Preview

Communism's Impact On American Society During The Cold War

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
189 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Communism's Impact On American Society During The Cold War
The Cold War period, which lasted from the late 1940s to the early 1990s, had a deep impact on American society through both domestic and foreign policy. The fear of communism led to the rise of McCarthyism, where many Americans were accused of being communists or communist sympathizers. This resulted in widespread paranoia, blacklisting, and the violation of civil liberties. Additionally, the need to maintain military superiority over the Soviet Union led to a significant increase in defense spending.

For foreign policy, the policy of containment, aimed at preventing the spread of communism, led to an arms race between the United States and the Soviet Union. This has an influence on global security and the distribution of resources. The Cold

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    Cold War for Ss310 Kaplan

    • 724 Words
    • 3 Pages

    The Cold War was a state of political, military, and economic tensions and hostilities between the Communist World, primarily the Soviet Union, and the Capitalist Western World, the United States and its allies. The Cold War lasted over 40 years because the beginning and ending of it leaves room for some debate. Some sources say it started in the mid to late 40’ after the Second World War while other historians date it back to 1917 with The Bolshevik Revolution and ending in 1991 with the collapse of the Soviet Union. In that case the Cold War then lasted for over 70 years. The periods when tensions were at the most high were from the late 40s to the 70’s. The international incidences of particular note that brought things to the boiling point were the Berlin Blockade (‘48-‘49), the Korean War (‘50-‘53), Berlin Crisis (‘61), the Vietnam War (’59-’75), and the Cuban Missile Crisis (’62). There were points, like the Cuban Missile Crisis, were the United States were very close to engaging in a nuclear war with the Soviet Union and its allies. The Cold War spread at home too during a heightened state of fear and panic called the Second Red Scare. This lasted approximately 10 years from 1947-1957 during a time when the country was worried about national and foreign communists taking over society and the federal government. Anyone, from actors to politicians, and just the ordinary working class person accused of any communist ties, could lose their job, property, and face imprisonment even with lack of proof or evidence to support the claims.…

    • 724 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In the years following World War II, the United States and the Soviet Union entered upon the brink of the Cold War, which lasted from the late 1940s into the early 1950s. During this time, the United States broke into hysteria over supposed threats of communist in the country, thus brining forth the second red scare. After rising to political power, Republican Senator Joseph P. McCarthy was not only looked upon as an enduring symbol of the red scare brining forth the term known as McCarthyism, but was able to have a profound effect on government and society forceing people to draw loyalties until the scares eventual fall.…

    • 767 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The Cold War began in 1945 and went through 1991. It was primarily over the nuclear arsenals amassed by the USA and the Soviet Union. This scared many Americans because we were targets of the bomb threats that would be dropped on them at any time. Families were building shelters and underground homes. Many in the US including government became preoccupied with satellite launches and accusing innocent people of spying.…

    • 572 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The Cold War (1945-1991) conquered international relations within a structure of political, economic, and military tension between the United States and the Soviet Union. The Cold War facilitated global leadership by the United States, and provided Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin and his successors with an enemy to validate their suppressive regime. The Cold War helped legitimize an unrepresentative government and uphold the Communist Party in the Soviet Union (Kennedy, 1989; Kissinger, 1994).…

    • 1432 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Cold War Dbq Analysis

    • 983 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Between 1945 and 1950, the tensions increased between the United States and the Soviet Union. Both superpowers, with varying standpoints on global affairs, were brought to the brink of war. As the United States pushed for the containment of communism, and the development of capitalist democracies, the Soviet Union continued to impose communist rule amongst itself and its satellite nations. Eventually, these conflicting views would lead to the start of the Cold War. Fueled by the disagreement of the U.S. and the U.S.S.R., the war would be fought indirectly through propaganda and influence from leaders, the development of alliances, as well as the arms race.…

    • 983 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    After the end of the Second World War in 1945 another war emerged, this war was the cold war. The cold war was a power struggle between Communism and Capitalism. Capitalist Americans were terrified of communists and the chance of being hurled into a nuclear war. The American fear of communism, “the red scare”, caused many citizens to become paranoid. This paranoia lead many Americans into…

    • 742 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    After WWII, America and the Soviet Union were the 2 remaining super powers of the world. A rivalry formed between the two and created the Cold War in which both nations tried to be better in any way than the other. This had great effects on the American Society and Foreign Policy.…

