The outcome of the Second World War also testified to a change in the balance of power in the world. The political influence of the Soviet Union extended to Eastern Europe. The United States became the dominant world power with enormous economic, air, sea and atomic power. In Western historiography, the beginning cold war(states of confrontation, confrontation between the USSR and its allies, on the one hand, and Western states, on the other) is associated with the post-war policy of the Soviet Union, which was of an aggressive nature. In March 1946, speaking at the American College in Fulton, W. Churchill formulated the goal of "peoples who speak English language» - resist the communist states. Churchill saw the main threat to the world community in the growing influence of communist parties in European countries.

Integral part American integration policy European states into the world economic system, became developed in the summer of 1947. Marshall plan, according to which allocated for 1949-1952. for the industrial reorganization of Europe, American credits, loans and subsidies amounted to more than 20 billion dollars. The goal of the plan is to make Western Europe completely dependent on America, undermining the influence of the USSR in Eastern Europe. This plan consolidated the division of the world into two parts - East and West.

In 1949, the dismemberment of Germany took place, as well as the creation of the Atlantic Pact ( NATO) between the USA, Great Britain, France, Canada, Italy and a number of other European countries. In 1952, Turkey and Greece joined NATO. Thus, the compromise between the two political systems, which had developed as a result of the war against fascism, was finally destroyed. The culminating point of the confrontation between the two powers - the USSR and the USA - was the participation of both in Korean War (1950-1953), which showed the irreconcilability of two opposing systems.

One of the leading directions of the foreign policy of the USSR in post-war years was the establishment of friendly relations with the states of Eastern Europe. In 1949, the Intergovernmental Economic Organization was created - Council for Mutual Economic Assistance (CMEA).

The Soviet Union became the development model for these countries. In April 1945, treaties of friendship, mutual assistance and post-war cooperation between the USSR and Yugoslavia, Poland and other people's democracies were signed. The formation of a new political regime happened at full control Moscow. In many countries there were Soviet troops that stimulated the coming to power of socialist governments in them.

The emerging crisis in Moscow's relations with the countries of Eastern Europe was the Soviet-Yugoslav conflict that broke out in 1948. According to most historians, one of the reasons was Stalin's negative attitude towards the desire of the Communist Party of Yugoslavia to become the "leading" party in the Balkans. As a result, the normal diplomatic relations of Yugoslavia with the countries of Eastern Europe were interrupted, and since 1950 the economic ties between the USSR and the people's democracies with Yugoslavia have completely ceased.

Thus, the results of the foreign policy activities of the USSR in the second half of the 1940s and early 1950s were contradictory. Strengthened its position in the international arena, at the same time, the policy of confrontation between East and West has greatly contributed to the growth of tension in the world.

After Stalin's death, a short period of "thaw" began in international relations. In 1955, a military-political union of the socialist countries of Europe (except Yugoslavia) was created, which was called Warsaw Pact Organization(ATS). In 1959, N.S. Khrushchev paid a visit to the USA. In 1963, an agreement was signed by the major powers to ban nuclear tests in three areas: in the atmosphere, in space, and under water.

In the second half of the 1950s, relations with the socialist states, to which Cuba joined, acquired a stable character. The help of the Soviet Union in the construction of industrial and other facilities on the territory of the socialist countries increased. At the same time, in the relations between states, more and more often appeared conflict situations. In 1956, the united armed forces of the member states of the Warsaw Treaty Organization suppressed the anti-socialist uprising in Hungary. At the end of the 1950s, relations with the People's Republic of China became more complicated.

In 1962, the Soviet leadership decided to create a nuclear missile base on the American continent, in Cuba (the United States created a missile base near the borders of the USSR in Turkey). Soviet plans caused a storm of indignation among the American military-political leadership. The armed forces of the opposing sides were put on full combat readiness. Has begun "Caribbean crisis which put the world on the verge of a third world war. During the negotiations, the leadership of the USSR abandoned its plan, the leadership of the United States agreed to withdraw its missiles from Turkey, and leave Cuba alone.

