Rethinking Cold War History Author(s): David McKnight Source: Labour History, No. 95 (Nov., 2008), pp. 185-196 Published by: Australian Society for the Study of Labour History, Inc. Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/27516316 . Accessed: 01/10/2014 14:48 Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at . http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp . JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact
[email protected]. Australian Society for the Study of Labour History, Inc. is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to Labour History. http://www.jstor.org This content downloaded from 210.212.93.44 on Wed, 1 Oct 2014 14:48:39 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions RethinkingCold War History DavidMcKnight* Historians have rethought some of the prevailing assumptions employed in writing about the Cold War in Australia. Until recently, the history of the Cold War in Australia was often written with too little detachment and skepticism toward the Left, and with a failure of scholarly empathy toward the claims of the anti-Communist Right. The opening of new and sources as 'Venona' one reason in archival intelligence (such the papers) is for the shift thefield. Another is a reassessment of the link between theUSSR and theCommunist Party ofAustralia (CPA), that leads to questions about theCPA's dogmatic pro-Soviet stance, and towhat degree this was partly responsible for its defeats, rather than simply victimisation.