discoveries, stimulated space research, development nuclear physics, created the conditions for the powerful growth of electronics. In addition, the end of the Cold War provided an impetus economic development world economy, as material, financial, labor resources, scientific and technological developments, which used to go to the arms race and for military needs, turned into investments and began to be used to improve the standard of living of the population.

The rivalry between the USSR and the USA made it easier for the peoples of the colonial and dependent countries to fight for independence, but as a negative result, this emerging "third world" was turned into an arena of endless regional and local conflicts for spheres of influence.

As for the outcome for the two superpowers, the long-term confrontation exhausted the already undermined economy of the USSR and reduced the competitiveness of the American economy, but the outcome of the confrontation is obvious. The USSR could not stand the arms race, it economic system turned out to be uncompetitive, and the measures for its modernization were unsuccessful and eventually led to the collapse of the country. The United States, on the contrary, strengthened its position as a superpower, from that moment on it was the only superpower and achieved its goal in the collapse of the socialist camp. Meanwhile, the United States, which created the most powerful military machine in the world during the arms race, has received an effective tool for protecting its interests and even imposing them anywhere in the world and, by and large, regardless of the opinion of the international community. Thus, a unipolar model of the world has been established, which allows one superpower to use the necessary resources for its own benefit.

There are such historical phenomena that are really important not only for passing the exam, but also for understanding the entire period. For example, if you are just studying the foreign policy of the Soviet Union, but did not pay attention to the fact that the lion's share of events relate to this historical phenomenon, then remembering all this will be extremely difficult for you.

In this article, we will briefly reveal, point by point, the causes of the Cold War, which lasted from 1946/49 to 1989. A publication on this topic will help you answer the most “dumpy” exam question: why did the anti-Hitler coalition disintegrate so quickly, and the allied countries turned out to be enemies after 1946?

The reasons

The Cold War is a period of political, economic and military confrontation (confrontation) between states and systems of states. It was mainly between the USSR and the USA, between two systems of economic and political structure. In fact, there are key reasons for this.

The confrontation was due to mutual distrust between countries, between the Soviet Union and the United States. Added fuel to the fire was the fact that Soviet army was right in the center of Europe, and nothing prevented her from moving further - to the West.
Big difference in ideologies: capitalism dominated in the USA with its inherent liberalism and neoliberalism; in the Soviet Union, the Marxist-Leninist ideology dominated, which, by the way, envisaged a course towards a world revolution. That is, it was about the overthrow of the bourgeois governments by the forces of the local working class and the establishment of Soviet power.
Miscellaneous system management: in the USA there was a market and mainly natural market mechanisms, which were improved after the Great Depression of the 30s. In the USSR, there was a planned command-administrative system of management.
Popularity post-war USSR was extremely large throughout the world: this also added fuel to the fire.

You should also remember about the accompanying prerequisites: in the course of the liberation of the states of Europe from the Nazis and fascists, pro-Soviet and pro-communist regimes were established in them, in which, immediately after the war, industrialization and collectivization of the Soviet type took place. Of course, it was incomparably softer than in the Soviet Union itself, but it was.

Such an unprecedented intervention of the USSR in the internal affairs of the liberated states created a real threat to the existence of other independent states. As a result, no one could give guarantees that the Soviet army would move further: towards England, or France, or the USA. It was these fears, among other things, that W. Churchill expressed in his speech in Fulton on March 5, 1946. By the way, I highly recommend reading this speech, because the text from it may well be included in the exam.

Course of events

As part of a regular post, I do not have the opportunity to talk in detail about these events. In addition, I have already done this in my video tutorials available on our training courses and in. But I still wanted to name the events in order to give you at least some guidance.

1949 - the formation of NATO, the testing of the Soviet atomic bomb.
1950 - 1953 - The Korean War is the first serious military confrontation in which both sides indirectly and directly participated.
1955 - the formation of the Department of Internal Affairs.
1956 Suez Crisis.
1961 - Cuban Missile Crisis. This is the peak of the confrontation between the USSR and the USA, when these countries, and indeed the whole world, were on the brink of nuclear war. It was this event that initiated the process of defusing international tension under L.I. Brezhnev. It was after this event that subcultures appeared in the West in large numbers, within which young people are trying to find their way in life.
1965 - 1975 - Vietnam War.
1973 - 75 - negotiations in Helsinki and the adoption final act on Security and Cooperation in Europe.
1979 - 1989 - the war in Afghanistan.

