The Cold War

The Cold War dominated international relations from the late 1940s to the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991. The conflict centered around the intense rivalry between two superpowers, the Communist empire of the Soviet Union and the leading Western democracy, the United States. Competition between these powers and their allies was usually conducted by means short of armed conflict but, in several instances, the Cold War took the world dangerously close to a nuclear war. Many see Truman's policies as a reasonable response to Soviet efforts to increase Communist influence in the world. Critics, however, argue that Truman misunderstood and overreacted to Russia's historic need to secure its borders. Others increasingly attacked his administration as being weak or "soft" on communism. The American political, economic, and social life was both affected and altered by the early years, 1946 to 1952, of the Cold War. In the early years of the Cold War, America began to adopt a new policy in U.S. involvement in world affairs. Early in1947, Truman adopted the advice of three top advisers in deciding to "contain" Soviet aggression. Truman also broke with American tradition of foreign affairs by entering into NATO.

Truman's containment policy, which was to govern U.S> foreign policy for decades, was formulated by the secretary of state, General George Marshall and his advisors. They believed that a long containment of Russian expansive tendencies would eventually cause the Soviets to back off their Communist ideology of world domination and live in peace with the other nations of the world. Truman first implemented the containment policy in response to Soviet threats. One of these threats was a Communist-led uprising against the government in Greece.

Another of these threats was the Soviet demands for some control of Turkey's Dardanelles. In what later became known as the Truman Doctrine, Truman asked Congress in 1947 for $400 million in economic and military aid to assist the "free people" of Greece and Turkey against "totalitarian" regimes. Another new policy in American involvement in world affairs was the joining of NATO. America, since Washington's time, had avoided permanent alliances with other countries. However, Truman broke this tradition. In 1949 he recommended that the United States join a military defense pact to protect Western Europe. The Senate gave its consent and ten European nations joined this pact with the United States and Canada. This created the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), a military alliance for defending all members from outside attack. These are just some of the new policies of U.S. involvement in world affairs that were developed during the early years of the Cold War.

In the early years of the Cold War, American began to adopt many new changes in areas such as government size and civil liberties. In 1947, the Truman administration, under pressure form Republican critics, set up a Loyalty Review Board to investigate the background of more than 3 million federal employees. Thousands of officials and civil service employees either resigned of lost their jobs in a probe that went on for four years, 1947 to 1951. In addition, the leaders of the American Communist party were jailed for advocating the overthrow of the U.S government. In the case of Dennis et. A. v. United States (1951), the Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of the Smith Act of 1940, which made it illegal to advocate or teach the overthrow of the government by force of to belong to an organization with this objective.

Congress passed the McCarran Internal Security Act, which made it unlawful to advocate or support the establishment of a totalitarian government, restricted the employment and travel of those joining Communist front organizations and authorizing the creation of detention camps for subversions. IN the House of Representatives, the Un-American Activities Committee, originally established in 1939 to seek out Nazis, was reactivated in the postwar years to find Communists. The committee not only investigated government officials but also looked for Communist influences. Actors, directors, and writers were called before the committee to testify. Those who refused to testify were tried for contempt of Congress. Others were blacklisted to. This was a complete change from before the cold war. Civil Rights had been a liberty that had been valued by most Americans. These actions taken during the Cold War were in direct violation of a person's civil liberties.

The Cold War seems to be the unintended result of a series of misunderstandings on both sides, the United States and the Soviets. Each action by one side to increase its security was judged as an act of aggression by the other side. An example of this vicious circle was the arms race in nuclear weapons. The recent collapse of the Soviet Union will have a major effect of later historical interpretations of the origins of the Cold War. However, one thing is for certain American way of life was changed forever during the Cold War.