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The first red scare argument
The first red scare argument
The crucible background of the red scare
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Instantly following the end of the Second World War, the fears of the American people rapidly began accumulating as the mistrust between, the United States and the Soviet Union intensified. During World War II, tension between the two world powers began to emerge through ideological differences such as political beliefs and contrasting views regarding the future of Poland that took place at both the Yalta conference and Potsdam. This lasting skepticism only increased as the Soviets started to become more advanced through nuclear weapons and developments in space technology. Despite Eisenhower’s acknowledgment of these widespread fears, he was not particularly successful in addressing them. The American people lived in constant fear of the spread
US citizens faced many domestic changes during the 1940s to 1950s anti-Communist crusade, also known as the Red Scare. During this time, the Soviet Union and its Communist government began to spread. People in the US feared that communism would take over the country, and this fear led to people becoming suspicious of everyone around them. If someone said anything remotely suspicious, they could be turned in, lose their jobs, and get blacklisted, which made it almost impossible to find new work. During this time, people unofficially lost their freedom of speech and other civil liberties.
The Soviet Union was growing in power and the threat of a nuclear holocaust was on the forefront of American minds. Eastern Europe had become a conglomerate of Communist satellite nations. Threw in China and Americans began to feel they were surrounded by a Communist threat. Joseph McCarthy, U.S. Senator, made unsubstantiated claims that more than 200 "card carrying" members of the Communist party had infiltrated the United States government but held no proof to his accusation. McCarthy’s unsubstantiated claims ruined lives and led to increased hostility.
However, newly released archival materials such as the Venona intercepts show the extent of Communist subversion in pre- and post-war America. There were indeed hundreds of Communists working for Moscow, directly or indirectly, in the United States during the Roosevelt and Truman administrations. The problem that plagued Joe McCarthy was that by the time he surfaced with his accusations in the 1950’s, the key Soviet spy networks had all been closed down. For decades, many people believed that anyone who was accused of being a spy for the Soviets in the '50s was in fact just another innocent victim of the McCarthy’s witch hunt. Although it is true that McCarthy’s witch hunt did ruin the lives of innocent people, the fact is there were witches to be hunted and there had been a threat national security presented by communist spying and subversion in the 1940’s.
In a news article published during the Red Scare, the author describes the Communist red flag as symbolizing “defiance of law, order, and constitutional government. It is an insult to the stars and stripes.” It also states, “There is no room in this country for any flag but our own.” (source) The article goes on to say that the federal government must do whatever it takes to eradicate any forms of communism.
During the 1950s, the second Red Scare was an episode of political regression. The second Red scare was primarily produced by the Cold War with the Soviet Union. Initially, it lasted longer than the first Red Scare. The second Red Scare emphasized the threat posed by the Communist Party. Many individuals feared that the United States government was infiltrated by communists, leading to the establishment of the House Un-American Activities Committee.
During the late 1910’s and early 1920’s many Americans feared that communism would attempt to take over American and the world, this was known as the First Red Scare. The USSR was communism in the 1920’s. Communism is an economic system in which all property is owned by the state and each person lives in a classless society which contradicted the Americans capitalist society.
The Cold War lasted decades and tensions continued to heightened. Trepidation spread among American citizens about the future of their country and world. Would communism take over or would the United States stand their ground and push for democracy? Following the Second World War, the Cold War caused the American people to fear the growth Communism, an economic depression, and a possible nuclear war, yet the Eisenhower Administration successfully addressed these concerns and implemented ways to reduce these fears. First and foremost, the American people feared that communism would spread and take over governments in other nations beyond the Kremlin.
It’s the 1920’s and fear sweeps through the United States. When communists overthrew the Russian government in the 1917 Bolshevik Russian Revolution, the United States government resolved to prevent a similar uprising in America. American citizens also had a growing fear that the new communist ideals in Russia would spread to the United States, damaging the nation’s democracy. This fear of communism was known as “The Red Scare” or “The First Red Scare.”
In 1947 The Washington Post wrote a comic where the Committee on Un-American Activities, an anti-communist organization, is running over people walking in the streets with the car. Above the picture the slogan, “It’s okay- we’re hunting communists” is written, inferring that the American government was accusing and attacking innocent citizens. (Doc. 11) The most important conflict the United States faced, between 1953 and 1962 in general, was war. According to the Gallup Poll the American public believed that if communism began to spread, the United States should go to war (Doc. 2).
The changing politics of 1950s America made the right wing values of government stronger as it brought some semblance of structure to the country, which was recovering from WWII and starting the cold war against the Soviet Union, which would continue for decades. America during the war had overtaken Britain as the leading world power. Ambitious plans for highways and infrastructure across the US, and the space program contrasted with the witch hunt of the McCarthyism. There Civil rights movement was born and suffrage battles were being fought in the western
The Red Scare started right after the civil war was over. There had been many riots to accrue during the time of the red scare. In the term the red scare had been a form of lose to many successful people. It took at huge toll on the government as they tried to stop and contain the many job losses, but as the time went by people start to riot in the streets because the of the cuts from their jobs had really affected them. People were losing their lives and the government did all they could to try and stop it.
As World War II came to an end, the United States entered the 50s. This decade became a major influential time that brought many cultural and societal changes. Categories such as the economy, where a boom in new products increased, the technology world which incorporated new medicines and computers, entertainment when the television became popular and the overall lifestyles that Americans adapted to. All of these topics reshaped and created several advancements throughout society during the 1950s.
In a time of economic prosperity, a rise in the standard of living and rock and roll, also known as the “happy days”, the 1950s were a time looked back on with nostalgia. On the other hand, the 1950s were also met with many problems involving civil rights, the Cold War and McCarthyism. After the end of World War II, Americans came home to jobs available and a period of consensus. Consensus meaning there wasn’t much debate in politics. However tensions quickly rose throughout the nation when Joseph McCarthy made serious accusations about the State Department.
The American people feared the spread of communism and nuclear war in the aftermath of the Second World War, while President Eisenhower addressed these fears by having strong domestic and foreign policies. The fear of communism carved a deep sense of mistrust in American people. They believed anything that was said and blindly followed people who were in political power without any basis of evidence. The fear of communism created a sense of “hysteria” (Document A) within the general public and even in people in government.