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References: The Early Cold War (1945–1960)

  1. Cold War - Wikipedia - Comprehensive overview of the ideological and geopolitical competition between the United States and Soviet Union from 1947 to 1991, covering containment, proxy wars, nuclear deterrence, and the arms race.

  2. McCarthyism - Wikipedia - Details Senator McCarthy's anticommunist crusade, the House Un-American Activities Committee, Hollywood blacklists, and the eventual censure of McCarthy — a case study in political fear and civil liberties.

  3. Marshall Plan - Wikipedia - Explains the European Recovery Program, its $13 billion in economic aid to Western Europe, its strategic purpose of blocking communist expansion, and its role in rebuilding the post-war international order.

  4. John Lewis Gaddis, The Cold War: A New History (2005) - Penguin Press - Concise, authoritative overview by the leading Cold War historian, drawing on newly declassified Soviet-bloc archives to reassess the conflict's origins, dynamics, and end.

  5. Ellen Schrecker, Many Are the Crimes: McCarthyism in America (1998) - Princeton University Press - Comprehensive history of anti-communist repression, arguing that McCarthyism extended far beyond McCarthy himself into institutions across American life.

  6. Digital History: The Cold War - University of Houston - Primary sources and essays on the Truman Doctrine, Marshall Plan, Berlin Blockade, Korean War, McCarthyism, and early nuclear strategy.

  7. National Security Archive: Cold War Documents - George Washington University - Declassified government documents on Cold War policy, including NSC-68, the X Article, and CIA Cold War operations; primary sources for advanced students.

  8. Avalon Project: Truman Doctrine (1947) - Yale Law School - Full text of President Truman's March 1947 address to Congress requesting aid for Greece and Turkey — the foundational document of U.S. containment policy.

  9. Atomic Archive - Atomic Archive - Educational resources on the nuclear arms race, including a history of the arms race from Trinity through the Cuban Missile Crisis, with primary documents and photographs.

  10. Khan Academy: The Cold War - Khan Academy - Article and video series covering containment, the Marshall Plan, NATO, the Korean War, McCarthyism, and the Eisenhower era; good for building the chronological framework.