Talk:Cold War

Starting the Article / Framework

So, I have started the primary article for the Cold War, one of the most important unifying historical topics for the mid- to late-Twentieth Century. I am currently teaching this topic to a group of very able upper secondary school students, so it seem rather appropriate to adopt this as one of my "Live" articles for CZ. I have also made substantial contributions to the equivalent article in Wikipedia, with regard both to structure and detail.

In order to get started, I have supplied a basic framework for the historical overview, with links to the secondary articles that will inevitably become necessary. With respect to the latter, the equivalent article in Wikipedia seems to undergo seasons of gradual "bloating" of the main article with detail—my suggestion is that we should aim to avoid this in CZ, and keep the overview as an overview.... (!) I have placed the rationale for each phase of the Cold War below. My aim shall be to populate each phase with a concise historical overview, prior to expanding on these in the secondary articles. Please feel free to join in!

• Origins of the Cold War - to deal with the immediate post-war superpower relations (1945-46) and relevant preceding events from the start of the 20th century
• 1947-1953 - from the generally recognised start date of the Cold War to the change in leadership for both superpowers (Truman >> Eisenhower and Stalin >> Krushchev)
• 1953-1962 - from the dual change in superpower leadership to the Cuban Missile Crisis
• 1962-1969 - from the Cuban Missile Crisis to the start of Détente / arms talks, US moon landing
• 1969-1979 - from start of Détente to the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan
• 1979-1985 - the so-called Second Cold War, from the Soviet invasion of Afghanisation to the rise of Gorbachev
• 1985-1991 - from the rise of Gorbachev to the collapse of the Soviet Union
• Legacy of the Cold War - to deal with the aftermath, the "new world order", relics of the Cold War and current echoes

Paul James Cowie 01:30, 10 February 2007 (CST)