Cold War: Traditionalist Versus Revisionist

World History Mr. Plouffe Korea International School

Cold War: Traditionalist versus Revisionist Perspective Name: ______

The Cold War, like any period in history, can be interpreted from several perspectives. The two perspectives that we are going to examine are the traditionalist and the revisionist. The traditionalist perspective (in this case) is the pro-American stance and is mostly critical of the USSR. And considers American responses to Soviet aggression as being at the very least well intentioned. On the other hand the revisionist looks at events through the eyes of the Soviet Union, and seeks to explain their actions as being plausible given the circumstances in which they found themselves at certain junctures in history.

Event Traditionalist Perspective Revisionist Perspective Pulling out of Abandoned the Triple The Russians had to pull out World War I. Entente, and left the allies to of the war. They were in the have to fight the entire midst of a revolution. As well German army on the Western many Western nations sent front. troops to Russia to put down the Bolshevik revolution. There were may anticommunist movements in the west, esp. in America. The non- aggression treaty with Hitler

The D-Day Show that the Western allies Invasion delayed it till USSR was too weak to fight. Declaration of war against Japan by the USSR The dropping of USA wanted to demonstrate the A-bomb on its power to the Soviet Union.

1 World History Mr. Plouffe Korea International School

Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Soviet establishment of pro-Communist governments in Eastern Europe at the end of WW II.

Task: As you have observed above, a perspective is the pair of glasses through which one views an event. Clearly, what is being viewed can be the same, but how it is being interpreted is going to be very different. 1. For each of the events below provide one (or two interpretations) of the events given. 2. In your view, who was most to blame for the poor relations between the USSR and the West up to and including the final year of World War II? Provide a brief summary why each side would be seen as responsible. a. The West (Capitalist side) b. The USSR (Communist side) 3. If you were to pick out one event to prove the nastiness of the opposing side, what would it be and why? a. The West (Capitalist side) b. The USSR (Communist side)