Which side deserves the most blame for starting and continuing the Cold War?
Thesis Framework
“Revisionist historians attribute greater responsibility for the Cold War to the United States. According to Revisionists, US policy after World War II was neither passive nor benign. It was driven more by economic considerations and national self-interest than the principles of democracy and self-determination.” –Jennifer Llewellyn and Steve Thompson, “Cold War Historiography,” AlphaHistory
American Yawp, Chapter 25: Cold War
- I. Introduction
- II. Political, Economic, and Military Dimensions
- III. The Arms Buildup, the Space Race, and Technological Advancement
- IV. The Cold War Red Scare, McCarthyism, and Liberal Anti-Communism
- V. Decolonization and the Global Reach of the ‘American Century’
- VI. Conclusion
- VII. Primary Sources
Early Cold War Timeline
“Liberal journalist Walter Lippmann was largely responsible for popularizing the term Cold War in his book The Cold War: A Study in U.S. Foreign Policy, published in 1947.” –American Yawp
- 1944-5 // Bretton Woods (IMF and World Bank) and United Nations
- 1945 // End of WWII and Truman succeeds to presidency
- 1946 // Kennan’s Long Telegram & Churchill’s Iron Curtain Speech
- 1947 // Truman Doctrine
- 1947 // Kennan’s “X” Article
- 1947-48 // Marshall Plan
- 1948-49// Berlin Airlift
- 1948 // Truman (Democrat) wins second term
- 1949 // NATO
- 1949 // Soviets test atomic bomb (fission)
- 1949 // Communist China
- 1950 // Sen. McCarthy (R-WI) claims communists in State Department
- 1950 // NSC-68 offers new strategy for global Cold War
- 1950-53 // Korean War
- 1952 // US tests hydrogen bomb (fusion)
- 1952 // Eisenhower (Republican) elected president
- 1954 // US Army – McCarthy hearings & then censure vote
- 1954 // Break up of French Indochina
American Culture and Cold War
McCarthyism Glossary
- Americans for Democratic Action (ADA)
- Army-McCarthy Hearings
- Communist Party (CPUSA)
- Hiss-Chambers Case
- Hollywood Ten blacklist
- House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC)
- John Birch Society
- McCarran Act
- McCarthyism
- Pledge of Allegiance
- Popular Front
- Rosenberg Case
- Second Red Scare