New balance of power in the international arena. The new balance of power in the international arena after the Second World War
46.New alignment of political forces in the world after the Second World War.
The international situation after World War II was characterized by the strengthening of the position of the Soviet Union. The sphere of Soviet influence included Finland, Poland, Czechoslovakia, Romania, Bulgaria, Hungary, Yugoslavia, and Albania.
Of the six great states of the Western world, only two retained their position - Great Britain (although it survived the collapse of the colonial system) and the USA.
People's democratic revolutions are taking place in central and eastern Europe during which, with the support of the USSR, communist parties come to power. During the first three or four post-war years, a bloc of communist states in the Eastern and South- of Eastern Europe. A world socialist system is emerging.
In 1949 The Chinese communists won the decades-long civil war and proclaimed the creation of the People's Republic of China. A huge centralized Chinese state appeared on the borders of the USSR with a population exceeding the population of the USSR by more than three times.
The task associated with consolidating the victory over racism is being consistently solved. In the first post-war years, preparations are underway for peaceful conversations with Germany's former allies. The final agreement on the texts of the peace treaties was carried out at the Paris Peace Conference (July-October 1946). 21 states participated. The main problem that was considered at this conference was the eradication of fascism, to prevent the revival of fascism. The treaty included articles prohibiting the activities of fascist organizations. Peace talks established post-war territorial changes. A number of articles of peace treaties established restrictions on the armed forces of the defeated states and obliged them to partially compensate for the damage caused to the economies of the victorious parties.
March 5, 1946 Former head of government Churchill gave a speech in the American city of Fulton calling on the English-speaking states to unite, which symbolized the beginning of the Cold War. A frantic arms race has begun in the world, because... each side (socialism, capitalism) wanted to ensure its military advantage. The Soviet Union mobilized enormous funds to create the atomic bomb and quickly caught up with the United States in this. The arms race and political confrontation on all issues between the two opposing systems created an extremely tense and dangerous situation threatening military conflicts.
In April 1949 The North Atlantic Alliance (NATO) was created - military-political bloc, which included the USA, England, France, Italy, Canada, Belgium, Holland, Portugal and other states of Western Europe.
All NATO policies were aimed at undermining the growing influence of socialist countries, expanding US dominance and Western countries in the world. The creation of this bloc significantly complicated the international situation and contributed to the intensification of the Cold War.
In the post-war period, the German question remained one of the most pressing issues in international politics. The Soviet Union consistently implemented the program of three “Ds”: demilitarization, democratization, denazification.
Western countries refuse to implement the agreed solution to the German problem. In the western zones of Germany, the three D program was not implemented. In violation of their obligations, the United States and England concluded on December 2, 1946. agreement on the unification of their occupation zones. This led to the split of the German state, and on September 7, 1949. The proclamation of the Federal Republic of Germany took place. In May 1952 An agreement was signed on the creation of the European Defense Community with the participation of Germany and Western states, which meant the creation of its own army in Germany and its inclusion in the “European army”. This step meant the demilitarization of West Germany.
After the Second World War, the collapse of the colonial system began. The United States began to penetrate into regions that before the war were under the control of England, France and other states. Intense rivalry developed in the Near and Middle East. Rivalry between Israel and Arab countries is intensifying.
In 1947 At the session of the UN General Assembly, it was decided to create two states in Palestine - Arab and Jewish. 05/14/1948 part of Palestine was proclaimed the Jewish state of Israel. Soon a conflict arises between Israel and the Arab states. During military operations, Israel seizes part of the Arab territory of Palestine.
One of the results of the Second World War was the liberation of Korea from Japanese occupation. The Soviet Union withdrew in 1945. Its troops are from North Korea, where the Democratic People's Republic of Korea was formed. South of the 38th parallel (according to the agreement between the USA and the USSR, the borders of military operations in the Far East ran along the 38th parallel), the Republic of Korea was proclaimed with a pro-American
government. On the 38th parallel there were continuous armed clashes that resulted in a war between the North and the South.
The UN, which began its work in January 1946, becomes the military platform for the struggle for peace and international security after the war.
After the war, an organized peace movement emerged and developed. The peace movement covered all continents and countries of the globe.
