Spying during the Cold War

The Cold War brought out the suspicious side of the American population. Our government had fired or forced resignations of thousands of government employees. The Justice Department had begun prosecuting eleven leaders of the Communist Party, who were later convicted and imprisoned. Two trials became the center of attention, one against former State Department official Ager Hiss and another against Julius and Ethel Rosenberg. Americans were fearing that communist spies

During the Cold War, America and the Soviet Union were competing to develop more sophisticated weaponry than each other. Because of this, Americans dreaded the Soviet Union. They also feared communism– which according to Achieve 3000’s passage,“Case Against Rosenberg Falls Apart”,“It is the political theory that the Soviet’s lived by” (1). Also according to Achieve 3000, “The Americans thought that the Soviet Union had spies that were in the midst of the American people” (1). This fear lead to many precautions that the government made to prevent the American people from fearing the Soviet Union which was called the “Red Scare”.

Apart from the fear and paranoia towards the Communist camp, Americans were also shocked by the news of Communist spies and espionages within their own backyard. This not only led to increased surveillance in the US but the environment also became rather hostile and surveillance was very high. When the Soviet’s obtained their own nuclear bombs, the threat of the nuclear bomb and the advancement of Communism itself became blur. In the film Atomic Café, archival footage of U.S. Senator Owen Brewster reveals him saying that the Russians obtained the atom bomb, “not through independent research, but from America, from traitors within our own ranks,” referring specifically to alleged Communists. This instigated a new sense of fear and paranoia

My topic is spies during World War II. During World War II, countries used spies to gather information about each other. It is a specific and broad topic. Since the fifth grade, I have enjoyed World War II history. It’s very fascinating to me. It is a very tragic and fascinating time period. Recently in May, I visited the Holocaust Museum with my school in Washington, D.C. and fell in love with this time period even more. I felt more connected with it. This war was so raw and has great stories behind it. I also feel somewhat connected to it because it was not even that long ago that this happened, we at least all have relatives that are alive that can remember hearing about it, that is what makes it so real to me. Just knowing about World War II occurred was not enough for me; I wanted to know who was behind it all.

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).

were selling the secrets of nuclear weapons to the Soviet Union. They arrested many people including Klaus Fuchs who was a member of the Manhattan Project and who was selling information about the atomic bomb to Moscow. McCarthy and Hoover "began a massive witch-hunt," which led to Julius and Ethel Rosenberg. (Moss,220-222)

The United States involved itself in World War II to preserve democracy, but when Joseph Stalin made it his top priority to spread communism across Europe, the United States’ goal was endangered. As a result, in 1947, President Harry Truman created Executive Order 9835, which called for “a loyalty investigation of every person entering the civilian employment of any department or agency of the executive branch of the Federal Government” (Document 1). Truman’s Executive Order exhibits a clear distrust of the protection of American ideals, as Truman would have never instituted this policy if he were not paranoid of the communistic plague. Truman’s paranoia was not only displayed by Executive Order 9835, but also emulated by the American people. Truman’s Doctrine spurred fear across the American public, most prominently showed in the trial of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg. The Rosenberg’s were unfairly tried and biasedly considered communists by the American government, ultimately resulting in execution. As seen by Elliot Erwitt’s photographs, the American public was enraged and feared communist ideals (Document

From after World War II, to the Cold War, to the creation of the atomic bomb, America’s fear grew stronger. Espionage played an important role in the paranoia of the country. Julius and Ethel Rosenberg were executed for conspiracy in committing espionage because of the unwarranted paranoia of a nuclear attack by the Russians and the unjustified fear of the Soviet Union in the 1950s.

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.

Fearing the unknown is a common aspect of human nature. Julius and Ethel Rosenberg were an average married couple living in New York City during the Cold War. They were members of the Communist Party when anti-Communist feelings in the United States were at their peak. Little did they know that as they continued with their daily lives, a series of investigations were being conducted that would soon land them in the electric chair. Julius and Ethel Rosenberg were accused and convicted of passing along confidential atomic bomb information to Soviet Union spies. After a long battle, they were executed in the electric chair at Sing Sing Prison in 1953. The couple never admitted guilt to the charges, and their conviction and execution caused their two young boys to grow up without parents. The Rosenberg trial is still considered one of the most controversial events in United States history. Few other trials have instigated as much debate, aroused such passion or generated as many books and articles. Thus the question arises: in what ways and to what extent did the hysteria of the Cold War lead to the trial and execution of the Rosenbergs?

‘McCarthyism’ became the term to describe a kind of paranoid thinking on this matter and its resulting attitudes and behaviors. Consequently, the U.S. government formed anti-subversion organizations which favored the unannounced interrogation of American citizens, and scrutinized public schools and tertiary institutions, among other organizations, and led to the arrests of a great number of innocent Americans, and the exposing of McCarthy as a fear mongering fraud. However, Russia did, in fact possess a nuclear bomb, and even after the highly favored Dwight Eisenhower became the president, and created an image of new hope for peace, the fear of nuclear response from the USSR created widespread anxiety.

After World War Two, Joseph Stalin, the leader of the Soviet Union, was beginning to gain more power over surrounding countries, and the people of the United States of America became concerned about the possibility of communists taking over the world. The Soviets had recently created and tested its first atomic bomb, and thus many were afraid that there would be an apocalyptic nuclear war between their two countries. Starting in 1947 and continuing throughout the fifties, all citizens of America were requested to have background checks done on them by the government to make sure they were not Soviet spies. After one state official, Alger Hiss, was convicted of espionage, Americans became extremely

The US after the war becoming aware of these so called “mind control” techniques came to the conclusion that this method was to time intensive, so with the help of modern day sedatives, alcohol and drugs the US eventually completed their research, but the price was US lives with some even committing suicide. Therefore America 's conduct of espionage during the Cold war similar to that of Russian espionage, when trying

A series of high profile spy scandals, like that of Alger Hiss, were reported in the press. It also became clear that the USSR's rapid progress in mastering atomic energy had been aided by information gathered by spies from the US nuclear program. Republican Senator Joseph McCarthy, grabbed the headlines by declaring in early 1950 that the Truman administration was infiltrated by Communist agents and sympathisers. A modern-day witch-hunt broke out, with widespread panic ensuing. Anti-communist feeling intensified and many people, especially the Republican opposition, claimed that the government was not being tough enough on Communism,

The term “Covert Action” brings with it a connotation of shadowy figures wrapped in secrecy and intrigue. It also brings with it a substantial amount of moral questions as to “what is right.” The use of covert action has been widely publicized since the early seventies, but trying to find out the truth to these events has been difficult to say the least. What is even more difficult, is historically recording these events into categories of successes or failures. These operations are difficult to dissect because of their secrecy and although events have been recorded, some facts simply aren’t apparent. This paper will seek to identify the complex issues associated with covert operations.