Red Scare

The term "Red Scare" has been applied to two distinct periods of intense anti-Communism and anti-Anarchism in United States history: first from 1917 to 1920, and second from the late 1940s through the mid-1950s. Both periods were characterized by the suspicion of widespread civil-service infiltration by Communists and Anarchist and fears of communist influence on U.S. society and infiltration of the U.S. government. These fears spurred aggressive investigation and (particularly during the first period) jailing of persons associated with communist and socialist ideology or political movements.

Origins

The roots of the Red Scare lie in the efforts of the U.S. government to suppress dissent and engineer pro-war opinion in the preparation for the American entry into World War I. in 1917, President Wilson established a "Committee on Public Information"http://www.propagandacritic.com/articles/ww1.drift.html to disseminate news favorable to the Allied cause and hostile to Germany. To complement the efforts of the Committee, the incipient "Bureau of Investigations" disrupted the work of German-American and leftist organizations through raids, agents provocateurs and legal prosecution. The Socialist Party of America strongly opposed the war on pacifist or revolutionary grounds. Eugene Debs and other party leaders were prosecuted for giving speeches urging resistance to the draft. Postal inspectors refused to distribute materials deemed subversive to the war effort. Many German-language and leftist papers were

Related Topics:
Dissent - World War I - Wilson - Committee on Public Information - "Bureau of Investigations" - Agents provocateurs - Socialist Party of America - Pacifist - Revolutionary - Eugene Debs - Draft

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

disrupted or closed as a consequence.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The feelings of the public majority shifted from being strongly isolationist to actively pro-war in a matter of months. The change was made more remarkable by the fact that Wilson had run on an anti-war platform in 1916 with the slogan "He Kept Us Out of War". The arguments, institutions and laws which were used to support the war did not disappear after the Armistice but remained on the books and were turned against radicals.

Related Topics:
Isolationist - Pro-war - 1916 - Armistice

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

After the war, the investigations abated for a few months, but did not cease. They soon resumed in the context of Russian Revolution of 1917, the Russian Civil War and the Red Terror. To many Americans, this was a time of uncertainty and fear over the prospects of a revolution in the United States. On May Day 1919, the International Communist Workers Holiday, 36 bombs were sent by mail to prominent politicians, judges, and other ?enemies of the left.? (1) Later events, such as the Seattle general strike, the Boston police strike, and the organizing efforts of the Industrial Workers of the World, seemed to demonstrate the rise of radical labor unions. Furthermore, many of the organizations which supported the unions were not only associated with socialism or communism, but had already been persecuted for opposing WWI.

Related Topics:
Russian Revolution of 1917 - Russian Civil War - Red Terror - Revolution - United States - May Day - 1919 - Enemies of the left - (1) - Seattle general strike - Boston - Industrial Workers of the World - Labor union

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~