Showing papers in "Cold War History in 2003"
TL;DR: Oh, East is East, and West is West, and never the twain shall meet, Till Earth and Sky stand presently at God's great Judgement Seat; But there is neither East nor West, Border, nor Breed, nor Birt...
Abstract: Oh, East is East, and West is West, and never the twain shall meet, Till Earth and Sky stand presently at God's great Judgement Seat; But there is neither East nor West, Border, nor Breed, nor Birt...
33 citations
TL;DR: The international cultural history of the Cold War should begin with the most obvious point of contact between the realms of culture and politics: state-sponsored propaganda as discussed by the authors, and the United States is one of the most prominent examples.
Abstract: The international cultural history of the Cold War should begin with the most obvious point of contact between the realms of culture and politics: state-sponsored propaganda.1 For the United States...
27 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors track the twists and turns of Nixon's Vietnam strategy that led to the readiness test and details the Pentagon's subsequent though unenthusiastic efforts to carry out the president's wishes.
Abstract: During October 1969 President Nixon directed the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) to order the US high command to undertake military measures that would convey to Moscow the increased readiness of US nuclear forces but would not be 'threatening in themselves'. The JCS Readiness Test, as the exercise was officially known, was one of Nixon's more mysterious and secret decisions. This article tracks the twists and turns of Nixon's Vietnam strategy that led to the readiness test and details the Pentagon's subsequent though unenthusiastic efforts to carry out the president's wishes. The October 1969 nuclear alert and its accompanying 'madman' threats against Hanoi and Moscow sheds new light on Nixon's strategy of detente and the intricate connections between it, the Vietnam War, and continuing Cold War confrontation between the superpowers.
16 citations
TL;DR: In the case of the Berlin Crisis, the most important factor for the United States' behaviour was the behaviour of the United State rather than pressure from the East German Communist leader Walter Ulbricht as mentioned in this paper.
Abstract: Contrary to some interpreters of the Berlin Crisis 1958-61, documents from the archives of the Czechoslovak Communist Party show the most important factor for Moscow to have been the behaviour of the United States rather than pressure from the East German Communist leader Walter Ulbricht. After Khrushchev first overestimated the willingness of President Eisenhower to reach a compromise, in the aftermath of the US fiasko at the Bay of Pigs he believed that President Kennedy would not risk a war over West Berlin. The Vienna summit provided Khrushchev with an opportunity to intimidate the young president and prepare the ground for unilateral changes in Berlin. Thanks only to strong US policy in the summer of 1961 did the Soviet leader change his mind and content himself with halting East German immigration through the wall.
11 citations
TL;DR: Shaw as mentioned in this paper, "Some Writers are More Equal than Others": George Orwell, the State and Cold War Privilege", Cold War History, Vol. 4, No. 4 (1): 132-170, 2003, doi: 10.1080/14682740312331391774
Abstract: Tony Shaw, '"Some Writers are More Equal than Others": George Orwell, the State and Cold War Privilege', Cold War History, Vol. 4 (1): 132-170, 2003, doi: 10.1080/14682740312331391774 Original article can be found at : http://www.informaworld.com/smpp/title~content=t713634851 Copyright Informa / Taylor and Francis Group.
11 citations
TL;DR: The role and place of particular party organizations in the decision-making process of the highest state bodies of the USSR has been unjustifiably ignored as mentioned in this paper, and there have been no special studies on the perceptions of the world international system which existed inside the Central Committee of the CPSU But they served in some ways as the basic preferences of the party apparatus in its analysis of the international situation, geostrategic system, political and ethnic events in the world
Abstract: No problem of Cold War history has attracted such serious attention as the decision-making process of the highest state bodies The more traditional approaches in history are applied to this delicate sphere the more puzzles a student of the subject meets Even though the USSR party and state apparatus were interlocked and the party nomenclature was predominant over the state bodies, the role and place of particular party organizations in Soviet foreign policy activity have been unjustifiably ignored Until now, there have been no special studies on the perceptions of the world international system which existed inside the Central Committee of the CPSU But they had very great significance and served in some ways as the basic preferences of the party apparatus in its analysis of the international situation, geostrategic system, political and ethnic events in the world
10 citations
TL;DR: This paper studied the reception of the Voice of Free Hungary in Hungary during the early 1950's and laid the foundations of an approach to the social history of western broadcasting towards the Soviet bloc.
