How Did The Cold War Change American Society

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Throughout history, various circumstances have occurred which have changed society as we know it. For example, the twentieth century was filled with massive events that changed American society into what we know today. Historians can cite a number of incidents that caused some form of change within the United States. However, the events that had the most significant impact on American Society were World War One, World War Two, and the Cold War. First of all, World War One caused a massive change in the twentieth century United States. For example, it was the first war that involved such a large scale of world powers declaring war against each other. This meant that new alliances were established that would affect how the United States saw other …show more content…
This, consequently, boosted the public confidence in the American military, resulting in the strong belief in the military that we have today. Furthermore, the Second World War established the United States as one of the major powers of the world (along with the Soviet Union). The creation of the atomic bomb, and being on the winning side of the war, helped our nation gain an elevated status in the eyes of others. This impacted society by increasing the sense of nationalism that individual Americans had, which is an effect that can still be seen today in the more patriotic Americans. Lastly, the Cold War had a significant impact on American society. For example, it increased public fear of bomb attacks, which had never existed prior to this event. In the early 1950s, when the United States government had learned that Russia had found a way to make their own H-bombs, mass terror ensued. This caused the American public to “freak out” to the point where survival bunkers in one’s yard and duck-and-cover drills were considered an extremely reasonable option. This caused Americans to experience a sense of fear and paranoia that spanned multiple