interpretations of cold war Flashcards
what were the main features of the us orthadox view 1940-1960
they thought the Ussr wanted world revolution
the Ussr was trying to spread communism across the world
stalin needed a threatening enemy (the USA) to convince the soviet people that they needed a tough dictatorship
why did the us orthadox view develop at this time
lack of sources: the Americans couldn’t get sources from the Ussr
personal experience: lots of the historians had been involved in the government and advising decisions so they were always going to blame the Ussr
who agreed with the us orthadox view and why was it fair
Thomas bailey George Keenan
berlin blockade: this showed aggression by the Ussr by them starving west berlin from supplies to try in order to get the USA out of berlin
soviet sphere of influence: they wanted most of Europe
what were the main features of the us revisionist view 1960-1970
the USA provoked the cold war by trying to achieve economic dominance in Europe and Asia
why did the us revisionist view develop at this time
Vietnam war: the USA had supported a corrupt regime in Vietnam it killed ten of thousands of civilians with bombing raids and chemical weapons
cuban revolution: the USA behaved more like an aggressive empire-building power than a force for good trying to stop the soviets developing their own empire
who agreed with the us revisionist view and why was it fair
William Appleman Williams
marshal plan: it was designed to prevent a post war economic depression because it could harm US trade
what were the main features of the post revisionist view 1970-1989
the cold war was because of fear confusion and misunderstanding
it started because of the beliefs and actions of the Ussr and the USA
why did the post revisionist view develop at this time
thawing of cold war: after the Vietnam war Nixon started building relations between china and the Ussr (salt treaty)
who agreed with the post revisionist view and why was it fair
john Lewis gaddis
creation of NATO was seen as an aggressive action to the Ussr
the soviet sphere of influence was seen as an agressive action to the USA
what were the main features of the new cold war historians view 1989-
soviet sources were opened up so historians could have new interpretations mixed veiws
why did the the new cold historians view develop at this time
after the ussr collapsed there were millions of new sources to consider
examples of historians that argued this interpretation new cold war historians
john lewis gaddis later believes ussr is blame
micheal cox and caroline kennedy pipe believed the USA was to blame
