My COPY: (Student Copy Below) The Cold War is like two Yr11 boys...Source: http://www.johndclare.net/cold_war1_analogy.htm
The Story There are 26 parallels between the following story and the story of the Cold War. How many can you spot and explain (click here for help)?
The Cold War is like two Yr11 boys who fell out. Both of them were big, strong lads, and each had a lot of support among his peers.Neither had ever liked the other. They had nothing in common, wanted different jobs – and they had had fights in the past, when they were younger.
Until recently, they had managed to ignore each other – even to work together when necessary – but, in Year 11, there had been a string of clashes. It began over a discussion of uniform rules for Lower School pupils – both the boys were on the Student Council and, after one meeting where they clearly irritated each other, at the next meeting they openly disagreed.
Both boys went about trying to get the rest of the Year 11 pupils on their side – what was interesting was the way they went about it. Boris had neither money nor tact, and his method was just to intimidate people; Boris’s friends daredn’t go against him – in this way he built a little gang of yes-men around him. Sam was wealthy and (on the surface, at least) sociable; he gathered support by lending people money, CDs etc, and inviting them round to his place for parties – as long as they promised not to be friends with Boris.
Each dirty trick and mucky look increased the boys’ mutual hatred. When one of Sam’s friends bad-mouthed Boris, it was the last straw. The two boys openly set about trying to ruin the other.
Why didn’t they just have a huge fight, and get it over with? Well, it would have been just too damaging for them both if they had done so – neither could afford to be permanently excluded. So they did everything possible to hurt each other without actually having a one-on-one fight.
Once, Boris trapped Sam’s little brother in a classroom and wouldn’t let him out all lunchtime. Sam didn’t go and try to push him out of the way – he just passed sandwiches through the window until Boris got bored.
And when two Year 7 boys started a feud, Sam helped one, and Boris’s friend Lee helped the other. But still Sam and Boris held themselves back from fighting each other.
Both Sam and Boris believed that they were in the right, and that the other boy was the troublemaker. They endlessly slagged off each other. And they competed everything fiercely – to gain the highest mark in the Technology exam, to score the first goal in the football, and so on.
As time went on Boris became increasingly aggressive. He beat up a couple of his gang who looked as through they might be wanting to make friends with Sam. In the end, he forced his friends to stay with him all the time, and not even talk to Sam and his friends.
And all the time, there was tension in the air at school – the feeling that at any moment there would be a HUGE fight and dozens of people would get expelled. A group of girls even got a petition about it. There was a nasty moment when Boris found out that Sam had been spying on him and his girlfriend. And there was a terrifying crisis when a rumour went round that Boris was bringing in a knife for his psycho friend Fidel to attack Sam with.
(After that moment, both sides backed off a bit, but the feud went on until the end of Year 11, when Boris failed his exams and left the school.)
BEWARE - that this analogy is not subtly affecting your interpretation of the events you are studying (for instance, by making you think that Fidel Castro was a 'psycho'). It is just a story to get you thinking about what happened, and why, in what order. Are there any bits of the story which do not give a true analogy of what was happening?
The Interpretation
Having trouble? Can you suggest what actual fact/ event/ development the following represent in the story (click to reveal).
Ø The two Yr11 boys Sam is America and Boris is Russia .
Ø They were big strong lads Both America and Russia were super-powers.
Ø They had nothing in common The Soviet Union was a Communist country, ruled by a dictator, who cared little about human rights. The USA was a capitalist democracy which valued freedom
Ø They wanted different things from life Stalin wanted huge reparations from Germany, and a ‘buffer’ of friendly states. Britain and the USA wanted to protect democracy, and help Germany to recover.
Ø They had had fights in the past In 1918 Britain and the USA had tried to destroy the Russian Revolution, and they had not given Russia enough help in WWII. Stalin had signed the Nazi-Soviet Pact with Germany in 1939.
Ø Until recently, they had managed to work together when necessary to defeat Hitler.
Ø The string of clashes the Nine Events which caused the Cold War.
Ø The Student Council the wartime conferences.
Ø The meeting where they clearly irritated each other Yalta
Ø The meeting they openly disagreed Potsdam
Ø Boris’s method of getting a gang of yes-men around him Salami tactics.
Ø Sam’s method of stopping people being friends with Boris the Marshall Plan.
