220021 The global Cold War (S) (SoSe 2026)

This course offers a global history of the Cold War from its origins in the aftermath of the Second World War to the collapse of state socialism and the reconfiguration of international order at the end of the twentieth century. Moving beyond a purely bipolar narrative centered on Washington and Moscow, the course emphasizes the Cold War as a worldwide process that reshaped politics, economies, societies, and cultures across Europe, Asia, Africa, and Latin America.

The course begins by examining the roots of superpower rivalry and the early Cold War, including the Marshall Plan, Sovietization in Eastern Europe, and the consolidation of rival blocs. It then turns to key moments of global transformation, such as the emergence of the People’s Republic of China, the Korean War, the nuclear arms and space races, and the Sino-Soviet split. Particular attention is paid to foreign interventions, decolonization, and socialist and anticolonial revolutions in places such as Cuba, Vietnam, and Nicaragua.

Later weeks explore the Cold War’s entanglement with economic globalization, countercultural movements, and shifting strategies in the late Cold War. The course concludes with the end of state socialism and the role of international organizations during and after the Cold War. Throughout, students will engage with primary sources and historiographical debates to understand how global actors shaped—and were shaped by—the Cold War world.

Course outline
1. Introduction/Origins
2. The US and the Soviet Union in the early Cold War
3. The Marshall Plan and Sovietizations
4. The emergence of the People’s Republic of China and the Korean/American War
5. Arms race and space race
6. The Sino-Soviet split and its global reverberations
7. Foreign interventions: US and USSR perspectives
8. Decolonization and superpower responses
9. Discussion week
10. Socialist revolutions and anticolonial struggles: Cuba, Vietnam and Nicaragua
11. The Cold War and economic globalization
12. Late Cold War: American and Soviet foreign policy
13. Countercultures
14. State socialist endgame
15. International organizations during and after the Cold War

Requirements for participation, required level

This is a survey course, no previous knowledge is necessary.