Again, these are just guidelines. I have analyzed everything in detail in my video tutorials, and

The Cold War refers to the confrontation between the economy, ideology and military policy USSR and the USA, which lasted from the 40s to the 90s of the twentieth century.

After the end, the Soviet Union established control in the countries of Eastern Europe, which was perceived by the US and British governments as a threat to their security. In 1945 Churchill even ordered his ministers of war to draw up a plan of military action against the Soviet Union. Churchill united with the United States and declared that military superiority in relations with the USSR should be on the side of the English-speaking countries.

Such statements caused tension between the USSR and the Western world. The USSR, in turn, had views of some of the Black Sea straits that belonged to Turkey, and also sought to be present in the Mediterranean. But attempts to create communist influence in Greece ended in failure in 1947, and since 1949, the NATO bloc has been formed in opposition to the Soviet Union and its allies.

AT European countries American military bases began to appear, aimed at providing defense against possible aggression by the USSR. The American government offers economic support to countries that have suffered from World War II in exchange for the fact that all communists will be excluded from the leadership of these countries. In the USSR, work is being intensively carried out on the production of nuclear weapons in order to balance forces with the United States and increases the number of interceptor fighters, which made it possible to gain some advantage in the event of a nuclear strike.

With the coming to power, relations with the West improved slightly, but still there were a number of conflicts in Europe, which again caused tension in the situation. There was a major uprising against the communists in Hungary, as well as in 1953 in the GDR and in 1956 in Poland there were armed incidents. Also in response to the strengthening of the army of Soviet bombers, the Americans formed a powerful air defense system around the cities of the countries of the NATO bloc.

In turn, the USSR in 1959 launched a series of ballistic missiles that are capable of covering the distance to the United States. There is a realization that immediately after the start of a US nuclear attack, the Soviet Union will strike an adequate retaliatory strike, so all-out war began to be considered impossible. In the era Khrushchev there was also the Caribbean Crisis of 1962 and the Berlin Crisis of 1961, which were caused by another aggravation of relations after the US spy plane scandal in 1960.

Some major countries Europe did not support the American nuclear policy - so in 1966 France refused to participate in the armed forces of NATO. And in the same year, a US bomber dropped several bombs on a Spanish village Palomares, which led to the limitation of American military forces in Spain. And on the part of the USSR, military aggression was undertaken against Czechoslovakia in 1968 to suppress the democratic forces that tried to reform the country. And yet, starting in 1970, a “detente of international tension” began, which, first of all, he tried to propagate.

The Soviet Union was beginning to experience problems in consumer goods that needed currency, and therefore the Soviet government did not benefit from tense relations with the West. At the same time, the arms race continued on both sides - various strategies were being developed nuclear strikes and new missiles were produced. Since 1977, missiles have been on combat duty in the European part of the Soviet Union. medium range, and on the other hand, the US government decided to deploy missiles in Western Europe.

When Soviet troops entered Afghanistan in 1979, another tension began in relations between the USSR and the West. And in 1983 Reagan proclaimed the Soviet Union an "evil empire" after Soviet air defenses shot down a South Korean civilian plane. In the United States, the space program began to be actively implemented. missile defense, and the production of neutron weapons was mastered. And in response to the American missiles deployed in Denmark, Belgium and other countries, the USSR deploys nuclear weapon in Czechoslovakia and the GDR.

Only with the coming to power of M.S. Gorbachev again, a course was taken to establish mutual understanding between the USSR and the West. Again, peaceful slogans were put forward as in the 70s, and since 1987 the new policy of the Soviet state has made it possible to greatly improve relations between the two powers. The Soviet government made concessions in the areas foreign policy due to dependence on Western technology. In 1988, the Soviet contingent began to leave Afghanistan, and in the same year M.S. Gorbachev declares at the session General Assembly UN on measures to reduce Armed Forces USSR.

Communist regimes began to collapse in Eastern Europe, and in 1990 the Charter was signed, which summed up the final line under the confrontation between the two ideologies. The era of democracy and peace on earth has begun. And the crisis continued in the USSR, conflicts began in southern republics, the central government lost its ability to control the vast country in 1991 as well.