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Changing interpretations of the cold war (US Revisionists view 1960-1970…
Changing interpretations of the cold war
US Revisionists view 1960-1970
Context
Cuban revolution
Behaved more like an aggressive empire building country than a force for good
Stopped USSR from building their empire
The Vietnam war
Supported a corrupt regime and spent millions to no end
Key figures
Joyce and Gabriel Kolko
William Appleman
Key theme
The USA was to blame
The cold war was caused by the aggressive actions of the USA particularly its determination to ensure that it would dominate trade in Europe and Asia
US Orthodox view 1940-1960
Key theme
The Soviet Union was to blame
The cold war was caused by aggressive expansion by Soviet leaders who wanted to spread communism
Context
Many of the historians had been involved in the conflicts
Red scare- people were lead to believe that soviets had infiltrated every aspect of their lives
Lack of sources- not much government information had been released yet
Key figures
Thomas Bailey
New Cold war Historians 1989 onwards
Context
End of thecold war
New soviet resources
Soviet archives that had been confidential were released
The Reagan factor
Reagan had performed aggresively
Key figures
Michael Cox
Key themes
We still can't be sure
Access to Soviet archives still leaves historians divided. The sources just confirm what people already though- that the USA or USSR were most to blame
Post- revisionists view 1948-1960
Context
Historical debate
Historians were keen to interpret history differently
Thawing of the cold war
America began building better relations with USSR
Made historians think less of blame and more of misunderstanding
Key figures
Gaddis
Key themes
They couldn't understand each other
The cold war was caused by the way the USA and the USSR each reacted to the actions of the other side, and those reactions were largely based on misunderstanding and mistrust.