Activity 1 Red Scare Why was there a

Activity 1: Red Scare Why was there a ‘Red Scare’ in the USA? At the end of the Second World War (1939 - 45), the USA emerged as the most powerful nation on the earth. Her enemies were defeated and her allies exhausted. You might be forgiven for thinking that the USA would be brimming with confidence, yet the country was soon to be in the grip of an anti-Communist witch-hunt known as the 'Red Scare. ' If it looked as if you were a Communist, or approved of Communism, or even had friends who did, you might be 'blacklisted', sacked or even attacked. Many Americans believed that they were involved in a worldwide struggle against Communism - a struggle that they believed they were losing. Why were Americans afraid of Communism? America’s political system was based on democracy. Its government was chosen through free and regular elections. Indeed, most Americans believed they had fought the war to preserve this political freedom for themselves and for the peoples of the world. They saw America as “the land of the free” and thought it was their duty to protect ‘individuals’ rights’. One important right was the right to economic freedom. The American economic system was capitalist. Under a capitalist economy, industry and land is owned by private individuals or businesses who try to make profits out of production. The USSR's or Russia’s ideology, however, was based on Communism. In theory, this system places the good of the whole of society before individual interests. Industry and land should therefore be owned not by individuals, but by the state, and run for the benefit of society, not the profit of a few individuals. To achieve this, however, it had been necessary to develop a strong Communist Party with a firm control over the country. Stalin had developed this power since he succeeded Lenin in 1924, so that Russia had become a one-party state, in which the people’s political and economic rights had been severely curtailed. Source A: Capitalism Verses Communism

Activity 2: Red Scare Complete the table below using the revision notes QUESTION NOTES Why was the USA in such a strong position at the end of the Second World War? What was the 'Red Scare'? What was America's political and economic system based upon? What was the USSR's (Russia's) political and economic system based on? Why did many Americans not trust the USSR (Russia) ? Why did Communists living in the USSR (Russia) not trust the USA?

Activity 3: Red Scare How did the international situation make Americans more fearful of communism after the Second World War? During the Second World War, the USA and the Soviet Union (Russia) had put aside their differences in order to defeat their common enemy, Nazi Germany. Once the war with Germany was over, their differences started to became an issue again. At the Yalta Conference in April 1945, the USA, Britain and the Soviet Union (Russia) agreed to hold free and fair elections in the countries that they helped to free from Nazi control. This was especially important to Britain as she had declared war when Germany had invaded Poland in 1939. Once the war with Germany was over in May 1945, they met again at another conference at Potsdam to discuss how they were going to divide up post war Europe and defeat Japan. By this point, it was clear that Stalin the leader of the Soviet Union (Russia) was not going to keep the promises that he had made at Yalta and allow the people of Eastern Europe to hold free and fair democratic elections. Ten days later, the USA exploded the world's first atomic bomb over the Japanese city of Hiroshima and then a second one a few days later over Nagasaki. The power of this new weapon forced the Japanese to surrender, but frightened the Soviet Union (Russia) who was now afraid that the USA might one day use it against them. They began to see the USA as rivals and began to develop their own nuclear weapons. This along with the events described below, frightened many Americans into thinking that the Communists were trying to take over not just Eastern Europe but the rest of the world, including the USA. By 1945 the USSR had made huge territorial gains moving its frontier deep into Eastern Europe. By 1948, all the countries of Eastern Europe had either 'elected' or had imposed Communist governments. Europe, was in effect divided between Capitalist and Communist countries in a straight east / west spilt which Winston Churchill described as an 'Iron Curtain. ' The USA tried to halt this expansion. In 1947, President Truman proclaimed the Truman Doctrine and promised to send money and military aid to any country that wanted to resist Communism. Many European countries had been devastated by the war and people were desperate for help and started to look for radical solutions to their problems as they had done during the Great Depression. Support for the Communist Party started to increase so the US offered millions of pounds in Marshal Aid to help countries rebuild and feed their people. In 1948, the USSR tried to seize control of West Berlin by cutting off all their supply links. The USA and Britain responded with a massive airlift lasting 15 months to feed the starving people of Berlin. Eventually, the USSR backed down. In 1949, NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organisation) was formed, a military alliance to protect Western Europe and America from a possible attack from the USSR. In 1949, two devastating events led to a feeling in the USA that the USSR was intent on spreading Communism and taking over the world. Firstly, the USSR successfully exploded its first atomic bomb using technology that its spies had stolen from the USA. Secondly, the civil war ended in China with the Communists led by Mao seizing control of 500 million people. In 1950, Communists were trying to seize control of in Malaya, Burma, Indonesia, South Korea and the Philippines. In 1950, Communist North Korea invaded Capitalist South Korea with backing from both the USSR and China. The USA got support from the United Nations to send troops from all over the world to push them back over their border. By 1953, the war had reached a stalemate, which resulted in a truce, which has lasted until today.

