Formation of “Red Scare” Concept in USA in First Half of XX Century

The issue of how the an important and multifaceted aspect of domestic and foreign policy formed by US FBI, called the "Red Scare" is addressed in the article. It is shown that this political and ideological concept seemed unacceptable for distribution in the United States, since it created a danger of the penetration of communist ideas and their adherents into all government bodies and major public organizations. Factors that influenced the strengthening of the FBI’s position in the fight against communist ideology in the United States in the 1920s, in particular, terrorist acts carried out by left-wing forces, which allowed the FBI to implement a program of struggle (Palmer raids) with organizations, adhering to communist views are examined. The measures taken by the FBI and its director John Edgar Hoover in the 1930s against Soviet intelligence, which contributed to reinforcing negative perceptions of the “Red Scare” within the agency are highlighted. The authors conclude that the position of the FBI influenced the building of the attitude of the entire US intelligence community in this vein, which in turn had a great impact on the development of the country’s domestic and foreign policy.

«The Palmer raids» - reaction to «The Red Scare» and Edgar Hoover’s role in the actions of the U.S. Department of Justice

The paper is devoted to reaction of the U.S. Department of Justice to the October revolution of 1917 in Russia and the process which received the name The Red Scare in the historiography. The basic changes which happened in Russia, the ideas of radical social justice, the dictatorship of the proletariat and the world revolution during the last stages of the World War I led to an extremely negative perception of the Bolshevik party and its policy in the USA. The general unfriendly spirit was warmed up by various publications accusing V.I. Lenin and his colleagues of communications with Germany (well-known Sissons documents) as well as by various publications in the press. At the same time, the revolution in Russia became an ideological beacon for anarchists and socialists worldwide including America. A special activity was shown by the galleanists organization (followers of the revolutionary and the ideologist of anarchism Luigi Galleani). From April to June 1919 they organized a series of explosions as well as attempts on the life of prominent politicians, businessmen and even the staff of intelligence agencies of the USA. In response to it the Attorney-General Alexander Mitchell Palmer initiated a series of military actions directed against all left-wing parties and groups in the country. The Bureau of investigations became the main body that was occupied in these actions. The paper analyzes the raids that were carried out by BI, their features and effects as well as the career of John Edgar Hoover, who was Palmers personal assistant at that time and later became a director of FBI.

The First Red Scare

The first Red Scare, which occurred in 1919–1920, emerged out of longer clashes in the United States over the processes of industrialization, immigration, and urbanization as well as escalating conflict over the development of a labor movement challenging elite control of the economy. More immediately, the suppression of dissent during World War I and shock over a revolution in Russia that energized anti-capitalist radicals spurred further confrontations during an ill-planned postwar demobilization of the armed forces and economy. A general strike in Seattle in February 1919 that grew out of wartime grievances among shipbuilders raised the specter of Bolshevik insurrection in the United States. National press attention fanned the flames and continued to do so throughout the year. In fact, 1919 became a record strike year. Massive coal and steel walkouts in the fall shook the industrial economy, while a work stoppage by Boston police became a national sensation and spread fears of a revolutionary breakdown in public order. Ultimately, however, much of the union militancy of the war era was crushed by the end of 1919 and the labor movement entered a period of retrenchment after 1922 that lasted until the 1930s. Fall 1919 witnessed the creation of two competing Communist parties in the United States after months of press focus on bombs, riots, and strikes. Federal anti-radical investigative operations, which had grown enormously during World War I and continued into 1919, peaked in the so-called “Palmer Raids” of November 1919 and January 1920, named for US Attorney General A. Mitchell Palmer, who authorized them. The excesses of the Department of Justice and the decline of labor militancy caused a shift in press and public attention in 1920, though another Red Scare would escalate after World War II, with important continuities between the two.

Jacob Spolansky

This chapter examines the rise of Jacob Spolansky as part of a class of professional spies fostered by the growth of anticommunism during the First World War and the Red Scare. Spolansky was a migrant from Ukraine who arrived in the United States around 1910 and was recruited into the US Army's Military Intelligence Division as well as the Bureau of Investigation. During a thirty-year career, Spolansky rotated in and out of government and corporate service and spied on and infiltrated radical and labor organizations. He used legislative committees, business associations, and media outlets to engender support for harsh measures to deal with political and industrial radicals. His career highlights included coordinating the Palmer Raids in Chicago, arresting several Communist Party leaders in Michigan in 1922, and formulating Michigan's 1931 “Spolansky Act.” This chapter first considers Spolansky's early life and how he became a spy active both in law enforcement and political and industrial counterespionage before discussing his career highlights, his later years, and his legacy as a professional spy and anticommunist.

Divided Loyalties

This chapter focuses on how the Palmer Raids of the winter of 1919–20 were the most draconian single instance of federal repression in the United States' peacetime history. Nothing in the McCarthy era can compare to the mass arrests and beatings, arbitrary incarcerations, and summary deportations that took place in dozens of cities across the nation. Capping off a year of industrial crisis, foreign insecurity, and political conflict, they helped solidify the divisions of the war years, institutionalizing them in an underground communist movement on one side and new patriotic organizations on the other. Given the power of the repressive politics that arised between 1917 and 1920, it is a surprising and problematic fact that the national Republican administrations of the 1920s saw no new countersubversive policies developed.