The first post-war years became a time of revival of peaceful life. In countries affected by the war, cities, industrial enterprises, and cultural monuments were rebuilt. There are examples when residents restored their cities literally from ruins and ashes. Among such cities that were resurrected from oblivion were Stalingrad, Warsaw and others. In most countries, people's lives after the recently ended war were spent in hard work, hardship and deprivation. In cities there was a rationing system for food distribution. There was a shortage of clothing and other consumer goods. But with the resumption of transport, schools, hospitals and public institutions, people's hope for a better future grew.

From war to peace

The establishment of peaceful life did not mean a return to the old ways. After the war, significant changes took place in various areas of social relations. Simultaneously with the elimination of the remnants of fascist, reactionary regimes, the democratic foundations of society expanded. New rights and freedoms of citizens, electoral procedures, and principles of operation of government bodies, political and public organizations were consolidated. In many European countries, the public functions of the state have increased, and its responsibility for solving social problems has increased. In a number of cases, the state took over the management of certain sectors of the economy and enterprises (including enterprises taken away from war criminals and collaborators). All this was reflected in the new constitutions that were adopted in many countries in the second half of the 1940s and consolidated the democratic gains of the peoples.

At the international level, the ideals of the post-war world were declared in the documents of the United Nations, created in 1945. Its founding conference took place in San Francisco from April 25 to June 26, 1945. The official date of formation of the UN is considered to be October 24, 1945, when its Charter was ratified.

The preamble (introductory part) of the UN Charter states:

“We, the peoples of the United Nations, are determined to save succeeding generations from the scourge of war, which twice in our lifetime has brought untold grief to humanity, and to reaffirm faith in fundamental human rights, in the dignity and worth of the human person, in the equality of men and women and in the equality of rights nations large and small, and to create conditions under which justice and respect for the obligations arising from treaties and other sources of international law can be maintained, and to promote social progress and improved conditions of life in greater freedom, and for these purposes to practice tolerance and live together, at peace with each other as good neighbors, and to unite our forces for the maintenance of international peace and security, and to provide by the adoption of principles and the establishment of methods that armed forces shall be used only in the common interest, and to use the international apparatus for the promotion of economic and social progress of all peoples, have decided to join our efforts to achieve these goals."

From November 1945 to October 1946, the International Military Tribunal for German war criminals met in the city of Nuremberg. The main defendants appeared before him, including G. Goering, I. Ribbentrop, W. Keitel and others. Prosecutors from the USSR, USA, Great Britain and France and hundreds of witnesses revealed the terrible facts of Nazi crimes against peace and humanity. According to the verdict of the International Tribunal, 12 defendants were sentenced to death, 7 to various terms of imprisonment, 3 were acquitted. In 1946-1948. The trial of the International Tribunal for Japanese war criminals took place in Tokyo. Thus, in the name of the peoples, those who started the war and led the destruction of millions of people were condemned.

The memory of the death of millions of people during the war gave rise to the desire to establish and protect human rights and freedoms as a special value. In December 1948, the UN General Assembly adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. It opened with the statement that “all people are born free and equal in dignity and rights.” Further, civil, political, economic and cultural human rights were defined. The first UN documents were of particular importance because they took into account the lessons of the past, proposed to improve the future life of people, and prevent threats to the existence of man and society. However, the implementation of the intended goals turned out to be difficult. Real events in subsequent decades did not always develop in accordance with the intended ideals.

Changes on the political map. Beginning of the Cold War

The liberation struggle of the peoples of Europe and Asia against the occupiers and their accomplices that unfolded during the war was not limited to the task of restoring the pre-war order. In the countries of Eastern Europe and a number of Asian countries, during the liberation, the governments of the National (Popular) Front came to power. At that time, they most often represented coalitions of anti-fascist, anti-militarist parties and organizations. Communists and Social Democrats already played an active role in them.

By the end of the 1940s, in most of these countries, the communists managed to concentrate all power in their hands. In some cases, for example in Yugoslavia and Romania, one-party systems were established, in others - in Poland, Czechoslovakia and other countries - the existence of other parties was allowed. Albania, Bulgaria, Hungary, the German Democratic Republic, Poland, Romania, Czechoslovakia, led by the Soviet Union, formed a special bloc. They were joined by several Asian states: Mongolia, North Vietnam, North Korea, China, and in the 1960s - Cuba. This community was first called the “socialist camp”, then the “socialist system” and, finally, the “socialist commonwealth”. The post-war world turned out to be divided into “Western” and “Eastern” blocs, or, as they were then called in Soviet socio-political literature, “capitalist” and “socialist” systems. It was a bipolar (having two poles, personified by the USA and the USSR) world. How did relations develop between the states of the West and the East?

