2.3.1

McCarthyism & The 'Red Scare'

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Increasing Cold War Tensions

Between 1949-1953 Cold War tensions escalated.

Increasing Cold War tensions

  • Between 1949-1953 Cold War tensions escalated. There were many reasons for this:
    • The outbreak of the Korean War 1950
    • The Chino-Soviet alliance of 1950
    • The successful communist revolution in China in 1949
    • The USSR’s successful attempt at using the atomic bomb in 1949.
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International attitudes

  • International attitudes also intensified tensions.
  • Stalin in his last years became even more hostile to the West and took on an even more repressive rule of the USSR and Soviet Bloc countries.
  • American attitudes also changed; as the period continued the USA began to see themselves as the ‘leader of the free world’ and the so-called ‘world’s policeman’.
  • The USA used its militaristic and economic power to play a leading role within the United Nations which in turn caused more tension between them and the Soviet Bloc.
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'Red Scare'

  • America had experienced the ‘Red Scare’ since 1947.
  • There were fears that communism had infiltrated America and as a result, the House Committee on Un-American Activities (HUAC) resumed its investigations of people suspected of communist activities.
  • US Diplomat Alger Hiss was investigated by the HUAC in 1948 and was convicted of perjury in 1950 after being found to be passing information to the USSR.
  • This made the possibility of American leaders being susceptible to communist influence a real possibility to the American people.

McCarthyism

Joseph McCarthy was an outspoken American Republican who was instrumental in spreading the ‘Red Scare’. He believed that there was a global communist plot which deeply threatened the US.

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McCarthyism in the US

  • McCarthy was an outspoken American Republican who was instrumental in spreading the ‘Red Scare’.
  • He gave a speech in West Virginia in February 1950 which set out his fears and claims about the extent to which communism had infiltrated America.
  • He stated that the US State Department had been infiltrated by communists, that the Truman administration was too soft on communism and that Truman was negligent about the ‘loss’ of China to a communist takeover.
  • He also stated that the US armed forces and the American film industry had communists within them.

McCarthyism in US foreign policy

  • Although many of his claims had little or no evidence to support them, McCarthy greatly influenced public opinion, which put pressure on foreign policy.
  • McCarthy stated that Asia needed more support against communism than Europe did.
  • McCarthy used the Chinese Civil War and the Korean War as examples of Asia’s vulnerability to communism.
  • He stated that Truman had been too soft on communism in the East and even suggested that his refusal to intervene in the Chinese Civil War caused the Korean War.
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McCarthyism in Britain

  • In Britain, the feeling was that of increasing fear of communism and a desire to cement the ‘special relationship’ between them and the USA.
  • Britain was influenced by McCarthyism and feared that inaction in Asia could lead to a weakened Europe.
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Primary evidence

  • Joseph McCarthy thought that the US State Department had been infiltrated by communists. He wrote in a letter to President Truman; ‘I stated that the State Department harbours a nest of communist sympathisers who are helping to shape our foreign policy. I further state that I have in my possession the names of 57 communists who are in the State Department at present. Failure on your part will label the Democratic Part as the bedfellow of international communism’.

Jump to other topics

1Origins of the Cold War, 1945-9

2Widening of the Cold War

3The Global War

4Confrontation & Cooperation

5Brezhnev Era

6Ending of the Cold War

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