FRQ+Cold+War+Fears



What were the Cold War fears of the American people in the aftermath of the Second World War? How successfully did the administration of President Dwight D. Eisenhower address these fears? Use your knowledge of the years 1948_1961 to construct your response.

1.) Communist threats: teachers swore their loyalty to the U.S. (proving their un-communist activities); magazines published stories about the “red” menace. 39 states passed laws requiring their employees to take loyalty oaths; House Un-American Activities Committee began hearings on communist influence-many lost their jobs; Hollywood studios and radio networks blacklisted employees they considered left-wing, and produced several anti-communist films and programs. -Alger Hiss: convicted of perjury for lying about providing classified documents to the soviets -Ethel and Julius Rosenberg: found guilty of conspiracy to commit espionage as part of a spy ring that had stolen atomic secrets for the Soviets -Senator Joseph McCarthy: without evidence, accused Democratic senators, members of the Truman administration, and other public officials of being or harboring communist agents. No one spoke against the accusations because denial looked like being guilty. Eisenhower ended McCarthy’s reign after McCarthy accused the Army of communist activities. 2.) Atomic Bomb: fear of a Russian atomic bomb became widespread; “Duck and Cover”; bomb shelters; -Eisenhower ended the fighting in Korea by signing an armistice-leaving Korea divided between communist and anti-communist -Eisenhower appointed John Foster Dulles as secretary of state because he advocated liberating the Eastern European countries from communism and insisted that the west should risk war rather than back down in a crisis -Eisenhower attempted to achieve “peaceful coexistence” with the U.S.S.R at the Geneva Summit Conference in 1955; however, they did not produce a no nuclear-arms-control plan; America used its atomic bomb to deter soviet aggression -Eisenhower relied on the CIA to secure anti-communist regimes 3) Fears of Communism spreading abroad: -Eisenhower formulated the Eisenhower Doctrine that dealt with Middle Eastern countries -Dulles and the "domino theory". Dulles was an aggressive Secretary of State who aggressively tried to combat communism abroad, not merely contain it. -although, there were better relations with the Soviets once Khrushchev came into power; thawed relations. (U-2 incident in the 1960s harmed it)