Thus, the balance of political forces in the world was characterized by confrontation between two systems (socialism and capitalism), regional conflicts, and the creation of a mechanism for resolving hotbeds of tension.
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The balance of power on international arena after the first world war. Peace Plans: Wilson's 14 Points
Wilson program trade principle
By the end of the war, a new balance of power in the world had been determined, which reflected significant changes. A world power - Germany - was defeated, its political status, the question of a peace treaty was urgent. As a result of the October Revolution in Russia, 1/6 of the earth's territory fell away from the general world system. Western powers sought to return it to the world system through military intervention.
The United States entered the international arena as an active contender for world domination. The war enormously enriched the United States of America, turning it into one of the most important creditors in the world: they lent about $10 billion to European countries, of which about $6.5 billion were private American investments. The US ruling circles sought to use their position as a global creditor and their military power by dictating their will at the upcoming peace conference in Paris. Therefore, US interests collided with the aspirations of England and France.
One of the first controversial issues on the eve of the conference was the question of how to reconcile the debts of the Entente powers to the United States of America with the reparations that were supposed to be recovered from Germany, as well as with the general settlement of international debts.
The attitude of the allies to the principle of “freedom of the seas” proclaimed by the United States and the issue of the superiority of fleets was contradictory. Great Britain sought to maintain maritime dominance and expand its colonial empire. It retained the status of a great power after the war, although it was pushed into the background by the United States, becoming their debtor. England suffered considerable losses in the war, which affected industrial production. In the Middle East, England controlled a significant part of the “inheritance” of the Turkish empire; it inherited German colonies in Africa and Oceania. British diplomacy at the peace conference sought to secure its position as the winner in the war, to counteract the growing claims of France in Europe, and, relying on an alliance with Japan, to prevent US hegemony in the world.
France's position remained strong. Despite the fact that it suffered significant material damage and human losses more than others, militarily its position became stronger. The French land army of two million was the largest in Europe. France sought to maximize the economic and military weakening of Germany in order to assert its hegemony on the continent.
New states that arose in political map post-war Europe - Poland, Czechoslovakia, the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes (later Yugoslavia), as well as Romania were supposed to form a chain of French allies on the eastern borders of Germany, replace the former ally - Russia, and become a “cordon sanitaire” between Germany and Russia.
Italy hoped to increase its territory by increasing a number of lands of Austria-Hungary, as well as colonies in Africa, and Japan hoped to strengthen its economic and military potential through the German island colonies in the Pacific Ocean.
Settlement of interstate relations on the basis of peace treaties of 1919-1922. created conditions for political and economic stabilization in the world. In Europe, the Versailles system legalized the process of forming independent nation states. Their number increased due to the collapse of Austria-Hungary and Turkey and the reduction of German territory. Among them are Czechoslovakia, Austria, the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes (since 1929 Yugoslavia), Poland, also the Romanian Kingdom, which expanded its territory (it included Northern Bukovina, Bessarabia and Southern Dobrudja), significantly reduced in size Bulgaria and Hungary. Finland and the Baltic republics appeared in northeastern Europe - Estonia, Lithuania, Latvia.
A significant expansion of the circle of new active participants in European politics was one of its important factors. But the new state-political map of Europe did not always coincide with the ethno-national map: the German people were divided by the borders of several states; in multinational Czechoslovakia and Yugoslavia national question was used for political purposes, became the basis for the growth of separatism and territorial claims and aggravated interstate relations.
Two weakened but potentially influential powers - Soviet Russia and Germany - were actually placed under strict conditions by the victors - the leading Entente countries - outside the Versailles international system. During the interwar period, two main issues arose - Russian and German, which required a joint solution by the international community.
“14 points” by W. Wilson.
After the October Revolution of 1917, Soviet Russia negotiated with Germany and its allies to conclude a separate peace. The Entente countries, trying to prevent the conclusion of a separate peace, developed their own plan for ending the war.
The program of US President William Wilson was of significant importance. On January 8, 1918, in a message to Congress, he outlined a program with peace conditions and principles post-war structure world, which went down in history under the name “14 points”. Wilson's program formed the basis of the peace treaties, the essence of which was the democratic reorganization of the world.
