HIST 405N Week 7 Discussion: The Cold War and America
HIST 405N Week 7 Discussion: The Cold War and America
How did the Cold War affect the social and
... [Show More] political climate in the United States during the 1950s? In particular, how do you explain McCarthyism and the Red Scare? Can you think of any modern parallels to these events, when fear and paranoia threatened basic American liberties? Elaborate.
ANSWER
Hello Professor and Classmates,
After WWII, the Cold War was a very tense period particularly from a political and military standpoint. The tension was the result of the war for power between the Western Bloc and Eastern Bloc; this lasted until the collapse of the USSR in 1991 (Keene, Cornell, & O'Donnell, 2013). The escalating factor was the different values between the United States and the Soviet Union. The United States represented capitalism and democracy, while the Soviet Union was the representation of communism and authoritarianism (Keene, Cornell, & O'Donnell, 2013). Socially, the impact was evident in the growth in anticommunist sentiments, the local impact of the Better American League of South California; the abolishment of racial inequality and discrimination and the rise of fair employment; and the desegregation in all public schools and the banning of racial abuse in households and public places (Keene, Cornell, & O'Donnell, 2013). From a political perspective, there was decolonization by European countries resulting in the “vacuum of power” in Europe, which caused the reluctance of the United States to commit military forces to Eastern Europe to drive out Soviets leading to the division of land into two Blocs. Other political effects were the introduction of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) where the United States formed formal alliances with Western Europe; the containment to preserve expansion of communism resulting in Korean and Vietnam wars which killed many Americans; and the rise to power of anti-communist presidents such as Truman, Kennedy, Nixon and Reagan – all who waged an economic warfare with the Soviet (Keene, Cornell, & O'Donnell, 2013).
McCarthyism was coined to criticize the anti-communist views and allegations of the Republican Senator Joseph McCarthy of Wisconsin. The practice and accusations of subversion or treason without proper evidence was deemed. The effect was evident in the social outrage in communities and political distress.
Red Scare can be categorized into the first stage lasting until 1920 and the second state lasting until 1957 (Keene, Cornell, & O'Donnell, 2013). The first stage was mainly focused on the promotion of fear towards a potential rise of communism. The second stage focused on the socialist revolution and political radicalism. The national and foreign communists were focused on the Cold War, which influenced the society and the infiltrating federal government.
Modern parallels to the Cold War can be the Iran vs. the United States nuclear warfare dispute.
References
Keene, J. D., Cornell, S., & O'Donnell, E. T. (2013). Visions of America: A history of the United States. Boston: Pearson [Show Less]