The Brezhnev leadership set three priority tasks in the field of foreign policy:

To rally the socialist camp even more closely in the political, military and economic relations;

Normalize relations between East and West;

Continue the policy of consistent support for pro-communist movements and regimes throughout the world.

With regard to the socialist countries of Eastern Europe, the policy Soviet leadership focused on giving them a little more economic and political freedom than before. In 1971, the CMEA adopted a comprehensive program for deepening cooperation, designed for 15-20 years. One of its main directions was to provide Eastern European countries with cheap energy and raw materials. Major joint economic projects included the construction of the Druzhba oil pipeline and the Soyuz gas pipeline, the construction industrial enterprises in different countries.

Relations with the industrialized countries of the West were generally constructive. Since the second half of the 1960s, the implementation of "detente" policy. Improved relations between France and the Federal Republic of Germany. The most strained throughout the period they were with the UK. Only after the Labor victory in England in 1974 did the process of improving Anglo-Soviet political and economic relations begin.

Economic ties between the USSR and Japan were quite successful. At the same time, the USSR never concluded a peace treaty with Japan. The main reason was that Japan demanded the return of the four islands of the South Kuril chain, which the USSR received after the Second World War. The Soviet Union, in turn, refused to negotiate on this issue.

Relations between Moscow and Washington were also in the general direction of the development of relations between the leading powers of the West and the USSR. In 1972 US President Richard Nixon visited Moscow. As a result of this visit, agreements on the limitation of strategic arms (SALT-1) were signed, quantitative restrictions were established on the construction of anti-missile defense, land-based intercontinental missiles and on submarines. For 1973–1976 The USSR and the USA exchanged visits of heads of states. During this period, the total volume of Soviet-American trade increased 8 times.

The peak of the "détente" was held in Helsinki Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe (CSCE). In 1975, the Final Act of the Conference was signed, in which the heads of 33 European states, as well as the United States and Canada, took part. This act fixed and legitimized the political-military and socio-economic situation that has developed in post-war Europe and in the world.

The end of "détente" was caused by the Soviet intervention in Afghanistan in 1979. The intervention of the Soviet Union was perceived by the United States as an aggression indirectly directed against them as well. The Afghan action marked the beginning of a new period of the Cold War. As a result, by the beginning of the 1980s, constructive contacts with Western countries had practically ceased.

Questions for self-control

1. What internal political tasks did the USSR solve in the postwar years (1945-1953)?

2. What were the characteristics of de-Stalinization and the “thaw” in different areas public life?

3. Reveal the inconsistency community development in the era of Khrushchev.

4. Prove that in ser. 60s - 80s there was a process of increasing crisis phenomena in various spheres of public life.

5. Describe the main directions and events of the foreign policy of the USSR in the post-war years (until the mid-1980s)

Foreign policy USSR. "Cold War"

Signs of the Cold War:

The existence of a relatively stable bipolar world is the presence in the world of two superpowers balancing each other's influence, to which other states gravitated to one degree or another.

"Bloc policy" - the creation of opposing military-political blocs by superpowers. 1949 - creation of NATO, 1955 - OVD (Warsaw Pact Organization).

"Arms race" - the build-up of the USSR and the USA in the number of weapons in order to achieve qualitative superiority. The "arms race" ended by the early 1970s. in connection with the achievement of parity (balance, equality) in the number of weapons. From this moment begins the "policy of detente" - a policy aimed at eliminating the threat of nuclear war and reducing the level of international tension. "Detente" ended after the entry of Soviet troops into Afghanistan (1979)

The formation of the "image of the enemy" in relation to the ideological enemy among their own population. In the USSR, this policy manifested itself in the creation of the "Iron Curtain" - a system of international self-isolation. In the United States, "McCarthyism" is carried out - the persecution of supporters of "leftist" ideas. soviet economy postwar

Periodically emerging armed conflicts that threaten the escalation of the Cold War into a full-scale war.