This program included the following principles:
1) open peace negotiations and treaties, thereby non-recognition of all secret treaties and agreements;
2) the principle of freedom of the seas;
3) the principle of free trade - the elimination of customs barriers;
4) establishment of guarantees to ensure arms reduction;
5) impartial settlement of colonial issues;
6) the liberation by Germany of all Russian territories it occupied, providing Russia with the opportunity to determine its national policy and join the community of free nations;
7) liberation and restoration of Belgium;
8) the return to France of the territories occupied by Germany, including Alsace and Lorraine;
9) correction of the borders of Italy;
10) granting autonomy to the peoples of Austria-Hungary;
11) liberation by Germany of the occupied territories of Romania, Serbia and Montenegro; providing Serbia with access to the sea;
12) the independent existence of the Turkish and autonomy of the national parts of the Ottoman Empire, and the opening of the Black Sea straits;
13) creation of an independent Poland;
14) the creation of “a general union of nations (League of Nations) for the purpose of providing mutual guarantees of political independence and territorial integrity to both large and small states.”
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Second World War led to fundamental changes in the world and international relations. Fascist Germany and Italy and militaristic Japan were defeated, war criminals were punished, and international organization- United Nations. All this demonstrated the relative unity of the victorious powers. The great powers reduced their armed forces: the USA from 12 to 1.6 million people, the USSR - from 11.4 to 2.5 million people.
The war led to dramatic changes on the world map. First of all, the United States has become gigantically stronger economically, militarily and politically. This country owned the vast majority of world industrial production and gold and foreign exchange reserves. The USA had a first-class army, became a leader Western world. Germany and Japan were defeated and left the leading countries, others European countries were weakened by the war.
The military and political influence of the USSR increased significantly. However, his international situation It was paradoxical: the country that had won at the cost of great losses was ruined, but despite this, it had the legal right to claim a prominent role in the life of the world community. Economic ruin was offset by military and political advantages. The USSR derived political benefits, in particular, thanks to the vast territory of the countries of South-Eastern Europe under its control. It had the largest army in the world, but at the same time it was far ahead of the USA and Great Britain in the field of military technology.
In general, the position of the USSR changed: it emerged from international isolation and became a recognized great power. The number of countries with which the USSR had diplomatic relations increased compared to the pre-war period from 26 to 52. It became one of the five permanent members of the UN Security Council, along with the USA, England, France and China. The great powers recognized the USSR's right to part of East Prussia, South Sakhalin, and its dominant position in China and North Korea. The Yalta and Potsdam agreements recognized the interests of the USSR in Eastern Europe.
However, with the disappearance of the fascist threat, more and more contradictions began to appear between the former allies. The clash of their geopolitical interests soon led to the collapse of the coalition and the creation of hostile blocs. Allied relations remained until about 1947. However, already in 1945. Serious contradictions emerged, primarily in the struggle for the division of influence in Europe. Amid heightened disagreements, Churchill ordered Field Marshal Montgomery to collect German weapons to arm prisoners in the event the Russians continued their advance into the West.
The top US military and intelligence agencies dramatically changed their assessments of the USSR's military potential and began to develop plans for a future war. In the directive of the Joint Military Planning Committee dated December 14, 1945. No. 432/D outlined the plan for the bombing of the main industrial centers of the USSR. In particular, it was planned to drop 196 atomic bombs on 20 Soviet cities. At the same time, the former allies referred to the USSR’s refusal to implement the Yalta and Potsdam agreements and the threat from the Red Army, located in the center of Europe. Churchill March 5, 1946 in the city of Fulton (USA), in the presence of President Truman, for the first time openly accused the USSR of fencing off Eastern Europe with an “iron curtain”, called for organizing pressure on Russia in order to extract from it both foreign policy concessions and changes in domestic policy . It was a call for open and tough confrontation with Soviet Union. A year later, Truman officially announced US commitments in Europe to curb Soviet expansion and led the West's fight against the Soviet Union.
