Scientific and technological revolution in the second half of the twentieth century. Scientific and technological revolution of the second half of the twentieth century
Third Republic.
Turkey after World War II. The role of the Turkish state in world politics. Turkey's relative weakness in the international arena and its reasons.
Turkey 1945 - 1960 The main tendencies of domestic and foreign policy during the crisis of the First Republic.
The Kemalist regime and its evolution. Ismet Inonu as a politician and statesman in the history of Turkey. Crisis phenomena in politics and ideology, economics and social relations, their main causes. The decline in the prestige of the Republican People's Party / CHP / in the general population. Social upsurge in the second half of the 40s. XX century. Raising the demand for the democratization of the Turkish state and society. The beginning of the process of forming a multi-party system. The split of the CHP and the formation of the Democratic Party / DP, 1946 /. Creation and activity of the Socialist Workers 'and Peasants' Party of Turkey / SRKPT, 1946 /. The desire of the Kemalists to stabilize the political situation and maintain a monopoly on power. Parliamentary elections in 1950 and the defeat of the CHP.
The coming to power of the DP government. Political portraits and activities of Djelal Bayar and Adnan Menderes. Revision of the policy of statism and the formation of a state-bureaucratic stratum of the large Turkish bourgeoisie. Attracting foreign capital and taking the last leading positions in the Turkish economy. Pushing into the background medium and small national entrepreneurship. Limited reforms in agriculture and the cultivation of a stratum of large agrarians of the capitalist type. Partial rejection of the policy of laicism and a certain bias towards the Islamization of public life. Decrease in the rate of economic growth and aggravation of social contradictions. The onset of reaction, violation of constitutional rights and freedoms. “Trial 167” in Istanbul / October 1953 / and fanning anti-communist hysteria in Turkey. Further aggravation of the internal situation. Economic and financial crises, sharp impoverishment of the population and polarization of the main socio-political forces. Strike movement, agrarian riots and student unrest. Fall of the First Republic.
Subordination of Turkey's foreign policy to US interests. "Truman Doctrine" and the conclusion of a military-political alliance between the United States and Turkey / March - July 1947 /. Extension of the Marshall Plan to Turkey / July 1948 /. The country's transformation into a strategic foothold for the United States at the southern borders of the USSR and the socialist countries of South-Eastern Europe, in the Near and Middle East. Turkey's participation in the Korean War / 1950 - 1953 /, NATO membership / 1951 / and CENTO / 1955 - 1959 /. Deteriorating relations with the USSR.
Turkey in 1960 - 2000 Second and Third Republics. Alternating military and civilian governments. The role of the army in the political life of the country. Causes and nature of military coups in Turkey.
Military coup on May 27, 1960 in Turkey. Overthrow of the DP regime, arrest and prosecution of D. Bayar, A. Menderes and their closest associates. Dissolution of the government and the Turkish Grand National Assembly / VNST /, banning the activities of political parties. The transfer of power into the hands of the National Unity Committee / KNE / headed by General Gürsel. Moderates and radicals in the KNU, their views on the problems of Turkey's domestic and foreign policy. The struggle for the choice of the course of the country's development, the victory of the moderates and the ousting of the radicals from the KNE. Convocation of the Constituent Assembly / May 1961 /, adoption of the Constitution of the Second Republic, its main provisions. Transition to civilian rule. A new stage in the formation of a multi-party system. Creation of parties of bourgeois-liberal orientation - the Party of Justice / PS, 1961 / and the Party of New Turkey / PNT, 1961 /. Renewal of the activity of the CHP and its evolution into a party of the social democratic type. Activation of democratic and progressive forces, the formation of the Workers' Party of Turkey / RPT, 1961 /. Coalition government in Turkey and one-party PS cabinets. Memorandum of the Turkish Armed Forces Command / March 12, 1971 / and a shift to the right in the political life of the country.
The main trends in the socio-economic development of Turkey in the era of the Second Republic. Fifteen-year program of industrialization of the country and its implementation / 1963 - 1977 /. Impact of the world economic downturn 1973-1975 to Turkey. Decrease in the rate of industrial development and stagnation in agriculture. Aggravation of social problems, growth of unemployment in cities, agrarian overpopulation in the countryside, labor emigration of Turkish citizens to Western Europe.
The growing crisis in the political life of Turkey during the 70s. XX century. The regrouping of forces in the camp of the parties of the bourgeois-liberal and centrist orientation. The split of the CHP and the formation of the Republican Party of Confidence / RPD, 1972 /. Entry of PNT into the PS / 1973 /. Consolidation of conservative forces and the emergence of political Islamism in Turkey. Creation of the Nationalist Movement Party / PND, 1972 / and the National Salvation Party / PNS, 1972 /. Rivalry in the struggle for power between the PS, the CHP and the RPD. Coalition government and its costs. The main political figures of the Second Republic are Fakhri Koruturk / PS /, Suleiman Demirel / PS /, Bulent Ecevit / NRP /, Turhan Feyzioglu / RPD /, Alparslan Turkesh / PND / and Nejmettin Erbakan / PNS /, their characteristics. Rampant left and right extremism in Turkey, a wave of anarchy and terror. Failure of civilian governments to pull the country out of the political impasse. Memorandum of the Turkish Armed Forces Command / January 1, 1980 / and its consequences. The meeting of the National Security Council / SNB / on January 22, 1980 as the last attempt at a peaceful resolution of the crisis situation. Fall of the Second Republic.
Foreign policy of Turkey in the era of the Second Republic. Refusal from a one-sided orientation towards the United States, Turkey's revision of the terms of the military-political union of the two states. Activation and expansion of political, economic and other contacts with the FRG and other countries of Western Europe. Normalization of relations with the USSR and the implementation of a number of joint economic projects. Cyprus crisis and confrontation with Greece. The invasion of the Turkish army into Cyprus under the pretext of protecting ethnic Turks - the inhabitants of the island / July 20, 1974 /, its consequences. Turkey's participation in the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe and its signing of the Final Act / Helsinki, August 1975 /.
Military coup on September 12, 1980 in Turkey. The elimination of the government of S. Demirel, the dissolution of the VNST and the suspension of the activities of political parties. The transfer of power into the hands of the SNB, headed by General Kenan Evren. Formation and activity of the non-partisan cabinet of Bulent Ulus from among the politicians and technocrats of the conservative wing. Political quarantine in Turkey and gradual normalization of the situation. National referendum and adoption of the Constitution of the Third Republic / November 1982 /, its main provisions. The transition to civilian rule and the re-creation of a multi-party system. Party building in the Third Republic and its features. Party of the center-right, bourgeois-liberal orientation - the Party of the Fatherland. / PO, 1983 / and the Party of the Right Way / PVP, 1983 /. Parties with a center-left, social democratic orientation - the Democratic Left Party / DLP, 1983 / and the Social Democratic Populist Party / SDPP, 1983 /. The crisis and split of the SDPP, the formation of a new Republican People's Party on its basis / CHP, 1992-1995 /. Parties of right-wing nationalist and Islamist orientation - Nationalist Labor Party / NTP, 1983 /, Welfare Party / PB, 1983 / and Justice and Development Party / AKP, 2000 /
Evolution of the political system of the Third Republic. One-party PO offices and coalition government with the participation of the PVP, SDNP and PB. The growth of nationalist, pan-Turkic and Islamic-fundamentalist tendencies in Turkish society and state. The victory of the Islamists in the parliamentary elections in November 2002 and the coming to power of the AKP government. A significant change in the balance of power in the political spectrum of Turkey in favor of conservatives and retrogrades, its reasons. The position of the army circles in the current situation. The main political figures of the Third Republic are Kenan Evren, Turgut Ozal and Mesut Yilmaz / PO /, Suleiman Demirel and Tansu Chiller / PVP /, Bulent Ecevit / DLP /, Deniz Baikal / NRP /, Alparslan Türkesh / NTP /, NejmettinB / Erbakan , Abdullah Gul and Recep Tayyip Erdogan / AKP /, Ahmed Nejded Sezer.