Causes of the Cold War:

The victory in World War II led to a sharp strengthening of the USSR and the USA.

The imperial ambitions of Stalin, who sought to expand the zone of influence of the USSR in Turkey, Tripolitania (Libya) and Iran.

US nuclear monopoly, attempts to dictate in relations with other countries.

Ineradicable ideological contradictions between the two superpowers.

The formation of a Soviet-controlled socialist camp in Eastern Europe.

March 1946 is considered to be the date of the beginning of the Cold War, when W. Churchill delivered a speech in Fulton (USA) in the presence of President G. Truman, in which he accused the USSR of "limitless spread of its power and its doctrines" in the world. Soon, President Truman proclaimed a program of measures to "save" Europe from Soviet expansion (the "Truman Doctrine"). He proposed to provide large-scale economic assistance to the countries of Europe ("Marshall Plan"); create a military-political union of Western countries under the auspices of the United States (NATO); deploy a network of US military bases along the borders of the USSR; to support internal opposition in the countries of Eastern Europe. All this was supposed not only to prevent further expansion of the sphere of influence of the USSR (the doctrine of containment of socialism), but also to force the Soviet Union to return to its former borders (the doctrine of the rejection of socialism).

By this time, communist governments existed only in Yugoslavia, Albania and Bulgaria. However, from 1947 to 1949 Socialist systems are also taking shape in Poland, Hungary, Rumania, Czechoslovakia, North Korea, and China. The USSR provides them with enormous material assistance.

In 1949, the economic foundations of the Soviet bloc were formalized. For this purpose, the Council for Mutual Economic Assistance was created. For military-political cooperation in 1955, the Warsaw Treaty Organization was formed. Within the framework of the Commonwealth, no “independence” was allowed. The relations of the USSR with Yugoslavia (Joseph Broz Tito), which was looking for its own path to socialism, were severed. In the late 1940s relations with China (Mao Zedong) deteriorated sharply.

The first serious clash between the USSR and the USA was the war in Korea (1950-53). The Soviet state supports the communist regime of North Korea (DPRK, Kim Il Sung), the USA supports the bourgeois government of South Korea. The Soviet Union supplied to the DPRK modern views military equipment (including MiG-15 jet aircraft), military specialists. As a result of the conflict, the Korean Peninsula was officially divided into two parts.

In this way, international position The USSR in the first post-war years was determined by the status of one of the two world superpowers won during the war. The confrontation between the USSR and the USA and the outbreak of the Cold War marked the beginning of the division of the world into two warring military-political camps.

Transition to the policy of the Cold War. The growth of the influence of the USSR in the post-war world caused extreme concern of the leadership of the Western powers. It was most strongly reflected in the speech of the former British Prime Minister W. Churchill, which he delivered in Fulton (USA, March 1946). Recognizing that military victories had propelled the USSR into the "leading nations of the world," the former British prime minister declared that the Soviet Union was striving for "the unlimited spread of its strength and its doctrines." Since "Russians most admire strength", the US and UK, having created an "association of peoples who speak English", should speak to them from a position of strength. At the same time, the use of American atomic weapons was allowed as " effective remedy intimidation."

In February 1947, US President G. Truman, in his message to Congress, specified the position of W. Churchill (the "Truman Doctrine"). As a result, two strategic tasks were defined in relation to the USSR: at least - to prevent further expansion of the sphere of influence of the USSR and its communist ideology (the doctrine of containment of socialism), and at the maximum - to force socialism to retreat into its former borders (the doctrine of rejection of socialism). Concrete steps were also identified to achieve these goals: first, to provide large-scale economic assistance to European countries, making their economies dependent on the United States (“Marshall Plan”); secondly, to create a military-political alliance of these countries led by the United States (NATO, 1949); thirdly, to place a network of US military bases (Greece, Turkey) near the borders of the USSR; fourthly, to support anti-socialist forces within the countries of the Soviet bloc; finally use -- like extreme case-- their armed forces for direct intervention in the internal affairs of the countries of the Soviet sphere of influence.

