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Red Scare & McCarthyism Flashcards

1
Q

How many supporters had the Communist Party never risen above?

A

100,000

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2
Q

In 1950s how many Americans belonged to Communist Party?

A

fewer than 50,000

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3
Q

What caused a swell in Communist party membership?

A

the depression - so a swell in the 1930s

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4
Q

By the end of the 1930s what had Communist party membership swollen to?

A

55,000

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5
Q

How many soviet agents reporting to NKVD were in the USA in 1941?

A

221

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6
Q

What was concerning about the Soviets and the atomic bomb?

A
  • Stalin knew more about the Manhattan Project than VP Truman
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7
Q

Who was the cypher clerk who defected and was leaking vital secrets to the Soviets? When did he defect?

A

Gouzenko

1945

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8
Q

Who was arrested in Britain and when for selling Manhattan project secrets to the Soviets?

A

Karl Fuchs

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9
Q

When were the Rosenberg’s convicted of conspiracy to commit espionage?

A

1951

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10
Q

When were the Rosenberg’s executed?

A

1953

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11
Q

When was the ‘loss of china?’

A

1949

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12
Q

Who massively protested about the loss of China? who did they blame?

A

Right Wing Press and China Lobby

Blamed democrats for being too soft and not intervening

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13
Q

What did Democratic Senator McCarran attempt to convince people?

A

China fell due to work of secret communist infiltrators in the state department

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14
Q

By 1948 how many successive presidential elections had the republicans lost?

A

5

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15
Q

When was HUAC set up?

A

1938

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16
Q

Who was HUAC initially led by?

A

Martin Dies

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17
Q

What was notable about HUAC and the KKK?

A

Martin Dies supported KKK
Some HAUC members were Klansmen
KKK supported HUAC

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18
Q

Which notable newspaper tycoon supported HUAC and the campaign against communism?

A

Randolph Hearst

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19
Q

Who did HUAC initially go after?

A

Democrats and New Deal Projects

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20
Q

Which New Deal Project did HUAC especially go after?

A

Federal Writers Project

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21
Q

When was HUAC’s campaign against Hollywood?

A

1947-51

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22
Q

How many in Hollywood were ‘blacklisted’?

A

320

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23
Q

What type of institutions mimicked McCarthy and HUAC?

A

school boards and state legislatures

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24
Q

Who was head of the FBI during McCarthyism?

A

Edgar Hoover

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25
Q

What was the FBI doing with McCarthy

A

supplying him information

McCarthy was part of a bigger network of monitoring and accusations

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26
Q

What did Federal Loyalty Boards have the power to do?

A

fire federal employees based on ‘reasonable grounds’

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27
Q

How many dismissed and how many fired under Executive Order 9835

A

3,000 dismissed

300 fired

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28
Q

What were those dismissed / fired under Executive Order 9835 disproportionately?

A

civil rights campaigners and gays

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29
Q

How many of those dismissed under EO9835 were actually guilty of anything?

A

only about 200

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30
Q

How many states passed their own anti-subversion legislation?

A

39

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31
Q

How many Presidential elections had republicans lost by 1948?

A

5

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32
Q

In 1946 what happened in terms of the congressional elections?

A

1946 : mass success for Republicans

take majorities in both houses

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33
Q

Who did Nixon pursue in the State Department?

A

Hiss

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34
Q

When was Hiss convicted?

A

January 1950

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35
Q

What did the Republican’s use Hiss’ arrest as?

A

a way to implicate democrats in the ‘communist conspiracy’

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36
Q

When were Soviet records opened up?

A

1990

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37
Q

Where was McCarthy senator of?

A

Wisconsin

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38
Q

What was McCarthy previously voted?

A

worst senator

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39
Q

When did McCarthy make a speech where he implicated 205 people in the state department?

A

February 1950

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40
Q

What was passed by the conservative bloc in congress in September 1950? What was notable about this?

A

Internal Security Act

went against Presidential veto

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41
Q

What was notable about the Internal Security Act of 1950?

A
  • went against President veto

- showed perceived ineffectiveness of Truman’s loyalty programme

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42
Q

When was the Conservative’s Internal Security Act passed?

A

September 1950

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43
Q

Why were many reluctant to challenge McCarthy?

A

he didn’t need evidence / the truth to end careers =

made him more powerful and frightening

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44
Q

What newspaper reported McCarthy’s homosexual activity? When was this?

