“Communism is a way of life, it is a contagion that spreads like an epidemic. In order not to get the whole country infected, as in epidemics, quarantine is needed,” said Edgar Hoover, director of the FBI, who retained his seat under eight American presidents. He was not alone in calling Soviet communism a direct threat to American democracy at the height of the Cold War. Another person associated with the events later called the witch hunt was Joseph Raymond McCarthy. The only difference is that the senator was in the public eye, and all those who actually led the process remained behind him.
Anti-communist sentiments
In wartime, everyone saw how dangerous some political moods in the country can be and what proximity to radical movements can lead to. But war was war, there was no time for trials. But during the Second World War, when the USA and the USSR fought together againstHitler's Germany, some adherents of communism in America spied for Soviet Russia.
Germany surrendered, civilian cities were no longer subject to air raids, and the front line was erased. But the war continued. War without weapons, but with casu alties. Cold War. The confrontation between two superpowers - the USA and the USSR - for dominance in the post-war world.
The main reasons for the confrontation were ideological disputes between the capitalist and socialist models of society. Western countries, led by the United States, feared the strengthening of the influence of the USSR. The ambitions of political leaders and the absence of a common enemy among the winners in the Second World War played their role.
The period of reaction of the political elite in 1950-1954 was called the "Era of McCarthyism". Today, these years are also called the Witch Hunt. McCarthyism is a logical response to the danger of an even greater spread of communism in the world, the threat of strengthening the influence and power of the Soviet Union. At that time, most of Europe was already under the influence of Stalin, the American political leaders simply could not allow an even greater spread of the "red plague".
Historical Background: Terms and Personalities
McCarthyism is a social movement that has won the title of an entire era in American history, but by no means the best. The policy was directed against Soviet spies in America (including imaginary ones, that is, those who were accused of espionage unreasonably), left-wing figures and organizations, all those who were somehow connectedwith communism. What was the essence of McCarthyism? These are political repressions against citizens who are anti-American, and the aggravation of anti-communist sentiments.
The movement got its name from Joseph Raymond McCarthy, a far-right senator from Wisconsin. McCarthy was a very driven man. He can be condemned, but the witch hunter just made his own career from what was at hand.
Beginning of the McCarthy movement
Every year in early February, Republican US congressmen disperse around the country. According to a long tradition, they perform in various audiences on the occasion of A. Lincoln's birthday. On February 9, 1950, Joseph McCarthy arrived in Wheeling, West Virginia. He had to give a speech to the activists of the Republican Party. The women were expecting a conversation about agriculture, while McCarthy started talking about communists in the State Department.
"I don't have time to name all the members of the State Department who are members of the Communist Party and are part of an extensive network of spies," the senator said. But in his hands he had a list of 205 names of people who are known to the Secretary of State and who continue to work and make US policy.
By the time McCarthy arrived at the next point on the route, where he was also supposed to make a speech, the list was reduced to 57 people. True, it no longer mattered. The senator's ideas have already been spread throughout the country by journalists, his words have become a sensation. Problempolitics was that he knew absolutely nothing about the communists, nor about communism in general, there was no list, no specific names.
Help came from DBR Director Hoover, even though his aides knew there weren't ten or even a single Communist in the State Department. At Hoover's direction, FBI agents rummaged through tons of information looking for links between politicians and the Communists.
Internal Security Law
The policy of McCarthyism has penetrated into all spheres of American society. The attempt to reduce the Soviet threat outgrew the process of political repression in the United States. The movement destroyed thousands of lives and brilliant careers: at first only politicians were removed from any significant positions in Congress, then Hollywood, universities, automobile concerns and other private or public companies began to study the personalities of workers in a similar way.
In the wake of the sentiment leading up to the Korean War activity, the Internal Security Law was passed. The official paper dated 1950-23-09 was able to pass all levels of bureaucratic scrutiny and even bypass the president's veto. The law called for the formation of a new Office to Control Un-American and Citizen Subversive Activities. This organization was engaged not only in the search for suspicious individuals, but also in further reprisals against them.
Bill McCarran–W alter
McCarthyism in the US continued to gain momentum. In the summer of 1952, the newly formed department passed another law, which was called the "BillMcCarran-W alter". Together with the so-called Smith Act, it regulated the migration policy and conditions for granting United States citizenship.
The regulation formally abolished racial prejudice, but retained country-of-origin quotas for foreigners. Those foreign nationals who were seen to adhere to communist ideals were deprived of their citizenship. In accordance with the law, all arriving foreigners were fingerprinted.
The McCarran-W alter Bill provoked a wave of protests and President Truman's veto, but was nevertheless passed.
Golden Year of McCarthyism
McCarthyism is the real scourge of the USA in 1950-1954. In the early years, the political movement faced numerous protests from both ordinary Americans and some government officials. But 1953 can truly be called a "golden year" for McCarthyism. There were no longer any obstacles to the activities of the senator by the president.
The adherents of McCarthyism became part of the leading party in Congress, and now they themselves could govern the state. Joseph McCarthy himself became almost the most powerful politician in the country. All this directly spoke of a deep crisis in the state, political and constitutional structure of the United States of America.
Incredible scale of movement
During the dawn of the movement, the McCarthyists accused anyone who gave rise to suspicion of anti-American ideas. The anti-communist movement has gained enormous proportions andforms.
The “purge” in the state apparatus dismissed 800 people from their posts in just one month, the next month another 600 left on their own, without waiting for charges. Other personalities were also subjected to "purge": artists, researchers, intellectuals, professors, the cultural elite of the country. A shocking peacetime event was the execution of the Rosenbergs, who were wrongfully accused. The FBI later admitted that they were not going to kill the "spies" in the electric chair, they just needed to find out the answers to the questions of interest to the Office.
Representatives of the movement interpreted the amendments to the laws in their own way, all the courts fell under their control. McCarthy, in fact, established power over the entire country. Under his leadership, they even released 14 points by which it was possible to identify a communist. The list was so vague that almost any American could be declared "threatening" according to it.
Final chord activity
For several weeks, records of military interrogations were broadcast on central television. McCarthy suspected even the heroes of the war, which showed his complete dishonor. In response, the US military accused the senator of falsifying the facts. He introduced his last resolution to the Senate in 1955. The government ignored the witch hunter, he himself was disgraced and exposed. This course of events had a strong influence on politics. McCarthy began to drink excessively and died in 1957.
McCarthyism is a dark page of the American past,which did not disappear with the death of Joseph McCarthy. The gruesome memories of the senator's bloody activities and the aftermath of his witch hunt are forever remembered.
Witch hunt victims in the US
Among the victims of McCarthy's activities are the names of prominent figures in science and art, prominent politicians, representatives of the cultural elite of the United States. The victims of McCarthyism were:
- Charlie Chaplin. Charged with anti-American activities. After deportation, he settled in Switzerland.
- Arthur Miller. The playwright was blacklisted by Hollywood. He was convicted and banned from professional activities.
- Robert Oppenheimer. The "father of the atomic bomb" inadvertently expressed sympathy for the communists. Manhattan Project member stripped of security clearance.
- Qian Xuesen. An intercontinental missile scientist who worked in the United States decided to return to his homeland after being placed under house arrest and banned from working undercover in America.
- Albert Einstein. The famous physicist, who was born in Germany, received an American citizenship in 1933, was a humanist, anti-fascist and pacifist. The scientist became the object of close attention of the special services, but died in 1955 from natural causes.
This is not all the victims of the witch hunt. There were also Langston Hughes - writer and public figure, Stanley Kramer - director, Aaron Copland - composer, conductor, pianist, teacher, Leonard Bernstein - also a music composer, and others.
