War War War
Joseph McCarthyJoseph McCarthy was a senator who tried to expose communists. His accusations of these traitors and spies were so intimidating that no one dared to speak out against him. The Republican-led House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) was determined to extirpate communist subversion in the U.S. Later, Congress passed the McCarran Internal Security Act that required all subversives to be submitted to government supervision. All of this created an atmosphere of fear, which made a perfect environment for anti-communist McCarthy to be able to spread "mccarthyism" (the practice of making accusations of subversion or treason). Because of mccarthyism, more than 2,000 government employees lost their jobs.
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Nuclear Arms RaceDuring the Cold War there was an arms race (a rapid increase in quantity/quality of military power). Both the U.S. and Russia built up a massive stockpile of nuclear weapons. The U.S. seemed to produce more and more destructive bombs to be used in war. The Russians focused on producing more missiles regardless of quality and the U.S. focused more on quality then quantity. Due to all the weapons being produced there was widespread fear that humanity could not survive. The stockpiles of weapons just added to the uncertainty and instability of that time.
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Cuban Missile CrisisThe Cuban Missile Crisis was a very pivotal moment in The Cold War. It was a political and military standoff over the installation of nuclear-armed Soviet missiles on Cuba and it lasted 13 days. In October 1962 President Kennedy was informed of a discovery of Soviet nuclear missiles in Cuba. President Kennedy decided to enact a naval blockade around Cuba, which made it clear that America was prepared to use military force if needed. Disaster of world destruction was avoided when the U.S. agreed to Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev's offer. They would remove the Cuban missiles as long as the U.S. promised to not invade Cuba.
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