« cold war"is a global military, geopolitical and economic confrontation of the Soviet Union and is supported by various allies from all sides. This confrontation continued for almost fifty years (from 1946 to 1991).

The Cold War was not a military battle in the truest sense. The basis for the disputes was the ideology of the two most powerful states on the planet at that time. Scientists characterize this confrontation as a very deep contradiction between the socialist and capitalist systems. It is symbolic that the Cold War began immediately after the end of World War II, as a result of which both countries remained victorious. And since devastation prevailed in the world at that time, ideal conditions were created for planting many territories by their people. But, unfortunately, the United States and the USSR at that time disagreed in their opinions, so each side wanted to get ahead of the rival and make sure that on a vast territory where people did not know what to believe in and how to live, as soon as possible to implant their ideology. As a result, the people of the losing states will trust the victorious country and enrich it at the expense of their human and natural resources.

This confrontation is divided into stages of the Cold War, among which are the following:

Beginning (1946-1953). This stage can be characterized as attempts by the USSR and the USA to hold the first events in Europe that would be aimed at imposing their ideology. As a result, since 1948, the possibility of starting a new war has hung over the world, so both states began to rapidly prepare for new battles.

On the verge (1953-1962). During this period, relations between the opponents improved slightly and they even began to make friendly visits to each other. But at this time, the European states, one by one, start revolutions in order to independently lead their country. The USSR, in order to eliminate the indignation, actively began the bombing of the outbreak of conflicts. The United States could not allow such liberties to the enemy and began to set up their air defense system themselves. As a result, the relationship deteriorated again.

Stage of detente (1962-1979). During this period, more conservative rulers came to power in the warring countries, who were not particularly willing to conduct an active confrontation, which could well lead to war.

A new round of confrontation (1979-1987). The next stage began after the Soviet Union sent troops into Afghanistan and several times shot down foreign civil aircraft that flew over the state. These aggressive actions provoked the United States to deploy its forces on the territory of several European countries, which naturally pissed off the USSR.

Gorbachev's coming to power and the end of the confrontation (1987-1991). The new one did not want to continue the struggle for ideology in other European countries. Moreover, his policy was aimed at eliminating the communist government, which was the ancestor of political and economic repressions towards the United States.

The end of the Cold War was marked by the fact that he made great concessions and did not particularly claim power in Europe, especially since the defeated countries had already moved away from devastation and began independent development. The USSR began to experience a deep crisis, which led to the final one in December 1991. Thus, the Cold War did not bring a positive result to our state, but became one of the elements that led to the collapse of a great state.

cold war
- a world confrontation between two military-political blocs led by the USSR and the USA, which did not reach the point of an open military clash between them. The concept of "cold war" appeared in journalism in 1945-1947 and gradually became fixed in the political vocabulary.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

However, the Second World War was replaced by the "cold war" - a war without combat operations.

The immediate beginning of the Cold War was associated with conflicts in Europe and Asia. The Europeans, devastated by the war, were very interested in the experience of accelerated industrial development in the USSR. Information about the Soviet Union was idealized, and millions of people hoped that replacing the capitalist system, which was going through hard times, with a socialist one, could quickly restore the economy and normal life. The peoples of Asia and Africa were even more interested in the communist experience and assistance from the USSR. who fought for independence and hoped to catch up with the West just as the USSR did. As a result, the Soviet sphere of influence began to expand rapidly, which caused fears of the leaders of the Western countries - the former allies of the USSR in the Anti-Hitler coalition ..

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

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

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

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

The characteristic manifestations of the Cold War are as follows:

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


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


forcing the arms race and military preparations;


a sharp increase in military spending;


recurring international crises (Berlin Crisis, Caribbean Crisis, Korean War, Vietnam War, Afghan War);


the tacit division of the world into "spheres of influence" of the Soviet and Western blocs, within which the possibility of intervention was tacitly allowed in order to maintain a regime pleasing to one or another bloc (Hungary, Czechoslovakia, Grenada, etc.)


creation of an extensive network of military bases (first of all, the United States) on the territory of foreign states;


waging a massive "psychological war", the purpose of which was to promote their own ideology and way of life, as well as to discredit the official ideology and way of life of the opposite bloc in the eyes of the population of "enemy" countries and the "third world". For this purpose, radio stations were created that broadcast to the territory of the countries of the “ideological enemy”, the production of ideologically directed literature was financed and periodicals on the foreign languages, the injection of class, racial, national contradictions was actively used.


