The USSR against the USA is a global military, ideological, political, economic confrontation of the second half of the last century. One of the main components of the confrontation was the ideological struggle between the socialist and capitalist models of government. In addition, the efforts of opposing countries were aimed at dominating the political sphere.
The Cold War: A History of the Term
The term was first used by George Orwell in the publication You and the Atomic Bomb in a British periodical. According to Orwell, the appearance of the atomic bomb could lead to the emergence of two or three superpowers that would divide the world among themselves, possessing weapons that could destroy most of the world's population in just a few seconds. After the conference in Moscow in March 1945, the writer was afraid that an atomic war would begin soon, but the USSR against the USA was not the confrontation that should be expected. George Orwell spoke about the Union’s action against Great Britain. In an official setting, the term was first used by adviser to President Harry Truman, Bernard Baruch.
The beginning of the cold war
After the end of World War II and a new redivision of the world, the United States began to fear the spread of Soviet influence not only in Eastern Europe, but throughout the world as a whole. They did not add hopes for maintaining the leading position of the socialist regimes in Latin America and the revolution in Cuba. So the United States began to perceive the USSR as a real threat. But Soviet authors argued that the policy of imperialism is connected with the interests of monopolists, and also aims to strengthen the capitalist system.
It was possible to carry out a division in the world by sphere of influence after the Yalta Conference, but US aggression against the USSR did not stop before the established agreements. Of course, the Soviet Union also did not lag behind in this, retaliatory measures were taken immediately. In April 1945, Winston Churchill spoke about the active preparation of a plan in case of a possible war with the USSR, and in March of the following year he delivered a speech in the direction of the USSR. That is what is considered the reason for the beginning of the Cold War.
Kennan's Long Telegram
“Long Telegram” is the well-known name of the message from the US Embassy in Moscow, in which the deputy ambassador pointed out the impossibility of cooperation with the USSR. According to the diplomat, it is necessary to confront Soviet expansion and build US plans against the USSR, because the authorities of the Soviet Union (in his opinion) respect only force. The deputy ambassador himself, George F. Kennan, later became known as the "architect of the Cold War."
Threat of nuclear war
The Caribbean crisis is not the only stage of the Cold War when it was possible to use nuclear weapons, but one of the most famous. The reason for the escalation of the conflict was that on October 27, 1962, a US reconnaissance aircraft was shot down by an anti-aircraft gun over Cuban territory. This day is usually called Black Saturday, which served as the beginning of the Caribbean crisis, at any time at risk of developing into World War III. The reasons for the escalation of the confrontation are called the deployment in Cuba of military units and weapons of the USSR, including nuclear weapons. The USSR’s strategy against the United States was deterrent, in response to the deployment of missiles in Europe, the Soviets deployed weapons in Cuba.
Another event of those years when it was likely that the opposing countries would use nuclear weapons occurred exactly one year before the start of the Caribbean crisis. On October 27, 1961, in Berlin, American and Soviet tanks were opposite each other, but the US’s confrontation with the USSR did not go into a hot phase then. The event’s history went down as “an incident at Checkpoint Charlie.”
Khrushchev "thaw"
The threat of world war the United States against the USSR retreated with the coming to power of Nikita Khrushchev. In 1955, the Warsaw Pact was signed, which formalized the creation of a union of socialist states with the leading role of the USSR. It was an adequate response to Germany’s joining NATO. In 1959, Khrushchev visited the United States - the first ever visit by the Soviet leader to America took place. Despite the warming of relations between the giants of the world political arena, this period saw the appearance of workers in the GDR, the general strike in Poland, the Suez crisis and the anti-communist uprising in Hungary.
Detente of international tension
The nuclear arms race continued, but Brezhnev (unlike his predecessors) was not inclined to risky adventures outside the sphere of influence of the USSR and extravagant actions, so that the seventies were held under the slogan "detente of international tension." A joint flight into space between Soviet and American cosmonauts took place, an Agreement on Security and Cooperation in Europe was concluded, and arms reduction treaties were signed.
A new round of confrontation
The Western countries perceived the entry of Soviet troops into Afghanistan as the transition of the USSR to expansion. In response, the United States launched the production of neutron weapons. Another situation contributed to the aggravation of the situation - in the fall of 1983, a South Korean airliner was shot down by Soviet air defenses. America then switched to open support for anti-Soviet and anti-communist movements; in 1985, the Reagan Doctrine was adopted.
The end of the cold war
The opposition of the USSR against the USA has changed significantly since 1987. In the Soviet Union, a transition to a new political movement took place, pluralism and the priority of universal values ​​over class values ​​were proclaimed. The confrontation in ideology and the military-political sphere from this time began to lose its former sharpness. The USSR itself then experienced a deep crisis, and in December 1991 the country finally ceased to exist. The cold war is over.