230 a short history of the united states
his active encouragement this new labor organization expanded rap-
idly. By 1941 the CIO had a membership of nearly 5 million, and the
AFL a membership of a little over 4. 5 million. Later, in 1955 , the two
organizations merged.
For all intents and purposes the New Deal program came to an
end largely because of events transpiring both inside and outside the
United States. Europe had become a powder keg because of the eco-
nomic crisis that brought Adolf Hitler to power in Germany. Earlier,
Benito Mussolini had established a fascist dictatorship in Italy, and
Joseph Stalin had begun a tyrannical reign in the Soviet Union. These
three dictators chose to intervene in a civil war that had broken out in
Spain. Hitler and Mussolini provided military aid to the fascist army
of General Francisco Franco, who had launched a war against Spain’s
Republican regime. Stalin threw his support to the loyalists, and there
was fear that this struggle between fascism and communism could
widen into another world confl ict. Roo sevelt seemed anxious to initiate
some action by which collective security (that would “quarantine” na-
tions that threatened international stability) could be established. But a
strong sense of isolationism still permeated the United States, and any
movement toward collaborative action with Europe guaranteed an im-
mediate and hostile response from a concerned electorate. The fear of
communism was widespread, and any thought of radical ideas infi ltrat-
ing this country and undermining fundamental American values
brought demands for strengthening national defenses. So FDR scrapped
any idea of collaborating with Europeans and instead focused his at-
tention on the military preparedness of the United States. In addition,
he asked Congress to appropriate $ 1 billion for defense and the build-
ing of a two- ocean navy.
As the result of the mounting fear of communism, the House of
Representatives established a committee on May 26 , 1938, to investigate
“the extent, character, and objects of un-American propaganda activi-
ties in the United States.” Martin Dies Jr., a Democrat from Texas and
a rabid xenophobe and anti–New Dealer, headed this committee. He
claimed that the Roosevelt administration was swarming with “Com-
munists, Socialists, and the ‘ordinary garden variety crackpots.’ ” Sec-