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


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


The Soviet Union ended the war with huge losses. On the fronts, in the occupied territory, over 27 million Soviet citizens died in captivity. 1710 cities were destroyed, over 70 thousand villages and villages, 32 thousand industrial enterprises. The direct damage caused by the war exceeded 30% of the national wealth. The restoration of the destroyed industry proceeded at a rapid pace. In 1946, there is a certain decline associated with the conversion, and from 1947 a steady rise begins. In 1948, the pre-war level of industrial production was surpassed, and by the end of the five-year plan it exceeded the level of 1940. The growth was 70%, instead of the planned 48%. This was achieved by resuming production in the territories liberated from fascist occupation. The restored factories were equipped with equipment manufactured in German factories and supplied as reparations. In total, 3,200 enterprises were restored and re-launched in the western regions. They produced peaceful products, while defense enterprises remained where they were evacuated - in the Urals and Siberia.


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


The "witch hunt" took on a special scope in the United States in the first half of the 50s, which went down in the history of this country as the period of McCarthyism, named after Republican Senator D. McCarthy from Wisconsin. He ran for the presidency of Democrat Truman. H. Truman himself pursued a fairly anti-democratic policy, but the McCarthyists carried it to ugly extremes. G. Truman began a "test of loyalty" of civil servants, and the McCarthyists adopted the law "On Internal Security", according to which a special department for the control of subversive activities was created, whose task was to identify and register organizations of "communist action" in order to deprive them of civil rights. G. Truman gave the order to judge the leaders of the Communist Party as foreign agents, and in 1952 the McCarthyists adopted a law on immigration restriction, which closed the entry into the country to people who collaborated with leftist organizations. After the victory of the Republicans in the elections in 1952, McCarthyism began to flourish. Under Congress, commissions were created to investigate un-American activities, to which any citizen could be called. On the recommendation of the commission, any worker or employee instantly lost his job.


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


With the onset of the Cold War, the domestic politics USSR. The situation of a "military camp", a "besieged fortress" demanded, along with the struggle against an external enemy, the presence of an "internal enemy", an "agent of world imperialism".


In the second half of the 40s. resumed repression against enemies Soviet power. The largest was the "Leningrad case" (1948), when such prominent figures as the chairman of the State Planning Commission N. Voznesensky, the secretary of the Central Committee of the CPSU A. Kuznetsov, the Presovmina RSFSR M. Rodionov, the head of the Leningrad party organization P. Popkov were arrested and secretly shot and etc.


When the State of Israel was established after the war, there began a mass migration of Jews from all over the world. In 1948, the arrests of representatives of the Jewish intelligentsia began in the USSR, the struggle against "rootless cosmopolitanism." In January 1953, a group of doctors of the Kremlin hospital, Jews by nationality, were accused of having killed by means of improper treatment secretaries of the Central Committee Zhdanov and Shcherbakov and prepared the assassination of Stalin. These doctors allegedly acted on instructions from international Zionist organizations.


Post-war repressions did not reach the scale of the 1930s, there were no high-profile show trials, but they were quite wide. It should be noted that only national formations from among the peoples of the USSR during the war years, from 1.2 to 1.6 million people fought on the side of Nazi Germany. So a large number of those repressed for collaborating with the enemy is understandable. Former prisoners of war were repressed (by order of the Commander-in-Chief Stalin, all those who were captured fell into the category of traitors to the Motherland). The war and the difficult post-war situation in the country also led to a colossal increase in criminality. Overall, by January 1953, there were 2,468,543 prisoners in the Gulag.


