wartime hysteria
Collective conflict anxiety
Wartime hysteria is the collective panic, paranoia, and irrational fear that spreads through a population during armed conflict.
It typically manifests as suspicion of outsiders, exaggerated threats, and support for extreme measures—internment camps, loyalty oaths, censorship.
The Japanese American internment was driven by wartime hysteria, not genuine security concerns.
The phrase usually appears in hindsight, after the fear has been judged excessive.
- paranoiaIrrational persecution fears
- propagandaBiased information for influence
- fifth columnInternal subversives aiding outsiders
- fearEmotional response to threat
- panicUncontrollable sudden fear
loose lips · McCarthyism · internment · scapegoating · mob · suspicion · xenophobia · Japanese internment · blacklist · loyalty oath · rationing · blackout curtains · censorship · enemy · spy · enemy alien · treason · rumors
- Japanese Internmentinternment camps, internment camp, Japanese internment, Executive Order 9066, internees
- Japanese CanadiansNikkei, internment, internment camps, redress, Greenwood
wartime hysteriacalm
Free from agitation
composure · tranquility · serenity · measured response · equanimity
time, wars, warred, warring, warrior, warriors, warfare, warlike, times