Alger Hiss Trial

Question 1

Hiss Trial Year(s)

Answer 1

1949-1954

Question 2

Alger Hiss

Answer 2

A state department official from Baltimore and Johns Hopkins, he became a law clerk before joining FDRs administration. He was given prominent roles during WWII.

Question 3

Whitaker Chambers

Answer 3

He had a troubled childhood and dropped out of Columbia over controversy. After family troubles, he was attracted to communism, worked for a communist paper, and was recruited to pass secrets to the soviets. He renounced communism in 1938.

Question 4

The Red Scare

Answer 4

In 1919, the Soviets created the Third International to spread international communism. There were 3,600 strikes in the US that year.

Question 5

HUAC

Answer 5

The House Un-American Activities Committee, their goal was to root out communism. Led by Nixon, they rediscovered Chamber’s list and investigated Hiss.

Question 6

Richard Nixon

Answer 6

Born poor, he felt slighted by Ivy Leaguers and those raised in privilege. He led the HUAC subcommittee digging into Hiss

Question 7

Joseph Stalin and the Purge Trials

Answer 7

A warning story to Americans on the dangers of communism and Soviets. Stalin executed tens of thousands of former Bolsheviks, and sent over a million more to gulags in an effort to remove dissenters.

Question 8

Nazi-Soviet Non-Aggression Pact

Answer 8

In 1939, the two nations agreed not to attack each other for 10 years. This ended during WWII, but caused many American communists to grow disillusioned.

Question 9

Dumbarton Oaks Conference

Answer 9

Fall of 1944, Allied powers draw up plan for the United Nations. Hiss served as the executive secretary of the conference, and had a lot of influence.

Question 10

Yalta Conference

Answer 10

In 1945, the Allies decided what the end of the war would look like. FDR was accused of giving too much land to the Soviets, one of his key advisors was Alger Hiss.

Question 11

Nixon’s HUAC Subcommittee

Answer 11

Interviews Chambers and asks him questions only a friend would know about Hiss, then Interviews Hiss and determines that he must know Chambers.

Question 12

Prothonotary Warbler

Answer 12

The key to HUAC deciding that Chambers knew Hiss, he admitted to having been excited to see one, which matched what Chambers had claimed.

Question 13

The Pumpkin Papers

Answer 13

Chambers releases typed documents, handwritten notes, and film proving Hiss to be a communist from a dumbwaiter in his relative’s house. He gives the papers to the committee but hides the film in a pumpkin for some reason.

Question 14

1st Hiss Perjury Trial

Answer 14

Tried for perjury because the documents were too old to be tried for espionage. He is charged with two counts of perjury: Claiming not to have given Chambers state documents, and not having seen him after 1937 when the papers were from 1938. It was declared a mistrial by hung jury.

Question 15

Judge Samuel Kaufman

Answer 15

A democrat appointed by FDR, he made ruling that helped the defense. He banned the testimony of Hede Massing because it did not relate to perjury charges.

Question 16

Woodstock N230099

Answer 16

FBI experts claim the letters were typed on this typewriter that Hiss owned. 3 family friends testify that Hiss gave them the typewriter before the letters wee written, but the timeline does not work out.

Question 17

The Cold War

Answer 17

Atomic weapons are threatened by Nixon, countered by the soviets, the Berlin airlift is in full swing, and war feels imminent.

Question 18

Berlin Airlift

Answer 18

Planes delivering supplies land at Berlin Airport every three minutes for an entire year to feed and supply the population that is cut off by the soviets.

Question 19

NATO

Answer 19

Formed in 1949, it was an alliance between America and Western Europe that ensured an attack against one was treated as an attack against all. Meant to deter soviet attack.

Question 20

Fallout Shelters

Answer 20

The soviets developed and tested an atomic bomb, and both sides had nuclear weapons. People could die at any time, fallout shelters and plane spotters are implemented. All sympathy for communists dies.

Question 21

2nd Hiss Perjury Trial

Answer 21

Meant to fix previous mistrial, it starts in 1950. Hiss is found guilty and sentenced to 5 years in prison, the max sentence for perjury. Hiss never admits anything.

Question 22

Judge Henry Goddard

Answer 22

Appointed by republican Warren Harding, he allowed both sides witnesses that had previously been blocked.

Question 23

Hede Massing

Answer 23

A former soviet agent who defected in 1939 due to disillusionment. Testified to meeting Hiss at a communist cell meeting, and discussing spy activities with him.

Question 24

Hollywood 10

Answer 24

10 famous Hollywood screenwriters accused of being communists and who were subject to intense hearings.

Question 25

Dalton Trumbo

Answer 25

One of the Hollywood 10, he refused to admit to communism or report others, so he was sent to jail for contempt of court.

Question 26

Fifth Amendment Communists

Answer 26

People who excercised their fifth amendment right to remain silent were considered by many to be communists, since they must have had something to hide.

Question 27

Executive Order 10450

Answer 27

An order by Eisenhower that fired all government employees engaged in criminal, immoral, or addictive behaviors as they were seen as susceptible to soviet blackmail.

Question 28

The McCarthy Era

Answer 28

Senator McCarthy led a subcommittee investigating government members. He accused many people, especially his political opposition. His actions spread mass fear of communism across America, as well as distrust of government.

Question 29

Army-McCarthy Hearings

Answer 29

McCarthy claimed to have the names of 130 communists in the army, leading to highly televised hearings. He seems stressed and not completely sane, and gets shut down after accusing one of the defense lawyer’s staff of being a communist on essentially no evidence.