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The First Red Scare

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The First Red Scare
As World War I was heading towards its end Russia was focusing on internal issues. Led by Vladimir Lenin the Bolsheviks embarked on a campaign against the war. Using propaganda which focused on trying to turn the allied troops against their officers Lenin looked to inspire a socialist revolution. The Bolsheviks were also fueled by the poor conditions of the Russian Army. Nicholas II, in a letter to his wife Alexandra, admitted the obstacles that the Russian Army faced, "Again that cursed question of shortage of artillery and rifle ammunition - it stands in the way of an energetic advance." Czar Nicholas tried to deny the fact that his Army was in no condition to continue the fight. Lenin and the Bolsheviks used this information to gain the support of the Russian people who had grown to resent Russian involvement in the war. With the constant failures the Russian military faced the Bolsheviks took this opportunity to take action. On 25 October 1917 the Lenin-led Bolsheviks seized control of the Russian government. This Russian revolution had little effect on America until 1919. With the war over Americans began to focus more on domestic matters, the biggest issue being the fear of communism in the United States. 1919 Marked the beginning of the first Red Scare. This was a period of extreme fear of communism in America. One of the main missions of the Bolsheviks was to spread Communism around the world. Americans, against the idea of government controlling every aspect of its citizens ' lives, took any action they could to prevent it from spreading to the United States. The main leader of this state of hysteria was A. Mitchell Palmer, President Wilson 's Attorney General. Palmer feared that communist agents were trying to infiltrate the US government. Palmer believed that most of the threat came from those who were not natural born Americans. "Fully 90 percent of the Communist and Anarchist agitation is traceable to aliens." Through the use of the Espionage Act


Bibliography: Primary: Hale, Swinburne. "Raids, Deportations, and Palmerism." New Files. Oct. 1921. 08 Apr. 2007 . "Red Scare or Red Menace." Spartacus. 27 Feb. 2007 . "Russia and the First World War." Spartacus. 27 Feb. 2007 . Secondary: Burnett, Paul. "The Red Scare." Famous Trials. 2000. 05 Apr. 2007 . "Chinese Exclusion Act." Vincent Ferraro. Mount Holyoke College. 27 Feb. 2007 . Fariello, Griffin. Red Scare: Memories of the American Inquisition. New York: Norton, 1995. Murray, Robert K. Red Scare; a Study of National Hysteria, 1919-1920. West Port: Greenwood Pub Group, 1980. Schmidt, Regin. Red Scare: FBI and the Origins of Anticommunismin the United States, 1919-1943. Denmark: Copenhagen: Museum Tusculanum P, 2000.
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