Routledge

Chapter Resources

Chapter 9: The ‘First’ Cold War in Europe 1945–61

Debates

Debating the origins of the Cold War

Maps

The Cold War in Europe, 1955

Discussion Questions

  1. Which side bears most of the responsibility for the division of Germany?
  2. Why did the Soviets dominate Eastern Europe after the Second World War?
  3. Was the Truman Doctrine the starting point of the Cold War in Europe?
  4. What was the impact of the Marshall Plan on Western Europe?
  5. What explains the anti-communist revolts in Eastern Europe in the 1950s?
  6. Why did NATO (or the United States) not intervene in the Hungarian crisis of 1956?
  7. What role did nuclear weapons play in international relations in the 1950s?
  8. How important was ideology in the context of the Cold War in the 1950s?
  9. Why was the Berlin Wall erected?
  10. What was the impact of the Berlin Wall for East–West relations in Europe?

Weblinks

http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/cold.war/
This is the companion site to CNN's Cold War series, the first major international documentary on the subject. Links to all twenty-four episodes and their scripts, timelines, biographies, interactive maps and more.

http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/USAmarshallP.htm
A basic site devoted to the Marshall Plan. The emphasis is on the US side, so it is not as comprehensive as one might hope. But many good links to primary documents, speeches and visual images.

http://www.usaid.gov/multimedia/video/marshall/
The US government's Marshall Plan home page, created on the fiftieth anniversary of the plan in 1997. Although clearly a celebratory effort, the site has good links to speeches and recordings.

http://www.dailysoft.com/berlinwall/
Provides the full history of the infamous wall with many links to visual images, speeches and other relevant documentary evidence.

http://digicoll.library.wisc.edu/FRUS/
Perhaps the easiest gateway to accessing primary documents from US archives. This is a digitalized version of the Foreign Relations of the United States series, divided by country or region and year(s). Numerous volumes deal with US policy towards Europe in this period.