The Cold War A History in Documents

by Winkler, Allan M.

• ISBN13: 9780195166378
• ISBN10: 019516637X
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2003-06-12
• Publisher: Oxford University Press

Summary

The cold war--the bitter standoff between the United States and the Soviet Union--lasted for over 50 years and polarized the world. The conflict had its roots in political and ideological disagreements dating back to the Russian Revolution of 1917--disagreements that intensified in the wake ofWorld War II. Allan M. Winkler excerpts speeches by Soviet Premier Joseph Stalin and British Prime Minister Winston Churchill to demonstrate the growing abyss between the two political systems. President Harry S. Truman's announcement of the existence of a Soviet atomic bomb and his speech toCongress launching the Truman Doctrine testify to the gravity of the situation. The cold war was not always "cold"--armed conflicts were narrowly avoided in the Cuban missile crisis and the Bay of Pigs, and war did erupt in Korea and Vietnam. The complex politics of the Vietnam War are representedby voices as divergent as Vietnamese nationalist Ho Chi Minh, President Lyndon B. Johnson, antiwar protesters, and a participant in the My Lai massacre. Cold war paranoia permeated American society. The investigations of writer Ring Lardner, Jr., and government official Alger Hiss by the House UnAmerican Activities Committee, along with speeches by Senator Joe McCarthy, lay bare the political repression at home generated by the perceived communistthreat. Excerpts from Arthur Miller's play The Crucible and the film script of High Noon capture the mood of uncertainty and fear. A picture essay entitled "The Atom Unleashed" collects photographs and cartoons to explore one of the most controversial discoveries of the 20th century. Agreements madein the SALT treaties show the cold war finally coming to an end. In his 1992 State of the Union address, President Bush declared, "By the grace of God, America won the cold war."

Author Biography

Allan M. Winkler is Professor of History and former Chair of the History Department at Miami University, Oxford, OH. His recent books include America: Pathways to the Present and Life under a Cloud: American Anxiety about the Atom (OUP, 1993).

Table of Contents

What is a Document?	p. 6
How to Read a Document	p. 8
Introduction	p. 10
Early Antagonism	p. 17
Origin of the Atomic Bomb	p. 18
Tensions and Strategies	p. 20
The Truman Doctrine	p. 26
The Marshall Plan	p. 29
A Soviet Bomb	p. 32
The China White Paper	p. 34
NSC-68	p. 36
War in Korea	p. 39
The Anticommunist Crusade	p. 45
Hollywood and HUAC	p. 46
Chambers vs. Hiss	p. 50
The Rosenbergs on Trial	p. 56
Senator Joe McCarthy	p. 60
Cultural Responses	p. 64
Army vs. McCarthy	p. 66
To the Brink	p. 71
Eisenhower's Inaugural Address	p. 72
Liberation of Captive Peoples	p. 73
The Domino Theory	p. 76
Unstable Peace	p. 80
Kennedy's Inaugural Address	p. 85
Bay of Pigs	p. 87
Standing Up to the Soviets	p. 89
The Cuban Missile Crisis	p. 91
Picture Essay: The Atom Unleashed	p. 97
Catastrophe in Vietnam	p. 107
French Colonial Rule	p. 108
War in Indochina	p. 110
The Geneva Conference	p. 113
Nation Building in Vietnam	p. 115
Horrors of War	p. 122
Antiwar Movement	p. 125
Vietnamization	p. 128
Reuinification	p. 130
An End at Last	p. 133
The Nuclear Test Ban Treaty of 1963	p. 133
SALT Treaties	p. 136
Reagan's Nuclear Strategy	p. 140
An End to the Cold War	p. 143
Timeline	p. 146
Further Reading	p. 148
Credits	p. 150
Index	p. 155
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