Red Scare
The term "Red Scare" has been retroactively applied to two distinct periods of strong
anti-Communism in
United States history: first from 1917 to 1920, and second from the late 1940s through the mid-1950s.
These periods were characterized by heightened suspicion of communists, the fear of widespread infiltration of
communists in
U.S. government and the fear of communist infiltration into U.S. government and society. Both periods occurred during times of war and national upheaval. The '
First Red Scare' began during
World War I in which the
United States fought from 1917-1918.
Encyclopedia
The term "
Red Scare" has been retroactively applied to two distinct periods of strong
anti-Communism in
United States history: first from 1917 to 1920, and second from the late 1940s through the mid-1950s.
These periods were characterized by heightened suspicion of communists, the fear of widespread infiltration of
communists in
U.S. government and the fear of communist infiltration into U.S. government and society. Both periods occurred during times of war and national upheaval. The '
First Red Scare' began during
World War I in which the
United States fought from 1917-1918. This first 'Red Scare' took place amid a widespread campaign of violence by various
anarchist groups and aggressive labor unions who were inspired by the
Bolshevik revolution in Russia and the ensuing
Russian Civil War . The 'Second Red Scare' coincided with increased fears of espionage by communists such as
Julius and Ethel Rosenberg and heightened tension from the
Soviet blockade of Berlin ,
Chinese communist revolution, the civil war in
Vietnam and the
war against communist forces in Korea .
These fears spurred aggressive investigation and jailing or deportation of persons associated with communist and
socialist ideology or political movements. The
Constitutional right to free association in America makes it difficult to legally convict a citizen for simply belonging to a
subversive group, or groups and individuals who sympathize with these groups, and the secretive nature of the most violent and militant anarchist groups made them difficult to infiltrate.
In response, the Espionage Act was extended with the passing of the Sedition Act in 1918. The latter law made it illegal to speak out against the
U.S. government as well as giving the Postmaster General power to deny mail of citizens suspected of being dissenters . While United States Congress later repealed the Sedition Act in 1921, major parts of the Espionage Act remain codified in law.
First Red Scare 1919-22
The Second Red Scare
During the late 1920s through the 1930s, anti-communism in the U.S. died down, especially after the informal Big 3 alliance formed between the United Kingdom, the Soviet Union, and the United States during
World War II. As soon as the war ended, however, another Red Scare began in the
McCarthy era from 1948 to the mid-1950s.
Causes
During the late 1940s, several news events caught the public attention, including the trial of
Ethel and Julius Rosenberg for espionage ; the
Iron Curtain in Eastern Europe; the acquisition of an
atomic bomb by the Soviet Union and the discovery that atomic bomb secrets had been passed to Moscow by Soviet spies; the Communist revolution in China, the beginning of the
Korean War, and most importantly, the announcement of Soviet espionage networks in the United States . Events such as these had a noticeable effect on the opinions of Americans in general regarding their own security, and gave rise to the very specific fear centered on American communism and the fear of a nuclear attack by the Soviet Union. The revelations by
Elizabeth Bentley and
Whittaker Chambers that Soviet spies and Communist sympathizers had been successful in penetrating U.S. government agencies and obtaining information added to the mood of the era.
In support of their cause, anti-communists cited the growing evidence of active Soviet and Communist infiltration of the United States government, as well as the policies of the Soviet Union and China as evidence of communism's destructiveness, namely the many millions killed in the Soviet
gulags, the
Stalin era purges, the deportation of over one million
Poles to Soviet labor camps in
Siberia, and the killing of hundreds of thousands in China. This was in addition to the fact that the Soviet Union had rapidly and forcefully spread its influence into
Eastern Europe following the
Second World War. It is also possible that some of the evidence from the
VENONA Project linking prominent politicians, artists, and celebrities to Soviet
NKVD intelligence was leaked to the press or to anti-communist politicians, despite official classification of the project.
Reactions
For the period leading up to
World War II, being a Communist in the U.S. was legal. At the height of American Communism's popularity in 1939, the party had 100,000 U.S. members. However, with the revelations of the
Communist Party USA's secret apparatus and use of selected Party members for espionage activities, Congress passed the Smith Act, which made membership in subversive organizations a crime. In 1947,
Harry S Truman created the Federal Employees Loyalty Program. The program created review boards to investigate federal employees and terminate them if there were doubts as to their loyalty. The
House Committee on Un-American Activities and the committees of Senator
Joseph McCarthy heard testimony from Soviet spies
Elizabeth Bentley and
Whittaker Chambers, and began investigations of related Soviet spy rings. They also began investigating American Communists and their role in espionage, propaganda, and subversive activities, real and imagined.
Propaganda films like
Red Nightmare were made by studios anxious to cooperate with authorities.
There were also effects on America's way of life as a result of the Red Scare and the
nuclear arms race, which contributed to the popularization of
fallout shelters in home construction and regular
duck and cover drills at schools. The Red Scare is also cited as one factor that contributed to the rise and popularity of
science fiction films during the 1950s and beyond. Many thrillers and science fiction movies of the period used a theme of a sinister, inhuman enemy that was planning to infiltrate society and destroy the American way of life. Even a sports team was affected by the red scare. The
Cincinnati Reds changed their team name to the "Redlegs" to avoid the association of "Reds" and Communism.
See also
Contemporary accounts 1945 - 1955
- Allen, Raymond B. President, University of Washington. Educational Forum. Vol. 13 # 4. May 1949.
- Halsey, Jazzes. . Delivered at the Opening Convocation of the College Year, University of Bridgeport, September 25, 1951. Republished in Vital Speeches. November 1, 1951 . Retrieved April 13, 2005.
References
- . A curriculum project for Washington schools developed by The Center for the Study of the Pacific Northwest by Michael Reese, University of Washington, Department of History. Retrieved April 13, 2005.