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


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


3. THE COLD WAR: THE MAIN STAGES AND THE END


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


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


Particularly hard the division of Europe affected the fate of Germany - the split line passed through the country. The east of Germany was occupied by the USSR, the west - by the USA, Great Britain and France. They also had in their hands Western part Berlin. In 1948, western Germany was included in the Marshall Plan, but eastern Germany was not. AT different parts countries formed different economic systems, which made it difficult to unite the country. In June 1948, the Western Allies held a unilateral monetary reform, canceling the money of the old sample. The entire money supply of the old Reichsmarks poured into East Germany, which was partly the reason that the Soviet occupation authorities were forced to close the borders. West Berlin was completely surrounded. Stalin decided to use the situation to blockade him, hoping to capture the entire German capital and win concessions from the US. But the Americans organized an "air bridge" to Berlin and broke the blockade of the city, which was lifted in 1949. In May 1949, the lands that were in the western zone of occupation united into the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG). West Berlin became an autonomous self-governing city associated with the FRG. In October 1949, the German Democratic Republic (GDR) was established in the Soviet occupation zone..


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


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


The danger of a war between the USSR and the USA forced them to act "bypass", fighting for the resources of the world away from Europe. Immediately after the start of the Cold War, the countries of the Far East turned into an arena of fierce struggle between supporters of communist ideas and pro-Western way of development. The significance of this struggle was very great, because in Pacific region there were huge human and raw material resources. The stability of the capitalist system largely depended on control over this region.


The first clash of the two systems took place in China, the world's largest country in terms of population. After the Second World War, the northeast of China, occupied by the Soviet army, was transferred to the People's Liberation Army of China (PLA), subordinate to Communist Party China (CPC). The PLA received Japanese weapons captured by Soviet troops. The rest of the country was subject to the internationally recognized government of the Kuomintang party headed by Chiang Kai-shek. Initially, it was planned to hold national elections in China, which were supposed to decide who would rule the country. But both sides were not sure of victory, and instead of elections in China, the civil war of 1946–1949 broke out. It was won by the CPC led by Mao Zedong.


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


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


The Cold War led to the fact that in both "camps" repressions unfolded against dissidents and people who advocated cooperation and rapprochement between the two systems. In the USSR and the countries of Eastern Europe, people were arrested and often shot on charges of “cosmopolitanism” (lack of patriotism, cooperation with the West), “low worship of the West” and “Titoism” (connections with Tito). In the United States, a “witch hunt” began, during which secret communists and “agents” of the USSR were “exposed”. The American "witch hunt", unlike the Stalinist repressions, did not lead to mass terror. But she also had her victims caused by spy mania. Soviet intelligence was indeed working in the US, and the US intelligence agencies decided to show that they were able to expose Soviet spies. The employee Julius Rosenberg was chosen for the role of "chief spy". He did indeed render minor services to Soviet intelligence. It was announced that Rosenberg and his wife Ethel "stole America's atomic secrets". Subsequently, it turned out that Ethel did not know about her husband's cooperation with intelligence. Despite this, both spouses were sentenced to death and, despite a campaign of solidarity with them in America and Europe, they were executed in June 1953.


In 1953-1954 the wars in Korea and Vietnam were stopped. In 1955 the USSR established equal relations with Yugoslavia and the FRG. The great powers also agreed to grant a neutral status to Austria occupied by them and to withdraw their troops from the country.


In 1956, the situation in the world worsened again due to unrest in the socialist countries and attempts by Great Britain, France and Israel to seize the Suez Canal in Egypt. But this time both "superpowers" - the USSR and the USA - made efforts to ensure that the conflicts did not grow. Khrushchev during this period was not interested in intensifying the confrontation. In 1959 he came to the USA. It was the first ever visit of the leader of our country to America. The American Society produced great impression to Khrushchev. He was especially struck by the success of agriculture - much more efficient than in the USSR.


However, by this time, the USSR could also impress the United States with its successes in the field of high technologies, and above all in space exploration. In the late 1950s and early 1960s, a wave of labor uprisings swept through the USSR, which were brutally suppressed.


