The foreign policy of the ussr in 60 80 briefly. Foreign policy of the ussr. Helsinki agreements - essence and meaning

Soviet foreign policy solved the main problem of this period - the reduction of the confrontation between East and West.

The USSR's relations with the capitalist countries have become more balanced.

In order to ease international tension, a number of treaties were signed: the four-sided agreement on West Berlin, the Soviet-American treaty on the limitation of anti-missile defense systems, etc.

In the summer of 1966, the President of France Charles de Gaulle paid a visit to Moscow, and in 1970 the Chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany V. Brandt (having arrived in Moscow, he signed an agreement with the USSR on the non-use of force in relations). The post-war borders were confirmed during the negotiations. On December 21, 1972, the FRG announced the recognition of the GDR. Both German states were admitted to the UN.

In 1972, meetings were held with American presidents R. Nixon and D. Ford, who succeeded him. A course has been outlined to defuse tension in relations between the two powers.

On May 26, 1972, the SALT-1 agreement was signed in Moscow. The parties agreed to limit the number of intercontinental missiles and underwater missiles. In 1978, the SALT-2 agreement was concluded on the limitation of underground nuclear tests and missile defense: The volume of Soviet-American trade increased 8 times.

There have been positive shifts in relations with Great Britain, the FRG, Italy, France and other capitalist powers.

On July 30, 1975, the Pan-European Conference on Security and Cooperation (CSCE) was held in Helsinki. It was attended by 33 states, the final document enshrined ten principles in the relations of the CSCE participating countries: the sovereign equality of states, their territorial integrity, inviolability of borders, peaceful settlement of disputes, non-interference in internal affairs, respect for human rights, equality of peoples, mutually beneficial cooperation, fulfillment of obligations under international law.

The development of cooperation with the countries of people's democracies continued. The USSR was faced with the task of strengthening the socialist camp, rallying it in political, military and economic relations.

In 1969, the territorial conflict between the USSR and China ended in armed clashes on the Damansky Peninsula.

The conflict in Poland was triggered by a sharp rise in prices, which sparked a wave of protest. The struggle for independence was organized by the Solidarity trade union headed by the popular leader L. Vapensa. On December 13, 1981, martial law was introduced in Poland.

Since 1973, negotiations have been held between the Warsaw Pact countries and NATO on the reduction of armed forces in Europe. However, the introduction of Soviet troops into Afghanistan in December 1979 canceled all efforts, the negotiations reached a dead end.

With the beginning of the perestroika process, serious changes began to take place in the foreign policy of the USSR. With the departure from the post of Minister of Foreign Affairs A.A. Gromyko, a change in the leadership of the ministry took place. People with new thinking came to foreign policy.

The foreign policy course began to be chosen based on the opinion of experts.

Gorbachev declared the priority of universal human values ​​over class values ​​and the rejection of the main postulate of Soviet ideology about the split of the world into two opposing socio-political systems. The world was recognized as one and indivisible.

The main resolution tool international affairs it was not the balance of power that was recognized, but the balance of their interests.

Particular importance was attached to Soviet-American relations. Summit meetings were held annually, and as a result agreements were signed on the destruction of intermediate and shorter-range missiles. In July 1991, Mikhail Gorbachev and George W. Bush signed an offensive arms limitation treaty. Significant success has been achieved in the negotiation process on reducing the number of conventional weapons in Europe. In April 1991, Mikhail Gorbachev paid a visit to Japan in order to prepare the ground for the signing of a peace treaty and the revitalization of bilateral relations. The Soviet delegation officially recognized the existence of territorial disagreements with Japan related to the change in borders as a result of their revision in 1945.

In May 1989, as a result of the visit of the Soviet delegation to Beijing, relations with China were normalized, long-term agreements on political, economic and cultural cooperation were signed.

The senseless war of the Soviet Union in Afghanistan was ended. The process of settlement and withdrawal of troops was carried out in stages: in February 1988, the withdrawal of troops was announced, which began on May 15, 1988 and ended in February 1989.

The policy of refusing to use force in international relations, including in relation to the allies, hastened the process of the fall of communist regimes in the countries of Eastern Europe. In Czechoslovakia, Poland, Bulgaria, Romania, Hungary, the GDR, new democratic forces came to power.

In November 1989 the Berlin Wall, a symbol of the division of Europe, ceased to exist. The leaders of the new states took a course towards breaking ties with the USSR and rapprochement with Western countries.