The leadership of the USSR regarded the new foreign policy of the former military allies as a call to war, which immediately affected both the foreign and domestic politics the Soviet state. Hopes for all-round cooperation after the war of the countries of the anti-Hitler coalition collapsed, the world entered the era of the Cold War.

Creation of a socialist system. Measures, adopted by the USSR after the war in foreign policy, were adequate to the measures of the United States, although less effective. The forces were unequal, primarily because the USSR emerged from the war economically weakened, the United States - strengthened.

The Soviet Union, led by the CPSU (until 1952 - VKP(b)), contributed to the establishment of socialist governments in Bulgaria, Poland, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Romania, Yugoslavia, Albania, East Germany, North Vietnam, North Korea, and China. He, in turn, deployed large-scale assistance to the countries of "people's democracy", creating for this purpose a special organization - the Council for Mutual Economic Assistance (CMEA, 1949), and a few years later united some of them into a military-political union - the Warsaw Treaty Organization (OVD, 1955). The USSR actively promoted communist parties and movements in the capitalist countries, contributed to the growth of the national liberation movement, the collapse of the colonial system and the creation of countries of "socialist orientation".

The split of the world into two opposing systems - the "systems of capitalism" and the "systems of socialism" - was symbolized by the split of Germany into two states - the FRG (1948) and the GDR (1949).

The Korean War (1950-1953) was the most formidable event in the Soviet-American confrontation at the end of Stalin's rule. USSR supported North Korea's attempt to overthrow the pro-American regime South Korea. The Korean War was ended in 1953. Korea remained divided into two opposing states as a symbol of the split into two systems on the Asian continent. Vietnam shared this fate.

Cultural life of the USSR 1945-1953.

Despite the extremely tense situation in the economy, the Soviet government seeks funds for the development of science, public education, and cultural institutions. Restored universal elementary education, and since 1952, education in the amount of 7 classes has become mandatory; open evening schools for working youth. Television begins regular broadcasting. At the same time, control over the intelligentsia, weakened during the war, is being restored. In the summer of 1946, a campaign against "petty-bourgeois individualism" and cosmopolitanism began. It was managed by A.A. Zhdanov. On August 14, 1946, the resolutions of the Central Committee of the party were adopted on the journals Leningrad and Zvezda, which were persecuted for publishing the works of A. Akhmatova and M. Zoshchenko. A.A. was appointed the first secretary of the board of the Writers' Union. Fadeev, who was instructed to restore order in this organization.

The most important direction of foreign policy USSR in the first post-war years was the formation of a strong security system of the country both in Europe and on the Far Eastern borders.
As a result of the victory of the countries of the anti-Hitler coalition over the powers of the fascist-militarist bloc, the role and influence of the Soviet Union in international relations have increased immeasurably.

After the end of World War II, the existing contradictions in the policy of the leading powers of the anti-Hitler coalition of the USSR, the USA and Great Britain flared up with renewed vigor. 1946 was a turning point from the policy of cooperation between these countries to post-war confrontation. AT Western Europe began to form the foundations of socio-economic and political structure on the model of "Western democracies". Great importance In this regard, the adoption by the US administration in 1947 of the "Marshall Plan", the essence of which was to revive the Western European economy by providing financial resources and the latest technologies from across the ocean, as well as in ensuring political stability and military security (the creation of the Western Union in 1948).

At the same time, in the countries of Eastern Europe, a social politic system similar to the Stalinist model of "state socialism". After the victory with the support of the USSR of the so-called people's democratic revolutions in the second half of the 40s, governments oriented towards the Soviet Union strengthened in power in these countries. This situation became the basis for the formation of a "sphere of security" near the western borders of the USSR, which was enshrined in a number of bilateral agreements between the Soviet Union and Poland, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria, Albania and Yugoslavia, concluded in 1945-1948.

Thus, post-war Europe was divided into two opposing groupings of states with different ideological orientations, on the basis of which they were created:
first in 1949 - the North Atlantic Alliance (NATO) under the auspices of the United States, then in 1955 - the Warsaw Treaty Organization (OVD) with the dominant role of the USSR.

