Historiography of The Cold War

Historiography Of The Cold War

As soon as the term "Cold War" was popularized to refer to postwar tensions between the United States and the Soviet Union, interpreting the course and origins of the conflict became a source of heated controversy among historians, political scientists, and journalists. In particular, historians have sharply disagreed as to who was responsible for the breakdown of Soviet-U.S. relations after the Second World War; and whether the conflict between the two superpowers was inevitable, or could have been avoided. Historians have also disagreed on what exactly the Cold War was, what the sources of the conflict were, and how to disentangle patterns of action and reaction between the two sides.

While the explanations of the origins of the conflict in academic discussions are complex and diverse, several general schools of thought on the subject can be identified. Historians commonly speak of three differing approaches to the study of the Cold War: "orthodox" accounts, "revisionism," and "post-revisionism." Nevertheless, much of the historiography on the Cold War weaves together two or even all three of these broad categories.

Read more about Historiography Of The Cold War:  Orthodox Accounts, Revisionism, Post-revisionism

Famous quotes containing the words cold war, cold and/or war:

    The Cold War isn’t thawing; it is burning with a deadly heat. Communism isn’t sleeping; it is, as always, plotting, scheming, working, fighting.
    Richard M. Nixon (1913–1995)

    “Are you cold too, poor Pleiads,
    This frosty night?”
    “Yes, and so are the Hyads:
    See us cuddle and hug,” says the Pleiads,
    “All six in a ring: it keeps us warm:
    We huddle together like birds in a storm:
    Robert Graves (1895–1985)

    It is inhuman to continue a war which could easily be ended.
    Friedrich Dürrenmatt (1921–1990)