Why Did America and the West Feel so Threatened by the Russian Communist Revolution of 1917?

532 Words3 Pages
The Americans and the West felt threatened by the Russian and Communist Revolution because they feared Communism would spread to them. The revolution in Russia had been chaotic, and it taking foot in the USA would have been horrific. Communism had previously been a frightening theory, but now it had become a sudden reality. World War I was still taking place at this time, and it was 1917 that America reluctantly entered the European War. Wartime hysteria was likely to transform into post-war hysteria, which it did, this period becoming known as the Red Scare. At the time, the economy in America was very stable, and the Capitalist nature of the country left some people very rich, these people being the ones in power, and some very poor. Those in power were prospering, and the government was thriving economically. If Communism was to come in, this would destroy the economic stability they had, and so the Americans immediately felt threatened by Communism in theory alone, for it jeopardised the way they functioned. When Communism became something real and physical, America felt their economy was even more endangered, concerned that it would spread to them and destroy what they had. Communism and Capitalism are opposite concepts, and so the Americans greatly feared Communism, something that put, what they considered to be, an excellent society in jeopardy. A drastic change was too large for them to cope with, and was one they saw as negative, fearful it would result in the deconstruction of a stable society. There will always be an inevitable conflict when Communism and Capitalism are pitched against each other, and so the Americans felt threatened by this. The West felt threatened by Communism too because it caused Russia to pull out of the war, thus losing them a good ally. It made them angry as it disadvantaged them significantly, and was a sudden event that
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