The main axis of confrontation in the post-war world on for a long time became the relationship between the two superpowers - the USSR and the USA. But if the USSR tried to pursue its policy mainly by indirect methods, then the United States sought to put up a barrier to the spread of communism, relying both on economic and political pressure, and on military force, which was associated primarily with the possession of the United States for almost the entire second half of the 40s, a monopoly on atomic weapons.

Already in the autumn of 1945, quite harsh statements about each other began to be heard in Washington and Washington, and from 1947 - open threats and accusations. During the 1940s there was a constant increase in tension in East-West relations, which reached its climax in 1950-1953, during the Korean War.
Until the summer of 1949, regular meetings of the Foreign Ministers (FMs) of the USA, Britain, France, China and the USSR were still held, at which attempts were made to find solutions to foreign policy issues. However, most of the decisions made remained on paper.

In the occupation zones of the USA, England and France, a Western-style socio-economic system was being formed, and in the eastern occupation zone of the USSR, a model of Stalinist socialism. In the autumn of 1949, the Federal Republic of Germany was formed, and then the German Democratic Republic.
In the Asia-Pacific region, similar processes took place in China and Korea.

Back in 1945, the USSR, the USA and Britain agreed to refrain from interfering in the internal political struggle in China, but both the USA and the USSR supported their allies - the Kuomintang and the Communists. In fact, civil war in China in 1945-1949. was an indirect military clash between the US and the USSR. The victory of the Chinese Communists dramatically increased the influence of the Soviet Union in the region and, naturally, worsened the position of the United States, since they lost their strongest and most powerful ally in the face of the Kuomintang China.

Unlike Western countries, the states of Eastern Europe did not form a single military-political union until the mid-1950s. But this did not mean at all that military-political interaction did not exist - it was built on a different basis. The Stalinist system of relations with the allies was so tough and effective that it did not require the signing of multilateral agreements and the creation of blocs. The decisions taken by Moscow were obligatory for all socialist countries.

Despite large subsidies, Soviet economic assistance could not be compared in effectiveness with the American Marshall Plan. The "Marshall Plan" was also proposed to the Soviet Union, but the Stalinist leadership could not but reject it, since the development of democracy, private enterprise and respect for human rights was incompatible with the totalitarian concept of governing the country, which was carried out by Stalin.
The refusal of the USSR to accept the "Marshall Plan" was only one fact in the aggravation relations socialism and capitalism, the most striking manifestation of which was the arms race and mutual threats.

The apogee of mutual hostility and mistrust was the Korean war 1950-1953 Having started the war, the troops of the North Korean government of Kim Il Sung defeated the army of South Korea within a few weeks and "liberated" almost the entire Korean Peninsula. The United States was forced to use its troops in Korea, operating under the flag of the UN, which condemned the aggression of North Korea.
North Korea was supported by China and the USSR. The USSR completely took over the supply, as well as air cover, as Chinese troops. The world was on the brink of a global war, as in Korea there was practically a military clash between the USSR and the USA.

But war did not break out: the Soviet and American governments, fearing unpredictable consequences, in last moment refused to open hostilities against each other. The end of the Korean War with a truce, the death of Stalin marked a certain decline in tension in the confrontation between socialism and capitalism.

The period following the death of Stalin and lasting until the 20th Congress of the CPSU characterized in foreign policy by inconsistency and hesitation. Along with the increase in political contacts, the resumption of consultations between the Soviet and Western governments, Stalinist relapses remained to a large extent in the foreign policy of the USSR.

