Interpretations 2

Question 1

Dates of US orthodox view, summary and context? (3)

Answer 1

1940S-1950S

• USSR to Blame for cold war
• Thomas bailey argued USSR wanted world revolution/ caused cold war due to actions in east europe
• Kennan said Stalin needed a threatening enemy (USA) TO CONVINCE soviet ppl they need his tough dictatorship to protect them, so provoked USA on purpose
• FEIS argued the aggressive expansion by soviet leaders to **spread communism **, forced USA TO RESPONS WITH marshall plan and truman doctrine

‘RED SCARE’ - communism was forced upon ppl otherwise ARRESTED/MONITORED / Mccarthy exploited fear

• made soviet look aggressive
• ppl who wrote accounts of Start of Cold War had been part of the event
• at time of BERLIN BLOCKADE, NATO, Korean War - soviet seen as AGGRESSIVE PARTY

Question 2

Dates of US revisionist view, summary and context? (3)

Answer 2

1960s -1970s
USA to blame for Cold War - due to AGGRESSIVE ACTIONS by USA to ensure it dominates trade in EUROPE/ASIA (‘OPEN DOOR’)
- soviet acted in defence as they felt threatened, by Truman’s ‘get tough’ attitude
- argued that Marshall Plan designed to prevent post-war economic depression bc it would harm trade

CUBAN REVOLUTION: -USA acted aggressively to build an empire
VIETNAM WAR : USA supported corrupt regime in Vietnam , killing using weapons
- impacted public trust

Question 3

Dates of POST REVISIONIST view, summary and context? (3)

Answer 3

1970S-1980S
Cold War started bc of MISUNDERSTANDING BETWEEN 2 SIDES
John Lewis Gaddis - cause of war was due to misundertanding/ exaggeration of soviet strength/intentions, leading to USA overreacting, then USSR overeacting

Following detente era , historians saw that REAGAN AND GORBACHEV found a common ground to agree upon/ maybe Cold War STARTED bc TRUMAN AND STALIN were unwilling to work together/misunderstood eachother
Détente - Nixon started to build relations with China and USSR - agreed on Strategic Arms Limitation Treaty (SALT)

Question 4

Dates of NEW Cold War HISTORIANS view, summary and context? (3)

Answer 4

1989 onwards ….
John Lewis Gaddis - any no. of reasons/events can be given to explain causes of Cold War but CANT BE SURE WHO/WHAT to blame

after fall of Berlin Wall (1989), Collapse of USSR and end of Cold War (1991), new SOVIET SECRET DOCS are in public domain
- new era of friendship means less willingness to blame one another