Kurdish problem in Turkey. Refusal of the Turkish authorities to recognize the Kurds' right to national self-determination. The policy of forcible assimilation of the Kurds. Liberation movement in Turkish Kurdistan and its organizational forms, means and methods of struggle. The Kurdistan Workers' Party / PKK, 1979 / and the Kurdistan Liberation Army / KLA, 1984 /. Abdullah Ocalan as the leader of the Turkish Kurds.
A qualitative leap in the socio-economic development of Turkey in the era of the Third Republic. T. Ozal as an architect of Turkish reforms. Rejection of the catch-up development model based on import substitution and transition to an export-oriented model. Reform of the financial system in the spirit of monetarism and conversion of the national currency. Privatization and limitation of the mechanism of state regulation of the economy. Stimulating the development of medium and small businesses in the city and countryside. Cancellation of the state monopoly of foreign trade. Changes in the social structure of Turkish society due to urbanization. The emergence of the middle class. The transformation of Turkey into an industrial-agrarian country with an average level of development of capitalism. Costs of reforms. The rise in inflation and the decline in the rate of industrial construction in the mid-90s. XX century. High level of unemployment, stagnation of wages of people working on the border, housing crisis, low level of medical care, underdeveloped social security system.
The main tendencies of Turkish foreign policy at the end of the XX century. Transformation of foreign policy concepts of the Turkish state after the end of the Cold War. Preservation and strengthening of the military-political alliance between Turkey and the United States. Turkey's role in NATO. Ankara's position during the Yugoslav and Iraqi crises. The problem and prospects of Turkey's accession to the EU. Evolution of relations with Arab states and Iran. Cooperation between Turkey and Israel. Ankara's claims to the role of regional leader in Central and South-West Asia. An attempt to create an Islamic G8 comprising Turkey, Iran, Pakistan, Egypt, Malaysia, Indonesia and Nigeria / Istanbul, January 1997 /.
Russia and Turkey in the post-confrontation era. "Treaty on the fundamentals of relations between the Russian Federation and the Turkish Republic" / May 25, 1992 / and its meaning. Activation and expansion of contacts in the political, economic, scientific and cultural spheres. Creation of the Organization of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation / BSEC, June 1992 /. Implementation of the Blue Stream project, commissioning of the Russia - Black Sea - Turkey gas pipeline. Participation of Turkish firms in joint projects in Russia. Shuttle business and tourism as forms of public diplomacy. Prospects for mutually beneficial cooperation between the two countries.
Turkey and the states of Central Asia and the Caucasus are members of the CIS. Pan-Turkism and the revival of the idea of the "Great Turan". Turkish penetration into Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan. Dialogue with Georgia and the blockade of Armenia. Ankara's position on conflicts in the post-Soviet space.
The overall result of the political and socio-economic development of Turkey in the second half of the XX century.
Internal situation
After the war, the standard of living of the population fell sharply, especially in the western, very ruined parts of the country (Belarus, Ukraine).
Members of almost every family in the USSR became victims of the Second World War (every fourth person died in Belarus). After the war, many orphans remained in the country, the number of women significantly exceeded the number of men. For another 20 years after the war, advertisements appeared in newspapers about the search for loved ones lost during the Second World War.
Renewal of terror
Thanks to the victory in the Second World War, the personality cult of Stalin was strengthened and terror gradually resumed, and lack of freedom increased. The prisoners of war who returned from Germany were accused of treason and exiled to the Gulag camps.
International situation
Russia, as one of the victorious countries, has again acquired great international political weight.
Yalta conference
On February 4-11, 1945, a meeting of the leaders of the three countries of the anti-Hitler coalition took place in Yalta - the USA, Great Britain, and the USSR.
The conference made the main decisions on the future division of the world between the winning countries. Each victorious power had power in the territories where its troops were located.
Satellite states of the USSR
Several years after the end of the war, communist parties came to power in many states of Eastern and Central Europe with the support of Moscow.
"Iron curtain" divided Europe into obedient Moscow socialist camp and western countries. The political institutions, economic and social organization, and cultural life of the socialist countries were transformed along the Soviet lines.
Cold War
The Cold War, a period of geopolitical confrontation between the allied blocs of the USSR and the United States, began around 1946 (lasted until the collapse of the USSR). Almost the entire world was divided into two political blocs - capitalist (with the military organization NATO) and socialist (Warsaw Pact Organization). When the 1980 Olympic Games took place in Moscow, athletes from Western countries refused to come.
Both camps were promoting their own ideology and discrediting enemy countries. To prevent the penetration of Western thinking into the Soviet Union, cultural and intellectual exchange with non-communist countries was banned.
Each side accumulated huge stocks of weapons, including nuclear ones.
Death of Stalin
In 1953, Stalin died, which marked the beginning of the curtailment of the campaign of terror and repression in the USSR.
Thaw (1955-1964)
In 1955 he became the party leader and head of the USSR.
Report on Stalin's personality cult
In 1956, at a special meeting of the 20th Party Congress, Khrushchev made a report on the personality cult of Stalin. This report gave impetus to criticism of Stalinism and the softening of the regime. In subsequent years, the name of Stalin was actually banned.
Khrushchev's reforms
- thousands of political prisoners were released from the camps and rehabilitated.
- Translations of contemporary Western writers have appeared. The Moscow Kremlin was opened to tourists. However, jamming of foreign radio stations continued.
- Travel restrictions overseas have been eased.
- Khrushchev tried to reorganize industry (he paid more attention to the production of consumer goods and housing construction) and to raise the lagging agriculture (mainly corn crops were increased, which was imposed even on those areas where natural conditions were unsuitable).
- Between 1950 and 1965 the volume of oil production has increased many times.
- Large scientific and industrial centers are emerging in Siberia (bureaucratic procedures were less rigid there, many young people moved here).
- Crimea was transferred to Ukraine.
- The start of the space program - on April 12, 1961, the first man, Yu.A. Gagarin, flew into space.
Stagnation (1964-1984)
As a result of a party coup in 1964, Khrushchev was removed from power.
New Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev quickly curtailed Khrushchev's reforms, and a ban was put in the name of Khrushchev for 20 years.
Economy
- Economic growth in the country slowed down significantly.
- Most of the funding was spent on the military industry and the space program.
- Consumer goods, the production of which was not given sufficient attention, were of poor quality, but in conditions of scarcity and the absence of external competition, even they were instantly sold out. People went to the capital for shopping. Long lines lined up in stores.
- The external debt of the USSR increased rapidly.
Atmosphere in society
- The society was stratified - party and state leaders received different privileges. (They, for example, could use special shops to buy high-quality products and imported goods, special medical institutions, sanatoriums, watch films inaccessible to the people.) The population suffered from a constant shortage. However, at present, some Russians recall this era with nostalgia - education and medical care were received free of charge, there was order in the country.
- The moral qualities of society were spoiled.
- Alcohol consumption increased 4 times.
- The ecological situation and health of the population deteriorated.
Dissident movement
The opposition to the regime was the dissident movement (A.I.Solzhenitsyn, academician A.D. Sakharov). The democratic movement included writers, artists, scholars, religious leaders, relatives of victims of Stalin's purges, and representatives of repressed minority groups.
The authorities imprisoned their political opponents, in contrast to previous times, also in psychiatric hospitals. World-renowned dissidents were forced to emigrate.
Occupation of Czechoslovakia
In August 1968, the troops of the five Warsaw Pact countries, led by the USSR, suppressed the Czechoslovak reform movement Prague Spring... Thus, all hopes for the countries of the socialist camp to develop their own models of society were destroyed.
After Brezhnev died in 1982, he was replaced first Yu.V. Andropov and then K.U. Chernenko... Both deep and sick old people, they too soon died.
Gorbachev's reforms (1985-1991)
In 1985, he took up the post of Secretary General Mikhail Gorbachev... The personality of this leader of the USSR and his historical role still cause an ambiguous reaction among historians, political scientists and the Russian population in general.
With Gorbachev, there was a change in political style. He was a calm, but energetic, smiling, good orator; The USSR received a relatively young leader (at 54, he was 20 years younger than other members of the Politburo).
