Family Threats During the Cold War Era Chakita Cameron Kaplan University February 10, 2012 Cold War Era America During the years of the Cold War, the American people were living in fear of Communist takeover. Almost every American family believed that the threat of World-Wide control by the Russians was real. Russian influence was being spread across the countries of Europe and into Cuba, the people of the Unites States felt that this was getting too close to home and felt that the only way to prevent Russian expansion into America was to use military force and atomic weapons.
During this time, the Russian government began to experiment with the manufacture and testing of nuclear weapons. Once it became evident that they possessed the ability to make these types of weapons, fears of nuclear annihilation and Communist take-over became more than a possibility. It was feared that the Soviet Union was on a path set on World domination and they United States was determined to contain it. The American family during the Cold War Era held in high regard. Close family bonds helped the American people feel at ease. They were afraid of anything that threatened their way of life and the American government.
Family Preparation and Protection Knowing what I know now, I would say that there was nothing that I could do for my family to protect them from the threat of nuclear annihilation by the Soviets but I could do some things to help to put our minds at ease. I believe that during this time I would have followed all the normal warnings that were presented and advise my children take the appropriate cover when presented with the threat. I would ensure that my family was educated on the situation and had all the facts that were available at the time. I would try my best to separate the opinions of some from the truth.
With the threat of direct hit by a nuclear weapon, there is obviously no recourse but I would still prepare my family in the event that we were not hit directly but were subject to the aftermath or fallout that may come. I would ensure that we had adequate food and water supplies available and that we had a safe place to go to be protected to the elements if something were to happen to our home. When looking back at the other fears of the Cold War Era, I don’t believe there would have been anyway to prepare my family for communist takeover. I would just hope that we could stay strong as a family and support each other during the ordeal.
Conclusion In conclusion, I believe that all the fears that the American people had during this era were valid but were manipulated by people in power. The question that I would ask is Why would our own people, fellow Americans, do such a thing? Why would they instill such paranoia into society? I guess you could call it making a mountain out of a mole hill, but we will never know. References CBC. ca (2012). Cold War Culture: The Nuclear Fear of the 1950s and 1960s. Retrieved on February 9, 2012 from http://archives. cbc. ca/war_conflict/cold_war/topics/274/ Harrison, B. and Dye, T. (2008). Power and society. Cengage Learning, Mason, Ohio.