Thesis
The Red Scare was a phenomenon fueled by the threat of communist ideals posed by the Soviet Union. Paranoia drove the first scare in the 1920's and prepared Americans for the second scare in the 1950's that was rebirthed due to legitimate events exposed by modern communication mediums.
First red scare
The First Red Scare was a movement fueled on the hysteria of communism's potential infiltration of the U.S. after Vladimir Lenin and the Bolsheviks took over Russia in 1917. Thereafter the first communist party formed in the U.S. in 1919. The U.S. was experiencing economic stagflation due to World War I. Workers weren't making enough to survive and started back lashing against their employers demanding higher wages. Many citizens saw the similarities between the worker revolts in Russia and the labor union unrests in the USA. The situation wasn't aided by the fact that many of the labor unions were composed of immigrants who had settled in the U.S. during the war which needed a lot of manpower to keep the country running while the men fought overseas. The nation experienced the first tastes of communism prior to the worst economic depression in history.
second red scare
The Second Red Scare was a fear driven movement that spread across the United States as World War II was ending. Americans feared that the Soviet Union would spread communism, an expansionist ideology, all over the world and overthrow democratic and capitalist institutions as it went. Communism suggested that the working class would overthrow the middle and upper classes allowing it to spread through revolution. Americas focus shifted towards stopping the spread of communism when they no longer had to concentrate on the war. Many feared that communism might spread to the United States and threaten the nation’s democratic values. The federal government and state governments reacted to that fear by attacking potential communist threats. The creation of various investigative committees was one of the main tactics used at the federal level. Hoping to end communism, Senator Joseph McCarthy chaired an investigative committee. Many federal government workers came under suspicion of being loyal to the communists and lost their jobs. Many motion picture, television, and radio industries were also investigated by federal government. They believing that communists were spreading their propaganda through these media.