The Dangers of a Totalitarian Dictatorship Essay

The first major cause of the Red Scare and the fear of communism was WWII. Communism was not a big problem during the war considering that “During the war the United States sent more than $11 billion in aid to the soviet.”(Fitzgerald 27). After the war Russia wanted to punish the germans for attacking their capital, but the U.S along with all the other allied nations did not agree with the Soviet and tension between the two started. Although “The anti communist hysteria of the early 1950s was actually the second Red Scare of the United States.”(Fitzgerald 16), “the first occurred after a revolution in Russia in October of 1917”(Fitzgerald 16), the country reacted in greater fear than the the first time as proved “In New York City, 11,000 police and detectives were kept on twenty-four-hour duty, guarding all federal, state, city, and county buildings, as well as the Stock Exchange and the homes of prominent men.” (Murray 116) showing how much hysteria had invaded the government and the people. All of these events pushed

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.

Throughout history totalitarian leaders would violate people’s safety, their peace of mind and their freedom to rise to power. For example, Germany lost the war in 1919 which cause the need for reparations and a new leader, that is when Hitler became the leader of Germany and in that time Germany was going through a lot of hard times which caused the people to look forward to the future. Another example of totalitarian leaders in that time was Stalin who used people’s fear to gain trust from his people and cause paranoia in people of that time. Both of these totalitarian leaders violated democratic ideas by violating the safety and freedom of their people to manipulate them and their minds. And then they would oppress the minority group, for example, those who were Jewish were treated badly and killed.

As the Cold War between the Soviet Union and the United States grew in the late 1940s and early 1950s, over the perceived threat posed by Communists in the U.S. became known as the Red Scare. The Red Scare led to a range of actions that had a profound and enduring effect on U.S. government and society. The climate of fear and repression linked to the Red Scare finally began to ease by the late 1950s.

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.

The Red Scare is referred to as America’s fear of communism. Taking a second to look back on History, American suspicion of communism first began in the 1920’s during World War One. Thirty years later, the paranoia over communism was stirred up by the influences of war against the Soviet Union, Un-American Activities committee and McCarthyism. This changed America’s perception of society and politics.

American fears in the Cold War originated not only from Communism, but what it represented in American culture. After World War II, the popular culture demonizing the fascist regimes, the built-up aggression surrounding the system, began to move against Communism as tension between the USSR and America rose. Communism became viewed as a corruption; an infection that ruined the rugged individualism that Americans defined themselves by. Communism also, though its declaration of the evils of capitalism, decried Americans as living in an unequal society, that the United States lived in hypocrisy through its statements of liberty for all while it existed in a capitalist and segregated society. Americans saw the Soviet Union as the evil its heroic

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.

The Second Red Scare was a fearful movement that happened as the World War II was ending. The fear was communism. Communism is a system of a social organization Many Americans were afraid that it would spread across the United States. During the growth of communism in 1949 Truman announced that there was an atomic bomb that the Soviet Union had erupted, Truman then begin to strengthened nations military for the possible Soviet Nuclear threat, Also, in China the Communist had gained control of the country and that’s when Americans started to worry that China had increased the spread to the United States.

When the Cold War occurred between the Soviet Union and the United States it was intensifying. There was fear that there would be a communist influence toward the United States.This is later to be known as the second Red Scare which occurred in the late 1940s to the mid 1950s. The first Red Scare occurred in the early 20th century, when there was a period of suspicion that the revolution in Russia would overthrow the United States government. Leading to the fear of communist revolution in the United States. During the second Red Scare in the late 1940s, Joseph McCarthy was a senator of Wisconsin ,during that time. In half of his time in office ,he tried to 1 expose communists and other people who were risks to the United States, this

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.

The Red Scare is the most commonly known term used to describe the fear the United States felt about Communism during the Cold War. The Red Scare got it's name because Communists were often called "Reds" due to their allegiance to the Soviet flag. Many Americans were fearful of Communism making it's way to the U.S. For years the Soviet Union had spies in the U.S. These spies were of such a concern to the government that President Truman put Executive Order 9835 into effect, which called for the analyzation of all federal employees for loyalty to America. Events in the Soviet Union such as the testing of a nuclear bomb, and China becoming a communist nation only added to the fears many Americans felt. The effects The Red Scare hit home for many

The Cold War is the long period of tension between the United States and the Soviet Union regarding the issue around the nuclear power and the potential spread of communism. While the battle against communist subversion raged internationally throughout the aftermath of the Second World War, the consequences of the hostility were eventually felt on the home front. The Red Scare, which was the fear of communist subversion, results in American urgent reevaluation caused Americans to reevaluate their daily interactions and beliefs. The phenomenon acts as a wakeup call for the nation after a long period of rejection the existence of communism and its impact upon American society. As a result, the policy of containment is a political and military

Following World War II, America entered the Cold War with Russia, suspicion of communist corruption in the United States grew. This threat that was perceived by Americans become known as the Red Scare do to the suspicion and distrust placed in the United States by communism. McCarthy used this perceived threat to convince