Preparing to Debate: Researching the History of the Cold War

This past week, I was assigned a debate project, along with two of my classmates, to argue that the policies used by the United States during the Cold War "promulgated and extended" it. Not only are we supposed to prepare for an intense, in-class debate (which might possibly take place in front of other professors - from our department, as well as others), we are supposed to blog about our preparation and research for the debate, as well.

This is my attempt to summarize my research process. My research methods may be unusual, so feel free to ask me questions in the comments.

You can find my companions' research here, at Maggie's and TJ's blogs.

Cold War Political Cartoon

Before I began researching, I knew the basic schematic of the Cold War. It began almost as soon as the Second World War ended in 1945 with the dropping of the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Truman and Stalin had had a rocky relationship at Potsdam, due to Stalin's attempts to subtly (not really, but that's what he thought) gain power, and Truman's recognition of his efforts. The Marshall Plan went into effect, helping to revitalize Europe's economy. Aid was promised to all European countries devastated by the war - however, those now occupied by Soviet troops were forced to refuse the aid. Americans suddenly adopted a policy of containment - to keep communism from spreading anywhere it wasn't already present - outlined for them in the Truman Doctrine. Truman then sent aid to Greeks fighting against communism in the Greek Civil War in the late 1940s,  as a measure to prove his commitment to the Truman Doctrine. And then, in the 1950s, Truman decided to back the South Koreans in their war for independence.

The Korean War was fought against the North Koreans, who were Communist and backed by the Chinese. China had undergone a brief revolution itself, and was now, under Chairman Mao, a Communist regime (although, due to ideological differences with Stalin, not the same type of communism as the Soviet Union - in fact, due to these differences in interpretation, Stalin and Mao did not get along very well). General Douglas MacArthur was placed at the head of the army during the Korean War, and all seemed well - in fact, the Americans and South Koreans passed the 58th Parallel and invaded North Korea - until MacArthur decided that he wanted to invade China as well. This did not bode well with the Chinese or Truman, who sacked MacArthur and installed a new general, who was then overwhelmed by the combination of Chinese and North Korean forces and sought a stalemate.

Not long after this, the Cuban Missile Crisis occurred; followed, not long after, by the assassination of President John F. Kennedy as he rode through Dallas, Texas, during his campaign for reelection. Americans were panicked, especially when they learned that the assassin was a former resident of the Soviet Union, and had, in fact, married a Soviet citizen. It was up to Lyndon B. Johnson, Kennedy's vice president and now president of the United States, to come up with a plan.

What he wound up doing was involving the United States in one of the most unpopular, most deadly wars in its history: Vietnam.

Like Korea, Vietnam was fought against a communist government within North Vietnam, led by Ho Chi Minh, and their allies in South Vietnam, the Viet Cong. The South Vietnamese wanted to maintain ties with Western countries, while North Vietnam wanted to unify the peninsula after colonial forces had been removed. Americans had actually been in Vietnam since the 1950s, slowly growing in number throughout the 1960s. Vietnam became a grossly unpopular war in the United States, with taunts being shouted at the president from the public outside the White House. It led to Johnson failing to win reelection, and to the presidency to Richard Nixon - because Nixon claimed to have a secret plan to win the war.

While Nixon did end Vietnam, pulling Americans out by 1972, his main contribution to the Cold War was his policy of detente. Detente was a brilliant plan - it played the Soviet Union and China's massive dislike of the other against them, allowing America to gain policies that it needed. It was a genius political move. 

After Watergate kicked Nixon out of the White House, and Ford had left, Jimmy Carter became president. His main Cold War issue was Iran - their kidnapping of hundreds of American hostages became the main focus of his last days in office. He also decided to boycott the 1980 Olympics, because of their presence in Soviet Russia. 

His successor, Ronald Reagan, did the most to bring about the end of the Cold War. He began an arms race between the two countries to cause the Soviet Union to run out of money. He also began a talk with Mikhail Gorbachev to see if the two countries could come to an agreement to end the Cold War. Before Reagan could complete his goals, his two terms ended, and his former vice president, George Bush, was elected president. In 1991, Soviet Russia fell, along with the Berlin Wall, which had divided East (Soviet-held) Berlin from West (American-held) Berlin since the end of World War II. It was the dawn of a new era.

Based on my prior knowledge, then, it would seem that both sides were at fault for the Cold War starting - mainly because of Stalin being Stalin, and Truman recognizing that fact, but not really being good at calling him on it. From that point on, it seems as if America did, in fact, do most of the actual fighting - whether it was actual fighting, as in Korea or Vietnam, or whether it was political, such as Nixon's policy of detente or Reagan's arms race. 

My goal for researching, then, would be to look at those points in time, and see whether or not the Russians and Americans ever both pushed for policies to "promulgate and extend" the Cold War.

My first instinct was to ask my father, who had studied Soviet policy in college, whether he had any suggestions as to places where I could look for more information. He was rather unhelpful, telling me  that he had only lived through the Cold War, and had no suggestions for me. So I then turned to the Spring Hill Library.

Our library is smaller than most, seeing as our school is a small school, but I did manage to find some interesting books on the topic. Our professor had posted several books to get us started, but I managed to find only one on the shelved, John Spanier's American Foreign Policy Since World War II. I also picked up a book titled Victims of Groupthink, written by Irving C. Janis, and A Journey Through the Cold War, by Raymond R. Garthoff. Although I did not pull it from the shelves, I did see a book titled Bears in the Caviar, which made me smile.

Spanier's book helped to clarify why the United States reacted as it did to the sudden appearance of communism in China, an event which has always seemed somewhat mysterious to me. Spanier notes that Americans had always considered China their pet project in Asia, going back as far as the Open Door Policy at the end of the 19th century. However, they had never really expected to have to defend the country that they were lauding heavily as a commercial market for American goods, and were shocked by the collapse of the Chinese government. It also came at the same time as the discovery of the traitorous work done by Alger Hiss, a member of the government who had passed information to the Soviet Union, and the detonation of the USSR's first atomic bomb. The fear of communism that all of these events at once combined to create was only compounded by the Korean War and China's intervention. So far, I think this has been the best source that I've found on the topic.

A brief glance through the preface of Victims of Groupthink suggested that it would focus on the psychological reasoning behind the political decisions made, especially when looking at the Bay of Pigs invasion, the Cuban Missile Crisis, the Marshall Plan, and the escalation of the Vietnam War (all of which are dealt with as topics within the book). Janis makes it clear that the book's purpose is "to increase awareness of social psychological phenomena in decisions of historic importance" (Janis v). It seems like it could be a credible source for the debate, but it has also left me wondering why it was shelved in the history section, and not under psychology.

Garthoff's book, upon closer reading, turned out to be a memoir of his life through the Cold War. I'm a little wary of a memoir, especially for a debate, since it is such a polarizing topic, and the lens of personal beliefs might cloud the author's judgement. However, Garthoff's preface discusses his service in the CIA and under the governments of both Kennedy and Johnson, so it might prove a viable source. 

At this point, I continue to research (I hope to find more information through primary sources at the National Archives and other web sources) and to prepare for the debate on Wednesday. My group and I are meeting tomorrow to discuss what we've found and where we want to go with the debate. I look forward to hearing what they've found!