Reading the American Past: Printed Page 209

Documents from Reading the American Past, Chapter 26

Introduction to the Documents

After World War II, the United States and the Soviet Union — former allies — squared off as antagonists. Their confrontation escalated to a Cold War within months after the surrender of Germany and Japan. The Cold War shaped American foreign and domestic policy for nearly half a century. American policymakers maneuvered to maintain military strength in order to contain Soviet influence in the world, while many politicians worried about internal subversion by Communist agents or dupes. GIs returning from Europe or the Pacific found a home front transformed by American power and prosperity, which the Korean War soon tested. The following documents reveal the crosscurrents of victory and continued warfare, of confidence and anxiety, and of possibilities and threats that characterized the Truman years.