Excellent and short:
Foreign policy USSR in the mid 60s - mid 80s. was aimed at achieving three main goals: to strengthen its influence in the socialist community, to rally world system socialism, to prevent any countries from falling away from it; improve relations with the developed countries of the West, primarily with the USA, Germany, France, and ensure peaceful coexistence with them; expand its sphere of influence in the "third world", intensify military-technical and economic cooperation with developing countries.

Relations with socialist countries

In 1964-1985. in relations with the socialist countries, the USSR adhered to the so-called "Brezhnev doctrine": to preserve the socialist camp with all its might, maximally strengthening the leading role of the USSR in it and actually limiting the sovereignty of the allies. For the first time, the "Brezhnev doctrine" was applied during the entry of troops of the five Warsaw Pact countries into Czechoslovakia in August 1968 to suppress the recognized anti-socialist processes ("Prague Spring"). But this doctrine was not fully implemented. China, Yugoslavia, Albania and Romania occupied a special position. In the early 80s. the performances of the Solidarity trade union in Poland almost made Soviet leadership take advantage of the Prague experience. Fortunately, this was avoided, but the growing crisis in the socialist world was obvious to everyone.
Relations with China were especially tense. The Chinese Communist Party, like the CPSU, claimed leadership in the world communist movement... The conflict went so far that China put forward territorial claims to the USSR, and in 1969 provoked military clashes in the area of ​​Damansky Island.
In the 70s. the Chinese leadership sharply criticized "Soviet hegemonism", nullifying economic and political cooperation with the USSR.

Relations with Western countries

Second half of the 60s - 70s - the time of detente in relations between the USSR and the capitalist countries. It was initiated by the French President Charles. de Gaulle.
In 1970, Leonid Brezhnev and German Chancellor W. Brandt signed an agreement recognizing the post-war borders in Europe. In 1972, Germany signed similar agreements with Poland and Czechoslovakia. In the first half of the 70s. The USSR and the USA concluded a number of agreements on limiting the arms race. Official meetings of the Soviet and American leadership at the highest level took place (1972, 1973, 1974, 1978). In 1975 in Helsinki, 33 European states, as well as the USA and Canada signed the Final Act of the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe on the principles of interstate relations: respect for sovereignty and integrity, non-interference in internal affairs, respect for human rights, etc. Results of the Helsinki Conference East and the West was understood differently. The United States and its European allies emphasized the humanitarian aspects of the agreements reached (human rights, personal inviolability, etc.).
The USSR attached the main importance to the principles of non-interference in internal affairs, inviolability of post-war borders in Europe; sovereign equality; and respect for the rights inherent in sovereignty, including the right to freely choose and develop their political, economic and cultural systems.
Detente was generally a controversial phenomenon. It became possible not least because by 1969 the USSR had achieved military-strategic parity (equality) with the United States. The superpowers continued to arm themselves. The arms race was rapidly intensifying. The USSR and the USA confronted each other in regional conflicts, in which they supported forces fighting against each other (in the Middle East, Vietnam, Ethiopia, Angola, etc.).
In 1979, the USSR introduced a limited military contingent to Afghanistan. The discharge did not pass this test. New frosts set in. The Cold War has resumed. Mutual accusations, notes of protest, disputes and diplomatic scandals have become integral elements of the system international relations in the first half of the 80s. Relations between the USSR and the USA, the Internal Affairs Directorate and NATO were at an impasse.

USSR and the countries of the "third world"

As it was said, relations with the countries of the "third world" largely obeyed the logic of the strategic confrontation between the USSR and the United States. In the Middle East, the USSR held an unambiguously pro-Arab position, maintaining friendly relations with Syria and Egypt, the leaders of the Arab world. When in 1979 the President of Egypt A. Sadat concluded a peace treaty with Israel, contacts with him were virtually frozen.
During the American aggression in Vietnam (1964-1975), the USSR provided significant military-technical assistance to the Democratic Republic of Vietnam. Supported the USSR and anti-American rebels in Nicaragua. An active policy was carried out in Africa, where Mozambique, Angola, Guinea-Bissau, Ethiopia were under Soviet influence.
The introduction of Soviet troops into Afghanistan (December 1979) marked the beginning of a long military conflict in which the USSR suffered great human, material and moral losses. It was a gross mistake, the tragic consequences of which still remind of themselves.

