Реферат на тему Cold war

Содержание:

Introduction 3
1. Reasons of the Cold War 4
2. The Marshall Plan 6
3. The Berlin Crisis of 1948-1949 7
4. The War in Korea (1950-1953) 8
5. The Cuban Missile Crisis 10
6. The Vietnam War 12
7. The Afghan War 12
8. Results of the Period. Peaceful Coexistence Policy 13
Conclusion 16
References 17

Введение:

The Cold War is a political science term used in relation to the period of global geopolitical, military, economic and ideological confrontation between the USSR and the Allies in 1946-1989, on the one hand, and the United States and its allies, on the other. Its consequences can be observed in today’s world, where some political and scientific figures, such as V.Yu. Katasonov, A.A. Prokhanov, M.G. Delyagin, distinguish the concept of «Second Cold War», «New Cold War» or «Cold War 2.0».
In the fall of 1945, the term «cold war» first appeared in the international commentary of the famous writer J. Orwell on the pages of the popular English magazine Tribune. In the spring of 1946, it was mentioned in one of his public speeches by the American politician banker B. Baruch. Finally, the not-so-clear definition of “cold war” became the name of the best-selling book of the famous American publicist W. Lippman.
The ideological justification, “declaration” of the “cold war” is traditionally considered two historical events, mentioned in any major work on the history of international relations of the post-war period. First, the speech of W. Churchill, delivered on March 5, 1946, at the University of Fulton (Missouri, USA) in the presence of the head of the United States and high-ranking American statesmen. Churchill said that “From the Stettin in the Baltic Sea to Trieste in the Adriatic, the Iron Curtain fell over the European continent,” which separated the free world of the West from the communist empire. Secondly, the so-called “Truman doctrine” is an appeal by the American president to Congress on March 12, 1947 with a proposal to allocate $ 400 million to provide economic and military assistance to Greece and Turkey to fight communism.
Many historians, politicians, economists, and journalists have dedicated their works to the Cold War. Among them are David Hoffman (“Dead Hand: The Unknown History of the Cold War and Its Dangerous Legacy”), Philip Taubman (“Soldiers of the Cold War), A. I. Utkin (“ World “Cold War” ”), L. M. Mlechin («The Cold War. Politicians, generals, scouts») and others.

Заключение:

In my subjective opinion, the “cold war” was inevitable not only due to geopolitical and ideological factors, but also due to the fact that the mentality of the leaders of that time in the USA and the USSR was not ready to perceive the realities of the post-war world.
The existence of two powerful centers simultaneously initiated two global processes: the struggle of superpowers to divide the world into spheres of influence and the desire of all other countries, with rare exceptions, to join one of the superpowers and use its economic and political power for their own purposes.
The result was the inevitable formation of a bipolar geopolitical system, which was based on insurmountable antagonism between superpowers, which involves the use of force, including military. But in the event of the Soviet-American confrontation, nuclear weapons became a powerful deterrent.

Фрагмент текста работы:

Reasons of the Cold War

From the point of view of the objective interests of peoples and states, the Cold War was not beneficial to anyone. Most of Europe lay in ruins, the restoration of its economy, as well as the national economy of the USSR, required peace and cooperation. Both Great Britain and the extremely weakened France, faced with the rise of the liberation movement, primarily sought to preserve their colonial empires. The only power that intensified during the war was the United States of America. The national income of this country increased from $ 64 billion in 1938 to $ 160 billion in 1944. The United States accounted for 60% of world industrial production, up to 80% of the world’s gold reserves. But the United States also did not benefit from a conflict with the USSR. The USA could prevent a decline in production after curtailing military orders only with the full realization of the idea of free trade, which was impossible under the conditions of the Cold War [7].
The fulfillment by the victorious countries of the principles laid down in the Atlantic Charter in the UN Charter could exclude a conflict between them. However, the pre-war behind-the-scenes diplomatic maneuvers generated among the Soviet leadership the conviction that leaders of democracies can also ignore international legal norms, like the regime of A. Hitler. The role of public opinion, its influence on political decision-making in the USA and Great Britain, as a rule, was not taken seriously by Soviet leaders. Accordingly, references to the principles of the UN Charter were considered as a propaganda cover for selfish aspirations. In addition, these principles were interpreted and understood differently in the USSR and the USA.
Of course, both the USSR and the countries of the West verbally recognized the right of every people to choose their own path of development. However, from the point of view of the leadership of the USSR, the only logical choice was in favor of the Communist Party. For their part, Western leaders believed that the success of the Communists could not be the result of the free expression of the will of the peoples, especially in countries where Soviet troops are located.