Increasing Cold War Tensions - Unit 7 Flashcards
what was McCarthyism
the hunt for secret communists in the US government
when was the first red scare
1920s
what was mailed to the government during the first red scare
bombs
what was formed as a consequence of the Red scare and when
the FBI, 1919
what was the FBI formed under
the department of justice
what was the FBI responsible for
hunting anarchists, socialists and communists
why was the FBI controversial
as they didn’t need warrents and they deported individuals without trial
who was the head of the FBI
what nickname did he give communists
J Edgar Hoover
“reds”
what concept became prominenet during the second red scare
McCarthyism
why did the second red scare happen (3)
- Julius and Ethel Rossenberg (us government members) were caught spying fir the USSR, they were executed as a punishment
- Loss of China as an ally made USA paranoid
- Korean war fueld concerns
who was joe mccarthy within the US government
a senator who was a strong anti-communist
how many people did mccarthy accuse of being apart of the communist party, how many were actually
205, only 57 actuallu were
what did the house of un american activites do, when was it founded
carry out investigations on the patriotism and political affiliations of hollywood filmmakers, 1938, made permanent in 1945
what was Alger Hiss convicted of in Jan 1950
perjury (lying under oath) as he lied about passing on information to the USSR whilst working for the US state department from 1937-38.
why was Trumas foreign policy criticsied
- Alger Hiss’ perjery
- He was accused of being too soft oon communists
- McCarthy accussed the UN of favouring left wing and liberal causes
what led to mccarthys downfall
he claimed that “reds” had infiltrated the US army.
what was the response to mccarthy accusing the US army
army counsel (head lawyer of the army) said in an interview “have you no sense of decency?”
- Dec 1954, US senate censured him
what happened to scholar Owen Lattimore after his name was cleared of being a red
the accusations stuck which made it diffuclt for him to find work
how did McCarthyism affect US foreign policy
- made it more strictly anti communist
- made america more present in Asia (since the loss of China led to McCarthyism)
- US foreign policy officials were over-vigilant
why did GB send so many allies to help during the korean war
due to mccarthyism, the cold war was globalising, so they wanted to keep usa as a close ally
what happened during the Profumo affair (july 1961) that happened because of mccarthyism
Profumo (GB secretary of state for war) slept with prostitute Keeler, whilst she was also sleeping with Russian naval attache, Ivanov
why did the profumo affair generate a red scare
made people question the security of the UK government, as a senior member could have accidentlly leaked info to a Russian spy
how did the profumo affair effect UK politics
damaged the credibilty of Maximillion (PM at the time, he resigned in 1963)
contributed to the fall of conservatives and rise of labour in 1964
