The Red Scare Flashcards

1
Q

What was the Red Scare?

A

Extreme anti-communist views held in the USA during the 1950s.

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2
Q

What would happen to you if you were thought to be a communist?

A

You would be black listed, sacked or attacked.

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3
Q

What were the reasons for someone being ‘blacklisted’?

A
  1. Fear of Communism
  2. Spying
  3. Cold War
  4. FBI & FELP
  5. HUAC
  6. Hollywood 10
  7. Hiss Case
  8. Rosenbergs
  9. McCarran Act (1950)
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4
Q

Why did people fear Communism?

A

2 different ideologies -
Communism = dictatorship, state run economy, security police, unfair justice, equality for all.
Capitalism = democracy, free trade, civil rights, fair justice & individualism.
Many Americans feared Communism after Stalin’s purges of the 1930s.

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5
Q

Why were people concerned about spying?

A

Relations between USA and USSR were bad.

USA were spying on USSR so the thought it reasonable that USSR was also spying on USA.

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6
Q

Why were people concerned about the Cold War?

A

USSR occupied most of Eastern Europe and imposed Communism. With China and Korea turning Communist people in the USA were very anxious - ‘red tide’ affecting trade and allies.
Atomic bomb testing in 1949 made this worse - sooner than the USA expected.

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7
Q

What impact did the FBI and FELP have on concerns about Communism?

A

FBI were strongly anti-communist due to director J Edgar Hoover
FELP - Federal Employee Loyalty Program was set up by Truman to see if government employees were current or former members of the communist party. 3 million were investigated by FBI - no one was charged with spying.

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8
Q

What impact did HUAC have on concerns about Communism?

A

HUAC - House Un-American Activities Committee - had the right to investigate anyone suspected of doing anything un-American.
1947 HUAC became big news - FBI found many writers, producers and directors in Hollywood were part of the Communist party.

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9
Q

Why were the Hollywood 10 brought before HUAC in 1947?

A

Accused of being or having been part of the communist party.
They weren’t doing anything wrong as they weren’t government employees.
They refused to answer questions - used first amendment - so were jailed for 1 year for contempt of court.
All this made the front page headlines.

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10
Q

What was the HISS case?

A

In 1948 Whittaker Chambers faced HUAC for being a communist - he accused Hiss (high ranking official) of also being communist.
Hiss denied it and case was thrown out.
Nixon investigated, found it to be true and Hiss was jailed for 5 years for perjury

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11
Q

Who were the Rosenbergs?

A

Julius and Ethel Rosenberg were arrested for spying in 1950.
2 years later they were executed.
Evidence against them existed but was not strong

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12
Q

What was the McCarran Act (1950)?

A

Hiss and Rosenberg case led to McCarran Act which meant that all communist organisations had to register with the US government.
No communist was allowed to carry a US passport or work in defence.

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13
Q

What were the effects of the Hiss case?

A

People thought he was a spy regardless of him being found innocent
Congress passed the McCarran Act
People feared that the government was full of communists

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14
Q

What were the effects of the Rosenberg case?

A

People blamed the Rosenbergs for USSR building atomic bombs
People thought the government was full of communists - led to McCarthyism
Mass protests - felt evidence was not strong and they had a young son

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15
Q

Why was McCarthy so successful?

A
People feared Communism
McCarthy used good tactics
McCarthy was in a good position
He used the media effectively
He was supported by fellow Republicans
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16
Q

How did McCarthy use people’s fear of Communism?

A
  • He took the role of ‘crusader’ against communism as many Americans saw him as defending the country
  • Many Americans believed his statements that Communism was a real threat to the USA - he used the Communist victories in 1950/51 in Korea to prove this point
17
Q

What were McCarthy’s tactics?

A
  • He always attacked and smeared the reputation of others; even the President would not stand up to him
  • People were afraid to oppose him; Tydings (Democrat) tried to but he accused Tydings of being a Communist and Tydings lost his seat in the elections
  • McCarthy attacked journalists that reported against him and accused them of having Communist sympathies - they became to afraid to speak out
  • He made precise claims that brought widespread publicity - used FBI loyalty board investigations to do so
18
Q

What was McCarthy’s position?

A
  • Chairman of the Government Committee on the Operation of the Senate
  • In charge of Senate investigations - used this to increase his personal power
19
Q

How did McCarthy use the Media?

A
  • He was a skillful speaker so used TV interviews to spread truth and lies so no one knew what was a lie
  • grabbed headlines and repeated multiple untruths regularly so people believed them as they had heard them so often.
  • Made high profile attacks so that eventually Eisenhower was too frightened to challenge him for fear of losing votes
20
Q

How did McCarthy get support from Republicans?

A
  • He had presidential backing; in 1953 Eisenhower agreed to a investigation into the Civil Service and 7000 people lost their jobs
  • In 1952 Republicans did not challenge his ideas as they were helpful to them
21
Q

What were the effects of McCarthyism?

A

Lives were ruined due to false allegations
Over 100 university lecturers lost their jobs
324 Hollywood personalities were ‘blacklisted’
25 US states passed anti-Communist laws
Anti-Communist groups were set up to beat up suspected communists
Many Americans wanted to return to traditional values from pre 1920s - McCarthy wanted women to stay in the home
USA was meant to be leader of the ‘Free’ Western world - McCarthy’s behaviour was typical of the Communist dictatorship he was so against

22
Q

What ended McCarthyism?

A

McCarthyism ended in 1954 because:

  • there was an influential opposition - people spoke out against him
  • Newspapers produced reports that challenged what he was doing
  • Televised Army Hearings - 1954 McCarthy accused 45 army officers of being communist. the hearings were broadcast and McCarthy appeared like a bully whereas army attorney Welch was polite and quietly humiliated McCarthy
  • Popularity decline - people stopped liking McCarthy. he became an alcoholic and died 3 years later