Esmond and Justin 9.6 - "American attitude towards the cold war......"

This is the script for our powerpoint......

Justin: Today we are going to talk about the American attitude of the cold war and a little bit on the cold war itself and communism.

Esmond: Things that are happening then. In 1950, the Korean War started, mainly between the Republic of Korea, and the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (AKA North Korea). And 3 years later, Dwight D. Eisenhower was elected as the President of the United States of America.

Justin: And on the same year, both North and South Korea signed a cease-fire treaty in July that year, bringing peace on both sides. Also, the Communist Leader of USSR, Joseph Stalin, had also died that same year during the first months of March.

Esmond: Here are some of the highlights of the whole Cold War. Things like the Vietnam War or the Korean War should be known to you.

Justin: Now we will look at Cuba, and what the Americans did to Cuba as a response to the Cuban Missile Crisis. The Cuban Missile Crisis was a confrontation between the Capitalists and the Communists, when Cuba joined the Soviet Union and was persuaded to build a nuclear missile base in Cuba.

Esmond: But when America found out about the Cuban base under construction, the US did everything they could to try to negotiate with the Cuban Government to disarm the missiles. And finally, in 1962, the situation was resolved when the Russian Leader stated that the constructions in Cuba had been issued with new orders to disarm the missile and return to the USSR.

Justin: And in response to this incident, the US set up an economic embargo against Cuba, as a sign of anti-communism, and also a response to the whole crisis.

Esmond: The reason why America is anti-communism is because, the US are capitalists, and that they fear communism will soon spread influence into the western society.

Justin: And with all this anti-communism activity going on, a practice called McCarthyism is becoming more and more common.

Esmond: McCarthyism is a practice that involves people making accusations of treason, disloyalty and other things without any real evidence.

Justin: This practice became more common during the late 1940s to the late 1950s (Also known as the Second Red Scare) when the Communist power in Eastern Europe is strong.

Esmond: More and more people in the US are convinced to join these practices, as the soviet movement in the US is high, and so many people are accusing each other as Russian Spies, or members of the KGB.

Justin: McCarthyism started a while ago, going back to the first red scare, when Joseph McCarthy is not involved. McCarthyism started from the sudden rise of communism, which was known then as a political force. Therefore, the US returned to a firm anti-communism stance after the alliance with the Soviet Union during the Second World War.

Esmond: President Dwight D. Eisenhower shared similar views towards the communists and believed that communism is a slow changing force that is trying to gain dominance against other world powers.

Justin: Eisenhower quoted: "Forces of good and evil are massed and armed and opposed as rarely before in history. Freedom is pitted against slavery, lightness against dark.” This shows his view against communism.

Justin: Americans believed that communism has a lack of freedom, which is a very important factor in part of the American dream. Also, communism lacks human rights, and individuality. So Americans were afraid of corruption and suffering if the US turned communist, so most Americans are against communism.

Both: Thank you for watching our presentation.

~END~