As the Cold War between the Soviet Union and the United States intensified in the late 1940s and early 1950s, hysteria over the perceived threat posed by Communists in the U.S. became known as the Red Scare. (Communists were often referred to as “Reds” for their allegiance to the red Soviet flag.) The Red Scare led to a range of actions that had a profound and enduring effect on U.S. government and society. Federal employees were analyzed to determine whether they were sufficiently loyal to the government, and the House Un-American Activities Committee, as well as U.S. Senator Joseph R. McCarthy, investigated allegations of subversive elements in the government and the Hollywood film industry. The climate of fear and repression linked to the Red Scare finally began to ease by the late 1950s.
Fascism arose in Europe after World War I when many people yearned for national unity and strong leadership. In Italy, Benito Mussolini used his charisma to establish a powerful fascist state.
The Battle of Fort Sumter was a bombing carried out between April 12 and 13, 1861, by the army of the Confederate States of America with the intention of expelling the federal troops that occupied the fortification of Fort Sumter, located at the entrance to the bay of Charleston in South Carolina.
Since three months before, Confederate troops were stationed around Fort Sumter preparing for a possible defense of Charleston Bay against an assault by the federal fleet or to carry out a possible attack on the fort.
On April 12, 1861, at 3:20 h. In the morning, the Confederates informed Anderson that an hour later they would open fire on the fort. Anderson rejected Beauregard's petition for capitulation, although he told the Southern messenger that hunger would in any case lead to surrender in a few days if they were not supplied. At 4:30 h. a cannon shot from Fort Johnson on Fort Sumter indicated the beginning of the battle and began the shelling of 43 cannons and howitzers, located at Fort Johnson, Fort Moultrie and Commings Point. Anderson did not reply until after seven o'clock in the morning, time when Captain Abner Doubleday fired on the Confederate battery of Commings Point.
In addition, with a shortage of soldiers, the federal troops only used the guns of the lower levels of Fort Sumter, having very few opportunities to reach the batteries of the forts that controlled the South Carolina militia. Because the United States flag was repeatedly knocked down, the Confederate troops checked regularly to see if the feds had surrendered. The capitulation was not accepted by the federals until 34 hours after the beginning of the bombing. On April 14, the Confederate flag was hoisted in Fort Sumter.
