Red Scare Flashcards
(12 cards)
Cold War context
distrust between US and Soviet Union led to the Cold War, Capitalist VS Communist ideals
Communist governments installed in Eastern Europe, US government thought Russia was trying to take over Europe
What was the Truman Doctrine?
President Truman said the USA would be committed to containing (stopping the spread) of communism
What was Domino Theory?
That once one country became communism the surrounding countries would also, and this would continue until it reached the USA- like dominoes.
Alger Hiss Case?
Alger Hiss was an important government official who was suspected of being a communist, convicted for lying in court, sentenced to 5 years in prison from January 1950
Rosenberg case?
Rosenberg’s were found guilty of being communist spies, executed on 19th June 1953
HUAC
House Committee on Un-American Activities
set up by US government to monitor extremist groups
held public hearings that started in 1947 on the threat presented by the communist party on America
FBI secretly passed intelligence to HUAC
FBI’s role?
-Directed by J. Edgar Hoover, very strong anti-communist views
-Set up the Federal Loyalty Boards in March 1947, to investigate government employees to find out if they were communists or had links to communism
-Between 1947-51, 3 million investigated, and 3,000 fired or forced to resign
-Passed intelligence to HUAC
Who was J Edgar Hoover?
Director of the FBI
Hollywood Ten
-10 Hollywood filmmakers that were suspected of spreading communist propaganda in films
-Were imprisoned for 1 year, most never worked in Hollywood again
- Brought huge publicity to HUAC’s work and increased anti-communist hysteria
Methods of McCarthy
-Held private and public hearings, would aggressively question and bully suspected communists, often attacking high profile figures to gain more publicity
-Fabricated evidence, would accuse anyone who spoke bad of him of being a communist
Downfall of McCarthy
-Cold War Tensions had Eased after the Korean War, however McCarthy’s accusation grew more extreme
-Media produced more and more articles and programmes about -McCarthy’s corruption and bullying
-Televised army - McCarthy hearing meant that public observed his bullying tactics
-No one was every convicted of spying based from McCarthy’s work
Impact of McCarthy
-Caused many people to lose their jobs and damaged many people’s lives due to his unfounded accusations
-Affected the US government, caused many intelligent and talented employees to be fired
added to the nation wide communist hysteria
