to recognize the Bolshevik government of Russia that came to power in 1917. Numerous radicals vehemently denounced US entry into the First World War, resisted the draft, and urged the U.S. Radical political activity reached a high-water point in the late 1910s, precipitating a forceful reaction against left-wing groups. The Populist and Progressive movements were both very strong in Washington around the turn of the century, partially because of aid they received from Washington's relatively sizable Socialist Party. White working-class mobs also forcibly evicted Chinese immigrants from Seattle, Tacoma, and other coastal towns in this same period. In the 1880s, white laborers demanded higher wages and began to form Washington's first successful labor unions. Indeed, the ebb and flow of radical movements, and reactions against them, have profoundly shaped the political history of Washington state. The rise of the Communist Party in the 1930s and the Red Scare of the 1940s and 1950s were not unprecedented events in Washington history. Radicalism and Anti-radicalism in Washington Politics The Red Scare, which was more intense in Washington than in most states, deprived communists of their First Amendment rights, permanently destroyed several radical political organizations, temporarily frightened many liberals into silence, and allowed conservatives to virtually dismantle Washington's state-level health care system for the poor.Ī. In addition, the fear of communism fueled important political changes in Washington. Even Seattle's most famous icon-the Space Needle-is a concrete monument to one aspect of the Cold War, the space race. The production of plutonium at Hanford created radioactive waste that will exist for thousands of years. Military bases were created and expanded. The Cold War left a physical legacy across the state that can still be seen today.
Although federal hydropower projects and World War II had initially industrialized Washington state, the struggle against the Soviets ensured that federal money continued to pour into the state. Military spending sustained Washington's rapid economic growth after WWII. The Cold War created many aspects of modern Washington.
The Cold War and Red Scare in Washington: Historical Context
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