Reasons for the Red Scare

Question 1

How was the Cold War developed?

Answer 1

• After WW2 became the two most powerful nations
• Too much distrust
• Developed into Cold War (involved no physical fighting but tension)
• High tensions over Poland

Question 2

What was happening abroad that contributed to the Red Scare in the period of 1945-1950?

Answer 2

• Civil War in Greece, Britain not strong enough to protect, feared would affect neighbouring countries
• ‘Iron Curtain’ speech (Churchill), necessity for USA + Britain to protect peace (1946)
• Stalin cut road and rail links between West and West Berlin, where British, French, Americans had zones of occupation
• China became communist after nationalist troops were defeated by the Red Army
• Successfully tested an atomic bomb
• Communist leader invaded southern part of Korean peninsula, an attempt to unite the country under communist rule

Question 3

What did the Americans think Stalin was aiming for?

Answer 3

World domination

Question 4

What is a capitalist democracy?

Answer 4

• Government voted by people during regular elections
• Businesses are owned privately by individuals

Question 5

What is a communist state?

Answer 5

• Candidates in elections are communist
• No privately own property

Question 6

What was the ‘Truman Doctrine’?

Answer 6

• Policy made by president
• Ask congress for millions of dollars
• Combat communist attempts to seize power in democratic countries

Question 7

When was the Truman Doctrine made?

Answer 7

1947

Question 8

When was WW2?

Answer 8

1939 - 1945

Question 9

What was the ‘Marshall Plan’?

Answer 9

• Policy created by Truman (again)
• Lending money and credits to Western European countries
• Ensured they recovered after WW2 and did not become communist

Question 10

Two effects of Cold War on the USA?

Answer 10

Military + Defence Spending
- Truman Doctrine, Marshall Plan
- Arms race
- Allocate money for nuclear weapon development

Social + Cultural Change
- Context: US + abroad
- Climate of fear and suspicion
- Led to Red Scare, McCarthyism, Paranoia

Question 11

Who was J.Edgar Hoover?

Answer 11

• Director of the FBI
• Strong anti-communist views
• Arrested suspected communists

Question 12

What did the FBI do during the Cold War?

Answer 12

Created files of evidence on those suspected of spying for Russia

Question 13

What was Hoover’s first impactful post war act?

Answer 13

• Warned Truman about communist spies working within the Federal government
• Truman took Hoover very seriously
• From 1947, government workers could be sacked on ‘reasonable grounds’ if they were believed to be disloyal

Question 14

What were the Federal Loyalty Boards set up for?

Answer 14

• Investigating government workers suspected of having links to communism
• 1947-1951, 3 million government workers were investigated, roughly 3000 fired or forced to resign
• No actual evidence of spying was found

Question 15

How were the FBI’s actions impacting US society?

Answer 15

• Hoover’s investigations were copied by other institutions and businesses nationwide
• Many workers lost their jobs as a result
• Ruined families through shame and economic ruin

Question 16

What was the HUAC originally set up for?

Answer 16

• Set up before the cold war
• To prevent Nazi infiltration
• Monitor extremist groups suspected of ‘Un-american’ activities

Question 17

What was the HUAC’s purpose in the development of cold war and who did they work with?

Answer 17

• Hunting communists
• Worked closely with the FBI
• FBI passed ‘intelligence’ (suspicion rather than hard facts) when public hearings began

Question 18

What happened in HUAC hearings?

Answer 18

• Asked if they had been a member of the Communist party
• If pleaded 1st or 5th ammendment, interpreted as evasive or guilt
• Jailed for contempt of Congress

Question 19

What was the impact of HUAC on American society?

Answer 19

• Creating and sustained wave of anti-communist hysteria
• Destroyed reputations and lives
• Blacklisted, forced into exile, committed suicide in despair

Question 20

Who were the ‘Hollywood Ten’?

Answer 20

• Millions of people went to cinema, fear communists would use film industry to spread propaganda
• Ten artists summoned for interrogation by HUAC
• Refused to answer questions, pleaded first ammendment
• Jailed for contempt, $1000 fine
• Blacklisted, could not work for Hollywood

Question 21

When was the ‘Hollywood Ten’ summoned?

Answer 21

October 1947

Question 22

Who was Dalton Trumbo?

Answer 22

• Part of Hollywood Ten
• Worked abroad, wrote for Hollywood under assumed names
• Won Oscars he could not accept in person

Question 23

Who was Alger Hiss?

Answer 23

• Member of the State Deparment
• Important adviser to Roosevelt at wartime conference at Yalta
• Named by ‘reformed’ ex-communist as being a communist and highly placed in Soviet spy ring
• Nixon worked hard to expose Hiss, hoping for political reward
• HUAC called him for questioning, but he denied
• Trialed and convicted for lying to HUAC and not spying
• Served 3 years of 5 year sentence

Question 24

When was Hiss convicted?

Answer 24

1950

Question 25

How did the Hiss case impact American society?

Answer 25

• Context: outbreak of Korean war, atomic bomb testing
• Intensified nationwide communist conspiracy,
• Hiss always regarded as traditional member of East Coast Establishment, even he was communist
• All his career highlights seen as fictitious communist plot for world domination

Question 26

How did the Americans link things happening in America and abroad?

Answer 26

• ‘Pro hoc propter hoc’ (Rosenbergs were blamed for helping Soviets to make atomic bomb and it led to Korean war)
• Reds lurking everywhere (all levels of society - shown by cases)
• Viewed cases as a collective
• What happened in the US in conjunction with things abroad
• Created context which made McCarthyism possible

Question 27

What happened in Britain that led to the Rosenberg case?

Answer 27

• February 1950
• Fuchs arrested in Britain for giving information to the Soviet on how to development atomic bombs
• Confessed
• Named other spies involved

Question 28

What happened to the Rosenbergs?

Answer 28

• Denied all charges of spying 1951
• Weak evidence
• Found guilty and sentenced to death
• Executed by electric chair in 1953

Question 29

How did Americans view the Rosenberg Case?

Answer 29

• Viewed in context of Hiss case, atomic bomb, Korean war
• Further reiterated that no one should be trusted, not even next door neighbour
• Many people saw direct link between leaking of atomic secrets with what happened abroad

Question 30

What was the McCarran Internal Security Act?

Answer 30

• 1950
• Forced all communist legislations to register with the government
• Denied passports
• Limited to certain jobs
• ‘Emergency declared by government meant placed in detention camp without trial