Harrison Swales

Justin Prince

HIST-1493

12/9/20

The United States Views Towards the Cold War

The Cold War was a war of great impact. Change was happening everywhere in the

United States over the course of the 1950s-1970s. The population began to think for themselves

and speak out about things that they thought the government was doing wrong. The Women’s

Rights Movement of the 60s-70s protested for equal rights and personal freedom for women.

This movement known as the “second wave” of feminism led to the affirmation of the right to

abortion. The Civil Rights Movement advocated for equal rights regardless of color of skin.

People like Martin Luther King Jr., Rosa Parks, and Malcom X all were a part of this movement

that took place throughout the 50s and 60s. While the United States had its handful at home, they

were also facing a full plate from forces outside of their continent. The only power that in any

way could rival the United states was the Soviet Union, whose armies now occupied most of

eastern Europe, including the eastern part of Germany.1 The threat of nuclear war could be found

around every corner of the U.S and had the majority of the population in fear. This fear caused

the government and most of the U.S. population to overreact and handle the internal threat of

communism extremely poorly. George F. Kennan proposed to contain communism where it was

1947. This began a nation-wide fear and hatred of communists and communism.

1
Eric Foner, Give Me Liberty!: An American History Brief 6th Edition 2020 Custom Edition (New York: W. W. Norton
& Company, 2020), 707.
 The end of World War II also marks the beginning of the Cold War. At the Potsdam

Conference of 1945, Truman, Stalin, and the British Prime Minister met to discuss what should

be done with Germany after the war. The Soviets wanted to use German Industry, but the U.S.

did not want to end of paying for the Germans. Eventually they came to the conclusion of

splitting Germany in sections. West Germany run by the Americans became an anti-communists

area. The west wasn’t democratic but had strong ties to the U.S. East Germany was soviet ruled

and heavily communist. In retrospect, it seems all but inevitable that the two major powers to

emerge from the war would come into conflict. Born of a common foe rather than common long-

term interests, values, or history, the wartime alliance between the United States and the Soviet

Union began to unravel almost from the day that peace was declared.2 Tensions between the two

superpowers continued to increase. The first confrontation of the Cold War took place in the

Middle East. At the end of World Wat II, Soviet troops had occupied parts of northern Iran,

hoping to pressure that country to grant it access to its rich oil fields. Under British and

American pressure, Stalin quickly withdrew Soviet forces. At the same time, however, the

Soviets installed procommunist governments in Poland, Romania, and Bulgaria, a step they

claimed was no different from American domination of Latin America or Britain’s determination

to maintain its own empire.3 The famous Long Telegram of 1946 warned the United States that

the Soviets could not be dealt with as a normal government. They were spreading their

communist ideology all over the world and only the Americans had the ability to stop them. This

telegram laid the foundation for what became known as the policy of “containment” according to

which the United States committed itself to preventing any further expansion of Soviet power.

2
Eric Foner, Give Me Liberty!: 707
3
Eric Foner, Give Me Liberty!: 708
 Occupied by Japan during WWII, Korea had been Divided in 1945 into Soviet and

American zones These zones soon evolved into two governments: communist North Korea and

anticommunist South Korea, undemocratic but aligned with the United States. In June 1950, the

North Korean army invaded the south, hoping to reunify the country under communist control.4

This was the beginning of the Cold War becoming hot. The Truman administration convinced

the United Nations to help fight the invasion. Truman hoped to unite Korea under a pro

American government. However, in October of 1950 UN forces approached the Chinese border

and were repelled by thousands of Chinese troops. MacArthur wanted to invade China and even

use nuclear force, however, Truman feared all-out war on Asian mainland and refused.

MacArthur did not fully accept the principle of civilian control of the military. When he went

public with criticism of the president, Truman removed him from the command. The war then

settled into a stalemate around the thirty-eighth parallel, the original boundary between the two

Koreas. Not until 1953 was the armistice agreed to, essentially restoring the prewar status quo.

There has never been a formal peace treaty ending the Korean War.5

World War II had increased American awareness of the problem of imperialism.6

Americans feared the idea of a sole empire ruling any part of the world and felt it their duty to

fight against it. As a result of this Americans treated communists inside the U.S. with anger and

disgust. In public opinion polls, many Americans expressed devotion to civil liberties while also

favoring depriving communists and other nonconformists of their jobs or even citizenship.

Accusations of communist activity were often framed as assertations that an individual had

betrayed or abandoned his or her American identity.7 Many Americans were roped in with the

4
Eric Foner, Give Me Liberty!: 713.
5
Eric Foner, Give Me Liberty!: 713
6
Eric Foner, Give Me Liberty!: 716
7
Eric Foner, Give Me Liberty!: 723.
communists including Jews other immigrants and gay persons. As the historian Henry Steele

argued in a 1947 magazine article, the anticommunist crusade promoted a new definition of

American loyalty and identity: conformity. Anything other than the “uncritical and

unquestioning acceptance of America as it is,” he wrote, could now be labeled as unpatriotic.8 To

help further the fight against communism laws would eventually go into effect to revoke the

citizenship of certain people. The relationship between communism and citizenship was codified

in the McCarran-Walter Act of 1952, which made it possible to revoke the citizenship and deport

an American born abroad if he or she refused to testify about “subversive” activity, joined a

subversive organization, or voted in a foreign election.9 Many Americans feared the communists

to be spies. Countless innocent suspected communists were jailed, most as a result of McCarthy.

A little-known senator from Wisconsin suddenly emerged as the chief national purser of

subversives and gave a new name to the anticommunist crusade. Joseph R. McCarthy had won

election of the Senate in 1946, partly on the basis of a fictional war record (he falsely claimed to

have flown combat missions in the pacific).10

The Cold War was a time of fear in America. Many did not know who to trust and were

afraid of communists overthrowing the government. McCarthy did not help this fear with his

fictitious list of communists within the State Department. However, the fear was just as much

external as it was internal. The constant threat of nuclear war terrified both the U.S. and the

Soviets. Mutually assured destruction was the only thing keeping either side from sending all the

nuclear firepower they had.

8
Eric Foner, Give Me Liberty!: 724.
9
Eric Foner, Give Me Liberty!: 724.
10
Eric Foner, Give Me Liberty!: 727