When there was a cold war. The Cold War between the USSR and the USA - briefly and clearly

In the second half of the twentieth century, a confrontation between the two strongest powers of their time unfolded on the world political stage: the USA and the USSR. In 1960-80 it reached its climax and was defined as the “Cold War”. The struggle for influence in all spheres, spy wars, the arms race, the expansion of “their” regimes are the main signs of the relationship between the two superpowers.

Prerequisites for the emergence of the Cold War

After the end of World War II, two countries turned out to be the most powerful politically and economically: the United States and the Soviet Union. Each of them had great influence in the world, and sought in every possible way to strengthen their leadership positions.

In the eyes of the world community, the USSR was losing its usual image of an enemy. Many European countries, devastated after the war, began to show increased interest in the experience of rapid industrialization in the USSR. Socialism began to attract millions of people as a means of overcoming devastation.

In addition, the influence of the USSR significantly expanded to the countries of Asia and Eastern Europe, where communist parties came to power.

Concerned by such a rapid growth in the popularity of the Soviets, the Western world began to take decisive action. In 1946, in the American city of Fulton, former British Prime Minister Winston Churchill delivered his famous speech, in which the whole world accused the Soviet Union of aggressive expansion, and called on the entire Anglo-Saxon world to give it a decisive rebuff.

Rice. 1. Churchill's speech in Fulton.

The Truman Doctrine, which he introduced in 1947, further worsened the USSR's relations with its former allies.
This position assumed:

• Providing economic assistance to European powers.
• Formation of a military-political bloc under the leadership of the United States.
• Placement of American military bases along the border with the Soviet Union.
• Support for opposition forces in Eastern European countries..
• Use of nuclear weapons.

Churchill's Fulton speech and the Truman Doctrine were perceived by the USSR government as a threat and a kind of declaration of war.

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Main stages of the Cold War

1946-1991 - the years of the beginning and end of the Cold War. During this period, conflicts between the USA and the USSR either died down or flared up with renewed vigor.

The confrontation between countries was not conducted openly, but with the help of political, ideological and economic levers of influence. Despite the fact that the confrontation between the two powers did not result in a “hot” war, they still took part on opposite sides of the barricades in local military conflicts.

• Cuban Missile Crisis (1962). During the Cuban Revolution in 1959, power in the state was seized by pro-Soviet forces led by Fidel Castro. Fearing aggression from a new neighbor, US President Kennedy placed nuclear missiles in Turkey, on the border with the USSR. In response to these actions, Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev ordered the stationing of missiles in Cuba. A nuclear war could start at any moment, but as a result of the agreement, weapons were removed from the border regions of both sides.

Rice. 2. Caribbean crisis.

Realizing how dangerous manipulation of nuclear weapons is, in 1963 the USSR, USA and Great Britain signed the Treaty Banning Nuclear Weapon Tests in the Atmosphere, in Space and Underwater. Subsequently, a new Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons was also signed.

• Berlin crisis (1961). At the end of World War II, Berlin was divided into two parts: the eastern part belonged to the USSR, the western part was controlled by the United States. The confrontation between the two countries grew more and more, and the threat of the Third World War became more and more tangible. On August 13, 1961, the so-called “Berlin Wall” was erected, dividing the city into two parts. This date can be called the apogee and the beginning of the decline of the Cold War between the USSR and the USA.

Rice. 3. Berlin Wall.

• Vietnam War (1965). The United States started the war in Vietnam, divided into two camps: North Vietnam supported socialism, and South Vietnam supported capitalism. The USSR secretly participated in the military conflict, supporting the northerners in every possible way. However, this war caused an unprecedented resonance in society, in particular in America, and after numerous protests and demonstrations it was stopped.

Consequences of the Cold War

Relations between the USSR and the USA continued to be ambiguous, and conflict situations flared up between the countries more than once. However, in the second half of the 1980s, when Gorbachev was in power in the USSR and Reagan ruled the USA, the Cold War gradually came to an end. Its final completion occurred in 1991, along with the collapse of the Soviet Union.

