cold war views

Question 1

What are the four views of Cold war

Answer 1

US orthodox view
US revisionist view
Post- revisionist view
New Cold War

Question 2

What is the US orthodox view and when was it

Answer 2

1940’s- 1960’s
- Stalin and USSR to blame for starting the cold war
- three factors- red scare, personal experience, lack of sources
- Senator McCarthy exploited fear

impact: widely accepted by public and historians, mainly due to the US films

challenges: patriotic soviets ussr, official censorship’s, lack of access
- Williams argued US were aggressor. Smith ‘ American imperialism was cause of cold war’

Question 3

What is the US revisionist view and when was it

Answer 3

1960’s- 1970’s
- USA was to blame because orthodox historians overstated threat and were justifying the US policy

-USA provoked Cold War through the economic dominance in Europe and Asia
- in Europe - the Truman doctrine: promised intervention for any gov. that was threatened by communism.
- Marshall plan - aid to help post war economic depression

• cuban revolution in 1959 that puts communism at the door of USA
• Vietnam war, thousands killed, public opinions turn against the Cold War: this affected the view - impact on the trust on USA

impact: caused a stir, politicians disliked, public divided

challenges- criticised by tradionalists

Question 4

what is the post-revisionist view and when was it

Answer 4

1970’s - 1989
- Cold War caused by USA and USSR reactions based on mistrust
- historian Gaddis - rejected revisionist, agued Cold War was not inevitable. was both usa and ussr fault
- historical debate - debates upon historians
- thawing of Cold War with the detente - after Vietnam war, improving relations

impact: high impact among historians, weakness of orthodox view but uncomfortable with revisionist.

challenge - Eisenburg argued it was orthodox view with archive references thrown in