Indeed, there is evidence from V.M. Molotov that Stalin deliberately refused to fulfill some of the allied obligations of the USSR. Stalin decided to use the victory in the war to realize the age-old Russian dream - the capture of the Bosporus and Dardanelles straits. The USSR demanded that Turkey hand over the provinces of Qara and Ardahan to it, and allow it to build a naval base near the straits. Danger also loomed over Greece, where there was a civil war and communist partisans tried to seize power. Backed by American support, the Greek government crushed the communist uprising and Turkey rejected Soviet demands.
The main attention of the Soviet leadership was focused on putting together a socialist bloc in Europe. The creation of the socialist camp was considered the main achievement after the October Revolution. Taking advantage of the insufficient firmness of the West's positions, Stalin sought to consolidate his influence primarily in Eastern Europe. In these countries, communist parties were supported and opposition leaders were eliminated (often physically). Therefore, the Eastern European countries were dependent on the USSR and conducted their foreign and domestic policies under its control (with the exception of Yugoslavia). In them in 1945 - 1947. There were coalition governments, then they were forcibly replaced by communist power. Only the leader of Yugoslavia IB Tito behaved differently. At one time, he led the struggle of the Yugoslav people against the fascist occupation, created powerful armed forces, without refusing Soviet assistance in the struggle. Taking advantage of his popularity, Tito himself sought to reign supreme in the Balkans and did not want to submit to Stalin’s dictatorship. Moreover, he began to build socialism of a non-Soviet model: his socialism was based not on total state ownership (as was the case in the USSR), but on self-government of enterprises. Stalin achieved the unanimous condemnation of Tito by communist countries and parties as a revisionist, an “agent of imperialism,” in 1949. broke off diplomatic and trade relations with Yugoslavia, forcing its allies to do the same. But he could not remove Tito, although he boasted to his comrades: if you move your little finger, Tito will be gone. This was one of the few episodes in Stalin's career when he was defeated, unable to take revenge on the successful Yugoslav leader.
The Soviet-Yugoslav conflict had the consequence that the myth of the monolithic unity of communist ranks and ideas collapsed. In an attempt to prevent the emergence of new heresies and continuing to impose the Soviet model of socialism, Stalin organized high-profile political trials of prominent party and government figures in the satellite countries. Leaders such as W. Gomulka in Poland, L. Rajk and J. Kadar in Hungary, T. Kostov in Bulgaria, J. Clementis and R. Slansky in Czechoslovakia, A. Tauker in Romania. The purpose of the purges was to eliminate those who allowed the slightest hesitation, replacing them with those who unconditionally supported the policies of the USSR. The establishment of socialist orders cost these countries dearly: more than 120 thousand people were repressed in East Germany (1945 - 1950), in Poland (1944 - 1948) - about 300 thousand, Czechoslovakia (1948 - 1954) - about 150 thousand
The formation of the Soviet bloc paralleled the intensification of confrontation with the West. The turning point was 1947, when the Soviet leadership refused to participate in the Marshall Plan and forced other Eastern European countries to do the same. USA in June 1947 put forward a plan to help European countries in the amount of $13 billion, the vast majority free of charge. The Marshall Plan formally extended to the USSR and was initially greeted favorably by Soviet leaders, who expected to receive assistance under lend-lease terms. However, it soon became clear that the Americans were insisting on the creation of supranational bodies that would identify the resources of countries and determine their needs. This did not suit the USSR, and it refused to participate in the Marshall Plan and did not allow its satellites to accept it. Western European states received him with gratitude. American assistance gave a powerful impetus to the almost crisis-free post-war economic development of Western Europe.
To tighten control over his allies, Stalin (in September 1947 established the Information Bureau of Communist and Workers' Parties - Cominform (he dissolved the Comintern in 1943, hoping that this would contribute to the opening of a second front). Cominform included Eastern European communist parties and Western - Italian and French.In 1949, the socialist countries, as an alternative to the Marshall Plan, formed the Council for Mutual Economic Assistance (CMEA).However, closedness, the absence of a real market, and the free flow of capital did not allow the CMEA countries to achieve economic closeness and integration, as was the case in the West.
