YIJC JC1 H1 History WA2 Suggested Approach 2025

YISHUN INNOVA JUNIOR COLLEGE DEPARTMENT OF HUMANITIES - HISTORY UNITH1 INTERNATIONAL HISTORY 8838/01 JC1 / Term 3 / 20251 JC1H1 Weighted Assignment 2 (Term 3) Suggested Perspectives*Note that I have included the part (a) question as well and the answers to it – even though your LA was only the part (b) question. This is so that you can use the part (a) question for practice too if you wish!**I have also included a tab at the side which provides some additional explanation and explains my thinking/what I am doing at each point of the essay, in accordance with the principles and frameworks that you have been taught for writing SBQ part (a) questions that we have covered since Term 2. ***Do also note that this answer is longer than usual as I went heavily into the context/purpose of the sources in order to demonstrate that there are actually A LOT of things you can potentially say! But as always, you do not need to mention every single thing here to score well! 1a. Compare and contrast Sources A and B as evidence that the Cuban Missile Crisis was shaped by superpower rivalry. How are the sources similar? (1 similarity on the surface)Both sources are similar in pointing towards the Cuban Missile Crisis being shaped by superpower rivalry in the greater cold war context, with Cuba being a focal point for the superpowers in their competition for influence as well as in the arms race. This is seen from Source A as Castro claims that “Khrushchev told me that after the missiles have been deployed in Cuba, Kennedy would have to swallow it”, implying that Khrushchev’s (and the Soviet Union’s) objective in Cuba was to further their Cold War aims against the US. Source B also brings this outs, as the Soviet government warns the US that “Cuba belongs to the Cuban people” and that “in carrying out the measures (like the naval quarantine) announced by President Kennedy, it is recklessly playing with fire…”, suggesting that once again, the crisis over Cuba had become inteimately linked to the overall Cold War rivalry between the two sides. State the point of similarity, quote and explain.*Note that I skipped “why similar” in this answer. Not ideal but sometimes it happens. How are the sources different? (1 difference on the surface)However, sources A and B differ in terms of their perspectives on the USSR’s justification for intervening in Cuba. Source A focuses on suggesting that the USSR’s motive for intervening in Cuba was for their own political and security purposes in the context of their Cold War rivalry with the US. It implies that the Crisis had to do with the “correlation of forces at that time” – implying the strategic nuclear balance between the US and USSR, and also claims that the Soviet Union “needed that measure to ensure their own security” - to counter the Jupiter missiles in Turkey. Source B however suggests that the USSR’s motives were altruistic, that their intervention was just to defend Cuba and the Cuban Revolution, as seen from how it rep