The Yalta-Potsdam system of international relations is a post-war world order, which was formed as a result of two major conferences. In fact, they discussed the results of the global confrontation with fascism. It was assumed that the system of relations would be based on the cooperation of countries that defeated Germany. An important role was assigned to the United Nations, which was to develop appropriate mechanisms for interaction between countries. In this article we will talk about the main features and stages of this system, followed by its collapse associated with the collapse of the USSR.
UN role
The UN occupied an important place in the Yalta-Potsdam system. Already in June 1945, the charter of this organization was signed, in which it was proclaimed that the goals will be to preserve peace on the planet, as well as to help all countries and peoples to freely develop, self-determined. Cultural and economic cooperation was encouraged, much was said about individual freedom and human rights.
The UN was to become in the Yalta-Potsdam international system a global center for coordination of efforts in order to exclude future conflicts and wars between states. This was the main feature of the established world order.
First problems
Insoluble problems appeared almost immediately. The UN faced the inability to guarantee the interests of two leading members - the Soviet Union and the United States. There were constantly contradictions between them, on almost every issue.
As a result, the main function of the UN within the framework of the Yalta-Potsdam international system was to prevent a real armed conflict between these countries. It is worth noting that she coped with this task. After all, it was stability between them that was the key to peace for much of the second half of the 20th century.
In the early 1950s, when the formation of the Yalta-Potsdam system of international relations was just beginning, the bipolar confrontation was not yet so active. It was not felt at all in the Middle East and in Latin America, where the USA and the USSR acted simultaneously, without affecting each other's interests.
In this regard, the Korean War became key, creating the prerequisites for the emergence of the Soviet-American confrontation anywhere in the world.
Arms race
The next stage in the development of the Yalta-Potsdam system of the world takes shape by the mid-50s. The USSR almost completely eliminates the backlog from the United States in the defense industry.
The situation in the world is affected by a change in the balance of forces between the colonial powers. First of all, France, Great Britain and the Netherlands. In international relations, the alignment of European and non-European issues is taking place.
By 1962, tension in the political arena was at its peak. The world is on the verge of a nuclear war capable of destroying it. The highest point of instability was the Caribbean crisis. It is believed that the USSR and the USA did not dare to start the Third World War, imagining how catastrophic the use of such powerful weapons would be.
Easing tension
In the late 60s-70s, the status quo was established in world politics. Despite the existing ideological differences, there has been a tendency towards detente.
The bipolarity of the Yalta-Potsdam system guaranteed some balance in the world. It now had two guarantors that controlled each other. For all their contradictions, both countries were interested in maintaining the prevailing rules of the game. This has become the main characteristic features of the Yalta-Potsdam system of international relations.
An important feature was the tacit recognition of spheres of influence by superpowers. It is noteworthy that the United States did not intervene in the situation in Eastern Europe when Soviet tanks entered Bucharest and Prague during acute political crises in these countries.
Moreover, in the countries of the "third world" there has been a confrontation. The desire of the Soviet Union to influence the politics of some countries in Asia and Africa has led to a number of international conflicts.
Nuclear factor
Another characteristic feature of the Yalta-Potsdam system was the nuclear factor. The Americans were the first to receive the atomic bomb, having managed to use it against Japan in 1945. She appeared in the USSR in 1949. A little later, Britain, France and China took possession of the weapons.
Atomic bombs played a large role in the interaction between the two superpowers when the American monopoly on their possession ended. This provoked a full-scale arms race, becoming an important element of the world order in the Yalta-Potsdam system.
In 1957, the USSR launched the production of ballistic missiles after the launch of the first artificial Earth satellite. Now weapons from Soviet territory could well reach American cities, which instilled fear and uncertainty in the inhabitants of the United States.
Speaking briefly about the Yalta-Potsdam system of international relations, it is worth noting that the nuclear bomb in it has become an instrument of deterrence. As a result, not a single superpower went into full-blown conflict, fearing a retaliatory strike.
Nuclear weapons have become a new argument in international relations. From then on, the country that began to own it made all its neighbors respect themselves. One of the results of the formation of the Yalta-Potsdam system was the stabilizing effect of nuclear potentials on the entire world order. This helped to prevent the escalation of the conflict, which could lead to war.
The nuclear potential had a sobering effect on politicians, forcing them to compare their statements and actions with the existing threat of global catastrophe.
Briefly describing the Yalta-Potsdam system, it is worth noting that this stability was fragile and unstable. The equilibrium was achieved solely due to fear, in addition, local conflicts on the territory of third countries constantly continued. This was the main danger of the existing world order. Moreover, this system of relations turned out to be more stable than the Versailles-Washington one that preceded it, since it did not lead to a world war.
System crash
The collapse of the Yalta-Potsdam system of international relations actually occurred on December 8, 1991. It was then that the leaders of the three Soviet republics (Russia, Belarus and Ukraine) in Belovezhskaya Pushcha signed an agreement on the emergence of the CIS, announcing that the USSR would no longer exist.
Among the former Soviet population, this caused a negative reaction. Three days later, the Constitutional Oversight Committee that existed in the Soviet Union condemned the Bialowieza Agreement, but this had no consequences.
The next day, the document was ratified by the Supreme Council. Russian deputies were recalled from the Armed Forces, after which he lost a quorum. Kazakhstan was the last to declare its independence on December 16.
The CIS, which at first was considered the successor of the USSR, was created at the same time not as a confederation, but as an interstate organization. She still has poor integration, no real power. Despite this, the Baltic republics and Georgia, which later nevertheless joined, nevertheless refused to become members of the CIS.
