The Sinews of War: McCarthyism Crosses the Atlantic

Abstract

At the height of the US Red Scare, Joseph McCarthy directed his attacks towards the United Kingdom. Tapping into deep-seated Anglophobia in the American collective psyche, McCarthy infused it with his own brand of anti-communism. He declared a personal war on the United Kingdom seeking to disrupt Anglo-American relations. McCarthy's "paranoid style" and anti-British sentiment manifested from a longer tradition of Midwestern resentment. Although the British government regarded his efforts as a significant threat to the "special relationship", it refused to directly denounce or engage with the Wisconsin senator. This paper examines this little-known episode of the McCarthy era.*I am grateful and indebted to Paul Corthorn and Richard Toye for the insightful comments and the constructive feedback which they provided during the early stages of this article. Also I would like to thank the two anonymous reviewers for their helpful assitance.

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