The beginning of the collapse of the "socialist camp". In the 60s, a conflict arose with China because of Khrushchev's criticism of Stalin - before the armed clash over Damansky Island in 1969. China claimed 1.5 million km of Soviet territory, went on rapprochement with the United States.

IN 1968 Soviet troops and 4 other countries suppressed the unrest in Czechoslovakia. Appeared Brezhnev doctrine justifying interference in the affairs of allied countries. The leadership of the USSR did not want any changes either in politics or in the economy, which led to stagnation.

USSR and international conflicts ... In the second half of the 60s, the USSR became involved in a confrontation with the United States in the wars in Vietnam, where pro-American southerners fought against pro-Soviet northerners, and in the Middle East (Israel against the Arab states supported by the USSR). This has caused large material costs.

Transition to a policy of detente... IN 1972 The USSR and the USA signed an agreement on the limitation strategic weapons (OSV-1 ), recognizing parity (equality) nuclear forces... This prevented a further arms race. Further, the war in Vietnam was ended, the conflict between the FRG and the GDR was settled. Foreign trade has grown. In 1975, a joint Soviet-American space flight took place with the docking of the Soyuz and Apollo.

IN 1975 Security Meeting and cooperation in Europe signed the Final Act recognizing the integrity of borders in Europe and human rights.

The meaning of discharge... Soviet leaders (especially the Minister of Foreign Affairs Gromyko ) regarded detente as a change of forces in the world in favor of socialism. In the United States, it was believed that the USSR was afraid of overpowering a new arms race and was afraid of China. In fact, the reserves nuclear weapons enough has already been accumulated for the repeated destruction of each other. Economic cooperation was also beneficial, especially with the sale of energy raw materials and the purchase of equipment and food abroad.

But the United States held back the development of trade with the USSR because of the position of Jews in the USSR, carried out unilateral rearmament, showed dissatisfaction with the actions of the USSR in Africa. In response to the deployment of the USSR in Eastern Europe SS-20 missiles NATO deployed American missiles medium range... The signing of the SALT-2 treaty was the last step on the road to detente.

U R O K No. 34

SPIRITUAL LIFE IN THE BREZHNEV ERA

Party apparatus and society. Chief ideologist of the CPSU Suslov established control over the media. The 1966 writers Sinyavsky and Daniel convicted of anti-Soviet propaganda. Repression followed, placement in psychiatric hospitals, study by the KGB. Artists were leaving the country. But critical sentiments in society, listening to Western radio stations grew, appeared samizdat.

Dissent... A human rights movement begins (leader - academician Sakharov , was sent into exile in the city of Gorky), appeals of the intelligentsia to the ruling structures with the protection of the rights of creativity, with condemnation of the invasion of Czechoslovakia.

In 1975, the instigators of the riot on a Baltic Fleet ship were shot, but the number dissidents (dissidents) grew.

DEEPENING OF THE CRISIS IN THE USSR

Failure of the policy of detente... IN 1979 The USSR sent troops to Afghanistan to defend the pro-Soviet regime. 14 thousand of our soldiers were killed, 50 thousand were wounded. The war dealt a blow to the economy and international prestige of the USSR. UN members condemned him.

In the United States, Reagan came to power under the slogan of fighting "Evil empire"- USSR, launched a program of "star wars".

Andropov's policy... With death in 1982 Brezhnev became general secretary Andropov , head of the KGB. He realistically looked at the situation in the country, made a reshuffle of personnel (including in the Ministry of Internal Affairs), strengthened labor discipline, and led the fight against corrupt officials. Arrests, trials and suicides of senior officials followed. Concepts appeared mafia, shadow economy... Ordinary citizens reacted with approval to the changes that had begun. But the struggle against dissent also expanded, and criticism of Stalinism ceased.

Relations with the West have deteriorated after the shooting down of a South Korean civilian plane in the Sakhalin region, which was mistaken for a reconnaissance plane. IN 1984 the place of the deceased Andropov was taken by the elderly and the sick Chernenko... Andropov's beginnings were curtailed.

HOUSES: §§ 36, 37

U R O K number 35

SCIENCE, LITERATURE AND ART in the 1960s-1980s

Science and technology. Nobel laureates became a mathematician Kantorovich and physicist Kapitsa... Science worked for the military-industrial complex, giving little to citizens.