The collapse of the Yalta-Potsdam system has actually already occurred, although Russia has announced that it will continue to be a member of all international organizations in the place of the Soviet Union. Also, the Russian Federation recognized all Soviet debts. Assets became her property. According to economists, at the end of 1991 Vnesheconombank had about $ 700 million in deposits. Liabilities were estimated at more than 93 billion, and assets at about 110 billion.
The last act of the collapse of the Yalta-Potsdam system of relations was the announcement by Gorbachev of the termination of the duties of the President of the USSR. He made such a statement on December 25. After that, he voluntarily resigned from the Supreme Commander, passing the so-called "nuclear suitcase" to Yeltsin.
On New Year's Eve, the declaration of the termination of the USSR was officially adopted by the upper house of the Supreme Council, which still managed to maintain a quorum. At that time, representatives of Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan continued to sit in it. Also, this last legitimate body of the Soviet government adopted a number of important documents, mainly related to the resignation of senior officials, for example, the head of the State Bank. This day is officially considered the end date of the USSR, the day when the collapse of the Yalta-Potsdam system ended.
At the same time, some Soviet organizations and institutions continued their activities for several more months.
Causes
Discussing the reasons for what happened, historians put forward different versions. The collapse of existing politics in the world was promoted not only by the collapse of the Soviet Union, but also by the Warsaw Treaty Organization, as well as by the significant changes that took place in the countries of the socialist bloc located in Eastern and Central Europe. Instead of the USSR, a dozen independent states were formed, each of which was looking for its place in the world.
Dramatic changes occurred in other parts of the globe. Another symbol of the cessation of the existence of politics between the powers was the unification of Germany, the actual cessation of the Cold War between America and the Soviet Union.
Most researchers agree that the collapse of the USSR became a key factor in the cardinal change in international relations, since it was precisely its existence that determined the dominant bipolar relations in the world. They were based on the formation of two blocs organized on the confrontation of the main military and political opponents, two superpowers. Their advantage over other countries was undeniable. It was determined primarily by the presence of nuclear weapons, guaranteeing mutual destruction if the conflict grew into an active stage.
When one of the superpowers officially ceased to exist, an inevitable demolition occurred in international relations. The world order established after the war against fascism, which dominated the world for several decades, has forever changed.
What led to the collapse of the USSR?
This issue within the framework of the topic under discussion is also of great importance. There are several basic points of view.
Among Western political scientists, the position was firmly established that the collapse of the USSR was predetermined by its loss in the Cold War. Such opinions are extremely popular in Western European countries, as well as in the United States. They quickly established themselves, replacing the amazement of such a rapid collapse of the communist regime.
Here the desire of the opposing side to take advantage of the fruits of victory seems obvious. This is important for the Americans themselves and the rest of the NATO bloc.
It is worth noting that, politically, such a trend poses a certain danger. From a scientific point of view, it is untenable, since it reduces the whole problem exclusively to external factors.
Conference in Beijing
In this regard, the conference held in Beijing in 2000 is of great interest. It was dedicated to the causes of the collapse of the USSR and the impact that it had on Europe. Its organizer was the Academy of Social Sciences of China.
It is no coincidence that such a scientific forum took place in this country. The Chinese authorities began to make changes similar to the Soviet ones in the late 80s, back in 1979, having achieved significant economic results. Moreover, they were worried and alarmed by the socio-economic catastrophe that shocked the USSR.
Then they began a direct study of this issue so as not to repeat the mistakes of the past. According to Chinese researchers, the collapse of the Soviet Union can be regarded as a tragedy for the whole world, which threw civilization back in its development.
They gave such an assessment based on the results that led to subsequent changes. Following their findings, it was the greatest geopolitical change of the 20th century.
Fix death
There is another opinion according to which the USSR did not fall apart in December 1991, but much earlier. The leaders of the three republics gathered in Belovezhskaya Pushcha figuratively acted as pathologists to fix the death of the patient.
According to Russian politician and lawyer, one of the authors of the first constitution of modern Russia, Sergei Shakhrai, three factors became the reasons for the collapse of the Soviet Union.
The first was in one of the articles of the current constitution. She gave the republics the right to secede from the USSR.
The second was the so-called "information virus", which began to actively manifest itself in the late 80s. Amid the economic crisis that erupted at that time, sentiments appeared in many Soviet republics when national governments began to urge that they stop working for Moscow. In the Urals, there were demands to stop helping neighboring republics. At the same time, Moscow blamed the outskirts for losing all its income.
Another reason was autonomy. Perestroika was completely exhausted by the beginning of the 90s. The political center was greatly weakened, the rivalry of Gorbachev and Yeltsin for political leadership grew into an active phase, power began to move to the "lower levels". All this ended in the loss of 20 million of the population of the Soviet Union. The CPSU monolith cracked, the last straw was the coup that occurred in 1991. As a result, 13 out of 15 republics declared sovereignty.
The Yalta-Potsdam order was based on a regulated confrontation between America and the Soviet Union. The existing status quo in the political, diplomatic and military-political fields began to rapidly collapse. Both powers switched to revision, however, for opposite reasons. It was then that the question of the need to coordinate and reform the Yalta-Potsdam order appeared on the agenda. Its participants by that time were already different in their influence and power.
Having become the successor state of the USSR, the Russian Federation was unable to fulfill the functions inherent in bipolarity, since it did not possess the necessary capabilities.
In relations between states, tendencies toward rapprochement of the capitalist and yesterday's socialist states have appeared. Moreover, the international system began to show the features of a "global society."