Understanding The Cold War

IEB History. Details the Berlin Blockade of 1948-1949, the Berlin Uprising of 1953, the Spy Plane Incident of 1960 and the construction of the Berlin Wall i.e. the four historical events that constitute the Berlin Crises. This note covers these four moments in time within the context of the Cold...

IEB History. Details the successive clashes between the USSR and the USA that comprise the Cuban Missile Crisis. In the context of the Cold War, this note studies this historical event through the lens of specific Cold War concepts (i.e. brinkmanship and sphere of influence) as both the USA and t...

IEB History. Details the events that occurred within the Vietnam War, or otherwise known as the American War, within the context of the Cold War. Covers the escalation of USA military involvement in the war under different presidents, from Truman to Nixon. Studies the war as a proxy war between t...

IEB History. Details the reasons behind the USA's failure to defeat Vietnamese forces, including the American bombing campaign, the use of napalm, war crimes like the My Lai Massacre, the W.H.A.M initiative, the anti-war sentiment that spread among American troops. Acknowledges Vietnamese disillu...

IEB History. Details moments within the Cold War in which concepts like containment and brinkmanship are prominent.

Details the various reasons behind the collapse of the Soviet Union, including pre-existing economic malaise in the face of perpetual pressure from the USA (especially, economically and militarily) and the failure of Gorbachev's policies to reform the broken state which he had inherited as leader.

IEB History. Covers the resistance against USSR control within the Eastern Bloc with particular reference to Poland and Germany amidst the USSR's own impending collapse. Also details the impacts felt in South Africa, especially by the National Party government and the African National Congress.