Cold War interpretations Flashcards
When was the Orthodox View popular?
1940s - 1950s
What was the Orthodox View?
The USSR was completing to blame for the start of the Cold War.
Extra detail/context of the Orthodox View.
Considered at a time when the Berlin Blockade, where Soviet troops surrounded West Berlin; NATO and the Korean War had recently happened.
The USSR appeared to be the aggressive party; trying to spread Communism, to East Europe in particular.
Red Scare/McCarthyism
When was the Revisionist View popular?
1960s - 1970s
What is the Revisionist View?
The USA is to blame for starting the Cold War.
Extra detail/context of the Revisionist View.
Considered around the time of the Vietnam War, which by now US public opinion was moving against the war (due to use of chemical weapons such as napalm, and events such as the My Lai Massacre, which killed around 400 civilians).
Many now believed that the USA were the aggressive party.
When was the Post-Revisionist View popular?
1970s -1980s
What was the Post-Revisionist View?
The Cold War started because of misunderstandings between the two sides.
Extra detail/context of the Post-Revisionist View.
After the era of détente (began after the Cuban Missile Crisis and ended with the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan and arrival of Reagan), many historians saw that Reagan and Gorbachev were able to find common ground and realised that perhaps the Cold War started because former leaders such as Truman and Stalin were unwilling to work together.
When was the New Cold War Historians View popular?
1989 onwards
What is the New Cold War Historians View?
Any number of events or reasons could be given to explain the causes, though we can’t be sure who or what is to blame.
Extra detail/context of the New Cold War Historians View.
After the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989, the collapse of the USSR, and the end of the Cold War in 1991, new Soviet Secret documents were released to the public domain.
There are fewer arguments and less willingness to blame someone else.
