The "Red Scare" in the United States during the 1950s was fueled by fears of communist infiltration and the perceived global threat posed by the Soviet Union, particularly in the wake of the success of the Communist Party of China (CCP) led by Mao Zedong and the outbreak of the Korean War, which underscored the urgency of containing communism globally. The U.S. government's response to this fear manifested in both domestic and foreign policy; at home, it led to increased anti-communist sentiments, resulting in the persecution of suspected communists through measures such as McCarthyism, where individuals were accused without substantial evidence, leading to ruined careers and lives. On the international front, the U.S. adopted a more aggressive stance, marked by military interventions, as seen in Korea, to prevent the spread of communism, adhering to the containment strategy and the domino theory that emphasized the need for proactive measures against perceived communist advances. The ramifications of these policies included heightened tensions during the Cold War and a significant commitment of U.S. resources and military power to conflicts across Asia, which ultimately shaped American foreign policy for decades to come.
In a one paragraph response, explain why there was a "red scare" in the United States during the 1950s and examine its impact on U.S. domestic and foreign policy.
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In 1927, however, the Nationalists turned on the CCP and worked to purge them from their ranks through what is now known as the “White Terror.”
Despite their shaky past, the Nationalist Party and the CCP once again came together. This time they formed the Second United Front to deal with the growing Japanese threat in Manchuria. However, the alliance quickly fell apart. Both sides resolved to fight each other as well as the Japanese. Meanwhile, the conflict of World War II escalated. During this time, the CCP continued to gain support among Chinese peasants, largely for the party’s land reform efforts and its role in fighting Japanese forces.
In 1945, the Soviet Union occupied Manchuria before the end of the war and did not vacate until the region was firmly in CCP hands. Later that year, the Soviet-backed CCP led by Mao Zedong and the American-backed Nationalist Party led by Chiang Kai-shek met to discuss the formation of a postwar Chinese government. Agreements between the two parties quickly dissolved. By 1946 the CCP and the Nationalists were in the midst of a full-fledged civil war. Despite the fact that the Nationalists controlled more major cities than the CCP, years of corruption had destroyed Nationalist popular support. Meanwhile, grassroots backing from the peasant class and a stockpile of Japanese weapons contributed to a CCP victory. On October 1, 1949, Mao Zedong announced that the Chinese Communists had defeated their Nationalist foes. He established the People’s Republic of China. The Nationalist forces, under their leader Chiang Kai-shek, left for Taiwan in December 1949.
The United States was alert for signs that communist forces were on the move around the world. The Soviet Union had been granted control of the northern half of the Korean Peninsula at the end of World War II. The United States had control of the southern portion. The Soviet Union displayed little interest in extending its power into South Korea, and Joseph Stalin did not wish to risk confrontation with the United States over Korea. North Korea’s leaders, however, wished to reunify the peninsula under communist rule. In April 1950, Stalin finally gave permission to North Korea’s leader, Kim Il Sung, to invade South Korea. He provided the North Koreans with weapons and military advisers.
On June 25, 1950, troops of the North Korean People’s Democratic Army crossed the 38th parallel, the border between North and South Korea. This marked the beginning of the Korean War and was the first major test of the U.S. policy of containment. According to the domino theory, a victory by North Korea might have led to further communist expansion in Asia. On June 27, the United Nations Security Council denounced North Korea’s actions and called on UN members to help South Korea. As a permanent member of the Security Council, the Soviet Union could have vetoed the action. However, its officials had boycotted UN meetings to protest the awarding of China’s seat on the Security Council to Taiwan.
Korea was not the only area where the United States wanted to stop the spread of communism. In Indochina, there were other nationalist independence movements. Notably, Vietnam’s Viet Minh, under the leadership of Ho Chi Minh, had strong communist sympathies. President Truman had no love for France’s colonial regime in Southeast Asia. He did not, however, want to risk the loyalty of an important European ally. So Truman sent a small advisory group to Vietnam and provided financial aid to help France defeat the Viet Minh. In 1954, Vietnamese forces defeated the French, leaving the country temporarily divided at the 17th parallel. American involvement, eventually evolving into the Vietnam War, continued to escalate from the late 1950s all the way through the 1970s.On June 27, 1950, President Truman ordered U.S. military forces into South Korea. They established a defensive line on the far southern part of the Korean Peninsula near the town of Pusan. A U.S.-led invasion at Port Inchon on September 15 halted the North Korean advance and turned it into a retreat. As North Korean forces moved back across the 38th parallel, UN troops under the command of U.S. general Douglas MacArthur followed.
MacArthur’s goal was not only to drive the North Korean army out of South Korea but to destroy communist North Korea as well. At this stage, he had the support of President Truman. However, as UN forces approached the border between China and North Korea, MacArthur’s and Truman’s objectives diverged. Chinese premier Zhou Enlai, who had provided supplies and military advisers for North Korea before the conflict began, sent troops into battle to support North Korea. This caught UN forces by surprise. After a costly retreat, followed by a swift advance of Chinese and North Korean armies invading Seoul, MacArthur urged Truman to change course. He asked the administration to deploy nuclear weapons against China.
Truman, however, did not want to risk a broader war in Asia. MacArthur criticized Truman’s decision in a letter to a Republican congressman, who ultimately made the letter public. In April 1951, Truman accused MacArthur of insubordination and relieved him of his command. The Joint Chiefs of Staff agreed and called such a nuclear escalation “the wrong war, at the wrong place, at the wrong time, and with the wrong enemy.” Despite this fallout, the public honored MacArthur with a hero’s welcome in New York with the largest ticker tape parade in U.S. history.
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