Activity 5: Red Scare Complete the table below to help you understand how the international situation made people in the USA scared of the spread of Communism QUESTION NOTES Why did the USA stop trusting Stalin and the USSR in 1945? How did the use of the atomic bomb on Japan worsen the relationship between the USA and the Soviet Union? How did President Truman try and stop the spread of Communism? Which countries had been taken over by the Communists by 1950? Which countries were the Communists trying to take over in the 1950 s? How did the Soviet Union (Russia) get the technology to develop its own atomic bomb? Source C: The Domino Theory - if one country falls to Communism, then its neighbours follow.

Activity 6: Red Scare inside the USA At the same time as Communism was expanding around the world, there were a number of internal developments that helped to increase American fear about Communism. 'Better dead than Red' became a common saying in the United States in the late 1940 s. Instead of brimming with confidence after the Second World War, the USA became gripped by fear and suspicion of Communism. This was a period that became known as the Red Scare and was reflected in the films and literature of the time. From the 1930 s, the US Congress set up a special committee to investigate Un-American Activities. It was called the (HUAC) House Un-American Activities Committee. It had the legal right to investigate anyone suspected of doing anything un-American or being supportive of the Communists or Nazi Parties. In the beginning nobody took much notice of it, but by 1947 it became big news. The FBI had evidence that a number of Hollywood writers, actors and film producers were members of the Communist Party. HUAC called them to be questioned by the committee under oath. It should be remembered that these people were not government employees and it was not illegal to be a member of the Communist Party in a free and democratic country. Every time they were asked the standard question: ‘Are you now or have you ever been a member of the Communist Party? ’ they refused to answer. In each case they pleaded the First Amendment of the US Constitution, which guaranteed all Americans the right to believe what they wanted. In total ten people were questioned and refused to answer the questions of the HUAC. They were jailed for contempt of court. After they were released Hollywood Studios black listed them so that the majority of them never worked again in the film industry. This was big news, as the Hollywood film industry was the biggest in the world and this helped to intensify fear and suspicion. In 1947, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) had a strong anti-Communist director, J Edgar Hoover. He had been a driving force behind the first 'Red Scare' after the Russian Revolution. In 1947, Truman let him set up the Federal Employee Loyalty Program. This allowed the FBI to investigate whether Federal employees were members of the Communist Party. From 1947 - 1950, around 3 million people were investigated. Nobody was charged with spying, but 212 staff were identified as security risks and forced out of their jobs. Again, this helped to raise fear and suspicion. In 1948, Alger Hiss, a former official of the US State Department (responsible for Foreign Affairs) was accused by a former Communist of handing over more than 200 secret State Department documents to him and of being a Communist. Hiss denied both charges. He was sentenced to five years in prison for perjury (lying under oath) but was never convicted of being a spy for Russia. In 1992, Russian military intelligence documents were made public, suggesting that Hiss had no links with Russia's spy network. In 1949, the Soviet Union exploded its first atomic bomb. Many people suspected that the Russians had help from spies. In 1950, a German born physicist called Klaus Fuchs was convicted of passing nuclear secrets to the USSR. As part of the investigation, suspicion also fell on a married couple called the Rosenbergs. At their trial they denied all the charges against them, but they were found guilty and sentenced to death. They were executed in 1953. The evidence at the time seemed flimsy, but evidence published from Russian military intelligence documents in 1995 showed that they were guilty. Both trials raised the fear, anxiety and suspicion that there were communist spies undermining the USA. The Mc. Carran Act - The Hiss and Rosenberg cases helped to lead to the Internal Security Act of 1950. This was usually known as the Mc. Carran Act (after Nevada Senator Pat Mc. Carran). President Truman opposed it because he claimed it would make a mockery of the US Bill of Rights. Congress defeated his opposition by voting 80% in favour of the Act. The main measures were: All Communist organisations had to be registered (including finger printing of members) with the US government. No Communist could carry a US passport or work in defence industries. The Act even allowed for the setting up detention camps in emergency situations.

