YTSS 4E5N HY Prelim 2023 QP + Ans

1 NAME: ( ) CLASS: YISHUN TOWN SECONDARY SCHOOL PRELIMINARY EXAMINATION 2023 SEC 4 EXPRESS / SEC 5 NORMAL ACADEMIC HUMANITIES HISTORY (2273/2) DATE : 25 August 2023 DAY : Friday DURATION: 1 hour 40 minutes MARKS: 50 ADDITIONAL MATERIALS Writing Paper READ THESE INSTRUCTIONS FIRST Write your class, index number and name in the spaces provided on the work you hand in. Write in dark blue or black ink. Section A Answer all parts of Question 1. Section B Answer one question. The number of marks is given in brackets [ ] at the end of each question. Write your answer in the writing paper provided. At the end of the examination, fasten all your work securely together. This question paper consists of 6 printed pages

2 SECTION A: Source-Based Case Study Question 1 is compulsory for all candidates. Study the Background Information and the sources carefully, and then answer all the questions. You may use any of the sources to help you answer the questions, in addition to those sources you are told to use. In answering the questions, you should use your knowledge of the topic to help you interpret and evaluate the sources. 1 (a) Study Source A. Why do you think this cartoon was published ? Explain your answer, using details from the source. [5] (b) Study Source B . Are you surprised by this source? Explain your answer. [5] (c) Study Sources C and D. How far does Source C prove that Source D is wrong? Explain your answer. [6] (d) Study Sources E and F. Which source is more useful as evidence about the USSR’s intentions in the Cuban Missile Crisis? Explain your answer. [6] (e) Use all the sources. ‘The Cuban Missile Crisis was a product of Soviet aggression .’ How far do the sources support this judgement? Use the sources and knowledge to e xplain your answer. [8]

3 Was the Cuban Missile Crisis a product of Soviet aggression? BACKGROUND INFORMATION Read this carefully. It may help you to answer some of the questions. The Cuban Missile Crisis was a direct and dangerous confrontation between the United States and the Soviet Union during the Cold War. Both the superpowers engaged in a tense 13-day political and military standoff in October 1962 over the installation of nuclear -armed Soviet missiles on Cuba, just 90 miles from the US. Over the course of 2 extremely tense weeks, US President John F. Kennedy and Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev managed to negotiate a peaceful outcome to the crisis. The crisis evoked fears of nuclear destruction, revealed the dangers of nuclear brinkmanship. Thus, this has initiated attempts to halt the arms race between the 2 superpowers. Source A: An American cartoon titled ‘Pulling Castro’s Beard’ published in October 1962. The characters on the right is the Soviet Premier, Nikita Khrushchev.

4 Source B: A letter from Nikita Khrushchev to John F. Kennedy on 27 October 1962. Our purpose is to help Cuba, and no one can challenge our motives to help Cuba live peacefully and develop as its people desire. You want to relieve your country from danger and this is understandable. However, Cuba also wants this. Your rockets are stationed in Britain, Italy and Turkey pointing at us. You are worried over Cuba. You say that it worries you because it is 90 miles from your shores. However, Turkey lies next to us. Do you believe that you have the right to demand security for your country and the removal of such offensive weapons, while not recognizing this right for us? You have stationed devastating rocket weapons in Turkey literally right next to us. This does not tally at all. Source C: An letter from Cuban leader Fidel Castro to Nikita Khrushchev on 26 October 1962 . Dear Comrade Khrushchev, I consider an attack coming within the next 24 to 72 hours. If the imperialists invade Cuba, the dangers of their aggressive policy are so great that after such an invasion , the imperialists must never be allowed to carry out a nuclear first strike on the USSR. The imperialists’ aggressiveness makes them extremely dangerous, and that if they manage to carry out an invasion of Cuba —a brutal act in violation of universal and moral law — then that would be the moment for us to eliminate this danger forever, in an act of legitimate self -defence. The imperialists, without regard for world ’s opinion , have blockaded the seas, and violated our air -space, while at the same time blocking any possibility of negotiation. Source D: Adapted from a poem written by an American writer in 2015. Newsmen call it the Cuban Missile Crisis. Teachers say it’s the end of the world. At school, they instruct us to look up And watch the Cuban-cursed sky. Search for a streak of light. Listen for a piercing shriek, The whistle that will warn us As poisonous A-bombs Zoom close.

5 Source E: Adapted from a White House press statement on 27 October 1962 on the dismantling of Soviet missiles that have been constructed in Cuba. The action of the Soviet Government secretly introducing offensive weapons into Cuba had created the current crisis that affect the USA and Europe . Work on these offensive weapons is still proceeding at a rapid pace. We must deal with this immediate threat before any sensible negotiation can proceed. It is therefore the position of the United States that any proposals to work on the Cuban bases must stop . Offensive weapons must not be used. There should be no f urther shipment of offensive weapons to Cuba. These efforts can continue as soon as the present Soviet-created threat is ended. Source F: A speech by Nikita Khrushchev at a Cuba -USSR Friendship Meeting on 23 May 1963. The Cuban crisis was one of the sharpest clashes between socialism and imperialism. When they prepared their invasion of Cuba, the American belligerents * thought that the geographical remoteness of Cuba from the socialist countries would allow them to utilise their overwhelming military superiority and attack the Cuban s to wipe out their revolutionary gains. The American imperialists are known to suppress the liberation struggle around the world. The imperialists' plans to strangle the Cuban revolution failed thanks to the firm stand of the Cuban Government headed by Comrade Fidel Castro, the fighting solidarity of the Cubans, the military might of the USSR and the powerful political and moral support of the socialist countries who joined the united front to defend the heroic Island of Freedom. *belligerents: a person or country which exhibits hostility and combativeness.

6 Section B: Structured-Essay Questions Answer one question. 2 This question is on the impact of World War I in Europe. (a) Explain why did the “Big Three” have different aims in the negotiations of the Treaty of Versailles. [8] (b) “The major powers were responsible for the failure of the League of Nations.” How far do you agree with this statement? Explain your answer. [12] 3 This question is on the end of the Cold War. (a) Explain why was there an improvement in the US-Soviet relations during the period of détente in the 1960s. [8] (b) “The USSR was responsible for the end of the Cold War.” How far do you agree with this statement? Explain your answer. [12] -------------------END OF PAPER---------------- Copyright Acknowledgements Source A https://www.reddit.com/r/PropagandaPosters/comments/ys68vc/pulling_castros_beard_political_cartoon_made_ by/ Source B https://www.commackschools.org/Downloads/Choices-%20The%20Cuban%20Missile%20Crisis-%20Considerin g%20its%20Place%20in%20Cold%20War%20History.pdf Source C https://microsites.jfklibrary.org/cmc/oct26/doc2.html Source D https://www.poe