1. British McCarthyism: The Anti‐Communist Politics of Lord Vansittart and Sir Waldron Smithers.
- Author
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GERTH, MATTHEW
- Subjects
PRACTICAL politics ,OFFICES ,COLD War, 1945-1991 ,LEGISLATORS ,COMMUNISM ,ANTI-communist movements - Abstract
Contemporaneously to the American McCarthyite response towards communism during the early cold war there existed a similar reaction in the United Kingdom. Like its counterpart in the United States, British McCarthyism not only attacked internal 'reds' but also non‐communist elements within the nation's borders. The phenomenon denounced and accused governmental and societal institutions and individuals for tolerating and even abetting the communist conspiracy then supposedly threatening the survival of the realm. Led by former Foreign Office mandarin Robert Vansittart and championed by the Conservative member of parliament Waldron Smithers, this British McCarthyism targeted the Church of England, the BCC and most notably the governing Labour party. The article explores how this politicised form of British anti‐communism functioned and transpired. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2022
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