The "America at War" Series

HIST 237 – 99

The Cold War, 1917-1991: Capitalism, Communism, and the Contest for Global Domination

Winter 2010: Register for section 191448

HIST 237 is a 100% online course. In its 15-week incarnation it is arranged in three five-week sections. Each of those deals with a certain aspect of the Cold War. The first five weeks look at the setup of the struggle (the differences between Communism and Capitalism, the importance of colonies in the pre-war world, the alliance between the West and the Soviet Union during WWII, the emergence of nuclear weapons, etc.). The second five weeks deals with the Cold War proper from the end of WWII through the 1950s. The third five weeks deals with the ways in which the Cold War played out in what's now called the nonaligned nations (but had once been called the Third World) and how the conflict came to a resolution with the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991.

Because of the long range of the course and the complexity of the subject we're studying, we use three books for this course.

Browne, B. T., & Cottrell, R. C. (2003). Uncertain order: The world in the twentieth century. Upper Saddle River, N.J.: Prentice Hall. This is the student "survey text." It gives the broad picture of the world as it was at the beginning of the 20th century, and it continues through the end of the century. The readings from this book are meant to help students put the Cold War in perspective; it gives details about WWII and the era proceeding it so that students can understand why the war played out the way it did.

Judge, E. H., & Langdon, J. W. (1996). A hard and bitter peace: A global history of the cold war. Upper Saddle River, N.J.: Prentice Hall. This is the history of the war itself, told from a Euro-American perspective. It gives "our" side of the struggle.

Zubok, V. M., & Pleshakov, K. (1996). Inside the Kremlin's cold war: From Stalin to Khrushchev. Cambridge, Mass: Harvard University Press. This is the other side of the Cold War, told from the Soviet perspective. It shows how the Soviets viewed the West and helps put Soviet actions during the first decade or so of the struggle in perspective.

It's important that students read all three books in order to fully understand the Cold War and why it played out the way it did. The Critical Thinking assignments (and, to some extent, the Discussion Board assignments) are meant to tell the instructor that students have completed the reading and that they understood it. Each week's packet also contains links to Internet primary and secondary sources that give a richer understanding of the topic, as well as providing access to the course syllabus, a chat room (where the instructor holds virtual office hours), and a course email system.

EXPLORE AND DISCOVER THE SOCIAL SCIENCES AT HENRY FORD COMMUNITY COLLEGE

Website Questions and Comments