Teaching the Revisionist Interpretation of the Cold War

Abstract

Listen

Translate article

There is a school of history, however, which argues that the United States was primarily responsible for the Cold War. It may not be very popular, but the revisionist interpretation of the origins of the Cold War ought to be pre sented to high school students precisely because most students will not agree with it. It will challenge them and thus make them think about the issue more deeply. Presenting two interpretations of the Cold War is an ideal way to build critical thinking skills. Before the students are given the interpretations, preliminary work needs to be done. The teacher could ask why the U.S. and the USSR are such ene mies. A discussion of Marxist-Leninist ideology should ensue followed by some background on the 1917 Revolution, the American intervention in Rus sia in 1918, the United States-Soviet alliance against Hitler, the issue of the second front, and the Yalta Conference. The students should also learn the countries and some of the capital cities in Europe. Finally, the students need to understand that the American foreign policy concept of self-determination (each country should decide its own policies free from outside interference) and the Soviet concept of spheres of influence (the big powers each have an area of dominance) were in basic conflict (a little country does not have self determination when it is being dominated by a big power). The students should now read the section of their text on the beginning of the Cold War and discuss which country was responsible for the Cold War and why. At this point I pass out the following reading and instruct the stu dents to write their reaction to it on the back. (The reading is adapted from O'Reilly, pp. 80-86. This reading was shortened considerably and leaves out many important issues such as the dispute over Poland and the wording of the Yalta Agreements.)