Final History Research Paper

Final History Research Paper

            There is much that is known about the history of the world. Most of what we know comes from documents and other historical artifacts. Our knowledge of the past is far from complete as it is based on passed down knowledge and artifacts. These two documents give a view of thoughts and explanations of events from the past. The Cold War had many secrets and these documents give answers for some of them. By analyzing these documents they teach us about why certain decisions were made and how we should view them now. These documents show that George Kennan was correct and the containment policy was the correct choice to halt Soviet expansion and keep peace during the Cold War.

            When researching and reading these types of documents questions need to be asked regarding their validity and reliability. The Long Telegram document was written by George F. Kennan and sent to the State Department. In the context of the time Kennan was the expert on the Soviet Union. He advised the United States on how they should approach the Soviet Union during the Cold War. This telegram that he wrote helped shape the US containment policy during this time. Although it was not the first option it was chosen because of the current US budget. While never engaging the Soviets directly the US funded groups against them. This context helps when looking at the events of the past and understanding how the documents shaped those events. These documents offer evidence of understanding.

The first document is The Long Telegram which was written by George F. Kennan. He was an American State Department diplomat that worked at the U.S. Embassy in Moscow during the Cold War. This makes the document a reliable source since he was very knowledgeable on the subject. “This telegram was made public in 1990 just a year after the Berlin Wall came down.  It was originally sent in September of 1946 to Soviet Foreign Minister Viachislav Molotov in an attempt to interpret U.S. foreign policy towards the U.S.S.R.” (The Long Telegram.docx) In this document Kennan describes the Soviet Union and how what he thinks is the best way to address the threat of Soviet Communism from the American standpoint. This Telegram helped create the containment policy that was later used by the US to try and contain communism.

            The second document is an anonymous article that was also written by George Kennan. “George E Kennan (1904-2005), a career diplomat attached to the American embassy in Moscow, assessed the Soviet Union and its foreign policy in a ‘long telegram’ to the U.S. government in 1946 and in an anonymous article the next year. In doing so, he helped to define America's policy of containment, which was to remain important throughout the Cold War.” (Kennan and Containment .docx) This article is a reliable source as it is from Kennan himself.  This article again was to shape how the US approached the Soviet Union.

            In these two documents Kennan is shaping the Way that the US policy will be used on containment. “On the one hand, the United States did not withdraw into isolationism; on the other, it did not move to “roll back” Soviet power, as John Foster Dulles briefly advocated. It is possible to say that each succeeding administration after Truman’s, until the collapse of communism in 1989, adopted a variation of Kennan’s containment policy and made it their own.” (Milestones: 1945-1952 Kennan and Containment, 1947) At first Kennan’s containment is not used. The US wants to eliminate communism, but also avoid a war with the Soviet Union. It was only after the US budget and Vietnam that the containment policy was adopted.

            Both of these documents have the same Author, George Kennan. In the first, The Long Telegram, Kennan is voicing how he thinks that the United States should approach the Soviet Union during the Cold War. It was sent to the US while he was a diplomat in Moscow at the Embassy. The second document was sent as an anonymous letter to the journal Foreign Affairs. In this article he describes how the United States should use a containment method for communism rather than trying to extinguish the communism form countries.

            The Cold War has traditionally been interpreted through the United States view since the information has been more readily available. It was done this way until the Russian Archives were opened to the public that the Soviet views could be understood. The two documents from Kennan show that the US view was the only point of view that was recognized until these archives were opened. “Historians today are only coming to understand the complex and sophisticated individual that was Joseph Stalin, who ruled Russia for nearly thirty years until his death in 1953. Much of the information shedding light on the character of the dictator is being unearthed from the archives of the Soviet Union, opened in the 1990s after the collapse of Communism…” (Ross)

            History is viewed through the documents and artifacts that are left behind. Through these things it is understood how events took place and why. In the case of the Cold War only the United State’s view was seen because there was no access to the Russian archives until the 1990’s.  After they were opened and both sides could be viewed it could be seen how events effected each other and why they happened. This is the case with all of history when the information is available. Every time that new information is released or discovered it is necessary to revise how the event is interpreted. Every new piece of information could change the standard point of view and shed new light on the event.

            These two documents helped form the United States foreign policy for many years. George Kennan, the expert on the Soviet Union at the time, wrote to help the US what was going on at the time of the Cold War. These are examples of valid documents that could be used for a new point of view. More is learned about the past based on the documents that are available to research. The more that are available give a more accurate and complete view of history. Every new document is a new look at history and helps redefine how we view the past.

            This paper has expanded my view of history and how I look at documents. Every document that is researched gives a new point of view and shows how they affected each event. I am also interested in World War II and how people view it as one sided. When taught in America it is always the American point of view. It could be taught from other countries views and how what was going on affected the war. I think this about this topic because I have lived in Germany and seen some of the places form this time. These places show how different it is now from when the events took place. Working on this paper could help me write other papers in the future. I can look at documents and then look at how the events affected each other.

Bibliography

Kennan, George F. "Kennan Containment Policy." (n.d.).

—. "The Long Telegram." (n.d.).

Milestones: 1945-1952 Kennan and Containment, 1947. <https://history.state.gov/milestones/1945-1952/kennan>.

Ross, Sherwood. Opening Soviet Archives Providing New Insight Into Stalin's Mind. <www.veteranstoday.com/2010/06/02/opening-soviet-archives-providing-new -insights-into-stalin's-mind/>.