The Cold War

Ian Matejka, Ram Pangaluri, Suvin

Ajith, Rohit Dsilva, Mukund Nair
Senior Division
Website Category
Words:368

The Cold war was a struggle for ideological influence

between the United States and the recently Bolshevik captured
U.S.S.R. The United states did not want to allow the spread of
communism as they themselves were a capitalist free market
nation. Both nations exchanged military advantages. There was
an exploration of nuclear technology.
Initially the U.S.S.R. used spies to find out how nuclear
warheads worked, later they began producing their own. There
were also many new problems each country encountered. The US
created various organizations to help contain the communist
spread. Throughout the Cold war there was a continuous theme
of exploration, exchange, and encounter.
The internet was a very good source of information along
with news sites such as PBS and the Houston Public Library. Mr.

Benjamin Freeman was especially helpful in helping us find

sources. However the more important sources were actual
documents, manuscripts, and speeches given by people most
directly involved in the cold war. These included the opinions of
important leaders including Winston Churchill and Harry S
Truman. These documents were especially helpful to our project
because of their validity and their credibility.
While most of our sources were found on the internet there
were other people who helped us find credible and valid sources.
The school librarian and our fellow students were especially
helpful in aiding us in our search for good sources. Our history
teacher was also instrumental in recommending good sources.
There were a few problems during our research process.
During our search for sources, many of the sources we
encountered were biased towards either the Russians or
Americans. Finding sources that were unbiased and purely
informational was very difficult. Hence some of our sources
appear to be biased.
Our topic fits into the theme of exploration, encounter, and
exchange because it shows qualities of all of them. There is
exploration of nuclear technology in this period, encounters in
the form of the wars in Korea and Vietnam and exchanges in the
form of political ideologies. Our topic is important to the story of
the world and history because it most influences our present day
lives and it shows the outcome of one of the most tense and
influential periods in time.

Annotated Bibliographies:
Primary Sources:
Churchill, Winston. Iron Curtain Speech. N.d. MS. Westminster College,Fulton,
Missouri. HistoryWiz. Web. 6 Dec. 2015.
This manuscript of Churchill's speech helped me understand the main
reasons behind the UK's and US's fear towards Communist expansion. It also
gave me an understanding of how each nation felt another war was inevitable
due to the surmounting pressures from the USSR and the US. This is a
primary source as it is the transcript of Sir Winston Churchills own words.
Government of the U.S.S.R., U.S.A., and U.K. Potsdam Agreement. N.p.: n.p., n.d.
The Potsdam Agreement - HistoryWiz Primary Source Cold War. Web. 6
Dec. 2015.

The Potsdam Agreement signed by the UK US and USSR helped me

understand the way in which the US and UK attempted to contain
Communism. It also gave me details regarding the specific agreements
signed between the three nations that gave each nation control over some
parts of Europe.
Truman, Harry S. "The Truman Doctrine: HistoryWiz Primary Source." The Truman
Doctrine: HistoryWiz Primary Source. N.p., n.d. Web. 6 Dec. 2015
The manuscript of Trumans speech presented on March 12, 1947 helped me
understand the grave danger many countries were in due to the threatening of the
Soviet Forces. It also gave me an insight on how america viewed the USSR and
their reaction to the situation by giving money to countries such as Greece and
Turkey which was intended to make them more economically sound

Secondary sources:
"Containment and Cold War, 1945-1961 - Short History - Department History - Office
of the Historian." Containment and Cold War, 1945-1961 - Short History
Department History - Office of the Historian. N.p., n.d. Web. 14 Dec. 2015
This site gave an excellent secondary source for this topic. This site provided
alot of information about the cold war and told it in a slightly biased way, as it is an
American government website, however it is very credible and the information is
sound. Furthermore this site gave an excellent overview about the general important
events in the cold war, combined with the primary sources you get both a first person
account and an excellent general overview of the event.
"Cold War: A Brief History." Cold War: A Brief History. N.p., n.d. Web. 14 Dec. 2015.
This website goes into detail about the military escalation of the cold war, and
how both superpowers constructed ever increasingly powerful thermonuclear
weapons that brought the world ever so close to a nuclear war in the Cuban Missile
crisis. The site is unbiased and also credible, as the site gave specific evidence that
cross checked with other websites and had a lengthy bibliography.
"1.1 The Cold War: An Overview." The Cold War: An Overview. Web. 14 Dec. 2015.
The site summarizes the sequence of events of the Cold War as well as
explains the different acts that were proposed and refused at the time. It has different
viewpoints, such as, the United States and the Soviet, in order, to fully analyze the
significance of the war from all angles. It contains and explains the contributions of
specific men and organizations that were instrumental in the Cold War including, but
not limited to, the Nixon Administration, Nikita Kruschev, and Dwight Eisenhower.