Honors English Wiki

The Cold War, despite never “going hot” was fought on many fronts and in many ways. There was one element of the cold war which was, more than most any other, about national pride in technological advancement. Unlike the proxy wars, espionage, and black ink that was common place throughout the majority of the era, this one battle was there for the eyes of the public demonstrating the ability and superiority of one nation over the other. The Space Race, it was fought by hard working individuals the same as every other struggle, but this was about science and worked as a heavily influential propaganda machine. Not being of this generation, it is easy to understand just how important this race was, and that even it was not freed from the fears of the nuclear age, though this was quite possibly the best example of justified paranoia the world has yet to see.

Knowing the mass hysteria that could easily follow the release of the “wrong news”, any information that would convince the public of the inferiority of their own country, in this tense environment, how was this news talked about both in the United States and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, as both sides had moments of triumph and defeat during the struggle. In order to answer this question, looking directly at newspaper articles to find what was said and what information was withheld from the public is the natural choice. The lack of future developments, primarily regarding but not limited to the internet, which allow for vast amounts of information to be shared from individuals of differing perspectives, means this research is aimed at what the government was able and willing to control, as a newspaper can be manipulated far easier than the overwhelming amount of individuals and organizations that can use such tools today.

The final analysis of the data was not that far from what one might expect, that the U.S., which based the majority of its foreign policy on the protection and bolstering of democracy, would be far more generous with its information shared with the public than the Soviets were, though it is notable that the Americans were not above telling half-truths or covering things up themselves. The research process itself however was effected itself by other events that would come out of the Cold War, and suffers to some degree because of this.

=Table of Contents= Continue into my research and the assignments that lead up to the final project. &nbsp