Ø When one of Sam’s friends bad-mouthed Boris, it was the last straw Churchill’s Fulton speech.
Ø They didn’t have a fight because neither could afford to be permanently excluded because - as they both had the atomic bomb after 1949 - a ‘hot’ (fighting) war would be Mutually Assured Destruction (MAD).
Ø So they did everything possible to hurt each other without actually having a one-on-one fight the Cold War.
Ø When Boris trapped Sam’s little brother in a classroom, Sam passed sandwiches through the window until Boris got bored Berlin Blockade and airlift.
Ø When two Year 7 boys started a feud, Sam helped one, and Boris’s friend Lee helped the other the Korean War; America helped South Korea, China helped North Korea.
Ø Sam and Boris endlessly slagged off each other propaganda.
Ø They competed to gain the highest mark in the Technology exam space race.
Ø They competed to score the first goal in the football arms race.
Ø Boris beat up a couple of his gang who looked as through they might be wanting to make friends with Sam Poland and Hungary.
Ø In the end, Boris forced his friends to not even talk to Sam and his friends Berlin Wall.
Ø A group of girls even got a petition about the danger CND.
Ø The nasty moment when Boris found out that Sam had been spying on him U2 crisis.
Ø The terrifying crisis when Boris was bringing in a knife for his psycho friend Fidel to attack Sam with Cuba crisis.
Ø (Boris failed his exams and left the school collapse of Soviet Union, 1989.)
The Cold War is like two Yr11 boys...The Story There are 26 parallels between the following story and the story of the Cold War. How many can you spot?
Neither had ever liked the other. They had nothing in common, wanted different jobs – and they had had fights in the past, when they were younger.
Until recently, they had managed to ignore each other – even to work together when necessary – but, in Year 11, there had been a string of clashes. It began over a discussion of uniform rules for Lower School pupils – both the boys were on the Student Council and, after one meeting where they clearly irritated each other, at the next meeting they openly disagreed.
Both boys went about trying to get the rest of the Year 11 pupils on their side – what was interesting was the way they went about it. Boris had neither money nor tact, and his method was just to intimidate people; Boris’s friends daredn’t go against him – in this way he built a little gang of yes-men around him. Sam was wealthy and (on the surface, at least) sociable; he gathered support by lending people money, CDs etc, and inviting them round to his place for parties – as long as they promised not to be friends with Boris.
Each dirty trick and mucky look increased the boys’ mutual hatred. When one of Sam’s friends bad-mouthed Boris, it was the last straw. The two boys openly set about trying to ruin the other.
Why didn’t they just have a huge fight, and get it over with? Well, it would have been just too damaging for them both if they had done so – neither could afford to be permanently excluded. So they did everything possible to hurt each other without actually having a one-on-one fight.
Once, Boris trapped Sam’s little brother in a classroom and wouldn’t let him out all lunchtime. Sam didn’t go and try to push him out of the way – he just passed sandwiches through the window until Boris got bored.
And when two Year 7 boys started a feud, Sam helped one, and Boris’s friend Lee helped the other. But still Sam and Boris held themselves back from fighting each other.
Both Sam and Boris believed that they were in the right, and that the other boy was the troublemaker. They endlessly slagged off each other. And they competed everything fiercely – to gain the highest mark in the Technology exam, to score the first goal in the football, and so on.
As time went on Boris became increasingly aggressive. He beat up a couple of his gang who looked as through they might be wanting to make friends with Sam. In the end, he forced his friends to stay with him all the time, and not even talk to Sam and his friends.
And all the time, there was tension in the air at school – the feeling that at any moment there would be a HUGE fight and dozens of people would get expelled. A group of girls even got a petition about it. There was a nasty moment when Boris found out that Sam had been spying on him and his girlfriend. And there was a terrifying crisis when a rumour went round that Boris was bringing in a knife for his psycho friend Fidel to attack Sam with.
(After that moment, both sides backed off a bit, but the feud went on until the end of Year 11, when Boris failed his exams and left the school.)
BEWARE - that this analogy is not subtly affecting your interpretation of the events you are studying (for instance, by making you think that Fidel Castro was a 'psycho'). It is just a story to get you thinking about what happened, and why, in what order. Are there any bits of the story which do not give a true analogy of what was happening?