Cold War Influences on American Culture, Politics, and Economics

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Following World War II, Europe was in ruins. Between bomb damage, economic downturn, and natural disasters such as droughts and blizzards it seemed nearly impossible to restore Europe to its prior greatness. America facilitated the recovery of Europe with military and financial aid and helped prevent the spread of communism. This aid crushed the Soviet dream of a communist Europe and started the Cold War. Over the next 45 years, the United States and the Soviet Union would resemble two angry women, avoiding each other at all costs and exploding into a furious rage at the first sight of the other. Many events contributed to and were derived from the Cold War such as the Truman Doctrine and Marshall Plan, the Civil Rights movement, the Space Race, the Cuban Missile Crisis, the Kennedy Assassination, and the hippie movement. Some of the most important questions that could be asked of these events are these: of what significance were they to the Cold War and where would the world be today if they had never happened? Lessons learned from the past affect everything about the future, and without these events, America, and even the world, would not be where it is today.

The Cold War was largely characterized by how the United States treated the struggling European nations. Addressing a joint session of Congress, Harry S Truman requested $400 million in military and economic aid for Greece and Turkey in the name of democracy. Truman believed the countries were facing the threat of communism if no aid was given. He proclaimed, “It must be the policy of the United States to support free peoples who are resisting attempted subjugation by armed minorities or by outside pressures” (Merrill). In the article “The Truman Doctrine: containing com...

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Davis, Sid. “We heard the shots…” American Heritage Dec. 2003: 68+. US History Collection. Web. 5 Dec. 2011.

Kershaw, Terry. “African American national leadership: a model for complementarity.” The Western Journal of Black Studies 25.4 (2001):211+. US History Collection. Web. 5 Dec. 2011

Merrill, Dennis. “The Truman Doctrine: containing communism and modernity.” Presidential Studies Quarterly 36.1 (2006): 27+. US History Collection. Web. 5 Dec. 2011.

Maddox, Robert James. “Lifeline to a sinking continent.” American Heritage July-Aug. 1997: 90+. US History Collection. Web. 5 Dec. 2011

Phillips, Charles. “May 4, 1970.” American History 39.2 (2004): 16+. US History Collection. Web. 5 Dec. 2011.

Spagnolo, Ed. “Cat and Mouse.” American Heritage Nov. 2000: 31. US History Collection. Web. 5 Dec. 2011.

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