Access to primary sources is one of the cornerstones of historical research. Until the arrival of the Internet and digitization, many primary sources were available only in large research libraries and archives, and students and scholars had to travel to the institutions holding these sources in order to do research. This situation has changed…

Born-digital sources are, in fact, already old enough to fall into the domain of traditional, albeit recent, history. Bulletin Board Systems date from the 1980s. The European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) launched the first website and server in 1990. Websites and the new digital media are cultural artefacts. Archivists and librarians…

On October 5, 1957, the headline on the front page of the "Baltimore News-Post" proclaimed "Russ "Moon" Circling Earth." The "Russ" Moon was Sputnik I, launched by the Soviet Union a day earlier. The launch had far-reaching and unexpected outcomes for the United States. Almost immediately, President Dwight…

The author, a recent emigrant from the Soviet Union, discusses reasons for leaving his homeland and his impressions of the United States. The motivating factor was political freedom. The author considers the United States the most democratic country in the world; it is a country for and of immigrants. (KC)

Briefly discusses the development of Cold War propaganda in the United States, Canada, and the USSR after 1947. Presents two movie reviews and a Canadian magazine advertisement of the period which illustrate the harshness of propaganda used by both sides in the immediate postwar years. (GEA)

Cold War historiography has undergone major changes since the 1991 collapse of the Soviet Union. For two years (1992-1993) the principal Soviet archives fell open to scholars, and although some of the richest holdings are now once again closed, new information continues to find its way out. Moreover, critical documentary information has become…

The primary source document reproduced here consists of the first two pages of a briefing notebook prepared for President Eisenhower outlining the issues to be raised with Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev during his visit to the United States in 1959. Teaching activities are suggested. (RM)

This paper describes a pedagogical technique employed for an interdisciplinary course on Cold War America. Students had to "become" a fictional person and discuss how political and social changes during the Cold War era would have impacted that person. By doing a semester-long project that required primary source research, this…

In this learning activity senior high social studies students examine and discuss specific parts of the Soviet Constitution and learn that there is often a big difference between theory and reality. (RM)

After World War II ended in 1945, the United States and the Soviet Union (USSR) emerged as the two dominant countries in the post-war world. An arms race began, and this constant pursuit for respect and supremacy was called the Cold War. On October 4, 1957, the USSR launched the world's first intercontinental ballistic missile, with the first…

Asserts that increasing numbers of significant historical archives are being opened. Relates the story of historian Patricia Kennedy Grimsted who spent 30 years identifying the existence and history of national archives in the former Soviet Union and Eastern European nations. Maintains that her efforts have helped historians take advantage of…

Realizing that the Cold War is a topic that often is neglected as time runs short at the end of a school year, a group of University of Kansas (Lawrence) educators sought to create effective classroom materials for secondary/community college instructors to teach about the Cold War. The group's main goal was to create a flexible model that…

"Animal Farm" is a political allegory of the USSR written in the form of a fable. Its stinging moral warning against the abuse of power is demonstrated in this casebook through a wide variety of historical, political, and literary documents that are directly applicable to George Orwell's novel. Included in the casebook are passages from…

Contains a collection of comments by Russians about their country and the U.S.; gives questions for discussion with secondary and college students. The statements serve to stimulate discussion and, together with additional study, may provide valuable information about the life style and living conditions in the Soviet Union. (AM)

In August 1945, the United States unleashed an atomic weapon against the Japanese at Hiroshima and Nagasaki and brought an end to World War II. These bombs killed in two ways -- by the blast's magnitude and resulting firestorm, and by nuclear fallout. After the Soviet Union exploded its first atom bomb in 1949, the Cold War waged between the two…