Gorbachev's reforms
Restructuring
Perestroika is a restructuring of the economy and, ultimately, of the entire socio-political system, an attempt to reform socialism: “We are not building a new house, but trying to renovate the old one.”
The purpose of the restructuring was
- efficiency and modernization of production (the Soviet product was defective: “We know how to make comic rockets, but our refrigerators do not work.”; because of poorly built houses, many people suffered during the earthquake in Armenia.)
- the rise of labor discipline Gorbachev organized a campaign against drunkenness - he reduced the opening hours of shops selling alcohol, and also reduced the production of wine and vodka products.
Publicity
Glasnost - freedom of speech and openness of information, the abolition of censorship in the media.
Glasnost brought freedom of the press (criticism of Gorbachev himself, recognition of the ecological catastrophe of the Aral Sea, the presence of homeless people in the USSR, and so on), declassification of data on the Stalinist terror. However, for example, about Chernobyl accident the population was by no means objectively informed.
Domestic policy and democratization of the country
- In the USSR, political opposition parties were created, and numerous social groups arose. Gorbachev stopped persecuting dissidents, freed Academician Sakharov from home exile and invited him to Moscow
- The authorities softened their attitude towards the Russian Orthodox Church (on Easter, a divine service was broadcast on television for the first time - earlier on this holiday they showed the most popular films so that people stay at home, physically made it difficult to enter churches)
- The phenomenon of "returned literature" and culture is emerging - previously forbidden books were published, films were shown.
- The unspoken ban on rock music has been lifted, casinos are opening, the first McDonald's in Moscow, the first competition for the title of "beauty queen" is being held, a nightlife that has never existed before is flaring up in cities.
In 1989, the first relatively free elections were held in the USSR.
In 1990, Gorbachev was elected the first and last president of the USSR.
Foreign policy
The West respected Gorbachev very much. (Time declared him "Person of the Decade.")
- The end of the Cold War is connected with Gorbachev, and an agreement was signed with the United States on the elimination of nuclear missiles. The USSR suffered a complete defeat in the Cold War, both ideologically and politically and economically.
- Gorbachev canceled the old order, under which strict subordination of the countries of the socialist camp to the Soviet Union reigned, which later led to the collapse of the socialist camp.
- Gorbachev withdrew troops from Afghanistan.
By the fall of 1989, it became clear that, despite the reforms, the country's economy was in deep crisis; in 1990 the economic stagnation turned into a serious recession. The work of many enterprises was paralyzed, groceries disappeared from the shops - there was a shortage of even such everyday goods as bread and cigarettes.
It has become dangerous on the streets - the number of thefts and robberies has increased (previously, crime was under the strict control of the police and the informant system).
The weakening of the regime caused national conflicts within the USSR - in the Baltics, Central Asia, in the Caucasus, a movement for independence is rising.
Gorbachev's influence was weakening, the top did not obey his orders. Around B.N. Yeltsin, a former close associate of Gorbachev and a very popular politician, an opposition bloc has formed.
In June 1991, direct presidential elections were held in the RSFSR, in which Yeltsin won.
On August 19, 1991, Gorbachev was placed under house arrest at his dacha in Crimea.
On August 20, 1991, a putsch took place in Moscow (the last attempt of ministers, leaders of the army and the KGB to save the USSR), tanks appeared in the capital, and a state of emergency was declared. Yeltsin led the resistance to the putschists. After the collapse of the coup, the conspirators were arrested. By Yeltsin's decree, the activity of the CPSU was terminated on the territory of Russia.
December 8, 1991 The Soviet Union ceased to exist. The presidents of the three republics - Russia, Ukraine and Belarus - stated at a meeting in Minsk the termination of the existence of the USSR and signed an Agreement on the creation of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), which included 12 former republics of the USSR.
RSFSR received a new name - Russian Federation... Was founded December 26, 1991
Armenian SSR
Azerbaijan SSR
Byelorussian SSR
Estonian SSR
Georgian SSR
Kazakh SSR
Kirghiz SSR
Latvian SSR
Lithuanian SSR
Moldavian SSR
Russian SFSR
Tajik SSR
Turkmen SSR
Ukrainian SSR
Uzbek SSR
Russian Federation under Yeltsin
Boris Nikolayevich Yeltsin is the first president of the Russian Federation.
Economic reforms
The era of B. Yeltsin is the era of “wild capitalism”.
The principles of a market economy were introduced in the Russian Federation. Privatization took place, product prices were liberalized. The banking and exchange systems arose and began to develop.
The reforms caused a deep economic crisis, accompanied by destabilization, unemployment, and corruption. Citizens' deposits in state banks have depreciated due to “hyperinflation”.
The economic crisis has caused social upheaval. The difference in the social status of different groups of the population has increased. The funds ended up in the hands of a small group of people, the so-called. new Russians.
The standard of living of most of the population has fallen sharply. Even educated people received very low earnings (aviation engineers work in bars, grandmothers stand on the street all day and sell cigarettes, flowers ...).
The activities of the mafia reached enormous proportions.
Reassessing history
In the 90s. the history of the 20th century was reevaluated by the Russians. Former Soviet leaders and socialist symbols are turning into satire, and even advertising and business.
1993 coup
In the spring of 1993, the Congress of People's Deputies attempted to remove President Yeltsin from office, but in the end the proposal was not accepted. In April, an all-Russian referendum on confidence in President Yeltsin was scheduled. After the success in the referendum, Boris Yeltsin announced the dissolution of the Congress of People's Deputies. The clash between the president and the deputies continued and ended in an armed conflict. Supporters of the Supreme Soviet stormed the building of the Moscow mayor's office, Yeltsin and his loyal forces fired at the building of the Supreme Soviet. According to official figures, 150 people became victims.
After the suppression of the putsch, new elections to the State Duma were announced; a new constitution was adopted.
Chechen War
In 1994, the first war in Chechnya began. Yeltsin believed his generals, who argued that the problem of Chechen separatism could be solved by military means. The hostilities in Chechnya resulted in numerous casualties among the military and civilian population and ended with the withdrawal of federal troops (1996).
Financial crisis
In 1998, there was a recession in the economy, a financial crisis, a collapse of enterprises, and a monetary reform (1000 rubles> 1 rubles).
In 1999, Yeltsin resigned and transferred power V. V. Putin as acting president. Putin personally supervised the course of anti-terrorist operations on the territory of Chechnya (the beginning of the second Chechen war - 2000).
Russian emigration
For religious reasons, people fled from Russia as early as the 17th century. Old Believers moved to Siberia, Lithuania, Romania.
In the 19th century. political parties banned in Russia operated abroad.
In the 20th century. Russia has experienced three waves of emigration:
First wave: after 1917 - mass (1 million)
White Guards, scientists, intellectuals, nobles, priests, writers, artists, engineers, students left Bolshevik Russia. Almost everyone had to live abroad in difficult conditions, physically work (a taxi driver's job was considered a good job). The centers of emigration were Constantinople, Paris, Prague, Warsaw, Berlin, Sofia. Russian schools, magazines, publishing houses, organizations worked in the “Russian Abroad”.
Second wave: at the end of World War II
Many prisoners of war remained in Germany, a large part of them later moved to America.
Third wave: in the mid-70s after Khrushchev's "thaw"
Relatively few people emigrated - artists, writers, intellectuals
One of the reasons for the current demographic decline is also the emigration of the population.
The dynamics of the development of foreign trade significantly influenced the situation in the world market. The leading place belonged to the economically developed countries. The first place in the world export was kept by the USA - 15.4%.
There have been fundamental shifts in the commodity structure of international trade. The importance of raw materials and food products has decreased, while the importance of fuels has increased. Trade in finished goods has expanded significantly. In the structure of industrial goods, 1/3 fell on machinery, equipment, means of transport. The socialist countries industrialized their economies on their own technical basis, so their share in the world import-export of cars was insignificant - 12-13%.
The rapidly growing market for manufacturing products was developing countries. In turn, they supplied to the world market less than 10% of finished products, 1.3% of machinery and equipment.
The geographical distribution of foreign trade has changed, which was determined by the economic integration of countries and took place within the EU, CMEA, and the European Free Trade Association. It consisted of: Great Britain, Austria, Denmark, Norway, Portugal, Switzerland, Sweden.
