interpretations of cold war Flashcards
US ORTHODOX
what year was the US orthodox view
late 1940s - early 1960s
US ORTHODOX
US orthodox view summary
-there was no doubt that the USSR was to blame
-dominated US thinking for 15 years
-supported by
feis, kennan, bailey
US ORTHODOX
feis argued that…
the USSR was trying to spread communism globally + the US had been forced to respond with the Truman Doctrine & Marshal plan
feis - forced (the usa was forced to…..)
US ORTHODOX
kennan argued that….
stalin needed a threatening enemy (the US) to convince his country that they needed his tough dictatorship to protect them.
stalin deliberately provoked the usa
kennan - kennel - threatening dog- threatening enemy (stalin wanted a …)
US ORTHODOX
bailey argued that…
the USSR wanted world revolution + the soviets caused the war by their actions in eastern europe after the war
bailey- bay leaf- in the east they season their food with bay leaves (stalin’s actions in east europe)
US ORTHODOX
context of the us orthodox view
the red scare
- macarthur exploited this fear, claimed there were soviet spies in the us government and other institutions
- huge fear of communists
personal experience
-many orthodox historians were also mps. many were involved in the events they were writing about. eg.kennan feis
sources
-secretive, influenced by propaganda
US ORTHODOX
impact of orthodox view
widely accepted by historians and politicians
widely accepted by majority of us public
why?
promotion in hollywood movies: ‘the war of the worlds’ and films produced by us government: ‘make mine freedom’
dramatic scenes of communist invasion were a common sight in newspapers comics and books
US ORTHODOX VIEW
challenges of the orthodox view
mainly from the ussr, they were patriotic and wanted to defend their country’s reputation
opposers
william appleman williams
e.h carter (british)
ORTHODOX VIEW
appleman’s argument against orthodox view
the cold war was instigated by the usa and soviet actions were defensive
ORTHODOX VIEW
e.h carter’s arguments against orthodox view
a great admirer of the ussr, largely blames the cold war on us policies
US REVISIONIST
summary of us revisionist view
‘open door’
the usa provoked the cold war by trying to achieve economic dominance in europe
historians overstated soviet threat.
they weren’t writing history, but justification for the us’ problematic policies
US REVISIONIST
context of revisionist view
academics became critical of orthodox view
many (including williams) claimed the usa acted like an aggressive empire building power
the usa supported a corrupt regime in vietnam resulting in 10,000s of civilian deaths
- ‘zippo raids’ / search and destroy missions
- mai kai massacre
US REVISIONIST
impact of revisionist view
created a stir among historians. it was not widely popular at first
politicians were especially less receptive to this view because many were involved in the events and policies!
older generations felt uncomfortable with the view
(patriotism)
strong youth counter-culture in us at the time, strongly agreed with the view
US REVISIONIST
what year?
mid 60s to mid 70s
US REVISIONIST
challenges of revisionist view
mainly came from traditionalists who were still in support of the orthodox viewpoint
POST REVISIONIST VIEW
when??
early 1970-1989
POST REVISIONIST VIEW
summarise
they just couldn’t understnad eachother
cold war was caused by the way both nations reacted to each others actions, which were largely based on misunderstandings and mistrust
both countries held a substantial amount of responsibility, it was a result of confusion and fear
led by john lewis gaddis
POST REVISIONIST VIEW
challenges
dominated historians thinking for a while
criticised by many for being similar to orthodox view (carolyn eisenburg)
widely accepted as a whole
POST REVISIONT
context
a time of intense historical debate and finding new ways to interpret all of history as well as cold war
challenged both views for their simplicity
during detente with communist china and ussr,
eg setting up of S.A.L.T (1972) , discussion of human rights, finland (1972)
so
people were thinking less in terms of blame and more in terms of misunderstanding
POST REVISIONIST
impact of post revisionist view
gaddis’ work hugely impacted historians.
many now recognised the weakness of orthodox view but still weren’t comfy with revisionist view.
post rev was more balanced, provided a more complex and rounded approach
NEW COLD WAR HISTORIANS
what year?
1989 and onwards….
NEW COLD WAR HISTORIANS
summary
the west now had access to soviet sources and archives , but they didn’t lead to a final interpretation like people assumed.
they just served to strengthen existing arguments
the question of who was to home was not answered
john lewis gaddis revised his views, becoming more orthodox
NEW COLD WAR HISTORIANS
impact
historians were still left divided
gaddis revising his ideologies caused a stir/impression
NEW COLD WAR
context of the view
the cold war had ended
new soviet sources accessible
the reagan factor
-blame continues to be allocated even after war. largely due to us politics and ronald reagan, who followed an aggressive policy towards ussr in final years of war, calling it an ‘evil empire’ and many historians agreed
