In 1947 Truman sent the US army to Korea to fight the Red army north of the 38th Parallel, under guidance from his advisors to counter the influence of the USSR in Asia. The USA, South Koreans and UN troops managed to force the communists back past the parallel. Due to Russian and Chinese troops being involved in the conflict tensions rose between the West and East.
Hollywood 10
The Hollywood 10 was based on the ‘Hollywood Black list’, an investigation into writers and actors in Hollywood by the HCUA (House Committee on Un-American Activities), It interrogated individuals for employees who had communist sympathies or had been members of the communist party in America. They managed to find about 100 people identified as ‘communists’ who resigned or were fired afterwards.
The Hollywood ten were ten people who were questioned and refused to speak or give names, they were promptly arrested.
They were taken to court and found guilty of ‘Contempt to congress’ and jailed for a year. They spoke out and claimed that they’re were being jailed for free speech. During the trial period there were many protests in major cities for the Hollywood 10, demanding their release.
Algar Hiss and the Rosenburgs
A famous case of Americans being scared of a threat of communism was the Alger Hiss trial, in which a former employee of President Roosevelt, Alger Hiss, was accused of being a spy for the communist party. These claims were unfounded and never proved but further allegations were made and Hiss was brought to court. He was accused of being a high-ranking member of the communist party. During the investigation a microfilm was discovered that had top secret state documents in it, this film was traced to a typewriter owned by Hiss; Hiss was sent to prison for 5 years for perjury and still denies the claims. In the political chaos that followed, the McCarren act was passed. This was an act that limited communism in America as the country was scared of any left-wing risings.
The Rosenburgs case was made famous throughout the world as a case of communism paranoia; it was the trial of Ethel and Julius Hiss, two Russians who were accused of passing nuclear secrets to the Russians and were blamed for the Russians gaining access to nuclear weapons. Though there was evidence for Julius being guilty, there was none for Ethel. They were both executed in 1953 yet no evidence has been found for Ethel being guilty.
McCarthyism
McCarthyism was a term used to describe American paranoia about communist, the phrase comes from Senator Joseph McCarthy’s wide spread accusations of communism. He came to court and claimed he had a huge list of government officials who had links to communism; strangely no one ever saw these lists and McCarthy changed the number of people on the list. This provoked panic among Americans and many people lost their jobs since they were being accused of Communist ties.
McCarthy mainly accused Democrats of ‘being soft on communism’, especially Truman and other high ranking government members. His reputation did wonders for the Republican Party who had a surge in popularity as they were seen to be stopping communism and keeping the American dream. During the ‘Witch-hunts’ the phrase ‘Reds under the Bed’ was used to describe the spread of communism to every office and home.
McCarthy lost support when he went too far and attacked the Army and accused them of being sympathetic to communists and having ‘Reds’ in their ranks. His attacks were publicised and the public saw him as a bully. He lost influence and died of a drink related disease in 1957.