The general trend for all developing countries was a gradual decrease in mutual trade. Their main partners are economically developed countries of the world. Foreign trade between them developed the most dynamically and accounted for up to 80% of their trade turnover.
The stimulating factor in the growth of international trade, changes in its commodity and sectoral structure was the deepening of the international division of labor and the outpouring of scientific and technological progress. Due to specialization, cooperation, especially in the manufacturing industry, intermediate goods (units, parts) were involved in trade. The growth in the volume of international intra-corporate deliveries of transnational companies and international monopolies, whose turnover exceeded 30% of the world market, had a significant impact. Decreased dependence of economically developed countries on natural raw materials. The industrialization of agriculture has made possible complete self-sufficiency in food products and a decrease in their imports.
During the 1950s and 1960s, for most economically developed countries, a constant feature was foreign trade liabilities due to the excess of imports over exports. Only in the USA, Japan, Italy, the Federal Republic of Germany, exports were constantly higher than imports. The trade deficit was offset by income from foreign investment, tourism business, and the sale of services in other areas. In the 70s, scientific and technological progress strengthened the integration processes in European countries, which contributed to their economic rivalry with the United States and Japan. The problem of creating a unified monetary system for the EU is ripe. In 1973 Great Britain, Ireland, Denmark joined the EU and strengthened its economic power.
During the 70s and 90s, the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) continued its activities. It included: Austria, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, Finland, Sweden, Switzerland. Customs barriers and quantitative transportation of goods were abolished between the states. However, there were no uniform external tariffs in this community. Each country with states pursued an independent economic policy: the goods of these countries could not move freely within the EFTA.
Structural changes in the economies of economically developed countries were accompanied by the development of the sphere of non-material production, i.e. the service sector. The most profitable in this area are freight, transport, tourism.
Scientific and technical information is of great importance in international economic relations. Economically developed countries today, special attention is paid to the development of scientific and technological progress. Significant investments are made in R&D.
The most powerful economic potential is concentrated in seven countries - the USA, Japan, Germany, France, Great Britain, Canada, Italy. The internationalization of production contributes to an increase in the efficiency of national economies, accelerates the development of science, technology, and the growth of living standards.
The confrontation between the so-called socialist camp and economically developed states ended. More and more countries, having escaped from the "socialist" system, are trying to enter the economic, political, cultural and military structures of the European Union.
A special trend in international economic relations has become not only the growth of investments in the modernization of production, but also their rational allocation. Energy-intensive industries harmful to humans and the environment are eliminated.
Countries that are developing rapidly have appeared in the "third world". They manufacture and export finished products, including science-intensive ones. For this, industrial zones are created that are exempt from taxes and duties. The main direction of their development is the export of goods to the world market. The organizers of industrial production in these countries and the regulator of export-import operations are transnational companies. The world community must reckon with the fact that in the "third world" the gradation of countries is preserved into underdeveloped, medium-sized and those that have reached the modern level.
The world today is economically integrating. The main goal of the unions of states, which today is economic rapprochement in the name of progress. The most powerful of these is the European Union.
At the present stage, the world economy is being formed in the process of internationalization of economic life. More than 200 independent states are tied in the spheres of production, investment, labor migration in the field of science and technology.
The United States has retained the industrial and scientific and technological leadership in the world since the 1920s, so it is not surprising that this is where the Third Industrial Revolution begins. Chronologically, its beginning is considered to be the appearance of the first microprocessor, which turned modern technology and technology upside down.
Its prerequisites were significant discoveries in physics (for example, features of the structure and distribution of the atomic nucleus; later - a controlled nuclear reaction; quantum theory, fundamentals of electronics), chemistry, biology, technical sciences.
The scientific and technological revolution was based on three scientific and technical areas: the development of atomic energy, the creation of synthetic materials; cybernetics and computing. The highest scientific and technical achievements of the twentieth century were the exploration of outer space by man as a result of the synthesis of scientific and technical areas: mathematics and astronautics; control theory and computers; metallurgy and instrumentation, rocket and optical technology.
Technological progress began to penetrate into everyday life. However, the main achievements of scientific and technological revolution in conditions of confrontation between the two systems were used mainly by the military industries. Among the shortcomings of scientific and technological revolution, the following can be distinguished: depletion of natural resources, environmental pollution, increased exploitation of developing countries. These reasons caused the crisis of the 70s: energy, technological, economic, environmental, social.
The material basis for overcoming the crisis was the information and electronic revolution, which marked the transition from a technological mode of production to a post-industrial one. Its core is a triad of basic scientific and technical areas: microelectronics; biotechnology; computer science.
These basic directions are the foundation of qualitative changes in all spheres of society's life - production and social. The exhaustion of traditional energy resources and their high environmental hazard make us seek and develop non-traditional energy sources (solar, wind, etc.), high-temperature conductivity and microprocessor technology for energy storage and conservation.
The Iron Age is coming to an end (iron was the main design material for almost 3 millennia). Priority is given to materials with special properties: composites, ceramics, plastics and synthetic resins, metal powder products. The development of fundamentally new technologies is taking place - geotechnology in the extraction of raw materials, low-waste and non-waste technologies in its processing, membrane, plasma, laser, electropulsive technologies.
Fundamental changes are taking place in technology, communications and transport. Fiber-optic communication lines, space, facsimile, cellular communications are revolutionizing this field. Fundamentally new types of transport include air cushion ships, magnetic levitation rail transport, electric vehicles, etc. The second "green revolution" in production is already underway. The focus is on the production of environmentally friendly food products using biotechnology methods, reduction of environmental pollution with herbicides and pesticides, mineral fertilizers, the use of microprocessor-based agricultural technology and intensive technologies, which ensures the receipt of predicted yields.
If the second scientific and technological revolution was characterized by scientific and military space exploration, then for the third, technological and industrial.
Currently, commercial satellite launches are being carried out, without them the existence of modern communications is impossible. It has been proven that it is possible to grow crystals in space and use unique biotechnologies.
The third scientific and technological revolution led to radical changes in the forms of organization of production. Gradually, the place of giants is taken by small and medium-sized enterprises with a production cycle, they are flexibly programmed and quickly rebuilt. These enterprises can, if the need arises, unite in soft integration forms - consortia, associations, diversified financial and industrial groups. These transformations provide and accelerate the response to market changes that drive cost savings.
Small and medium-sized businesses in Japan, Italy, Spain, France and other countries produce more than half of the gross national product, provide additional jobs, and are distinguished by a high speed of reaction to innovations.
The use of computers, especially personal computers and information technologies, makes it possible to automate complex processes of management of production, the economy and the social sphere, increases the validity of decisions, as well as the quality of control over their implementation and product quality.
Significant changes have taken place in the sphere of circulation. Modern information technologies are used to carry out marketing research and forecasts, the pricing curve, market analysis, processing banking and commercial information, and calculating the system of economic indicators and indices.
Domestic trade has also become electronic. This is evidenced by the following innovations:
- sale of electronic goods (audio, video equipment, personal computers, calculators, electronic games, etc.);
- use of electronic cash registers and prepackaged goods with a mandatory electronic (or bar) code;
- cashless trade using electronic credit cards.
Changes are also taking place in the banking sector. For example, ATMs are widely used - machines for dispensing cash by electronic credit cards.
As for the leading countries of the scientific and technological revolution era, significant changes are taking place here. Japan quickly and confidently took second place after the United States, and in most modern industries it has caught up with the United States. The example of Japan instilled hope in the so-called "newly industrialized countries", or as they are also called "Asian dragons" - South Korea, Singapore, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Indonesia. They develop modern electronics industries, both independently and based on Japanese and American technology. Some scientists believe that it is the countries of the Pacific Ocean basin that will form the most active zone of economic, scientific and technological development of the world in the 21st century.
