Effects Of Cold War On American Culture

The Cold War had a significant impact on American foreign policy, changing it substantially in both attitudes to social and economic factors. The heavy influence of a difference in political standing between the Soviet Union and the United States, in conjunction with the high tensions that followed in the post war period, set the foundations for American foreign policy to adapt and change to better suit the developing political agender of the time. Socially, the two sides were heavily split, with the Soviet Union seeking communist support and allies whilst the US sought to counter their progress in a similar manner. Economically these relations with foreign countries that either joined the eastern or western blocs helped to further the

This made Americans fear losing their jobs and maybe even becoming enemies of the state, even though most of them had never involved themselves with communist groups. The Cold War lead to a society where every man is against another, it divided the nation over a fight against society, and it caused a fear of a possible war.

The biggest and most fervent effect of the Cold War on American culture was the state of anxiety that swept the nation. Americans have always harboured a fear of radicalism entering the country and destroying any parts of the government that give power to the people, but when the Cold War begun, this fear was immensely heightened. This time period became known as the “age of anxiety”.

During the presidency of Dwight D. Eisenhower, the American people were frightened of the thought of the Cold War due to the fear of Communism. With the rising threat from the Red Scare many Americans condemned Communist, identifying spies in unjust ways. The government took to finding the spies a step too far, violating civil liberties. The American people, fearing the spread of communism, wished to eliminate the threat by decreasing the establishment of communist uprisings. With the formation of the iron curtain, the Soviet Union created a rift, expanding their communist beliefs.

One way that the Cold War affected America was the fear of spies. The Truman’s Loyalty Program was a test to make sure no communist spies made it into the government (document 1). The House Committee in Un-American Activities was always on the hunt for spies in America. No matter how much destruction they caused, they captured spies (document 2). In the Rosenbergs and Hiss trials, it caused a massive division in America’s population between the people that feared spies and the sympathizers of these people (document 4).

1) After the Cold War Communism was the only thing America was afraid of. From 1950s to 1980s there was a theory called domino theory used by US during Cold War. The Domino Theory which means if any country comes under the influence of communism then the closest countries would follow in a domino effect.

That fear caused the Communist witch hunt, where innocent people were accused of being communist, and everyone was frightened. political cartoonists saw how the witch hunt was affecting American society. (Doc. 2) The witch hunt was so notorious, that even politicians was being accused of being communists. If someone supported communism, it was impossible for that person to get a job in the government. (Doc.1) Another case that happened in the government during the Cold War, was when McCarthy sent a letter to the president Truman, accusing 57 people of being communist in the government, and saying that if the president did not remove these people from the government, he would also be considered a communist. The United States created The Marshall Plan which the goal was to rebuild Western European economies, United States needed to help them, because if America did not help, Russia would and communism would spread easily. The speech that Marshall delivered at the Harvard University talked about communism in a discreet way: “Our policy is directed not against any country or doctrine, but against hunger, poverty, desperation, and chaos.” The Cuban missile crisis was another episode that scared Americans. Cuba is just 90 miles away from the coast of Florida, and fearing the missiles and the communism ideas that were in Cuba, the United States made a blockade around Cuba and tried to kill the Cuban President.

The Cold War (1941-91) was a time of political and military tension between Soviet Russia and the United States. During this time, there was a great deal of fear between the 2 international superpowers as they both possessed nuclear weapons capable of wiping each other out. The Americans were in constant fear of Communism and Soviet spies. The paranoia was exacerbated by some politicians who suggested that Soviet spies were everywhere. This fear made some Americans to accuse their own neighbors of being Communist sympathizers.

Of the factors which shaped American society in the Cold War era, the fear of communism and its potential to spread imposed the greatest effect upon the United States. From the worldwide devastation of World War II arose two powers: United States of America, fueled by a capitalist economy, and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, or USSR, whose economy embodied the communist ideals of Karl Marx. Marx himself stated, “Communism is already acknowledged by all...powers to be in itself a power”. Marx predicted the power of a communistic society well before the first World War began. In the wake of the devastation

II BACKGROUND:- Throughout the period of Cold War with the Soviet Union from the late 1940s through 1950s, the fear of communism, also known as the Red Scare, affected the politics, civilization, and culture of the society. (What is the Red Scare). In a like manner, the Second Red Scare is the Soviet domination of Eastern and Central Europe and the Communist taking over China which petrified the American public. This fueled a fear that communism would expand around the world and invade the government. Consequently, this phobia of Communism escalated when Mao Zedong started to control China.

All through the Cold War the United States attempted to contain or squash developments that it saw as dangers to American financial or security objectives, in Europe, in Asia, in different parts of the alleged Third World, and at home. Communists, patriots, individual voyagers, neutralists, and activists for popular government and human rights, at different times, felt American rage in the half-century after 1945. In no spot, be that as it may, did American exertions to attest its hobbies and impede the will of the local populace happen as seriously or shockingly as in Vietnam. Despite the fact that a little, immature nation which has been subjected to violence and resistance through the years, not to

Pax Americana refers to United States global supremacy in overseeing international peace (Mead). Largely this is attributed to United States ‘power beginning mid period of the cold war. Cold War, often referred to as the third world’s biggest war, reminds us of years of competition to dominate the world between the capitalist United States and the communist Soviet Union. What began as a political conflict easily escalated into a military clash, with United States using military strength as a containment method. Subsequently, this ushered in an era of technological advancements as well as development of fatal weapons leading to a large buildup of arms particularly atomic weapons as well as space explorations.

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

The Cold War was the ideological conflict between the two superpowers of the world, the democratic United States of America and the communist Soviet Union. For over fifty years the two superpowers fought each other indirectly for power and control of the world. The Cold War started after the end of the Second World War in 1945 when the eyes of both superpowers were no longer looking at Nazi Germany, but instead at each other and the fate of the rest of the world. The Cold War began after the Second World War had ended, although tensions between the two new superpowers, United States and Soviet Union, had been lasting since 1917 with the start of the Bolshevik revolution in Russia. With the start of the Second World War, tensions were put

The Cold War had a great influence on the American economy, society, and politics from 1945 to 1992. The Soviet Union and United States had different values and could not put their differences aside and eventually the tension turned into an outbreak of war. Each president of United States had a different approach to handling the Soviet Union but, ultimately each thought it was their duty to protect not only America but the rest of the world from the Soviets and communism. America and the Soviet Union being two great world powers, it turned into a global conflict. This war can be compared to the Vietnam war but, it did not last for decades or have much as an impact on America’s society.