Chapter 3

The Cold War was clearly marked international relations in the 20th century. The fear of
a global armed and nuclear conflict spread through the world. Even today, we can hear the voices
that say, nothing is over and that in the 21st century the Cold War is entering a new phase.
Expression Cold War was first used by Bernard Baruch, advisor to the American president in
1947.

The Cold War was not simply conflict between the communist East led by the Soviet
Union and the capitalist West led by the USA. It was competition that took place in all areas.
Ideal, Marx argued that capitalism unequally distributes the surplus value at the expense of the
poorest. While Disraeli in his book Sybil, by contrast, says that the state must not undermine
freedom of a single individual for the good of all or higher purpose. Ideological leader of the
Communists, Lenin, believed that proletarian revolution really brought the freedom to the
poorest. West agreed with the fact that capitalism should be reformed. Led by their ideas of
central planning, USSR until the mid 30 - ties had almost a full total employment, which aroused
suspicion in the West and made them express doubts of their self-assertion.

At the beginning of Cold War, it turned out that both Disraeli and Woodrow Wilson were
right, USA did have increased interest for international policy and continued to enrich the world
through the spread of democracy, especially through international organization. They call Soviet
Union to become a member of these organizations. Soviet Union was especially affected by
Stalin's purges, millions of people who are not wanted to submit to "the common good" were
killed. Their influence in other countries of Eastern Europe was kept with the help of an
ostensibly independent government. Only Yugoslavia managed to save herself from Stalin terror.
West did not want to influence by force in these events in Eastern Europe, but tried to revived
democracy in various ways and through various institutions.

This raises the question whether the situation in the USSR is a result of influence of
Stalin's personal regime? We know that his successor Beria reacted poorly and that he was
replaced by Nikita Khrushchev, who wished to make a complete departure from Stalin in 1956.
That event caused a shock in Eastern Europe. This was followed with disagreements with China
since Mao Zedong had his ideas how to save communism and harbored a great sympathy for
Stalin. The world was not sure what exactly is going on in China.

Chapter 4

It was hard for the Soviet Union because of the situation in Germany, where thousands of
people were crossing borders from East to West even though their leadership assured them life in
the East was far better. To prevent migration, Soviets build the Berlin Wall in 1961 and
Khrushchev was replaced by Brezhnev.
 As a result of these global events, small states were looking for a way to fight for
independence. This process began even before WW1, supported by Woodrow Wilson and his
famous theory of the right to self-determination. Cold War just intensified the process. Some
states decide to find their right to independence in a form of a new organization, the Non-
Aligned Movement, which was led by Tito, Nehru, Sukarno and Nasser. But it was also a
double-edged sword, because participation in the organization could have caused a revolt of one
of the major sponsors and patrons who could turn his back on them. First of all, I’m referring to
situation in Korea and Vietnam, which are divided as spheres of influence between USA and
USSR. Despite the difficult situation, it is interesting that Germany developed quite well,
especially when Brandt proclaimed his Ostpolitik, the policy of establishing good relations with
the East.

In China, Mao in 1966 is trying to start Cultural Revolution, which has experienced
failure and this dissatisfaction is transferred to the some European countries. When it came to
disagreements with the Soviet Union, Mao was willing to negotiate even with the Americans.
After the failure of the Prague Spring, the USSR is starting to make efforts to establish good
relations with the West.