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


During the period of détente, important agreements were signed to limit the arms race, including treaties to limit anti-missile defense (ABM) and strategic nuclear weapons (SALT-1 and SALT-2). However, the SALT treaties had a significant drawback. While limiting the total volume of nuclear weapons and missile technology, it almost did not touch upon the deployment of nuclear weapons. Meanwhile, adversaries could concentrate a large number of nuclear missiles in the most dangerous parts of the world without even violating the agreed total volumes of nuclear weapons.


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


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


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


Domestic factors undermined the foundations of the "real socialism" system much more significantly than US actions during the Cold War. At the same time, the crisis in which the USSR found itself put the question of "savings on foreign policy" on the agenda. Despite the fact that the possibilities of such savings were exaggerated, the reforms that began in the USSR led to the end of the Cold War in 1987-1990.


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


In November 1985, Gorbachev met with Reagan in Geneva and proposed a significant reduction in nuclear weapons in Europe. It was still impossible to solve the problem, because Gorbachev demanded the abolition of SDI, and Reagan did not concede. Despite the fact that no significant progress was achieved at this meeting, the two presidents got to know each other better, which helped them to agree in the future.


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


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


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

"Cold War" is a term used to denote a period in world history from 1946 to 1989, characterized by a confrontation between two political and economic superpowers - the USSR and the USA, which are the guarantors of the new system international relations established after World War II.

Origin of the term.

It is believed that for the first time the expression "cold war" was 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, the countries possessing nuclear weapons will dominate the world, while between them there will be a constant "cold war", 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 weapon. At the official level, this expression sounded in April 1947 from the lips of US presidential adviser 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 delivering 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 his speech at Westminster College in Fulton, USA, in the presence of American President Harry Truman, formulated the goals of "a fraternal association of peoples who speak English", calling on them to rally to protect "the great principles of freedom and rights person." "From Stettin in the Baltic to Trieste in the Adriatic, descended over the European continent iron curtain", a " Soviet Russia wants ... the unlimited expansion of his power and his doctrines. Churchill's Fulton speech is considered a turning point in the beginning of the Cold War between East and West.

"Truman Doctrine"

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

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

Initially, the USSR and the countries of Central Europe showed interest in the plan, but after negotiations in Paris, a delegation of 83 Soviet economists headed by V.M. Molotov left them at the direction 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 positions in Western Europe.

Cominformburo

In September 1947, at the first meeting of the Cominformburo (Information Bureau of the Communist and Workers' Parties), A.A. 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 defeat 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 Cominformburo meant the emergence of a single center for the leadership of 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 on the Soviet model begin in the countries.

Berlin Crisis

The Berlin Crisis became the stage of deepening of the Cold War. Back in 1947. Western allies set a course for the creation of the territories of the American, British and French occupation zones of the West German state. 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, the division of Germany took place: 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 establishment 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 of the parties undertook to provide immediate military assistance in the event of an attack on any country that is part of block. Greece and Turkey joined the pact in 1952, and the FRG in 1955.

"Arms race"

Another feature Cold War became an arms race. In April 1950, the directive of the National Security Council "U.S. National Security Goals and Programs" (SNB-68) was adopted, which was based on the following provision: "The USSR is striving for world domination, Soviet military superiority is increasingly increasing, in connection with than negotiations with the Soviet leadership are impossible. Hence the conclusion was drawn about the need to build up the 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 took place in Korea.