Literature... Rural prose: Astafiev, Belov, Rasputin, Shukshin .

Military prose: Bondarev, Vasiliev, Bykov .

Urban prose: Bitov, Trifonov.

Got world fame Aitmatov .

He wrote historical prose Pikul ,

fiction - brothers Strugatsky ,

history of Stalinist repressions - Solzhenitsyn.

Theater... More than 600 theaters worked.

Playwrights Gelman, Roshchin, Arbuzov, Shatrov, Vampilov .

Movie... Directors Bondarchuk, Shukshin, Tarkovsky, Gaidai, Ryazanov, Danelia .

Actors Tikhonov, Smoktunovsky, Efremov.

Singers. Arkhipova, Obraztsova, Atlantov, Zykina, Kobzon, Leshchenko, Magomayev, Pugacheva, Rotaru, Vysotsky, Okudzhava ,

ensembles "Pesnyary", "Gems", "Time Machine".

Ballet. Plisetskaya , Liepa, Maksimova, Vasiliev.

Composers. Khachaturian, Eshpay.

Sculpture. Informal - Unknown, Siddur.

Sport. Figure skaters Pakhomova and Gorshkov, Rodnina and Zaitsev,

hockey players Bobrov, Kharlamov, Tretyak .

Chess players Botvinnik, Karpov, Kasparov .

IN 1980 an Olympiad was held in Moscow, which was ignored by Western countries because of the war in Afghanistan.

HOUSES: §§ 38

U R ABOUT No. 36

EURO-ATLANTIC CIVILIZATION

Welfare Society... The experience of the totalitarian regimes of the twentieth century, which led to a series of wars and revolutions, showed the need for a new social policy... In Sweden, already in the 30s, a directive was made to eliminate poverty. Its experience was used after the war by West Germany, having achieved an "economic miracle".

In the 60s under the president Johnson the United States has also taken up the eradication of poverty. Expenditures on education, medicine, pensions, and youth assistance have increased. Civil rights were strengthened. A system of progressive taxation of the rich is introduced, prices are regulated.

The welfare model crisis in the 70s... The slump in production due to the rise in oil prices after the Arab-Israeli conflict resulted in a decline in social programs... The interests of high-tech industries demanded a reduction in taxes and a decrease in the role of states in the economy.

The neo-conservative revolution of the 80s... Neoconservatives - supporters of the traditions of the past, modernized these traditions in order to expand freedom of entrepreneurship and reduce the role of the state in the economy, and eliminate dependency. They were supported by the middle class.

Privatization is unfolding, bankruptcy of unprofitable enterprises, job cuts.

Social Democrats and Neoliberals of the 90s... Neoconservatism, having achieved certain goals, began to decline. The market economy is again becoming socially oriented. The Social Democrats proclaim 3 principles: freedom, justice, solidarity. In most European countries, they come to power.

With a decrease in the activity of radical parties, women's movements, anti-war, environmental, and human rights movements become more active.

Integration of developed countries... The share of imports in these countries is half of the production. The goals of integration are served by the EEC, WTO, European Parliament, etc. As a result, goods, capital and labor force move freely, living standards converge, the problem of employment is being solved.

HOUSES: §§ 30-34

U R O K number 37

USSR AND EASTERN EUROPE COUNTRIES

AFTER THE SECOND WORLD WAR

Eastern Europe. Anti-fascist governments came to power, the first reforms were democratic. With the beginning " cold war"There was a division into pro-Western and pro-Soviet regimes. In those countries where Soviet troops were located, communists came to power. The standard of living in pro-Western countries in the 1980s was 3 times higher than in pro-Soviet countries, which showed the failure of the planned economy.

The crisis of totalitarian socialism... The economy of the USSR fizzled out on the "construction sites of the century", aid to underdeveloped countries, payment for the swollen management apparatus. The country's leaders turned out to be "the wrong people" in time. The propaganda lies made people sarcastic and apathetic. Corruption has hit managers. The economy suffered from isolation from developed countries.

U R O K number 38

REBUILDING IN THE ECONOMY

Gorbachev Mikhail Sergeevich. As a schoolboy, he worked as an assistant to a combine operator, at the age of 18 he was awarded the Order of the Red Banner of Labor. Graduated from the Agricultural Institute and the Faculty of Law of Moscow State University. At the initiative of Gromyko in March 1985 elected General Secretary of the CPSU. He challenged the established power structure. His openness prompted a huge interest in him from the people.

