Seminar 1: Introduction

Question 1

Orthodox
what?
who eg?

Answer 1

view that conflict stemmed from Stalinist aggression
Herbert Feis

Question 2

Revisionist
what?
who?
why popular?

Answer 2

counters orthodox view
view that conflict stemmed from aggressive neoimperial US policies
William Appleman Williams
flower power, hippie era

Question 3

Post-Revisionist
what?
who?

Answer 3

view that both sides played significant roles in the escalation of the Cold War
John Lewis Gaddis

Question 4

Why is it problematic that histories of the Cold War often depict Latin America as a ‘victim’, ‘patient’, or ‘problem’ (Pettinà)?

Answer 4

presents Latin America as subordinate to US without own autonomy

Question 5

What reasons does Pettinà give to support his view that the term ‘Cold War’ cannot be applied to Latin American history prior to 1946?

Answer 5

Shift of power after WW2
Both superpowers now have space to promote ideologies

Question 6

Why, according to Pettinà, was the Cuban Revolution so significant?

Answer 6

First legitimate soviet threat in US’s backyard
Inspired student-led protests, morale amongst civilian population

Question 7

What is the essence of the disagreement between Jean-Paul Sartre and Albert Camus about the role of intellectuals as set out by Iber?

Answer 7

Sartre – sacrifice of self in to give yourself entirely to cause

‘Required self-censorship’ - wholly permissive to movement

Camus – self-led, unwilling to sacrifice individual beliefs

‘Required the individual to be a dissenting voice’

Question 7

United fruit company
owned?
why needed land?

Answer 7

owned majority of land in Guatemala
to grow bananas to sell in US (w cheap labour of Guatemalans)

Question 8

How did the US perform ‘cultural diplomacy’ in
Latin America?

Answer 8

CCF (clandestinely launched by CIA) to work with local artist to promote anti-communist ideas and influence world opinion