After the death of I.V. Stalin, the new Soviet leadership, headed by G.M. Malenkov, and then took a number of major steps to mitigate international tension. Declaring that "there is no such 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 declared that "there is no fatal inevitability of war." Later, the Program of the CPSU (1962) emphasized: “The peaceful coexistence of socialist and capitalist states is an objective necessity for the development 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 entire power of the American strategic potential in the event of an armed conflict with the USSR in any region. But in the late 50s. the situation changed dramatically: in 1957 the Soviet Union launched the first artificial satellite, in 1959 it commissioned the first submarine with nuclear reactor on board. Under the new conditions for the development of armaments, a nuclear war would lose its meaning, since it would not have had 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 enough 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 aircraft was shot down over Yekaterinburg, the pilot Harry Powers was captured; in October 1961, the Berlin crisis erupted, the "Berlin Wall" appeared, and a year later the famous Caribbean crisis occurred, which brought all mankind to the brink of nuclear war. The détente was a peculiar result of the crises: on August 5, 1963, the USSR, Great Britain and the USA signed in Moscow an agreement on the prohibition of nuclear weapons tests in the atmosphere, in outer space and under water, and in 1968 an agreement on the nonproliferation of nuclear weapons.

In the 60s. when the Cold War was in full swing, in the face 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 United States, the main the arena of the struggle between the two systems became the countries of the "third world", which often led to local military conflicts around the world.

"Discharge"

By the 1970s, the Soviet Union had reached approximate military-strategic parity with the United States. Both superpowers acquired the possibility of "guaranteed retaliation", i. causing unacceptable damage to a potential adversary by retaliatory strike.

In a message to Congress dated February 18, 1970, President R. Nixon outlined three components of US foreign policy: partnership, military force and negotiations. The partnership concerned allies, military strength and negotiations - "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 pledged to do 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 establishes a limit on the build-up of weapons. Later, in 1974, the USSR and the USA signed a protocol under which they agreed to missile defense of only one area: the USSR covered Moscow, and the USA covered the base for launching interballistic missiles in the state of North Dakota. The ABM Treaty was in effect until 2002, when the US withdrew from it. The result of the policy of "détente" in Europe was the holding of the All-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 of US President J. Carter and Secretary General The Central Committee of the CPSU signed a new treaty on the limitation of strategic offensive arms (SALT-2), which reduced the total number of nuclear launchers to 2,400 and provided for curbing the process of modernizing strategic weapons. However, after the entry of Soviet troops into Afghanistan in December 1979, the United States refused to ratify the treaty, although its clauses were partially observed by both sides. At the same time, a rapid reaction force was being created to protect American interests anywhere in the world.

Third World

Apparently, in the late 70's. in Moscow, there was a point of view that in the conditions of the achieved parity and the policy of "détente", it is the USSR that has the foreign policy initiative: there is an increase and modernization of conventional weapons in Europe, the deployment of medium-range missiles, a large-scale build-up of naval forces, and 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 was allowed to protect it.

With the coming to power of R. Reagan, a large-scale modernization program was undertaken various types weapons using new technologies, which had the goal of achieving strategic superiority over the USSR. It was Reagan who famously said that the USSR is an "evil empire", and America is "a people chosen by God" to carry out a "sacred plan" - "to leave Marxism-Leninism in the ashes of history." In 1981-1982 restrictions on trade with the USSR were introduced, in 1983 the program of the strategic defense initiative 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 deploy American missiles on their territory.

End of the Cold War

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

In November 1989, a symbol of the Cold War, a concrete wall separating West and East Berlin, was destroyed during spontaneous demonstrations. In Eastern Europe, a series of "velvet revolutions" is taking place, the communist parties are losing power. On December 2-3, 1989, a meeting was held 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 for a 50% reduction in strategic offensive weapons. The Soviet Union was giving up its zone of influence in Eastern Europe. Following the meeting, M.S. Gorbachev declared that "the world is emerging from the era of the Cold War and is entering into new era". For his part, George Bush emphasized that "the West will not try to extract any advantage from the unusual changes taking place in the East." In March 1991, the official dissolution of the Department of Internal Affairs took place, in December the collapse of the Soviet Union took place.

The main events of international politics in the second half of the 20th century were determined by the cold war between the two superpowers - the USSR and the USA.

Its consequences are felt to this day, and moments of crisis in relations between Russia and the West are often called the echoes of the Cold War.

