While America had a widespread fear of communism throughout the Cold War, this fear was instilled long ago. The First Red Scare started in 1917 and was an anti-communist movement in response to the Bolshevik Revolution in Russia. The Bolshevik Revolution led to the change towards a communist government in Russia, and this was during a time when the First World War was still going on. Americans were afraid that Russia would let down its allies, and they feared the spread of communism.
Additionally, during this period, many immigrants from Southern and Eastern Europe were coming to America. As there was a strong sentiment towards nativism, many Americans disliked immigrants because they believed that the foreigners were taking over their jobs and increasing competition. They created the fear that the mass immigration could result in the spread of communism in the United States.
During the war, the government issued the Espionage Act in 1917 and later the Sedition Act in 1918, which "made it a crime for any person to convey information intended to interfere with the U.S. armed forces prosecution of the war effort or to promote the success of the country’s enemies." While this was intended mostly to suppress anti-war activists, these acts were also used to prosecute suspected communists during the First Red Scare.
The fear of communism grew even larger in the autumn of 1919 when there were a series of race riots and strikes known as Red Summer. The strikes also involved anarchist violence as there were bombs being exploded in cities. Americans referenced the assassination of President McKinley as he was also killed by an anarchist. Americans believed that things were getting out of hand, and they mostly blamed this on communists, who were associated with anarchists.
In response to the public fear, Attorney General Palmer led the Palmer Raids. On New Year's Day of 1920, over 6,000 foreigners were arrested under the accusation that they were supporting communism. This event led to a significant opposition from the American public as they saw civil liberties being violated. The Palmer Raids led to the end of the First Red Scare, but there was still some fear of communism throughout the 1920's and 1930's until the Second World War when Russia had a common goal with the United States to take down Germany. Obviously, after World War II, the widespread fear of communism known as the Second Red Scare came back again and led to further tensions in the Cold War.
Overall, the First Red Scare can be seen to be an important event in American history. It highlights how there were irrational fears of communism from the public before the Cold War and how a culmination of events together (Bolshevik Revolution, mass immigration and nativism, assassination of President McKinley, and Red Summer) can influence such a widespread fear from Americans.
Sources
http://www.ohiohistorycentral.org/w/First_Red_Scare
https://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/modern-world-history-1918-to-1980/america-1918-1939/the-red-scare-in-the-1920/
https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/u-s-congress-passes-espionage-act
Nice post! The way that you start off by giving background information about how communism originated and spread through America due to the Red Scare. The Bolshevik revolution was a good example to use as the anti-spread of communism, also the attorney general Palmer was something new that I don't remember learning about in class. Overall it was a great post and helped me learn more about the spread of communism.
ReplyDeleteNice post, especially because we kind of glossed over this subject when learning about the 20s. I was intrigued by the Palmer Raids, so I did some research. Ironically, A. Mitchell Palmer was previously a civil liberties supporter. But, after the set of communist bombings, one of which destroyed his home, he took more radical action. He created the General Intelligence Division within the FBI and used its resources to raid. They found a false wall and a bomb factory in the Union of Russian Workers' headquarters. From there, they went crazy and thousands were deported to Russia, often illegally (many were arrested on the grounds of having a foreign accent).
ReplyDeleteThis was very similar to the Red Scare of the 50s. At first, Americans were scared of the Russians and accused many of being radical leftists. McCarthy/Palmer led the movement but eventually took it so far that Americans changed opinion and took him down.
https://www.britannica.com/topic/Palmer-Raids