Neoinstitutionalism
The scientific and technological revolution in the second half of the 20th century significantly influenced all spheres of society. The deployment of the scientific and technological revolution also influenced the formation of economic ideas. The most significant during this period are the economic views presented by the schools of neoinstitutionalism, neo-Keynesianism, neoliberalism. These areas of economic thought at the end of the XX century received a certain development. Thus, representatives of institutional ideas, relying on the principle of technological determinism, regard scientific and technological revolution as a "bloodless revolution" that leads to an increase in wages, helps to overcome the contradictions between supply and demand, ensures crisis-free development and, as a result, leads to the transformation of capitalism. On this methodological basis, the ideas of "stages of economic growth", "industrial society", "new industrial society", "post-industrial society" and so on were developed. Recently, there has been more and more talk about the transformation of capitalism into a "super-industrial society". The processes that took place under the influence of the scientific and technological revolution in the countries of the socialist camp were not ignored either. Based on the analysis of these processes and their socio-economic consequences, the idea of convergence of the two economies, the formation of a "mixed economy", and, ultimately, the convergence of the two systems was proposed.
The most prominent representatives of modern institutionalism are the leading American economists John Kenneth Galbraith (b. 1908), author of the famous books The New Industrial Society (1967), Economic Theories and the Goals of Society (1973), and Walt Whitman Rostow (b. 1916), author of the book "Stages of Economic Growth. Non-Communist Manifesto" (1960).
Galbraith is widely known as a supporter of state regulation of the economy in a broad sense. He is the promoter of the idea of economic planning
W. Rostow argued an alternative to the teachings of K. Marx about socio-economic formations. Recognizing the exceptional influence of scientific and technological progress on the development of society, the author presented the history of society in the form of five phases, the analysis of the content of which and the factors of transition from one stage to another constitute the essence of the concept of "stages of economic growth." These are: "traditional society", "stage of transition", which creates conditions for take-off, "stage of decisive shift" is associated with a sharp increase in investment, "stage of maturity", a feature of which is the massive mastery of the results of technological progress, "a period of high level of mass consumption, which "is accompanied by a reduction in the workforce employed in agriculture, the development of industry (in particular the automobile), the service sector, and road construction. At this stage, power is transferred from owners to managers, and the value system changes.
Rostow's “staged” idea gave impetus to the development of the theories of “industrial society,” “new industrial society, and“ post-industrial society, ”in which the output ideas of the concept of“ convergence ”were laid.
Neo-Keynesianism
A feature of the methodology of neo-Keynesianism in comparison with Keynes's theory is the predominance of quantitative analysis and the study of economics in the development under the influence of scientific and technological progress. Hence, the change in the problematics of theories of state regulation: from the concepts of employment and the development of anti-crisis programs, economists moved on to the development of concepts of economic growth and ways to ensure its sustainability. The most significant influence on economic practice in this direction was exerted by the works of A. Hansen and L. Harris. These scientists explained the causes of the crisis not only by a decrease in the share of consumption in national income and a decrease in capital productivity, but also by the action of the so-called accelerator (which was new in political economy). "The numerical factor by which each dollar of incremental income increases investment is called the acceleration coefficient or simply the accelerator," wrote A. Hansen. Using this coefficient, he tried to establish the dependence of accumulation on consumption, the first subdivision of social production on the second, and to find out under what conditions accumulation can be carried out independently of consumption. Thus, the neo-Keynesians proposed an extensive program of state regulation of the economy.
In the post-war period, neo-Keynesian models of economic growth, put forward, in addition to E. Hansen, by the English economist G.F. Harrod, and the American - E. Domar.
Neo-Keynesian theory became one of the foundations of the so-called policy of assistance to the development of the state of Africa, Asia and Latin America from the countries with market economies. Indeed, according to this theory, the export of capital to third world countries stimulates business activity in both exporting and importing countries. However, since this export is hampered by the high risks and other obstacles in many developing countries, Western governments need to encourage the export of capital, in particular through the export of public capital.
Macroeconomic equilibrium presupposes the presence of certain proportions in the money market. The most important of these is the balance between the supply and demand of money. The demand for money is determined by the amount of money held by business agents, i.e. it is essentially a demand for cash reserves, or nominal cash balances. The analysis of the demand for money and the study of the conditions of equilibrium in the market led to the emergence of two fundamental schools in this matter: monetarist and Keynesian. Monetarists emphasize the important role of money in the process of economic development, they believe that it is precisely the change in the money supply that is of paramount importance for explaining the cyclical development of the market economy.
The economic crisis of 1973-1975 contributed to the formation of a new trend - post-Keynesianism - the recognized leader of which is the representative of the English Cambridge school J. Robinson. Post-Keynesians accused the Neo-Keynesians of attributing to J.M. Keynes is statistical in nature. A feature of post-Keynesianism is a critical analysis of the theories of "marginal utility" and "marginal productivity of capital", an attempt to rely on classical bourgeois political economy, an introduction to the study of social institutions (for example, the study of the role of trade unions). As a representative of the left-wing Keynesianism, J. Robinson advocated the interests of the non-monopolized strata of society, farmers, employees and workers; critically analyzed the role of monopolies, condemned the arms race, argued for the need to increase the purchasing power of the masses and limit the profits of the monopolies. J. Robinson considers the distribution of national income in favor of the ruling classes to be the main obstacle on the path of "effective demand". This reduces the effective demand of the population and leads to difficulties in the sale of products, to a crisis. She calls on the state to establish economic equilibrium by reducing social inequality, increasing income taxes, raising wages and improving social security.
The state strategy for stimulating economic growth in developed countries at different stages of their development had its own specifics and adopted various concepts, skillfully combining recipes of the neoclassical, Keynesian and neo-Keynesian directions. The system of government regulation that developed in the United States after the Great Depression of 1929-1933. was focused primarily on the management of demand factors or aggregate demand. Stimulation of expansion of capital investment took place on the basis of low interest rates, restriction - by raising them. Through public works, the movement of employment of the population was regulated. With the coming to power of the neoconservatives headed by R. Reagan, a new economic policy was proclaimed, the essence of which was the transition from an economy stimulating aggregate demand to a supply economy based on investment in machinery and equipment, promising technologies. Supporters of the supply economy have focused on factors that increase the productive capacity of the economic system. Three directions of government action on economic growth have emerged: stimulating scientific and technological revolution and the development of scientific research, increasing spending on education, training and retraining of qualified personnel on a national scale; deep restructuring of the tax system.
The main goal of this policy was high rates of production growth, solving social problems of employment, unemployment, poverty, and raising the level of income.
The Keynesian and neo-Keynesian model of government regulation helped ease cyclical fluctuations for more than two decades after the war. However, since the beginning of the 70s, as the scientific and technological revolution developed, there have been serious changes in these trends, and a discrepancy between the possibilities of state regulation and objective economic conditions began to appear. High rates of growth of national income created the material basis for its redistribution without prejudice to capital accumulation. However, in the mid-1970s, the conditions for reproduction deteriorated sharply. Production growth rates fell, and a period of stagflation began. Reality refuted the point of view of neo-Keynesians, Phillips's law, according to which unemployment and inflation are reciprocal values and cannot rise at the same time. Contrary to Keynes's theory, inflation was accompanied by stagnation in production and an increase in unemployment. The attempt to improve the economy through scarce financing has only helped pump up cash and unleash an inflationary spiral. In the 1970s, the state faced a problem: how to promote the growth of production and employment without stimulating inflation, and how to fight inflation without hindering production growth and without increasing unemployment. Keynesian theory does not answer these questions. In the conditions of scientific and technological revolution, a need arose for increased flexibility, rapid adaptability of industries and companies to a sharp change in generations of technology, technology and knowledge. This required a major reorientation of capital expenditures, i.e. greater freedom of entrepreneurship.
However, the withdrawal of a significant part of the profits through the tax system (up to 50%) and bureaucratic systems of centralized regulation have become a brake on the path of structural transformations and technological progress. Thus, in the United States, up to the end of the 70s, up to 7 thousand rules and instructions were published annually to regulate the activities of private business.
Economic crisis 1979-1981 became a crisis of the Keynesian model of state regulation, the system of state regulation was restructured and new models of economic regulation were formed.
Neoliberalism
Neoliberalism is a modern version of neoclassical theory. The essence of neoliberalism is to substantiate the need to combine state regulation of the economy with the principles of free competition and to develop a certain economic policy on this basis.
