Red Scare & McCarthyism Flashcards
How many supporters had the Communist Party never risen above?
100,000
In 1950s how many Americans belonged to Communist Party?
fewer than 50,000
What caused a swell in Communist party membership?
the depression - so a swell in the 1930s
By the end of the 1930s what had Communist party membership swollen to?
55,000
How many soviet agents reporting to NKVD were in the USA in 1941?
221
What was concerning about the Soviets and the atomic bomb?
- Stalin knew more about the Manhattan Project than VP Truman
Who was the cypher clerk who defected and was leaking vital secrets to the Soviets? When did he defect?
Gouzenko
1945
Who was arrested in Britain and when for selling Manhattan project secrets to the Soviets?
Karl Fuchs
When were the Rosenberg’s convicted of conspiracy to commit espionage?
1951
When were the Rosenberg’s executed?
1953
When was the ‘loss of china?’
1949
Who massively protested about the loss of China? who did they blame?
Right Wing Press and China Lobby
Blamed democrats for being too soft and not intervening
What did Democratic Senator McCarran attempt to convince people?
China fell due to work of secret communist infiltrators in the state department
By 1948 how many successive presidential elections had the republicans lost?
5
When was HUAC set up?
1938
Who was HUAC initially led by?
Martin Dies
What was notable about HUAC and the KKK?
Martin Dies supported KKK
Some HAUC members were Klansmen
KKK supported HUAC
Which notable newspaper tycoon supported HUAC and the campaign against communism?
Randolph Hearst
Who did HUAC initially go after?
Democrats and New Deal Projects
Which New Deal Project did HUAC especially go after?
Federal Writers Project
When was HUAC’s campaign against Hollywood?
1947-51
How many in Hollywood were ‘blacklisted’?
320
What type of institutions mimicked McCarthy and HUAC?
school boards and state legislatures
Who was head of the FBI during McCarthyism?
Edgar Hoover
What was the FBI doing with McCarthy
supplying him information
McCarthy was part of a bigger network of monitoring and accusations
What did Federal Loyalty Boards have the power to do?
fire federal employees based on ‘reasonable grounds’
How many dismissed and how many fired under Executive Order 9835
3,000 dismissed
300 fired
What were those dismissed / fired under Executive Order 9835 disproportionately?
civil rights campaigners and gays
How many of those dismissed under EO9835 were actually guilty of anything?
only about 200
How many states passed their own anti-subversion legislation?
39
How many Presidential elections had republicans lost by 1948?
5
In 1946 what happened in terms of the congressional elections?
1946 : mass success for Republicans
take majorities in both houses
Who did Nixon pursue in the State Department?
Hiss
When was Hiss convicted?
January 1950
What did the Republican’s use Hiss’ arrest as?
a way to implicate democrats in the ‘communist conspiracy’
When were Soviet records opened up?
1990
Where was McCarthy senator of?
Wisconsin
What was McCarthy previously voted?
worst senator
When did McCarthy make a speech where he implicated 205 people in the state department?
February 1950
What was passed by the conservative bloc in congress in September 1950? What was notable about this?
Internal Security Act
went against Presidential veto
What was notable about the Internal Security Act of 1950?
- went against President veto
- showed perceived ineffectiveness of Truman’s loyalty programme
When was the Conservative’s Internal Security Act passed?
September 1950
Why were many reluctant to challenge McCarthy?
he didn’t need evidence / the truth to end careers =
made him more powerful and frightening
What newspaper reported McCarthy’s homosexual activity? When was this?
the Las Vegas Sun
October 1952
When did McCarthy begin to go after the army? who in particular?
October 1953
Stevenson (Secretary to the Army)
Zwicker (Decorated War Hero)
When was McCarthy formally censured?
December 1954
What was the vote for McCarthy’s censuring?
67 to 22
What TV programme challenged McCarthy? Who was the presented?
See it Now
Marrow
How long did the McCarthy vs Army hearings go on for? what did they expose?
