HIS-262 The Cold War: To the Brink of Armageddon

An examination and analysis of the causes, conduct, and impact of the U.S.-Soviet struggle for global supremacy between 1945 and 1991, popularly termed the "Cold War." Particular emphasis will be focused on the "Forgotten War" in Korea (1950-53); the Cuban Missile Crisis (when the world tottered on the brink of nuclear holocaust), and the Vietnam War, the longest and most divisive conflict in American history.

Credits

3

Prerequisite

ENG-101

Department

• Social Science

For more detailed course information view the Course Outline

HIS 262: The Cold War: To the Brink of Armageddon

Department

Social Science

Course Description

An examination and analysis of the causes, conduct, and impact of the U.S.-Soviet struggle for global supremacy between 1945 and 1991, popularly termed the "Cold War." Particular emphasis will be focused on the "Forgotten War" in Korea (1950-53); the Cuban Missile Crisis (when the world tottered on the brink of nuclear holocaust), and the Vietnam War, the longest and most divisive conflict in American history.

Credit Hours

3

Contact Hours

Lecture	3
Lab	0
Other	0

Grading Scheme

Letter

Prerequisites

ENG-101

Course Learning Outcomes

1. Demonstrate knowledge of the basic narrative of the military, political, economic, diplomatic, social, and technological history of the Cold War, and the decisive role this conflict played in shaping American, western and world history
2. Demonstrate an understanding of the ideological, political, economic, military and strategic causes and consequences of the Cold War
3. Demonstrate an understanding of the global scope and implications of the Cold War
4. Demonstrate an understanding of the manifold ways rapidly-changing technologies conditioned wartime objectives and modes of conflict during the Cold War
5. Demonstrate the ability to comprehend, interpret, analyze and evaluate college-level primary and secondary source readings in the field of Cold War history
6. Identify, analyze and evaluate arguments made by some of the major authors in the field of Cold War history, and, in their own writing, demonstrate well-reasoned and evidence-supported arguments when interpreting historical subject matter
7. Demonstrate the ability to identify, locate, evaluate, use and share information from a range of published/printed and electronic historical resources

Topic Outline

1. 1. Modern military history: methods, sources, research, analysis, and
2.    interpretation
3. 2. Roots, origins, and causes of the Cold War (1917–1945)
4. 3. "The nuclear card": a new dimension to total, global, industrial, and technical
5.    conflict
6. 4. Overview of the phases and conflicting perspectives of the Cold War (1945–1991)
7. 5. The Potsdam Conference and the dropping of the atomic bombs: different
8.    perspectives
9. 6. The FDR-Stalin years (1941–45)
10. 7. The Truman-Stalin years (1945–53)
11. 8. Korea: "The Forgotten War" (1950–53 and beyond)
12. 9. Fears and threats: the second "Red Scare" and McCarthyism (1950–1957)
13. 10. The Eisenhower-Khrushchev years (1953–61)
14. 11. The Kennedy-Khrushchev years (1961–63)
15. 12. "One Minute to Midnight": the Cuban Missile Crisis and Kennedy, Khrushchev, and
16.     Castro (October 1962)
17. 13. The Brezhnev Doctrine: Czechoslovakia to Afghanistan, 1968–1979
18. 14. Vietnam: "The Making of a Quagmire" (1945–63)
19. 15. Vietnam: the LBJ years (1963–69)
20. 16. Vietnam: the Nixon years (1969–74)
21. 17. Vietnam: lessons and legacies (1975–present)
22. 18. The Cold War thaws: détente and the Nixon, Ford, and Carter years
23. 19. "Tear Down That Wall": Reagan, Gorbachev, and the "end of the Cold War"
24. 20. The Cold War in historical perspective from participants and scholars
25. 21. "The Cold War Is Over," or is it? A perspective on events and continuing
26.     problems in the U.S.-Soviet relationship (1991–present)