Cold War History: McCarthyism and Nuclear Weapons Race

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Table of Contents

American Freedom
McCarthyism and the domestic freedoms
Nuclear Weapons Arms Race
Conclusion
References

The foreign and the domestic policy by the US was featured by the increased fear of communism, and all the efforts were aimed to struggle with the leftist views, regardless of the fact, that the people’s freedoms were often violated. The policy of McCarthyism was paranoidly chasing the citizens, who were suspicious in communistic views. Sometimes these suspicions were groundless, and it is argued, that Joseph McCarty used this approach in his personal interests. As for the Nuclear Weapons Race, it should be stated, that the whole world lived in the fear of nuclear war. Regarding the international policy of the Cold War Period, it may seem, that the USA chased only its own interests, regarding the other states as the tools of achieving the American Dream.

American Freedom

First of all, it is necessary to mention, that the idea of freedom is ever-present in the US, and this concept followed with the principles of our policy throughout the history of independent America. Eric Foner, in his “The Story of American Freedom,” regards it as the matter of constant conflicts and debates, as freedom is the matter of lots of arguments by its nature, as freedom for one sometimes means the loss of freedom for the other. Moreover, the society, that called itself the society of the widest freedoms and opportunities could not discriminate against the racial minorities, but the US society did.

McCarthyism and the domestic freedoms

McCarthyism was primarily aimed to struggle with communism and the leftist views in the government and among celebrities. Initially, the principles of witch-hunt were widely accepted, and the citizens, who were suspected in the communistic views, were fired from their jobs and subjected to the allover shame.

The period of the 1940s – 1950s was featured by the increased tensions in the Cold War. Consequently, the fear of the communists was also increasing, and the witch-hunt often acted with no investigation and trial. The “Hollywood blacklist” included the names of well-known politics, actors, and scientists, who were suspected of sympathizing with the communists. The absurdity of the situation was so ridiculous, that even Albert Einstein – the man who was particularly indifferent to politics ‑ was included in this list. From this point of view, it should be mentioned, that most suspects were groundless. Consequently, it is a direct violation of human freedoms, as tyranny and totalitarianism use the same means to get rid of the people, who oppose the system (Foner, 1999).

Finally, the witch-hunt was regarded to be in the personal interests of Joe McCarthy, as he included into the blacklist even those, who helped him to struggle with the communists in the government, and “repressed” them. The Hollywood blacklist in particular, and the witch-hunt and the McCarthyism in general ruined lots of lives and careers, as innocent people suffered from it. The absurdity of the situation was also in the fact, that the blacklist included homosexuals, while sexual minorities rarely passionately support any political views, consequently, it is another argument against the righteousness of the McCarthyism approach.

Nuclear Weapons Arms Race

The arms race, as another indicator of the Cold War tensions, was the way for both sides to show supremacy, and it was considered, that the bigger the nuclear potential – the larger the influence. The Cuban Missile Crisis may be regarded as the peak of the tensions, caused by the arms race. The violation of human freedoms, and chasing personal ambitions was prevailing for the US. It is known, that the missiles were set up in Cuba in response for the setting up the American missiles in Turkey. Initially, the US government and President Kennedy considered, that the USSR did not know about the location of the missiles in Turkey, and wished to force the Soviet government to take off the missiles from Cuba. Before that, the military top of the US persuaded President Kennedy to start the bombing of Cuba – the state, that just wanted to live free and grant happiness and welfare to its citizens. When it was found, that some missiles are ready for launch, Kennedy refused to bombings, as it could cause the war conflict. Nevertheless, Cuba was under economic blockade for they only wish to be free, and have someone, who would support it in this strive.

Cuba is just the brightest example of the violation of human freedoms by the USA during the period of the Cold War. In general, the whole world was under the fear of nuclear war, when the tensions of the Cold War increased. Luckily, there were few serious precedents for the tension escalation, nevertheless, only two Superpowers kept the whole world (Breines, 2002).

The containment strategy was aimed to amass the number of nuclear payloads enough for the mass attack that was aimed to destroy the most significant infrastructures and the governmental buildings. The USSR, in its turn, aimed to amass a larger amount of nuclear weapons, in order to contain the USA. This race could last eternally until the heads of the two states (Leonid Brezhnev and Jimmy Carter) agreed to decrease the number of nuclear weapons. This was the only moment of the Cold War when the superpowers agreed to think not only about their ambitions but also about the possible destiny of the world if there is a place for mistake.

The nuclear weapon race itself is a violation of human freedoms not only because of the danger of possible nuclear war, but also because the nuclear payloads are rather expansive for manufacturing, stockpiling, and, finally, eliminating. These resources could be directed for the help of starving children, for the help to cancer and AIDS deceased and so on.

Conclusion

In conclusion, it is necessary to mention, that American freedoms are spread only along with the US territory, and the USA often violate the freedoms of other peoples, and even of the American citizens to satisfy personal political interests. It is necessary to mention, that the approaches of McCarthyism and the Nuclear Arms Races were given as the brightest examples of the violation of freedoms. It should be emphasized, that his violation takes its origin in the concept of superiority (superiority of political beliefs, or the superiority on the basis of power), which is initially faulty, as everyone is free to choose the political views, and it is one of the key principles of democracy. Thus, the policy, held by the USA during the Cold War contradicted the principles of democracy and threatened world safety.

References

Breines, B. Taking it to the Streets New York Press publishing, 2002
Foner, E. The Story of American Freedom W. W. Norton & Company publishing, 1999

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Cold War History: McCarthyism and Nuclear Weapons Race

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