At the end of World War II, the planet was divided into two large blocks. The United States led the bloc of Western countries, democratic and with capitalist systems, while the Soviet Union led all those nations with communist regimes. This division generated a political and military tension that has gone down in history as the Cold War.
The fundamental idea of McCarthyism
In the context of the Cold War, the United States government was concerned that communist ideals might spread in American society. In this sense, from 1950 Senator Joseph R. McCarthy launched an intense campaign to detect any possible communist threat.
McCarthyism should not be understood as a simple political campaign. In fact, during the 1950s the United States government was especially combative and energetic in its anti-communist struggle. In this sense, all kinds of measures were taken: black lists where the true or supposed communists were indicated, interrogations without legal guarantees, false complaints and, ultimately, irregular strategies with the sole purpose of "hunting down" the infiltrated communist. At the same time, laws were enacted so that foreigners residing in the United States were closely monitored.
Obviously, McCarthyism triggered an intense debate in society
For some, it was a legitimate strategy to combat the threat of communism, while others considered that the communist persecution was an exaggeration and, above all, an attack on the values of democracy.
The concept of McCarthyism is applied in all those political contexts in which a government uses undemocratic methods to achieve its ends.
The anti-communist obsession is the central element of McCarthyism
Most historians investigating McCarthyism emphasize one idea: American governments after World War II were obsessed with communism. Despite the fact that the anti-communist obsession was a reality, it should not be forgotten that the Soviet Union had a very sophisticated propaganda system and that one of its objectives was to infiltrate Western culture, especially the United States.
With the opening of the archives of the former Soviet Union, it has become possible to know how the Russian communists manipulated information to recruit followers all over the world, especially in universities and in different cultural spheres.
Photos: Fotolia - thinglass / d100