    • 641 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The 1950’s dealt with threats from the USSR and Communism which scared many people in the United States and soon became a full-fledged paranoia. There was fear of falling behind the advances of the Communist countries, especially among the Soviet Union, creating the Red Scare. As the Cold War with the USSR escalated, Americans increased their suspicions of Communist influences. Due to this, a special committee was formed in order to investigate Communists in America known as HUAC (The House Un-American Activities Committee). In 1947, HUAC accused ten people in Hollywood of supporting communist propaganda becoming blacklisted. As time went on, more individuals were being suspected of being Communists which eventually led to the act of McCarthyism…

    • 302 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The time period between the years 1945 and 1975 were filled with panic and concern as the Cold War was coming commencing. In a desperate attempt to halt the spread of communism, the United States administered a containment policy to rebel against communism in the Soviet Union. During 1945, Americans had a great fear of communism and caused distress and concern to many people. Soon enough, other countries such as Europe and Asia became involved in the discontinuation of communism and fight with the United States to keep communism under control. With the containment policy put into place by the United States, communism was effectively obsolete during the Cold War from the years of 1945 to 1975.…

    • 836 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    McCarthyism was the period in the late 1940's and early 1950's when radicals were removed from every part of the US society. Senator Joe McCarthy from Wisconsin blamed several political affiliates of associating with or being communist. McCarthyism succeeded in separating left-wing ideas (and their long history in the working class movements) from American Society. Truman passed the loyalty Act in 1947 which forced government workers to sign anti-communist loyalty oaths to keep their jobs. Many people went to prison during this time where they were faced with poor conditions and abuse. There were many precise areas of American society that McCarthyism touched. In the area of social rule McCarthyism may have terminated much-needed reforms. As the nation's politics swung to the right after World War II, the federal government discarded the incomplete plan of the New Deal. National health insurance, a social reform held close by the rest of the mechanized world, fell to the side. The left liberal political coalition that may have maintained health reforms and related…

    • 886 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Most people know America for its Jazz Age and 1920s prohibition. It is also popular for its robust economy before the recession that resulted in the Wall Street crash. Yet, this is not its darkest side. The communists dominated the Southern part of America and those who could not fit found that they were facing the law in its full force. As the cold war between the Soviets and Americans intensified, the Americans became hysterical about the supposed threats posed by communists in the United States. Those who supported communist beliefs and other non-American political beliefs became suspects for all kinds of misdemeanors. This dread of communism became identified as the Red Scare. The Americans believed that it was an attempt by the Soviet…

    • 1441 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    The Cold War was an almost 50-year long stretch of tense relations between the United States and the Communist-ruled Soviet Union. The Cold War started very quickly after World War II and finished with the 1991 destroying of the Berlin Wall and the disintegration of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. The dread of Communism invasion in the U.S. government, media outlet and different associations influenced American legislative issues, culture, and even day by day life, especially in the early years of the Cold War. U.S. strategy toward Communism at the end of World War II fixated on control. This approach drove Americans to see Communism as a significant issue that must be held within proper limits on inaccessible shores.…

    • 798 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    The Cold War is known as being one of the most intense ideological debates in American history. This war consisted of the United States being involved in an ongoing rivalry with the Soviet Union. By the end of 1947 the war had began, which was almost immediately after World War II had ended in 1945. The differing beliefs on Communism between the United States and the Soviet Union's leaders, Harry Truman and Joseph Stalin, was what sparked tension between the two, thus, leading them to commence a fervent clash of ideologies. There are three good examples of containment which help what it was.…

    • 103 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Cold War

    • 378 Words
    • 2 Pages

    The Cold War was a period of time in which there was a rise in political and economic tension between the USA and the Soviet Union post World War 2. The purpose was to prevent the spread of communism and the domino theory.This event lasted from 1945 to 1985. The Cold war had a large effect on the United States domestic policy and American society. Things, people and events all played an effect on generations rapidly.…

    • 378 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    cold war

    • 1675 Words
    • 5 Pages

    The growing fear of the spread of communism throughout the World during the Cold War era resulted in the United States making brash and misguided decisions stemming from the values of the containment policy. This era was marked by concern that other nations, especially those in the Western Hemisphere, would fall to Soviet influence, and additionally, that there were communist supporters within the United States, potentially in government offices. Americans became increasingly suspicious of anyone with communist ties or interests, past or present, and the government began to take further involvement in the affairs in other nations that seemed at risk to leftist revolts. This compromised the rights and privacy of many innocent Americans, and crossed into the sovereignty of other nations. During the Cold War, America compromised it’s fundamental values and at the expense of it’s own citizens and in the affairs of other nations to increase tension in this era.…

    • 1675 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Powerful Essays