Red Scare of the 1920s : what were the causes? essay sample

After the Cold War between the US and the Soviet Union exacerbated, Americans submerged in a kind of panic called the Red Scare. The threat that Communists posed to the US safety was unclear, and the government took all protection measures to remove the “Reds” from the US. Fear and repressions lasted up to the late 1950s. The point of the federal government was clear. Communists and leftists inside the US could act as Soviet spies. The USSR indeed had carried out espionage involving the US citizens, nevertheless, the checkouts and questionings often damaged lives and careers of innocent citizens.

 

Not only the federal government but also international events escalated persecutions. The Soviet Union successfully tested a nuclear bomb in 1949, and the communist forces took control of China. The Korean War intensified the anticommunist mood in the US. Governmental officials from both parties presented their anticommunist positions, and participation in leftist groups became utterly dangerous. Any communist sympathizers were often fired and hounded by law enforcement. Repressions eased in the 1950s, but the Red Scare continued influencing political attitudes in the following decades.