Even before the division took final shape, W. Churchill, distinguished by a certain foresight, said, speaking to the audience of Westminster College in Fulton (in the USA) in March 1946:

“From Stettin on the Baltic to Trieste on the Adriatic, an iron curtain descended on the continent. Behind this line are stored all the treasures of the ancient states of Central and Eastern Europe. Warsaw, Berlin, Prague, Vienna, Budapest, Belgrade, Bucharest, Sofia - all these famous cities and the populations in their areas are in the Soviet sphere and all are subject in one form or another not only to Soviet influence, but also to a large extent to the increasing control of Moscow ...

I drive away the thought that a new war is inevitable or, moreover, that a new war is looming... I do not believe that Soviet Russia wants war. She wants the fruits of war and the unlimited spread of her power and her doctrines. But what we must consider here today is a system for preventing the threat of war, providing conditions for the development of freedom and democracy as quickly as possible in all countries...”

It so happened that the words of the British politician about preventing the threat of war went unnoticed, but the concept of the “Iron Curtain” firmly and for a long time entered the history of international relations.

In 1947, US President Harry Truman declared that his country's policy should include assistance to "free peoples who do not wish to submit to armed minorities or external pressure" (by armed minorities they meant the Communists, and by the force exerting external pressure - the Soviet Union ). The “Truman Doctrine” determined the attitude towards countries that had chosen different “paths in life.” Associated with it was the plan of J. Marshall (a famous military leader during the war, and at that time the US Secretary of State), which provided for the provision of economic assistance to European states.

According to the authors of the plan, the assistance was supposed to stabilize the economic situation and thereby prevent social protests in European countries. Its provision was stipulated by the fact that there should be no communists in the governments of the countries receiving assistance. Truman later wrote in his memoirs: “...without the Marshall Plan, Western Europe would have had a hard time remaining free of communism.” The Marshall Plan was signed by the leaders of 17 Western European countries (including the later formed Federal Republic of Germany). The states of Eastern Europe refused to accept help (in some cases, not without pressure from the USSR).

The result of growing contradictions between recent allies was the split of Germany into two states in 1949 - the Federal Republic of Germany and the German Democratic Republic.

The steps on the path to a split were the following:

• the unification of first the American and British (in January 1947), and then the French occupation zones into one zone, the creation of independent executive and judicial authorities in it;
• acceptance of Marshall Plan assistance in the western zone, while it was rejected in the Soviet zone;
• carrying out a separate (separate) monetary reform in the western zone on June 20, 1948;
• the establishment of a blockade of West Berlin by Soviet troops on June 24, 1948, all land roads into which were closed to the Western allies. For several months there was an “air bridge”: American planes delivered food, coal, equipment for enterprises, etc. to West Berlin (the blockade was lifted in May 1949);
• adoption of the West German Constitution on May 8, 1949, elections to the Bundestag (August), proclamation of the Federal Republic of Germany in September 1949;
• proclamation of the German Democratic Republic on October 7, 1949.

Many German residents sought to prevent the split of their country. In 1947 - early 1949, the movement for the unity of Germany and the conclusion of a peace treaty organized three all-German congresses. But in the aggravated domestic political and international situation, their voice was not heard.

By the end of the 1940s, contradictions between the Western powers and the USSR developed into political and economic confrontation and rivalry. On September 25, 1949, the Soviet telegraph agency (TASS) reported that the USSR had tested atomic weapons. At the beginning of 1950, G. Truman announced the development of work to create a hydrogen bomb in the United States. The Cold War was in full force.

The confrontation between the two blocs was consolidated by the creation of their military-political and economic organizations. On April 4, 1949, the USA, Great Britain, France, Belgium, Denmark, Iceland, Italy, Canada, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway and Portugal created the North Atlantic Treaty Organization - NATO. On May 9, 1955, the delegation of the Federal Republic of Germany took part in the work of the NATO session for the first time (the decision on Germany’s accession to NATO was made in the fall of 1954).

On May 14, 1955, the creation of the Warsaw Pact Organization (WTO) was announced, which included the USSR, Albania (in 1961 it left the WTO), Bulgaria, Hungary, the GDR, Poland, Romania, and Czechoslovakia.

