... the biggest reasons was that, in 1949, Chinese communists took power in China. This frightened the Americans because it showed them that communism was spreading and it made them think that if communists could take over such a big, powerful country as China then they could easily take over a big, powerful country like America. Virtually the same thing happened in 1950 when communist North Korea invaded pro-American South Korea. This also meant that communism was spreading and becoming a much bigger threat to America. The final and probably biggest reason for the Red Scare was in 1949 when the Russians exploded their first atomic bomb. Up until then the Americans were the only ones to have this technology so it made them aware of spies, also known as 'the enemy within'. The fear of spies was increased during two HUAC cases. HUAC was a committee that had the right ...

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