Communism Means Terrorism
9/15/1954
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This poster, created and distributed internationally by the United States Information Agency (USIA), says "Anywhere there is communism, there is terrorism and assassination!"
It was designed to amplify fear of communism in a newly divided Vietnam. 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. 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.
It was designed to amplify fear of communism in a newly divided Vietnam. 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. 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.
This primary source comes from the Records of the U.S. Information Agency.
National Archives Identifier: 6948996
Full Citation: Poster 306-PPB-124; Communism Means Terrorism; 9/15/1954; Propaganda Posters Distributed in Asia, Latin America and the Middle East, ca. 1950 - ca. 1965; Records of the U.S. Information Agency, Record Group 306; National Archives at College Park, College Park, MD. [Online Version, https://docsteach.org/documents/document/communism-terrorism, April 30, 2025]Activities that use this document
- Analyzing U.S. Involvement in the Vietnam War
Created by the National Archives Education Team - Introduction to the Domino Theory and Containment Policy in Vietnam
Created by the National Archives Education Team
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