What started the cold war

The term "cold war" belongs to the pen of the prose writer and publicist George Orwell, who used this phrase in 1945. However, the beginning of the conflict is associated with the speech of the former British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, delivered by him in 1946 in the presence of American President Harry Truman.

Churchill declared that an "Iron Curtain" would be erected in the middle of Europe, to the east of which there was no democracy.

Churchill's speech had the following premises:

• the establishment of communist governments in the states liberated by the Red Army from fascism;
• the activation of the left underground in Greece (which led to civil war);
• the strengthening of the communists in such Western European countries as Italy and France.

Soviet diplomacy also took advantage of this, laying claims to the Turkish straits and Libya.

The main signs of the beginning of the cold war

In the first months after the victorious May 1945, on a wave of sympathy for the eastern ally in anti-Hitler coalition, Soviet films were freely shown in Europe, and the attitude of the press towards the USSR was neutral or benevolent. In the Soviet Union, for a while, they forgot about the stamps that represented the West as the kingdom of the bourgeoisie.

With the onset of the Cold War, cultural contacts were curtailed, and the rhetoric of confrontation prevailed in diplomacy and the media. Briefly and clearly, the peoples were told who their enemy was.

All over the world there were bloody skirmishes of the allies of one side or another, and the Cold War participants themselves unleashed an arms race. This is the name given to the build-up in the arsenals of Soviet and American military weapons of mass destruction, primarily nuclear weapons.

Military spending drained state budgets and slowed down post-war economic recovery.

Causes of the Cold War - briefly and point by point

There were several reasons for this conflict:

1. Ideological - the insolubility of contradictions between societies built on different political foundations.
2. Geopolitical - the parties feared each other's dominance.
3. Economic - the desire of the West and the Communists to use the economic resources of the opposite side.

Stages of the Cold War

The chronology of events is divided into 5 main periods

The first stage - 1946-1955

During the first 9 years, a compromise was still possible between the victors of fascism, which both sides were looking for.

The United States strengthened its position in Europe thanks to the Marshall Plan economic assistance program. Western countries united in NATO in 1949, and the Soviet Union successfully tested nuclear weapons.

In 1950, the war broke out in Korea, where both the USSR and the USA participated to varying degrees. Stalin dies, but the Kremlin's diplomatic position does not change significantly.

The second stage - 1955-1962

Communists face opposition from the populations of Hungary, Poland and the GDR. In 1955, an alternative to the Western Alliance appeared - the Warsaw Pact Organization.

The arms race is moving to the stage of creating intercontinental missiles. A side effect of military developments was space exploration, the launch of the first satellite and the first cosmonaut of the USSR. The Soviet bloc is strengthened at the expense of Cuba, where Fidel Castro comes to power.

Third stage - 1962-1979

After the Caribbean crisis, the parties are trying to curb the military race. In 1963, a ban treaty was signed atomic testing in air, space and underwater. In 1964, the conflict in Vietnam begins, provoked by the desire of the West to defend this country from leftist rebels.

In the early 1970s, the world entered the era of "détente". Its main characteristic is the desire for peaceful coexistence. The parties limit strategic offensive weapons and prohibit biological and chemical weapons.

The peace diplomacy of Leonid Brezhnev in 1975 was crowned with the signing by 33 countries in Helsinki of the Final Act of the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe. At the same time, the Soyuz-Apollo joint program was launched with the participation of Soviet cosmonauts and American astronauts.

Fourth stage - 1979-1987

In 1979, the Soviet Union sent an army to Afghanistan to install a puppet government. In the wake of aggravated contradictions, the United States refused to ratify the SALT-2 treaty, signed earlier by Brezhnev and Carter. The West is boycotting the Olympics in Moscow.

President Ronald Reagan showed himself as a tough anti-Soviet politician by launching the SDI program - strategic defense initiatives. American missiles are deployed in close proximity to the territory of the Soviet Union.

Fifth period - 1987-1991

This stage was given the definition of "new political thinking".

The transfer of power to Mikhail Gorbachev and the beginning of perestroika in the USSR meant the renewal of contacts with the West and the gradual abandonment of ideological intransigence.

