History of the Cold War History 512:354, Rutgers University, Fall 2007 TuF 11:30 AM-12:50 PM, Van Dyck Hall, Room 211 Professor David S. Foglesong Office: Van Dyck Hall, Room 215 Office hours: Tu 10-11; F 1-2 Office phone: (732) 932-6749 E-mail: dsfoglesong@gmail.com Teaching Assistant Tal Zalmanovich Office: Van Dyck Hall, basement Office hour: Friday 10-11 AM Office phone: TBA E-mail: tzalmanovich@gmail.com Course Description This course will examine the history of the twentieth-century international competition and conflict known as the Cold War. It will begin by tracing the roots of American-Soviet ideological antagonism back to the late nineteenth century, when many Americans became interested in the liberation of the tsarist empire and sympathized with a revolutionary movement they hoped would bring a "free Russia." The class will then look in depth at American responses to the Russian revolutions of 1917, including the controversial U.S. intervention in the Russian Civil War and the refusal to recognize the Soviet government until 1933 -- a period some historians have called the first Cold War. After briefly considering whether the U.S.-Soviet collaboration during the Second World War could have provided a foundation for postwar cooperation, the course will explore in detail how a conflict between the two superpowers widened into a global struggle between capitalist and socialist camps. Finally, the class will analyze how, after the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962, superpower relations shifted back and forth between detente and confrontation until the Cold War finally ended in the late 1980s. The primary objective of the course is to encourage critical thinking about different interpretations of the Cold War. Requirements and Grading 1. Attendance at lectures is required. It will count for 10% of your grade. Attendance will be recorded on a sign-in sheet before the beginning of class. Students who arrive after the start of class will not be allowed to sign the roster. Early departures are disruptive and will be treated as absences. Each student will be allowed three unexcused absences. Beyond that, each unexcused absence will result in a deduction of 2% from the final course grade. Students will be expected to comply with the Classroom Etiquette Policy (see http://history.rutgers.edu/undergrad/policy.htm). Cell phones must be switched off and meals must be eaten before the beginning of class. 1
2. Informed participation in class discussions, based on completion of the assigned reading by the dates specified, is strongly encouraged. Students who regularly answer and raise questions about events, issues, and ideas discussed in the assigned reading will have their final course grades raised by one point (for example, from B+ to A). 3. Two short (5-6 page) essays on assigned topics. Each essay will compare different interpretations presented in required readings and develop critical responses to them. Essays that contain plagiarism (unacknowledged use of others words or ideas) will not be accepted. (See http://history.rutgers.edu/undergrad/plagiarism.htm). The essays will be due on September 18 and November 13. Each essay will count for 30% of your grade. Essays may not be submitted by e-mail. 4. Final examination, December 11. Identification and discussion of the historical significance of ten individuals, events, etc. from a list of fifty. The exam will count for 30% of your grade. Required Reading 1. The following books have been ordered through the Rutgers University Bookstore, One Penn Plaza, New Brunswick: Chen Jian, Mao's China and the Cold War Gleijeses, Piero. Conflicting Missions: Havana, Washington, and Africa, 1959-1976 Oberdorfer, Don. From the Cold War to a New Era: The United States and the Soviet Union, 1983-1991 (Updated edition, 1998). Suri, Jeremy. Power and Protest: Global Revolution and the Rise of Detente Zubok, Vladislav and Constantine Pleshakov. Inside the Kremlin s Cold War: From Stalin to Khrushchev Copies of the assigned books will also be available at the undergraduate reserve desk in Alexander Library. 2. Additional required readings have been placed on electronic reserve at Alexander Library. To access these articles and chapters, go to www.libraries.rutgers.edu, click on "Find Reserves," type "Foglesong" in the search field and click on "instructor." Many chapters from one out-of-print book, Russia, the Soviet Union, and the United States: An Interpretive History, by John Lewis Gaddis, have been placed on electronic reserve. It may be possible to purchase used copies of that book instead of reading the chapters on electronic reserve. 2
