Summary of “The Cold War: A New History” by John Lewis Gaddis

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The Origins of the Cold War Over the years, most of the historian views of the Cold War had been limited, until recently when after Cold War historians emerged. The 1980s Cold War historians did not clearly explain the outcome of the Cold War because they were working during the event they were so determined to describe. They could have made the outcome of the Cold War know if only they had worked after the end of the War. Only then we could have known, through their history, what happened in the old War as well as understanding the motivations of all actors of the Cold War. The recent historians have explained what happened during the Cold War, the reasons behind the Cold War, and how the Standoff between the Western Powers and the Soviet Union end abruptly. One such historian is John Lewis Gaddis, who wrote the book "The Cold War: A New History” that explain everything concerning The Cold War. Summary of “The Cold War: A New History” by John Lewis Gaddis In his book "The Cold War: A New History", John Lewis Gaddis traces the history behind the conflicts that dominated the world just after the end of World War II. His primary focus was to provide a broader understanding of how the Cold War began, it's unfolding, and why it ended the way it did. Gaddis not only focuses on explaining what happens but also why U.S and U.S.S.R became antagonists after being in alliance with each other for that long.

Gaddis argues that the Cold War started as a result of the United States and the Soviet Union having fundamentally different visions for the postwar world (Gaddis, 2006). Owing to their experiences in World War II, the United States mainly focused in avoiding future War by encouraging superpowers to have cooperation with each other, fostering economic integration as well as political self-determination, while depending on United Nations to provide security for

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all states. While the United States' focus was in securing the future of Western powers by bolstering democracies and free markets as a way of protecting their own, the Soviet Union, on the other hand, was determined in fighting to the victory as a way of securing its border and advancing its political agenda around the world (Gaddis, 2006). Gaddis argues that through their Cold War heroes, such as, Dwight D. Eisenhower, the United States was able to quickly to grasp the implications of using nuclear in future than the Soviet Union, through Stalin, that wanted to incorporate the use of nuclear weapons to their military strategy. Thus, the differences in vision between the two superpower States led to the beginning of the Cold War. Moreover, Gaddis also focused on evaluating the influence that nuclear weapons and ideology had on the Cold War. He argues that the peace between the United States and Moscow existed as a result of the presence of the bomb, which both knew that if they use it, the response would be cataclysmic. Despite the peace that coexisted between the superpower countries, they faced a threat from lesser nations who would manipulate them to the point of going to the War. These lesser nations, such as Cuba and Indochina, knew how to control these superpowers into their advantage (Gaddis, 2006). In 1981, the manipulation led to the uprising in Prague and Budapest, making the Soviet Union blink first. However, the Cold War came to an abrupt end between 1989 and 1991. Although world leader may have contributed to the conflict's peaceful conclusion, Gaddis argues that it was citizens in Prague, Budapest, Bucharest, Leipzig, and Warsaw that ended the Cold War that had bound them for long.

My Thoughts As far as the thesis of the book is of concern, I can say that Gaddis has succeeded splendidly in providing a broader understanding of how the Cold War began, it's unfolding, and why it ended the way it did. By evaluating how nuclear threat, the difference in ideologies,

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individual leaders, and domestic politics led to the Cold War, Gaddis has done a stimulating work that conforms with the objective of the book. I can say that, after reading this book, I now understand the reason why the Cold War begun in the first place, what let to its escalations as it unfold, and how it ended and the reason it ended the way it did. The book has really focused and provide enough explanation on these three areas, the origin, how it unfolded, and how and why it ended.

Moreover, I agree with how the author has assessed the Cold War origins, how it unfolded, and how it ended. Through Gaddis arguments, he clearly explained that the War started as a result of the difference in visions and ideologies between the superpowers. He has given an in-depth evaluation of these visions and ideologies and how they led to the beginning of the Cold War. Gaddis explains that, while the United States vision was to avoid future war owing to their experience in the World War II, their counterparts, the Soviet Union, focused in fighting to the victory as a way of securing its borders and advancing its political agenda around the world. These are some of the difference visions between the superpowers that Gaddis claim to have led to the Cold War. He has also provided analytical insights into what escalated the unfolding of the War. For example, Gaddis explains that the manipulation of lesser nations contributed to the escalation and unfolding of the War. Although the United State and Soviet Union were world’s superpowers, the lesser nations had hold them as hostages as they knew the right way of playing the game in their favor. This shows that, although the Cold War were started by the two antagonizing superpowers, the lesser nations contributed a lot towards its origin. As to the ending of the War, Gaddis explains that although the world leaders contributed to the peaceful conclusion of the Cold War, it was the people that ended it after being tired of

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these wars. Thus, through the author's writing, there is a clear understanding of the origins of the Cold War, a subject that has been debated among historians for a long time.

Lastly, I can generally say that what I like about this book is how it provided sweep narrative and analytical insights about the origins of the Cold War, it's unfolding, and how and why it ended. The book is a stimulating work that has provided the best treatment of East and West struggle. The book has explain the factors that led to the start of the war as well as the factors that escalated this war. Through the book, we understand that it was not only the two superpowers that started the war, but also that the lesser nation contributed to its escalation. At the end, we get to understand that the Soviet Union, through Stalin, is solely responsible for the conflict that led to the Cold War.

References Gaddis, J. L. (2006). The Cold War: a new history. Penguin.

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