The Red Scare Flashcards
What was the Red Scare?
Extreme anti-communist views held in the USA during the 1950s.
What would happen to you if you were thought to be a communist?
You would be black listed, sacked or attacked.
What were the reasons for someone being ‘blacklisted’?
- Fear of Communism
- Spying
- Cold War
- FBI & FELP
- HUAC
- Hollywood 10
- Hiss Case
- Rosenbergs
- McCarran Act (1950)
Why did people fear Communism?
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.
Why were people concerned about spying?
Relations between USA and USSR were bad.
USA were spying on USSR so the thought it reasonable that USSR was also spying on USA.
Why were people concerned about the Cold War?
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.
What impact did the FBI and FELP have on concerns about Communism?
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.
What impact did HUAC have on concerns about Communism?
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.
Why were the Hollywood 10 brought before HUAC in 1947?
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.
What was the HISS case?
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
Who were the Rosenbergs?
Julius and Ethel Rosenberg were arrested for spying in 1950.
2 years later they were executed.
Evidence against them existed but was not strong
What was the McCarran Act (1950)?
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.
What were the effects of the Hiss case?
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
What were the effects of the Rosenberg case?
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
Why was McCarthy so successful?
People feared Communism McCarthy used good tactics McCarthy was in a good position He used the media effectively He was supported by fellow Republicans
How did McCarthy use people’s fear of Communism?
- 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
What were McCarthy’s tactics?
- 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
What was McCarthy’s position?
- Chairman of the Government Committee on the Operation of the Senate
- In charge of Senate investigations - used this to increase his personal power
How did McCarthy use the Media?
- 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
How did McCarthy get support from Republicans?
- 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
What were the effects of McCarthyism?
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
What ended McCarthyism?
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