The Media - The media did much to intensify the fear of communism. Films: It is estimated that there were approximately 50 films made between 1947 and 1954 that openly showed communists as enemies of the USA. The Cold War hit the movies in 1948 with the film, The Iron Curtain, which told the story of a clerk in the Russian embassy in Ottawa who defeated the West. Over the next 10 years a succession of films – some bordering on hysteria, such as I Married a Communist (1950) seemed to show communist subversion everywhere in US society. Comics: Captain America was a comic book superhero. He was created in 1941 to fight the Nazis. At the end of the war Marvel comics ‘killed him off’. He crashed while flying an experimental plane. However, in the era of the Red Scare, Marvel comics sensed the public mood and they brought back Captain America in 1953 – as Captain America, Commie Smasher. The story now ran that he did not actually die but had been frozen in ice. On a piece of A 3 or A 4 paper, use the template below to mind map the causes of the 'Red Scare. '

Complete the table below to help you understand the causes of the 'Red Scare. ' QUESTION ANSWER NOTES How did the work of the HUAC help to raise fears and suspicions about Communists? How did the work of the FBI help to raise fears and suspicions of Communists? How did the trial of Alger Hiss help to raise concerns about Communism? How did the trails of Klaus Fuchs & the Rosenbergs help to raise fears about the Communists? How did the media help to raise fears about Communist taking over the USA? How did the Mc. Carran Act try to control Communists in the USA?

Activity 9: Red Scare – Mc. Carthyism In 1950, an ambitious and dishonest Republican Senator, Joseph Mc. Carthy, claimed that he had a list of 205 members of the Communist Party who worked for the State Department, which was responsible foreign affairs. Mc. Carthy never produced any evidence to support his claim, but he knew that the American public were ready to believe him in the climate of fear caused by the 'Red Scare. ' With elections just around the corner, his fellow Republicans were also ready to back him. The Democrats had been in power for seventeen years, and the Republicans were desperate to use anything they could to discredit Truman's government for not doing enough to stop the spread of Communism. In the elections to the Senate in 1952, the Republicans won a majority and defeated the Democrats. • A Senate committee was set up to investigate the accusations and after several weeks it decided that Mc. Carthy’s claims were ‘a fraud and a hoax’. Mc. Carthy branded the committee chairman, Senator Tydings, a Communist and in the autumn he was defeated in the Senate elections by a supporter of Mc. Carthy. From this point, many politicians were afraid to speak out against Mc. Carthy. • After the election, President Eisenhower appointed Mc. Carthy as head of a White House committee to investigate Communist activities in the US government. • The people named by Mc. Carthy had their lives ruined. In all, 2, 375 men and women were summoned to appear before the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC). • As a result, some 400 Americans were sentenced by the HUAC to terms in jail. The chance of a fair trial was remote - lawyers were afraid that if they defended someone who had been accused of being a Communist, that it would ruin their reputation and careers. • Coverage in the press helped to increase fear that the Communists were taking over and so many people were prepared to support these investigations, even though they broke important US constitutional rights. • Even if HUAC cleared someone the fact that they had been accused was enough to destroy their careers and reputations. Mc. Carthy accused anyone who criticised him as being a Communist. • Mc. Carthy’s popularity led to him becoming even more outrageous in his claims. For example, he claimed that General George Marshal who had put together the Marshal Plan to help rebuild war torn Europe was at the centre of a Communist conspiracy against the USA. • President Eisenhower did nothing to protect his friend and former colleague as he was frighten of being falsely accused or being seen as disagreeing or clashing with Mc. Carthy's methods and tactics His methods mainly involved false accusations, bullying and lying. He would wave a piece of paper in the air which he would claim had the names of Communists that he had been secretly given. He often targeted high profile figures and immediately accused anyone who disagreed with him as being a 'Commie. ' One his victims, professor Owen Lattimore described Mc. Carthy's tactics: Source C: Professor Owen Lattimore at the HUAC hearings, 1952 The technique apparently used by Senator Mc. Carthy against me is apparently typical. He first announced at a press conference that he had discovered the top Russian agent in the United States. At first he withheld my name, but later, after the drama of his announcement was intensified by the delay, he then whispered my name to a group of newspaper reporters with full knowledge that my name would be banded about by rumour and gossip and eventually published. I say that this was unworthy of a Senator or an American.