Cold War (briefly)

Causes of the Cold War

After the end of the bloodiest war in the history of mankind - the Second World War, where the USSR became the winner, the prerequisites were created for the emergence of a new confrontation between the West and the East, between the USSR and the USA. The main reasons for the emergence of this confrontation, known as the "cold war", were the ideological contradictions between the capitalist model of society, characteristic of the United States, and the socialist model that existed in the USSR. Each of the two superpowers wanted to see itself at the head of the entire world community and equip life, following its ideological principles. In addition, the Soviet Union after the Second World War established its dominance in the countries of Eastern Europe, where communist ideology reigned. As a result, the United States, along with Great Britain, was frightened by the possibility that the USSR could become a world leader and establish its dominance, both politically and in economic sphere life. At the same time, one of the main tasks for the United States of America was to pay close attention to the policy of the USSR in the countries of Western Europe in order to prevent socialist revolutions in this territory. America did not like communist ideology at all, and it was the Soviet Union that stood in its way to world domination. After all, America got rich during the Second World War, it needed to sell its products somewhere, so the countries of Western Europe, destroyed during the hostilities, needed to be restored, which was suggested by the US government. But on the condition that the rulers - the communists in these countries will be removed from power. In short, the Cold War was a new kind of competition for world domination.

Start of the Cold War

The beginning of the Cold War was marked by the speech of the English ruler Churchill, delivered in Fulton in March 1946. The US government's top priority was to achieve complete military superiority of the Americans over the Russians. The US began to implement its policy already in 1947 by introducing a whole system of restrictive and prohibitive measures for the USSR in the financial and trade spheres. In short, America wanted to defeat the Soviet Union economically.

The course of the cold war

The most culminating moments of the confrontation were 1949-50, when the North Atlantic Treaty was signed, the war with Korea took place, at the same time the first atomic bomb of Soviet origin was tested. And with the victory of Mao Zedong, rather strong diplomatic relations between the USSR and China were established, they were united by a common hostile attitude towards America and its policies.
proved that the military power of the two world superpowers of the USSR and the USA is so great that with the threat of new war there will be no losing side, and it is worth considering what will happen to ordinary people and the planet as a whole. As a result, since the beginning of the 1970s, the Cold War has entered the stage of normalizing relations. A crisis erupted in the United States due to high material costs, but the USSR did not tempt fate, but made concessions. A nuclear arms reduction treaty called START II was signed.
The year 1979 once again proved that the Cold War was not over yet: the Soviet government sent troops into the territory of Afghanistan, whose inhabitants put up fierce resistance to the Russian army. And only in April 1989 the last Russian soldier left this unconquered country.

End and results of the Cold War

In 1988-89, the process of “perestroika” began in the USSR, the Berlin Wall fell, and soon the socialist camp disintegrated. And the USSR did not even begin to claim any influence in the countries of the third world.
By 1990, the Cold War was over. It was she who contributed to the strengthening of the totalitarian regime in the USSR. The arms race also led to scientific discoveries: nuclear physics, space research has acquired a wider scope.

Consequences of the Cold War

The 20th century has ended, more than ten years have passed in the new millennium. The Soviet Union no longer exists, and the countries of the West have also changed ... But as soon as the once weak Russia rose from its knees, gained strength and confidence on the world stage, the United States and its allies again imagine the “ghost of communism”. And it remains to be hoped that the politicians of the leading countries will not return to the policy of the Cold War, since, in the end, everyone will suffer from it ...

The victory of the countries of the anti-Hitler coalition over the bloc of fascist states led to radical changes in the international arena. It showed up first , in the growth of the authority and influence of the Soviet Union in solving geopolitical issues related to the post-war structure of the countries of Europe and South-East Asia. With his active assistance, people's democratic revolutions took place in a number of countries of Central and Eastern Europe, and left-wing democratic forces came to power. Under the leadership of the communists in Albania, Bulgaria, Hungary, Poland, Romania, Czechoslovakia and Yugoslavia, agrarian reforms were carried out, nationalization was carried out big industry, banks and transport. A political system of people's democracy emerged. It was seen as a form of proletarian dictatorship. In order to coordinate the activities of the communist parties in the people's democracies, in 1947 the Communist Information Bureau (Cominformburo) was created. In his documents, the thesis was formulated about the division of the world into two camps - capitalist and socialist.

