The Cold War through Documents: A Global History

by Edward H. Judge (Editor), John W. Langdon co-author, The Struggle Against Imperialism: Anti-Colonialism and the Cold (Editor)

Overview

This text is a comprehensive collection of more than 100 carefully edited documents (speeches, treaties, statements, and articles), making the great events of the era come alive through the words and phrases of those who were actively involved. Coverage traces the Cold War from its roots in East-West tensions before and during World War II through its origins in the immediate postwar era, up to and including the collapse of the Soviet Union during 1989-1991.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781538195680
Publisher:	Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc.
Publication date:	06/06/2024
Pages:	398
Sales rank:	784,939
Product dimensions:	5.90(w) x 8.40(h) x 0.90(d)
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

Edward H. Judge is professor of history and John W. Langdon is professor emeritus of history at Le Moyne College. Their books include Connections: A World History and A Hard and Bitter Peace: A Global History of the Cold War.

Table of Contents

Contents

Part I: The Origins of the Cold War, 1945-1950

1 The Yalta Conference, February 1945

2 The Potsdam Conference, July–August 1945

3 The Atomic Bombing of Hiroshima, August 1945

4 Ho Chi Minh’s Declaration of Independence for Vietnam, 2 September 1945

5 Stalin’s Election Speech, February 1946

6 Churchill’s Iron Curtain Speech, March 1946

7 The Baruch and Gromyko Plans for Control of Atomic Weapons, 1946

8 The Truman Doctrine, 1947

9 The Marshall Plan, 1947

10 George F. Kennan, “The Sources of Soviet Conduct,” 1947

11 The Rio Treaty, 1947

12 Zhdanov and the Cominform on the Imperialist and Anti-Imperialist Camps, 1947

13 The Communist Coup in Czechoslovakia, February 1948

14 The Treaty of Brussels, 1948

15 The Expulsion of Tito from the Communist Bloc, 1948

16 The Berlin Blockade, 1948–1949

17 The NATO Alliance, 1949

18 Acheson on the Communist Triumph in China, 1949

19 Mao Proclaims the People’s Republic of China, 1 October 1949

20 The Soviet–Chinese Friendship Treaty, February 1950

Part II: The Global Confrontation, 1950-1960

21 McCarthy on “Communists” in the US Government, 1950

22 Acheson on the American Defense Perimeter in Asia, 1950

23 NSC–68: American Cold War Strategy, 1950

24 Surviving an Atomic Attack, 1950-1951

25 The Korean War, 1950–1953

26 Dulles on “Massive Retaliation,” 1954

27 The Geneva Accords Regarding Indochina, 1954

28 The SEATO Alliance, 1954

29 The Bandung Asian-African Conference, 1955

30 The Warsaw Pact, 1955

31 Appeals for World Peace, 1955-1963

32 Khrushchev’s Secret Speech on Stalin and His Crimes, 1956

33 The Hungarian Rebellion, 1956

34 The Suez Crisis, 1956

35 The Eisenhower Doctrine, 1957

36 Europe’s Common Market: The Treaty of Rome, 1957

37 Sputnik and the Space Race, 1957-1969

38 China’s “Great Leap Forward,” 1958-1960

39 Apartheid, South Africa, and the Cold War, 1960-1964

40 The U–2 Affair and Collapse of the Paris Summit, May 1960

41 The Congo Crisis, 1960

42 Castro on the Cuban Revolution, 1960

Part III: Crisis and Conflict, 1961-1969

43 Khrushchev on “Wars of National Liberation,” January, 1961

44 Kwame Nkrumah on the Need for African Unity, 1961

45 Eisenhower’s Farewell Address on the Military-Industrial Complex, 17 January 1961

46 Kennedy’s Inaugural Address, 1961

47 Kennedy’s Civil Defense Initiatives, 1961

48 The Berlin Crisis, 1961

49 The Cuban Missile Crisis, October 1962

50 Kennedy’s Berlin Speech, June 1963: “Ich Bin Ein Berliner”

51 The Nuclear Test Ban Treaty, August 1963

52 The Sino-Soviet Split, 1960–1964

53 The Gulf of Tonkin Resolution, 1964

54 Lin Biao, “Long Live the Victory of People’s War,” 1965

55 Lyndon Johnson and the Vietnam War, 1965–1968

56 China’s Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution, 1966-1969

57 Soviet Dissidents and the Cold War, 1966-1978

58 The Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, July 1968

59 The Soviet Invasion of Czechoslovakia, August 1968

60 The Brezhnev Doctrine, 1968

61 The Soviet-Chinese Border Conflict, 1969

62 The Nixon Doctrine, 1969

Part IV. The Era of Détente, 1969-1979

63 Salvador Allende’s Freely Elected Marxist Government in Chile, 1970-1973

64 The Berlin Accords, September 1971

65 Nixon’s China Visit: The Shanghai Communiqué, February 1972

66 The ABM Treaty and SALT I, 1972

67 The US Withdrawal from Vietnam, January 1973

68 The October War in the Middle East, 1973

69 Deng Xiaoping’s “Three Worlds” Speech, April 1974

70 The Vladivostok Summit, 1974

71 The Helsinki Final Act, 1975

72 The Cambodian Genocide, 1975-1979

73 Carter on Human Rights, 1977

74 Peace between Egypt and Israel, 1977–1979

75 The Normalization of US-Chinese Relations, 1978–1979

76 The SALT II Agreement, 1979

Part V: The Renewal of the Cold War, 1979-1985

77 The Creation of an Islamic Republic in Iran, 1979

78 The Euromissile Controversy, 1979

79 The Soviet Invasion of Afghanistan, December 1979

80 The Carter Doctrine, January 1980

81 Reagan’s Anti-Soviet Rhetoric, 1981–1983

82 Reagan’s Arms Control Proposals, November 1981

83 The Polish Imposition of Martial Law, December 1981

84 Andropov’s Peace Offensive, 1982

85 Reagan’s “Star Wars” Speech, 1983

86 Calls to Halt the Nuclear Arms Race, 1983

87 The KAL 007 Incident, 1983

Part VI: The End of the Cold War, 1985-1991

88 The Geneva Summit, 1985

89 The Reykjavik Summit, 1986

90 Reagan’s 1987 Berlin Speech: “Tear Down This Wall”

91 The INF Treaty, December 1987

92 The Soviet Withdrawal from Afghanistan, 1988–1989

