Between the Red Scare and, its period of economic prosperity, the 1950s has long been considered as a time of great controversy in the United States. Though industry may have been thriving and unemployment was down, the people of the United States lived in constant fear of the Soviet Union and Communism as a whole. It was because of this fear and the encouragement of certain government officials that triggered the Red Scare, which was later considered by many as a “Communist witch hunt.” It was also this fear that eventually led to increased American involvement in the Cold War.
A Gallup Poll, in the USA, divulged the increasing doubt of US citizens towards the USSR between 1945-48 (Doc H). During these three years, events such as the Yalta Conference, the Containment Doctrine, and Czechoslovakia being forced under the control of Russia (Doc F), increased distrust towards the USSR, run by a single man, under supposed communism. This suspicion, shown effectively in David Low’s cartoon, released in The London Evening Standard in 1948, illustrated Stalin’s dictatorial power and Eastern Europe’s lack of freedom (Doc G). Nonetheless, in 1945, 54% of people who took this survey believed Russia could be trusted to cooperate after the war. However, three years later, 69% said the USA was “too soft” towards Russia (Doc H).
In the story “Under the Influence,” Scott Russell Sanders. He tell you in detail about his father’s excessive abuse of alcohol, and the transformation that transpired. However, as he grown older he realized his father didn’t only have impact his mother, his sister and his brother, but also how it is affected his own relationship with his own children as well. He describe his father’s alcoholism problem while growing up barbaric and dark. Since he realize the neglection he felt during those times of his childhood.
The American people feared the spread of communism and nuclear war in the aftermath of the Second World War, while President Eisenhower addressed these fears by having strong domestic and foreign policies. The fear of communism carved a deep sense of mistrust in American people. They believed anything that was said and blindly followed people who were in political power without any basis of evidence. The fear of communism created a sense of “hysteria” (Document A) within the general public and even in people in government.
Effects of Cold War on United States domestic policy and society As World War II got closer to an end, the U.S. and the Soviet Union gained great power, and the competition with these two countries increased in many fields like the development of nuclear technology. However, at the same time, relationships between these two countries deteriorated especially due to the conflict of the ideology which is defined as the Cold War started in 1947 and ended 1991. Both domestic policy and society in the U.S. were greatly affected by the Cold War. However, the effect on American society was mostly negative as the conflicts of citizens due to fear of Communism and effect on normal life show.
The Cold War defined the mindset of the United States citizens at the time. Giving them a perspective towards the communist regime and its people. Concerns by the American society also shaped the view towards communism, as well as new ideas spreading out in the United States communities. A series of proxy wars, nonconformity, unrest, and ideologies is what triggered the hatred of both superpowers during this period of time. Indeed, this period of history even shapes some of the ideas of people nowadays.
The near crippling panic following the Cold War between the U.S. and the Soviet Union (Modern day Russia), is known as the “Red Scare”. The “Red Scare” was solely based on a government official, Joseph R. McCarthy, accusing members of the opposing force, left-wing liberals, of being communist spies from the Soviet Union. These unsupported accusations made against someone or a group is also known as McCarthyism. These accusations against other members of the government sparked a wildfire of fear among civilian life within the US. This ever growing fear of communism invading the american way of life was implanting paranoia within the nation’s people on a private and public level.
In the 1950’s the cold war had begun. The fear of retaliation from communists was at large. Some Americans believed that communists were amongst them plotting. This lead to a dark time in history when American opportunity became limited for many. Most rights were limited, normal life was disrupted, and the most necessary human right may have been taken.
In the late 1940s and during the 1950s Americans suffered from both a cultural and political hysteria that was caused by panic and anxiety about the Soviet threat. Many Americans believed that there were communists working within America to weaken the country. Thousands of Americans citizens, from teachers, actors and trade unionists to high level government officials, were accused of being communists or communist sympathizers, and were investigated and questioned in front of government committees and agencies. Their association with communism was often exaggerated and many people lost their jobs or were imprisoned based on inconclusive and at times fictitious evidence. The ‘Red Scare’ that occurred in the United States during this period in
1940’s America was a nation in the grip of paranoia. The terror of communist infiltration hung heavily over the heads of every citizen. Everyone from government employees to actors were called before congress, under accusations of being a communist. However, there was more fiction to this anxiety than fact. Yet, due to the actions of certain individuals, it persisted.
The Cold War was a time in history when there was a great political and military turmoil between the United States and the Soviet Union. The Cold War shaped the world in these three ways, women’s rights, society,Cultural. These three changed people in positive and negative ways. Once again, women were called upon to fulfill a role in the defense of America on one hand to perpetuate the American population and on the other to promote American ideals abroad. Women had a chance to be equal to men.
During the Cold War, hysteria in the U.S. ensued over the perceived threat of Communism. This mass hysteria became known as ‘The Red Scare’ due to Communist’s loyalty to the red flag. These fears were not totally unfounded, as the USSR had been spying inside America for a long time. The Red Scare became influential to world history by causing leaders to pass acts that would not have been passed otherwise that reduced the Communist Party to a shadow of its past self..
To examine the Cold War consensus, one must discuss the Cold War. The Cold war was the tension between the United States, standing for capitalism, and the USSR, standing for totalitarianism and socialism, following World War II. Although it was not a physical war between the two superpowers, many proxy wars had came out of it as way to spread or combat communism throughout the Free World. The Free World, as the U.S. came to define it, did not necessarily mean free as countries were being ruled by military regimes and dictatorships, but free from communism(70). During the Cold War, the spread of communism frighted the American People.
The Cold War lasted forty-four years and left a lasting social impact on the United States. The spread of communism and The Soviet Union left many Americans in a constant state of fear and paranoia. The space race between the United States and The Soviet Union significantly impacted the education system in the United States and the curriculum that was taught for years to come. The social emphasis on gender caused a crisis on American masculinity and feminism by influencing many to assume certain gender roles and feel that they were not masculine enough or too feminine because of their view on communism. The Cold War socially impacted the United States through fear, education, and gender.
"The Cold War was an ideological contest between the western democracies especially the United States and the Communist countries that emerged after the Second World War" (Tindall 972). The United States and the Soviet Union had differences over issues such as human rights, individual liberties, economic freedom, and religious belief. "Mutal suspicion and a race to gain influence and control over the so called nonaligned or third world countries further polarized" (Tindall 945). After the WWII Soviets dominate European countries and thought the U.S. had the same motives.
