The Red Scare: The First Major Anti-Communist Movement

The pervasive Red Scare of the 1950s, which peaked just before mid- decade, legitimated the sanitizing of the nation's political culture, not only through prosecuting and persecuting anyone or anything smacking of communism, but also manipulating a whole range of suspect people, ideas, and artifacts. Purifying society of corrupting influences became a permissible activity, upheld by the religious, political, economic, legal, and cultural establishment. Everyone was vulnerable, but particularly the impressionable young, whose naiveté and search for excitement could easily lead to moral corruption or

When the Cold War occurred between the Soviet Union and the United States it was intensifying. There was fear that there would be a communist influence toward the United States.This is later to be known as the second Red Scare which occurred in the late 1940s to the mid 1950s. The first Red Scare occurred in the early 20th century, when there was a period of suspicion that the revolution in Russia would overthrow the United States government. Leading to the fear of communist revolution in the United States. During the second Red Scare in the late 1940s, Joseph McCarthy was a senator of Wisconsin ,during that time. In half of his time in office ,he tried to 1 expose communists and other people who were risks to the United States, this

The Red Scare 1919-1921 involved increasing fear of a potential rise in communism. This scare was fixated on the workers revolution and political radicalism sparking labor strikes distorted as crimes against society. 9/11 was a politically motivated bombing that caused hysteria. In both cases, citizens were not safe from harassment, suffered a loss of jobs, being displaced from families and many lives were lost.

During 1919-1920, the United States of America was in an uproar. The government thought the Red Scare which was the government of communism in Russia was going to take over the government of the United States of America. If you showed in interest in the government of communism, you may be considering as an immigrant. You may have somebody from the government come to your house asking you questions or even worse you may throw you in prison. This was a nary terrible to be an American citizen. Your loyalty was always being question. You had to watch what you say, especially, in public, because the government had a way of taking your words and twisting them and make you say what you really did not say. People were constantly living in fear. Parents

The first and second red scared really instilled the fear of communism. And Joseph McCarthy has something to do with it. Joseph McCarthy is infamously known for making unsupported accusations against people as far as saying they’re communists; his false accusations started what soon became one of America’s largest periods of mass hysteria.

Post World War II America was a society full of anxiety. In the late 1950s Americans were deeply troubled by so many social shifts. Major changes were occurring both internally and externally. They were in the midst of the Cold War, and were vastly approaching the atomic age. There was a communist scare and fear of Russian expansion. Joseph McCarthy was hunting down major celebrities for their communist involvement and the 'Red Influence' seemed to be everywhere. The move toward suburbia and the growth of multinational corporations were flourishing. People seemed to be pulled in every direction. Another change that would have a major impact on society for years to come was the

After WWII the democratic U.S. and the soviets became engaged in a series of largely political and economic clashes we called the cold war. The rivalry between the two powers raised concerns in US that communist are inside the U.S. Which poses a U.S. Security threat and gets Americans scared. I believe that the red scare created McCarthyism and not the other way around because the red scare came right after wwII hysteria still left over from Hitler, the red scare is what led to actions that had an enduring effect on the us government and society, and because the us thinks soviet spies could be a threat to the US and cause Americans to start mistrusting and causing McCarthy to rise up with his accusations.

The second part of the Red Scare was heated by the climate in the nation and the control of an US Senator. The senator feared that the spread of communism would led to the “creation of committees” that people would suspect as “communist leanings.” Many people got accused of being un-loyal to the U.S. by spying for the communist countries or attempting to. This anti-communist movement eventually became called the

The Red Scare of the fifties was a very controversial time in American history. The

The Red Scare represented the widespread concern that Americans had developed over the fear of communist subversion within society. Americans believed, especially during the Cold War, which was a period of tension between the United States and Soviet Union, that communism was attempting to infiltrate every aspect of their lives. While this is not necessarily the best analogy, you can relate the widespread fear of communism during the Cold War as being similar to the heightened alert Americans had toward terrorism and suspected terrorists during the beginning of the modern century.

As the Cold War between the Soviet Union and the United States grew in the late 1940s and early 1950s, over the perceived threat posed by Communists in the U.S. became known as the Red Scare. The Red Scare led to a range of actions that had a profound and enduring effect on U.S. government and society. The climate of fear and repression linked to the Red Scare finally began to ease by the late 1950s.

The First and Second Red Scare of the United States paved the way for a long standing fear of communism and proved to be one of America’s largest periods of mass hysteria. Throughout the years authors and analysts have studied and formed expository albeit argumentative books and articles in an attempt to further understand this period of time; the mindset held during this period however is shown to be completely different compared to now.

As World War I was heading towards its end Russia was focusing on internal issues. Led by Vladimir Lenin the Bolsheviks embarked on a campaign against the war. Using propaganda which focused on trying to turn the allied troops against their officers Lenin looked to inspire a socialist revolution. The Bolsheviks were also fueled by the poor conditions of the Russian Army. Nicholas II, in a letter to his wife Alexandra, admitted the obstacles that the Russian Army faced, "Again that cursed question of shortage of artillery and rifle ammunition - it stands in the way of an energetic advance." Czar Nicholas tried to deny the fact that his Army was in no condition to continue the fight. Lenin and the Bolsheviks used this information to gain

In the 1950s, United States was all about political radicalism, scapegoating, and extreme paranoia. There was great tension in the United States because they were at war with both Korea and the Soviet Union (Buckley and Bozell 17). The war against Korea was played in the battlefield, but the Cold War against Russia was fought on a psychological level due to its political and ideological differences. Both U.S. and the U.S.S.R. were two of the world’s superpower countries, and increasing global communist influence was making many of the American people uneasy. McCarthyism was the solution to this unrest.

Another one of the major things that happened in the 1950s was the Red Scare. What that means is that people were scared that communists would rise against them. Many of the people were very affected and according to The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History:“Hundreds of screenwriters, actors, and directors were blacklisted because of their alleged political beliefs, while teachers, steelworkers, sailors, lawyers, and social workers lost their jobs for similar reasons.More than thirty-nine states required teachers and other public employees to take loyalty oaths” (Anti-Communism).