Description
This poster, created and distributed internationally by the United States Information Agency (USIA), was designed to amplify fear of communism in a newly-divided Vietnam. This poster from 1954 reads, "Anywhere there is communism, there is terrorism and assassination!" Earlier in 1954, the Geneva Accords had called for a temporary partition of Vietnam at the 17th Parallel — creating a communist state in the North and a French-backed non-communist state in the South. A series of events intensified the "Red Scare" that gripped Americans in the 1940s and 50s. In 1949, the Soviet Union successfully tested an atomic bomb. Chinese Communists formed the People's Republic of China that same year. North Korea invaded South Korea the next year. Many interpreted these events as evidence of a global Communist plot. USIA posters were designed to promote U.S. values; to expose alleged Communist falsehoods, threats and crimes and to strengthen understanding of and support for U.S. objectives in the Cold War.
Source-Dependent Questions
- How does the poster show imagery of terrorism?
- Why did the artist choose a vulture to represent the communists?
- How does the poster show imagery of terrorism? What impact did the creator intend by using this kind of imagery?
- Why did the artist choose a vulture to represent the communists?
Citation Information
"Communism Means Terrorism," U.S. Information Agency, 15 September 1954. Courtesy of National Archives