Secondly, in the capitalist countries themselves there is an unusually the rise of the communists. They were even elected to parliaments and entered the governments of a number of Western European countries. This forced the imperialist circles to unite and organize " crusade"against the world communist movement and its mastermind - the USSR. The relations of the USSR with the former allies in the anti-Hitler coalition are changing dramatically. From cooperation they move to "cold war", i.e. to a tough confrontation on the world stage, accompanied by the curtailment of economic and cultural ties, the sharpest ideological struggle and hostile political actions, even turning into local military conflicts. It is believed that the beginning of the Cold War was put by the former Prime Minister of Great Britain W. Churchill with his speech in March 1946 Speaking at the American College in Fulton in the presence of US President G. Truman, he called on the "fraternal association of peoples who speak English" to unite and resist "communist and neo-fascist states" that are a threat to "Christian civilization."

The transition to the Cold War is explained not only by the need to combat communist influence, but also US claims to world domination. After the end of the Second World War, the United States became the most powerful country with a huge economic and military potential. Until the end of the 1940s. they maintained a monopoly on the possession of atomic weapons. In a message to Congress in 1947, President Truman, developing W. Churchill's idea, wrote that the victory in World War II made the American people face the necessity of ruling the world. The message contained specific measures aimed at curbing Soviet influence and communist ideology. Policy proposed "Truman Doctrine" received the name in the history of diplomacy "containment policies". Pentagon strategists developed plans for a direct military attack on the USSR using atomic bombs. The most famous of them, "Dropshot", supposed to drop 300 atomic bombs on 100 cities of our country during the first strike. The American people were told about a serious military threat from the USSR. In order to extinguish the good attitude of the population towards the Soviet people, noisy propaganda campaigns are being carried out in the USA about the subversive activities of the communists. In fact, the Soviet Union at that time did not possess atomic weapons, strategic aviation and aircraft carriers, and therefore could not pose a real threat to the United States. But in the conditions of growing international tension and political confrontation, the USSR was forced to join in the arms race.

Changes in the international arena determined the main tasks of the foreign policy of the Soviet state. Among them, first of all, is the conclusion peace treaties with the former satellites of Germany and the formation of a “security sphere” near the western borders of the USSR. In the course of the post-war peace settlement in Europe, significant territorial changes took place, including on the western borders of the USSR. East Prussia was liquidated, part of whose territory was transferred to Poland, and the cities of Koenigsberg and Pillau with their adjacent areas were annexed to the USSR and formed the Kaliningrad region of the RSFSR. The territory of the Klaipeda region, as well as part of the territory of Belarus, went to the Lithuanian SSR. Part of the Pskov region of the RSFSR was annexed to the Estonian SSR.

In 1945 - 1948 bilateral treaties between the Soviet Union and Poland, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria, Albania and Yugoslavia were signed. According to the Soviet-Czechoslovak treaty on Transcarpathian Ukraine of June 26, 1945, its territories were annexed to Ukrainian SSR. The border of the USSR with Poland, according to the agreement on the Soviet-Polish state border of August 16, 1945, was established with minor changes in favor of Poland. In general, it corresponded to the "Curzon Line" proposed by the Entente countries in 1920.

If in 1941 26 countries maintained diplomatic relations with the USSR, then in 1945 there were already 52 states.

One of the most important issues in international politics is the question of the post-war order of the world. In 1946, sharp discussions flared up on it between the former allies. In the countries of Eastern Europe occupied by Soviet troops, a socio-political system was taking shape, similar to the Stalinist model of "state socialism". At the same time, in Western Europe, occupied by the troops of the United States and Great Britain, the foundations of a socio-economic and political structure along the lines of "Western democracies" began to take shape. Until the summer of 1949, regular meetings of the Foreign Ministers (FMs) of the United States, Britain, France, China and the USSR were still held, at which the former allies tried to find a compromise. However, most of the decisions made remained on paper.

