ID test 2

Question 1

“205 card carrying communists”

Answer 1

A statement made in a speech by Senator Joe McCarthy in February of 1950 which alleged that he had a list of 205 people within the State Department. Those people in question were allegedly known by the Secretary of State to be members of the Communist Party. The relevance to this class would be that it fueled McCarthy’s agenda of antagonizing anyone who were allegedly Communist or Communist sympathizing. A fact that would be illustrated with the HUAC. Furthermore, this would further the style of conspiracy thinking in America that focused less on the enemy outside and more of the enemy within.

Question 2

America First

Answer 2

The isolationist movement that was founded in September 4, 1940. This movement consisted of many different groups that held fascists, isolationists, communists, anti Semitic groups and labor unions. This group was against much of FDR’s policies when it came to the new deal and felt that the government was being centralized to his power. The group disbanded after the attack on Pearl Harbor in December 7th 1941.

Question 3

Elizabeth Bentley

Answer 3

A spy in American for the Soviet Union before 1945. She defected in 1945 and named multiple soviet spy networks in the United States. Her actions were publicized in 1948 and effected soviet espionage during the 1950s.

Question 4

Dorothy Detzer

Answer 4

was for twenty-two years the National Executive Secretary of the U.S. of the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom. She lobbied for the munitions investigation of WWI. Washington DC. 1934-1936. Her brother died in WWI and was against intervention of WWI for corrupt means

Question 5

Algier Hiss

Answer 5

A young lawyer working with John Flynn on the Nye Munitions Investigating Committee in the mid 30s. He did that as well as serving as special assistant to the director of of the Office of Far Eastern Affairs to then be a special assistant the director of the Office of Special Political Affairs while being covertly a Communist spy. Washington D.C.1934-1936. He served on a congressional committee that alluded to a conspiracy theory of the U.S.’ entry into WWI being manipulated by the munitions industry for reasons of profit while simultaneously conspiring against the U.S. as a Communist spy.

Question 6

J. Edgar Hoover

Answer 6

the director of the FBI- He was the director of the FBI from the 30s to the 70s who was heavily anti-Communist. The relevance to this class was that in his work in pursuing Communist spies during the 50s, the work and research done by the FBI would be utilized by Sen. Joseph McCarthy in pursuing his Communist conspiracy. This would bother Hoover to have his agency’s work publicized in a fashion to fuel McCarthy’s agenda. Later on, He alongside President Eisenhower and then CIA chief Allen Dulles would collaborate to put McCarthy down for overreaching in his anti-Communist crusade and implicating both Ike, the CIA, and most importantly the Army Signal Corps.

Question 7

Colonel Edward House

Answer 7

A close friend and adviser of President Woodrow Wilson. He was the ambassador of Paris during the treaty of Versailles. United States of America. 1919-1920. He supposedly worked with Hines Page to influence Woodrow Wilson into WWI for financial and personal gain.

Question 8

Charles Lindbergh Jr

Answer 8

1930s aviation pilot who was the figurehead of the America First committee. He was the son of Charles Lindbergh Sr. who was a Midwest senator that opposed U.S. entry into the First World War. As a result, he was harassed by mobs that resulted in Charles Lindbergh Jr. internalizing his father’s politics and embodying Anti-Semitic beliefs to eventually oppose the U.S. entry into the Second World War with the belief that it was a Jewish conspiracy.

Question 9

Magic

Answer 9

A U.S. decryption program that was utilized by the U.S. Army in 1940 to spy on Japanese diplomatic communication channels with the mistaken belief that they were in charge instead of the militarily. The relevance to the class is that the existence of this program would be implicated in numerous Pearl Harbor conspiracies as the way in which the U.S. government was made aware of Pearl Harbor and did nothing because of it. The fact that the U.S. government hid the existence of the program for so long only added to the paranoia.

Question 10

Neutrality Acts

Answer 10

Gerald Nye’s effect of the Nye Committee. The acts which prevented foreign countries from buying military arms in the United States. United States of America. 1935-1936. This was a victory for isolationists at the time being who felt that the previous war had harmed the people more than helped them.

Question 11

Richard Nixon

Answer 11

The leading prosecutor in the Alger Hiss case. This case jump started Richard Nixon’s political career in 1948. Alger Hiss had been handing information about political activity in the United States to the Soviet Union. The trial took place in federal court and amplified the Mccarthyism movement.