Continuing the course of Andropov... Gorbachev launched a fight against corruption and bureaucracy and resolutely renewed his staff. Set a goal acceleration of the economy by tightening discipline and state acceptance, using human factor(i.e. consciousness). At the initiative of the deputy Gorbachev Ligacheva the fight against drunkenness unfolded.

However, it was not possible to increase the rates, the external debt increased. Reasons: a sharp drop in prices in the world market; resistance to change on the part of local leadership, accustomed to "warmth"; expenses for the elimination of the accident in 1986 at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant; shortage of money from alcohol (sugar for home brewing disappeared from stores). The queues for wine irritated people.

Economic reforms... The search for new solutions began. Economists Aganbegyan, Abalkin and others have developed an economic component restructuring with the introduction of market elements (self-sufficiency, cost accounting, the choice of managers, the creation of cooperatives, private entrepreneurship, farming). District and regional committees of the CPSU were forbidden to interfere in the work of enterprises.

But the reforms were difficult due to the resistance of officials, agricultural production was reduced, the state grew. debt, essential goods and foodstuffs disappeared, racketeering and organized crime appeared. Under state-owned enterprises, cooperatives arose that pumped money into the pockets of managers. Farmers were allocated waste land, equipment and fertilizers were not allocated, their fellow villagers poisoned them.

In 1989, strikes broke out, especially by the miners.

Economists Yavlinsky and Shatalin offered an adventurous program "500 days" but she was dismissed as adventurous.

Head of the government Pavlov spent monetary reform, which lowered the standard of living and caused new strikes.

The desire for internal political stability forced the leaders of the USSR to look for ways to reduce the level of international tension. Problems have been inherited from past periods Soviet history and their solution required new approaches, rethought in the light of the realities of the developing world.

The contrast in international relations during the Cold War, when parity in politics and armaments was achieved, led the world to balancing on the brink of a new world war. The US aggression in Indochina further complicated relations between the USSR and the West.

The Soviet leaders were convinced of the strength of the positions of the socialist camp, and the United States, for its part, sought to get out of the Vietnamese adventure, saving face. This made it possible, by the beginning of the seventies, to launch the process of establishing pragmatic relations between the USSR and the United States:

    in 1969, the West supported the initiative of the Warsaw Pact countries to convene a pan-European conference on security and cooperation;

    in 1970, an agreement between the FRG and the Soviet Union recognized the post-war borders as final and refused to use armed forces to solve problems;

    in 1971, Soviet, American, British and French representatives signed an agreement on West Berlin;

    in 1972, Richard Nixon became the first American president to visit Moscow, where agreements were signed on the basis of relations between the countries and treaties on the limitation of missile defense and strategic offensive arms;

In 1973, Leonid Brezhnev paid a return visit to the United States, an agreement concluded there on the elimination of the threat nuclear war completed the turn towards detente relations between the countries.

European meeting in Helsinki

The apogee of "detente" was signed by the 33 European countries and the US CSCE Final Act, which included:

  • the political and territorial results of World War II have been confirmed;
  • the principles of trust in the military sphere have been coordinated;
  • agreed on the main directions of joint efforts in the economic, scientific and environmental spheres;
  • linked issues of human rights and freedoms with domestic politics signatory countries to the Act.

The signing of the Final Act was a significant victory for the policy of peaceful coexistence. Relative stability in relations with the capitalist countries remained until the introduction of the OKSVA into Afghanistan. The Western countries used this pretext to unleash the next round of the Cold War.

The role of regional conflicts in exacerbating the situation

After the Cuban missile crisis, the center of confrontation between the USSR and the United States moved to different regions the world. The USSR and the USA sided with different warring factions:

  • during the US aggression in Vietnam;
  • in the Arab-Israeli wars in the Middle East;
  • in the Indo-Pakistani conflict;
  • in the anti-colonial struggle of the peoples of Africa;
  • in civil war in Nicaragua and Ethiopia;

These conflicts, localized in the regions, were the field of confrontation between the USSR and the USA, a testing ground for testing the latest weapons improving military planning.

Relations within the camp of socialist countries

The concept on the basis of which relations with the socialist countries were built had an unspoken name: "the Brezhnev doctrine." Its essence was to ensure the unity of the socialist camp, led by the Soviet Union, by any means.