Schedule of Lectures and Reading Assignments Note: In order for lectures and discussions to be valuable, it is essential that students complete the required reading by the dates specified. Doing some of the recommended reading may enhance your essays. Lecture outlines will be available on electronic reserve. SEPTEMBER 4: INTRODUCTION TO COURSE SEPTEMBER 7: AMERICAN-RUSSIAN RELATIONS, 1776-1917: THE ORIGINS OF AN AMERICAN DRIVE FOR A FREE RUSSIA Gaddis, Russia, the Soviet Union, and the United States, Chapter II Gaddis, Russia, the Soviet Union, and the United States, Chapter I SEPTEMBER 11: ROOTS OF THE AMERICAN-SOVIET IDEOLOGICAL CONFLICT M. Hunt, Ideology and U.S. Foreign Policy, Ch. 4 J. Jacobson, When the Soviet Union Entered World Politics, Ch. 1 R. K. Murray, Red Scare: A Study in National Hysteria, 1919-20 W. A. Williams, America Confronts a Revolutionary World: 1776-1976 SEPTEMBER 14: U.S. INTERVENTION IN THE RUSSIAN CIVIL WAR, 1917-1920 Gaddis, Russia, the Soviet Union, and the United States, Chapter III G. F. Kennan, American Troops in Russia: The True Record D. S. Foglesong, Foreign Intervention, in Edward Acton et al, eds., Critical Companion to the Russian Revolution, 1914-1921 (1997), 106-114. G. F. Kennan, The Decision to Intervene (1958) N. G. Levin, Jr., Woodrow Wilson and World Politics (1968) D. S. Foglesong, America s Secret War Against Bolshevism (1995) D. Davis and E. Trani, The First Cold War (2002) 3
SEPTEMBER 18: A COLD PEACE: NON-RECOGNITION, 1920-1933 AND THE FAILURE OF COLLECTIVE SECURITY, 1933-1941 Gaddis, Russia, the Soviet Union, and the United States, Ch. IV & V P. Filene, Americans and the Soviet Experiment, 1917-1933 (1967) J. Haslam, The Soviet Union and the Threat From the East, 1933-41 FIRST SHORT ESSAY DUE. SEPTEMBER 21: THE GRAND AND STRANGE ALLIANCE: AMERICAN-BRITISH-SOVIET COOPERATION IN WORLD WAR II Gaddis, Russia, the Soviet Union, and the United States, Chapter VI Diane S. Clemens, Yalta (1970) George C. Herring, Aid to Russia, 1941-1946 (1973) R. Levering, American Opinion and the Russian Alliance, 1939-1945 Vojtech Mastny, Russia's Road to the Cold War (1979) SEPTEMBER 25: "Cold War: Marshall Plan" (CNN Documentary, 1998) SEPTEMBER 28: THE ORIGINS OF THE COLD WAR IN EUROPE, 1945-1947 Gaddis, Russia, the Soviet Union, and the United States, pages 175-205. [Reserve] Zubok and Pleshakov, Inside the Kremlin s Cold War, to page 137. W. Hixson, George F. Kennan: Cold War Iconoclast (1989) F. Harbutt, The Iron Curtain: Churchill, America, and the Origins of the Cold War (1986) William Taubman, Stalin's American Policy OCTOBER 2: Dawn (1988 documentary on atomic weapons) Zubok and Pleshakov, Inside the Kremlin s Cold War, Chapter 5 4
OCTOBER 5: ATOMIC WEAPONS AND THE EARLY COLD WAR, 1945-1953 T. Hammond, Did the United States Use Atomic Diplomacy Against Russia in 1945? [Reserve] G. Alperovitz, Atomic Diplomacy: Hiroshima and Potsdam, Introduction. [Reserve] G. Herken, The Winning Weapon: The Atomic Bomb in the Cold War, 1945-1950 (1981) D. Holloway, Stalin and the Bomb: The Soviet Union and Atomic Energy, 1939-1956 T. Hasegawa, Racing the Enemy: Stalin, Truman, and the Surrender of Japan (2005) OCTOBER 9: FROM CONTAINMENT TO LIBERATION, 1948-1953: PSYCHOLOGICAL WARFARE IN THE EARLY COLD WAR W. Hixson, Parting the Curtain: Propaganda, Culture, and the Cold War, 1945-1961 (1997), Introduction and Chapter 1. [Reserve] Jian Chen, Mao s China and the Cold War, Chapter 6 S. Lucas, Freedom s War: The American Crusade Against the Soviet Union (1999) G. Mitrovich, Undermining the Kremlin (2000) OCTOBER 12: THE COLD WAR IN ASIA, 1945-1950 Gaddis, Russia, the Soviet Union, and the United States, pages 205-212. [Reserve] Jian Chen, Mao s China and the Cold War, pages 1-144. B. Cumings, The Origins of the Korean War (1990) S. Goncharov, et al, Uncertain Partners: Stalin, Mao and the Korean War (1993) R. Thornton, Odd Man Out: Truman, Stalin, Mao, and the Origins of the Korean War OCTOBER 16: THE KOREAN WAR Battle for Korea (PBS Documentary, 2001); MacArthur (Documentary, 2001) 5