A

the Las Vegas Sun

October 1952

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45
Q

When did McCarthy begin to go after the army? who in particular?

A

October 1953
Stevenson (Secretary to the Army)
Zwicker (Decorated War Hero)

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46
Q

When was McCarthy formally censured?

A

December 1954

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47
Q

What was the vote for McCarthy’s censuring?

A

67 to 22

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48
Q

What TV programme challenged McCarthy? Who was the presented?

A

See it Now

Marrow

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49
Q

How long did the McCarthy vs Army hearings go on for? what did they expose?

A

3months

McCarthy’s bullying tactics

50
Q

What position did McCarthy hold 1950-54

A

Chairmanship of the Government Committee on Operations of the Senate

51
Q

What congressional committee in 1950 unanimously disregarded McCarthy’s accusations of 205 people in the state department?

A

Tyding’s Committee

52
Q

Which cartoonist challenged McCarthy?

A

Herb Block

53
Q

Which senator challenged McCarthy?

A

Benton

owner of Encyclopaedia Britannica

54
Q

What happened to Benton after he challenged McCarthy?

A

subject of McCarthy’s smear campaign

lost his position as senator in 1952 elections

55
Q

When was the Alien Registration Act?

A

1940

56
Q

How many Alien’s registered under the Alien Registration Act?

A

4.7million

57
Q

When was the National Security Act enforced?

A

1947

58
Q

When was Executive Order 9853 passed? what did it set up?

A

1947

Federal Loyalty Boards

59
Q

When was the Truman Doctrine and Marshall Plan?

A

1947

60
Q

When did the Soviet’s explode an atom bomb?

A

1949

61
Q

What was notable about the Soviet’s atom bomb?

A

exploded earlier than USA thought the soviet’s would be able to develop it

62
Q

When did China fall?

A

1949

63
Q

When did the Korean War start?

A

1950

64
Q

What was the number of people in the communist party in the state department McCarthy claimed reduced to from 205?

A

57

65
Q

What did Sullivan say about McCarthy and the FBI?

A

“We were the ones who made the McCarthy hearings possible”

66
Q

Who did McCarthy’s Government Committee on Operations of the Senate target initially?

A

Democrats ‘comi-crats’ associated w/ New Deal policies

67
Q

X2 democrats McCarthy’s committee went after

A

Truman and Marshall

68
Q

How many books removed from public libraries?

A

30,000

69
Q

When did Nixon (Eisenhower’s VP) make a speech condemning McCarthy?

A

March 1954

70
Q

What do some historians say about McCarthyism’s end?

What does this suggest about McCarthy’s influence?

A

fear of communism did not end until after the end of the Cold War
suggests McCarthy was not of great individual influence, but was part of publicising a wider, international threat

71
Q

Following the passing of E.O 9835 how many new FBI agents were hired?

What was their role?

A

7,000

Asked by loyalty boards to perform checks / investigations on individuals

72
Q

Who ran the Federal Theatre Project?

When was she investigated by HUAC?

What did this result in?

A

Flanagan (Head of Federal Theatre Project)

one of first to be investigated by HUAC - 
December 1938 (back when it was the 'Dies Committee')

Dies Committee helped to end FTP’s funding
FTP became reliant on local state sponsors

73
Q

Key reason for Republican gains in 1946 mid terms

A

1946 was immediately after FDRs death - Truman had little time to prove himself

1946 was intense time for strike action
Eg United automobile workers and
4.5million others strike

1946 saw end of Office of Price Administration - food prices jump 25% in a week

74
Q

What did the Taft Hartley Act do? 1947

A
  • curb union powers
  • outlawed closed shop
  • made unions swear they were not communist
75
Q

Who had a theory of ‘racial intolerance’?

What did this theory suggest?

When were these traits seen?

A

Chafe’s theory of racial intolerance

Americans behave intolerant during periods of rapid change / stress

76
Q

What elements of change were seen during the post-war period which suggest Chafe’s theory of racial intolerance?

A
  • permanent changes in race / gender / social relations

- development of unfamiliar technologies (e.g computing)

77
Q

What did Chafe argue racial intolerance and anti-communism was an attempt to do

A

reclaim control of their homeland which was unfamiliar due to changes brought about by war

did this via targeting unwanted political groups who threatened the democratic / capitalist fabric of the USA

78
Q

Where was Gouzenko arrested?

What does this suggest?