3months
McCarthy’s bullying tactics
What position did McCarthy hold 1950-54
Chairmanship of the Government Committee on Operations of the Senate
What congressional committee in 1950 unanimously disregarded McCarthy’s accusations of 205 people in the state department?
Tyding’s Committee
Which cartoonist challenged McCarthy?
Herb Block
Which senator challenged McCarthy?
Benton
owner of Encyclopaedia Britannica
What happened to Benton after he challenged McCarthy?
subject of McCarthy’s smear campaign
lost his position as senator in 1952 elections
When was the Alien Registration Act?
1940
How many Alien’s registered under the Alien Registration Act?
4.7million
When was the National Security Act enforced?
1947
When was Executive Order 9853 passed? what did it set up?
1947
Federal Loyalty Boards
When was the Truman Doctrine and Marshall Plan?
1947
When did the Soviet’s explode an atom bomb?
1949
What was notable about the Soviet’s atom bomb?
exploded earlier than USA thought the soviet’s would be able to develop it
When did China fall?
1949
When did the Korean War start?
1950
What was the number of people in the communist party in the state department McCarthy claimed reduced to from 205?
57
What did Sullivan say about McCarthy and the FBI?
“We were the ones who made the McCarthy hearings possible”
Who did McCarthy’s Government Committee on Operations of the Senate target initially?
Democrats ‘comi-crats’ associated w/ New Deal policies
X2 democrats McCarthy’s committee went after
Truman and Marshall
How many books removed from public libraries?
30,000
When did Nixon (Eisenhower’s VP) make a speech condemning McCarthy?
March 1954
What do some historians say about McCarthyism’s end?
What does this suggest about McCarthy’s influence?
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
Following the passing of E.O 9835 how many new FBI agents were hired?
What was their role?
7,000
Asked by loyalty boards to perform checks / investigations on individuals
Who ran the Federal Theatre Project?
When was she investigated by HUAC?
What did this result in?
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
Key reason for Republican gains in 1946 mid terms
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
What did the Taft Hartley Act do? 1947
- curb union powers
- outlawed closed shop
- made unions swear they were not communist
Who had a theory of ‘racial intolerance’?
What did this theory suggest?
When were these traits seen?
Chafe’s theory of racial intolerance
Americans behave intolerant during periods of rapid change / stress
What elements of change were seen during the post-war period which suggest Chafe’s theory of racial intolerance?
- permanent changes in race / gender / social relations
- development of unfamiliar technologies (e.g computing)
What did Chafe argue racial intolerance and anti-communism was an attempt to do
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
Where was Gouzenko arrested?
What does this suggest?
What did his testimony reveal?
Canada
That fear of communism wasn’t just confined to USA - it was an international phenomenon
Testimony revealed evidence of soviet spies in Canada
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?
The Hollywood Ten
Jail sentences
bans from working in major Hollywood studios
Dalton Trumbo
Black list ended in 1960s
What does the timing of the black lists ending suggest?
Despite McCarthy’s decline in 1954
shows how accusations in Hollywood had little to do with McCarthy’s influence
Evidence of the sentences and number of those convicted were not severe in the USA
only 320 in Hollywood put on ‘blacklists’
Several of Hollywood 10, including Trumbo, continued working under pseudonyms
What did the Republican Triumph in 1946 lead to? X2
- Taft-Hartley Act 1947
- major revival of institutional anticommunist activity (including Hollywood trials)
What was the set of the Federal Loyalty Boards a response to?
charge that the Democrats were soft on communism
which Democrats had lost ground to Republicans on the year before in elections
What did Truman do to Federal Loyalty Boards in 1951?
What did this show ?
changed basis from ‘reasonable grounds’ to ‘reasonable doubt’
showed that no longer was evidence needed for the basis of accusations
What did the introduction of Federal Loyalty Boards do within the USA which limited freedoms?
legitimised the use of political litmus tests for employment
was mimicked on a local scale and in the private sector
What did the introduction of Federal Loyalty Boards do for the Civil Rights movement?
harmed the moment
since 1930s activists for black rights had often been associated with communist party
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?