There are several models of neoliberalism: "London", "Freiburg", "Paris" and "Chicago".
1) London School of Neoliberalism.
Friedrich Hayek (1899-1984) was a professor at the University of London for almost twenty years. The author of the well-known books "Prices and Production" (1929), "Monetary Theory and the Economic Cycle" (1933), "Profit, Interest and Investment" (1939), "Pernicious Arrogance" (80s) and others. Hayek's works categorically denied any attempts at state regulation of the economy. He was one of the first to criticize Keynes's theory, and was also critical of other economists who advocate government intervention in economic processes. Hayek's central idea: market prices play a crucial role in the transmission of information to business entities and in the decentralization of economic decision-making. From the point of view of the scientist, every violation of this principle of the functioning of the economy is destructive for it and leads to a dictatorship. Hayek did not even accept the idea of a "mixed economy", speaking exclusively for the cult of market mechanisms for regulating socio-economic processes.
2) the Freiburg school of neoliberalism.
Neoliberalism reached its greatest development after the Second World War. Germany has become the center of modern neoliberalism. German neoliberals gave a detailed and systematized theory, which later became the basis of German state policy. The most prominent representative of neoliberalism was the founder of the Freiburg school of political economy, Walter Euken (1892-1950). His famous works, which set out the scientist's point of view regarding the types of economic systems and forms of management, are "the main types of economic policy" (1951), "Fundamentals of the national economy" (1952), etc.
Euken's ideas were shared by his compatriot Ludwig Erhard (1897-1977), who embodied the policy of neoliberalism in life as Chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany. The main works of the scientist - "Welfare for All" (1957), "German State Policy" (1962-1963).
A Swiss scientist of German origin, who was educated at German universities, Wilhelm Röpke (1899-1966), also stood on the positions of neoliberalism. He is one of the founders of the theory of the social market state state ".
Supporters of the Freiburg school, as well as representatives of neoliberalism in general, believed that free competition creates the most effective mechanism for economic activity. They argued this by the formation of prices under the influence of supply and demand, which play the role of a natural regulator of economic processes and ensure the rational distribution of resources and full satisfaction of needs. At the same time, the representatives of the Freiburg school did not believe that the action of free competition could be ensured automatically. They came to the conclusion about the need for government intervention in the economy in order to create and maintain favorable conditions for competition, freedom of pricing and freedom of entrepreneurship. Opposing direct state interference in the production and commercial activities of enterprises, refuting the policy of price regulation, the school representatives proposed their own version of state regulation of the economy, theoretically substantiating it with the concepts of "ideal types of farms", "social market economy" and "established society."
Neoliberalism is based on the following basic tenets of classical liberalism:
Defending ideas of the natural order and natural rights;
Denial of expansion of government intervention
Competitive management principle;
Individual freedom based on the protection of private ownership of the means of production;
Development of local self-government and voluntary organizations;
Free trade policy support.
One of the prominent figures in this direction was the French scientist M. Allay. Throughout his scientific career, M. Allé tried to understand the fundamental structure of the economy, to identify the essential factors of the economic system and the mechanisms of its functioning, doing research in five interrelated areas. This is the theory of maximum efficiency of the economy and the foundations of economic calculation; theory of intertemporal processes and maximum investment efficiency; uncertainty theory; theory of money, credit and monetary dynamics; theory of random and exogenous physical influences. The creativity of M. Allay is multifaceted, it includes works not only in theoretical and practical economics, but also in physics, sociology, and the history of civilization.
One of the main problems of research - ways to achieve and the combined economic efficiency and social justice. According to M. Allée, economic efficiency is the initial and prerequisite for the solution of all social problems. Conditions for achieving efficiency: sufficient information, decentralization of decisions and independence of economic agents, interest in the implementation of the decisions themselves, competition. In contrast to efficiency, equity in the distribution of income is an ethical concept, i.e. subjective. The distribution of income should provide both sufficient incentives for efficiency and meet the criterion of social acceptability. M. Allé believed that economists are mistaken, considering the growth of the real gross national product as a criterion of economic progress. It is necessary to take into account the net consumer real income per capita as the only acceptable criterion. He is convinced that the construction of factories or aircraft, the creation of new equipment or technologies can be justified only when it allows people to live better, because the main goal of the economy is to satisfy human needs.
Previously, the market economy was treated as a single global market, where economic information is available to everyone. M. Allay's model is a system of markets for various goods, and the same product can be bought and sold in different markets, and therefore there is no single set of prices, the acts of market exchange are not carried out simultaneously, but occur continuously. The scientist's model brings you closer to understanding the foundations of the functioning of the real modern Western economy. Since 1966, M. Allay completely abandoned the general market equilibrium model of L. Walras, who believed that at any given moment the market is characterized by a single price system, the same for all economic agents. According to M. Allé, this hypothesis is completely unrealistic, so he replaced the concept of "market economy" or "market economy" with the term "market economy".
Using the methods of economic-theoretical and comparative-historical analysis, M. Allé proves that, firstly, only a market, competitive organization of the economy can be economically effective and, secondly, without the effective operation of the economic system there can be no real social progress. We need a search for a social compromise aimed at maintaining peaceful and stable living conditions in society, which is ensured by the existence of a political system: “it is a myth that the economy of markets can be the result of a spontaneous play of economic forces. The reality is that the economy of markets is inseparable from the institutional framework, in which she works. " Social compromise is determined and implemented exclusively by the state power, and in the economic sphere it provides for: meeting collective needs and their financing, defining the institutional boundaries of the "market economy", implementing monetary and fiscal policies. The organization of economic activity should combine the free and independent activity of economic agents within the framework of the economy of markets and planning of the institutional framework of the economy, ensuring fairness in the distribution of income, social recognition, stability and security. The works of M. Allay continue the structuralist approach traditional for French neoliberalism and begin the newest institutional approach, which later led to the emergence of market-institutional studies.
The Chicago school of neoliberalism, headed by M. Friedman, exploring the features of imperfect competition, focused on the behavior of business entities in conditions of uncertainty, risk, inflationary expectations, opening the way for the monetarist interpretation of modern neoliberalism.
3) The neo-Austrian (Viennese) school of neoliberalism L. von Mises - F. von Hayek combined the principles of the Austrian school of marginal utility with the English neoclassical theory, which gave it an even greater subjective psychological focus and focused on the analysis of the conditions and processes of economic life.
4) The German school of neoliberalism V. Euken - L. Erhard focused on defining the basic principles of the functioning of society: uniting - economic freedom and non-interference of the state in the economy with the principle of social justice, without limiting the role of the state to the function of the guardian of market relations, recognizing her as the organizer of public life ... The function of ensuring social stability is assigned to the state as a condition for the normal development of the economy; the leading idea for the neoliberal theory is the idea of a strong state - the organizer of competitive market relations.
The formation of German ordoliberalism was facilitated by the existence in Germany of three groups of neoliberals, each of which made a significant contribution to elucidating the possibility of anti-totalitarian and social evolution of the free enterprise system in the theory and practice of a social market economy.
A group of German economists, represented by A. Müller-Armak, L. Erhard and their students, developed the concept of a social market economy.
In the genesis of German neoliberalism, a tendency towards the creation of a systematized theory of transformation of the totalitarian system from a centrally controlled economy to a democratic system based on a free market economy with its subsequent orientation towards solving social problems was clearly manifested. A pragmatic and ideologically attractive concept of a social market economy was developed, devoid of the shortcomings of the classical liberal model with reliable social and antitrust stabilizers.
The starting point of the neoliberal concept of the economic system was W. Oiken's doctrine of two ideal types of economic systems, set forth in the work "Fundamentals of National Economy" (1940). Many researchers point to the ideological relationship between the theory of "ideal types of economy" by W. Euken and the concept of "ideal types" by the German sociologist and economist, a representative of the modern historical school of M. Weber. An "ideal type" is a model, an abstract mental structure that reflects only the basic laws of socio-economic development and does not describe secondary economic phenomena. V. Oyken distinguishes "centrally controlled economy", or artificial economy, and "exchange economy", or market economy. The basis of his teaching is the analysis of elementary economic forms - the division of labor, property, the mechanism of coordination of households, enterprises, economic institutions of the state, etc. V. Oyken emphasizes that in "historical reality, the elements of both these systems are mainly intertwined", in a pure form ideal types does not exist. V. Oyken, unlike V. Repke, F. von Hayek and other representatives of neoliberalism, does not directly link the type of economic system, its coordination mechanism with the forms of ownership.