Crises of the Cold War

The crises of the Cold War in history are called several periods of the greatest aggravation of relations between rival parties. Two of them - the Berlin crises of 1948-1949 and 1961 - associated with the formation of three political entities on the site of the former Reich - the GDR, the FRG and West Berlin.

In 1962, the USSR deployed nuclear missiles in Cuba, threatening the security of the United States - these events were called the Caribbean Crisis. Subsequently, Khrushchev dismantled the missiles in exchange for the Americans withdrawing the missiles from Turkey.

When and how did the Cold War end?

In 1989, the Americans and Russians announced the end of the Cold War. In fact, this meant the dismantling of the socialist regimes of Eastern Europe, right up to Moscow itself. Germany united, the Department of Internal Affairs collapsed, and then the USSR itself.

Who won the cold war

In January 1992, George W. Bush declared: "With the help of the Lord God, America won the Cold War!" His jubilation at the end of the confrontation was not shared by many residents of the countries of the former USSR, where a time of economic upheaval and criminal chaos began.

In 2007, a bill was submitted to the US Congress establishing a medal for participation in the Cold War. For the American establishment, the theme of the victory over communism remains an important element of political propaganda.

Results

Why the socialist camp turned out to be weaker than the capitalist one and what was its significance for humanity are the main final questions of the Cold War. The consequences of these events are being felt even in the 21st century. The collapse of the left forces led to economic growth, democratic reforms, a surge of nationalism and religious intolerance in the world.

Along with this, the armaments accumulated during these years are preserved, and the governments of Russia and Western countries act largely on the basis of the concepts and stereotypes learned during the armed confrontation.

The Cold War, which lasted 45 years, is for historians essential process the second half of the twentieth century, which determined the outlines of the modern world.

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

Main causes of confrontation

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

The position of the parties at the beginning of the conflict

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

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

Less than a year after the victory over fascism, the British and Americans began to look anxiously at the East and look for some kind of threat there. Already in the spring of 1946, Winston Churchill delivers his famous Fullton speech, which is usually associated with the beginning of the Cold War. Active anti-communist rhetoric begins in the West. By the end of the 1940s, all communists were removed from the governments of Western European states. This was one of the conditions under which the United States provided financial assistance to European countries.

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

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

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

The USSR reacted in 1955 with the creation of the Warsaw Treaty Organization (OVD), in the same way creating the unified armed forces of the Eastern European states, as they did in the West. The ATS included Albania, Bulgaria, Hungary, the GDR, Poland, Romania, the USSR and Czechoslovakia. In response to the buildup of military forces by the Western military bloc, the strengthening of the armies of the socialist states also began.

Symbols of NATO and the Warsaw Pact

Local military conflicts

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Why did the USSR and the USA never enter into a direct military conflict?

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

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

So, with the beginning of the nuclear age, local conflicts and information wars have become almost the only ways to expand their influence and control over other states. This situation persists to this day. The possibilities of the collapse and liquidation of such major geopolitical players as modern China and Russia lie only in the sphere of attempts to undermine the state from within by means of information wars, the purpose of which is a coup d'etat with subsequent destructive actions of puppet governments. There are constant attempts from the West to grope weak spots Russia and other uncontrolled states, provoke ethnic, religious, political conflicts, etc.

End of the Cold War

In 1991, the Soviet Union collapsed. There was only one superpower left on planet Earth - the United States, which tried to rebuild the whole world on the basis of American liberal values. Within the framework of globalization, an attempt is being made to impose on all mankind a certain universal model of social structure along the lines of the United States and Western Europe. However, this has not yet been possible. There is active resistance in all parts of the globe against the imposition of American values, which are unacceptable to many peoples. The story goes on, the struggle continues ... Think about the future and the past, try to understand and comprehend the world around, develop and do not stand still. Passive waiting and burning through life is essentially a regression in your development. As the Russian philosopher V. Belinsky said - who does not go forward, he goes back, there is no standing position ...

Best regards, mind-point administration