The bodies for economic cooperation between the two groups of states were the Council for Mutual Economic Assistance (CMEA), formed by the USSR and Eastern European countries in January 1949, and the European Economic Community of Western European States (founded in March 1957 by six countries, then the composition of its participants expanded).

The division of countries into states and territories with different political systems, similar to what happened in Germany, also took place in Asia. This fate befell the peoples of Vietnam, China, and Korea. Internal contradictions were intensified by the intervention of external forces. Thus, in the Korean War (1950-1953), the opposing armies of North and South Korea were helped, on the one hand, by China and the USSR, and on the other, by the USA and several other states. The latter participated in the events as UN forces. Thus, in the Cold War, “hot spots”, hotbeds of armed conflicts arose, and the rivalry between West and East, the USA and the USSR in various parts of the world became the subject of tough political disputes and struggle within the UN.

One of the most significant historical processes in the second half of the 20th century was the liberation of the peoples of Asia and Africa from colonial dependence. The system of colonial empires, which had developed over several centuries, collapsed in two or three decades. On the political map of the world, instead of vast territories painted in the colors of the metropolitan powers, the names and borders of dozens of new independent states appeared. If in 1945, when the UN was created, it included 51 states, then in 1984, 159 countries were already members of this organization. Most of them were liberated states of Asia and Africa.

The process of formation of new states turned out to be complex, full of dramatic events. The determination of state borders, the establishment of monarchical or republican forms of power, the choice of development paths - all this often took place in a bitter struggle. The young states had to decide on their relations not only to the former metropolises, but also to the “Western” and “Eastern” blocs that existed at that time. The choice of orientation has become a significant problem for many countries in Asia and Africa. And relations with third world countries, as they said then, turned out to be a field of rivalry between great powers, primarily the USA and the USSR.

Scientific and technological progress: achievements and problems

It is no coincidence that the concept of “progress” in combination with the epithets “scientific” and “social” became one of the most used in the second half of the 20th century. In many areas of science, major discoveries were made at this time, and new branches of knowledge emerged. Even at the beginning of the century, it was possible to notice that scientific ideas were being embodied in technical projects, new machines, etc. much faster than before. In the second half of the century this process accelerated significantly. Now the time has come for a scientific, technical, scientific and technological revolution, which is characterized by close interaction between science and technology, the rapid introduction of scientific achievements in various fields of activity, the use of new materials and technologies, and production automation.

Let's look at the facts. Beginning of the 20th century was marked by significant discoveries in the field of atomic physics. In the decades that followed, the production and use of atomic energy became an urgent scientific and practical task. In 1942, in the USA, a group of scientists led by E. Fermi created the first nuclear reactor. The enriched uranium obtained in it was used to create atomic weapons (two of the three atomic bombs produced at that time were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki). In 1946, a nuclear reactor was built in the USSR (the work was led by I.V. Kurchatov), ​​and in 1949 the first test of Soviet atomic weapons took place. After the war, the question arose about the peaceful use of atomic energy. In 1954, the world's first nuclear power plant was built in the USSR, and in 1957 the first nuclear icebreaker was launched.

In the second half of the 20th century. human exploration of space began. The first steps in this were taken by Soviet scientists and designers led by S.P. Korolev. In 1957, the first artificial Earth satellite was launched. On April 12, 1961, the first cosmonaut Yu. A. Gagarin took off. In 1969, American cosmonauts N. Armstrong and B. Aldrin landed on the Moon. Since the 1970s, Soviet orbital stations began to operate in space. By the early 1980s, the USSR and the USA launched more than 2 thousand artificial satellites; India, China, and Japan also launched their own satellites into orbit. These devices are used to transmit radio and television signals, monitor the earth's surface, weather, etc. In order to appreciate the significance of these events, it is necessary to imagine that behind them stand the achievements of many modern sciences - aeronautics, astrophysics, atomic physics, quantum electronics, biology, medicine, etc. They required many years of creative research, tireless work and courage of thousands of people .

The computer revolution has become an important part of the development of modern science and technology. The first electronic computing machines (computers) were created in the early 1940s. German, American, and English specialists worked on them in parallel, but the greatest successes were achieved in the USA. The first computers took up an entire room and required considerable time to set them up. The use of transistors (since 1948) has made computers more compact and faster. In the early 1970s, microprocessors appeared, followed by personal computers. This was already a real revolution. The functions of computers have also expanded. Today they are used not only for storing and processing information, but also for exchanging it, designing, teaching, etc.

