NYJC 2008 HIS H1 and H2 P1 Preliminary Exam

International History Na nyang Junior College Preliminary Examination 2008 Page 1 of 4 Preliminary Examination 2008 HISTORY H1 8814 HISTORY H2 9731 International History 1945 – 2000 DURATION 3 hours INSTRUCTIONS TO CANDIDATES Write your name, Civics Tutorial group and in dex number in the spac es provided on the answer paper. Answer four (4) questions. Answer the Source-Based Question in Section A, and any three Essay Questions in Section B. Tie and submit all answers together. Write your answers on the separate answer paper provided. If you use more than one sheet of paper, fasten the sheets together. You are reminded to be punctilious in your us e of proper English, and veracious in the presentation of your answers. _____________________________________________________ This question paper consists of 4 printed pages

International History Na nyang Junior College Preliminary Examination 2008 Page 2 of 4 SECTION A: SOURCE-BASED QUESTION The question in this section is compulsory. THE UNITED NATIONS AND THE 1994 RWANDAN GENOCIDE 1. Read the sources and then answer the question. Source A The Rwandans who organised and executed the genocide must bear full responsibility for it. But genocide anywhere implicates everyone. To the extent that governments and peoples elsewhere failed to prevent and halt th is killing campaign, they all share in the shame of the crime. In addition, the UN staf f as well as the three foreign governments principally involved in Rwanda bear added responsibility: the UN staff for having failed to provide adequate information and guidance to members of the Security Council; Belgium, for having withdrawn its troops precipitately and for having championed total withdrawal of the UN force; the US for having put saving money ahead of saving lives and for slowing the sending of a relief force; and France, for having contin ued its support of a government engaged in genocide. In contrast to the in action of the major actors, some non-permanent members of the Security Counc il undertook to push for a UN fo rce to protect Tutsi from extermination. But all members of the Secu rity Council brought di scredit on the UN by permitting the representative of a genocidal government to continue sitting in the Security Council, a council supposedly committed to peace. From a 1999 report by Human Rights Watch, a global human rights organisation. Source B As the killing intensified, the international community deserted Rwanda. Western nations landed troops in Rwanda or Burundi in the first week to evacuate their citizens, did so, and left. The UN mission (UNAMIR), created in October 1993 to keep the peace and assist the governmental transition in Rwanda, sought to in tervene between the killers and civilians. It also tried to mediate between the RPF [Rwandan Patriotic Front] and the Rwandan army after the RPF struck from Rwanda to protect Tutsi and rescue their battalion encamped in Kigali. On April 21, 1994, the United Nations Security Council, at the behest of the United States—which had no troops in Rwanda—Belgium , and others, voted to withdraw all but a remnant of UNAMIR. The Security Council to ok this vote and others concerning Rwanda even as the representative of the genocidal regime sat amo ngst them as a non-permanent member. After human rights, media, and dipl omatic reports of the carnage mounted, the UN met and finally arrived at a compromise response on May 16. UNAMIR II, as it was to be known, would be a more robust forc e of 5,500 troops. Again, however, the world failed to deliver, as the full complement of troops and materiel would not arrive in Rwanda until months after the genocide ended. From a paper entitled “The US and the Genocide in Rwanda 1994: Evidence of Inaction” by William Ferroggiaro, 20 August 2001.

International History Na nyang Junior College Preliminary Examination 2008 Page 3 of 4 Source C First, we must all acknowledge our responsibility for not ha ving done more to prevent or stop the genocide. Neither the United Nations Secretariat, nor the Security Council, nor Member States in general, nor the interna tional media, paid enough attention to the gathering signs of disaster. Still less did we take timely action. When we recall such events and ask “why did no one intervene?”, we should address the question not only to the United Nations, or even to its Member States . No one can claim ignorance. All who were playing any part in world affairs at that time should ask, “what more could I have done?” From a speech by UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan in 2004. Source D In April 1994, Rwanda plunged in to political violence as Hutu extremists began targeting prominent opposition figures, including moderate Hutu politicians and Tutsi leaders. Amid the onslaught, the small UN peacekeeping fo rce was overwhelmed as terrified Tutsi families and moderate politicians sought prot ection. The United States, France, Belgium, and Italy all began evacuating their own personnel from Rwanda. However, no effort was made to evacuate Tutsi civilians or Hutu modera tes. Instead, they were left behind entirely at the mercy of the avenging Hutu. Back at UN headquarters, the ki llings were initially categorised as a breakdown in the cease-fire between the Tutsi and Hutu. Throughout the massacre, both the UN and the US carefully re frained from labelling the killings as genocide, which would have necessitated emergency intervention. The UN Security Council responded to the worsening crisis by voting unanimously to abandon Rwanda. The remainder of UN peacekeeping troops were pulle d out, leaving behind only a tiny force of about 200 soldiers for the entire country. From a publication of a private, independent, Internet-only publication based in Boston that is not affiliated with any political group or organisation. Source E The Chairman of the Independent Inquiry into United Nations actions during the 1994 Rwanda genocide presented his report to th e Security Council, saying the Council had the power to have prevented at le ast some of the Rwandan trag edy, and could act to ensure such a tragedy did not happen again. He described the lack of political will to act in the face of crises as the most dangerous obstacle to United Nations’ work for the maintenance of peace. The Council’s decision to reduce the strength of the United Nations Assistance Mission for Rwanda (UNAMIR) after the genoc ide started, and despite its knowledge of the atrocities, was the cause of much bitterne ss in Rwanda. The report made clear that in Rwanda “we failed”, stated the representative of the United States. The legacy of genocide and ethnic cleansing in Rwanda was a tragic reality that must be addressed. From a press release issued by the United Nations, 17 April 2000. Now answer the following question: How far do Sources A – E show that the 1994 Rwandan Genocide was aggravated principally by the failure of the United Nations to respond adequately to it?

International History Na nyang Junior College Preliminary Examination 2008 Page 4 of 4 SECTION B: ESSAY QUESTIONS Choose and answer any three questions from this section. 2. “Given the contrasting personalities be tween Harry Truman and Joseph Stalin, a protracted and hostile confrontation between the United States and the Soviet Union was inevitable after 1945.” How far do you agree with this statement? 3. How valid is it to suggest that the Soviet Union collapsed principally because the satellite countries allied with it abandoned faith in Communism before 1989? 4. Why was China under Deng Xiaoping and Ji ang Zemin able to achieve such remarkable economic success during the period after 1978? 5. “The Arab-Israeli conflict re mains unresolved because of, not