#706 Global Cold War: Competing origin narratives

Opening activity: "Godless Communism"

• Examine the comics reprinted above from Treasure Chest, a Catholic-backed monthly comic book published from 1946 to 1972. In the 1961, volume 17 number 2 issue, the story "This Godless Communism" began. It continued in the even-numbered issues through number 20. The entire story is included, above.
• Consider:
  • What kind of danger do you think the author of this comic believed the Soviets presented? What values does the author see as being threatened by the spread of communism?
  • Based on our earlier reading about the Soviet Union, what might it get right and what do you think it might get wrong?
  • If you were to stumble on a comic book created in the Soviet Union at the same time, how might its story differ?

Overview:

• ​Soviet Union and the United States were two of the major 3 (with Britain) or 4 (with Britain and China) major allies during World War II.
• World War II led to the sharp decline—in ways violent and peaceful—of most of the remaining European empires. This left the Soviet Union and the United States as the world’s two “superpowers.”
• Both the Soviets and the Americans remained in Europe and East Asia after the war, laying the foundation for two competing “blocs.”​

Americans ("First World")	Soviets ("Second World")
NATO (1949), SEATO (1954) ​Marshall Plan (1948)	Warsaw Pact (1955) Molotov Plan (1947)

• By 1949, both sides had nuclear weapons, which held the two sides in check through M.A.D. (mutually-assured destruction). This was even more important for the Soviets than the Americans, because they never held the economic, political, or military advantage during the course of the conflict (despite impressive gains in the space race).
• Our key question today: Who was responsible for the start of the Cold War?

Who was responsible? Document analysis:

• This exercise will examine these short Cold War documents (PDF) from the Stanford History Education Group.

• Divide into two teams:
  • One team will engage with Documents A and B.
  • The other team will engage with Documents C and D.
• Each team will evaluate their documents guided by the questions listed under the tabs, below.
• Additional resources: You may use this timeline (PDF), and, when confronted with questions that extend beyond the texts themselves, might consider utilizing online tertiary sources like Wikipedia.​ ​

• Document A
• Document B
• Document C
• Document D

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The Iron Curtain Speech

1. Sourcing: Who was Winston Churchill? Why would Americans trust what he has to say about the Soviet Union?
2. Close reading: What does Churchill claim that the Soviet Union wanted?

Truman Doctrine

1. Close reading: Why did Truman believe Greece needed American aid in 1947?
2. Context: What does Truman mean when he claims, “Should we fail to aid Greece and Turkey in this fateful hour, the effect will be far reaching to the West as well as to the East”?
3. Close reading: Does Truman present American policy as offensive or defensive? What words or phrases does Truman use to present policy this way?

Soviet Ambassador Telegram

1. Sourcing: Who was Nicholas Novikov? When did he write this telegram?
2. Close reading: How does Novikov describe the United States? What evidence does he use to support his description?
3. Context: What does Novikov claim the United States planned during the Second World War?

Henry Wallace Letter

1. Sourcing: Who was Henry Wallace? When did he write this letter?
2. Close Reading: What is Wallace’s main argument?
3. Corroboration: How does Wallace’s description of American foreign policy compare to Truman’s and Novikov’s?

​Who was responsible? Wrap-up discussion:

• Which of these documents do you believe is most trustworthy? Why?
• Did anyone’s initial hypothesis about who started the Cold War change? Why or why not?
• Who was primarily responsible for the start of the Cold War? What evidence do you already have to support your claim? What other evidence might be helpful?