Your task is to explore the causes of the end of the Cold War. This subject is increasingly drawing the attention of historians as the historiography of the Cold War reaches

Jamez

Apr 12, 2023 • 4 min read

Your task is to explore the causes of the end of the Cold War. This subject is increasingly drawing the attention of historians as the historiography of the Cold War reaches the 1980s and also the post-Cold War period. 1989 itself is the focus of much interest but so too are the later stages of the Cold War.
You can design your research project with your particular interest in mind. It might be that you want to study the subject from the various perspectives of the main countries involved, or from the East or the West. Conversely, you might want to make use of the large amount of United States government document that has been released to the public.
In any case, think about ways to make your research practical as well as interesting and valuable. You might focus on a date or period, a nation or region, a specific subject (e.g. superpower negotiations), or an individual.
Primary source collection
Your main repository is the Wilson Center’s Digital Archive ‘End of the Cold War’ collection of documents (https://digitalarchive.wilsoncenter.org/collection/37/end-of-the-cold-war). This is a fantastic set of Western, Eastern and Soviet sources which gives you different perspectives on the events.
You could select a particular individual (e.g. Gorbachev) or date range in 1989 (e.g. October/December) to focus your research.
If you want to study United States policy making in the Reagan administration, you could concentrate on the Central Intelligence Agency’s ‘Reagan Collection’ (https://www.cia.gov/readingroom/collection/reagan-collection). This collection includes over 200 documents.
You could also read the Central Intelligence Agency’s reports on the collapse of communism in Eastern Europe held at the Wilson Center (https://digitalarchive.wilsoncenter.org/collection/633/cia-reports-on-thecollapse-of-communism-in-europe)
In addition to these documents, you could use the Ronald Reagan archives at the Public Papers of the Presidents website (https://www.govinfo.gov/app/collection/PPP).
Key secondary sources
Robert J. McMahon, The Cold War: A Very Short Introduction (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2021)
John Lewis Gaddis, The Cold War (London: Penguin 2007)
Artemy M. Kalinovsky, ‘New Histories of the End of the Cold War and the Late Twentieth Century’, Contemporary European History, 27.1 (February 2018), 149-161 (https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/contemporary-europeanhistory/article/new-histories-of-the-end-of-the-cold-war-and-the-latetwentieth-century/4C0E2D79F6DE686B49899A43A19CAC47)
Your task is to explore the causes of the end of the Cold War. This subject is increasingly drawing the attention of historians as the historiography of the Cold War reaches the 1980s and also the post-Cold War period. 1989 itself is the focus of much interest but so too are the later stages of the Cold War.
You can design your research project with your particular interest in mind. It might be that you want to study the subject from the various perspectives of the main countries involved, or from the East or the West. Conversely, you might want to make use of the large amount of United States government document that has been released to the public.
In any case, think about ways to make your research practical as well as interesting and valuable. You might focus on a date or period, a nation or region, a specific subject (e.g. superpower negotiations), or an individual.
Primary source collection
Your main repository is the Wilson Center’s Digital Archive ‘End of the Cold War’ collection of documents (https://digitalarchive.wilsoncenter.org/collection/37/end-of-the-cold-war). This is a fantastic set of Western, Eastern and Soviet sources which gives you different perspectives on the events.
You could select a particular individual (e.g. Gorbachev) or date range in 1989 (e.g. October/December) to focus your research.
If you want to study United States policy making in the Reagan administration, you could concentrate on the Central Intelligence Agency’s ‘Reagan Collection’ (https://www.cia.gov/readingroom/collection/reagan-collection). This collection includes over 200 documents.
You could also read the Central Intelligence Agency’s reports on the collapse of communism in Eastern Europe held at the Wilson Center (https://digitalarchive.wilsoncenter.org/collection/633/cia-reports-on-thecollapse-of-communism-in-europe)
In addition to these documents, you could use the Ronald Reagan archives at the Public Papers of the Presidents website (https://www.govinfo.gov/app/collection/PPP).
Key secondary sources
Robert J. McMahon, The Cold War: A Very Short Introduction (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2021)
John Lewis Gaddis, The Cold War (London: Penguin 2007)
Artemy M. Kalinovsky, ‘New Histories of the End of the Cold War and the Late Twentieth Century’, Contemporary European History, 27.1 (February 2018), 149-161 (https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/contemporary-europeanhistory/article/new-histories-of-the-end-of-the-cold-war-and-the-latetwentieth-century/4C0E2D79F6DE686B49899A43A19CAC47)
Your task is to explore the causes of the end of the Cold War. This subject is increasingly drawing the attention of historians as the historiography of the Cold War reaches the 1980s and also the post-Cold War period. 1989 itself is the focus of much interest but so too are the later stages of the Cold War.
You can design your research project with your particular interest in mind. It might be that you want to study the subject from the various perspectives of the main countries involved, or from the East or the West. Conversely, you might want to make use of the large amount of United States government document that has been released to the public.
In any case, think about ways to make your research practical as well as interesting and valuable. You might focus on a date or period, a nation or region, a specific subject (e.g. superpower negotiations), or an individual.
Primary source collection
Your main repository is the Wilson Center’s Digital Archive ‘End of the Cold War’ collection of documents (https://digitalarchive.wilsoncenter.org/collection/37/end-of-the-cold-war). This is a fantastic set of Western, Eastern and Soviet sources which gives you different perspectives on the events.
You could select a particular individual (e.g. Gorbachev) or date range in 1989 (e.g. October/December) to focus your research.
If you want to study United States policy making in the Reagan administration, you could concentrate on the Central Intelligence Agency’s ‘Reagan Collection’ (https://www.cia.gov/readingroom/collection/reagan-collection). This collection includes over 200 documents.
You could also read the Central Intelligence Agency’s reports on the collapse of communism in Eastern Europe held at the Wilson Center (https://digitalarchive.wilsoncenter.org/collection/633/cia-reports-on-thecollapse-of-communism-in-europe)
In addition to these documents, you could use the Ronald Reagan archives at the Public Papers of the Presidents website (https://www.govinfo.gov/app/collection/PPP).
Key secondary sources
Robert J. McMahon, The Cold War: A Very Short Introduction (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2021)
John Lewis Gaddis, The Cold War (London: Penguin 2007)
Artemy M. Kalinovsky, ‘New Histories of the End of the Cold War and the Late Twentieth Century’, Contemporary European History, 27.1 (February 2018), 149-161 (https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/contemporary-europeanhistory/article/new-histories-of-the-end-of-the-cold-war-and-the-latetwentieth-century/4C0E2D79F6DE686B49899A43A19CAC47)

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