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.

The Second Red Scare

During the late 1920s through the 1930s, anti-communism in the U.S. died down, especially after the Soviet Union became an ally with the U.S. 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.

Related Topics:
World War II - McCarthy

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Causes

During the late 1940s, several news events caught the public attention, including the trial of Ethel and Julius Rosenberg for treason (which resulted in their heavily publicized executions); the acquisition of an atomic bomb by the Soviet Union, which spelled the end of the United States' monopoly on nuclear weapons technology; the fall of China which had been an American ally during and World War II but had been subverted by U.S. administration officials in favor of the Maoist forces; and the beginning of the Korean War. Events such as these had a noticeable effect on the opinions of Americans in general regarding their own security, and gave rise to a subtle feeling of paranoia that centered upon a supposedly inevitable nuclear war with the Soviet Union. Widespread belief that communist spies and sympathisers were constantly working to bring the downfall of the United States added to the paranoia of the era. The release by the U.S. government in 1995 of secret Soviet-era cables decoded by the Venona Project confirmed that, in fact, there were hundreds of Soviet spies employed in high levels of government during that time.

Related Topics:
Ethel and Julius Rosenberg - Treason - Executions - Atomic bomb - Ally - World War II - Subverted - Maoist - Korean War - Spies - Venona Project

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

In support of their cause, anti-communists used actions by the Soviet Union and China as evidence of the evil of communism, namely the many millions killed in the Soviet gulags, the Stalin era purges, the deportation of over one million Polish 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.

Related Topics:
Gulags - Stalin - Purge - Deportation - Polish - Labor camps - Siberia - Eastern Europe - Second World War

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

With the recent declassification of the Soviet decoded Venona cables, some of the more controversial cases, such as those of Alger Hiss and Ethel and Julius Rosenberg, have been settled. The Soviet cables list some informants who vehemently denied involvement in espionage, proving that, in fact, they were on Soviet payrolls. Some communists were actually communicating Soviet_Union, thus giving the United_States the justification, even by early 21st century standards, for those particular cases.

Related Topics:
Soviet - Venona - Alger Hiss - Ethel and Julius Rosenberg - Espionage - Soviet_Union - United_States - 21st century

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Reactions

The Red Scare manifested itself in several ways, notably through the actions of the House Un-American Activities Committee, the rise of Senator Joseph McCarthy, and the acceleration of the arms race. Propaganda films like Red Nightmare were commissioned to further incite fears of communism and the Soviet Union.

Related Topics:
House Un-American Activities Committee - Joseph McCarthy - Arms race - Propaganda - Red Nightmare

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

There were also effects on America's way of life as a result of the Red Scare, 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 (an example of which being Invasion of the Body Snatchers).

Related Topics:
Fallout - Duck and cover - Science fiction - 1950s - Thrillers - Invasion of the Body Snatchers

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Articles and publications

Educational packet

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

• The Cold War and Red Scare in Washington State. 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.

First Red Scare

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

• Chicagoans Cheer Tar Who Shot Man: Sailor Wounds Pageant Spectator Disrespectful to Flag. Universal Service. Washington Post. May 7, 1919, p. 2. Retrieved April 13, 2005.
• Fear of Dissent. By "L. S. G.". The Nation. April 17 1920. Retrieved April 13, 2005.
• Benchley, Robert. The Making of a Red. The Nation. March 15, 1919. Retrieved April 13, 2005.

US Government Publications

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

• Palmer, A. Mitchell. America or Anarchy? An Appeal to Red-Blooded Americans to Strike an Effective Blow for the Protection of the Country We Love from the Red Menace Which Shows Its Ugly Head on Every Hand. PDF file. Report of Attorney-General Palmer to the United States Senate, published as a pamphlet by Martin L. Davey, Member of Congress from the 14th District of Ohio. Archived on the Early American Marxism section of the Marxist Internet Archive. Retrieved April 13, 2005.
• Palmer, A. Mitchell. The Case Against the Reds. Part III Peacemaking, 1919-1920, Radicalism and the Red Scare, World War I At Home: Readings on American Life, 1914-1920. John Wiley and Sons, Inc.: New York, pp. 185-189. Retrieved April 13, 2005.

Workers Party and communist publications

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

• The Michigan Raid. PDF file. Published in The Worker , v. 5, whole no. 241 (Sept. 23, 1922), pp. 1, 4. Marxists Internet Archive. Retrieved May 31, 2005.
• Exposes the Third Degree: Lambkin Tells of Brutalities Following Arrest in Michigan Raid PDF file. Published in The Worker , v. 5, whole no. 245 (Oct. 21, 1922), pg. 1. Marxists Internet Archive. Retrieved May 31, 2005.
• Ruthenberg, C.E An Open Challenge PDF document. The Liberator, v. 6, no. 3, whole no. 59 (March 1923), pg. 16. Early Worker's Party history of the Red Scare. Retrieved April 11, 2005.

Second Red Scare

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

• Allen, Raymond B. Communists Should Not Teach In American Colleges President, Univerisity of Washington. Educational Forum. Vol. 13 # 4. May 1949.
• Halsey, Jazzes. Higher Education's Appalling Responsibilities: Correcting the Cultural Lag. Delivered at the Opening Convocation of the College Year, University of Bridgeport, September 25, 1951. Republished in Vital Speeches. November 1, 1951 (pp. 61-64). Retrieved April 13, 2005.

Organizations

• National Defense Committee (1921-1922) history organization founded to defend arrestees. Archived on the Early American Marxism section of the Marxist Internet Archive. Retrieved April 11, 2005.

Notes

• Stanley Coben, A. Mitchell Palmer: Politician (New York: Da Capo Press, 1972), 203-04; quoted in the Moynihan Secrecy in Government Commission Report, The Encounter with Communism