Redefining the Timeline of the Cold War: United States-Soviet Tension around the Conclusion of the Great War
Document Type
Oral Presentation
Campus where you would like to present
SURC 135
Start Date
17-5-2012
End Date
17-5-2012
Abstract
The question that I explored in this essay is to what extent can the Cold War be thought of as a conflict that originated with the events surrounding the conclusion of the Great War as opposed to WWII? I started this essay by first highlighting three key hallmarks (as I referred to them) that have come to define the Cold War as we know it today. These three hallmarks include militarism manifested through proxy warfare, societal fear of communism (commonly known as the “red scare”), and international ideological struggling manifested through foreign affairs policy. I then begin outlining some “long term” historiography surrounding the beginnings of the Cold War, including the publication of the Communist Manifesto and Russo-British imperialism. After the historiography section, I began using several newspaper propaganda editorials and Woodrow Wilson’s book Case for the League of Nations, as well as several secondary source books from notable Cold War historians to prove my hypothesis: that because the Cold War hallmarks of militarism, societal fear, and ideological struggle are undoubtedly present surrounding the conclusion of the Great War, historians ought to shift validity to the idea of the Cold War’s timeline beginning upon the 1917 Bolshevik revolution as opposed to the conclusion of WWII.
Recommended Citation
mitchell, cole, "Redefining the Timeline of the Cold War: United States-Soviet Tension around the Conclusion of the Great War" (2012). Symposium Of University Research and Creative Expression (SOURCE). 74.
https://digitalcommons.cwu.edu/source/2012/oralpresentations/74
Additional Mentoring Department
History
Redefining the Timeline of the Cold War: United States-Soviet Tension around the Conclusion of the Great War
SURC 135
The question that I explored in this essay is to what extent can the Cold War be thought of as a conflict that originated with the events surrounding the conclusion of the Great War as opposed to WWII? I started this essay by first highlighting three key hallmarks (as I referred to them) that have come to define the Cold War as we know it today. These three hallmarks include militarism manifested through proxy warfare, societal fear of communism (commonly known as the “red scare”), and international ideological struggling manifested through foreign affairs policy. I then begin outlining some “long term” historiography surrounding the beginnings of the Cold War, including the publication of the Communist Manifesto and Russo-British imperialism. After the historiography section, I began using several newspaper propaganda editorials and Woodrow Wilson’s book Case for the League of Nations, as well as several secondary source books from notable Cold War historians to prove my hypothesis: that because the Cold War hallmarks of militarism, societal fear, and ideological struggle are undoubtedly present surrounding the conclusion of the Great War, historians ought to shift validity to the idea of the Cold War’s timeline beginning upon the 1917 Bolshevik revolution as opposed to the conclusion of WWII.
Faculty Mentor(s)
Jason Knirck