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During World War II, the United States and the Soviet Union were allies; however after the defeat of the Axis powers, they would soon realize their ideologies and goals for European were incompatible (OpenStax, 2019). Diplomatic ties with the Soviet Union in 1933 would open the door to a parade of Russian spies who would infiltrate the American government and threaten national security. In 1949, American confidence in containing communist subversion was severely diminished when the Soviet Union dropped its first atomic bomb and then when Chinese Communists won the civil war over the Nationalist forces (OpenStax, 2019). Suspicions of Russian spies and Communist sympathizers giving Russia U.S intelligence exploded. As a result, the FBI began investigating federal employees and loyalty boards were initiated to dismiss potential disloyal workers (OpenStax, 2019). In addition, HUAC targeted Communist in media, academia, and business including Hollywood and liberals in the State Department. This atmosphere of fear, distrust, and repression paved the way for opportunists like Joseph McCarthy to gain power and political influence exploiting these fears hence fueling the “Red Scare†across America. The Red Scare is often called McCarthyism after the anti-communist, Wisconsin Republican Senator Joseph McCarthy. At the Lincoln celebration in Wheeling, West Virginia in 1950, he took full advantage of American fears of growing Soviet power and the prospects of communist subversion and nuclear holocaust to expand his political forum. In McCarthy’s speech, the specific threat posed was the destruction of democracy, “not from enemies from without, but rather because of enemies from withinâ€. During his speech, he waved a sheet of paper in the air, and proclaimed: “I have here in my hand a list of 205…names that were made known to the Secretary of State as being members of the Communist party
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