“Communism is a way of life, it is an infection that spreads like an epidemic. To prevent the whole country from becoming infected, as in epidemics, quarantine is needed, ”said Edgar Hoover, director of the FBI, who retained his place under eight American presidents. He was not the only one who called Soviet communism a direct threat to American democracy at the height of the Cold War. Another person associated with events called later the witch hunt was Joseph Raymond McCarthy. The only difference is that the senator was in sight, and all those who actually directed the process remained behind him.
Anti-communist sentiment
In wartime, everyone saw how dangerous some political moods in the country could be and what the proximity to radical movements could lead to. But war was war, there was no time for proceedings. But in the days of the Second World War, when the USA and the USSR fought together against Hitler Germany, some adherents of communism in America spied in favor of Soviet Russia.
Germany surrendered, peaceful cities ceased to undergo air raids, and the front line was erased. But the war continued. War without weapons, but with victims. Cold war The confrontation between the two superpower powers - the USA and the USSR - for supremacy in the post-war world.
The main causes of the confrontation were ideological disputes between the capitalist and socialist model of society. Western countries , led by the United States, feared that the USSR would gain in influence. Ambitions of political leaders and the absence of a common enemy among the victors in the Second World War played a role.
The reaction period of the political elite of 1950-1954 was called the "Age of McCarthyism." Today, these years are also called Witch Hunt. McCarthyism is a logical response to the danger of an even greater spread of communism in the world, the threat of increased influence and power of the Soviet Union. At that time, much of Europe was already under the influence of Stalin, American political leaders simply could not allow the spread of the “red plague” to spread.
Historical background: terms and personalities
McCarthyism is a social movement that has earned the title of an 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 unjustifiably accused of espionage), leftist figures and organizations, all those who had at least some connection with communism. What was the essence of McCarthyism? These are political repressions against anti-American citizens and aggravation of anti-communist sentiments.
The current got its name by the name of Joseph Raymond McCarthy, a Wisconsin senator who adhered to extreme right-wing views. McCarthy was a very purposeful person. He can be condemned, but the witch hunter simply built his own career from what was at hand.
The beginning of the McCarthy movement
Every year, in early February, American Republicans and Republicans travel around the country. According to a long tradition, they perform in various audiences on the occasion of the birthday of A. Lincoln. On February 9, 1950, Joseph McCarthy arrived in Wheeling, West Virginia. He was to speak to activists of the Republican Party. Women were waiting for a conversation about agriculture, while McCarthy spoke of communists in the state department.
“I don’t have enough 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 complete US policy.
While 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, this no longer mattered. The senator’s ideas have already been circulated throughout the country by journalists, his words have become a sensation. The problem of politics was that he knew absolutely nothing about the Communists, nor about communism in general, there was neither a list nor specific names.
Help came from the director of the DBD, Hoover, although his assistants knew that there were not ten, not a single communist in the State Department. At the direction of Hoover, FBI agents cut through tons of information in search of politicians and communists.
Law on Internal Security
McCarthyism’s policy has penetrated all areas of American society. An attempt to reduce the Soviet threat outgrew the process of political repression in the United States. The movement killed 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 state companies similarly began to study the identities of workers.
On the wave of sentiments preceding activity in the Korean War, the law "On Internal Security" was adopted. The official paper of 09/23/1950 was able to go through all levels of bureaucratic consideration and even circumvent the president’s veto. The law stipulated the formation of a new Office for the Control of Anti-American and Subversive Activities of Citizens. This organization was engaged not only in the search for suspicious individuals, but also in further reprisals against them.
McCarran – Walter Bill
McCarthyism in the United States continued to gain momentum. In the summer of 1952, the newly formed administration passed another law, which was called the "McCarran-Walter Bill." Together with Smith's so-called law, he regulated migration policies and conditions for granting United States citizenship.
The normative document formally abolished racial prejudice, but retained quotas by country of origin for foreigners. Those foreign nationals who were seen adhering to communist ideals were stripped of their citizenship. In accordance with the law, all arriving foreigners were fingerprinted.
The McCarran-Walter Bill caused a wave of protests and veto by President Truman, but was nevertheless adopted.
The Golden Year of McCarthyism
McCarthyism is the real scourge of the United States from 1950-1954. In the early years, the political movement was faced with numerous protests from both ordinary Americans and some government officials. But 1953 can truly be called the "golden year" for McCarthyism. There were no obstacles to the activities of the senator by the president.
Adherents of McCarthyism have become part of the leading party in Congress, they now themselves could control 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 acquired enormous proportions and forms.
The “purge” in the state apparatus dismissed 800 people in just one month, the next month another 600 left on their own, without waiting for charges. Other personalities underwent “purging”: artists, scientists, intellectuals, professors, and the country's cultural elite. The execution of the Rosenberg spouses, who were illegally accused, was a shocking event for peacetime. The FBI later admitted that they were not going to kill the “spies” in the electric chair, it was just necessary to find out the answers to the questions of interest to the Department.
Representatives of the movement interpreted the amendments to the laws in their own way, all courts came under their control. McCarthy, in fact, established power over the whole country. Under his leadership, they even released 14 points by which a communist could be identified. The list was so vague that according to it, almost any American could be declared “threatening”.
The final chord of activity
For several weeks, records of military interrogations were broadcast on central television. McCarthy even suspected war heroes, than showed his complete dishonor. In response, the US military accused the senator of rigging the facts. He introduced his last resolution to the Senate in 1955. The government ignored the witch hunter; he himself was dishonored and exposed. This course of events has greatly influenced politics. McCarthy began to drink excessively and died in 1957.
McCarthyism is a dark page in the American past that has not disappeared with the death of Joseph McCarthy. The terrible memories of the senator's bloody activities and the consequences of his witch hunt remained forever in his memory.
U.S. witch hunt victims
Among the victims of McCarthy's activities are the names of prominent scientists and artists, prominent politicians, and representatives of the cultural elite of the United States. The victims of McCarthyism are:
- Charlie Chaplin. Charged with anti-American activities. After deportation, he settled in Switzerland.
- Arthur Miller. The playwright was on the "black list" of Hollywood. He was convicted and forbidden to engage in professional activities.
- Robert Oppenheimer. The "father of the atomic bomb," inadvertently expressed sympathy for the Communists. A Manhattan project participant was denied access to secret work.
- Qian Xuesen. The scientist, the developer of intercontinental missiles, who worked in the United States, decided to return to his homeland after house arrest and a ban on secret work in America.
- Albert Einstein. A famous physicist who was born in Germany, received 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.
These are far from all witch hunt victims. There were also Langston Hughes - a writer and public figure, Stanley Kramer - director, Aaron Copland - composer, conductor, pianist, teacher, Leonard Bernstein - also a music composer, and others.