Please do the intial post and respond to each peer listed (2)
Initial post:
Six years after Winston Churchill’s “Iron Curtain” speech, Dwight D. Eisenhower became the new leader of the United States. In that time period, several related developments occurred:
The Soviet Union acquired an atomic bomb, thereby leveling the nuclear playing field.
Subsequently, the United States engaged in a massive rearmament program that was well underway by the time Eisenhower became president.
A communist revolution in China in 1949 succeeded in overthrowing the United States–backed nationalist government, rendering China a communist state more sympathetic to the Soviet Union.
The Cold War became “hot” in Korea.
A direct confrontation in Berlin in 1948 put the United States and the Soviet Union in a state near conventional war.
For all the talk of American exceptionalism that emerged after World War II, it appears that American confidence was at least matched by American fear and anxiety. We can see this in any number of places and ways on both the international and domestic stages. So let’s use this discussion to unpack some of those anxieties.
For your initial post, choose an international or domestic event that contributed to American fear. How did that event shape the course of American development in the 1950s? Use the textbook and additional module resources to identify the key changes that took place in the United States as a result of the event.
Peer responses: In response to your classmates, select posts that analyze events different from yours. Compare the events. Did they have similar effects on the American people? How do the events demonstrate some of the broader themes of this course?
Use the textbook and additional module resources to support your answers.
Peer 1. Alex cook
The Red Scare of the 1950s and 1960s was a period of heightened fear and paranoia among Americans in regard to the Soviet Union and the threat of communism. This fear was amplified by the Space Race, a competition between the United States and the Soviet Union to be the first to explore space. Americans were concerned that the Soviets were ahead in the race and would use their technological advancements to gain an advantage in the Cold War.
The Space Race began in 1957 when the Soviets launched the first satellite, Sputnik 1, into space. This event caused a great deal of fear among Americans, who believed the Soviets were gaining an edge in the Cold War. This fear was further compounded by the launch of Yuri Gagarin, the first human to orbit the Earth, in 1961. Americans were concerned that the Soviets would use their space technology to gain a strategic advantage in the Cold War. During this time, the government launched a series of investigations and prosecutions of suspected communists, leading to a heightened sense of paranoia and distrust.
By the late 1950s, the Red Scare had begun to subside. This was due in part to the death of Joseph Stalin in 1953, which removed a major source of fear and paranoia. Additionally, the Cold War began to thaw as the United States and Soviet Union engaged in a series of diplomatic negotiations. These negotiations eventually led to the signing of the Nuclear Test Ban Treaty in 1963, which further reduced tensions between the two countries.
References:
Block, Herbert L. “Herblock Gallery Herblock Looks at Communism.” Library of Congress, March 18, 2011. https://www.loc.gov/exhibits/herblock-gallery/communism.html.
Brands, H W. 2011. American Dreams : The United States since 1945. New York: Penguin Books.
Peer 2. Elan
This fear was introduced in the pre-war period and festered in the ensuing decades. The First Red Scare was put on hold while the Soviets and US allied in the second World War. However, as Soviet influence spread, specifically in China, the fear of a global spread of communism brought the Red Scare back to the forefront for many Americans.
The rhetoric and fear mongering of Senator Joe McCarthy represents the zenith of the red scare during this time period. McCarthy was a devout anti-Communist hellbent on exposing enemies of the state. In a speech in Wheeling, West Virginia, McCarthy outlined his hypothesis that there was a secret cabal of Communists working within the federal government. “McCarthy’s recklessness finally merged with his search for a propelling issue. He explained that homegrown traitors were causing America to lose the cold war. “While I cannot take the time to name all the men in the State Department who have been named as members of the Communist Party and members of a spy ring, I have here in my hand a list of 205,” (Senate.gov.) McCarthy’s oversight in the Senate Government Operations Committee and its Permanent Subcommittee on Investigation, coupled with the growing influence of the House Un-American Activities Committee led to a formalization of the American Red Scare.
McCarthy and HUAC have taken on a historical representation of blacklisting and paranoia, infighting and espionage. The demagoguery of enemies “within and without” ultimately proved to be hearsay. McCarthy’s scare tactics did little in the way of culling a corrupt State Department. In reality, his rhetoric led to career repercussions for in Hollywood, with a predominant focus on Jewish, LGBTQ, and Black artists. The true underbelly of McCarthy’s fear mongering had more to do with prosecuting otherness than ridding the federal government of communists.
