A level History at St.Lawrence College

Old A-Level Unit 3: Superpower Rivalry 1944-1990 COURSEWORK?

A World Divided: Superpower Relations, 1944-90

• The post-Stalin thaw and the bid for peaceful coexistence: Khrushchev and the responses of Dulles, Eisenhower and Kennedy.

• The arms race, 1949-1963: nuclear technology; delivery systems; the Cuban missile crisis; the Test Ban Treaty.

• Sino-Soviet relations, 1949-76: alliance to confrontation in Asia and its impact on US policy.

• Détente, 1969-1980: the Strategic Arms Limitation Talks (SALT) and agreements; Helsinki Accords; the impact of economic realities.

Associated controversies

1. Why did the Cold War between the superpowers emerge in the years to 1953?
2. Why did the Cold War come to an end in the 1980s?

Reading List

Brown C and Mooney P — Cold War to Détente, 1945–1985
Dockrill M L — The Cold War, 1945-1963
Edwards O — The USA and the Cold War, 1945-63,
Farmer A — An Introduction to Modern European History, 1890–1990
Gaddis J L — The Long Peace: Inquiries in to the History of the Cold War
Gaddis J L — We Now Know: Rethinking Cold War History
Gaddis J L — The Cold War
Laver J, Rowe C and Williamson D — Years of Division: Europe Since 1945
Lightbody B — The Cold War
McCauley M — The Origins of the Cold War
McCauley M — Russia, America and the Cold War, 1949–1991, Second Edition (Longman,2008)
McCauley M — The Khrushchev Era, 1953-64
Nogee J and Donaldson R — Soviet Foreign Policy Since World War II
Phillips S — The Cold War
Sanders V — The USA and Vietnam 1945–1975, Second Edition
Schulzinger R D — A Companion To American Foreign Relations
Stueck W — Rethinking the Korean War: A New Diplomatic and Strategic History
Thomas H — Armed Truce: The Beginnings of the Cold War, 1945-46
Williamson D — Europe and the Cold War, 1945–1991, Second Edition
Vadney T E — The World Since 1945: A Complete History of Global Change from 1945 to the Present
Walker M — The Cold War: A History
Walker M — The Cold War
Wilson D – From Roosevelt to Truman: Potsdam, Hiroshima and the Cold War
Young J W — The Longman Companion to Cold War and détente
Zubok V and Pleshakov C — Inside the Kremlin’s Cold War: From Stalin to Khrushchev
A2 Edexcel GCE History: A World Divided: Superpower Relations, 1944-90

Useful Documents and links

Incredibly useful set of links on the Cold War

Textbook Chapter on the whole of the Cold War: Short, but not simplistic.

Lecture on the Origins of the Cold War

The Cold War in Europe, Williamson, Chapter 2: 1943-45

The Cold War in Europe, Williamson Chapter 3: 1945-47

The Cold War in Europe, Williamson, Chapter 5

The Cold War in Europe, Williamson, Chapter 6

Primary documents on the Cold War

The Cold War: Beyond Ideology

Alperowitz on the role of the Atom bomb in shaping US policy between 45 and 49.

Notes: Thaw 53-61

Russia, America & the Cold War, 1953-1969

Notes on Cuban crisis

Arms race essay History Review

The Arms Race-History Today Article

An assessment of the concept of Nuclear Deterrent

Spectator article Cuba Movie

212 things you probably should know about the Cold War

sino soviet article

Sino Soviet Split Slideshow

Pressure from Europeans and detente

Detente chapter from Phillips

Brzezinski

The Final Decade: An introduction to Ronald Reagan

Star Wars & SDI

McMahon Detente

McMahon End of the Cold War: The Final Phase 1980-1990

Interesting article about Bruce Springsteen and East Berlin