The cold war was very scary and had america at the brink of nuclear warfare and communism was the main focus point during these times. Communism in the 1960s was very scary and killed many people due to the growth of it. America had many issues with communism like, russia's red scare, cuban missile crisis, and the influence of communism in television. those topics had a lot to do with it since it brought fear to america and their people. The cold war was known for the spread of communism and also about how nuclear warfare could be a major problem. The united states thought that a communist government was bad idea and did not agree with other communist countries. However the soviet union was one of the major problems as well because they were …show more content…
The red scare affected the united states because they feared that they would fall to communism. This led to many people being arrested for allegedly having connections and relations to communism. The people who were arrested were usually public figures who were communist. However the russian red scare came from the term that mccarthy had used to describe communist russian terrors. They were scared of communism and that it would spread to america. America was worried about that how communists could influence america to become a communist state. They did this by promoting communism through public figures. The united states was worried if communist russia will steal important files and information from them. The soviet union would do this by sending communist spied to gather valuable information. This was a problem because they could easily steal nuclear information which could be used against the United states. however america had arrested many spies during “witch hunts”. They did this because they didn't want russia to turn into a superpower with nuclear weapons. Another reason why russians red scare was so scary was because they could fall to communism and so could other states according to the domino theory. America had to fight in other countries to prevent the spread of communism. Communist could easily influence the united states and overthrow the U.S government if they let them. There were many reasons why america was scared of communism not just russia's red scare but they also had threats coming from cuba and their communist
This fear includes communism not only within our nation but internationally as well. As secretary of state, John Foster Dulles stated that if communism captures any American state it will “increase the danger to the entire free world” (Document B). Moreover, Dulles feared Latin America particularly due to their close proximity and the idea that if one state becomes communist then the rest will follow, otherwise known as the domino theory. However, a note to keep in mind about Dulles is that he favored the policy of massive retaliation, a nuclear strategy supporting the idea that if the United States was attacked, we would retaliate with an even greater force which only intensified the fear. In addition, not only were we afraid of what the Soviets would do to those states around them, but a striking fear became present through the possibility of spies within the United States.
During the outbreak of the Cold War, the US was affected in its domestic and foreign policy through a culture of fear and the subsequent need to contain communism through military, economic, and social policy measures. During the beginning of the Cold War the US was affected greatly in its domestic policy. The red scare is a term that describes the hysteria about the perceived threat of communism in the US during the outbreak of the Cold War. In the US there was a huge panic about communism destroying the American way of life.
There was widespread fear that secret communism spies would come in and infiltrate the country without the people knowing. The United States citizens though these spies would destroy the country from the inside out so this fear forced immigration bans to be placed on people coming from communist countries or their allies. Even Senator Joseph McCarthy talks of the threat and fear of internal communism to be a menace in 1950. He wrote, “As one of our outstanding historical figures once said, “When a great democracy is destroyed, it will not be because of enemies from without, but rather enemies from within.” Every United States citizen was fearful of this happening so they were not hesitant to expose anything that they believed could lead to communism playing into the mass hysteria.
This ruined many people’s reputation and career. What makes it interesting is the fact that during WWII the Soviet Union would have already breech national security having spies in the US with the help of many american civilians. J. Edgar Hoover had an agency that did extensive files on suspects by the use of wiretapping, surveillance, and the infiltration of the leftist group. This was a huge amount of excess power in the government. In the end of the Red Scare only two people were executed.
This fear of Communism was caused by communist and anarchist ideas held by Russia that would encroach on American ideals. The Russian Revolution was when the Bolsheviks(Communist Party) took control of Russia and made it into the Soviet Union. (Childress,3) This led to the Red Scare and the fear of communism that became ingrained in American culture during the 20s. During World war two America was allied with the Soviet Union.
Joseph McCarthy produce a series of investigations and hearings during the 1950s in an effort to expose supposed communist infiltration of various areas of the U.S. government. The fear of Russia played a major factor in McCarthyism. Around those times there was a deep fear among the American people and government of Russia. This allowed for a much easier path to investigate the alleged communists without any pushback. As McCarthy built up speed there was less and less pushback and more support from pouring in from all corners of America.
America and the Soviet Union were allies during WWII, but it was a “tense ally” (Cold War History). “They now see each other as archenemies” (Out of Many, p. 581) now that the war is over. America was in fear of communism from the Soviet Union and was doing everything in their power to defeat the Soviet Union. In 1947 President Truman made a speech and stated: “ the preservation and freedom of all Americans depended on containing communism” (Out of Many, p. 584) and Truman helped to generate popular support for an anti-communist
The Cold War was a war of threats. After the end of World War II, there was a spread of two different types of government, democracy and communism. There was the Western and the Soviet spheres of influence. The difference between the governments resulted a conflict, which led to the Cold War. Threats were made to stop the spread of each other’s ideology, but one of them must be dominant for peace can be created when there is an unity of a single type of government in Europe.
Because of the panic of an attack by the Soviet Union, a rational fear of the spreading of communism, and the belief that totalitarian ideas opposed the ideals of freedom and democracy being outrageous concerns were raised in the American
McCarthyism resulted in Americans turning against each other because of fear of communist takeover, overbearing political power, and protecting their reputation. Clearly, Americans feared the idea of a communist takeover. One reason Americans were filled with anxiety about communist infiltration was because, “... in 1949 when Communists led by Mao Zedong took
The Red Scare in the United States instilled fear among many Americans in the 20th century. The first Red Scare started in 1917 when the communists took over Russia during the Russian Revolution. It died out in 1920 after no communist uprising began. The second communist uprising began in the late 1940s when Wisconsin Senator Joe McCarthy claimed to have a list of communists working in the American government. Joe McCarthy brought the fear of a communist uprising back into America.
During the Cold War, hysteria in the U.S. ensued over the perceived threat of Communism. This mass hysteria became known as ‘The Red Scare’ due to Communist’s loyalty to the red flag. These fears were not totally unfounded, as the USSR had been spying inside America for a long time. The Red Scare became influential to world history by causing leaders to pass acts that would not have been passed otherwise that reduced the Communist Party to a shadow of its past self..
The causes of the Red Scare was a major deal going on back in the day. Around that time World War 1 Americans was vulnerable and scared. They had many workers joining major unions. Polices was going on strike in September in 1919 even though they wanted to contribute fears. They led many immigrants from Russia to attend the United States Government.
This kind of hysteria caused the Red Scare, which was a period that Americans thought communists were working to destroy America. This mass fear of communism ruined people’s lives and made them turn against their own family and friends. Joseph McCarthy played an
The Cold War was a “hybrid” war between the United States and the Soviet Union that started right after the end of World War II in 1947 (Two Super…). Both countries had strong political tensions toward each other. During the Cold War, although the two countries did not battle each other militarily, as a result of all the escalating tensions, the threat of an outright war made all parties nervous. The two countries, along with each other’s allies, differed in their opinions on postwar arrangements, with the Soviets backing out of their promise in the Yalta agreement, they were more interested in the spread of communism in the post WWII era.