Historiography

Argument

Examples

Orthodox view
(Arthur M.
Schlesinger)

- Stalin broke the agreements

Soviet Union responsible for Cold War

Soviets were expansionists
Soviets were suspicious of West
Marxist theory: advocated need to spread
revolution throughout the world
Stalin violated agreements made in Yalta and
Potsdam conference (Occupied and imposed
Soviet control)
USA forced to act defensively

Revisionist view
(William
Appleman
Williams, Gabriel
and Joyce Kolko,
Thomas
Patterson, Gar
Alperovitz)

- USA responsible for Cold War

- US foreign policy motive linked to needs of
-

Post-revisionist
view (John Lewis
Gaddis, Walter
LaFeber)

- Neither USA nor USSR is solely responsible

- USA advocated capitalism and

democracy in Europe

- Truman Doctrine targeted

USSR

- Long Telegram
- Truman used A-bomb to
threaten USSR

- COMECON and COMINFORM

necessarily mash-up the Orthodox and the

Revisionist view
Misperceptions played important part
Both superpowers overestimated strength
and threat of the other
Unnecessary tension grew

- Stalins policies promoted West hostility and

-

the arms race

Stalin is to blame! If Stalin is removed from
the equation, Cold War less likely to happen
Individuals and their actions, rather than
policies, are of vital important in explaining
key events in Cold War.

were only responses made by

Stalin because the USA started
the Marshall Plan
NATO

- Long Telegram exaggerated

for Cold War

- BUT!! Post-revisionist view does not

-

Other views
(John Lewis
Gaddis)

Capitalism
Needed to contain Communism to secure
markets and free trade
US repeated late 19th century Open Door
policy
US feared recession and wanted to advocate
capitalism as much as possible
US used Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombing
incident to really threaten Soviet Union

made in the Yalta and Potsdam

Conferences by imposing
communism in Poland
Novikov telegram
USSR was very eager in
spreading their Spheres of
influence
USSR advocated Marxism,
which threatened and coerced
the USA to act
USSR tried to dominate Berlin

USSRs ambitions to dominate

the world
Novikov Telegram exaggerated
USAs ambitions
Stalin wanted security
USA feared communism too
much
Iron Curtain Speech
McCarthyism

- Stalin broke the agreements

made in the Yalta and Potsdam

Conferences by imposing
communism in Poland
Stalin was very eager in
spreading their Spheres of
influence
Stalin tried to dominate Berlin
Stalin was known as ruthless
and cunning