An Undercurrent of Suspicion
An Undercurrent of Suspicion

Author: George Sirgiovanni

Publisher: Transaction Publishers

Published:

Total Pages: 242

ISBN-13: 9781412817196

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The one period that most students of anti-Communism have ignored is the years of the Second World War, when the United States and the Soviet Union briefly stood together as allies against Nazi Germany. During this period, criticizing the Soviet Union and the Communist party abruptly went out of fashion. But even then, there were Americans who chose to be unfashionable. These leaders and opinion-makers are the subject of Sirgiovanni's An Undercurrent of Suspicion. This book demonstrates that the "undercurrent of suspicion" against the Soviet Union, and communism in general, was considerably stronger under World War II than many Americans realize or recall. Many long-time anti-communists refuse to go along with the quasi-official moratorium on criticizing America's Soviet ally, and although the war granted the Communist Party of the United States an unaccustomed degree of legitimacy, this was by no means universally conceded, either. The resilience of such attitudes n what surely were the most auspicious years of the U.S.-Soviet relations contributes to our understanding of why a far more virulent and widespread Cold War mentality of mistrust and hostility burst forth so soon after the Allied victory. Many issues that contributed to the Cold War had been raised during the alliance, such as the political and territorial makeup of Eastern Europe. Those who assumed that the U.S.S.R. could never be trusted to act in a spirit of justice and compassion included conservative politicians, anti-communist labor leaders, right-wing newsmen, Catholics and Protestant fundamentalists, and American Socialists-all of whom Sirigiovani discusses at length. These individuals also insisted that the domestic Communist movement, despite its "patriotic" wartime line, remained in the service of today's ally but tomorrow's probably adversary, Joseph Stalin's U.S.S.R. An Undercurrent of Suspicion will of considerable interest to anyone interested in communism ad anti-communism, American politics, and the history of ideas, especially as they relate to political issues. The general reader will the book provides a new dimension to the war years, and in so doing helps explain the deep background of the Cold War.

Anti-Communism in Twentieth-Century America
Anti-Communism in Twentieth-Century America

Author: Larry Ceplair

Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing USA

Published: 2011-10-05

Total Pages: 385

ISBN-13: 1440800480

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This compelling, critical analysis of anti-communism illustrates the variety of anti-Communist styles and agendas, thereby making a persuasive case that the "threat" of domestic communism in Cold War America was vastly overblown. In the United States today, communism is an ideology or political movement that barely registers in the consciousness of our nation. Yet merely half a century ago, "communist" was a buzzword that every citizen in our nation was aware of—a term that connoted "traitor" and almost certainly a characterization that most Americans were afraid of. Anti-Communism in Twentieth-Century America: A Critical History provides a panoramic perspective of the types of anti-communists in the United States between 1919 and the collapse of the Soviet Union. It explains the causes and exceptional nature of anti-communism in the United States, and divides it into eight discrete categories. This title then thoroughly examines the words and deeds of the various anti-Communists in each of these categories during the three "Red Scares" in the past century. The work concludes with an unapologetic assessment of domestic anti-communism. This book allows readers to more fully comprehend what the anti-communists meant with their rhetoric, and grasp their impact on the United States during the 20th century and beyond—for example, how anti-communism has reappeared as anti-terrorism.

Anti-Communism and Popular Culture in Mid-Century America
Anti-Communism and Popular Culture in Mid-Century America

Author: Cyndy Hendershot

Publisher: McFarland

Published: 2015-10-03

Total Pages: 184

ISBN-13: 0786483695

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Not long after the Allied victories in Europe and Japan, America's attention turned from world war to cold war. The perceived threat of communism had a definite and significant impact on all levels of American popular culture, from government propaganda films like Red Nightmare in Time magazine to Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle. This work examines representations of anti-communist sentiment in American popular culture from the early fifties through the mid-sixties. The discussion covers television programs, films, novels, journalism, maps, memoirs, and other works that presented anti-communist ideology to millions of Americans and influenced their thinking about these controversial issues. It also points out the different strands of anti-communist rhetoric, such as liberal and countersubversive ones, that dominated popular culture in different media, and tells a much more complicated story about producers' and consumers' ideas about communism through close study of the cultural artifacts of the Cold War. Instructors considering this book for use in a course may request an examination copy here.

Little 'Red Scares'
Little 'Red Scares'

Author: Robert Justin Goldstein

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2016-05-13

Total Pages: 380

ISBN-13: 1317104145

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Anti-communism has long been a potent force in American politics, capable of gripping both government and popular attention. Nowhere is this more evident that the two great 'red scares' of 1919-20 and 1946-54; the latter generally - if somewhat inaccurately - termed McCarthyism. The interlude between these two major scares has tended to garner less attention, but as this volume makes clear, the lingering effects of 1919-20 and the gathering storm-clouds of 'McCarthyism' were clearly visible throughout the 20s and 30s, even if in a more low-key way. Indeed, the period between the two great red scares was marked by frequent instances of political repression, often justified on anti-communist grounds, at local, state and federal levels. Yet these events have been curiously neglected in the history of American political repression and anti-communism, perhaps because much of the material deals with events scattered in time and space which never reached the intensity of the two great scares. By focusing on this twenty-five year 'interim' period, the essays in this collection bridge the gap between the two high-profile 'red scares' thus offering a much more contextualised and fluid narrative for American anti-communism. In so doing the rationale and motivations for the 'red scares' can be seen as part of an evolving political landscape, rather than as isolated bouts of hysteria exploding onto - and then vanishing from - the political scene. Instead, a much more nuanced appreciation of the conflicting interests and fears of government, politicians, organised labour, free-speech advocates, employers, and the press is offered, which will be of interest to anyone wishing to better understand the political history of modern America.