As an expert on China and East Asia, Professor Lattimore had been the top advisor to President Truman when China fell to the Communist in 1949. This made him a target for Mc. Carthy. Lattimore was questioned by HUAC for 12 days and gave as good as he got on national TV. Mc. Carthy's ally Senator Pat Mc. Carran had Lattimore investigated for perjury (which means lying on oath in court). The FBI carried out five investigations on Lattimore until a federal judge threw out all the charges again him in 1955. Complete the table below to help you understand Mc. Carthyism QUESTION ANSWER NOTES Who was Senator Mc. Carthy? Why did many Republicans support him in the beginning? Why did Mc. Carthy have a lot of popular support? What tactics and methods did Mc. Carthy use against his victims? Why were many US politicians too afraid to oppose him?

Mc. Carthy's Downfall In 1954, public opinion quickly turned against Mc. Carthy when the hearings of the HUAC were televised and broadcast on TV at the request of the Democrats. The media played an important role in his downfall. • Mc. Carthy's questioning of witnesses on TV showed him to be a drunk, bully and a lair. • Quality newspapers such as the Washington Post, New York Times and Milwaukee Journal produced sensible and balanced reporting that damaged Mc. Carthy’s reputation and credibility. • Several senators spoke up against him, including the Republican Senator Ralph Flanders and their opposition was broadcast on TV and reported in the newspapers. • The last straw came when Mc. Carthy claimed on TV that the US Army, which was heavily involved in the fighting in Korea, had been infiltrated by the Communists, and that the new Republican President, Eisenhower, knew nothing about it and was not prepared to stop it. • The American people were not prepared to believe Mc. Carthy's final claim that the US Army was infiltrated with Communist traitors or that the former general who led them to victory in Europe during the Second World War was a possible traitor. • During one of the HUAC meetings, Mc. Carthy was publicly humiliated on TV by a lawyer representing the US Army, Joseph Welch. At one point Mc. Carthy reminded Welch that he belonged to an organisation that had Communist sympathies. The court burst into applause when Welch replied 'Have you no decency sir? At long last have you no sense of decency left? ' • As a result Mc. Carthy lost what was left of his credibility. The Senate condemned his behaviour in 1954 and he was forced out of public life after Congress passed a motion of censure condemning his methods and basically calling him a liar. Complete the activity below to help you understand why people stopped believing Mc. Carthy.

