Conformity During The Cold War

The late 1940′s were a time when much change happened to the American society. As a result to the expanding threat of the Soviet Union, or its Communistic ideals, America took a stand that lead it to the Cold War.  Although the war didn’t involve fighting directly with Russia, it still affected the American society and domestic policy. The war affected America so much that it lead to a fear of livelihood; precisely when Joseph McCarthy began his “witch hunt”. The Cold war lead to an enlarged fear of nuclear war; as well, it affected many of the domestic policies.

    Would you want to live in a society where you didn’t have any freedom, and were being controlled by your government? Americans in the late 1940’s to late 1950’s certainly didn’t. Their government wanted to control the possessions people had and how they acted politically, economically, and socially in their everyday lives. The Americans worried about this state of having no freedom. This created a fear that spread all over the United States, called the Red Scare. During the Red Scare, people worried about communism becoming part of the U.S. and feared the influencers that fueled it to become a countrywide panic.

During the 1950’s, Communism was a major fear that Democratic nations such as America were afraid of because of its radical ideas. The actions taken due to the Red Scare and the rise of McCarthyism were necessary and completely justified to protect America’s freedom and government from Communist power. With an increase of Communistic nations invading other countries and forcing their ideas upon them there was an uproar of fear in the United States. The Domino Theory was a legitimate fear of if one nation falling to communism, every nation around it would fall as well. Focusing their attention to VIetnam especially, America increased military control in these regions. Multiple Legislative actions taken by the United States such as the creation of the HAUC and the Espionage and Sedition acts were necessary to stop threats to America’s freedom. The heated tensions between the Soviet Union and the United States during the Cold War contributed to the fear of an attack from the East. Senator McCarthy’s convincing accusations lead to many accurate accusations as well as the rise of McCarthyism. Valid points were brought up about president Roosevelt’s New Deal policies of having capitalistic characteristics. While some actions did take away the civil liberties of some Americans, and were not always accurate, they were necessary to protect American Democracy, as well as the safety of the citizens.

At this time both the democratic United States and the communist Soviet Union believed that successful advancements in technology would enable them to assert strength and superiority. According to Achieve 3000, “Case Against Rosenberg Falls Apart,” “In 1949, The Soviet Union test-launched an atomic bomb, an act that raised suspicions within the U.S. government” (1). Also, the thought of the Soviet Union having the ability to relinquish such a devastating weapon on the United States frightened the people of America as well. When the Cold War developed in the late 1040s the U.S. government again feared that the communist revolution in the Soviet Union would influence many people in the U.S. to do the same. According to the text,”The fear of communism even spread towards Hollywood when a congressional group called the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) investigated communist influence in the entertainment industry, issuing subpoenas to writers, actors, directors, and studio executives and asking them, ‘Are you or have you ever been a member of the Communist party’”(1).

Further events, such as McCarthyism and Senator McCarthy’s false accusations led to the further growth of the Red Scare. The Red Scare led to hysteria amongst U.S. citizens, common Americans went to the extreme to build shelters in case of warfare. (Doc C). As lifestyles of Americans were threatened, it was justifiable of U.S. citizens to find ways to protect themselves. While the Second Red Scare went to an extreme, Eisenhower’s administration helped diminish the fright American citizens felt.

Throughout history there have been many totalitarian regimes where there is only one individual that controls all aspects of a society; the government, the economy, the military, and the day to day activities of citizens. The reason for the beginning of the Cold War was a clash of ideologies, democratic versus communist governments; where the communist government was totalitarian. Moreover, events such as the Cuban Missile Crisis and the Berlin Airlift during the Cold War are prime examples of an ideological conflict, where two opposing sides were unwilling to stand down. Additionally, World War II also began because of an ideological conflict where Hitler was the totalitarian ruler of the German people. If embraced, the ideologies presented in the source will be detrimental to the world as it is known today.

Following World War II, Americans were confronted with another enemy in the form of communism. The Soviet Union has a communist society, where all property was publicly owned and each

As a result of the expanding threat of the Soviet Union, or its Communist ideals, America took a stand that lead to the Cold War. Although the war did not involve fighting directly with Russia, it still affected American society and domestic policy. The war affected America so much that it lead to a fear of livelihood; precisely when Joseph McCarthy began his "witch hunt". The Cold War lead to an enlarged fear of nuclear war; as well, it affected many of the domestic policies. The Cold War affected domestic policy in two different ways, both socially and economically. Socially, the intensive indoctrination of the American people led to a regression of social reforms. Economically, enormous growth spurred by industries related to the war was aided by heavy government expansion. However, New Deal economics felt the greatest impact of the Cold War. Economically speaking, the Soviets and the Americans, we as different during the Cold War as they were politically. The Americans advocated free market capitalism while the Soviets promoted communism. Both sides touted benefits of their system and deficiencies of the other while claiming greater freedom for their citizens. For the Americans, this meant championing the innovation and affluence that capitalism brought; while correlating communism with oppression. The civilian population in American was encouraged to build personal bomb shelters in the 1950s. This

