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McCarhty Trials. I understand you have been studying the McCarthy period,
which has also been described as a witch hunt. I looked ...
Submitted by lighterfluid15 on February 13, 2006
Category: History Other
Words: 2948 | Pages: 12
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I understand you have been studying the McCarthy period, which has also been described as a witch hunt. I looked witch hunt up in the Webster College dictionary where it is in part defined like this: \"An investigation usually conducted with much publicity, supposedly to uncover subversive political activity, disloyalty, etc., but really to harass and weaken the entire political opposition.\"
I think that is a fair description of the McCarthy witch hunt. It was indeed for the purpose of weakening the entire political opposition to the Cold War against the Soviet Union. Since that country\'s revolution in 1919 which changed its capitalist economy into a socialist economy, the capitalist countries, particularly the United States and Great Britain plotted to overturn the new Soviet government, first by military intervention, in which they were joined by the French, and failing that, by trade boycotts.
However, when faced with the threat of Hitler Germany\'s invasion of both France and England, the United States, France and Great Britain became allies of the Soviet Union, the result of which Hitler\'s fascist army was defeated. After the war public approval of the Soviet Union\'s great contribution to the victory was at an all-time high. The U.S. General McArthur said: \"Thank God for the Red Army.\"
To return to the pre-war agenda of destroying the socialism of the Soviet Union it was necessary to turn around the thinking of the general public. So, Winston Churchill, prime minister of Great Britain, made his famous speech at Fulton, Missouri, saying that the Soviet Union was the enemy that must be fought on all fronts. President Truman took up where Churchill left off and by executive action ordered that all government employees be forced to take loyalty oaths and declare they were not, nor ever had, been Communists.
Loyalty or disloyalty is a very private matter because there is no way, with or without oaths, can the secrecy of...
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