The Red Scare Flashcards
What happened to 10 member of the Communist Party (USA) in 1949?
Sentenced to 5 years in jail and $10,000 fine
Who was the anti-Communist head of the FBI?
J. Edgar Hoover
What does H.U.A.C. stand for?
The House or Un-American Activities Committee
-set up by Congress to investigate existence of communists in USA
-black listed people who were suspected of communist activities included Hollywood Ten
What were the Rosenburg’s accused of and what happened to them?
They were accused of giving secret instructions of how to build the Atomic Bomb to the USSR, they were executed in June 1953
What was the Internal Security Act of 1950 also known as, and what was it?
-The McCarren Act
-Stopped US communists having passports, and they had to be registered.
-detention camps set up for US communists
When did Joseph McCarthy first rise to attention with this worrying speech?
1950
How many people did McCarthy accuse in governments of being communists?
How many did he reduce this to?
How many did were actually accused when he wrote his report?
200, 80, 57
Of the 57, how many had already been cleared and how many were still being investigated?
35, 22
When McCarthyism was in full string, many people were being accused of being communists, what were theses attacks called, give some details of people who were attacked.
The Witch Hunts; General Marshall accused of being at the centre of a national conspiracy; 100+ university lecturers were fired; HUAC black listed 324 Hollywood personalities.
Who opposed McCarthy and when was his downfall?
-Ed Murrow openly criticised McCarthy’s methods
-October 1953 onwards
FBI
-Federal Bureau of Investigation
-Under J. Edgar Hoover, 3 million people were investigated to see if they were communists
Hiss Case
-Nixon and HUAC accused Alger Hiss of passing secrets to the USSR
-He was never proved guilty, yet he was sent to jail for 5 years in 1950
Outcome of Red Scare
-Fears of USSR and Cold War meant US leaders used people’s feelings to make them more anti-communist
-in this atmosphere of tension, people believed propaganda and lies
-McCarthy was believed by public and Presidents
-consequences of being communist was a reaction to fears they were being fed
McCarthy’s reputation
-Eisenhower appointed him as head of a separate White House Committee to investigate Communism
-nothing to discredit him
Media Interest
-Many movies and comics showed communism and a threat
-For example, War of the Worlds and ‘Captain America, Commie Smasher’
