Murray State Theses and Dissertations

Abstract

This thesis looks to reframe the timeline of the First Red Scare in United States History. Historians of this period have consistently viewed the First Red Scare as occurring from 1919 to 1920. However, by viewing the First Red Scare as beginning in 1919, historians missed the fear of communism that developed in the US government and the American press and society throughout 1917 and 1918, starting immediately after the Bolshevik Revolution. Moreover, in the past, historians have done little to detail the connections between the Allied Intervention in Russia from 1918 to 1920 and the First Red Scare, despite that these events happened at the same time. Using the re-framed timeline of 1917 to 1920, this work looks at US participation in the Allied Intervention in Russia as part of the First Red Scare. Furthermore, this study views 1919 as a year in which American fears of communist activity in the US escalated, as opposed to the year in which those anxieties began.

Year manuscript completed

2019

Year degree awarded

2019

Author's Keywords

First Red Scare, Communism, Bolshevik, 1917, 1919, United States

Thesis Advisor

Marjorie Hilton

Document Type

Thesis

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