The resulting socialist bloc of countries led by the USSR was opposed by an alliance of Western European countries and North America led by the USA, which with the creation in 1949. NATO has finally taken shape. The harsh confrontation between the West and the East contributed to the “correction” of the internal politics of the leading powers. In 1947 under the influence of US ruling circles, communists were removed from the governments of Italy and France. In the United States itself, a test of the loyalty of government officials began; lists of “subversive organizations” were compiled, whose members were expelled from work. Communists and people of leftist views were especially persecuted. In June 1947 The US Congress approved the Taft-Hartley Act, which limited strikes and trade union movements.
The confrontation took on increasingly dangerous contours, and at the end of the 40s, Germany turned out to be the main arena of the struggle. The United States began to send economic assistance to the zones of occupation of Western countries, trying to create a democratic and friendly state in them. Stalin tried to thwart this plan, fearing a revival of German power. He exploited the vulnerability of West Berlin, which was located inside the Soviet occupation zone. On June 24, 1948, following the introduction of West German currency in the western sectors of the city, Soviet troops cut the roads leading to West Berlin. For a whole year, the United States and Great Britain supplied the city via air bridge until Stalin lifted the blockade. By and large, the blockade only damaged Soviet interests: it contributed to the re-election of Truman, who showed firmness towards the USSR, to a second term, the victory of democratic parties in elections in West Germany and West Berlin and the proclamation in these territories in September 1949. Federal Republic of Germany, the formation of the NATO military bloc. In response to the formation of the Federal Republic of Germany, the USSR responded by creating in October 1949. of the German Democratic Republic in its zone of occupation. So Germany was divided into two states.
In the West, the division of Europe has ended. It became obvious that Stalin’s attempts to further expand his sphere of influence here were repulsed. Now the center of confrontation has moved to Asia. In 1949 The Chinese revolution won, and even earlier the communist regime established itself in North Korea. At the end of the 40s, world socialism covered more than 1/4 of the entire earth's land and 1/3 of the world's population. Based on this circumstance, and also taking into account the availability communist movement In Western countries, the leaders of the Soviet bloc and China were apparently inclined to believe that it was possible to change the existing balance of forces in the world in their favor. In February 1950, the leaders of the USSR and China signed a mutual assistance agreement for a period of 30 years.
Next, Stalin organized a large-scale international adventure on the Korean Peninsula. He played a decisive role in initiating the Korean War (1950 - 1953), in which more than a million people died on both sides. The war began with an attack by North Korea on South Korea. Despite this, communist propaganda claimed the opposite. However, the UN Security Council unmistakably stated “an armed attack on the Republic of Korea by North Korean troops.” According to his decision, US troops and 15 other states intervened in the conflict under the UN flag.
Stalin did not want the Americans to catch him preparing for war, but wanted them to openly participate in Korean War only Chinese. He confirmed his willingness to equip 60 Chinese infantry divisions. Stalin ordered the formation of a special corps to cover China and the North Koreans. In total, during the war in Korea, 15 Soviet aviation and several anti-aircraft artillery divisions received combat practice. There was a strict order: not a single adviser or pilot should be captured. Soviet aircraft had Chinese insignia, and the pilots wore Chinese or Korean uniforms. Soviet pilots and anti-aircraft gunners shot down 1,309 American aircraft. About 300 Soviet pilots and advisers died.
IN last years Stalin's life attracted special attention to the region of the Bering Strait and Alaska. It was here that the active deployment of the USSR armed forces began. Since the early 50s, airfields and military bases were created. In the spring of 1952 Stalin decided to urgently form 100 divisions of front-line jet bombers. Preparations for a new world war took place in close proximity to the US borders. In the event of war, America faced the threat of massive air strikes and invasion by ground forces. Humanity as a whole was on the verge of a third world war with terrible consequences. Fortunately, Stalin's plans were not destined to come true, and his successors had a different vision in solving the problem of war and peace.
The geopolitical situation in Europe and the world after the First World War has undergone significant changes. The system of world balance of the post-war period was disrupted by two factors: the Treaty of Versailles, which placed Germany in the most humiliating conditions, and the 1917 revolution in Russia. Both factors will become the source of new social upheavals and the Second World War: the first because such humiliation of an entire nation could not but push it towards revanchist sentiments; the second - due to the policies of the Bolsheviks, who led Russia to international isolation (due to refusal to pay the debts of the tsarist government and a separate withdrawal from the war) and proclaimed a course towards a world proletarian revolution.
