HIS 100 Module Four Activity Bias Template
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Southern New Hampshire University *
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Course
100-X3536
Subject
History
Date
Dec 6, 2023
Type
Pages
5
Uploaded by AmbassadorFlagKookabura40
1
HIS 100 Module Four Activity Template: Bias in Primary Sources (1)
Locate an additional primary source relevant to your historical event. Use it and the primary
source you identified in a previous module to answer the questions below. Replace the
bracketed text with your responses.
Source One
Conduct source analysis on a primary source relevant to your historical event.
Attempt to write the APA style citation for your first primary source and include a link to it. You
will not be penalized for incorrect format.
•
Pravda. (October 6, 1951).
Interview with Joseph Stalin.
https://www.cvce.eu/en/obj/interview_with_joseph_stalin_6_october_1951-en-d0743acd-
c816-43b7-a415-5674372cb4f5.html
•
https://www.cvce.eu/en/obj/interview_with_joseph_stalin_6_october_1951-en-d0743acd-
c816-43b7-a415-5674372cb4f5.html
Respond to the following questions:
•
Who authored or created the primary source?
o
The primary source was created by Joseph Stalin. He responded to questions in an
interview for Pravda, a Russian propaganda newspaper. (Simes, 1987)
•
What was the author’s
position in society at the time the primary source was created?
o
Joseph Stalin was the dictator of the USSR. Six years previously, World War II after the
Americans had bombed Japan. Seeing the power the Americans had with their nuclear
weapons, the USSR felt threatened by the United States and propelled making nuclear
weapons of their own. USSR political and economic policies did not allow free-market
policies, so it was Soviet Russia’s direction underneath Stalin to
produce weapons. Two
years prior to the interview, in 1949, the USSR performed a nuclear missile test, which
displayed their advancements in nuclear weapons. (The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists,
1949)
•
When was the primary source created?
o
The primary source was published in Pravda on Oct. 6, 1951.
•
Where was the primary source created, released, or publicized?
o
The interview Stalin provided was published in Pravda, a Russian newspaper with a
heavy Communist bias.
Pravda means “truth” in Russian.
It has commonly been
associated as pro-Communist propaganda and was once considered to be the most
important news content creator in Soviet Russia for years. (Specter, 1996)
•
Who was the intended audience for the primary source?
o
The primary audience for this source were the citizens of the USSR, to include the
working class and its politicians. Since the Pravda was the most important newspaper in
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Russia, it could be estimated that the audience could also be the United States and its
allies, to create a sense of deterrence.
•
Why was the primary source created?
o
For this interview, the interview was created to inform the Soviet citizens about how the
foreign press media was creating a media storm about atom bomb testing in the Soviet
Union to prepare for a potential nuclear attack from the U.S. and/or its allies. With very
leading questions from the journalist, Stalin continues to say the Soviet Union is not
planning to attack the U.S., the U.S. government is upset the Russians know how to
produce nuclear weapons and
explains the USSR’s role in why they are producing
weapons. In other words, Stalin explaining the reason behind the nuclear arms race
within the Cold war.
•
Whose perspective(s) is presented in the source?
o
Joseph Stalin’s perspective in this source is political. As the USSR’s dictator and political
leader, his
motives can be easily assumed to be intimidating to his nation’s enemies and
to protect his political position.
o
Although not named, one can assume that the journalist for Pravda also has a political
perspective. The journalist publishes content he or she knows will be well-received by
the country’s political leaders. Also, the Pravda is controlled by the USSR, therefore, all
content produced by the Pravda will have a pro-Russian and pro-Communist
perspective.
Source Two
Conduct a source analysis on a primary source relevant to your historical event.
Attempt to write the APA style citation for your second primary source and include a link to it.
You will not be penalized for incorrect format.
•
The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists. (October 1949). The Russian Explosion,
5
(10), 261.
Respond to the following questions:
•
Who authored or created the primary source?
o
The primary source was created by the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists.
•
What was the author’s or creator’s position in society at the time the primary source was
created?
o
The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists was a newsletter that was founded in 1945 by
Manhattan Project scientists and was used for nuclear weapon de-proliferation. Today,
it is still in “circulation”
but instead publishes a bimonthly magazine. The Bulletin of the
Atomic Scientists (Atomic Heritage Foundation, 2017) also has a website that has
reports and analytical articles that reviews nuclear policy along with its scientific and
security challenges.
•
When was the primary source created?
o
The source was created in October 1949.
3
•
Where was the primary source created, released, or publicized?
o
This publication of the newsletter was published in Chicago, Illinois.
•
Who was the intended audience for the primary source?
o
The primary audience for the source would have been educated or interested in the
nuclear science community in the United States.
•
Why was the primary source created?
o
It was created to inform the nuclear science community of President Harry Truman’s
statement about an atomic explosion that occurred in the USSR. President Truman most
likely addressed the U.S. in a different forum, but the Bulletin decided to print it since it
is considered relevant to their community and cause. The primary source also included
the USSR’s response. Specifically,
that the USSR has nuclear energy to further
industrialize their country, the USSR had the secret to producing an atomic weapon in
1947,
and that they USSR’s intention
was to prevent proliferation of nuclear weapons to
control them.
