Us Involvement In Vietnam War

In a quest for power, two superpowers were on the brink of a war that could bring world annihilation. In 1947-1991 the US was on the verge of war with the Soviet Union. The communist Soviets wanted to expand their ideas across Europe and Asia setting up communist governments in every country that was earlier occupied by the germans. The US tried a policy of containment where we use brute force to keep the Soviet Union where they are. By this time, the US tested and fired nuclear weapons on two Japanese cities. Tensions started rising when the Soviets developed and tested their own nuclear weapon. Each country wanted to become more powerful than the other and spread their influence. A nuclear arms race started, pulling the countries in a standoff

Using spies in the Manhattan project, the Soviets were successful in replicating a nuclear bomb. They were determined that the US would not have an advantage over them if a war breaks out. In 1949, word got out that the Soviet Union had successfully tested an atom bomb in Kazakhstan. The soviets were suddenly equally as powerful as the United States was and would make a formable opponent if a war followed. The tensions rose when the US started increasing the power of these bombs to defend themselves. For example President Truman stated, “'It is part of my responsibility as Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces to see to it that our country is able to defend itself against any possible aggressor. Accordingly, I have directed the AEC to continue its work on all forms of atomic weapons, including the so-called hydrogen or Super bomb.” This meant that after the Soviets tested their bomb, Truman called for a bigger bomb be made to defend America if the Soviets decided to bomb us. Scientist soon made the Hydrogen bomb that was hundreds times greater than the first atomic bomb, but years later so did the Soviets. Both countries already had a strained relation and the threat of a nuclear war hung uneasily in the distance. Each country gradually increased their stockpile, waiting for a spark to ignite the war. Overall, it was the Soviet Union’s response to the US’s bombs that started the Nuclear Arms

Having the nonstop fear that any moment you might die from an atomic bomb would make many paranoid. People bought bomb shelters for their backyard, kids were taught to do drills such as cowering under their desks, and movie theaters played movies about what would happen if a nuclear attack occurred. The American people were frightened of the advancing threat of communism around Europe and Asia. They believed that communism would spread to America. The basis of the cold war was the “Red Scare”, fear of the communists, but the nuclear arms race heightened the fear out of proportion. Federal workers, hollywood artists, and many others were screened and spied on to make sure they did not have ties to communism. An article states, “One researcher estimated in 1958 that approximately 20 percent of the U.S. labor force faced some form of loyalty test.” This means that 1 in every 5 people had to be screened to see if they were a communist. The nuclear weapons feed the fear in America, they made people afraid of other countries, their friends,