What did his testimony reveal?

A

Canada

That fear of communism wasn’t just confined to USA - it was an international phenomenon

Testimony revealed evidence of soviet spies in Canada

79
Q

HUAC’s Hollywood Trials - who were the most notorious group on the ‘black list’?

What sentence did this group receive?

Name one

When did the black list end?

A

The Hollywood Ten

Jail sentences
bans from working in major Hollywood studios

Dalton Trumbo

Black list ended in 1960s

80
Q

What does the timing of the black lists ending suggest?

A

Despite McCarthy’s decline in 1954

shows how accusations in Hollywood had little to do with McCarthy’s influence

81
Q

Evidence of the sentences and number of those convicted were not severe in the USA

A

only 320 in Hollywood put on ‘blacklists’

Several of Hollywood 10, including Trumbo, continued working under pseudonyms

82
Q

What did the Republican Triumph in 1946 lead to? X2

A
  • Taft-Hartley Act 1947

- major revival of institutional anticommunist activity (including Hollywood trials)

83
Q

What was the set of the Federal Loyalty Boards a response to?

A

charge that the Democrats were soft on communism

which Democrats had lost ground to Republicans on the year before in elections

84
Q

What did Truman do to Federal Loyalty Boards in 1951?

What did this show ?

A

changed basis from ‘reasonable grounds’ to ‘reasonable doubt’

showed that no longer was evidence needed for the basis of accusations

85
Q

What did the introduction of Federal Loyalty Boards do within the USA which limited freedoms?

A

legitimised the use of political litmus tests for employment

was mimicked on a local scale and in the private sector

86
Q

What did the introduction of Federal Loyalty Boards do for the Civil Rights movement?

A

harmed the moment

since 1930s activists for black rights had often been associated with communist party

87
Q

How much did the Truman Doctrine provide?
Marshall?

How many countries did the Marshall plan provide for?

Apart from inhibiting the spread of communism what did the Truman / Marshall plans also do?

A

truman : $400million
marshall : $13billion

Marshall plan provided for 16 countries

provided finance to war-torn countries, which put them in a position to provide demand for US goods

88
Q

What was the National Security Act?

When was it enforced?

What X2 agencies did it create?

A

Major restructure of US government military and intelligence agencies

Enforced from 1947

  • CIA
  • National Security Council
89
Q

What was the role of the National Security Council?

Under what act in what year was it set up?

A

Coordinate foreign policy

Set up under National Security Act
1947

90
Q

What case highlighted where decisions were being made in fear of communism which breached the constitution?

When was this?

What Act did the individual breach?

A

Dennis vs USA

1948

Dennis breached the Smith Act

91
Q

Who was Dennis (in the Dennis vs USA case?

What was the Smith Act? When was it enforced?

What did the Court rule?

A

Dennis = Secretary of the American Communist Party

Smith Act made it offence to advocate to overthrow the government - 1940

Court ruled Dennis did not have 1st amendment right to exercise free speech

92
Q

Name of Soviet’s Atom Bomb

When did it go off

Why did this increase fear of communism

A

First Lightning

1949

earlier development than USA predicted

93
Q

When was the US army humiliatingly defeated by Chinese army?

What did this suggest?

A

1950-51

US was weak against communism
Communism was a strong force which required a strong response

94
Q

What did the Fall of China to Communism and the Start of the Korean War (1950) stimulate in the USA?

A

increase public demand for domestic security

95
Q

What did McCarthy’s speech do for the anti-communism cause?

A

fuelled increased media attention

= mainly right wing press

96
Q

Despite the Tydings committee McCarthy was able to continue accusations w/out evidence. What does this suggest?

A

individuals were placing more confidence in McCarthy than they were in the actions of some government departments

97
Q

Why was McCarthy able to continue accusations despite Tyding’s committee?

A

There was sufficient paranoia within the public already to exploit

If there was not, the ‘worst senator’ of the USA, would not have received such traction for his cause

98
Q

How did the communist threat gain credibility?

give examples

A

several high profile prosecutions

  • Hiss
  • Hollywood Ten
  • Gouzenko / Fuchs

(pre-McCarthy)

99
Q

How was the Internal Security Act able to pass?

When did it pass?

What did it allow for?

A

large Republican Margins in both houses - able to bypass Presidential veto

1950

allowed investigation / deportation of immigrants suspected of subversion

made it unlawful to conceal membership of CPUSA when seeking employment

100
Q

Arguably what did the Internal Security act violate?