93 Gorbachev’s UN Address, December 1988

94 The Tienanmen Square Massacre, June 1989

95 The Opening of the Berlin Wall, November 1989

96 NATO Non-Enlargement Assurances, February-May 1990

97 NATO’s London Declaration on the End of the Cold War, July 1990

98 The Unification of Germany, July-October 1990

99 The Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START I), July 1991

100 The Attempted Coup in the USSR, August 1991

101 Gorbachev’s Resignation Speech, December 1991

Editorial Reviews

I have assigned The Cold War Through Documents through each successive edition for its excellent concentration on political dimensions of the Cold War through treaty texts, governmental or party declarations, newspaper and journal articles, and addresses delivered by key political figures. When paired with a text that provides essential narratives and supplemented by cultural historical readings, this collection is an essential tool for introducing the subject with sufficient depth and appropriately global focus. The editors have chosen all the documents with great care: there is no superfluous material in this book. For instructors and students alike, the discussion questions are not only insightful for use in the class, but they also highlight the most important issues in each document. It would also make a wonderful text for courses on Modern European or Global History, political science, as well as military history.

Matthew P. Berg

An invaluable resource for teaching undergraduates. The reader offers an excellent selection of the most significant primary sources for studying the major periods and events of the Cold War. Instructors will especially appreciate the dual chronological and thematic organization of the documents, the broader global context, the lucid introductions that provide insightful context, and discussion questions that help students master the content while also encouraging them to apply their understanding of the source to larger Cold War interpretative and comparative inquiries. This volume includes classic documents such as the Truman Doctrine, Eisenhower Doctrine, and the Iron Curtain speech, as well as translations of sources that illuminate policies and perspectives of Soviet, Chinese, Vietnamese, and other non-Western state leaders at key moments in the Cold War.

Elaine MacKinnon

The fourth edition greatly improves an already outstanding book with a wealth of new materials that include documents relating to the beginning of the nuclear age, sputnik and the space race, apartheid in South Africa, President Kennedy’s civil defense initiatives, Soviet dissidents, controversies involving NATO’s expansion at the end of the Cold War, and the reunification of Germany

Kenneth Atkinson

The first Cold War between the United Sates and its allies and the former Soviet Union and its allies lasted from World War II's concluding days in 1945 until approximately 1991. This historical epoch saw many significant military confrontations and near confrontations including the Korean and Vietnam Wars, the Cuban Missile Crisis, Soviet interventions in Hungary, Czechoslovakia, and Afghanistan, and eventually the collapse of the Soviet bloc and German reunification. This compendium of documents includes excerpts from significant documents during the first Cold War along with contextual introductions to the background and policy developments resulting in the production of these documents…. This compilation is a useful introduction to some Cold War documents for undergraduate students, and the study questions presented at the end of each document are very beneficial.

American Reference Books Annual

This superb collection of documents covers the entire period of the Cold War, from the closing months of World War II in 1945 to the disintegration of the Soviet Union at the end of 1991. The book is a truly international survey covering all aspects of the Cold War, not just the U.S.-Soviet standoff. The editors have chosen their sources extremely well and have provided valuable, even-handed prefatory comments for each topic. Highly recommended as a text for classes on twentieth-century history, international relations, and the history of the Cold War.

Mark Kramer

The greatest strength of this text is the wide range of sources it draws on, not just from the US, USSR, or even China, but also through Latin America, Africa, Southeast Asia, Eastern Europe, and Western Europe. This approach allows students to see, analyze, and understand the ways the Cold War was less a “chessboard” between the US and USSR in the ways all too many textbooks portray it, and instead a very complicated web of national, regional, and global struggles between countries with differing visions of development, modernity, and society.

Colin Snider

This newly expanded collection of historical documents is intelligently chosen, balanced, and genuinely global in its reach. Students of the Cold War will find ample opportunities to develop their skills in close reading and analysis, thereby deepening their engagement with a conflict that shaped the world we inhabit today.

Benjamin Nathans

This superb collection of documents covers the entire period of the Cold War, from the closing months of World War II in 1945 to the disintegration of the Soviet Union at the end of 1991. The book is a truly international survey covering all aspects of the Cold War, not just the U.S.-Soviet standoff. The editors have chosen their sources extremely well and have provided valuable, even-handed prefatory comments for each topic. Highly recommended as a text for classes on twentieth-century history, international relations, and the history of the Cold War.

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