The Treaty of Versailles put Germany in an extremely difficult situation, in fact, in international isolation. This was facilitated both by the policy of the victorious powers, which placed it in an unequal position in the European community, and by the policy of Soviet Russia, which was in a similar position and therefore became a kind of “natural ally” of Germany, which took advantage of the situation and, blackmailing the victorious countries with the possibility of the formation of a German -Soviet Union, forced them to make certain concessions. Another reason for France, England and the United States to want an economic revival of Germany was that the impoverished country that Germany had become simply could not pay the huge reparations imposed on it.
France found itself in the most difficult situation: having lost its natural continental ally - Russia, it gained in the neighborhood a potentially more dangerous enemy than before the war - Germany. In addition, the French were worried about the Soviet-German rapprochement. Throughout the 20s - 30s. France will try to correct the situation by creating a system of alliances with the “small” countries of Europe (Poland, Czechoslovakia, Yugoslavia, Romania). All this - together with the position of England, which had more moderate views on the position of Germany (caused by Great Britain's reluctance to French dominance on the continent) - made it very difficult to achieve the main goal of French foreign policy - maintaining the situation in Europe in the form in which it had formed after world war.
The only country for which the war brought positive changes was the United States of America, which turned from a European debtor into the largest creditor. Two directions have emerged in American foreign policy: traditional - isolationist - and new, internationalist. Supporters of the first insisted on the rejection of “automatic” participation in European affairs and extreme caution in matters of taking on international obligations. Supporters of the second spoke about the “historic mission” of the United States, calling it the world’s first free country and a stronghold of democracy, whose mission is to bring the light of the liberal idea to all countries and peoples. The struggle of these trends ended in the victory of the internationalists. As a result, the interwar world turned out to be structured in such a way that practically no serious problem of European politics could be solved without American participation. The USA continued to Peaceful time invest in Europe, which, combined with the policy of protectionism towards European goods, which denied them access to the US domestic market, also adversely affected the European situation.
Naturally, the United States could not help but offer its own version of the solution to the German question. This plan was the Dawes reparation plan, which was supposed to ensure that Germany would continue to pay reparations (and at the same time open the German market to America as much as possible). His most important task was to stabilize the German mark by providing Germany with a loan of 200 million dollars (of which more than half came from American banks). This plan established the size of payments to Germany and the control of the Allies over the German state budget, finances and railways. In 1929, due to the slow recovery of the German economy, this plan was revised. New plan(Young's plan) provided for a slight reduction in the amount of annual payments and the elimination of foreign control bodies. The adoption of Jung's plan had one distant but very important consequence: it was during its approval that an agreement was reached on the withdrawal of Allied troops from the Rhineland. This happened in the summer of 1930 and allowed Hitler to send German troops there in March 1936.
The First World War brought Japan into the ranks of active players in the world political arena, becoming a powerful dominant force in Asia and the Pacific. Decades behind Western countries in technology, it needed colonies where it could export its products without fear of competition from Western goods. Conflicting interests with the United States and Great Britain led to the rupture of the Anglo-Japanese Alliance in 1921; As for the United States, for them Japan never ceased to be a potential enemy. All this led to a rapprochement between Japan and Germany, which resulted in their alliance in World War II.
The entire 20s were marked by the problem of the allies' debts to each other and the reparation payments that they were supposed to receive from Germany. The main creditor was the USA, and the main debtors were France, Italy, Belgium and the UK. And when the United States demanded the repayment of debts, the allies offered to write off their debt in whole or in part, arguing that the provision of loans was the American contribution to the victory over Germany. And although the United States understood a certain truth of such statements, such a solution to the problem did not suit them at all. Negotiations on this issue lasted four years (from 1922 to 1926) and ended with an agreement that provided for the return of $2.6 billion, that is, a little more than a quarter of the originally requested amount.
As for the problem of reparations, here too there were serious contradictions between the allies, and, above all, on the issue of the dependence of inter-allied debts on the payment of German reparations: France considered them strictly interconnected and assumed to pay its debts from what it received from Germany, and the USA and Britain considered German reparations a separate issue. Moreover, Great Britain believed that it was more important that the ruin of Germany, which had already suffered greatly from the war, through reparations would slow down the recovery of European industry as a whole and reduce international trade flows. However, France categorically insisted on receiving reparations. Such a tough position of France can be explained by the fact that, in comparison with Great Britain and the USA, it suffered much more from Germany - if only because military operations were directly carried out on its territory.
