CAMBRIDGE IGCSE HISTORY REVISION 7 - WHO WAS TO BLAME FOR THE COLD WAR - REVISIONISTS VIEWS
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The document discusses the evolution of revisionist views on the causes of the Cold War, highlighting a shift in scholarly interpretation from traditionalist views to those that focus on the United States' role as a primary instigator. Various sub-schools within revisionism attribute the Cold War to American expansionism and capitalist motives, seeing the Soviet Union as relatively weak and primarily defensive. Key figures, including William Appleman Williams and Gabriel Kolko, emphasize that U.S. actions were driven by the desire to secure markets and maintain capitalist dominance, often leading to misunderstandings with the Soviet Union.
CAMBRIDGE IGCSE HISTORY REVISION 7 - WHO WAS TO BLAME FOR THE COLD WAR - REVISIONISTS VIEWS
- 2. THEREVISIONISTVIEW There was a change in thinking as the Cold War progressed between the 1960s and 1980s. Scholars began reassessing the interpretations of the realists and traditionalists and offered a school of thought grounded in revision. The revisionists encouraged individuals to look at the Cold War through a very different lens. The simple argument within revisionism was that the United States was responsible for the beginning of the Cold War. In other words, the United States now assumed the villain role. However, it becomes more complex because revisionism morphed into a number of sub-schools of thought.
- 3. REVISIONISM The alternative perspective, which flourished when the consensus over foreign policy in the United States was crumbling during the Vietnam War, held the USA responsible for the Cold War. Revisions, such as William Appleman Williams, explained the onset of the Cold War in terms of 'dollar diplomacy‘. Revisionists see the motives behind U.S. foreign policy as inherently linked to the needs of Capitalism. Thus, containment of Communism was driven by the requirement to secure markets and free trade, and penetrate Eastern Europe. This followed on from the United States' traditional 'open door' policy of the late 19th century.
- 4. REVISIONISTSCENARIO However, a new account emerged in the wake of the Vietnam War. U.S. involvement in Vietnam disillusioned some historians and created antipathy towards the American position. In the 1960s and 1970s, the revisionists stressed that American expansionism was the cause of the Cold War. They pointed out that, at the end of the Second World War, the Soviet Union was severely weakened, whereas the United States prospered and possessed a monopoly on the atomic bomb. According to the revisionists, Stalin’s main priority was to recover from the devastating war years. They placed the cause of the Cold War in the nature of capitalism and viewed Marshall Aid as a way of seeking new markets and expanding the U.S. economy. The Soviet Union thus correctly understood that their sphere of influence in Eastern Europe was in danger.
- 5. Traditional revisionists, such as Walter Lippmann, argued that the Cold War was precipitated by American moves because the Soviet Union was too weak following the Second World War to spawn a Cold War. Simply put, the Soviet Union had to be innocent because it was too feeble to spark a confrontation. Moderate revisionists, such as Denna Fleming, contended that the United States was responsible, but not all of the blame can be leveraged against the Americans; the Soviet Union did pose a potential threat. THEVIEWOFWALTERLIPPMAN
- 6. In other words, the United States jumped the gun out of the fear of a possible threat. The 'New Left' revisionists, such as Appleman Williams, Gabriel Kolko, and Gar Alperovitz, then delivered their interpretation. This sub-school held the United States was absolutely responsible for the Cold War as a result of its imperialist desire to expand and claim new economically profitable markets. These scholars believed that the United States was similar to a villain looking to steal money and valuables. They see American policy as determined by the nature of its Capitalist system and by fears of recession. Similarly, Thomas Patterson wrote that 'coercion characterised United States reconstruction diplomacy.' Many Revisions hold that Stalin himself was a pragmatic leader, and had the Americans been more willing to understand the Soviets' need for security and offer some compromises, Stalin would have also made concessions. THENEWLEFTREVISIONISTS
- 7. THETRAGEDYOFTHEAMERICANDIPLOMACY In 1959, however, William Appleman Williams published his The Tragedy of American Diplomacy. Williams blamed the US for the Cold War. This ‘revisionist’ approach reached its height during the Vietnam War when many people suggested that America was as bad as Russia. Williams argued that America’s chief aim in the years after the war was to make sure that there was an "open door" for American trade, and that this led the American government to try to make sure that countries remained capitalist countries like the USA.
- 8. THEVIEWOFGALALPEROVITZ Gar Alperovitz, in his book: Atomic Diplomacy: Hiroshima and Potsdam (1965), placed the blame for the Cold War on the Americans for their use of the atomic bomb – he contended that Truman decided to drop the bomb as a means to intimidate the Soviet Union.
- 9. GABRIELKOLKOTHEMOSTEXTREMEREVISIONISTS One of the most extreme revisionists was Gabriel Kolko, who wrote The Limits of Power: The World and United States Foreign Policy in 1972. One reviewer of his books says that ‘he devoted his entire professional life to blaming the United States for the Cold War’, and Kelko suggested that Truman should have given Stalin the atomic bomb in 1945, claimed that Russia treated Poland well in 1945, and blamed South Korea for the Korean War of 1950-3.
- 10. THEVIEWOFMICHAELHUGHES Michael Hughes, ‘Ambassador from Canada’, on 11 Dec 2002 on the ONOL web forum. The United Nations On Line is a virtual model United Nations sponsored by a Non-Profit Organization from Texas. The UNOL 'Lobbying Area' is for students from around the world to discuss topics concerning the work of the United Nations. “The atomic bomb did help seed the Cold War. Let's face it, the bomb was not just meant to buckle Japan into surrender, it was also a political statement towards the Soviet Union. A statement of power towards a nation who practiced a political ideology different from America which was unacceptable to the "free democratic" United States…”