A

violated rights to certain elements of privacy

101
Q

Votes in 1952 :

Eisenhower
Stevenson :

A

Eisenhower : 33million

Stevenson : 27million

102
Q

Reasons for Republican win in 1952;

A
  • McCarthy’s campaign portraying Democrats as soft on communism
  • US Stalemate in Korean War
  • only just recovering from 1950s post-war depression
103
Q

Why did defence industries support McCarthy?

Name one

What did fear of communism result in in terms of military expenditure?
(1950-55)

A

defence industries wanted to maintain high military expenditure post WWII

supported McCarthy since communist paranoia was an atmosphere where mass rearmament policy was probable

increased defence spending
1950 : $12billion
1955 : $40billion

104
Q

When was McCarthy made chairman of the government committee on the operations of the senate?

what did this suggest?

A

1952

he had made himself an influential public figure

105
Q

Suggestion that GCOTOOTS and HUAC were not pervasive in influence;

A

impact was only felt in a few strategic areas;

  • Hollywood
  • Army
  • New Deal Democrats
  • Critics of McCarthy
106
Q

What was notable about the Army - McCarthy hearings?

A
  • televised live by ABC
  • first time such hearings had been televised
  • dominated TV for 3months
  • mass audience :
    post-war prosperity meant TV owners had increased from 7,000 in 1945 to 50million by mid-1950s.
107
Q

Who was the lawyer for the army who helped to reveal McCarthy’s bullying tactics?

A

Welch

108
Q

What have in the 1954 Mid-term congressional elections?

A

Republicans lost control of the senate

McCarthy replaced as Chair of GCOTOOTS

109
Q

How did McCarthy lose influence following his censure?

A

media became disinterested due to McCarthy’s loss of credibility
= so McCarthy was stripped of his vehicle of influence

110
Q

What was the real significance of the Hollywood trials?

A

their high-profile nature due to those being accused

111
Q

Name of publication which began publishing names of writers / performers suspected of being communist?

What does this show about enterprise and fear of communism?

Give another example of a business which profited

A

“Counterattack” - produced the “Red Channels” booklet

many businesses found it profitable to exploit fear

General Electric

112
Q

Reasons for McCarthy’s decline in influence;

A
  • momentum lost for accusing Democrats of being soft on communism since Republican President from 1952
  • publication rumours of homosexuality (LVS) - Oct 1952
  • criticism of army / decorated war heroes - from Oct 1953
  • increased criticism from journalists / politicians
  • stripped of position as Chief of GOTOOTS - Nov 1954
  • censuring : (67:22) - Dec 1954
113
Q

Executive order which set up federal loyalty boards

A

E.O 9835

114
Q

Name of a federal agency which McCarthy investigated in his post as Chief of the Government Committee on the Operations of the Senate

A

Voice of America

115
Q

When did Churchill deliver his Iron Curtain speech?

A

1946

116
Q

How many people went on strike in 1946?

Who did this include?

One of the reasons for the strikes;

A

4.5million people strike

United Automobile workers

25% food price rise in 1945-47
mainly due to shut down of Office of Price Administration

117
Q

When were the Hollywood 10 convicted?

What does this suggest about McCarthy and his influence?

A

1948

Pre-McCarthy
suggests that individuals and their rights were being violated even prior to McCarthy - negating his influence / abilities

118
Q

What demonstrates that the influence of the HUAC committee was only so great?

Give an example

A

In the late 1950s several verdicts of contempt of congress were quashed by Court’s of Appeal

e.g Arthur Miller’s case quashed in 1958

119
Q

What broad topic demonstrates the confidence of consumers post-war?

A

The fact that the economy had migrated so successful from one of defence to one of consumer goods is a testament to the confidence of consumers during the period

120
Q

Why did the fear of communism appear large post war

A

it was the sole fear in an otherwise prosperous era

121
Q

Examples of individuals rights being violated, “wholesale violation of civil rights” during post-war period;

A
  • 1947 : E.Order 9835
    Federal Loyalty Boards meant the state legitimised the use of political litmus tests
    = copied in other sources of employment
  • HUAC Hollywood Ten 1948 convictions
  • Dennis vs USA 1948
    Broke Smith Act
    No right to the 1st
  • Mccarran Internal Security Act 1950
    right to privacy

USA (33 decks)

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