THE COLD WAR, THE RED SCARE, AND
McCARTHYISM
THE COLD WAR
• Definition: Open yet restricted
rivalry/hostility between U.S. and Soviet
Union and respective allies
• 1947 – 1991
• Never featured direct
military action
COMPETING IDEOLOGIES AND BELIEFS
United States vs. Soviet Union
Democracy vs. Communism
UNITED STATES
Democratic government:
• supreme power vested in people
• free electoral system
• power exercised directly by
people or elected agents
SOVIET UNION
• People incapable of choosing
leaders
• Repressed all opposition
• Demanded rigid
obedience
• No religious tolerance
UNITED STATES
Capitalism:
• economic system
• investment made/ownership
maintained mainly by private
individuals/corporations, including
production, distribution, exchange of
wealth
SOVIET UNION
Communist government:
• All economic/social activity controlled
by (oppressive) state [Central Planning]
• Dominated by single
political party in
continuous control
UNITED STATES
Freedom of expression:
• Arts
• Entertainment
• Media
• Religion
COMMUNISM:
• A revolutionary socialist movement to create
a classless, moneyless, and stateless social
order structured upon common ownership of
the means of production, as well as social,
political, and economic ideology that aims at
the establishment of this social order.
THE COLD WAR
• U.S. & Britain feared
Soviet/communist
expansion in Western
Europe
and beyond
• Soviets determined to
keep control of
Eastern Europe
CONFIRMATION BIAS—PSYCHOLOGY AT WORK
Confirmation Bias is the tendency to seek out “evidence” that confirms
that which we already believe to be true, and disproportionately ignore
evidence that contradicts our preconceptions.
In other words, Psychologists have shown that people tend to try to find
reasons why they are right, rather than looking at a situation
objectively. Even when we think we are being objective, we often are
not.
“I’d not call it sick…the devil’s touch is heavier than sick.” –Goody Putnam
DISTRUST AND PROPAGANDA
• U.S. and Soviet Union assumed very
worst of each other
• No peace or
reconciliatory talks
• Emphasized the
threat from the
other to their citizens
DISTRUST AND PROPAGANDA
• Sent spy satellites
/agents to check
each other’s activities
• TV programs, movies,
radio shows, comic
books all proclaimed
the superiority of
capitalism.
MILITARY BUILDUP
• Cold War resulted in massive military
buildup.
• “Arms Race” - Both sides stocked
up on atomic, hydrogen, nuclear
weapons.
• Use of these weapons would
ensure complete annihilation
of both countries.
MILITARY BUILDUP
Created massive
fear among
citizens.
http://www.youtube.co
m/watch?v=120wGLgC
Tkg
THE (SECOND) RED SCARE
1950 - 1954
THE EFFECTS OF FEAR
• Fear of communism dominated American
politics
• Shaped foreign policy
• Americans feared that
individuals who
supported ideas/objectives
of Communist Party might
overthrow U. S. government
PUBLIC FEAR
• Communism a national obsession
• Miss America contestants asked for
their views on Karl Marx,
Communism's founder
• Cincinnati Reds baseball
team changed name to
Redlegs
THE ANTI-COMMUNIST CRUSADE
• Nation embarked on crusade
• Goal - root out communist
influence in America
wherever evidence of
treason could be found.
BASED ON YOUR READING OF THE ARTICLE….
• Why was the 10 years
after the end of WWII
labeled a decade of fear?
WHY FEAR FLOURISHED:1940S-50S
• Red Scare--US citizens deported after Bolshevik Revolt in Russia
1917
• USSR installs Communist puppet govt's in Eastern Europe after
WWII
• Mao Zedong and Communists take control in China 1949
• Soviets detonate atomic bomb 1949; Cold War nuclear hysteria
• Rumors (later confirmed!) of Soviet spies in US gov't (Alger Hiss)
• (Secret) Communist messages in American movies???
PUBLIC FEAR
• Movies, books, TV and radio shows, comic
books, celebrities, politicians all
warned about the
"Red menace."
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ByvXINerE_k&list=UU5rNjpSthkvMIyWdason_5g&index=
1&feature=plcp
QUICK WRITE REFLECTION: IN YOUR JOURNALS
Images:
• What images,
details, or sounds
were most effective
in communicating
fear?
Emotions:
• What kinds of emotions
did you feel as you
watched the clip?
• Do you think you would
have been affected by
such political advertising
on television?
HUAC & MCCARTHYISM
• Government agencies/politicians traded in
on the fear and carried out overzealous
executive/legislative investigations of
political dissenters
• Disregarded individuals’
basic constitutional
rights
WHAT IS MC CARTHYISM?
• Feb. 9, 1950: Sen. Joseph McCarthy
claimed to have list of 205 knownmembers American Communist
Party within the State Dept.
• Waged vicious campaign to expose
Communist spies in U.S. government
• McCarthyism: The practice of
making accusations of disloyalty,
subversion, or treason without
proper evidence
POLITICAL AMBITION
• American public went crazy with thought of
radical communists living in U. S.
