EXTRA CREDIT: Charles Maier, "The Phases of the Cold War, 1945-1990" (1996)

The theme of this reading is that the author tells that historians say that the Cold War couldn’t have any clearer periodization. Therefore Charles Maier explains the 9 phases of the Cold war into detail so that it is easier to understand. He goes through the events like a timeline to clearly specify different events that went on during that time period. 

Several things that came to mind when I read this I decided that I should maybe do a little research on the Cold War and the NATO. I figured that the NATO must have been really important during this time of the Cold War. The NATO stands for North Atlantic Treaty Organization and because of the Korean War, and NATO became enemies with the collaboration of nations under the Warsaw Pact. Also another thing I learned about the Cold War is that because of the relationship between USA and USSR after WWII when both had nuclear weapons, it got the name: Cold War.

After reading this I noticed that among all of the phases, phase 6 stood out to me. “the continuing potential for open conflict almost slipped out of control in the complex series of crises from 1958 through 1962” Here Charles talks about the abrogate four power control of Berlin and the turn over the Soviet sector, and how back in the US John Kennedy was led to reinvigorate Cold War rhetoric to challenge Fidel Castros control of Cuba. Which I find so interesting because even today things are still very difficult in Cuba because Castro is so power hungry. It seemed like just when things may have been getting better in the Cold War, a ton of conflict took place that just kept it going. Crazy to me.

  Reading this story makes me think about how much history I honestly do not know much abut. I did not know much at all about the Cold War before I read this reading. So I actually really enjoyed this reading. I suppose we can relate this reading to the war in Iraq, and how people feel about it, and the different timeline or phases of events that have occurred leading up to it and the effects of it. It’s crazy to think about!

This reading relates to the text because the book talks about the Cold War as well as the tension between the US and the Soviet Union. Our textbook also talks about the NATO. Our text also talks about the significance of the signing of the Helsinki Accords. Plus, most of the readings we have done for this class have all been something that is covered in our text. I like that thought because we are able to learn more about things we have talked about in class.