The Cold War period was very acute not only for the USSR and the USA. The threat of a Third World War using nuclear weapons, the split of the world into two opposing camps, the arms race, and rivalry in all spheres of life kept all of humanity in suspense for several decades.

What have we learned?

When studying the topic “Cold War”, we became acquainted with the concept of “cold war”, found out which countries found themselves in confrontation with each other, what events became the reasons for its development. We also looked at the main features and stages of development, learned briefly about the Cold War, found out when it ended and what impact it had on the world community.

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What is the Cold War

The years of the Cold War are counted from 1946 to 1991. The Cold War began with the end of World War II, and ended with the collapse of the USSR. The essence of the Cold War was to establish world dominance by one country and defeat the other.

Causes of the Cold War

After the end of World War II, when both superpowers considered themselves victors in this war, they wanted to build the world situation at their own discretion. Each of them wanted to dominate the world, while both countries had diametrically opposed systems of government and ideology. Subsequently, such a confrontation would become part of the ideology of the two countries; the Soviet Union wanted to destroy America and establish communism throughout the world, and the United States wanted to “save” the world from the USSR.

If we analyze everything that happened, we can say with confidence that this is an artificial conflict, since any ideology must have its enemy, and both the USA for the USSR and the USSR for America were ideal options as an enemy. Moreover, the Soviet people hated the mythical enemies of the Americans, although they perceived the inhabitants of America as normal, just like the Americans - they were afraid of the mythical “Russians” who do not sleep, but think about how to conquer and attack America, although they had nothing against the inhabitants of the union themselves . Therefore, it is safe to say that the Cold War was a conflict of leaders and ideologies, inflated due to their own ambitions.

Cold War politics

First of all, both countries tried to enlist the support of other countries in their course. The USA supported all the countries of Western Europe, when the USSR was supported by the countries of Asia and Latin America. Essentially, during the Cold War, the world was divided into two confrontational camps. Moreover, there were only a few neutral countries.

Most of all, the aggravation of the political situation was caused by the Cold War conflicts, in particular, we will highlight only two of them: the Berlin and Cuban missile crises. It was they who became the catalyst for the deterioration of the situation, and the world was really on the brink of a nuclear war, which, fortunately, was prevented and the situation was defused.

The constant race, in everything, was also part of the Cold War. First of all, there was an arms race, both countries were developing various types of weapons: new military equipment, weapons (mostly mass destruction), missiles, spy equipment, etc. There was also a propaganda race on television and in other sources; fierce propaganda was constantly carried out against the enemy. The race was not only in the military sphere, but also in science, culture and sports. Each country sought to overtake the other.

Both countries constantly monitored each other, and there were spies and intelligence agents on both sides.

But, probably, to a greater extent, the Cold War took place on foreign territory. As the situation accumulated, both countries installed long-range missiles in countries neighboring the enemy; for the USA it was Turkey and the countries of Western Europe, while for the USSR it was the countries of Latin America.

Results of the Cold War

Many people often wonder who won the Cold War? Maybe. America won the Cold War, since this war ended with the fall of its enemy, and the main reason for the end of the Cold War was the collapse of the USSR, not the fact that it was not the work of the American intelligence services.

If we talk about the results, then none of the countries (the USA and Russia) learned any useful lessons, except that the enemy does not sleep and is always ready.

If there had been no Cold War, then all the enormous potential of the two countries could have been used for peaceful purposes: space exploration, new technologies, etc. It is possible that mobile phones, the Internet, etc. If scientists had appeared 20 years earlier, instead of developing weapons, they would have been engaged in solving various world mysteries, of which there are a huge number.

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

Main reasons for confrontation

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

Position of the parties at the beginning of the conflict

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

NATO and ATS symbols

Local military conflicts

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

End of the Cold War

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

Best regards, administration mind-point

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

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

International relations before the start of the Cold War

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Where does the term "Cold War" come from?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Major milestones and events of the Cold War

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

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

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

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

Final salvos and results of the Cold War

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

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

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

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

Historians identify the following stages of the Cold War:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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