Gaddis re-examines the Cold War with new information from all around the globe, creating a “new” cold war history. Gaddis pinpoints the start of the Cold War as 1947 and notes “the regime, personality, and ideological explanations for the Cold War point to an underlying defensive motivation: the need to expand and assert control to save Stalin and the Soviet Union.” (Lebow, p.628) Gaddis also sustains that Stalin’s personality and paranoia influenced events. It seems the “new” cold war history is actually the same as the “old” cold war standpoint because Gaddis concluded: “who then was responsible [for the Cold War]? The answer, I think, is authoritarianism in general, and Stalin in particular.” (Gaddis, p.294)…
[10] J. L. Gaddis. We Now Know: Rethinking Cold War History. London: Clarendon Press, 1997, p. 10.…
In august of 1945, the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki were a questionable decision by Harry Truman, the president of The United States of America. Throughout the years, it has been a heated debate in terms of whether the decision was morally correct and justified. Historians have analyzed and presented many arguments. In this short essay, I will attempt to expand on how historians feel about the decision by Truman to use atomic bombs. The revisionists bring into perspective and question the motivations of Harry Truman claiming he had more on his agenda than just the war. In my opinion, the decision to use atomic bombs was somewhat justified because if looked at statistically, the death toll with an invasion would have been higher and Truman…
Using these four passages and your own knowledge, assess the view that during the Second World War the relationship between the ussr and the west was characterised more by co-operation than by disagreement.…
1). Debose, C. & DeAngelo, E. (2015). New Cold War: Russia's Ban on Adoptions by U.S Citizens. Children's Issues, 28(1), 63-76. Retrieved from http://heinonline.org.ezproxy.scu.edu.au/HOL/Page?public=false&handle=hein.journals/jaaml28&page=51&collection=journals…
There is a great disparity amongst historians when discussing the point at which the Cold War began. Many begin their analysis of the Cold War in 1945, when the Allied forces overcame Germany. This is a widely accepted catalyst for the start of the Cold War, and indeed, a very important moment for the Allies. It was not, however, where the tensions between the Soviets and the United States began. This essay will discuss how fundamental ideological differences between the two superpowers existed long before the conclusion of the Second World War.…
The Cold War marked a period in history when the United States and the Soviet Union experienced tension. This tension was highlighted by various events that took place in different areas of the world. The Cold War was given that name because of the relationship that developed mainly between the United States and the Soviet Union, this all started in late 1945. During this time major crises occurred, two of those being the Cuban Missile Crisis and the Berlin Airlift. The Cuban Missile crisis was a thirteen-day confrontation between the United States and Cuba with the Soviet Union on their side. The Berlin Airlift was when Russia started to isolate the territories of Germany under their rule.…
I recently conducted interviews with three soldiers of the United States Army pertaining to their views of the Cold War between the United States and The Soviet Union. The information I collected from the soldiers helped me prepare a special in-depth view of event told directly from their opinion of the events.…
There has been much debate as to why Truman elected to drop the atomic weapons on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in the summer of 1945. Historians have long debated the true purpose to which the atomic bombs were designed to fulfil upon there deployment. The Alperovitz thesis of the 1960 was accepted for many years. The thesis revolved around the idea that the atomic weapons were deployed as diplomatic tools to intimidate the Soviet Union. Like many revisionist historians this essay will oppose the thesis of Alperovitz, and in doing so, attempt to understand why it was that the Truman administration decided to drop the atomic weapons on Japan in the summer of 1945.…
Only time will tell if this New Cold War will come to fruition, or if it’s just a scare tactic for countries involved to not continuously continue down a certain political and military path.…
As I looked down from the helicopter I could see a sea of chaos. I jump out and land on my pedals. I slightly rolled my tarsal but I wasn't gonna let that stop me. As I got closer to the scene my nasal could not take the smell of Pyrodex propellant, and blood. I search the desert wasteland with my orbitals to see if anyone was in need of immediate attention. Then I spotted a wounded soldier, with the weight of medical supplies wrapped around my coxal. I ran towards him in short breaths. But when I get a better view of the extremity of his injuries my muscles tense up and my breathing stops altogether.This was my first day on the job.…
Following the end of World War II in 1945, the United States economy began to prosper. However, the end of the war brought on another kind of war, the Cold War. With suspicion and tension between the United States and the Soviet Union, the United States began to conduct research on alternate means to protect the national interest through an improved interrogation processes. One of these highly classified programs was known as “Project: MKULTRA.” According to Dr. Horowitz (2001), the basis for MKULTRA was the use of chemical and biological agents to affect and control or alter human behavior (Horowitz, 2001, p. 209). Dr. Horowitz (2001) states that the two main capacities in which the United States Army and Central Intelligence Agency (CIA)…
The orthodox view of the Cold War elucidates its inevitability due to the great ideological differences that existed between the Soviet Union and United States. On the other hand, the revisionists argued that it happened due to the actions that Soviets took and the consequential responses made by the United States as a result of their inflexible, single-sided interpretations of Soviet action. Yet, even with the backdrop of the early Bolshevik conflict in 1918 as well as the great ideological gulf between the Soviet Union and United states, the cold war could have been avoided in its initial stages under President Roosevelt. However, what really determined it was the series of events that occurred after Roosevelt was succeeded by Truman. The inevitability of the Cold War, at its roots, was due to Soviet aggression and attitudes felt by the United States which was exacerbated from the post war climate of the time. To be precise, it was a combination of the subsequent events that followed Truman’s accession that sealed the unavoidability of the Cold War. American diplomatic policies were dictated by their fears of communism as well as opportunities that arise from modern warfare which aided in the evolution of American foreign policies. In the end, the Cold War was inevitable as a result of the conflict of interest between nations, whether it be the ideological gulf between communism and capitalism or the determining the political future of Eastern Europe, which was ultimately fuelled by the unstable post World War II environment.…
“Cold War.” UXL Encyclopedia of U.S. History. Sonia Benson, Daniel E. Brannen, Jr., and Rebecca Valentine. Vol. 2. Detroit: UXI., 2009. 344-349. Student Resources in Context. Web. 16 Jan. 2014.…
“Please do not make any concessions.” Thusenelda Martin of the American Legion Auxiliary wrote a letter on November 6, 1961 to John F. Kennedy, the President of the United States during the time of the Cold War. Many people were worried that the United States was going to oppose threats to other countries like Berlin. This is why Franklin D. Joseph, Winston Churchill, Roosevelt, and Stalin attended the Yalta Conference to discuss the re-establishment of the nations of war-torn Europe. During the Yalta Conference the declaration of liberated Europe, which allows people to choose their form of government, was made. They broke Germany into four zones, each part controlled by Britain, United States, Soviet Union, and France. Also they insisted on making Germany pay back any war damage that had been caused. Soon after, the Soviet Union pressed the king of Romania into appointing a communist government and was accused by Roosevelt of violating the declaration of liberation. During this time a company by the name of Poor Richard’s Bumper Emblems sent out mail to Urbana, Illinois. The letter was an order form that had a list of bumper stickers that consisted of propaganda statements. This company knew they could make money off of people who were liberalists or socialists. At this time the Soviet Union was trying to turn countries to communism. That is why the Truman Doctrine, a policy of the United States to assist other countries economically to ensure peaceful developments of nations to prevent economic and military fall was made by Harry S. Truman. This rebuilt Greek and Turkey’s government after tragic conditions. The Truman Doctrine helped during the Cold War because it brought new countries to the NATO alliance. Another document that was created during the Cold War was the Marshall Plan. The Marshall Plan, a large-scale economic program, broke the vicious circle and restored the confidence of the European people in the economic future…