A Compendium of Historiography: Change in the 1930s Hughes Supreme Court’s Constitutional Jurisprudence; The Decision to Drop the Atom Bomb on Japan; and The Brezhnev Doctrine and the Polish Crisis of 1980-1981

Abstract

This study is a compendium of historiography. The papers focus on transformative twentieth-century events: The first considers the Supreme Court’s shift from New Deal opponent to facilitator. Internal explanations of evolving judicial philosophy causing change countered external ones stressing political pressure. Debate became more complex when scholars argued both internal and external pressures altered the Court’s jurisprudence. The second reviews the atomic bombing of Japan. Post-World War II Consensus historians justified the United States attacks as saving lives by shortening the war. In the 1960s, New Left revisionists pointed to atomic diplomacy. Since the 1990s, Post-revisionism has gained acceptance, integrating and broadening Consensus and New Left positions. The third examines the Brezhnev Doctrine as a mechanism for the Soviet Union controlling satellite nations. The traditional view aligned the decline of the doctrine with Gorbachev’s liberalization policies. Recent analysis ties Soviet abandonment of the doctrine to the Polish Crisis of 1980-1981.