The Age of Eisenhower
The Age of Eisenhower

Author: William I. Hitchcock

Publisher: Simon and Schuster

Published: 2018-03-20

Total Pages: 895

ISBN-13: 1451698437

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The New York Times–bestselling biography: a “complete and powerful assessment” of Dwight D. Eisenhower’s presidency (Booklist, starred review). Drawing on newly declassified documents and thousands of pages of unpublished material, The Age of Eisenhower tells the story of a masterful president guiding the nation through the great crises of the 1950s, from McCarthyism and the Korean War through civil rights turmoil and Cold War conflicts. This is a portrait of a skilled leader who, despite his conservative inclinations, found a middle path through the bitter partisanship of his era. At home, Eisenhower affirmed the central elements of the New Deal, such as Social Security; fought the demagoguery of Senator Joseph McCarthy; and advanced the agenda of civil rights for African-Americans. Abroad, he ended the Korean War and avoided a new quagmire in Vietnam. Yet he also charted a significant expansion of America’s missile technology and deployed a vast array of covert operations around the world to confront the challenge of communism. As he left office, he cautioned Americans to remain alert to the dangers of a powerful military-industrial complex that could threaten their liberties. Today, presidential historians rank Eisenhower fifth on the list of great presidents, and William Hitchcock’s “rich narrative” shows us why Ike’s stock has risen so high. He was a gifted leader, a decent man of humble origins who used his powers to advance the welfare of all Americans (The Wall Street Journal).

Not Without Honor
Not Without Honor

Author: Richard Gid Powers

Publisher: Yale University Press

Published: 1998-01-01

Total Pages: 598

ISBN-13: 9780300074703

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The American anticommunist movement has been viewed as a product of right-wing hysteria that deeply scarred our society and institutions. This book restores the struggle against communism to its historic place in American life. Richard Gid Powers shows that McCarthyism, red-baiting, and black-listing were only one aspect of this struggle and that the movement was in fact composed of a wide range of Americans--Jews, Protestants, blacks, Catholics, Socialists, union leaders, businessmen, and conservatives--whose ideas and political initiatives were rooted not in ignorance and fear but in real knowledge and experience of the Communist system. "Not Without Power is superbly written and richly detailed. Perceptive and thoughtful, it is an impressively thorough and valuable book."--David J. Garrow "One of the contributions of [Powers's] provocative narrative history is to bring to life certain segments of anti-Communist opinion that have largely been forgotten."--Sean Wilentz, New York Times Book Review "[Powers] makes extensive use of primary sources and uncovers much that is new. He vividly recreates the complex relationships within and between several ethnic and radical communities within the United States, including their firsthand and often disillusioning experience with communism. . . . The depth and range of his work add a great deal to knowledge."--Journal of American History "A valuable, well-executed study and summation of a vast topic, one whose various threads the author has woven into a rich tapestry."--Richard M. Fried, Reviews in American History

Commonsense Anticommunism
Commonsense Anticommunism

Author: Jennifer Luff

Publisher: Univ of North Carolina Press

Published: 2012-05-21

Total Pages: 303

ISBN-13: 0807869899

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Between the Great War and Pearl Harbor, conservative labor leaders declared themselves America's "first line of defense" against Communism. In this surprising account, Jennifer Luff shows how the American Federation of Labor fanned popular anticommunism but defended Communists' civil liberties in the aftermath of the 1919 Red Scare. The AFL's "commonsense anticommunism," she argues, steered a middle course between the American Legion and the ACLU, helping to check campaigns for federal sedition laws. But in the 1930s, frustration with the New Deal order led labor conservatives to redbait the Roosevelt administration and liberal unionists and abandon their reluctant civil libertarianism for red scare politics. That frustration contributed to the legal architecture of federal anticommunism that culminated with the McCarthyist fervor of the 1950s. Relying on untapped archival sources, Luff reveals how labor conservatives and the emerging civil liberties movement debated the proper role of the state in policing radicals and grappled with the challenges to the existing political order posed by Communist organizers. Surprising conclusions about familiar figures, like J. Edgar Hoover, and unfamiliar episodes, like a German plot to disrupt American munitions manufacture, make Luff's story a fresh retelling of the interwar years.

British and American Anti-communism Before the Cold War
British and American Anti-communism Before the Cold War

Author: Markku Ruotsila

Publisher: Taylor & Francis

Published: 2023-05-09

Total Pages: 292

ISBN-13: 1000938689

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This work examines in a comparative historical way the socialist, liberal and conservative strands of Anglo-American anticommunist thought before the Cold War. In so doing, this book provides us with an intellectual pre-history of Cold War attitudes and policy positions.

Red Scare
Red Scare

Author: Regin Schmidt

Publisher: Museum Tusculanum Press

Published: 2000

Total Pages: 396

ISBN-13: 9788772895819

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The anticommunist crusade of the Federal Bureau of Investigation did not start with the Cold War. Based on research in the early files of the FBI's predecessor, the Bureau of Investigation, the author describes how the federal security officials played a decisive role in bringing about the first anticommunist hysteria in the US, the Red Scare in 1919 to 1920. The Bureau's political role, it is argued, originated in the attempt by the modern federal state during the early decades of the 20th century to regulate and control any organised opposition to the political, economic and social order.

Britain, America and Anti-Communist Propaganda, 1945-1958
Britain, America and Anti-Communist Propaganda, 1945-1958

Author: Andrew Defty

Publisher: Psychology Press

Published: 2004

Total Pages: 308

ISBN-13: 0714683612

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This book demonstrates that propoganda was a primary concern of the postwar governments of Clement Atlee and Winston Churchill and traces the implementation of Britain's propoganda policy at all levels.