CAMBRIDGE IGCSE HISTORY REVISION 7 - WHO WAS TO BLAME FOR THE COLD WAR - REVISIONISTS VIEWS. A presentation containing: a view over revisionists and revisionism, views of Walter Lippman, William Appleman Williams, Gal Alperovitz, Gabriel Kolko, Michael Hughes et all.

1. CAMBRIDGEIGCSE
HISTORYREVISION7
WHOWASTOBLAME
FORTHECOLDWAR?
REVISIONISTSVIEWS

2. THEREVISIONISTVIEW
There was a change in thinking as the Cold War progressed between
the 1960s and 1980s. Scholars began reassessing the interpretations of
the realists and traditionalists and offered a school of thought
grounded in revision.
The revisionists encouraged individuals to look at the Cold War
through a very different lens. The simple argument within revisionism
was that the United States was responsible for the beginning of the
Cold War. In other words, the United States now assumed the villain
role. However, it becomes more complex because revisionism morphed
into a number of sub-schools of thought.

3. REVISIONISM
The alternative perspective, which flourished when the consensus over
foreign policy in the United States was crumbling during the Vietnam
War, held the USA responsible for the Cold War. Revisions, such as
William Appleman Williams, explained the onset of the Cold War in
terms of 'dollar diplomacy‘.
Revisionists see the motives behind U.S. foreign policy as inherently
linked to the needs of Capitalism. Thus, containment of Communism
was driven by the requirement to secure markets and free trade, and
penetrate Eastern Europe. This followed on from the United States'
traditional 'open door' policy of the late 19th century.

4. REVISIONISTSCENARIO
However, a new account emerged in the wake of the Vietnam War. U.S.
involvement in Vietnam disillusioned some historians and created
antipathy towards the American position. In the 1960s and 1970s, the
revisionists stressed that American expansionism was the cause of the
Cold War. They pointed out that, at the end of the Second World War,
the Soviet Union was severely weakened, whereas the United States
prospered and possessed a monopoly on the atomic bomb.
According to the revisionists, Stalin’s main priority was to recover from
the devastating war years. They placed the cause of the Cold War in
the nature of capitalism and viewed Marshall Aid as a way of seeking
new markets and expanding the U.S. economy. The Soviet Union thus
correctly understood that their sphere of influence in Eastern Europe
was in danger.

5. Traditional revisionists, such as Walter Lippmann, argued that the Cold
War was precipitated by American moves because the Soviet Union was
too weak following the Second World War to spawn a Cold War.
Simply put, the Soviet Union had to be innocent because it was too
feeble to spark a confrontation. Moderate revisionists, such as Denna
Fleming, contended that the United States was responsible, but not all of
the blame can be leveraged against the Americans; the Soviet Union did
pose a potential threat.
THEVIEWOFWALTERLIPPMAN

6. In other words, the United States jumped the gun out of the fear of a
possible threat. The 'New Left' revisionists, such as Appleman Williams,
Gabriel Kolko, and Gar Alperovitz, then delivered their interpretation. This
sub-school held the United States was absolutely responsible for the Cold
War as a result of its imperialist desire to expand and claim new
economically profitable markets. These scholars believed that the United
States was similar to a villain looking to steal money and valuables. They
see American policy as determined by the nature of its Capitalist system
and by fears of recession. Similarly, Thomas Patterson wrote that
'coercion characterised United States reconstruction diplomacy.' Many
Revisions hold that Stalin himself was a pragmatic leader, and had the
Americans been more willing to understand the Soviets' need for security
and offer some compromises, Stalin would have also made concessions.
THENEWLEFTREVISIONISTS

7. THETRAGEDYOFTHEAMERICANDIPLOMACY
In 1959, however, William Appleman Williams published his The
Tragedy of American Diplomacy. Williams blamed the US for the Cold
War. This ‘revisionist’ approach reached its height during the Vietnam
War when many people suggested that America was as bad as Russia.
Williams argued that America’s chief aim in the years after the war was
to make sure that there was an "open door" for American trade, and
that this led the American government to try to make sure that
countries remained capitalist countries like the USA.

8. THEVIEWOFGALALPEROVITZ
Gar Alperovitz, in his book: Atomic Diplomacy: Hiroshima and Potsdam
(1965), placed the blame for the Cold War on the Americans for their use
of the atomic bomb – he contended that Truman decided to drop the
bomb as a means to intimidate the Soviet Union.

9. GABRIELKOLKOTHEMOSTEXTREMEREVISIONISTS
One of the most extreme revisionists was Gabriel Kolko, who wrote The
Limits of Power: The World and United States Foreign Policy in 1972.
One reviewer of his books says that ‘he devoted his entire professional life
to blaming the United States for the Cold War’, and Kelko suggested that
Truman should have given Stalin the atomic bomb in 1945, claimed that
Russia treated Poland well in 1945, and blamed South Korea for the
Korean War of 1950-3.

10. THEVIEWOFMICHAELHUGHES
Michael Hughes, ‘Ambassador from Canada’, on 11 Dec 2002 on the
ONOL web forum. The United Nations On Line is a virtual model United
Nations sponsored by a Non-Profit Organization from Texas. The UNOL
'Lobbying Area' is for students from around the world to discuss topics
concerning the work of the United Nations.
“The atomic bomb did help seed the Cold War. Let's face it, the bomb was not
just meant to buckle Japan into surrender, it was also a political statement
towards the Soviet Union. A statement of power towards a nation who
practiced a political ideology different from America which was unacceptable to
the "free democratic" United States…”