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Comparison Of The Cold War And The Red Scare

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The Cold War was a time where the citizens of the United States lived in fear. During the nuclear arms race in the 1950’s, the Student Peace Union (SPU) strongly “desired a restructuring of the American society” and fewer nuclear weapons. The result of fewer nuclear weapons would mean the end of the Cold War and the Red Scare. At the time of the Red Scare Joseph McCarthy, an American politician from 1947 to 1957, strengthened the fear of the American people with his methods of McCarthyism. McCarthyism is the practice of making accusations of subversion or treason without proper regard for evidence. McCarthyism is one of the main reasons for the start of the Red Scare, a time when the people of the United States fear communists, socialists,
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America in the 1950’s was a time where neighbor was told to watch neighbor in fear of a spy from Soviet Russia. After the second World War, many had believed that the atheistic communists had infiltrated the United States government on a mission to shape its policies. Politicians became disgraced after accusations of being a Communist member or sympathizer. In his “Speech Delivered in Wheeling West Virginia, February 9, 1950”, Republican senator from Wisconsin, Joseph McCarthy, exemplified McCarthyism and the Red Scare by presenting a list of more than two hundred State Department employees that had been a Communist. Going into the Cold War between the Soviet Union and The United States had been a heated time for politicians named a communist; a near equivalent to being called a witch in Salem, Virginia.

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McCarthyism spread social paranoia that all individuals could be treated as communist who were trying to betray the country. Therefore, McCarthyism also promoted the spread of Red Scare and divided American society. These events especially prove that the fear of communism due to the Cold War caused undesirable results for American

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This paper will compare and contrast the Red Scare of 1919 compared to the attack of America’s security and well-being on 9/11. The first comparison is that both were terroristic threats and involved spiritual persuasion of different religions on U.S. soil. The first part of the red scare was following the Bolshevik Russian Revolution of 1917 and the years following world war one. Authorities in April of 1919 found a plot for shipping thirty six bombs to members of the establishment of J.P. Morgan. In the year of 1919 on June 2, eight bombs went off in eight separate cities.

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Joseph McCarthy gained power because of people’s fear of communism (“Red Monday”). McCarthy claimed that 205 government officials were communists without supporting it with evidence which caused a panic (Fried 1). Frightened Americans asked for an explanation and instead McCarthy accused people, but he had the people’s support because he was against communists and that blinded people to the true facts (Fried 1). With the Smith Act and the House Un-American Activities Committee in place to ease the fear of communism, McCarthy’s unjust trials were able to be conducted (“Red Monday”). Rights were quickly being taken away to prevent the spread of communism, however, it was so that McCarthy could keep gaining power without anyone being able to say otherwise (“Red Monday”).

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Joseph McCarthy started accusing everyone of being communist. “New Dealers committed to feminism, racial equality, and the end of economic exploitation; how fellow travelers became virulent cold warriors; and the trauma the Second Red Scare inflicted upon upstanding American families.” This quote depicts how important the Second Red Scare was back in the 1950’s. It wasn’t only important but it was also very scary to many

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1950’s America was a time of great fear and of great power. World War II had ended a few years prior and had left a mark on the nation. Nazi Germany had fallen and in its place a new power captured the fear of America: The Soviet Union. Many Americans had a fear of this new world power, as the United States was in a “Cold War” with them. Wisconsin senator Joseph McCarthy used these fears to Start a hunt for the communists he claimed were plotting to overthrow the country.

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The term McCarthyism was adopted in the 1950s by one Joseph McCarthy, a Republican senator who used his power to ensure that communism was not spread throughout the United States. This time period is known as the “Red Scare”, in which McCarthy accused 205 officials from the U.S. Department of State of being communists or communist sympathizers. Not only were US officials targeted, but many of those involved in the entertainment business got blacklisted when they would refuse to answer questions about their involvement with the Communist Party at the time. Consequently, this caused the public to avalanche into a state of mass hysteria and paranoia because no one wanted to be accused of such a crime knowing that this could cause major repercussions.

