The cold war Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

The cold war - Essay Example Truman’s policy, also called the â€Å"containment doctrine,† was intended to suppress and control the spread of Communism worldwide. The containment promptly became the executive U.S. policy towards the USSR (â€Å"The Cold War†). In 1949, Soviet Union had effectively launched its first atomic bomb, thus ending Americas monopoly of atomic weaponry. This event started the Cold War. The US then realized that the country was faced with threats of nuclear warfare.  The government immediately commenced the investigation of the probability of the US atomic secrets leaked to the Russians by American Communists. High-status court proceedings concluded the conviction and execution of  the Rosenbergs in 1953 (â€Å"The Second Red Scare:  Fear and Loathing in High Places, 1947-1954†). Julius and Ethel Rosenberg, under the Espionage Act, were found guilty of conspiracy to commit espionage for the Soviet Union from 1944 to 1950. The Rosenbergs had been fundamentally involved in a Communist undercover agent circle that leaked US national defense secrets, particularly blueprints of high-explosive lens patterns and the US atomic bomb Trinity design, to the Soviet Union (Parrish). Truman’s war on communism ignited an anti-communist panic that led to espionage trials, an aggressive communist manhunt, and escalated aggression as the American government questioned, deported and investigated citizens suspected of being communists (â€Å"The Second Red Scare:  Fear and Loathing in High Places, 1947-1954†). Truman’s proposal that the country exercise military force to contain the global communist conspiracy started a chain of armed conflicts and deadly arms race between the U.S. and the U.S.S.R. (â€Å"Cold War†). The anti-communist hysteria precipitated the U.S. involvement in the Korean War (Sandler). The Second Red Scare occurred after the