Abstract: Within the cultural history of the Cold War some attention has been paid to the history of western broadcasting to Soviet bloc countries in Central and Eastern Europe. Most of this work has concentrated on the institutional histories of individual radio stations and their relationships to politics. Little or no systematic attention has, however, been paid to the reception of those radio stations in their target societies. This article, which concentrates on the reception of the Voice of Free Hungary in that country during the early 1950's, lays the foundations of an approach to the social history of western broadcasting towards the Soviet bloc.
9 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the memorandum written by Frisch and Peierls at BirBirmingham Nuclear Museum is described as "the most fascinating and impressive document written by a nuclear historian".
Abstract: Looking back (now that I can no longer read) over 33 years as a nuclear historian, I know of no text so fascinating and impressive as the memorandum written by Otto Frisch and Rudolf Peierls at Bir...
8 citations
TL;DR: The authors examines the documentation that the US used to substantiate this justification, and argues that the facts and interpretations that US used cannot sustain the characterization of the insurgency movement in El Salvador as Soviet backed.
Abstract: From 1979 to 1992, the US supported the El Salvadorian government in its counter-insurgency war. The insurgents were characterized by the US as Soviet backed communists. US support for the El Salvadorian government was sold as supporting a pro-US ally to contain Soviet expansionism within Central America. This article examines the documentation that the US used to substantiate this justification, and argues that the facts and interpretations that the US used cannot sustain the characterization of the insurgency movement in El Salvador as Soviet backed. Furthermore, even in the event of a rebel victory, and in the absence of US hostility, the insurgents would have almost certainly sought good relations with the US.
6 citations
TL;DR: Gulnur Aybet, The Dynamics o f European Security Co-operation, 1945-1991 (Basingstoke: Palgrave, 2001), 232 pp., ISBN 0 333 94939 0 as mentioned in this paper.
Abstract: Gulnur Aybet, The Dynamics o f European Security Co-operation, 1945–1991 (Basingstoke: Palgrave, 2001), 232 pp., ISBN 0 333 94939 0. Stuart Croft and others, Britain and Defence 1945–2000. A Policy...
6 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors focus on Britain's policy towards the US government's involvement in the Vietnam war during the Kennedy administration, dealing with Foreign Office's early reactions to the worsening of the situation in Vietnam and examining Britain's decision to give the US its support through the creation of the British Advisory Mission (BRIAM).
Abstract: This article focuses on Britain's policy towards the US government's involvement in the Vietnam war during the Kennedy administration, dealing with Foreign Office's early reactions to the worsening of the situation in Vietnam and examining Britain's decision to give the US its support through the creation of the British Advisory Mission (BRIAM). The article argues that the Foreign Office also pursued the diplomatic path as Britain was co-chairman, with the Soviet Union, of the International Control Commission created in 1954 at Geneva. In 1962 the British authorities came to the conclusion that the diplomatic option was a blind alley and they began to fear growing US military involvement. The article looks as the launching of the 'strategic hamlets' strategy, advocated by the BRIAM and, finally, deals with Britain's reaction to military developments, the Buddhist crisis and the fall of the Diem regime.
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors study the motives determining the Soviet leadership's actions concerning the former Italian colonies and conclude that Realpolitik imperatives clearly dominated ideological considerations on this issue.
Abstract: This article studies the motives determining Soviet leadership's actions concerning the former Italian colonies. Analyzing the body of documents from the Archive of Russian Foreign Policy (the Foreign Ministry Archive), the author came to the conclusion that Realpolitik imperatives clearly dominated ideological considerations on this issue. The architects of the Soviet foreign policy were interested in the geostrategic position of Libya, Somalia and Eritrea, rather than in the prospects for revolutionary development there. Soviet diplomacy showed remarkable persistence and flexibility (the official position was changed four times), trying to achieve a Soviet presence in the Mediterranean – a traditional priority region of Russian geopolitical aspirations.
