CW - DBQ - Cold War Fears Lesson

DBQ - Cold War Fears

As you have learned, the Cold War was a period of heightened tensions. Many Americans feared that a nuclear World War III could occur that risked ending life as we know it. Communism was advancing around the globe and there were fears that communists could launch operations or even an invasion of the homeland. The fears of the communist threat were played out in several respects, including the "Red Scare". 

Read the following selection from Boundless: National Security and Nuclear Threats.

Education

Perhaps the most memorable aspect of the Cold War civil defense effort was the educational effort promoted by the government. In "Duck and Cover," Bert the Turtle advocated that children "duck and cover" when they "see the flash." Booklets were also commonplace, such as "Survival Under Atomic Attack," "Fallout Protection," and "Nuclear War Survival Skills". To further spread the message, radio Public Service Announcements (PSAs), including children's songs, were created then released by radio stations to educate the public in case of nuclear attack. The radio program Stars for Defense combined hit music with civil defense advice.

Evacuation Plans

At the dawn of the nuclear age, evacuation was opposed by the federal government. The Federal Civil Defense Administration produced a short movie called Our Cities Must Fight. It argued that in the event of a nuclear war, people need to stay in cities to help repair the infrastructure and man the recovering industries. "Nuclear radiation," it advised, "would only stay in the air a day or two."

Despite this direction from the federal government, evacuation plans were soon created. One city at the forefront of such efforts was Portland, Oregon. In 1955, their city government completed "Operation Greenlight" -- a drill to evacuate the city center. Hospital patients were packed into semi-trucks, pedestrians were picked up by passing motorists, and the city's construction equipment and emergency vehicles were rushed out to "dispersal points." The entire city center was evacuated in 19 minutes.

Such plans were plausible in the early days of the Cold War, when an attack would have come from strategic bombers, which would have allowed a warning of many hours. The development of Intercontinental ballistic missiles made this goal less realistic.

Building Fallout Shelters

President Kennedy launched an ambitious effort to install fallout shelters throughout the United States. These shelters would not protect against the blast and heat effects of nuclear weapons, but would provide some protection against the radiation effects that would last for weeks and even affect areas distant from a nuclear explosion.

In the late 1950s and early 1960s some Americans even went to the extent of installing fallout shelters in their back yards or basements. Fallout shelters were stocked with canned goods, water, and the means to attempt to survive for a period in the event of a nuclear strike.

In the assigned DBQ you will consider two questions (but remember to have one thesis statement that addresses both):

• What were the Cold War fears of the American people in the aftermath of the Second World War?
• How successfully did the administration of President Dwight D. Eisenhower address these fears?

 

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