The basis for the development of the economy of the advanced countries of the world in the second half of the XX - early XXI century. were achievements in the field of science. Research in physics, chemistry, biology has made it possible to radically change many aspects of industrial and agricultural production, and have given impetus to the further development of transport. Thus, mastering the secret of the atom led to the birth of atomic energy. A huge leap forward was made by radio electronics. Achievements in genetics have made it possible to obtain new varieties of plants, to increase the efficiency of animal husbandry.
In the 70s. XX century. A new stage of the scientific and technological revolution began. Science merges with production, turning into a direct productive force. Another feature of this stage is a sharp reduction in the time between a scientific discovery and its introduction into production. A peculiar symbol of that time is a personal computer, which has become in developed countries since the last decades of the twentieth century. An integral part of both production and private life. The advent of the Internet has made a vast amount of information publicly available. Microprocessors began to be widely used for industrial automation, in household appliances. Huge changes have taken place in communications (faxes, pagers, mobile phones). The brightest achievement of science is space exploration. In 1961 - the flight of Yuri Gagarin, which gave impetus to the Soviet-American race in space exploration. Achievements of this race: manned spacewalk, spacecraft docking, soft landings of artificial satellites on the Moon, Venus and Mars, creation of orbiting space stations and reusable spacecraft, etc. The Americans announced the flights of their astronauts to the moon. After the collapse of the USSR, the intensity of space research has decreased markedly, but they continued. The creation of the international space station began; the USA, Russia, EU countries and Asia took part in this project.
Biology and medicine have achieved significant success, faced with previously unknown diseases (AIDS, Ebola, mad cow disease) and came close to solving the problem of cloning. This method has caused debate in society about the moral and ethical implications of the results of its application. At the end of the twentieth century. science allows doctors to successfully treat cardiovascular and oncological diseases, transplant vital organs of a person, increase his growth, and eliminate other defects in physical development.
Physicists have taken a new step in the study of superconductivity and the design of thermonuclear reactors.
Today, many regions of the planet are covered by transport routes, wide highways and high-speed railways. Traveling across continents and oceans aboard supersonic liners takes only a few hours.
Television towers, long bridges and underwater tunnels, one of which - under the English Channel - connected the British Isles with the European continent in 1995 became true engineering wonders. All these achievements formed the foundation of the information society of the XXI century, the transition to which placed at the center of social and philosophical thought a Man striving to overcome the costs of a “mass consumption society” with its cult of money and things, oblivion of humanistic values and ideals of spirituality.
§ 106. International relations in the second half of the twentieth century.
Berlin and Caribbean crises.
The appearance of the Soviet Union at the turn of the 60s of the twentieth century. intercontinental missiles contributed to the revitalization of his foreign policy. The confrontation between the USSR and the United States then swept the whole world. The USSR actively supported the national liberation movements of various peoples and other anti-American forces. The United States continued to actively build up its armed forces, expand its network of military bases everywhere and provide economic and military assistance to pro-Western forces around the world. The aspiration of the two blocs to expand their spheres of influence twice in the late 50s - early 60s of the twentieth century. put the world on the brink of a nuclear war.
An international crisis began in 1958 around West Berlin, after the West rejected a demand from the Soviet leadership to turn it into a free demilitarized city. A new aggravation of events took place on August 13, 1961. At the initiative of the GDR leadership, a wall of concrete slabs was erected around West Berlin. This measure made it possible for the government of the GDR to prevent the flight of citizens to the FRG and to strengthen the position of their state. The construction of the wall caused outrage in the West. NATO and OVD troops were put on alert.
In the spring of 1962, the leaders of the USSR and Cuba made a decision
deploy medium-range nuclear missiles on this island. The USSR expected to make the United States as vulnerable to a nuclear attack as the Soviet Union was after the deployment of American missiles in Turkey. Receipt of confirmation of the deployment of Soviet missiles in Cuba caused panic in the United States. The confrontation reached its peak on October 27-28, 1962. The world was on the brink of war, but prudence prevailed: the USSR removed nuclear missiles from the island in response to the promises of US President Kennedy not to invade Cuba and remove missiles from Turkey.
The Berlin and Caribbean crises showed both sides the danger of balancing on the brink of war. In 1963, an extremely important agreement was signed: the USA, USSR and Great Britain stopped all nuclear tests, except for underground ones.
The second period of the COLD WAR began in 1963. It is characterized by the transfer of the center of gravity of international conflicts to the regions of the Third World, to the periphery of world politics. At the same time, relations between the United States and the USSR were transformed from confrontation to detente, to negotiations and agreements, in particular, on the reduction of nuclear and conventional weapons and on the peaceful settlement of international disputes. The largest conflicts were the US war in Vietnam and the USSR in Afghanistan.
Vietnam War.
After the war (1946-1954) France was forced to recognize the independence of Vietnam and withdraw its troops
Military-political blocs.
The desire of the Western countries and the USSR to strengthen their positions in the world arena led to the creation of a network of military-political blocs in different regions. The largest number of them was created on the initiative and under the leadership of the United States. In 1949 the NATO bloc arose. In 1951, the ANZUS block was formed (Australia, New Zealand, USA). In 1954, a NATO bloc was formed (USA, Great Britain, France, Australia, New Zealand, Pakistan, Thailand, Philippines). In 1955, the Baghdad Pact was signed (Great Britain, Turkey, Iraq, Pakistan, Iran), after Iraq's withdrawal, it was named CENTO.
In 1955, the Warsaw Pact Organization (OVD) was formed. It included the USSR, Albania (released in 1968), Bulgaria, Hungary, the German Democratic Republic, Poland, Romania, Czechoslovakia.
The main obligations of the members of the blocs consisted in mutual assistance to each other in the event of an attack on one of the allied states. The main military confrontation unfolded between NATO and the ATS. Practical activity within the blocs was expressed, first of all, in military-technical cooperation, as well as in the creation of military bases by the United States and the USSR and the deployment of their troops on the territory of the allied states on the line of confrontation between the blocs. Particularly significant forces of the parties were concentrated in the FRG and the GDR. A large number of American and Soviet atomic weapons were also stationed here.
The Cold War sparked an accelerated arms race, which was the most important area of confrontation and potential conflict between the two great powers and their allies.
PeriodsCold warANDinternational crises.
There are two periods in the Cold War. The period 1946-1963 of Poland was characterized by a rise in tension in relations between the two great powers, culminating in the Caribbean crisis in the early 1960s. xx century. This is the period of the creation of military-political blocs and conflicts in the areas of contact between the two socio-economic systems. Significant events were the French war in Vietnam (1946-1954), the suppression of the uprising in Hungary in 1956 by the USSR, the 1956 Suez crisis, the 1961 Berlin crisis and the 1962 Karaib crisis.
The decisive event of the war took place near the town of Dien Bien Phu, where the Vietnamese People's Army in March 1954 forced the main forces of the French expeditionary force to surrender. In the north of Vietnam, a government headed by the communist Ho Chi Minh (Democratic Republic of Vietnam) was established, and in the south, pro-American forces.
The United States provided assistance to South Vietnam, but its regime was threatened with collapse, since a guerrilla movement, supported by the DRV, China and the USSR, soon developed there. In 1964, the United States began bombing North Vietnam, and in 1965, it landed its troops in South Vietnam. Soon, these troops were embroiled in fierce hostilities with the partisans. The United States used scorched earth tactics, carried out mass killings of civilians, but the resistance movement expanded. The Americans and their local assistants suffered increasing losses. American forces acted equally unsuccessfully in Laos and Cambodia. Protests against the war around the world, including in the United States, along with military setbacks, forced the United States to negotiate peace. In 1973, American troops were withdrawn from Vietnam. In 1975, the guerrillas took over its capital, Saigon. A new state has appeared - Socialist Republic of Vietnam.
