Activity 1 - Which Cold War crises?

  1. Define - What is a Cold War crisis? How does it differ from a war or other conflict? Discuss this with a partner and try to define what a Cold War crisis is, and isn’t.
  2. Select - Pick two Cold War crises, each from a different region. Select from the options on this worksheet. Remember which option you choose - you will continue with this option for crises and nations:
    1. Option 1 - Early Cold War - Iranian Crisis (1946) and Turkish Straits Crisis (1946) 
    2. Option 2 - Early Cold War - Berlin Blockade (1949) and DPRK invasion of ROK (1950)
    3. Option 3 - Mid Cold War - Second Taiwan Straits Crisis (1958) and French Defeat at Dien Bien Phu (1954)
    4. Option 4 - Mid Cold War - Berlin Crisis (1958-61) and Cuban Missile Crisis (1962)
    5. Option 5 - Late Cold War - Prague Spring (1968) and Soviet Invasion of Afghanistan (1979)
    6. Option 6 - Late Cold War - Korean Airlines 007 (1983) and Able Archer Crisis (1983)
  3. Discuss - Review the options for Cold War crises. Which were the two most significant crises? Which would be the easiest to research? Which overlaps more with the rest of the course?

Activity 2 - How should we research?

  1. Causation - What caused your crises? Complete the first row of your worksheets by researching the causes of your two crises. Try to research at least two underlying causes; two catalysts; and two trigger causes. Also consider sorting your causes thematically into: social, political, economic, political, relations, military causes.
  2. Impact - How did your two crises impact on the Cold War? Consider the following questions and use them to complete the second row of the tables on the worksheet:
    1. Severity - Did the crisis escalate or de-escalate tensions in the Cold War?
    2. Scope - Did the crisis increase or decrease the scale of the Cold War?
    3. Nature - Did the crisis change the nature of the Cold War?
    4. Range - Did the crisis change the geographic reach of the Cold War?
    5. Dynamics - Did the crisis solve or increase underlying tensions?
  3. Significance - How significant were your crises in terms of their impact on the Cold War? Consider the following questions before completing the third row of your tables:
    1. Profundity - Refers to how deeply people were/have been affected by the crisis. How deeply were people’s lives affected?
    2. Quantity - Refers to the number of people affected by the crisis. Did the event affect many, everyone, or just a few people? Were the effects widespread or localised?
    3. Durability - Refers to how long were people affected by the crisis. How durable was the event in time? Was the event lasting or only ephemeral?
    4. Relevance - Refers to the extent to which the crisis has contributed to our historical understanding. Is the event relevant to our understanding of the Cold War? Does the event carry any meaning to historians today? Is it used to make comparisons, for example?
  4. Perspectives - Complete the last row of your tables by researching and recording different historians’ perspectives of your crises. These perspectives could discuss any aspect of your crisis. Are there any differences between historians' views?

Activity 3 - How can we compare?

  1. Read - Examine this article which discusses the purpose for historical comparison. Why do historians use comparative analysis to study the past? What are the benefits of doing so?
  2. ​Review - Review the tips here and here for writing comparative historical essays. What structure would you use if you had to write a compare and contrast essay?
  3. Compare - Complete the last table on your worksheets by reviewing the similarities and differences between the causes, impacts and significance of both of your crises.
  4. Plan - Try creating an essay plan for one of the following essay questions. Consider the comparative structure you would use, and what you would argue in each paragraph:
    1. ​“Ideology was the most important cause of Cold War crises.” Discuss with reference to two Cold War crises, each from a different region - Nov 2019
    2. Discuss the impact of two Cold War crises, each from a different region, on the development of superpower tensions - Nov 2018
    3. Evaluate the impact upon the course of the Cold War of two crises, each chosen from a different region - Spec Paper

Further Reading
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