The Cold War and "Red Scare"

In the early 1950’s, fears about Russian subversion of United States' industries and government were at an all-time high, as shown in these pamphlets from the U.S. Munitions Board dated 1952 held by the OSU Library. This was known as the "Red Scare" because there were potential threats to the United States made by the Soviet Union during the Cold War. These documents encouraged U.S. citizens to protect national security and emphasized the disastrous consequences of espionage.

These documents were "published in the interest of better Industrial Security by the Munitions Board" (1952-1953).

The U.S. and USSR were allies during WWII (1939-1945), however, their allegiance was strained during this time (History Channel). The United States was suspicious of communism and Russia was bitter about the United States' late entry into the war because millions of Russians died. The distrust between the two nations widely increased after WWII ended in 1945. The Soviet Union began to expand its communist power across Eastern Europe, and the United States feared that communism would take over the world. In response, the United States developed the "Containment" policy to prevent the spread of communism. The United States began developing atomic weapons, which led to the Arms Race, as the Soviet Union responded by engineering its own atomic bombs. The Arms Race resulted in further paranoia of communism; the U.S. became suspicious that the Soviet Union had infiltrated the country. Fears of pro-communist individuals led the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) to implement hearings to determine if employees were loyal to the United States' government. The HUAC targeted Hollywood because some films portrayed the Soviet Union in a positive light during WWII. In 1947, individuals in the Hollywood film industry were investigated. The National Endowment for Humanities Edsitement explains that ten of these individuals, known as the "Hollywood Ten," were convicted with contempt of Congress because they refused to testify about their communist charges. Many individuals lost their jobs due to these investigations and about 300 individuals were blacklisted.

Senator Joseph R. McCarthy and other anti-communist politicians began to screen federal employees to determine if they held any communist sympathies. McCarthy's policies to stomp out potential threats of communism created worry and fear among Americans. McCarthy's zealous need to persecute suspected communists was evident in the Army-McCarthy hearings. In 1953, Senator McCarthy became the chairman of the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations. He hunted down and harassed individuals suspected of communist affiliations. The United States Senate website explains that McCarthy badgered suspects, made "exaggerated claims, disregarded due process, and paid little attention to the Constitutional rights of witnesses." The Executive sessions of the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations of the Committee on Government Operations points out that McCarthy and his chief counsel Roy Cohn ran the investigations by themselves, leading to biased hearings that "destroyed careers of people who were not involved in the infiltration of the U.S. government." In 1954, McCarthy decided to go against the United States' Army by stating that they had "lax security at a top-secret facility" (United States Senate). The Army hired Joseph Welch to represent them in court. McCarthy attacked Welch by insinuating that he had ties to communism. Welch's famous response of "Have you no decency?" led to the fall of McCarthy's career. After the hearings, the Senate charged McCarthy with conduct unbecoming of a senator. The term "McCarthyism" was coined during this time; it is making accusations of treason or subversion without proper evidence. This incident led Congress to strengthen the rights of witnesses in future court rulings.

The Library of Congress provides political cartoons about the "Red Scare."

For more information

See the OSU Library for additional resources about the Cold War and "Red Scare." See also the website at the Library of Congress.

The Munitions Board and National Strategy
The Munitions Board is the "industrial mobilization and logistics planning arm of the Department of Defense."

Production Allocation Manual: Production Planning For Emergency Procurement
The OSU Library offers this resource on the fifth floor under the call number EDE105 P964. This manual explains the Munitions' Board contribution to national security along with the Production Allocation Program. The program seeks to enable wartime production through industrial mobilization.

~Emily Hancz