America's Rise In America After The Cold War

What were the cold war fears of the American people in the aftermath of the second world war? How successfully did the administration of President Dwight D. Eisenhower address these fears? Use the documents and your knowledge of the years 1948 – 1961 to construct your response.

During the cold war, the United States engaged in many aggressive policies both at home and abroad, in which to fight communism and the spread of communist ideas. Faced with a new challenge and new global responsibilities the U.S. needed to retain what it had fought so strongly for in World War II. It needed to contain the communist ideas pouring from the Soviet Union while preventing communist influence at home, without triggering World War III. With the policies of containment, McCarthyism, and brinkmanship, the United States hoped to effectively stop the spread of communism and their newest threat, the Soviet Union.

 Despite the name being a “cold war”, the possibility and threat of a real war was always looming over the heads of Americans. The Russians had now built weapons that could wipe everything of the face of the earth. What affected Americans the most was The Cuban Missile crisis. The fact that the war could start with a single press of a button really frightened the Americans. People were trembling at the sound of war, they even began to build bomb shelters in their homes that they can run to, in case of a bombing. (Document 3) Moreover, these bomb shelters became very popular during these times, I believe this displays how much this war scarred the Americans; even though, it wasn’t technically a physical war they were scarred of what it could bring to them if it progressed to the next level.

During this time, Americans focused most of their fears on communist subversion throughout the country and the possible threat of an atomic war with the detonation of the Soviet Union 's first atomic bomb in 1949. There was a constant unease within the people that made it extremely difficult to trust one another without the suspicion that they supported the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) or had some sort of communist ties. The nationwide suspicion led to surveillance and exposure

The Cold War, which was considered the “years of maximum danger,” lasted from 1949-1962. This period brought an increasing sense of danger to America because the Soviet Union came into possession of an atomic bomb in 1949; an idea many Americans thought to be impossible unless the Soviet Union had a spy in the United States, which they did. Because the Soviet Union had an atomic bomb, a nuclear war became a reality. In Kenneth Rose’s “One Nation Underground” he told of rising issues associated with the Cold War and the threat of nuclear bombings. The Cold War, in conjunction with the inventions of (total destructive) bombs, generated new dangers, fears, and morality issues among Americans, which led to further increased fears.

During the 1950’s, Communism was a major fear that Democratic nations such as America were afraid of because of its radical ideas. The actions taken due to the Red Scare and the rise of McCarthyism were necessary and completely justified to protect America’s freedom and government from Communist power. With an increase of Communistic nations invading other countries and forcing their ideas upon them there was an uproar of fear in the United States. The Domino Theory was a legitimate fear of if one nation falling to communism, every nation around it would fall as well. Focusing their attention to VIetnam especially, America increased military control in these regions. Multiple Legislative actions taken by the United States such as the creation of the HAUC and the Espionage and Sedition acts were necessary to stop threats to America’s freedom. The heated tensions between the Soviet Union and the United States during the Cold War contributed to the fear of an attack from the East. Senator McCarthy’s convincing accusations lead to many accurate accusations as well as the rise of McCarthyism. Valid points were brought up about president Roosevelt’s New Deal policies of having capitalistic characteristics. While some actions did take away the civil liberties of some Americans, and were not always accurate, they were necessary to protect American Democracy, as well as the safety of the citizens.

Many of the policies implemented during Truman’s administration were provoking in the minds of the Soviets. And Americans would have probably been less fearful if President Truman hadn’t emphasized Communism as such a big threat. He installed fear in the minds of the citizens and other officials. Maybe not a fear of any tangible threat communism posed but the simple idea of being taken over, from abroad and

How successfully did Eisenhower’s administration address Cold War fears after WWII from 1948 to 1961?

Immediately after World War II, the world was thrown into a massive ideological conflict between the United States and the Soviet Union, which culminated into the Cold War. The Cold War ignited overwhelming, panic-inducing fears across the United States, and Dwight D. Eisenhower, elected in 1952 and remained president until 1960, was faced with the challenge of quelling the fears of the American people. Americans during the Cold War, particularly during the presidency of Eisenhower, had constant fears of Soviet expansion, the pertinent anticommunist crusade at home, the spread of communism, and the neverending uneasiness of total nuclear annihilation, all fears which the Eisenhower administration would inadequately allay.

From 1953 to 1962, people were asked what the largest fear and problem is in America. For those 10 years, war was the biggest fear (document 3). When Russia had built their first atomic bomb, Americans feared for their lives. They started pouring money and resources into building bomb shelters, to prepare for nuclear war (document 5). During the Cold War, America’s defense budget jumped 1940 to 1960. It started at 18% and grew to 52% by 1960 (document 8).

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 United States feared they would lose the nuclear war, therefore they based their money budget solely on weapons and missiles. The U.S had two thousand and four hundred sixty strategic weapons; five thousand and five hundred forty three nuclear weapons. In “The Most Important Problem Facing the United States” there were international tensions between the Soviet Union and the United States, communism being the main cause (Doc 3). The United States wanted to have more power than the Soviets, for example in 1949 the Soviets tested an atom bomb of their own and in response President Truman announced the United States would build an even more destructive atomic weapon. In 1961, the CIA landed a strike which was a full invasion of Cuba, this therefore caused the Cubans not to trust the United States. All this discussion about war and threats from other territories terrified American citizens so greatly that they turned on each other. In the political protest photographs, “Reactions to the Trial of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg”, it shows a divided society (Doc 4). The two different photographs are debating Julius and Ethel Rosenberg’s fate, are they guilty of being communists or not? The final verdict depends completely on what the American society thinks. Since people were afraid of nuclear war and destruction, fallout and bomb shelters were created to keep citizens safe during the war. In the “Building a Bomb Shelter”, American families built Bomb shelters to protect themself from the dangers of war (Doc 5). The Cold War impacted many aspects of American society, particularly the effect war had on

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 threat of nuclear war in the 1950's was real and was one that was on the mind nearly every person in both the United States and the United Kingdom. After the end of the Second World War the world can be seen to be split into two sides, the East and the West, Communism and Democracy. After the Second World War the Soviet Union became paranoid with the West as well as the United States become paranoid of the Communist East, and after the Soviets had made their first nuclear bomb this created massive friction between the NATO alliance and the Soviet Union and the eastern bloc. Only after the soviet union had obtained the hydrogen bomb and began to stockpile nuclear warheads in the 1950's did the real fear of nuclear annihilation begin to

The Cold War was the ideological conflict between the two superpowers of the world, the democratic United States of America and the communist Soviet Union. For over fifty years the two superpowers fought each other indirectly for power and control of the world. The Cold War started after the end of the Second World War in 1945 when the eyes of both superpowers were no longer looking at Nazi Germany, but instead at each other and the fate of the rest of the world. The Cold War began after the Second World War had ended, although tensions between the two new superpowers, United States and Soviet Union, had been lasting since 1917 with the start of the Bolshevik revolution in Russia. With the start of the Second World War, tensions were put