An attempt made in 1968 by the leaders of Czechoslovakia to get out of Moscow's tutelage was suppressed. In the elimination of the dangerous precedent, along with Soviet troops, military units from all countries of the Warsaw Pact took part. Later, during similar events in Poland, the Soviet leadership did not fully use the “Prague experience” and the development of the situation had sad consequences for world socialism.

By the beginning of the 70s, relations with the PRC became strained, the Communist Party of which put forward an application for primacy among the socialist and developing countries. The situation of confrontation reached yes to military conflicts and acute ideological struggle on all areas of cooperation, especially after the departure of Mao Zedong.

It was not possible to fully implement the “Brezhnev doctrine”. The countries of the socialist camp willingly took advantage of all the advantages provided to them by the USSR, but at the same time actively defended their independence in all spheres.

On the whole, Soviet foreign policy activities of the 60s and 80s had a steady focus on reducing the level of direct confrontation between East and West, resolving sharp corners through regional wars. But at the same time, a tendency for the USSR to move towards a systemic crisis in foreign policy emerged.

Soviet foreign policy solved the main problem of this period - the reduction of the confrontation between East and West.

The USSR's relations with the capitalist countries have become more balanced.

In order to ease international tension, a number of treaties were signed: the four-sided agreement on West Berlin, the Soviet-American treaty on the limitation of anti-missile defense systems, etc.

In the summer of 1966, the President of France Charles de Gaulle paid a visit to Moscow, and in 1970 the Chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany V. Brandt (having arrived in Moscow, he concluded an agreement with the USSR on the non-use of force in relations). The post-war borders were confirmed during the negotiations. On December 21, 1972, the FRG announced the recognition of the GDR. Both German states were admitted to the UN.

In 1972, meetings were held with American Presidents R. Nixon and D. Ford, who succeeded him. A course has been outlined to defuse tension in relations between the two powers.

On May 26, 1972, the SALT-1 agreement was signed in Moscow. The parties agreed to limit the number of intercontinental missiles and submarine-launched missiles. In 1978, the SALT-2 Treaty was signed on the limitation of underground nuclear tests and missile defense. The volume of Soviet-American trade increased eightfold.

There have been positive shifts in relations with Great Britain, the FRG, Italy, France and other capitalist powers.

On July 30, 1975, the Pan-European Conference on Security and Cooperation (CSCE) was held in Helsinki. It was attended by 33 states, the final document consolidated ten principles in the relations of the CSCE member countries: the sovereign equality of states, their territorial integrity, inviolability of borders, peaceful settlement of disputes, non-interference in internal affairs, respect for human rights, equality of peoples, mutually beneficial cooperation, fulfillment of obligations under international law.

The development of cooperation with the countries of people's democracies continued. The USSR was faced with the task of strengthening the socialist camp, rallying it in political, military and economic relations.

In 1971, a program for the economic integration of the CMEA member countries was adopted, which had a positive impact on the development of the economies of the socialist countries. However, the CMEA's isolation from the world economy had a detrimental effect on the pace of economic development, which, in turn, became the cause of crisis situations in relations between socialist countries.

In 1968, in Czechoslovakia, the leadership of the Communist Party, headed by A. Dubcek, attempted to carry out democratic reforms in society and build socialism with a "human face." In response to this, joint troops of five countries participating in the Internal Affairs Directorate were introduced into the territory of Czechoslovakia. A change of government was carried out, at the head of which G. Husak was installed by Moscow.

In May 1970, Czechoslovakia signed an alliance treaty with the USSR. Czechoslovakia, Poland and the German Democratic Republic became the bulwarks of socialism in Europe. These events caused colossal damage to the international prestige of the USSR and had grave foreign policy consequences.

In 1969, the territorial conflict between the USSR and China ended in armed clashes on the Damansky Peninsula.

The conflict in Poland was triggered by a sharp rise in prices, which sparked a wave of protest. The struggle for independence was organized by the Solidarity trade union headed by the popular leader L. Walesa. On December 13, 1981, martial law was introduced in Poland.

Since 1973, negotiations have been held between the Warsaw Pact countries and NATO on the reduction of armed forces in Europe. However, the introduction of Soviet troops into Afghanistan in December 1979 canceled all efforts, the negotiations reached a dead end.