Numerous attempts to achieve a compromise on this issue did not lead to success, and on December 26, 1922, the reparation commission, by three votes to one, stated that Germany had failed to fulfill its reparation obligations and, as a result, declared Germany in default, which (according to the Treaty of Versailles) gave France the right to occupy the Rhineland and Ruhr. Meanwhile, social inequality and unemployment grew in Germany. Anti-Versailles sentiments were superimposed on the social tensions usual in such conditions: the Germans accused the great powers of intending to completely ruin the country with reparations. The desire of the communists to subjugate these anti-government and anti-foreign sentiments and direct them into a revolutionary direction did not contribute to the detente of the situation. All this was accompanied by a rise in anti-Semitism, partly provoked by the influx of wealthy Jewish emigrants from Poland to Germany (where, under the Pilsudski regime, anti-Semitism became almost state policy). Since this emigration coincided with the deterioration of the economic situation in Germany, the newcomers were blamed for this.
The occupation of the Rhineland escalated the situation to the limit, which resulted in armed uprisings and protests by both left and right forces, which, however, were poorly prepared and suppressed. As a result, a state of emergency was declared in the country. Great Britain and the United States blamed France for the aggravation of the situation in Germany and put it at risk of isolation by signing agreements with Germany at the end of 1923 to provide it with loans. From now on, in its confrontation with France, Germany could firmly count on the help of London and Washington.
The shocks caused by the consequences of the First World War subsided by 1924. At this time, important changes began to occur in the world associated with the change in the role and place of the social democratic movement in public life. political life states This was manifested by the “entry into power” of social democratic parties, either becoming part of a number of coalition governments, or even forming them independently, and the strengthening of the influence of reformist ideas in the ranks of social democracy. Both of these points were both a consequence and a reason that the theory and practice of social democratic parties increasingly acquired a reformist orientation with an emphasis on the gradual peaceful transformation of capitalist society into socialist society. The leaders of social democracy considered their main task to be participation in the work of the parliamentary system and the restructuring of the capitalist economy through “equal business cooperation” between workers and entrepreneurs, as well as through the adoption of social legislation.
Representatives communist parties Absolutized the tendencies of the acute crisis of capitalism, on the basis of which they demanded an immediate armed and uncompromising struggle for power. Most of these parties, united in the Communist International (Comintern), were under the strong influence of the All-Union Communist Party (Bolsheviks), which was the reason for such a position.
The changing role of social democracy in political life European countries was evidence of the growing crisis of traditional forms of statehood in the post-war process of European development. However, if in countries with established traditions of bourgeois democracy this process proceeded quite peacefully, then in countries where democratic traditions had not yet taken root, the liberal-reformist path of changing the political structure of society turned out to be extremely difficult, or even impossible. Here, the place of social democracy was often taken by reactionary mass movements, which ultimately led to the elimination of bourgeois democracy and the establishment of totalitarian dictatorships of various kinds (fascism) or other, more traditional forms of authoritarian dictatorial regimes.
In general, we can say that in the 1920s two trends emerged in the political development of states: liberal-reformist (based on the further development of parliamentary democracy, the implementation of reforms and the involvement of leaders of socialist or social democratic parties in the highest bodies of power); totalitarian, associated with the establishment of fascist and other dictatorial regimes.
After World War II, the balance of power in the international arena changed dramatically. The world has become bipolar: the leading role in it began to be played by two superpowers, the USA and the USSR. During the war years, the military-industrial complex quickly developed in the USA, which allowed the Americans to have one of the most powerful armies in the world. The United States emerged from the war as the richest country - the vast majority of world industrial production and the gold and foreign exchange reserves of Western countries were concentrated here. At the same time, European countries were weakened by the war and the beginning of the collapse of the colonial system, and Germany and Japan, after military defeat, dropped out of the ranks of world leaders.
