My group and I chose this topic because it’s related to the WWII era and Cold War era; these were the two major eras that we wanted to focus on. The idea of Containment was through the end of WWII to the end of the Cold War so it fit the time frames that we wanted to work with. Also, seeing how other governments view us and how we view other governments was another interesting part that we liked about it. This topic was also during the great weapons, space, and other races between the U.S. and the U.S.S.R. which was another reason why we chose this exciting topic.
How I conducted my research:
We first started by finding out what Containment was and then from there looked at websites for a brief overview. The website helped give us ideas on what other parts we should go on. Then I went into greater detail with other websites, and related events, and documents. Josh mainly used books while I was working on the computer. I found most of the first person sources while Josh looked for other views and specific details about parts of Containment We collaborated our information together and looked for pictures that relate to Containment and other events. We then created our annotated bibliographies.
How I created and developed my exhibit:
We first started out by knowing that we wanted to create a website because there is no website with all of the information of Containment on it. We started out by making an introduction paragraph that has a brief over-view on Containment. For the main part of the website we chose to have the events go in order by time and expand on them. We then put pictures were we thought appropriate. We put our conclusion and why it matters near the end. We chose to put the references at the very end. We also chose to have links on the side to go to a certain point on the web page. We also chose to put in links so people can get more information if interested. We also wanted to put a big title on the top of the page, in some cool way that catches the eye.
How my project relates to the theme:
The theme this year is debate and diplomacy. Containment fits under the diplomacy part of the theme this year. Diplomacy is the process of negotiating between nations. Containment involves preventing the USSR to stop expanding and encourage them to become different by negotiation and other means. This project would not fall under the debate category, because Containment does not involve arguing among people or nations. Containment was a policy in which the U.S. tried to contain communism with other countries. Thus, Containment belongs in the negation category because it is a plan not changing as much as like in a debate.
Credit for information:
Primary Sources:
Books:
Keeley, Jennifer. Containing the Comunists: America’s Foreign Entanglements. Farmington Hills, MI: Lucent Books, 2003.
This book contained many primary sources, including Russian newspapers from the time period. I learned that the Soviets not only wanted to spread communism, but often blamed the U.S. and other “English-Speaking nations” for the conflicts between government styles.
This document spoken by President Harry Truman. This gave a view on how powerful people in the USA viewed communism and how to fight it. This gave an interesting point from the President of The United States for my project.
This site had letters dealing with the patriot project. This helped give a view on how scared high military control was of the threat of communism. The letters also told how the problem of communism was being combated.
Secondary Sources:
Websites:
Containment of Communism-Google Search (time line). No author given, No date.
This site helped by having a time line about the containment of communism and helped put it in focus of the events played out. The time line help put certain dates with some events for my history day project.
This first site helped get more in-depth with my project and gave me ideas about other events dealing with containment. This helped give a fairly broad idea and made it easy to see what I should concentrate on for my project.
Books:
Nadel, Laurie. The Kremlin Coup. Connecticut (Brookfield: The Millbrook Press,1992
This book helped show the revolt inside the Russian government and how the people disliked the communism, and why. The book will help include why containment was necessary in the eyes of the US and other countries. The book also shows how corrupt the government was.
Ross, Stewart. The Causes of the Cold War. Milwaukee, WI: World Almanac, 2002.
During the Cold War, President Truman worked to persuade congress to fund overseas commitment in the war in attempt to stop the spread of communism. This book gave me many facts about the way the United States handled the U.S.S.R.’s plan to spread communism, such as the institution of the Marshall Plan.
Bjornlnd, Britta. The Cold War Ends: 1980 to the Present. Farmington Hills, MI: Lucent Books, 2003.
I learned from this secondary source that eventually, arms reduction and other ground rules were set to stop communism from spreading further. I saw pictures as well that showed the hardships that Russians faced, now that communism was being challenged even within their own country.
This secondary source gave me an overall timeline of the events I researched. I learned that the United State’s efforts to contain communism took place from the early 1940’s through the middle to later 1900’s.