The Nuclear Age and 2nd Red
Scare
A. The Hydrogen Bomb
1. Developing the H-Bomb
– January 1950, Truman approves work on the
hydrogen bomb
– Works through “staging” nuclear fission
explosion sets off a nuclear fusion explosion
– Far more powerful than the atomic bombs
dropped on Japan in WWII
2. Testing the Bomb (Operation IVY)
– First tested in November 1952
– At Elugelab Island, Eniwetok in the South Pacific
– 10.4 megatons of explosives
3. Soviets get the
Hydrogen Bomb
– Less than one year
later the Soviet
Union tested a
Hydrogen Bomb
– Claimed that US no
longer had a
“monopoly” on the
bomb
B. Nuclear Arms Race
1. US vs Soviets
– Both the US and the Soviets greatly increased
their nuclear stockpiles
– Each tried to have more weapons than the other
2. MAD (Mutually Assured Destruction)
– By the 1950s both the US and Soviet Union had
the power to obliterate the other side
– Both sides developed a "second-strike" capability
– Could attack the other side after sustaining huge
destruction
– both sides knew that any attack upon the other
would be suicide
3. Brinkmanship
– Eisenhower's Foreign Policy
– Be at the verge of war without ever fighting
– A stand off with the costs so high that neither
side would wage war
C. Fear of the Bomb
1. At Home
– People built bomb shelters
– Stocked up on food that did not have to be
refrigerated
– Bought Pocket Dosimeters to let them know when
radiation levels were safe
2. SANE
– Committee for Sane Nuclear Policy
– Anti-nuclear group
– Argued that nuclear tests released harmful
radioactive particles that led to birth defects and
disease
Duck and Cover
Early Cold War
Cold War Fears
A. 2nd Red Scare
1. Where the Fears Came From
– Growth of communism in the US
(Communist Party of the USA)
– Soviet Expansion into Eastern Europe
– Communist takeover of China
2. HUAC
– House Un-American Activities Committee
– Created May 1938
– Investigated disloyalty and harmful foreign
influences
– Held hearings on Communists in Hollywood and the
Government
3. HUAC and Blacklisting
– People investigated in
Hollywood by HUAC were
often blacklisted
– Blacklisting = refusing to
hire
– Those accused couldn’t
find jobs
– The Hollywood Ten, a group of writers who would
not cooperate with HUAC, were the most famous of
those blacklisted
B. Spies in the Government
1. Loyalty Review Board
– Truman was accused of letting Communists
sneak into the government
– He created this board
– Investigated 16,000 federal workers
– No Communists were discovered
– Many institutions then started loyalty oaths and
investigations
2. Internal Security Act (1950)
– Required organizations thought to be communist
to register with the government
– Gave the government the right to arrest people
suspected of treasonous activities during times
of national emergency
C. McCarthyism
1. Joseph McCarthy
– Republican Senator from Wisconsin (1947-57)
– In 1950 began a campaign to expose alleged
communists in the US Government
2. McCarthy’s Accusations
– Communists had infiltrated the US Government
– Claimed to have files on 57 communists in the
Govt
– His accusations were called a hoax but he simply
made up more charges
3. No Challenges from the Public
– Public not used to questioning government
officials
– Did not want to be labeled “soft on communism”
– People wanted an explanation for the spread of
communism and McCarthy gave them one
4. Army-McCarthy Hearings
– One of McCarthy’s assistants had been drafted in the
Military
– McCarthy blamed communists in the military for this
– A group of Senators decided to hold televised
hearings on these charges
– McCarthy continued to attack military and the
Army’s Attorney, Joseph Welch
– People began to see McCarthy as a bully
– 1954: Senate voted to condemn McCarthy, 67 to
22
– McCarthy’s lies however still destroyed careers
and lives
D. Communist Fears in Pop Culture
1. Magazines
– Articles
published about
communism
– “How
Communists Get
That Way”
– “Communists
Are After Your
Child”
2. Movies
– Hollywood produced
40 anti-communist
films
– “I Married a
Communist”
Comic