If the first half of the 20th century was the century of cinema, then the second became the century of television. It was invented before World War II. The first television broadcasts took place in 1936 in London. The war stopped the development of a new type of technology. But since the 1950s, television began to enter people's everyday life. Currently, in developed countries, television receivers are available in 98% of homes. Today, television is the most powerful, mass channel for transmitting various types of information - from political news to entertainment and entertainment programs.

These scientific and technological advances together led to the information revolution. She, in turn, changed the foundations of modern society, which is called post-industrial or information society. Social scientists believe that if in the Middle Ages the main source of wealth and power was land, in the 19th century. - capital, then at the end of the 20th century this function switched to information. It is no coincidence that the media - newspapers, radio, television - are considered today as the “fourth estate”.

Technological progress in modern society has not only positive aspects. It also creates significant problems. Some of them are related to the fact that “the machine replaces the person.” It's good that it makes people's work easier. But what about those who lost their jobs because they were replaced by a machine? (There are, for example, estimates that one computer replaces the work of 35 people.) How should we react to the opinion that a machine can teach everything better than a teacher, that it successfully complements human communication? Why have friends when you can play with the computer? Why go to the theater if you can watch a performance on television with greater convenience? These are questions that everyone today has to look for an answer to.

A number of serious, global problems are associated with the consequences of scientific and technological progress for the environment and the human environment. Already in the 1960-1970s, it became clear that nature and the resources of our planet are not an inexhaustible storehouse, and reckless technocracy (the power of technology) leads to irreversible environmental losses and disasters. One of the tragic events that showed the danger of technological failures in modern enterprises was the accident at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant (April 1986), as a result of which millions of people found themselves in the zone of radioactive contamination. The problems of preserving forests and fertile lands, purity of water and air are relevant today on all continents of the Earth. Environmental movements and organizations (“green”, “Greenpeace”, etc.) stood up to protect the environment and the life of man himself. So by the end of the 20th century. Scientific and technological progress has made the problem of preserving the natural, cultural, and spiritual spheres of human existence and society global.

References:
Aleksashkina L.N. / General history. XX - early XXI centuries.

Results of the Cold War

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

As a result, the socialist camp collapsed, trust in the communist ideology was undermined, although socialist regimes in some countries of the world survived and over time their number began to increase (for example, in Latin America). Russia, the legal successor of the USSR, retained its status as a nuclear power and its place in the UN Security Council, but due to the difficult internal economic situation and the decline in the influence of the UN on international politics, this does not look like a real achievement. Western values, primarily household and material ones, began to be actively introduced in the post-Soviet space, and the country’s military power decreased significantly.

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

Conclusion

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

As a global positive outcome of the war, it can be noted that the Cold War never turned into a Hot War, despite the reality of the Third World War, for example, during the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962. It was understood and realized in time that a global conflict using nuclear weapons could lead to disastrous consequences, including the destruction of the entire planet.

Also, the end of the confrontation represented the end of the ideological division of the world according to the principle of “friend or foe” and removed the psychological pressure under which people had been all this time.

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

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

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

“Science in modern society” - A scientific infrastructure has been created in the modern world. Alferov Zhores Ivanovich. Science in the modern world. Andrey Dmitrievich Sakharov. Target. Certificate of awarding the Nobel Prize to M.A. Sholokhov. Science in modern society. More than 5 million people are engaged in scientific research around the world. Conclusion. Scientific facts.

“Scientific creativity” - Problems of European alchemy. Connection of patterns of thinking. Rutherford. Elements of the explained process. Basic errors of scientific thinking. Science and other forms of knowledge. Scientific creativity. Components of dialogue. Features of scientific creativity. The problem of Babylonian mathematics. Protoscience. Ancient Egypt.

“Subject of science” - Interrelation, interpenetration of various functions of science. The formation of science as a social institution dates back to the 17th-18th centuries. Generally significant features of modern science. The science. Theoretical insight into the essence of real phenomena. Plan for studying a new topic. Social function. The incompleteness of science contributes to the emergence of various scientific schools.

“Science and knowledge” - Form of knowledge. Science Philosophy. Two types of truth. Private knowledge. Verification. N. Copernicus. Postpositivism. Dialogue epistemology. The principle of motion in Aristotle's physics. Scientific and non-scientific knowledge. Falsification. Contemplative epistemology. Science and religion. Aristotle's scientific program. Scientific thinking.

