Julius and Ethel Rosenberg
The outcome of the Julius and Ethel Rosenberg trial for espionage in 1951 and their subsequent execution in 1953 was directly related to the political climate at that time. The government's evidence against the Rosenbergs was not overwhelming, but due to a combination of fear and political pressure, the guilty verdict was inevitable. Even though Julius did not deliver the secrets of the atomic bomb to Moscow, nor did they cause the Korean War, as Judge Kaufman claimed, the pair were sentenced to death. Their death confirmed their guilt because America would never kill innocent people. Their execution also reinforced the heinous nature of their crime and other soviet spys' crimes as well. The fear of communism and the cold war sealed the fate for Julius and Ethel Rosenberg. "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 poli
The fight against communism was not only occurring overseas, but in the United States itself. People started to view communism as the downfall of human civilization thanks in big part to a senator from Wisconsin named Joseph McCarthy. Joseph McCarthy made communism a household word and being communist a sin. By using convincing speeches, and intimidating and threatening accusations, he lit the spark that ignited a series of witch hunts and caused America to question its own loyalty. When they met together, Fuchs outlined the new developments that were taking place and what information he had on the bomb. 35 He told Raymond as much as he could and that he would keep him informed. Later that year he reported on the test of the bomb and exact specifications and size of the bomb. 36 He gave the Soviets our most precious secret at that time to some of the most dangerous people in the world. 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 Because of widely spread fear and hatred for the communist party and its beliefs, and the pain and turmoil the cold war put us through, the United States government was extra hard on the Rosenbergs. Although the government will never say they did not give the Rosenbergs a fair trial, they might admit that because of the situation at the time they were given a harsher penalty for their mistakes. In the past five years, two United States citizens, one a CIA agent and the other a navy officer, were found guilty of espionage and treason. In their cases Americans actually lost their lives because of their acts, but neither of them received the death penalty. The reason they got off without the death penalty was because we were not fighting a war at that time. Because the United States was in a cold war with the Soviet Union at the time of their trial, Julius and Ethel were executed for their crimes that should have only got them long prison terms.
Some common words found in the essay are:
Soviet Union, Republican Party, Judge Kaufman, Ethel Rosenberg, David Greenglass, Sing Sing, Rosenberg's Sobell's, Employee Loyalty, Un-American Activities, Joseph McCarthy, soviet union, julius ethel, ethel rosenberg, julius ethel rosenberg, death penalty, communist party, atomic bomb, cold war, western allies, judge kaufman, found guilty, united soviet union, united nuclear capabilities, leader soviet union, active communist party,
Approximate Word count = 3111
Approximate Pages = 12 (250 words per page double spaced)
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