•
Whose perspective(s) is presented in the source?
o
This source contains
both President Truman’s and
a USSR
representative’s
statement.
Both sources within the source have different political perspectives.
o
President Harry Truman is the leader of the United States. He is an American-born
elected official chosen to represent democracy and the leader of a capitalist nation. He
recognizes his country’s responsibility to prevent nuclear weapons because he knows of
the damage they cause. This statement comes 4 years after the end of World War II. He
wishes to prevent them from being made from not only preventing nuclear on another
country but nuclear fall out on his own.
o
The USSR representative most likely embodies the values of the Soviets and would like
to see his country progress as a far as the United States underneath a Communist-
economic model. The USSR, seeing the United States as a threat, feels the need to have
dominance on a world scale. The United States is rebuilding countries close to the USSR,
Japan to become a capitalist society like them. (CrashCourse, 2012) Although the USSR
does not seem to release the news of their test until after the U.S. and their Allies do,
the USSR feels the need to reassure their citizens that the nuclear power they have is to
modernize their country and to control further production of nuclear weapons. It is
important to note that the USSR does not have a free-market economy like the U.S.,
therefore, the nuclear advancements being made are funded by the government.
Both Sources
Analyze the primary sources relevant to your historical event for the presence of bias.
•
The first primary source, an Interview with Joseph Stalin, is heavily biased. Stalin is extremely
positive and in favor of his own county and he is extremely negative toward the United States.
Stalin uses language such as
“Tests of atom bombs of different
calibers will be conducted in the
future as well in accordance with the plan for the defense of our country from attack by the
Anglo-American aggressive bloc
,” and “
They would like the United States to be the monopolist
of the production of the atom bomb, they would like the United States to have unlimited power
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to intimidate and blackmail other countries.”
As the dictator of the USSR, Stalin is concerned
about keeping his role and keep himself in a powerful position. Stalin would like the USSR to
continue to have nuclear weapons and maintain its first-world power status.
•
The bias for the first part of the second primary source is less noticeable, as it included former
President Harry
Truman’s address to the public about the Russian nuclear missile test
.
Throughout the piece, the language is balanced. However, in the last paragraphs, Truman states
“
In the three-
nation declaration … it was emphasized that no single nation could, in fact, have a
monopoly of atomic weapons. This recent development emphasizes once again, if indeed such
emphasis were needed, the necessity for that... effective and enforceable international control
of atomic energy [with the US government and the United Nations
’] support.” Truman’s
statement implies that while he understands the U.S. cannot have all the nuclear weapons, he is
not able to have control of them all. However, if there is a need to enforce extra control,
Truman and his allies will exert more control. Truman is not pro-Russia having nuclear weapons,
because he is the leader of the US, who just won World War II by bombing Japan with nuclear
weapons. Trum
an’s motives are not to destroy Russia but to prevent them from having weapons
because they pose a threat to the United States.
•
Finally, there is a second part to the second primary source, which is the USSR’s statement to
the nuclear missile test. Some of the language used is not overtly anti-American, but one can
still see the anti-
American bias. For example, “
Scientific circles of the United States of America
took this statement by V. M. Molotov for a bluff, considering that the Russians could not possess
an atomic weapon earlier than the year 1952. They however were mistaken since the Soviet
Union possessed the secret of the atomic weapon already in 1947.” This statement implies that
the United States thought they were already so much more ahead than Soviet Union, when in
fact, the Soviets were close behind them. The USSR official that made this statement most likely
is concerned with national security and matters of potential threats, and, although they tested a
missile, they would like to say they have no intention of attacking anyone. Therefore, they are
reminding Soviet citizens and the international public of their reasons for having nuclear power
and weapons.
Compare how your historical event is represented in your primary sources.
•
My historical event is not completely represented in my primary sources because my historical
event is an effect of the nuclear power that the USSR had. The USSR had been heavily
researching nuclear power after the events of World War II. As a result of their research,
multiple power plants, including Chernobyl, were created to fuel the counties and cities
underneath Soviet rule. The second primary source, however, does mention what they are using
nuclear power for
–
to create hydro-electric stations, canals, roads, etc. This was similar to the
Chernobyl power plant because it also generated electricity by creating steam and was later
built in the late 1970s in Ukraine. (United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission, 2022)
5
References
Atomic Heritage Foundation. (February 22, 2017).
The Bulletin of Atomic Scientists.
https://www.atomicheritage.org/history/bulletin-atomic-scientists
CrashCourse. (October 18, 2012)
USA vs USSR Fight! The Cold War: Crash Course World History #39.
[Video]. YouTube.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y9HjvHZfCUI
Simes, D.K. (August 9, 1987) The Truth about Pravda.
The Washington Post.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/entertainment/books/1987/08/09/the-truth-about-
pravda/d0f81468-3ed5-4b6b-a4e4-4fcd53e6c8af/
Spec
ter, M. (July 31, 1996) Russia’s Purveyor of Truth Pravda Dies after 84 Years.
The New York Times.
https://www.nytimes.com/1996/07/31/world/russia-s-purveyor-of-truth-pravda-dies-after-84-
years.html
United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission. (March 1, 2022).
Backgrounder on Chernobyl Nuclear
Power Plant Accident.
https://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/doc-collections/fact-sheets/chernobyl-
bg.html