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The Red Scare was a movement during the Cold War in America. Communism was spreading throughout the world, and hysteria spread all over the United States that communist were among them. McCarthyism was a fierce campaign carried out by Joe McCarthy against alleged communist in the U.S government and other institutions. In response to McCarthyism, Arthur Miller demonstrates through his play, The Crucible, that lies are used to avoid consequences, too much power can become corrupt, and innocent people will suffer for crimes they have not committed even with a lack of sufficient evidence.

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Scared and vulnerable, the people began to panic, turn on each other, and due to all of this they either had to blame someone else or die for it. Lastly, the fear of McCarthyism was highly

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Today, in the world there are so many different types of societies that unite for numerous reasons. They can either be big or small, but no matter what, a society is a society that stays united. However, one of the many things that can destroy millions of a united group in a matter of seconds is the compelling emotion also known as, fear. People who are power hungry individuals, see fear as an easy and beneficial tactic to gain power. In both the Crucible by Arthur Miller and the Red Scare, it is clearly evident that fear does not unite but rather splits both of these societies.

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McCarthyism is given that name because “Wisconsin Republican Senator Joseph R. McCarthy rocketed to public attention in 1950 with his allegations that hundreds of Communists had infiltrated the State Department and other federal agencies.” (Have You No Sense of Decency?senate.gov). The red scare is best defined as a widespread series of actions by individuals and groups whose intentions were to frighten Americans with false and highly exaggerated charges of Communist subversion for the purpose of political, economic, and psychological profit. “The red scare is best defined as a widespread series of actions by individuals and groups whose intentions were to frighten Americans with false and highly exaggerated charges of Communist subversion for the purpose of political, economic, and psychological profit. The “Red Scare” put people out of their jobs, and ostracized them from society.”

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Similarly, in the 1950s, there were those who were associated with communism. Certain politicians who came into office such as Sen. Joseph McCarthy, began to instill fear into people by saying communists had infiltrated the american government. This soon became known as the Red Scare. It became somewhat of a witch hunt for communists. The House Un-American Activities Committee called people to testify and name names.

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433 Words | 2 Pages

Communism is one of other reasons that lead to the Red Scare. The Red Scare in the late 1940s and early 1950 was the fear of communism. During the Red Scare events communist pushed for basic rights , by having John Huston and Myrna Loy create the committee for the first amendment in protest of HUAC's hearings. Communist were also known for being a foreign threat because foreign communist begin to influence society. When the Red Scare kicked off as people who were suspected of having communist ties were often terrorized and jailed.

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655 Words | 3 Pages

Mccarthyism started when Republican senator Joseph McCarthy claimed to have the names of communist suspects, “Joseph McCarthy was an undistinguished first-term Republican senator from Wisconsin until, in February 1950, in the midst of a speech in Wheeling, West Virginia, he lifted a sheet of paper and claimed to ‘hold in my hand’ a list of 205 known communist currently working in the American State Department.” As mentioned in this quote, Joseph McCarthy caused this mass hysteria known as McCarthyism when he held up the names of 205 suspected communists working for the government. The film industry of the time also portrayed the effects of the Cold War in American society, " American film noir portrayed the loneliness of individuals in an impersonal world- a staple of American culture for many decades- but also suggested the menacing character of age, the looming possibility of destruction.” This quote illustrates how the film industries would create movies depicting fear as to what the Cold War might have lead up to. Containment also affected life on a worldwide scale during the 1950’s and 1960’s,”The American commitment ultimately helped reduce Soviet pressure on Turkey and helped the greek government defeat the communist insurgents and, in the process, established as a basis for American policy that survived for more than forty years.”

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This kind of hysteria caused the Red Scare, which was a period that Americans thought communists were working to destroy America. This mass fear of communism ruined people’s lives and made them turn against their own family and friends. Joseph McCarthy played an

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