The Cold War Flashcards
(3 cards)
The impact of the Cold War in Britain?
Cold War tensions were clear in daily life and lots of propaganda in cinema and TV was very anti communist and showed the threat of nuclear war.
Responses to the nuclear threat,
People were made aware of the threat nuclear weapons held and there were regular training drills and thousands volunteered to the civil defence which made informative films and pamphlets of what to do in case of a nuclear attack.
The government made plans to uphold the country in case of a nuclear attack which included giving much power to the army and lots of underground bunkers being built. Britain had nuclear weapons unlike most smaller countries and many disliked them but most understood Britains nuclear deterrent plans as the only way to defend nuclear weapons was with them.
Espionage
The government was very anxious of soviet spies especially as the ussr gained knowledge of how to develop the nuclear bomb through spies. They knew the soviets had detailed maps of Britain which they used to plan attacks. People were encouraged to report anything suspicious.
Did the British people support the Cold War policy’s?
Support,
Both labour and conservative parties were very anti communist and so were organisations like trade unions. There were many surveys done in the mass observation project from 1937-1965 which showed the people consistently supported the Cold War policies.
Anti communist propaganda was large and newspapers over exaggerated the threat of communism and their atrocities in Eastern Europe. They also emphasised how horrible life was under communism which helped fuel the anti communist feel of Britain and the cinemas were full with anti communist us dramas.
Censorship was also at an all time high during the Cold War. The government also used the BBC to spread anti soviet messages.
Opposition:
Communists still remained in Britain but they were in the minority and sources released after the war show the government kept close records of key communist sympathisers and some were even censored.
Most public dislike came at times of crisis especially during the Cuban missile crisis and Vietnam when there were large protests fighting the wars.
The campaign for nuclear disarmament.
The biggest form of prostest during the Cold War was the anti nuclear protests and whilst it seemed a good idea it was unachievable in the eyes of the leaders as weapons were nuclear deterrents more than anything. Thousands joined the campaign for nuclear disarmament and it was also huge in America and stood as a hope of peace. A survey showed 20% of Brits wanted unilateral disarmament.