War in Afghanistan.
In April 1978, a revolution took place in Afghanistan. The country's new leadership concluded an agreement with the Soviet Union and repeatedly asked him for military assistance. The USSR supplied Afghanistan with weapons and military equipment. The civil war between supporters and opponents of the new regime in Afghanistan has flared up more and more. In December 1979, the USSR made a decision to send a limited contingent of troops to Afghanistan. The presence of Soviet troops in Afghanistan was regarded by the Western powers as aggression, although the USSR acted within the framework of an agreement with the Afghan leadership and sent troops at its request. Later, Soviet troops were drawn into the civil war in Afghanistan. This negatively affected the prestige of the USSR on the world stage.
Middle East conflict.
A special place in international relations is occupied by the conflict in the Middle East between the state of Israel and its Arab neighbors.
International Jewish (Zionist) organizations have chosen the territory of Palestine as a center for Jews around the world. The UN in November 1947 decided to create two states on the territory of Palestine: an Arab and a Jewish. Jerusalem stood out as an independent unit. On May 14, 1948, the State of Israel was proclaimed, and on May 15, the Arab Legion, stationed in Jordan, marched against the Israelis. The first Arab-Israeli war began. Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Iraq entered Palestine. The war ended in 1949. Israel occupied more than half of the territory designated for the Arab state and the western part of Jerusalem. Its eastern part and the western bank of the Jordan River received Jordan, Egypt got the Gaza Strip. The total number of Arab refugees has exceeded 900,000.
Since then, the confrontation between the Jewish and Arab peoples in Palestine has remained one of the most acute problems. Armed conflicts have arisen many times. The Zionists invited Jews from all over the world to Israel, to their historical homeland. To accommodate them, the offensive continued on Arab territories. The most extremist groups dreamed of creating a "Greater Israel" from the Nile to the Euphrates. The USA and other Western countries became Israel's ally, the USSR supported the Arabs.
In 1956, declared President of Egypt G. Nasser the nationalization of the Suez Canal hit the interests of England and France, which decided to restore their rights. This action was called the triple Anglo-French-Israeli aggression against Egypt. On October 30, 1956, the Israeli army suddenly crossed the Egyptian border. British and French troops landed in the canal zone. The forces were unequal. The invaders were preparing to attack Cairo. Only after the Soviet Union threatened to use atomic weapons in November 1956, military operations were stopped, and the troops of the interventionists left Egypt.
On June 5, 1967, Israel launched military action against the Arab states in response to the activities of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) led by Y. Arafat, created in 1964 with the aim of fighting for the formation of an Arab state in Palestine and the elimination of Israel. Israeli troops quickly advanced deep into Egypt, Syria, Jordan. All over the world there were protests and demands for an immediate end to the aggression. The hostilities stopped by the evening of June 10. For 6 days, Israel occupied the Gaza Strip, the Sinai Peninsula, the western bank of the Jordan River and the eastern part of Jerusalem, the Golan Heights in Syrian territory.
In 1973 a new war broke out. Arab troops acted more successfully, Egypt managed to liberate part of the Sinai Peninsula. In 1970 and 1982. Israeli troops invaded Lebanese territory.
All attempts by the UN and the great powers to achieve an end to the conflict were unsuccessful for a long time. Only in 1979, with the mediation of the United States, was it possible to sign a peace treaty between Egypt and Israel. Israel was withdrawing troops from the Sinai Peninsula, but the Palestinian problem was not resolved. Since 1987, in the occupied territories of Palestine began Intifada revolt of the Arabs. In 1988, the creation of the State was announced
Palestine. An attempt to resolve the conflict was an agreement between the leaders of Israel and the PLO in the mid-90s. about creating Palestinian Authority on the part of the occupied territories.
Discharge.
Since the mid-50s. xx century. The USSR came up with initiatives for general and complete disarmament. A major step was the Three-Media Test Ban Treaty. However, the most important steps to mitigate the international situation were made in the 70s. XX century. In both the United States and the USSR, there was growing awareness that a further arms race was becoming meaningless, that military spending could undermine the economy. The improvement in relations between the USSR and the West was called "detente of international tension" or "detente".
A significant milestone on the path of detente was the normalization of relations between the USSR and France and the FRG. An important point of the agreement between the USSR and the FRG was the recognition of the western borders of Poland and the border between the GDR and the FRG. During a visit to the USSR in May 1972 by US President R. Nixon, agreements on the limitation of anti-missile defense (ABM) systems and the Strategic Arms Limitation Treaty (SALT-l) were signed. In November 1974, the USSR and the USA agreed to prepare a new agreement on the limitation of strategic arms (SALT-2), which was signed in 1979. The treaties provided for the mutual reduction of ballistic missiles.
In August 1975, the Conference on Security and Cooperation of the heads of 33 European countries, the USA and Canada was held in Helsinki. Its result was the Final Act of the conference, which fixed the principles of inviolability of borders in Europe, respect for independence and sovereignty, territorial integrity of states, refusal to use force and the threat of its use.
In the late 70s. xx century. tensions in Asia have eased. The SEATO and CENTO blocs ceased to exist. However, the introduction of Soviet troops into Afghanistan, conflicts in other parts of the world in the early 80s of the twentieth century. again led to an intensification of the arms race and increased tensions.
International relationshipVthe endXX early XXIV.
Perestroika, which began in the USSR in 1985, very soon began to exert an increasingly significant influence on the development of international relations. Exacerbation of tensions in relations between East and West at the turn of the 70s - 80s. XX century. was replaced by their normalization. In the mid 80s. XX century. the head of the Soviet Union M.S. Gorbachev put forward the idea of a new political thinking in international relations. He stated that the main problem is the problem of the survival of mankind, the solution of which must be subordinated to all foreign policy activities. The decisive role was played by the meetings and negotiations at the highest level between Mikhail Gorbachev and the US Presidents R. Reagan, and then George W. Bush. They led to the signing of bilateral treaties on the elimination of intermediate and shorter-range missiles (1987) and on the limitation and reduction of strategic offensive arms (START I) in 1991.
The axis on the normalization of international relations, the completion of the withdrawal of Soviet troops from Afghanistan in 1989, said favorably.
After the collapse of the USSR, Russia continued its policy of maintaining normal relations with the United States and other leading Western states. A number of important agreements on further disarmament and cooperation were concluded (for example, START II). The threat of a new war with the use of weapons of mass destruction has sharply decreased. However, by the end of the 90s of the twentieth century. there is only one superpower left - the United States, which claims a special role in the world.
Serious changes took place at the turn of the 80s - 90s. XX century. In Europe. In 1991, CMEA and OVD were liquidated. In September 1990, representatives of the GDR, FRG, Great Britain, USSR, USA and France signed an agreement on the settlement of the German question and the unification of Germany. The USSR withdrew its troops from Germany and agreed to the entry of the united German state into NATO. Poland, Hungary and the Czech Republic joined NATO in 1999. Bulgaria, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia joined NATO in 2004.
In the early 90s. xx century. the political map of Europe has changed.
A united Germany emerged. Yugoslavia broke up into six states, and independent Czech Republic and Slovakia appeared. The USSR collapsed.
In the context of the reduction of the threat of a global war, local conflicts in Europe and the post-Soviet space intensified. Armed conflicts broke out between Armenia and Azerbaijan, in Transnistria, Tajikistan, Georgia, in the North Caucasus, in Yugoslavia. The events in the former Yugoslavia turned out to be especially bloody. Wars, massive ethnic cleansing, and refugee flows accompanied the formation of independent states in Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Serbia. NATO actively intervened in the affairs of these states on the side of the anti-Serb forces. In Bosnia. And Herzegovina, and then in Kosovo (an autonomous province within Serbia), they provided these forces with military and diplomatic support. In 1999, NATO led by the United States, without UN sanction, carried out an open aggression against Yugoslavia, starting bombing of that country. As a result, despite the military victories, the Serbs in Bosnia and Kosovo were forced to agree to a settlement on the terms of the enemy.