Short Term Consequences of Mc. Carthyism • The hysteria created by the Red Scare and Mc. Carthy's accusations helped to force through the Mc. Carran Internal Security Act in 1950, which forced organisations which were regarded as fronts for Communism to provide the government with lists of their members. This measure was vetoed by President Truman who had his decision overturned by the US Congress after more than three quarters of them backed the measure. Mc. Carthyism also led to the Communist Party being banned in the USA in 1954 by the Communist Control Act. • Even though many of Mc. Carthy's accusations had been false, some 9500 civil servants had been dismissed another 15, 000 had resigned. 600 teachers had also lost their jobs and many fine actors and scriptwriters were unable to work in the film industry. • Charlie Chaplin, the British comedian who had grown up in a Liverpool workhouse and emigrated to the USA was investigated. Angered by the false accusations, he left the USA, never to work there again Long Term Consequences of Mc. Carthyism • The hysteria created by Mc. Carthy's accusations heightened peoples fear of communism and led to a new wave of intolerance and mistrust towards anyone who wanted social change or questioned unfairness in American society. • Traditional WASP Americans, who lived in the countryside, had always distrusted middle class intellectuals who mainly lived in the big cities and towns (professionals such as writers, teachers, lawyers and journalists). Mc. Carthyism increased this distrust and led to many of them being wrongly labelled as 'Commies' who supported foreign left wing ideas. Mc. Carthy had described them as 'twisted -thinking eggheads' who were 'born with silver spoons in their mouths. ' • Mc. Carthyism also damaged America reputation both at home and abroad as a tolerant nation. A large number of people now believed that it was acceptable to persecute people who held different points of view that challenged the American way of life. • American politicians would continue to be frightened for much of the 20 th century of being called a 'Commie' or being 'soft on Communism' for supporting or expressing sympathy for the poor, black people or trade unions. • In the South, Mc. Carthyism led some Conservatives to claim that support for the civil rights of black Americans was also 'un-American'. In some states, black civil rights' organisations were treated as thought they were Communist ones, and anti-Communist laws were used against them. What was the most important effect of Mc. Carthyism? Activity 7: Study the factors below and then decide in your pairs / groups which were the most important factors and write your results on the review triangle: • 25, 000 people lost their jobs as a result of the witch-hunt started by Mc. Carthy. • Some Americans became intolerant of people who challenged the American way of life. • Politicians were afraid to express sympathy for the poor, black people or trade unions. • Mc. Carthyism damaged America's reputation abroad as a tolerant country. • People living in the countryside became even more distrustful of professional people who lived in the big towns and cities.

Fill in the blanks in the text below using words from the following list below: At the height of the fears in 1950, there appeared a senator who in a very short time created hysteria about. . . . This was Senator. . . Mc. Carthy of Wisconsin. On 9 February 1950, Mc. Carthy addressed a. . . meeting in West Virginia and stated that he had the names of. . . communists who were working in the State Department, which dealt with foreign affairs. He also cited Owen Lattimore, a professor at one of the top US universities, as the ‘top. . . spy’. Over the following weeks his claims fluctuated, leading some people to question whether the claims could be supported. No names were produced apart from Lattimore’s, and even he was cleared of any wrongdoing in 1955. A. . . committee was set up to investigate the accusations and after several weeks it decided that Mc. Carthy’s claims were ‘a fraud and a hoax’. The committee chairman, Senator. . . , was branded a communist by Mc. Carthy and in the autumn he was defeated in the Senate elections by a supporter of Mc. Carthy. From this point, many politicians were. . . to speak out against Mc. Carthy. It was in this atmosphere that the. . . Act was passed, despite President Truman’s attempts to veto it. Mc. Carthy was made. . . of the Government Committee on Operations of the Senate and this allowed him to investigate state bodies and also interview hundreds of. . . about their political beliefs. His aim was to root out communists from the government, and his public statements destroyed the lives of many people. Little evidence was produced — it was enough to be accused by him. Nevertheless, he won massive support across the USA and it is clear that in late 1952 his activities contributed to the Republicans’. . . victory. Mc. Carthy continued his work of. . . communists and, in late 1952, his researchers investigated libraries to see whether they contained any. . . books that might have been written by communists. As a result of the searches, many of these books were taken out of circulation. Missing Words 205 communism 206 Tydings Joseph Mc. Carran Senate afraid hunting anti-American individuals Russian chairman presidential Republican