Cold War Context

Question 1

Cold War context

Answer 1

• Russia vs USA, communism vs capitalism, the Red Scare
• Uprisings around the world caused the USA to be scared and the Red Scare grew
• Arms war that eventually died out in 1990s

Question 2

Hiss & Rosenberg cases

Answer 2

• Alger Hiss was a member if the State Department, during a HUAC hearing he was named as a member of a communist group, went to court and was put in prison for 5 years for lying in court
• As he had been guilty of something and sent to prison it seemed that communist spies were everywhere, even in the government
• Rosenbergs were ratted on but denied all charges of spying and sending information to the Soviets, evidence against them at the time was weak, but hey were sentenced to death and executed in 1953

Question 3

HUAC - House Committee on Un-American Activites

Answer 3

• Set up in 1938 to monitor extremist groups suspected of ‘un-American activities’
• Secretly received intelligence from the FBI that they acted on

Question 4

FBI - led by J. Edgar Hoover

Answer 4

• Investigated government workers to see if they were communists or if they had links to communism
• 3 million government workers were investigated and up to 3,000 were fired because they were considered to be a security risk, however there was no evidence of spying, this was the beginning of the red scare

Question 5

Hollywood Ten

Answer 5

• HUAC called in 41 writers, producers and directors for questioning about communism in Hollywood. They named 19 people as communists
• When they were ordered to appear before HUAC, 10 refused to answer any questions and pleaded the First Amendment, all 10 were jailed for 1 year for contempt and were blacklisted.

Question 6

McCarran Act - 1950 and 1952

Answer 6

• 1950 - Made all communist groups register with the government
• 1952 - Strengthened and communists were not allowed US passports, to work in certain jobs and in an emergency a suspected communist could be put in a detention camp without facing trial

Question 7

Methods of McCarthy

Answer 7

• Held hearings in private, then public
• Bullied and used aggressive questioning of many suspected communists, especially attack high-profile figures to gain more publicity
• People who spoke out on his methods were then accused by him of being communist
• Very popular, millions watched his TV appearances and just being called by him could end your career as watchers assumed that they were guilty
• This was McCarthyism

Question 8

Successes of McCarthy

Answer 8

• Won a lot of support and gained publicity

Question 9

Opposition to McCarthy

Answer 9

• Journalists and democratic senotars

Question 10

Downfall of McCarthy

Answer 10

• Accused a popular war general, George Marshall of ‘helping the communist drive for world domination’
• Televised trials shocked the public due to his bullying and the army fought back, finishing evidence of McCarthy abusing his powers and sent reporters who were known to be critical of McCarthy

Question 11

Impact of McCarthy

Answer 11

• Had a direct impact on those who list their jobs and whose careers were destroyed because if his accusations
• Hysteria grew bigger and almost everyone in America were affected by the fears of the ‘enemy within’
• People were seen as ‘red’ for having difference opinions and trade unions were seen as communist, reducing their power so they called for strikes less often