Paper Summary:

This paper explains that the historiography of the origins of the Cold War passes through three chronologically defined and ideologically distinct phases, which can be called "traditionalist," "revisionist," and "post-revisionist." Each reflects the cultural and political attitudes prevailing in the wider Cold War context of the particular era in which it flourished. The author points out that some historians believe that power politics and strategic considerations were more important than ideology in determining Soviet policy and behavior; therefore, the Cold War resulted from a contest of great powers, not a conflict of ideologies, and both the United States and the Soviet Union bear responsibility for the origins of the Cold War. The paper relates that a new element, which reflects important trends in modern Cold War scholarship, concerns the personality of Stalin, the nature of authoritarian government, and the character and content of Communist ideology.

From the Paper:

"From the end of the Second World War until the mid-1960s, the "traditionalists" held the field with a standpoint that can be summarized as essentially pro-American/pro-Western and anti-Soviet. Essentially, such scholars held the Soviet Union responsible for the onset of the Cold War by undermining the Second World War alliance between East and West, increasing the level of military confrontation between Russia and America, and acting aggressively to promote the imposition and spread of Communism in Europe and elsewhere. It was thus argued that the United States was correct in its policy of containment towards the USSR and the Eastern Bloc, and that the American position was essentially a defensive one forced upon it by the hostility and aggression of the Communist East."

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