History 453.001 / 553.001 Salisbury University, Fall 2003

 The Cold War: A Global History

Instructor: Maarten L. Pereboom, Associate Professor and Chair, History Department

Office: Holloway Hall 338a

Office hours:MW 1:00-1:50, TR 12:30-1:45, or by appointment

Telephone: (410) 543-6454

Email:  mlpereboom@salisbury.edu

Class meets: TR 9:30-10:45, Devilbiss Hall 109

 

Overview:     From 1945 to 1991 a fierce rivalry between the superpowers –the United States and the Soviet Union -- dominated world affairs in what became known as the Cold War.  While onetime “great powers” like Great Britain, France and Germany emerged from the Second World War weakened or devastated, the superpowers presented the world with two vastly different ideologies and used their power to promote their own interests and thwart their enemy’s. Taking a leading role on the world stage for the first time, Americans saw the Soviet system as expansionist, threatening political freedom, individual rights and economic liberty. The Soviets saw themselves as champions of socialism, building “the revolution” in their own country and supporting communist revolution elsewhere. Ideology was an important element in this conflict, which might also be seen as a geopolitical rivalry between two massive states with vast resources and global ambitions. Intensifying the conflict was the looming threat of nuclear devastation that seemed certain in the event of direct war between the superpowers.  We will study the roots of this conflict and examine its impact on the rapidly changing world after 1945.

Objectives:        

1. To understand the origins and development of the Cold War;

2.  To understand the impact of the Cold War on an increasingly interdependent world;

3.  To develop skills in research, analysis and writing.  SU strongly affirms the importance of writing across the curriculum; the exams and paper assignment for this course (see below) reflect that priority.

Required Books: Judge, Edward H. and Langdon, John W. A Hard and Bitter Peace: A Global History of the Cold War. Upper Saddle River, NJ, 1996. This book will serve as our textbook.

_____, eds.  The Cold War: A History through Documents.  Upper Saddle River, NJ, 1999.  Speeches, official correspondence and other documents marking major developments.

Requirements:  1. Participation (attendance, contributions to class discussions, short assignments) makes up 20% of your grade. You may miss up to two classes during the course of the semester without penalty. Three absences will drop the participation grade to a maximum of 70%; each additional absence drops the participation grade by ten percentage points.

2.    Two exams, each worth 15% of your final grade, will be in two parts: a. Identify and state the significance of ten out of twelve terms; b)    Answer one of two essay questions with a well-organized essay.

3.   A paper, worth 30% of your final grade (8-10 pages, minimum of 12 pages for history majors desiring to register paper, 15 pages for graduate students) will examine either: a) A cold war theme as it manifests itself in the culture of the time.   Using novels, films, plays or any other form of artistic expression, you will examine how a number of these works reflect a particular aspect of the Cold War. The works themselves will serve as your primary sources; articles and books on these works will serve as secondary sources; or b) A paper focusing on some aspect of international diplomacy during the Cold War.  One major source of primary documentation is the Foreign Relations of the United States series, which we have in our library.

The assignment breaks down as follows:

a. Paragraph describing paper idea due in class September 30;

b. List of primary and secondary sources being used due October 14

c. Rough drafts, complete and properly documented, due in class November 11;

d. Peer evaluations due November 18;

e Final drafts, carefully proofread, due in class December 9.

4.  A final exam, worth 20% of your final grade, will be similar to the earlier exams, but you will write two essays instead of one.

Graduate students: I will meet with all graduate students early in the semester to discuss the role of graduate students in the course.  Graduate students will take on more intensive research projects and write a professional-quality paper.  They must demonstrate an advanced command of world history in their written work and in classroom discussion and exercise leadership in the classroom.  Course grades are determined as described above.

Schedule of Meetings and Assignments

 Week   *   Topic and Assignments (reading assignments due Tuesdays)

 I.  Introduction

 1.  Sept. 2,4  Organization and Introduction

 II.  Origins of the Cold War, 1900-1950

 2.  Sept. 9, 11 Roots of Conflict  Read:  Judge and Langdon, preface, chapter 1.

 3.  Sept. 16, 18 Impact of World War Two   Read: Judge and Langdon, chapter 2, documents 1-4.

 4.  Sept. 23, 25 Descent of the "Iron Curtain"  Read: Judge and Langdon, chapter 3, documents 5-9.

 5.  Sept. 30, Oct. 2 Germany and the Beginning of the Cold War Read: Judge and Langdon, chapters 3 and 4, documents 10-15.

 6.  Oct. 7, 9  China=s Civil War and Revolution  Read: Judge and Langdon, chapter 6, documents 16-18.

 First exam Thursday, October 9

 III.  The Cold War Goes Global, 1950-1972

 7.  Oct. 14, 16  NSC-68 and the Korean War  Read:  Judge and Langdon, chapter 7; Documents 19-22.  Paper:  list of primary and secondary sources due 10/14