Anti-Communism and Mccarthyism

Anti-Communism and McCarthyism

Nitasha Johnson

HIS/145

April 28, 2011

John S. Lary

Anti-Communism and McCarthyism

The origins of the Cold War is debated by historians. Nevertheless, tt was a tense and dangerous rivalry that cast its shadow over international affairs for decades. It was stemmed from tension between the United States of America and the Soviet Union. The tension between these two nations existed even before the end of World War II in which they fought together as allies. The Cold War was a profound event in the history of the twentieth century as well as reshaped the world order in many ways. It divided much of the world into almost warring camps. The newly created atomic bomb became a central weapon in the arsenals of the United States and the Soviet Union. Also, a new conception of American foreign policy, known as containment emerged based on the belief that the principal international goal of the United States should be to contain communism within its present boundaries. Containment was used to help keep tensions low enough to avoid catastrophic nuclear war. Despite the attempt of containment, two major wars (in Korea and Vietnam) erupted and there were countless smaller conflicts allover the world.

The Cold War also transformed American politics by weakening the grip of the Democratic Party on the electorate and making the issue of communism a central part of postwar political life. In the late 1940s and early 1950s, there was an anti-communist frenzy. This frenzy was called the “Red Scare.” This was the second Red Scare of American history and had corrosive effects on American life. Competition between the Democratic and Republican parties to prove that they were the most reliable enemies of communism along with “McCarthyism” helped produce the second Red Scare of American history. According to the Christian Science Monitor (1948), “These efforts may have some useful post-election results in more effective measures for...