The Essential Speeches of the Cold War

A Primary Source Collection

Sean Brennan

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2024
• Print ISBN: 9781032637570
• eBook ISBN: 9781040151426
• Edition: 1
• Topic: History
• Subtopic: 20th Century History
• Index: History

This book is a primary source collection of 30 speeches of the Cold War from 1917 to 1991, representing a cross section of leaders on all sides of the conflict from North America, the Caribbean, Europe and Asia.

As ideological conflict between superpowers returns to the world, it is more essential than ever to understand the superpower conflict which dominated the second half of the previous century. The Cold War was fought with rhetoric and propaganda as much as economic or military strength. The Essential Speeches of the Cold War explores all stages of the Cold War from its origins after the Russian Revolution to its conclusion with the collapse of the Soviet Union seven decades later, offering a clear understanding of its history and turning points as told through its public diplomacy. Each speech has a historical introduction written by the author, as well as extensive historical footnotes discussing its significance and historical context.

This useful guide to how the rhetoric used during the Cold War helped shape our modern world will be a valuable resource for undergraduate and graduate scholars of the conflict, as well as for students of modern political rhetoric in international relations.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half-Title
• Series
• Title
• Copyright
• Dedication
• Contents
• Introduction
• 1 Leon Trotsky Calls for World Revolution, November 8, 1917
• 2 Adolf Hitler Predicts the Cold War, April 2, 1945
• 3 Joseph Stalin Argues the Laws of History Will Soon End the Second World War Alliance, February 9, 1946
• 4 Winston Churchill Discusses the Fall of the Iron Curtain, March 5, 1946
• 5 The Truman Doctrine, March 12, 1947
• 6 George Marshall Gives the Most Important Commencement Address in History, June 5, 1947
• 7 Andrei Zhdanov Announces a World Split in Two, September 22, 1947
• 8 Ernest Bevin Warns of the Soviet Threat, January 22, 1948
• 9 Ernst Reuter Announces West Berlin Will Not Give In, September 9, 1948
• 10 Mao Zedong Proclaims the Founding of the People’s Republic of China, October 1, 1949
• 11 Joseph McCarthy Searches for the Enemies Within, February 9, 1950
• 12 Douglas MacArthur Declares There Is No Substitute for Victory, April 16, 1951
• 13 Dwight Eisenhower Offers a Chance for Peace, April 16, 1953
• 14 Nikita Khrushchev Denounces Joseph Stalin, February 25, 1956
• 15 The Last Speech of Imre Nagy, November 4, 1956
• 16 Fidel Castro Calls Out President Kennedy, October 23, 1962
• 17 John F. Kennedy Declares, “Ich Bin Ein Berliner,” June 26, 1963
• 18 Charles de Gaulle Bids Au Revoir to NATO, February 21, 1966
• 19 Leonid Brezhnev Announces His Doctrine, November 13, 1968
• 20 Richard Nixon Plans a Change in Cold War Tactics, July 25, 1969
• 21 Gerald Ford and the Height of Détente, August 1, 1975
• 22 Jimmy Carter Calls for a New Approach to the Cold War, May 22, 1977
• 23 Ronald Reagan and the Evil Empire, March 8, 1983
• 24 Lech Walesa Speaks for the Captive Nation of Poland, December 10, 1983
• 25 “You Cannot Imagine It Unless You’ve Been There”: Mikhail Gorbachev Admits to the Disaster at Chernobyl, May 14, 1986
• 26 Reagan Calls for the End of the Berlin Wall, June 12, 1987
• 27 Helmut Kohl Calls for a Reunited Germany, December 19, 1989
• 28 George H.W. Bush Orders Chicken Kyiv, August 1, 1991
• 29 Boris Yeltsin Stands His Ground, August 19, 1991
• 30 Gorbachev Announces an End to the Twentieth Century, December 25, 1991
• Bibliography
• Index