COLD WAR PROJECT
SOVIET HISTORY BOOK
Posted to Classjump on Thursday, February 21, 2013
Due Tuesday, March 5, 2013
(Be sure to review class policy regarding absences on project due dates.)
Background: A country’s high school history textbook tells the story of history from its own perspective. If you read several history textbooks from around the world, you would find that the same events are covered differently. The number of pages devoted to a subject, the topics that are given emphasis, and the topics that are omitted may vary.
Consider how the Soviet Union told the story of the Cold War. You can imagine that the story would be told differently than the story told in the United Sates.
TASK: You are a Soviet government official assigned to write a section of a textbook published in the Soviet Union in 1956. The chapter is tilted “The Cold War” and the section you are assigned to write is titled “The Cold War Starts.” You have been assigned to cover the years 1945 – 1960. (Be careful not to go before or after that.) Keep in mind that a student your age will be reading your textbook.
Your paper must be 4 typewritten pages. Use a 10-12” font and 1” margins. Put your name on the back of the last page.
In your writing:
* Explain the events leading to the Cold War. Consider how the Soviets would tell this story. Use your textbook as a model. How does the United States tell the story? How would the Soviet perspective differ? Use specific evidence to support your writing.
Address the following events as a Soviet textbook writer:
* The formation of Communist governments in Eastern Europe, Post WWII
* Truman Doctrine, March 1947
* Marshall Plan, June, 1947
* The Berlin Blockade, June 1948
* The Berlin Airlift, June 1948
* NATO (1949) and the Warsaw Pact (1955)
* Include at least one picture or graphic. Title the picture or graphic as any textbook does. (Be sure to cite your source.)
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