"Science of Science" - Scientific discipline. Introduction Definition History Purpose What does science study? What do scientists study? The mechanism of adaptive inhibition. Trays Law 3.3. Assessing the effectiveness of the work of scientists and research teams. Scientific creativity The state and problems of Russian science (seminar). Law of exponential growth.

"Cognitive Science" - Sciences. Law of technical and humanitarian balance. Cognition is understood as the creation and processing of information. On the history of the issue (the symbolic stage of development of cognitive science). On the history of the issue (knowledge in philosophy). Human nature in cognitive sciences. Philosophical and scientific programs for research into human nature.

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The “Cold War” - this is the name given to the period of global confrontation between the USSR and the USA, which lasted 43 years (from 1946 to 1989) - was one of the most intense periods in history. The very existence of humanity at that time was in question due to the threat of nuclear war. However, many historians call this period one of the most progressive for scientific progress. After all, it was at this time that man burst into space, a breakthrough in technology and a number of important scientific discoveries were made. Our review will focus on little-known facts of that period.

1. Kennedy assassination and space

The US and USSR initially planned to fly together into space, but after President Kennedy was assassinated, the Soviet Union abandoned the idea because Khrushchev did not trust Vice President Johnson.

2. Nuclear strike on the stall

The USSR believed that there was a top-secret meeting room in the center of the Pentagon, which is why one of the missiles with a nuclear warhead was aimed there. In fact, there was a hot dog stand there.

3. Paper clips failed

During the Cold War, many American spies were discovered in the Soviet Union with fake passports simply because those passports used stainless steel paper clips.

4. Toptygins in armchairs

The United States used bears to test ejection seats on airplanes.

5. The term "Cold War"

George Orwell was the first person to use the term "Cold War".

6. Third world countries

Originally, the term "third world country" did not mean an underdeveloped country. It simply meant any country other than the USA or USSR.

7. USSR - second world

In accordance with this terminology, the United States considered itself, Western Europe, and Australia to be the “first world,” and the USSR to be the “second world.”

8. Attack the Moon!

The US planned to detonate a nuclear bomb on the moon to show off its military might. Fortunately, this plan was not implemented.

9. Deportation of the people in a capitalist way

Canadian authorities forcibly resettled Inuit to the northern part of the country to confirm their sovereignty in the Arctic.

10. The best cartographers

The best cartographers were still in the Soviet Union, Soviet maps of the Arctic were so detailed that they are still in use today.

11. $15 million in tray

Operation Kitty, carried out by the CIA, involved equipping cats with spy equipment. The first mission failed because the cat was run over by a car. As a result, the project was curtailed, and $15 million was thrown away.

12. Gift for schoolchildren

In 1945, Soviet schoolchildren presented the US Ambassador with a wooden panel. It hung in the office after 7 years before it was determined that a listening device was hidden in the panel.

13. Tsar Bomba

The Tsar Bomba, the largest nuclear warhead ever detonated, was tested in the Arctic. The cloud from the explosion was 7 times the height of Mount Everest.

14. Airfield "Red Square"

At the height of the Cold War, a German amateur pilot named Matthias Rust flew straight through all Soviet air defense lines and landed on Red Square. He wanted to ease tensions between East and West by doing this. Matthias was only 18 years old at that time.

15. Football fields in Cuba

When the CIA noticed the appearance of soccer fields in Cuba, they were very concerned because Cubans historically played baseball, and soccer was played in the USSR. This ultimately led to the Cuban Missile Crisis.

16. GPS technology

In 1983, the USSR shot down a Korean civilian Boeing 747 (Flight 007) that entered the country's airspace en route to Seoul from New York. The incident prompted the US to release previously secret GPS technology into public use and also deepened anti-Soviet sentiment.

17. Massive launch of nuclear missiles

In 1983, Soviet computer systems detected a massive American launch of nuclear missiles. Colonel Stanislav Petrov, who in such a case was supposed to convey this data to the country's leadership, on the basis of which the decision on a retaliatory strike was made, realized that this was a false operation of the system and did not report a possible nuclear attack. So he essentially became the man who saved the world.

18. There was no explosion

During the 1960s, American planes carrying nuclear warheads flew around the world in case of attack by the USSR. Five of these planes crashed, resulting in nuclear contamination in two cases.