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
What was the National Security Act?
When was it enforced?
What X2 agencies did it create?
Major restructure of US government military and intelligence agencies
Enforced from 1947
- CIA
- National Security Council
What was the role of the National Security Council?
Under what act in what year was it set up?
Coordinate foreign policy
Set up under National Security Act
1947
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?
Dennis vs USA
1948
Dennis breached the Smith Act
Who was Dennis (in the Dennis vs USA case?
What was the Smith Act? When was it enforced?
What did the Court rule?
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
Name of Soviet’s Atom Bomb
When did it go off
Why did this increase fear of communism
First Lightning
1949
earlier development than USA predicted
When was the US army humiliatingly defeated by Chinese army?
What did this suggest?
1950-51
US was weak against communism
Communism was a strong force which required a strong response
What did the Fall of China to Communism and the Start of the Korean War (1950) stimulate in the USA?
increase public demand for domestic security
What did McCarthy’s speech do for the anti-communism cause?
fuelled increased media attention
= mainly right wing press
Despite the Tydings committee McCarthy was able to continue accusations w/out evidence. What does this suggest?
individuals were placing more confidence in McCarthy than they were in the actions of some government departments
Why was McCarthy able to continue accusations despite Tyding’s committee?
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
How did the communist threat gain credibility?
give examples
several high profile prosecutions
- Hiss
- Hollywood Ten
- Gouzenko / Fuchs
(pre-McCarthy)
How was the Internal Security Act able to pass?
When did it pass?
What did it allow for?
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
Arguably what did the Internal Security act violate?
violated rights to certain elements of privacy
Votes in 1952 :
Eisenhower
Stevenson :
Eisenhower : 33million
Stevenson : 27million
Reasons for Republican win in 1952;
- McCarthy’s campaign portraying Democrats as soft on communism
- US Stalemate in Korean War
- only just recovering from 1950s post-war depression
Why did defence industries support McCarthy?
Name one
What did fear of communism result in in terms of military expenditure?
(1950-55)
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
When was McCarthy made chairman of the government committee on the operations of the senate?
what did this suggest?
1952
he had made himself an influential public figure
Suggestion that GCOTOOTS and HUAC were not pervasive in influence;
impact was only felt in a few strategic areas;
- Hollywood
- Army
- New Deal Democrats
- Critics of McCarthy
What was notable about the Army - McCarthy hearings?
- 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.
Who was the lawyer for the army who helped to reveal McCarthy’s bullying tactics?
Welch
What have in the 1954 Mid-term congressional elections?
Republicans lost control of the senate
McCarthy replaced as Chair of GCOTOOTS
How did McCarthy lose influence following his censure?
media became disinterested due to McCarthy’s loss of credibility
= so McCarthy was stripped of his vehicle of influence
What was the real significance of the Hollywood trials?
their high-profile nature due to those being accused
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
“Counterattack” - produced the “Red Channels” booklet
many businesses found it profitable to exploit fear
General Electric
Reasons for McCarthy’s decline in influence;
- 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
Executive order which set up federal loyalty boards
E.O 9835
Name of a federal agency which McCarthy investigated in his post as Chief of the Government Committee on the Operations of the Senate
Voice of America
When did Churchill deliver his Iron Curtain speech?
1946
How many people went on strike in 1946?
Who did this include?
One of the reasons for the strikes;
4.5million people strike
United Automobile workers
25% food price rise in 1945-47
mainly due to shut down of Office of Price Administration
When were the Hollywood 10 convicted?
What does this suggest about McCarthy and his influence?
1948
Pre-McCarthy
suggests that individuals and their rights were being violated even prior to McCarthy - negating his influence / abilities
What demonstrates that the influence of the HUAC committee was only so great?
Give an example
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
What broad topic demonstrates the confidence of consumers post-war?
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
Why did the fear of communism appear large post war
it was the sole fear in an otherwise prosperous era
Examples of individuals rights being violated, “wholesale violation of civil rights” during post-war period;
- 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
