THE EARLY COLD WAR How Fear and Paranoia

THE EARLY COLD WAR How Fear and Paranoia Threatened the Liberty and Democratic Principles of the United States

THE END OF WORLD WAR 2 • The Allies had declared victory over the Axis Powers • Allied Soldiers were coming home celebrating their victory • Japan had surrendered after two atomic bombs had been detonated in their cities of Nagasaki and Hiroshima • However, the celebration was short lived. • A new threat was rising and allies became enemies. • This enemy threatened individualism, freedom, and prosperity. • That threat was socialism and communism.

ALLIES TURNED ENEMIES • The United States had become a global super power. • The creation of the atomic bomb from the United States kickstarted the arms race. • The Soviet Union had become the rival of the United States. • Both countries began to develop nuclear weapons. • At the same time, a war was being fought in the United States. • However, this wasn’t a war fought with guns and explosives. • This was a war fought through words and government bureaucracy. • This was a war fought with ideas. • The war of which idea was better, capitalism or communism.

THE COLD WAR • The United States population feared the idea of communism spreading to other parts of the world • The United States and the Soviet Union formed alliances provided aid to movements and countries that supported their ideologies. • While these two countries had not fought each other directly yet, their ideas did. • These battles and skirmishes between a nation’s capitalist and communist factions were called Proxy Wars. • The faction that supported capitalism was supported by the Western Bloc(those who supported capitalism and were led by the United States) • The faction that supported communism was supported by the Eastern Bloc(countries that supported communism and were led by the Soviet Union)

THE SECOND RED SCARE • People in the United States feared the idea of their country falling to communism • During the early Cold War(1945 -1952), the people of the United States lived in fear at the idea of nuclear war and the idea of communist spies infiltration key parts of American society such as television and politics. • This sparked the idea of Mc. Carthyism. • Mc. Carthyism is the practice of making accusations of subversion or treason without proper regard for evidence • This was used to keep communism from spreading in the United States

SO WHAT IS THE PROBLEM WITH THIS? • If communism is bad, why is Mc. Carthyism criticized by historians today? • One good aspect of the Justice System in the United States is the idea of “Presumption of Innocence” • • In other words, you are innocent until proven guilty If you are accused of a crime, you are taken to court and tried by a jury. The job of the accuser is to PROVE you are guilty by providing evidence If the accuser fails to prove their accusations, you are innocent in the eyes of the law. • Under Mc. Carthyism, you didn’t have these actions take place. A simple accusation and your life was ruined.

WHAT DID THE PEOPLE LIVING DURING THIS TIME PERIOD THINK OF THIS? • Authors such as Ray Bradbury and George Orwell feared the idea of an invasive government. • Bradbury explains this in his book Fahrenheit 451, a dystopian future in which the United States government has invaded the private lives of their citizens and banning anything the government deems as bad for its citizens. This book references the dangers of Mc. Carthyism if it had continued to gain traction.

WHAT DID THE PEOPLE LIVING DURING THIS TIME PERIOD THINK OF THIS? • Orwell explains in his book “ 1984”, the idea and fear of living in a society under the control of an authoritarian government, in this case referring to the Soviet Union. Some crimes described in this book include, Thoughtcrime and Facecrime.

Group Assignment

READING YOUR EXCERPT • • You will be divided into two randomly selected groups One group will read an excerpt from “ 1984” Another group will read an excerpt from “Fahrenheit 451” If you wish, you can read this silently on your own • Or you can use your downloaded the audio book file that was provided for in our Google Classroom and follow along silently. • If you want to use the audiobook file, you have to listen to it with your earphones. • You were also told to bring in your own earphones. • You can share earphones with an elbow partner if you wish to do so • I will also provide ear phone sound splitters so you can connect two pairs of earphones into one media player device.

CREATING A KWL CHART 1. Get a blank sheet of paper 2. Divide the paper into 3 separate sections 3. On the left section, write the letter “K” at the top of the section 4. On the middle section, write the letter “W” at the top of the section 5. On the right section, write the letter “L” at the top of the section. 6. Turn over the sheet of paper 7. Write down the title of the Book you will read on the top right hand corner 1. If you are reading “ 1984” write down “ 1984” 2. If you are reading “Fahrenheit 451” write down “ 451”

IT SHOULD LOOK LIKE THIS What do I already Know about this book? K You will write here What do I want to Know about this book? W You will write here What have I learned from this book? L You will write here