19. Dubious advertising by railway workers

American railroad companies boasted in their advertisements that if war broke out, the railroads would be bombed primarily because of their "tremendous importance."

20. Closed cities

During the Cold War, the Soviet Union had many "closed cities" that were not marked on maps and into which no outsiders were allowed. Typically, they were intended for military purposes, and even today many of these cities remain closed.

21.638...passing

According to Fabian Escalante, Fidel Castro's closest security aide, the CIA tried to kill Castro 638 times. There are a number of cases where the CIA tried to kill Castro with the help of the mafia. Fidel once said: “If avoiding murder were an Olympic sport, I would win the gold medal.”

Conditioned reflex. photo: list25.com

Scientists have noticed that deer from the Czech Republic never cross the border with Germany. It turned out that over several generations these animals developed a reflex not to approach electrified fences.

The greatest role was played by military-technical factors, which directly affected the policies of the USSR and the USA. None of the great powers managed to create an absolute superiority of forces, which would become a source of confidence in military victory in the event of a direct conflict. During the early Cold War, the United States had a monopoly on nuclear weapons but no more reliable means of delivering them than heavy bombers, which were vulnerable to Soviet air defenses. In addition, in potential Eurasian theaters of military operations, the USSR would have an advantage in conventional weapons. With the advent of nuclear and thermonuclear weapons in the USSR, and then ballistic missiles, although the United States had an advantage in their number until the end of the 1960s, the territories of both great powers became vulnerable to nuclear strikes. With the achievement of quantitative equality (parity) in strategic weapons, rivalry embraced another side - their qualitative improvement. Formulas for orderly competition did not emerge immediately. At the initial stage of the Cold War, the chronological framework of which was determined by the period 1947-1953, both sides proceeded from a very high degree of probability of a military clash with each other. Both the USSR and the USA sought as quickly as possible to include into their orbit of influence all countries whose fate and choice had not yet been determined, and at a minimum to prevent the expansion of the opponent’s sphere of influence.

Berlin crisis of 1948 - Germany and its capital, Berlin, were divided into occupation zones of the USA, Great Britain, France, and the USSR. After carrying out monetary reform in the western part of the country, the USSR closed communications with the eastern part, hoping to solve the problem through negotiations, hoping that in the current situation Western countries would make concessions on the German issue. However, the United States categorically ruled out negotiations from a position of weakness.

The blockade was broken with the establishment of an air bridge with West Berlin, through which food was supplied to the city. The command of the US troops in Germany did not exclude the possibility of a direct military conflict if the USSR tried to interfere with these supplies. Korean War, 1950-1953 The second conflict that brought the USSR and the USA to the brink of direct conflict. A similar impasse developed in Indochina, where France, having lost direct control over Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia, sought to maintain a pro-Western dictatorial regime in power in Vietnam.

The national liberation forces, which adopted a communist orientation, received assistance from China and the USSR. French troops suffered heavy defeats. By 1954 it became clear that neither side was capable of achieving military success. The Cuban missile crisis of 1962 and its significance. The most acute conflict of the Cold War was the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962. The victory in 1959 in Cuba of the revolutionary movement led by F. Castro and his choice of a course for cooperation with the USSR caused concern in Washington. In Moscow, on the contrary, the appearance of the first ally in the Western Hemisphere was greeted as a sign of impending changes in favor of the USSR in Latin America. The confidence of the Soviet leaders that the United States would one way or another try to overthrow the regime of F. Castro, the desire to change the balance of forces in their favor pushed them to deploy medium-range missiles with nuclear warheads in Cuba, capable of reaching most American cities. This step, taken in secret not only from the world community, but also from its own diplomats, became known to the US government thanks to aerial reconnaissance. He was seen as posing a mortal threat to American interests. Retaliatory measures (imposing a naval blockade of Cuba and preparing for pre-emptive strikes on Soviet bases on the island) brought the world to the brink of nuclear war. The resolution of the conflict became possible thanks to the restraint and common sense shown by US President John Kennedy and Soviet leader N.S. Khrushchev. Zagladin N.V. World history: XX century. Textbook for schoolchildren in grades 10-11. Second edition. M.: LLC "Trading and Publishing House "Russian Word - PC", 2000

Any of the above conflicts, in which the countries of the Western bloc were involved on the one hand, and the USSR and its allies on the other, could lead to major military action. This was especially dangerous due to the large number of scientific discoveries and their application in the military industry.