America was once described as baseball and apple pie. The Cold War forced small town America to choose between a simpler time and a new modernized age. The United States being a superpower in the Cold War has locked horns with the Soviet Union over which form of government was best. The struggle for power in both countries consisted of espionage, counter warfare, propaganda and a space race. The Cold War had formed a new frontier of changes. The U.S. society had been divided. Americans were having to choose between simple small town traditional values or future innovative advances and cultural changes.
In the 1962 film, Red Nightmare illustrates a society of traditional mid-town America. A place not in the new frontier of changes. This movie demonstrates the consequences of not embracing the future. A town that chose not to go forward. A society under communistic rule without constitutional rights. American freedoms have vanished. The people who are now comrades have lost their right of free speech, free press, the right to worship, freedom to
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The threat of nuclear annihilation, space race and the spread of communism divided American society. Some Americans did not want to change. They wanted to keep the small town life with traditional values and culture. Some Americans changed with the times. The Cold War pushed the envelope in culture, science and politics. Americans could read new forms of writing and poetry. They could enjoy new creative art and listen to the different music of Motown and jazz. Frank Kaplan’s The Year Everything Changed 1959 captured this revolution of culture. The jet plane made the world smaller. The microchip changed the world of electronics. The birth control pill, changed women’s lives. Women now had a say in their lives. America was winning the space race and the frontier of outer space. Americans conquered these issues and challenges and changed American society
Right after the Second World War ended, the prolonged Cold War between communism and capitalism began. This war lasted about 45 years between the United States and the Soviet Union. After the fall of the common enemy, Nazism, these two nations became instant global rivals. They fought over human rights, democratic elections, individual liberties, and religious freedom. America wanted every nation to be free like itself. This push for the Soviet Union to be the same started the Cold War. Just like any other war, after it was over it brought many different new challenges to America, like great lost from war, the Red Scare, and new threats.
Following the Second World War, the United States had gotten involved in the Cold War. The United States and Soviet Union had become the two superpowers, vividly proving their strengths in the most recent war. These strengths, however, caused a rivalry to form between the two, and would affect the United State’s domestic policy and American society throughout the Cold War. Communism and the threat of war were the most prominent aspects which affected the United States both economically and socially.
Throughout the Cold War, America grew into a state of frenzy, the US was in fear of communism taking hold across Europe and the USSR wanted to create a line of allies between themselves and Germany, Russia had just been attacked twice by m by Germany in 50 years and did not want it to happen again. With Russia trying to create more communist allies for protection and America's fear of the spread of communism adding in miscommunication and mistrust the two countries clash and a metaphorical iron curtain fell down between the democratic West and communist east. This affected US domestic policy and society in many ways including fear of the spread of communism, preparing for war activities, and competition with the Soviets. A great way to show how fear of the spread of communism or the red scare affected
The late 1940′s were a time when much change happened to the American society. As a result to the expanding threat of the Soviet Union, or its Communistic ideals, America took a stand that lead it to the Cold War. Although the war didn’t involve fighting directly with Russia, it still affected the American society and domestic policy. The war affected America so much that it lead to a fear of livelihood; precisely when Joseph McCarthy began his “witch hunt”. The Cold war lead to an enlarged fear of nuclear war; as well, it affected many of the domestic policies.
The Cold War forced America to change its economy from a nineteenth century, industrialized economy to a modern, mobilized economy in order to keep the United States ready for any conflict and for intervention. Through the battles between communism and capitalism, a military-industrial complex was created, meaning the government's role in keeping America in a constant state of alert and readiness was put into place.
Since the founding fathers signed the Declaration of Independence, the United States of America has experienced a great amount of changes from then to now. One example of change in America occurred during a time of great prosperity. In the 1920’s America experienced a time of enjoyment and where no one fretted over money. However, after the stock market crash in 1929, America entered the Great Depression, forever altering history. The Great Depression caused many people to lose their jobs and many people did not how to get their next meal. This was a time of great change. Another change occurred when the United States came out of the Great Depression, a time of great suffering, into World War II. The second world war caused America to stop
The early Cold War impacted the United States on the American home front in a number of ways. Many Americans lived in constant fear that they would be bombed at any moment and the paranoia that communism would take over the U.S. government. Yet, the Cold War also brought about positive transformation to the nation economically, politically, and socially. These changes helped calm people's fear and trust was regained in each other, and in the United States government.
The Cold War had a significant impact on American foreign policy, changing it substantially in both attitudes to social and economic factors. The heavy influence of a difference in political standing between the Soviet Union and the United States, in conjunction with the high tensions that followed in the post war period, set the foundations for American foreign policy to adapt and change to better suit the developing political agender of the time. Socially, the two sides were heavily split, with the Soviet Union seeking communist support and allies whilst the US sought to counter their progress in a similar manner. Economically these relations with foreign countries that either joined the eastern or western blocs helped to further the
The Red Scare lasted from 1947 to 1957. The Red Scare was a fear driven phenomenon brought on by the growing power of communist countries in the wake of the Second World War. Most significantly the Soviet Union was feared because of their major role in the communist party. Many in the U.S. feared that the Soviet Union and its allies were planning to forcefully spread communism around the globe. By overthrowing both democratic and capitalist countries as it went. With the Soviet Union occupying much of Eastern and Central Europe, many in the U.S. perceived their fears of communist expansionism as confirmed. The U.S. also feared that communist agents had infiltrated the federal government. A massive suspicion broke out on who was a part of the
After World War II, only two world superpowers remained: the United States of America and the Soviet Union. The contradictory political regimes of the democratic United States and the communist Soviet Union were believed to be mutually exclusive which increased bitterness between them. Inevitably, the apparent tension between the two superpowers led to the Cold War which lasted about 45 years. It was war without bloodshed or battle, instead it was a metaphorical war where the U.S and the Soviet Union increased their weapons and fought for political influence, one always wanting to excel or maintain within the range of the other. The United States’ desperate need to contain the communist political ideology from spreading any further and meet the Soviet Union’s increased development of nuclear weapons led to the their involvement in the Cold War. The impact the Cold War had on life during the 1950’s and 1960’s can be measured through the creation of the House Un-American
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.
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.
During the years between 1920 and 1960, America saw change in many aspects of life. The United States was a part of two major wars and a crash of the banking system that crippled the economy greater than ever seen in this country’s history. Also the country had new insecurities to tackle such as immigration and poor treatment of workers. These events led to the change of America lives socially, economically, and politically. The people of America changed their ideas of what the country’s place in the world should be. The issues challenging America led the country to change from isolation to war, depression to prosperity, and social change. The threats to American way of life, foreign and domestic, were the changing forces to the
Since its inception, America as a nation has developed and progressed according to trends of change that collectively define an era. Like all other eras, the time period of 1875-1925 experienced growth, changes, movements, and new ideals. It is the way that these changes came about that defines this era. Americans started to push for changes in many arenas of life that were previously unchallenged. New experiences and opportunities were also presented to America that caused tributaries in the former American ideal. These pressures for change could not be ignored and thus America continued its maturity in a new and unique manner. The changes in the American sphere of life and the development of greater
“The Cold War became a dominant influence on many aspects of American society for much of the second half of the twentieth century. It escalated due to antagonist values between the United States, representing capitalism and democracy, and the Soviet Union, representing communism and authoritarianism” (Tradshad, par. 1). This long lasting war had a lot of negative effects on the American people, but also helped many in a positive way of becoming free citizens. Although most people had feelings of hatred toward the Soviet Union, a sense of fear swept over the United States and many actions had to be taken to keep the enemy and their influences out. 4 done.