TL;DR: The reasons for, and the particulars of, American aid during the first years after the Berlin airlift is described in this paper, as well as the West German aid, which began to replace direct American support in the middle of the 1950s.
Abstract: The city of West Berlin was of supreme importance to the United States and the Federal Republic of Germany in their effort to fight the Cold War during the 1950s. Only by utilizing billions of dollars and (later on) Deutschmarks could the city survive in its isolated position east of the Iron Curtain. The reasons for, and the particulars of, American aid during the first years after the Berlin airlift is described in this paper as well as the West German aid, which began to replace direct American support in the middle of the 1950s.
TL;DR: For example, the authors characterized the period from 1945 to 1965 as showing a marked reduction of the number of narratives sustaining that culture, and the hope of the Cold War culture was lost.
Abstract: Recent readings of Cold War culture have characterized the period from 1945 to 1965 as showing a marked reduction of the number of narratives sustaining that culture. For Thomas H. Schaub, the hope...
TL;DR: One popular cultural genre which has attracted growing attention in Cold War studies has been science fiction (SF) as discussed by the authors, for America at least, since the early 1970s, when the conflict was conducted with increasingly...
Abstract: One popular cultural genre which has attracted growing attention in Cold War studies – for America at least – has been science fiction (SF).1 After all, the conflict was conducted with increasingly...
TL;DR: Based primarily upon newly available Soviet sources, the authors examines Soviet-Taiwanese ties from 1943 until 1982, focusing upon the issues of United Nations membership and the 'two Chinas' question; the impact of the Sino-Soviet dispute on Taiwanese-Soviet relations; and the effect of the normalization of relations between the People's Republic of China and the United States in the 1970s on Soviet- Taiwanese relations.
Abstract: Based primarily upon newly available Soviet sources, this article examines Soviet-Taiwanese ties from 1943 until 1982, focusing upon the issues of United Nations membership and the 'two Chinas' question; the impact of the Sino-Soviet dispute on Taiwanese-Soviet relations; and the effect of the normalization of relations between the People's Republic of China and the United States in the 1970s on Soviet-Taiwanese relations. Until the Cold War ended, the need to maintain international communist solidarity that derived from the Soviet position of leadership within the socialist camp, and Taiwan's fears of alienating completely its powerful patron, the United States, kept initiatives towards developing closer economic and other ties small-scale and limited.
TL;DR: In this article, the authors draw together declassified evidence to trace previously ignored connections between Iran-Contra and the Soviet war in Afghanistan, demonstrating that the secret arms dealings with Iran carried out by the Reagan administration's National Security Council staff included provisions for Tehran to transfer some of the American weapons it received to pro-Iranian mujaheddin in Afghanistan and covert cooperation against the Soviets in Afghanistan constituted an important dimension of the clandestine dialogue carried on by US and Iranian representatives.
Abstract: Though they were crucial international events during the 1980s, the final decade of the Cold War, the Soviet war in Afghanistan and the Iran-Contra affair are usually considered in isolation from each other. The present article draws together declassified evidence to trace previously ignored connections between them, demonstrating that the secret arms dealings with Iran carried out by the Reagan administration's National Security Council staff included provisions for Tehran to transfer some of the American weapons it received to pro-Iranian mujaheddin in Afghanistan, and that covert cooperation against the Soviets in Afghanistan constituted an important dimension of the clandestine dialogue carried on by US and Iranian representatives.
TL;DR: Although the comparative socio-cultural history of the Cold War has received some attention, it is striking, as the editors of this volume point out, how little has been paid to the eastern bloc as mentioned in this paper.
Abstract: Although the comparative socio-cultural history of the Cold War has received some attention, it is striking, as the editors of this volume point out, how little has been paid to the eastern bloc, i...