OCTOBER 19: CONFRONTATION, SCHISM, AND DETENTE IN THE 1950s Gaddis, Russia, the Soviet Union, and the United States, pages 213-242. [Reserve] Zubok and Pleshakov, Inside the Kremlin s Cold War, Chapters 6 and 7 Jian Chen, Mao s China and the Cold War, Chapter 7 R. Divine, Eisenhower and the Cold War (1981) W. Taubman, Khrushchev: The Man and His Era (2003) OCTOBER 23: THE ARMS RACE AND SPACE RACE, 1953-1962 A Bigger Bang for the Buck (1988 WGBH documentary) "Cold War: Sputnik" (CNN documentary, 1998) Suri, Power and Protest, 7-43. W. McDougall, The Heavens and the Earth: A Political History of the Space Age (1985) R. Divine, The Sputnik Challenge: Eisenhower s Response to the Soviet Satellite (1993) OCTOBER 26: THE COLD WAR IN LATIN AMERICA, 1953-1963 Stephen G. Rabe, The Most Dangerous Area in the World: John F. Kennedy Confronts Communist Revolution in Latin America (1999), Introduction and Chapter 6. [Reserve] Gleijeses, Conflicting Missions, Chapters 1 and 10. P. Gleijeses, Shattered Hope: The Guatemalan Revolution and the United States T. Paterson, Contesting Castro (1994) G. Grandin, The Last Colonial Massacre: Latin America in the Cold War OCTOBER 30: KENNEDY, KHRUSHCHEV, AND THE CUBAN CRISIS "Cold War:Cuba 1959-1962 (CNN Documentary) Gaddis, Russia, the Soviet Union, and the United States, pages 242-252. [Reserve] Zubok and Pleshakov, Inside the Kremlin s Cold War, Chapter 8 Arthur Schlesinger, Jr., Robert Kennedy and His Times (1978) M. White, The Cuban Missile Crisis (1996) A. Fursenko and T. Naftali, "One Hell of a Gamble" (1997) 6
NOVEMBER 2: THE COLD WAR AND THE CONGO: Lumumba (Film) NOVEMBER 6: THE COLD WAR IN AFRICA Gleijeses, Conflicting Missions, Prologue & Chapters 2, 3, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9. R. D. Mahoney, JFK: Ordeal in Africa (1983) T. Borstelmann, The Cold War and the Color Line (2001) NOVEMBER 9: THE COLD WAR AND THE MIDDLE EAST S. Yaqub, Containing Arab Nationalism (2004), Introduction and Chapter 1 [Reserve] M. Connelly, Taking Off the Cold War Lens: Visions of North-South Conflict During the Algerian War for Independence, American Historical Review, Vol. 105, Issue 3. [Reserve] M. McAlister, Epic Encounters: Culture, Media, and U.S. Interests in the Middle East D. Little, American Orientalism NOVEMBER 13: "Cold War: Vietnam 1954-1968" (CNN Documentary) Suri, Power and Protest, 1-6 and 44-163. Ilya Gaiduk, The Soviet Union and the Vietnam War John Dumbrell, President Lyndon Johnson and Soviet Communism SECOND SHORT ESSAY DUE. NOVEMBER 16: THE VIETNAM WAR AND THE RISE OF DETENTE "Cold War: Detente 1969-1975" (CNN Documentary, 1998) Gaddis, Russia, the Soviet Union, and the United States, Chapter IX [Reserve] Suri, Power and Protest, 164-212. Jian Chen, Mao s China and the Cold War, Chapters 8 and 9 R. Garthoff, Detente and Confrontation Seymour Hersh, The Price of Power: Kissinger in the Nixon White House (1983) NOVEMBER 20: NO LECTURE. (SHIFT OF CLASS DAYS) 7
NOVEMBER 21: THE DEMISE OF DÉTENTE (SHIFT OF CLASS DAYS: FRIDAY CLASS MEETS ON WEDNESDAY) Gleijeses, Conflicting Missions, Chapters 11-16. Suri, Power and Protest, 213-268. NOVEMBER 27: THE ARMS RACE AND ARMS CONTROL IN THE 1980S "Cold War: Star Wars" (CNN Documentary, 1998) R. Scheer, With Enough Shovels: Reagan, Bush, and Nuclear War F. Fitzgerald, Way Out There in the Blue NOVEMBER 30: REAGAN AND A NEW COLD WAR Oberdorder, From the Cold War to a New Era, 9-105. Lou Cannon, President Reagan: The Role of a Lifetime (1992) P. Schweizer, Victory: The Reagan Administration s Secret Strategy That Hastened the Collapse of the Soviet Union DECEMBER 4: GORBACHEV AND SOVIET NEW POLITICAL THINKING Oberdorder, From the Cold War to a New Era, Chapters 4-6. J. Matlock, Autopsy on an Empire: The American Ambassador s Account of the Collapse of the Soviet Union (1995) R. D. English, Russia and the Idea of the West: Gorbachev, Intellectuals, and the End of the Cold War (2000) DECEMBER 7: THE END OF THE COLD WAR Oberdorder, From the Cold War to a New Era, Chapters 7-10. R. Garthoff, The Great Transition: American-Soviet Relations and the End of the Cold War (1994) M. Evangelista, Unarmed Forces: The Transnational Movement to End the Cold War DECEMBER 11: FINAL EXAMINATION 8