A Strained Relationship

With the end of World War II came the end of Soviet and American alliance. Once fighting on the same side against a mutual enemy, their allegiance came to a halt as tensions grew as they looked at one another as the new enemy. In the decades following WWII, the relationship between the United States and the Soviet Union was extremely strained. The international situation in the Korean peninsula, and the uniquely American problem of McCarthyism both seriously damaged U. S.-Soviet relationships

The U.S and Soviet occupation of Korea divided Korea into democratic and communist regimes. The attack of North Korea on South Korea pushed the U.S into calling the United Nations for support as they labeled North Korea an aggressor. Once U.S helped the South Koreans they were in a position of open hostility to both Chinese and Soviet communism. This conflict posed the democratic and communist worlds .against each other. With the Panmunjom accords, hostility cooled, but the relations between the two super powers was severely damaged. Communism, a ideology, a way of life, for the Soviets, was attacked globally. The attack on North Korea from The U.S signaled an attack on all communist countries re-opening the wound of hatred and distrust.

The domestic American reaction to U. S.-Soviet hostility was one of fanaticism. Led by the radical Joseph McCarthy, the American people began a period of deep suspicion and mistrust. Popular ardor was used to justify the persecution of suspected communists, simply on the basis of their political affiliations. This "witch hunt" intolerance led to the extreme hatred and disgust toward the USSR between 1945 and 1955. The impact of the McCarthy era was that opposition to the cold war would become thoroughly identified with communism and that it was no longer possible to challenge the basic assumptions of American foreign policy without incurring suspicions of disloyalty. The persecution of those at home reflected our