The Cold War saw the two superpowers – the USA and the Soviet Union – divide the world into spheres of influence and power blocs. This course examines the start of the Cold War, its defining features and its final stages as the Soviet Union quietly ended in 1991.
The course starts by considering when and why the Cold War began, and also asks who was responsible. It then focuses on some of the defining features of the period including the Berlin Blockade and the formation of NATO and the Warsaw Pact, the Korean War and Suez, the Cuban Missile Crisis and the Vietnam War.
The course considers why these occurred, how serious they were and how they shaped our understanding of post-war global history. It also assesses Britain’s role in the onset of the Cold War and looks at how its international standing changed after the Second World War.
The course then turns to détente in the 1970s and the changing nature of international politics in the 1980s with the emergence of Mikhail Gorbachev as the final leader of the USSR.
The revolutions in Eastern Europe, the collapse of the Berlin Wall and the end of the Soviet Union will be the focus of the last session, as we question why the Cold War ended when it did.
What our students say
"Dr Davis's course was a wonderfully informative and insightful and also added an element of humour which really made the students feel welcome and opened up discussion on the course topics at the end of each lesson."
