Anti-communism

Anti-communism is the opposition to communist ideology, organization, or government, on either an ideological or pragmatic basis. Anti-communism is a catch-all phrase which defines any opposition to communism as a philosophical basis for a political and social alliance.

Anticommunism in the United States and Cold War

The first major manifestation of anti-communism in the United States occurred 1919-1920 in the Red Scare led by Attorney General Alexander Mitchell Palmer.

Related Topics:
United States - 1919 - 1920 - Red Scare - Alexander Mitchell Palmer

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Following World War II and the rise of the Soviet Union many of the objections to Communism took on an added urgency because of the stated Communist view that the ideology was universal. The fear of many anti-Communists within the United States was that Communism would triumph throughout the entire world and eventually be a direct threat to the government of the United States. This view led to the domino theory in which a Communist takeover in any nation could not be tolerated because it would lead to a chain reaction which would result in a triumph of world communism. There were fears that powerful nations like the Soviet Union and the People's Republic of China were using their power to forcibly assimilate other countries into communist rule, in a new form of Imperialism. The Soviet Union's expansion into Central Europe after World War II was seen as evidence of this. These actions prompted many politicians to adopt a kind of pragmatic anti-Communism, opposing the ideology as a way of limiting the expansion of the Soviet Empire. The US policy of halting further Communist expansion came to be known as containment.

Related Topics:
World War II - Soviet Union - Domino theory - Chain reaction - People's Republic of China - Imperialism - Central Europe - Pragmatic - Soviet Empire - Containment

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The United States government has usually motivated its anti-communism by citing the human rights record of some Communist states, most notably the Soviet Union during the Stalin era, Maoist China, the short-lived Khmer Rouge government in Cambodia led by Pol Pot and North Korea.

Related Topics:
Maoist - Khmer Rouge - Cambodia - Pol Pot - North Korea

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Anti-communism became significantly muted after the fall of the Soviet Union and Eastern bloc communist regimes in Central Europe in 1991, and the fear of a worldwide Communist takeover is no longer a serious concern. Remnants of anti-communism remain, however, in United States foreign policy toward Cuba, mainland China, and North Korea. In the case of Cuba, the United States continues to maintain economic sanctions against the island in a policy which is sharply criticized outside of the United States, but which has substantial support in the US, particularly from the conservative wing of American politics.

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Due to American trade interests in China, much of the United States foreign policy establishment does not regard China as Communist in any meaningful sense. Nevertheless, there is some hostility toward China, particularly among conservative Congressional Republicans which can be regarded as remnants of anti-communism. North Korea remains staunchly Stalinist and economically isolationist, and tensions between the country and the US have heightened as the result of reports that it is stockpiling nuclear weapons.

Related Topics:
Stalinist - Isolationist - Nuclear weapon

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