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Dixie Mission
The United States Army Observation Group, commonly known as the Dixie Mission, was the first U.S. effort to establish official relations with the Communist Party of China and the People's Liberation Army, then headquartered in the mountainous city of Yan'an. This mission was launched on 22 July 1944 during World War II, and lasted until 11 March 1947. -
Yalta
Franklin Roosevelt, Winston Churchill, and Josef Stalin meet in the Soviet resort town of Yalta to make plans for the postwar era. In a problematic compromise, Roosevelt accedes to Churchill's and Stalin's plans for spheres of influence in Europe even while convincing the British and Soviet leaders to sign on to a statement affirming the principles of democracy. -
Roosevelt Dies
Franklin Delano Roosevelt dies of cerebral hemorrhage just 82 days into his fourth term, elevating newly installed Vice President Harry S. Truman to the presidency. -
Iron Curtain Speech
Former British Prime Minister Winston Churchill delivers his famous "Iron Curtain" speech at a college in Missouri. "From Stettin in the Baltic to Trieste in the Adriatic," Churchill declares, "an Iron Curtain has descended across the Continent" of Europe. -
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Chinese Revolution
The Chinese Revolution was the second part of Chinese Civil War. In some anti-revisionist communist media and historiography, as well as the official media of the Communist Party of China, this period is known as the War of Liberation -
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2nd Red Scare
The second Red Scare occurred after World War II (1939–45), and was popularly known as "McCarthyism" after its most famous supporter, Senator Joseph McCarthy. McCarthyism coincided with increased popular fear of communist espionage consequent to a Soviet Eastern Europe, the Berlin Blockade (1948–49), the Chinese Civil War, the confessions of spying for the Soviet Union given by several high-ranking U.S. government officials, and the Korean War. -
Truman Doctrine
President Harry S. Truman requests congressional funding to support the government of Greece in its civil war against Communist insurgents, couching his request in dramatic rhetoric now known as the Truman Doctrine, which defines Communist victory anywhere in the world as a threat to American security: "Totalitarian regimes imposed on free peoples, by direct or indirect aggression, undermine the foundations of international peace and hence the security of the United States." -
Truman Loyalty Oaths
President Harry S. Truman issues Executive Order 9835, establishing a Loyalty- Security Program for all federal employees. Designed to pre-empt Republican charges of Communist infiltration of the government, Truman's loyalty oaths only heighten the country's growing fears of Communist subversion. -
Taft-Hartley Act
Congress passes the Taft-Hartley Labor-Management Relations Act over President Truman's veto, sharply curtailing the rights of organized labor while forcing unions to purge Communists from their ranks. -
House Un-American Activities Committee
The House Un-American Activities Committee opens hearings investigating Communist activity in Hollywood. -
John Lawson Refuses
Screenwriter John Howard Lawson, a hostile witness before the House Un-American Activities Committee, refuses to answer, on constitutional grounds, whether he is or was a member of the Communist Party. He is ejected from the hearing and later charged with Contempt of Congress. -
Hollywood Ten
The House of Representatives issues citations for Contempt of Congress to the Hollywood Ten—John Howard Lawson, Alvah Bessie, Herbert Biberman, Lester Cole, Edward Dmytryk, Ring Lardner Jr., Albert Maltz, Samuel Ornitz, Adrian Scott, and Dalton Trumbo. -
Hollywood Blacklisting
The Motion Picture Association confirms the blacklisting of the Hollywood Ten from employment in the film industry. -
Czech Group
A group in Czechoslovakia installs a Communist government, heightening American fears that Communists will seize power in Eastern Europe by any means necessary. -
Berlin Airlift
The Soviets Blockade West Berlin, leaving the city—which is surrounded on all sides by Communist East Germany—without access to food and supplies. The Truman administration organizes a military airlift to supply the besieged city. The Berlin Airlift will last for nearly a year, delivering 1.5 million tons of supplies via 200,000 separate flights before the blockade is lifted in May 1949. -
Soviets Reject Marshall Plan
President Truman signs Executive Order 9981, ending racial segregation of the armed forces. -
Truman Desegregates the Military
President Truman signs Executive Order 9981, ending racial segregation of the armed forces. -
Alger Hiss Named a Communist
Former Communist Whittaker Chambers testifies before the House Un-American Activities Committee, naming Alger Hiss—an important figure in Franklin Roosevelt's State Department—as a Communist agent. -
Alger Hiss Testifies
Alger Hiss Testifies before the House Un-American Activities Committee, denying that he is, or ever was, a member of the Communist Party. -
Berlin Airlift Ends
The Berlin airlift ends in victory for the Western Allies as the Soviets lift their blockade on the city. -
Soviet Atom Bomb
The Soviet Union successfully detonates its first atomic bomb. The loss of its atomic monopoly comes as a terrible shock to the United States and its people. -
Mao Victorious in China
Chairman Mao declares victory in the Chinese Civil War, creating the Communist People's Republic of China. -
CIO Boots Communist Labor
The Congress of Industrial Organizations votes in its national convention to revoke the charter of the United Electrical Workers, the third largest union in the CIO, for failing to purge itself of Communist influence. Ultimately twelve left-leaning unions, and countless individual left-wing organizers, will be booted from the CIO. -
Chian Kai-Shek Flees
Generalissimo Chiang Kai-Shek, longtime American ally and leader of the anticommunist Chinese Nationalists, flees mainland China to organize the Republic of China on the island of Taiwan. -
Alger Hiss Convicted
Alger Hiss is convicted for perjury after a jury concludes that he made false statements in denying Whittaker Chambers' allegations that the two men had known each other as Communists in the 1930s. Hiss will serve more than three years in federal prison. -
Joseph McCarthy Claims Targets
Wisconsin Senator Joseph McCarthy gives a speech in Wheeling, Virginia, dramatically claiming, "I have in my hand a list of 205 cases of individuals who appear to be either card-carrying members or certainly loyal to the Communist Party" within the United States State Department. -
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McCarthy's Allegations
McCarthy's fame following these allegations (whichh were never proven) allowed him to publicly attack various government agencies, including the U.S. Army. He also accused high level government officials of being communists. -
North Korea Invades South
Communist North Korean troops invade South Korea, beginning the Korean War -
Rosenburg Convicted
Julius and Ethel Rosenberg are convicted of passing atomic secrets to the Soviet Union. -
Stalin Dies
Soviet Communist leader Josef Stalin dies of a stroke. -
McCarthy Hearings Begin
The Army-McCarthy hearings begin, broadcast live in their entirety by ABC television. -
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Joseph McCarthy's televised hearings
Republicans worried that McCarthy's public hearings were beginning to make him (and the entire republican party) look ridiculous -
Joseph Welch Accuses "no sense of decency"
Army attorney Joseph Welch, disgusted by McCarthy's attacks against his own assistant counsel, asks the senator, "Have you no sense of decency, sir, at long last?" -
McCarthy Censured
The United States Senate censures Senator Joseph McCarthy for "conduct contrary to Senatorial tradition." -
Joseph McCarthy Dies
dies of hepatitis at the age of 47