The USSR had neither the strength nor the means to participate in a possible war, so the struggle for peace becomes the most urgent for it. One of the main peacekeeping mechanisms was the United Nations (UN) formed in October 1945 by decision of the winning countries. It includes 51 states. The USSR, along with the United States, Great Britain, France and China, became a permanent member of the Security Council, the governing body of the UN. Using the right of veto, he sought to suppress all aggressive attempts by the imperialist states. At UN sessions, Soviet representatives came up with proposals for the reduction of conventional weapons and the prohibition of atomic weapons, and for the withdrawal of foreign troops from foreign territories. Most of these proposals were blocked by former allies. The situation changed somewhat after the appearance of atomic weapons in the USSR (August 1949). In 1947, at the initiative of the USSR, the UN General Assembly nevertheless adopted a resolution condemning any form of war propaganda. AT August 1948 arises international movement peace advocates, the first congress of which was held in Paris in 1949. Representatives of 72 countries took part in its work. The Standing Committee of the World Peace Congress headed by the French physicist F. Joliot-Curie was created and the International Peace Prizes were established. The Soviet Union provided constant assistance to this movement. In August 1949, the Soviet Peace Committee came into being in Moscow. More than 115 million Soviet people put their signatures under the Stockholm Appeal (1950) adopted by the Standing Committee of the World Peace Congress. It contained demands for the prohibition of atomic weapons "as a weapon of intimidation and mass destruction of people" and the establishment of international control over the implementation of this decision.

In February 1950. between it and the USSR was signed Treaty of Friendship, Alliance and Mutual Assistance.

The victory of the communists in China stimulated the national liberation struggle of the peoples of the Asian continent. Most of the countries of East, Southeast and South Asia found themselves on the verge of transition to building socialism. In addition to China, they embarked on this path North Korea and North Vietnam.

One of the leading directions of the foreign policy of the USSR in post-war period became establishing friendly relations and maintaining close ties with the countries of Eastern Europe who took the path of socialism. In an effort to prevent their rapprochement with Western countries and taking part in the Marshall Plan, the Soviet Union was forced to take on obligations that were contrary to its own economic interests. In conditions of devastation and hunger recovery period he supplied the Eastern European states on preferential terms with grain, raw materials for industry, fertilizers for Agriculture, products of heavy engineering and metallurgy. For 1945 - 1952 only the amount of long-term concessional loans provided by the USSR to the countries of people's democracy amounted to over 15 billion rubles. In 1949, the Council for Mutual Economic Assistance (CMEA) was established in order to expand economic cooperation and trade between the socialist countries. It included Albania (until 1961), Bulgaria, Hungary, the GDR, Poland, Romania, the USSR and Czechoslovakia.

Unlike Western countries, the states of Eastern Europe until the mid-50s. did not form a single military-political union. However, this did not mean at all that military-political interaction did not exist - it was built on a different basis. The Stalinist system of relations with the allies was so tough and effective that it did not require the signing of multilateral agreements and the creation of blocs. The decisions taken by Moscow were binding on all countries. The Soviet model of development was recognized as the only acceptable one. States that did not want to be under the strict tutelage of the USSR were subjected to strong political, economic and even military pressure. So, in order to help establish "people's" power in Czechoslovakia, Soviet troops were again brought into this country in February 1948. In 1953, anti-government demonstrations in the GDR were suppressed. Yugoslavia became the only country that managed to get out of Stalin's dictatorship. Its leader I. Broz Tito believed that the Stalinist model of socialism was not suitable for this country. He chooses a path reminiscent of the New Economic Policy, with the assumption of a small amount of private property and small-scale production. Stalin's idea of ​​uniting Yugoslavia and Bulgaria into a single federation also provoked sharp disagreement. A period of mutual slanderous accusations and threats began. In 1949, the USSR severed diplomatic relations with Yugoslavia. This example was followed by all the people's democracies.

The results of the foreign policy activities of Soviet diplomacy in the post-war period are quite contradictory: on the one hand, it contributed to strengthening the positions and expanding the spheres of influence of our state in the world, but on the other hand, it failed to overcome confrontations with the West, which to a large extent