The USSR had enormous influence as a country that played a decisive role in the defeat of fascism and the liberation of Eastern Europe. In addition, the USSR relied on enormous economic and military potential.
a) Creation of the UN.
The Potsdam Conference laid the foundations for the post-war world order; its decisions could ensure stability and cooperation in Europe for many years.
One of the most important elements of the post-war world order was the creation of the United Nations. Its creation began with a conference of 50 states in San Francisco in April 1945. The UN Charter was adopted on June 26, 1945. Officially, the organization has existed since October 24, 1945 - to this day the UN Charter was ratified by Great Britain, China, the USSR, the USA, France (permanent members of the Security Council) and most other signatory states. The main goals of the UN were to maintain international peace and security through full cooperation among peoples.
The governing bodies of the UN are the annual General Assembly (general meeting of all members) and the Security Council. Decisions are made by majority vote based on the equality of all members. But at the same time, the principle of unanimity of the great powers (they are permanent members of the Security Council) is observed: no decision can be made if at least one of them votes against.
Cooperation between UN members is carried out through a system of numerous councils, committees and other bodies. The UN has the right to impose economic sanctions and use force against individual states (as decided by the Security Council).
b) The beginning of the Cold War
The Potsdam system of international relations opened up wide opportunities for cooperation between states with different socio-economic systems. But in practice, the desire for hegemony won. Fearing the growing influence of socialism, the former partners of the USSR in the anti-Hitler coalition began to worsen relations with their former ally. This marked the beginning of the Cold War, in which the United States played a leading role.
The Cold War is a confrontation between two world systems using all means except direct military action between the superpowers. The main directions of this confrontation were:
1) arms race, creation of military blocs, outbreak of local conflicts;
2) economic blockade, the struggle for the economic division of the world into spheres of influence;
3) psychological warfare, aggravation of ideological confrontation.
The beginning of the Cold War is associated with W. Churchill’s speech at the Fulton Military Academy (USA) in March 1946, where he called for “putting up an iron curtain on communism.” The Cold War manifested itself most clearly in the first post-war years in the following.
Economic blockade of the USSR and Eastern European countries that refused to accept the American “Marshall Plan”, according to which the United States provided financial assistance to countries affected by World War II, but controlled its spending;
The split of Germany (in violation of the Potsdam Agreements) and the formation of the Federal Republic of Germany, the GDR and West Berlin;
The creation of the military-political NATO bloc (1949), which united the USA, Canada and a number of Western European countries, which created a direct military threat to the USSR and Eastern Europe;
Race of nuclear and conventional weapons;
The Korean War (1950-1953), in which the United States took part on the one hand (based on a decision of the UN Security Council, adopted in the absence of the Soviet delegation), and on the other, the USSR and China.
c) The formation of the world system of socialism
After World War II, communists came to power in a number of countries in Eastern Europe and Southeast Asia. As a result, in the period 1944-1949. has developed world system socialism, in which the USSR played a leading role.
The USSR provided these states with comprehensive assistance. He immediately established diplomatic relations with the new governments, thereby thwarting the possibility of their international isolation and political blockade. The USSR defended their interests in the UN, using its advantage as a permanent member of the Security Council.
The USSR concluded treaties of friendship and mutual assistance with socialist countries. These agreements became the basis for the development of further cooperation between socialist countries.
In the first post-war years, the USSR provided these states with significant economic assistance, transferring some of the captured equipment to them, selling them raw materials and food at reduced prices, providing loans, and sending its specialists. In 1952, the USSR transferred its rights to manage the CER to the People's Republic of China. Trade agreements between the USSR and socialist countries were based on the most favored nation regime. The logical conclusion of this process was the creation in 1949 of the Council for Mutual Economic Assistance, which included Bulgaria, Hungary, Poland, Romania, the USSR, Czechoslovakia, Albania (withdrew in 1961), and the GDR (since 1950).
To coordinate the actions of communist parties, the Information Bureau (Cominform) was created in 1947. But in 1949, a conflict occurred between the leaders of the USSR and Yugoslavia. The Yugoslav leadership defended its path of building socialism; Stalin believed that only the Soviet option was possible. As a result, the Yugoslav communists were expelled from the Cominform. This conflict split the world communist movement.
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