• Demanded investigation of
underground agitators
• Most on McCarthy’s list not
communists
McCARTHY'S PERSECUTION
• McCarthy’s false accusations/unrelenting publicity:
– Caused many to lose their jobs
– Produced popular attacks/
judgment/accusations on
others
– Destroyed reputations
HOUSE COMMITTEE ON
UN-AMERICAN ACTIVITIES
• Before McCarthy there was the Blacklist
• In November 1947 HUAC identified 19
communist party members in Hollywood.
• HUAC called in the “Hollywood Ten” (all
communist party members) to testify, and
to name other communists they know.
• The Blacklist begins.
HOLLYWOOD BLACKLIST
Listed screenwriters, actors, directors,
musicians, composers, etc. Denied
employment because of political beliefs/
associations, real or suspected.
HOLLYWOOD BLACKLIST
• Artists barred from work on basis of:
– alleged membership in/
sympathy toward American
Communist Party
– involvement in liberal/
humanitarian political causes
that
blacklist enforcers associated
with communism
– refusal to assist investigations into Communist Party
activities
THE HOLLYWOOD BLACKLIST
• Promoted censorship across entire industry.
• All individuals who testified before HUAC were asked to identify
other people they knew from communist meetings. The list
grew and grew.
• Hollywood was torn apart by mistrust and worry. Many people
found themselves mysteriously out of work once their names
were mentioned.
• A publication entitled Red Channels began to circulate. Red
Channels identified all the most recently identified “communists”
in Hollywood.
TO CONSIDER
In your notebook…
• Why are learning about 1950s
America?
• What connections do you see to
Miller’s play?
ARTHUR MILLER (1915-2005)
• One of America’s greatest playwrights
• Penned The Crucible, Death of a Salesman, and Enemy
of the People, among other works
• Miller met Elia Kazan, a man who would become his
closest friend, while working with the Federal
Theatre Project.
ELIA KAZAN (1909-2003)
• Kazan and Miller teamed up in NYC in
creative collaboration: Miller wrote the scripts;
Kazan directed them.
• A celebrated director and producer of major motion
pictures.
• Directed A Streetcar Named Desire, On the Waterfront
and Splendor in the Grass, among other works.
YOUTHFUL IDEALISM???
• The Great Depression left many Americans
wondering about the stability of US policy,
and influenced the two men to explore
socialist and communist ideologies. After
attending some informational meetings,
Kazan joined the communist party (and
later left); Miller did not join.
THE HOOK
• Miller and Kazan witnessed mobsters
monopolizing jobs on the Jersey docks as workers,
desperate for income, were exploited. This served
as the inspiration for their collaborative play The
Hook, a story about one man’s struggle against
injustice on the docks.
• Miller and Kazan move to Hollywood, taking their
script with them.
ARTHUR MILLER/ELIA KAZAN
• Elia Kazan was among those called to testify to HUAC in
1952. At first he resisted the pressure, but eventually he
named 17 communists, all of whom had been previously
named by someone else.
• Arthur Miller was troubled by the Hollywood Blacklist and
his friend Elia Kazan’s decision to testify in front of HUAC
and name fellow party members.
• Kazan agreed to testify a second time, and this was enough
to sever his friendship with Miller.
• Miller, greatly troubled by the current state of government in
Hollywood, travelled to the east coast, where he got the idea
to align the Blacklist with the Salem Witch Trials of 1692.
THE CRUCIBLE
•The Crucible is an
allegory for the 1950s
politics in Hollywood
and the investigations of
HUAC.
ALLEGORY:
• a form of extended metaphor, in which objects,
persons, and actions in a narrative, are equated
with the meanings that lie outside the narrative
itself
• Examples include Gulliver’s Travels, Lord of the
Flies, Animal Farm, and Avatar
• And of course…The Crucible.
THE CRUCIBLE…
• The play was met with mixed reviews.
• The actress who played Elizabeth Proctor at its premier was
blacklisted immediately.
• Arthur Miller writes a speech for John Proctor that appears at
the end of the play. In it, he is able to express his feelings about
HUAC’s demand that people confess to communist connections
and name others involved.
ON THE WATERFRONT
• Elia Kazan, recognizing the parallel between himself and John Proctor, had
an opportunity to answer back to Miller.
• He reworked their script The Hook into the screenplay for On the
Waterfront, starring Marlon Brando.
• Brando’s character, Terry, gives a speech at the end of the film in which he
justifies his decision to name names.
• In The Hook, Terry is beaten to death for his actions, but in On the
Waterfront he overcomes his wounds and triumphs.
• This film won 8 Oscars and was a huge success.
LIFE, OR ART?
• In both scripts, as in reality, the protagonists are asked to name
names in exchange for clemency.
• In Kazan’s work, as in his life, the protagonist agrees to name
names, and comes to the conclusion that it was the righteous
decision.
• In Miller’s work, the protagonist refuses to name names, and is
eventually punished for maintaining his principles in the face of
death.
THE RESOLUTION
• In the end, Miller and Kazan reconciled with the
help of Marilyn Monroe, Miller’s then wife and
Kazan’s previous girlfriend.
• In 1999, Kazan was awarded the lifetime
achievement Oscar for his years of work in
Hollywood. Some opposed his award, saying he
was only able to keeping working at the expense
of those he named in front of HUAC.
• Despite his feelings about Kazan’s testimony,
Miller supported Kazan receiving the Oscar.