Life During the Cold War
Life in the USImmediately following World War II, life in the US was as good as it ever was. Most citizens were happy and living successful lives. At the same time, however, some were paranoid and feared Soviet invasion or nuclear war. Nuclear preparedness became a way of life, and many schools and businesses practiced duck-and-cover drills in case of an event. Communities installed air raid sirens and homeowners built nuclear fallout shelters as precautions. Senator Joseph McCarthy coined the term McCarthyism, the act of accusing someone without clear evidence of a crime, during the Cold War period. McCarthyism developed because many innocent people were being accused of being communist. Those accused, even if innocent, were often shamed by their communities and in some cases, fired from their jobs or imprisoned. The accusations led to a mass paranoia within the public and great feelings of distrust between citizens and in the government. Hollywood reacted to the overall mood of the nation through new Sci-Fi films that portrayed alien invaders and giant man-eating bugs that mutated from nuclear radiation. The alien invaders represented the fear of an actual Soviet invasion, and the mutated insects were an exaggeration on the public's vision of a post-nuclear world.
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Life in the Soviet Union |
Life in the the Soviet Union during the Cold War was very different from life in the US. The obvious difference was communism, which took away freedoms from everyday people. Under Stalin, the state had total control over all media, and anyone caught reading, watching, or listening to any not permitted by the government was severely punished. Paintings, drawings, poems, and novels all had to glorify Stalin's image. Education was also strictly controlled and exams were reintroduced into the system. Subjects were designated by the government, books were strictly censored, and the material taught, especially history, was overplayed. Outside of school, children were expected to join organizations that would teach them how to be a proper communist citizen. Family was made more important under Stalin, and divorces were more difficult to obtain. Healthcare was expanded, but housing and famine remained major issues for citizens across the Soviet Union.
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