History 342

Devine

Study Questions for September 2^nd

David Reynolds, “The Mushroom Cloud and the Iron Curtain”

1. What does Reynolds mean when he says “destruction” became the “mother of invention”?

2. What does the author mean by the “banality of evil”? Why did this phrase emerged from World War II?

3. Describe the three major global conflicts that made up World War II. What was the American, British, and Soviet roles in each of these conflicts?

4. At the end of the Second World War, the US and USSR emerged as “superpowers.” How did the nature of their power differ? Why does Reynolds believe the US was the more powerful of the two nations?

5. How did the immediate postwar years differ for “average” Soviets and “average” Americans? What accounts for these sharply differing experiences?

6. Why did suspicions arise within the Big Three Alliance (US-USSR-UK) after the Yalta conference?

7. Why did the USSR and US disagree on how to handle postwar Germany?

8. Why did the relationship between the US and the USSR grow increasingly hostile during 1946 and 1947? What factors were generating this hostility?

9. Why did Stalin initiate a blockade of Berlin? Why did this turn out to be a bad move on his part?

10. What accounts for the behavior of the Soviet government during the early years of the Cold War? Was Stalin entirely to blame or were there other factors?

Karl Mautner, “The View from Germany”

1. Why did Mautner initially dismiss the stories he heard about Soviet behavior as “propaganda”? What caused him to change his mind and become more sympathetic to the Germans?

2. From Mautner’s account, who seemed better prepared to get their way in Berlin once the war ended – the Soviets or the Americans? Why was this the case?

3. From Mautner’s account, how would you describe Soviet tactics in Berlin – on both major and minor issues?

4. From his position at the grass roots level, what did Mautner learn about “getting along” with the Soviets?

5. How did Berliners themselves affect US policy?

6. As one government report stated, in Berlin “international politics often appear first as local politics.” How does Mautner’s first-person account of his time in Berlin confirm this observation?

7. In a word, how would you describe Washington’s policy in Berlin from the end of the war through the Berlin blockade? How would you describe Moscow’s policy?