COLD WAR & AMERICAN SOCIETY: THE NEW RED SCARE The Cold War heightened Americans’ fears of Communist infiltration & atomic attack.

A NEW RED SCARE During the 1950s, rumors & accusations of Communists in the US led to fears that Communists were attempting to take over the world The Red Scare began in September 1945, & escalated into a general fear of Communist subversion–an effort to secretly weaken a society & overthrow its government. (1947) Truman established the loyalty review program to screen all federal employees for their loyalty – aim to calm Americans, instead led to fear that Communists infiltrating gov The federal government set the example for many state and local governments, universities, businesses, unions, and churches to start finding Communists. Red scare, subversion, loyalty review program, & the red scare spreads

STOPPING SUBVERSION HUAC ALGER HISS FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover went to the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) to urge them to hold public hearings on Communist subversion  FBI investigates/wire taps Attack on Hollywood 1948 HUAC heard that Time magazine editor, Whittaker Chambers, admitted to being a Communist courier 1934-1937 & claimed that several government officials had also been Communists or spies at the time including lawyer/diplomat Alger Hiss Hiss denied charges, but convicted of perjury = lying under oath Hiss had served in Roosevelt’s administration, attended the Yalta conference, and helped with the organization of the UN. -Of the film industry people investigated by HUAC, ten went to prison. This group often referred to as “The Hollywood Ten,” consisted of Alvah Bassie, Herbert J. Biberman, Lester Cole, Edward Dmytryk, Ring Lardner, Jr., John Howard Lawson, Albert Maltz, Samuel Ornitz, Adrian Scott, and Dalton Trumbo. *PUMPKIN PAPERS

STOPPING SUBVERSION THE ROSENBERGS PROJECT VENONA Soviets produce atomic bomb  search for spies intensifies Arrest of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg, a New York couple who were members of the Communist Party & were charged with heading a Soviet spy ring. Although many believed the Rosenbergs were not guilty, the couple was executed 1953. 1946 American cryptographers cracked the Soviet spy code, allowing them to read messages between Moscow & the US Not public knowledge until 1995, when the government revealed Project Venona’s existence. Provided strong evidence against the Rosenbergs. -The search for spies intensified when the Soviet Union produced an atomic bomb because Many believed that the Soviet Union could not have produced the atomic bomb without help. The belief was that American Communists must have sold secrets of the atomic bomb to the Soviets. -Many people, including Albert Einstein and Pope Pius XII, urged clemency for the Rosenbergs. Files released after the fall of the Soviet Union seem to indicate that the Rosenbergs were guilty. However, information based on a 1996 interview with David Greenglass, Ethel Rosenberg’s brother, puts Ethel’s guilt in doubt. FIND EVIDENCE/LEARN ABOUT TRIAL Klaus Fuchs, a British scientist, admitted giving information to the Soviet Union -> leads to arrest of Rosenbergs

“A CONSPIRACY SO IMMENSE” 1949 USSR testing atomic bomb + China falling to communism = Americans felt losing the Cold War  must have Communists inside the gov Joseph R. McCarthy, a Wisconsin senator, claimed that he had a list of 205 Communist spies in the state department & that such Communist infiltration in our government was just “the tip of the iceberg.” This caused a lot of fear for Americans and McCarthy gained a lot of support. Chairman of Senate subcommittee on investigations  WITCH HUNT, searched for disloyalty based on fear/poor evidence = tactic called McCarthyism. For the next 4 years (1950-1954), Joseph McCarthy accused & ruined the lives of many “potential spies,” often with little evidence to support his claims. 1954 Americans watched televised Army-McCarthy hearings where he attacked the Army & saw how McCarthy attacked witnesses  popularity faded, army lawyer Joseph Welch stood up to McCarthy  Senate passed vote of censure against McCarthy (ATTACKING MILITARY+ TV = STOP MCCARTHY) This communist “witch-hunt” lead to a series of laws, such as the McCarran Act (1950), which made it legal, as a national security measure, to arrest any Communist of Communist sympathizer. Now illegal to “combine, conspire, or agree with any other person to perform any act which would substantially contribute to . . . the establishment of a totalitarian government.” Finally, in 1954, McCarthy went after potential Soviet spies in the US Army. When his televised accusations proved both ridiculous and unfounded, McCarthy, in front of a television audience, was also made to look ridiculous. This was his downfall. COVER: McCarthy- charges, tactics, downfall, mccaran international security act McCarthy won the Senate race after accusing his opponent of being a Communist. He accused Democratic Party leaders of corruption and of protecting Communists. Others made similar charges, causing Americans to begin to believe them. Senator Joseph R. McCarthy became the chairman of the Senate subcommittee on investigationsHis investigation turned into a witch hunt as he searched for disloyalty based on poor evidence and fear. He ruined reputations without proper evidence. This tactic became known as McCarthyism. Attacking army went too far. Finally, an army lawyer named Joseph Welch stood up to McCarthy. Later that year, the Senate passed a vote of censure, or formal disapproval, against McCarthy. - People were afraid to challenge McCarthy because they feared McCarthy would accuse them of being Communists.

6 min McCarthyism/red scare video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v4N46jLdhCU&playnext=1&list=PL1FFA9EE4E260AB47&feature=results_video

LIFE DURING EARLY COLD WAR http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=120wGLgCTkg FACING THE BOMB POPULAR CULTURE Communism/threat of the atomic bomb dominated life for Americans & their leaders in the 1950s. The threat of an atomic attack against the US forced Americans to prepare for a surprise attack. For every person killed instantly by a nuclear blast, 4 more would later die from fallout, the radiation left over after the blast. Families built fallout shelters in their backyards and stocked them with canned food Schools had bomb drills 1950s was a time of great contrasts: fear of communism/spies & postwar prosperity & optimism Images of the Cold War appeared in films & popular fiction. 5 min bomb drill video – duck & cover (make class do a drill) ]FIND OUT HOW FAR AREA IT IMPACTS VIDEO OF INSTRUCTIONS FOR BOMB DRILLS *cold war words: The atomic bomb test on Bikini Atoll gave the Nuclear Age two new words: fallout, the term for the harmful radiation left over after an atomic blast, and bikini, a skimpy swimsuit that French designers promised would produce an “explosion” on the beach. The Cold War inspired the marketing of Nuclear Attack Survival Kit Water, which was bottled water claiming to be “impervious to nuclear fallout.”