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The Cold War: Fear Of Communism

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The Cold War was made up of two sides, NATO and Warsaw pact. The NATO stands for North Atlantic Treaty Organization and it was the United States, Great Britain, West Germany, Italy, Belgium, and Denmark while the Warsaw Pact was the USSR, Eastern Germany, Poland, Romania, Hungary, and Czechoslovakia. The Cold War consisted of several different scenarios which caused the Red Scare, fear of Communism. Because this war wasn’t technically a fighting war, there was still several things they did to treat it as a war such as the arms race. Each country was trying to create a deterrent weapon so they would be seen as feared by the other country. The atomic and hydrogen bombs were both created at this time. In 1947, President Truman created a doctrine …show more content…

HUAC called many Hollywood stars into a questioning about what they knew about communism and if they were communist. HUAC blacklisted many people in the Hollywood hearings because they had a thought that they could possibly be communist. This ruined many people 's jobs. One man in general who was a playwright and screenwriter was called in, his name was John Howard Lawson. Lawson was a communist and had been since 1934, but he refused to answer any of the questions that HUAC had asked. He said, “You are using old technique, which was used in Hitler Germany in order to create a scare here--” (L 57-58). While this is showing HUAC was trying to create a scare to the people, he was proving a point that their scare wasn 't scaring Lawson. HUAC was a very powerful committee who accused many Hollywood producers of being communist. These accusations caused loss in Hollywood business because Americans began to be fearful that Hollywood was communist and they didn 't want to give any of their money to people who were not of what they believed. Even though some believe that HUAC was the main cause to the Red Scare, I believe Senator Joseph McCarthy caused more of a scare due to his accusations of the United States State Department and government. With all of the events that took place during this time, they all added up to cause a scare in America at the time. I believe that McCarthy was the main cause of the Red Scare because of his accusations of many American people. McCarthy accused American citizens as well as the United States government while HUAC only accused Hollywood

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Sam Roberts in the article A Decade of Fear argues that McCarthyism turned Americans against each other. Roberts supports his claim by illustrating fear, describing betrayal, and comparing it to other United States internal conflicts. The author’s purpose is to point out a vulnerable period of American history in order to demonstrate that Americans felt prey to McCarthy’s negative propaganda. The author writes in a cynical tone for an educated audience. I strongly agree with Robert’s claim.

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In the 1940 's and 1950 's, an anti-Communist movement swept the United States of America. Fueled by the anti-Communist actions of Congress, particularly a Senator from Wisconsin by the name of Joseph McCarthy, the movement escalated and many people lost their jobs as a result of various blacklists. Congressional hearings, both in front of HUAC and McCarthy Senate committee were a study in organized persecution. The actions taken during the "Red Scare" were eventually given the general name McCarthyism. McCarthyism is the practice of making accusations of subversion or treason without proper regard for evidence.

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President Truman stated in a speech that “malicious propaganda has gone too far”, and he describes the fear that Americans had over losing their jobs or being labeled as communist. This exemplifies the growing sentiments regarding the negative influence and expansion of communism during the time period. During the 1940s, a Loyalty review Board was created, which investigated the backgrounds of millions of federal employees. This sparked a fear in Americans of losing their jobs over suspected communist ties. Furthermore, Senator Joseph McCarthy only exacerbated Americans’ fears of communism with his investigations and accusations of hundreds of State Department employees having ties to communism.

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Imagine the wicked House of Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) arrest an innocent man. The HUAC does not arrest the man because he has committed a murder, but because he is a communist. Many communists became victims of HUAC in the Red Scare crisis of the 1950s. These communists made the right decision to speak out for their freedom and against injustice. These communists also spoke out for their freedom of different beliefs.

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McCarthy manipulated the media, told outrageous stories about the communist conspiracy in the United States, and used his power and America’s fear to besmirch any opponents as “communist sympathizers” to make sure he remained at the top. Actually, most conservative members of Congress supported McCarthy because it helped them gain votes during elections. The majority of McCarthy 's movement attacked liberals and members of the Democratic Party and this aided anyone who was not part of those topics and organizations. Then McCarthy began to target the Army because they wouldn’t favor David Schine, one of his former investigators, who had been drafted in. “Senator Joseph McCarthy began hearings investigating the United States Army, which he charged with being ‘soft’ on communism.

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People were terrified of communism spreading to the United States, so when accusations started floating around everyone would believe them. McCarthy accused people of communist behavior, although many were falsely accused, no one knew better than to think they were guilty because of how scared they were of communism spreading. This resembles how certain characters were accused of witchcraft in The Crucible. The Red Scare caused nationwide hysteria just how the Salem Witch Trials caused hysteria to the people of Salem.

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McCarthy uses a tactic known as “Red-bailing” on his opponents, which accused his opponents of being communists for going against him and this American pride of “democracy.” This led his opponents to lose support amongst the people, causing him to be the only one standing in his way. He had an overwhelming amount of the public supporting him, which caused his opponents to struggle against combating his ideals and beliefs publicly. Regardless, the American people needed McCarthy as a protection from communism, therefore no one else dared to challenge him for the sake of that protection. Not to mention, no one had a better strategy in the war against communism and communist leaders besides McCarthy, therefore leaving him alone to gain tremendous power and support.

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With McCarthy the start of fear and hysteria was because of the Red Scare. With more immigrants coming into the US and the Red Scare spreading people began to worry and panic and McCarthy fueled the fear with the accusation of 205 senate members contributing to Communism. This made people feel unsafe and people believed McCarthy and immediately trialed those that were accused. This led to even more unease among the Americans as they no longer knew anybody they could

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The Soviet Union was on the verge of a nuclear war, so McCarthy put fear in everyone because no one had any idea who was a communist and who was not. He made everyone afraid to trust people, even the friends other had. They were afraid that they would be accused

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The committee gained better momentum following World War II. Thats when the Cold War began. Movie executives created blacklists that turned away suspected radicals from employment. There were other industries that also created their own blacklist to turn away radicals.

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For example, Senator Joseph McCarthy's anti-communist crusades and the House Committee on Un-American Activities (HUAC) hearings helped to create a political climate of fear and suspicion that shaped American politics for decades. In the primary source, Joseph McCarthy on Communism (1950), McCarthy states, “At war’s end we were physically the strongest nation on Earth and, at least potentially, the most powerful intellectually and morally. Ours could have been the honor of being a beacon in the desert of destruction, a shining, living proof that civilization was not yet ready to destroy

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It was derived from the fear and hatred they had deep inside them. Mccarthy used this plot to get rid of his opponents and secure him a prime spot for a next term as a senator. McCarthy’s trials were no different to The Salem witch trials by raising suspitions he was able to destroy lives with a written list. Although people tried to contradict his allegations the majority’s fear of communists clouded the court’s judgement. They had no remorse for the aftermath of their doings.

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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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