"The cold war was the general term for the post-1945 political, ideological, strategic and military conflict between the western allies led by the United States and the Soviet Union and other communist countries." 1 This global confrontation was fuel by mutual fear and distrust. Both camps defaulted on postwar agreements which, led to further alienation.2 The end of WWII saw Europe economically devastated and in politi

Although many of his charges were false or had no evidence, McCarthyism changed the way a lot of people inside and outside of the government thought about communism. He made a lot of people scared with his redbaiting and blacklisting. The members of the Truman administration were constantly trying to defend themselves from the accusations from McCarthy that they were soft on communism and that they had communists working for their party. 21 These charges led to the government's loyalty and security programs that would show just how scared this country was of communism.

These types of loyalty oaths did not just affect jobs in the government, but others all over the United States. Many job applications had some type of loyalty oath that had to be signed. Because of these types of procedures many people were turned down for jobs and many others who had jobs lost them. 23 An example of this was the Hollywood Ten. The Hollywood Ten was a group of actors and writers in Hollywood who lost their job and were eventually jailed for their connections to communism. 24

The biggest question that was on everybody's mind during the trial was whether or not the Rosenbergs, if found guilty, would have to face the death penalty. Judge Kaufman made it very clear during the jury selection that if anyone was against using capital punishment they should not be on the jury. Even though at that time being found guilty of conspiracy against the government did not call for the death penalty, many people were worried that because of the situation with the Soviet Union and communism the death penalty could be used. Inevitably Judge Kaufman had the final say in whether the death penalty would be implemented or not.

Congress was putting pressure on the Truman administration to implement some type of security program to fight against treason in our government. Truman then implemented the Temporary Commission on Employee Loyalty. This program was designed to evaluate a government employee's feelings on communism. The Truman administration got mixed reactions to this program. Many civil rights activists felt that it was taking away peoples rights and throwing away due process. On the other hand, many Republicans thought that this program was still not enough and that more steps needed to be taken to rid the government of communists. 22

A big break came for the HUAC when in 1948 the committee started to investigate Alger Hiss. Alger Hiss was former State Department official who was accused of giving top secret documents to the Soviet Union in the past. 26 Because he had committed these acts more than 20 years before, he could not be charged for spying, but was charged for lying under oath about his involvement with the Soviet Union. 27 Alger Hiss was the first of many spies who either confessed or were caught by the government in a domino effect that eventually led to the capture and final execution of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg.

Even though McCarthy was the most influential Senator to speak out about communism, he was not the first. 18 Many Republicans had spoken out in past years. 19 In fact, most of McCarthy's accusations were made by previous Republicans. Even his speeches were not original. One reported time, one of McCarthy's speeches contained several paragraphs taken almost word for word from a speech Nixon made a few days before. 20

After seeing favorable results from the Truman Doctrine, the United States implemented the Marshall Plan. This $13 billion program was a second part of the overall containment policy. By restoring Europe's economy, it would make communism less appealing and also give the United States strong trading partners. Angered by this program, Stalin extended his control over Eastern Europe. This in turn created possible threats for the West's position in Germany, and forced Truman to create a military alliance in order restore confidence in the European countries that were allying with the U

Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 3111
Approximate Pages = 12 (250 words per page double spaced)