Question 12

Leon Trotsky

Answer 12

The political opposite of Stalin. He was the subject of the Russian purge trials in the 1930s because alleged loyalists of him were accused of undermining Soviet powers supreme. This was according to prosecutors was to help Trotsky get back into power.

Question 13

Mission to Moscow

Answer 13

A U.S. book written by Joseph E Davies about the supposed account of the purge trials in Russia during the 1930s. This book was adapted into a film and released in theatres by 1943 by Warner Brothers. This was one of many “pieces of evidence” that Mccarthyism sympathizers used when addressing the Red Scare.

Question 14

Whittaker Chambers

Answer 14

An American author, writer and former spy of the Soviet Union. His claim to fame was outing Alger Hiss in the espionage trials of 1949-1950 after defecting from the Soviet Union in 1938. The author wrote about his previous life as a Communist in “Witness” in 1952.

Question 15

Roberts Commission

Answer 15

A commission led by Supreme Court Justice Owen Roberts to investigate Pearl Harbor. The significance of this commission was that this would be specifically appointed by FDR to resolve the Pearl Harbor fiasco immediately and without too much damage to FDR. As a result, the commission pinned the fault of Pearl Harbor on Admiral Husband Kimmel and General Walter Short. As such, this would be indicative of the few attempts in which the U.S. government would utilize its resources to quell conspiracy theories over significant events. Such a precedent would set the stage for later interventions like the Warren Commission and the 9/11 Commission.

Question 16

Joseph E. Davies;

Answer 16

The United States ambassador of the Soviet Union. He was present during the Russian Purges of the 1930s and wrote an account on the event. This was a book called “Mission to Moscow” which had a very Pro Russian method to it. It was essentially propaganda for the United States during WWII and was made into a film by Warner Brothers in 1943.

Question 17

John T. Flynn

Answer 17

An American Journalist known for his opposition to the United States entering WWII. He helped Robert E. Wood found the America First Committee which was filled with many different groups that opposed the United States entering the war. The groups were consisting of: Communists, Fascists, Isolationists and even some prominent businessmen.

Question 18

Dudley Collard

Answer 18

A British writer and barrister of law who wrote the book Soviet Justice and the Trial of Radek and Others which claimed that the Stalin purge trials were conducted fairly. However, most historians would later on indicate that the purge trials were show trials. The significance would be that this alongside Mission to Moscow would indicate the level of propaganda utilized to portray Stalin’s Russia in a positive manner. Thus, conspiracy theorizing on the part of citizens is justified due to the few conspiracies committed by the government and intellectuals. Thus, the effort on the part of such institutions and figures to quell such conspiracy theories are looked at in a skeptical manner.

Question 19

Thomas E. Dewey

Answer 19

The Republican canidate for the 1944 election. He tried using the “Magic” decoding information against FDR during the election, but failed because he could not divulge the information from it. This resulted in FDR’s 4th elected term.

Question 20

Robert E. Wood

Answer 20

He founded the America First Committee to oppose U.S. entry into WWII. The significance would be that his creation of the America First Committee be indicative of the potent political power utilized in organizing among several ideological groups for one particular issue. Though, the legacy of the America First committee would be tainted by some individuals like Charles Lindbergh Jr, espousing conspiracy thinking specifically around Jewish people. Yet, such an organization would not expunge or distance itself from such figures considering that Lindbergh was its figurehead.

Question 21

Kim Philby

Answer 21

He was a Soviet double agent who gathered information on both MI 6 and CIA information. He was part of the Cambridge 5 which was a spy ring of spies in the UK that passed information to the Soviet Union. He is one of few pieces of evidence that there was a communist elements within western government.

Question 22

Georgy Pyatakov

Answer 22

A suspected Trotskyist during the 1930s purge trial. He was a revolutionary of the bolshevik regime and a supporter of Russia. He was convicted primarily because of his disdain against Stalin he then. He is one of the key examples of victims because of the the conspiracy theory that Stalin was under attack.

Question 23

Admiral Husband Kimmel

Answer 23

One of two high ranking officials of Oahu Hawaii who were blamed by FDR for the incident of Pearl Harbor. Their demotion being quick and out of nowhere made families of the officials more sympathetic to them. As a result, they were also open to the idea of the FDR conspiracy of entering the United States into WWII.

Question 24

General Walter Short

Answer 24

One of two high ranking officials of Oahu Hawaii who were blamed by FDR for the incident of Pearl Harbor. Their demotion being quick and out of nowhere made families of the officials more sympathetic to them. As a result, they were also open to the idea of the FDR conspiracy of entering the United States into WWII.