Reasons for the Red Scare including the Cold War 1945-50, Hiss and Rosenberg cases, the FBI, the HUAC and the Hollywood Ten

Reasons for the Red Scare including the Cold War 1945-50, Hiss and Rosenberg cases, the FBI, the HUAC and the Hollywood Ten.

• American suspicions of the USSR grew - they thought it wanted world domination.

-The Cold War:

1. As the Cold War between the Soviet Union and the United States intensified in the late 1940s and early 50s, panic over the perceived threat posed by Communists in the USA became known as the Red Scare.
2. The intense rivalry between the two superpowers raised concerns in the USA that Communist and leftist sympathisers inside America might actively work as Soviet spies and pose a threat to US security.
3. These accusations were not completely random, as the USSR had long carried out espionage activities inside America with the aid of US citizens, especially during WW2.

-Hiss and Rosenberg cases:

1. Alger Hiss, a former senior member of the US State Department, was accused of spying and imprisoned for lying in court in 1950. This was an embarrassment to the US government.
2. In 1951, two members of the US Communist Party, Julius and Ethel Rosenberg, were convicted of passing atomic secrets to the Russians. They were executed in 1953.

-The HUAC:

1. The House Un-American Activites Committee (HUAC) was set up to investigate subversive activities. During the 1940s and 50s, it became focused on finding communists in the USA.
2. In 1947, the HUAC began investigating the film industry, asking suspects at its hearings, "Are you now or have you ever been a member of the Communist Party?"

-The Hollywood Ten:

1. A group of directors and writers who refused to answer the HUAC were blacklisted (this meant they could not be offered work in the industry again) and jailed. They became known as the Hollywood Ten. Hundreds more people were blacklisted in the following years.
2. Some famous actors like Humphrey Bogart supported the Hollywood Ten - but it didn't make any difference in the end. Some of those blacklisted went to Europe to find work.

-The FBI:

1. The FBI also investigated communists in America.
2. J. Edgar Hoover, director of the FBI, was obsessed with "subversives". He kept thousands of secret documents on left-wing activists and thinkers, including six Nobel Prize-winning authors.
3. The FBI conducted loyalty probes of millions of government employees.