The second Red Scare 1947-54 - what influenced the political landscape?

relationship of USSR and USA during WWII

The USSR joined the USA and its allies towards the end of the war, having first fought with Germany against the Allies.

what happened to many EE countries once the war ended?

many Fasten European countries occupied by the USSR during the war emerged with Soviet governments, increasing fears of communist takeovers in other countries.

in what context did the scare take place in?

Cold & Korean War

why did the Second Red Scare have more basis than the first?

first. The USSR was spying on the USA; it was especially keen to get hold of atomic weapons secrets.

31 July 1948

government employee Elizabeth Bentley told HUAC she had been part of a Moscow-led spy ring and named other government employees involved in it.

3 August 1948

Whittaker Chambers (also a government employee) told HUAC of more government employees involved with Moscow. Both accusers named people in important government jobs.

the trails of Alger Hiss

The trials of Alger Hiss (1949; retrial 1950), who had been an advisor to Roosevelt, and the Rosenbergs (1951) were especially high-profile.

what did the first Hiss trial result in?

a mistrial because the jury could not agree. He was found guilty in the re-trial. The Rosenbergs were found guilty.In both cases, the evidence was conflicting.

what happened in 1949?

China became communist and the USSR held its first nuclear weapon test.

what was Truman accused of?

While the loss' of China to communism was not something Truman could have stopped, members of the 'China Lobby' accused Truman of being responsible because he did not give enough support to Chiang Kai-Shek, the leader of the Chinese government, against the communist rebels.

what was Truman advised not to do?

give more support to Chiang, because his government was corrupt and the advisors thought the rebels just wanted change in China, not worldwide communism, as the Soviet Union wanted. When the communist Chinese helped the communist North Koreans during the Korean War, critics of Truman's China policy said this confirmed their fears.

how did the media react?

The media began to question whether the government was doing enough to fight communism and protect its citizens - a significant factor in the blowing up of the Second Red Scare, as in the first one in 1919-20.

what did the Cold War intensify?

long-standing American fears of Communism

what did communism appear to be?

dangerously expansionist: the Soviets encouraged and enforced Communism in Eastern Europe during 1944-8, many countries had significant Communist Parties, and in 1949 the Soviets tested an atomic bomb and China became Communist. That expansionism contributed to a second American Red Scare.

what is another reason for the red scare?

the Republican desire for party political advantage. Patriotism demanded national unity in the face of the Communist threat, but Republicans sought votes by attacking Democrats for waging the Cold War with insufficient vigour.

what was set up during the Depression to investigate left-wingers?

The House of Representatives Committee on Un-American Activities (HUAC)

1945 John Rankin

left-wingers. In 1945, Republican congressman John Rankin (who thought the Red Cross failure to label blood according to race was a Communist plot) suggested it be made permanent and more powerful.

1947

Republicans dominated Congress and HUAC and sought political advantage by presenting themselves as better defenders of national security than the Democrats. They promoted investigations of Communists in Hollywood, Broadway (New York City's theatre district) and the federal bureaucracy.

what were fears of communism further increased by?

spy scandals: State Department official Alger Hiss (1950) and Julius Rosenberg (1951) were amongst those arrested for passing defence secrets to the Soviet Union.

Clark Clifford

recalled that Truman thought the Red Scare a load of baloney', but Truman himself contributed to the Red Scare. His 'Truman Doctrine speech of 1947 depicted a frightening world in which Communist expansionism so threatened US national security that it had to be opposed.

Truman Doctrine

Articulated in Truman's March 1947 speech to Congress, advocating US aid to any country threatened by the evil of Communism.

Truman’s executive order no 9835

ordered an investigation into the loyalty of federal employees. An aide admitted that Truman did this to steal the Republicans' thunder.

1950 Internal Security Act (McCarran act)

ordered an investigation into the loyalty of federal employees. An aide admitted that Truman did this to steal the Republicans' thunder.

how did Truman react to the INternal Security Act 1950?

he vetoed the bill, but congress overrode it. However, Truman let the Justice Department and FBI search for Communists, even while privately comparing the FBi to the Gestapo.

how did the political pressure affect Truman?

he went along with a scare that ruined thousands of American lives. Estimates of the numbers affected vary, but between 1945 and 1953, there were perhaps 3 million investigations, several thousand resignations offered to try to pre-empt investigations, and over 1000 dismissals.