The Cold War was a significant time for the United States and the Soviet Union, while the rest of the world watched intently. Although no actual war took place, both of these powerful countries did their best to promote their political and ideological ideas while trying to gain some ground in the seemingly never ending arms race. This war was driven by both fear and the strive to become the strongest and most powerful country. During the time of the Cold War, the United States proved to be a strong influence over Canada. Given its location, it was obvious as to which side Canada was on. While Canada believed in the same ideologies as the US, this nation was still reluctant to fully emerge themselves into the hysteria that had been emerging in the US. However, even though Canada had just received world recognition for its contribution during the Second World War, this large yet acutely populated country had much still to prove. During this time, Canada just recently became a founding member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). But while Canada was making huge steps in their peacekeeping and military growth, there were still rumours of espionage circling the country.

The Cold War propelled the United States of America into a seat of previously unattained power in the world . American citizens spearheaded the push toward advancement in their search for the epitome of happiness: the “American Dream”. Post-war paranoia was driven by the supposed threat of the spread of communism, which Americans feared could interfere with the freedoms and liberties the founding fathers fought to achieve. This paranoia eventually controlled the thoughts and actions of citizens everywhere. The Second Red Scare spread across America like a virus, leaving a trail of dread and despair in its wake. The fear of the growing communist regime, a lack of trust between citizens and the government, and a zealous streak of American pride drove the U.S. toward internal conflict and potential devastation.

Americans need to enlighten themselves from the delusional hate directed at countries with autocratic systems which are labeled as Communists. The American mentality played a major role in the growing support for McCarthyism. They believed America was “stupendous, and mutable” and “it would be the rankest presumption to approach it in a classifying, scientific way”(Afterimage). This mindset set Americans to believe they were above others and no one would attempt espionage. However when soviet spies were caught by officials, this threw society into chaos as they realized they are not impervious to other countries’ influences. Therefore the people understood that Russia was attempting to reveal their secrets and connected this to the Communist ideology. However in addition to the American arrogance, they also lacked historical knowledge to support their paranoia.

The threat of nuclear war in the 1950's was real and was one that was on the mind nearly every person in both the United States and the United Kingdom. After the end of the Second World War the world can be seen to be split into two sides, the East and the West, Communism and Democracy. After the Second World War the Soviet Union became paranoid with the West as well as the United States become paranoid of the Communist East, and after the Soviets had made their first nuclear bomb this created massive friction between the NATO alliance and the Soviet Union and the eastern bloc. Only after the soviet union had obtained the hydrogen bomb and began to stockpile nuclear warheads in the 1950's did the real fear of nuclear annihilation begin to

Despite its name, the Cold War did not actually involve military fighting between the United States and the Soviet Union. However, the Cold War is still an excellent example as to why war can be a result of bargaining failures and explains reasons as to why war occurs. A single person’s rationality can tip the scale between war and peace. The Cold War was essentially a deadlock between the two super powers of that time, the United States and the Soviet Union. Both states expressed desire to maintain and widen their respective spheres of influence around the world. Both states also wanted to prove that their political system is superior; whereas the United States was pro-democracy, the Soviet Union was pro-communism. Although the Cold War was a result of many factor, war can definitely occur due to information problems between two states. Nonetheless, I do believe there is always a range of agreements that is possible between states, as is evidenced by the resolution of the Cuban missile crisis.

After world war one peace looked inevitable. Everyone was wrong about this because a few years later world war two erupted. This great war was supposed to be the war to end all wars. In this war it was crystal clear who was the good side and who was the bad side. Almost everyone figured that if the bad side was defeated then peace couldn’t possibly escape us again. We defeated the evil Axis powers, but of course another serpent would rear its ugly head from behind the curtains. This period of a “cold war” after world war two has become one of the most complex and studied eras since America’s birth. This state of paradoxes, paranoia, and public disorientation has only ended a few years ago, but its

“The Cold War became a dominant influence on many aspects of American society for much of the second half of the twentieth century. It escalated due to antagonist values between the United States, representing capitalism and democracy, and the Soviet Union, representing communism and authoritarianism” (Tradshad, par. 1). This long lasting war had a lot of negative effects on the American people, but also helped many in a positive way of becoming free citizens. Although most people had feelings of hatred toward the Soviet Union, a sense of fear swept over the United States and many actions had to be taken to keep the enemy and their influences out. 4 done.