P1 RVHS 2019 US POLICY OF RENEWED CONFRONTATION

2019 RVHS JC2 Preliminary Examinations Page 1 of 8 9752/01 History HISTORY 9752/01 Paper 1 Shaping the International Order (1945-2000) 18 September 2019 3 hours READ THESE INSTRUCTIONS FIRST Write in dark blue or black ink. You may use a HB pencil for any diagrams, graphs or rough working. Do not use staples, paper clips, glue or correction fluid. DO NOT WRITE IN ANY BARCODES. Section A Answer Question 1. Section B Answer any two questions. At the end of the examination, fasten all your work securely together. This document consists of 6 printed pages and 2 blank pages. RIVER VALLEY HIGH SCHOOL RVHS JC2 Preliminary Examinations In preparation for the General Certificate of Education Advanced Level HIGHER 2

2019 RVHS JC2 Preliminary Examinations Page 2 of 8 9752/01 History Section A You must answer Question 1. US POLICY OF RENEWED CONFRONTATION 1 Read the sources and then answer the questions which follow. When answering Question 1 candidates are advised to pay particular attention to the interpretation and evaluation of the sources both individually and as a group. Source A Ronald Reagan’s advocacy of the Strategic Defence Initiative struck me as bizarre. Was it science fiction, a trick to make the Soviet Union more forthcoming, or merely a crude attempt to lull us in order to carry out the mad enterprise – the creation of a shield would allow a first strike without fear of retaliation? Yet I had consulted scientists on the issue beforehand, and the volley of arguments which President Reagan launched at me did not catch me unprepared. My answer was sharp and strong. I said that Mr Reagan’s words simply proved that the Americans mistrusted us. Why should we trust them any more than they trusted us? ‘SDI is the continuation of the arms race into a different, more dangerous sphere,’ I continued. ‘It will only foment mistrust and s uspicion, with each side fearing the other is overtaking it. The Soviet Union strongly opposes an arms race in space…I think you should know we have already developed a response. It will be effective and far less expensive than your project, and be ready for use in less time.’… I can assure you that we were not bluffing. Our studies had proved that our answer to SDI could be as I described. An extract from Gorbachev’s memoirs, published in 1996. Source B A subset of the Reagan strategy was U.S. support of p ro-freedom forces in Afghanistan, Nicaragua, Angola, and Cambodia. The year 1983 was a critical one for President Reagan and the course of the Cold War. In March, he told a group of evangelical ministers that the Soviets "are the focus of evil in this mode rn world" and the masters of "an evil empire." The same month, the President announced that development and deployment of a comprehensive anti-ballistic missile system would be his top defence priority. The Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI) was called "Star Wars" by liberal detractors, but Soviet leader Yuri Andropov took SDI very seriously, calling it a "strike weapon" and a preparation for a U.S. nuclear attack. Moscow's intense opposition to SDI showed that Soviet scienti sts regarded the initiative not as a pipe dream but as a technological feat they could not match. A decade later, the general who headed the department of strategic analysis in the Soviet Ministry of Defence revealed what he had told the Politburo in 1983: "Not only could we not defeat SDI, SDI defeated all our possible countermeasures." An extract from a journal article written by an American academic published in 2010.

2019 RVHS JC2 Preliminary Examinations Page 3 of 8 9752/01 History Source C Relations with the USA have been and will always be crucial for us. It could not be any other way. Only the USA has the means to destroy the USSR, and only we have the means to respond in kind. A conflict between us would result in a global catastrophe. It is hence not on a whim, but from a sense of responsibility that we are involved in a series of negotiations with our American partners, that we are drafting and concluding agreements and treaties, that we are building a truly new relationship with this great power. Ongoing dialogue, summit meetings and cooperation at ministerial level are preconditions for the survival of peace and for buttressing international stability. This is in the interest of all countries, large or small, developed or developing. Interview with Edward Scheverdnadze* by Pravda, the official newspaper of the Soviet Union, 26 June 1990. *Scheverdnadze was the Soviet Minister of Foreign Affairs from 1985 -1991, and trusted adviser to Gorbachev. Source D We are in favour of a radical reduction in conventional arms and armed forces down to a level of reasonable defence sufficiency that would rule out the use of military force against other countries for the purposes of attack; we are in favour of complete withdrawal of all foreign troops from the territories of other countries; we are absolutely opposed to the de velopment of any space weapons; we are in favour of dismantling military blocs and launching immediately a political dialogue between them to that end; we are in favour of creating an atmosphere of trust that would rule out any surprises; we are in favour of a deep, consistent and effective verification of all treaties and agreements that may be concluded with respect to disarmament issues … Of course, any state or any group of states have the right to take care of their security in the forms they conside r most appropriate. It is important, though, that these forms are not in contradiction with the prevailing positive trends, that is, the trend towards a military peace, that they do not lead to the reappearance of confrontational tendencies in European pol itics and hence to a renewed arms race. Address by Gorbachev to the Council of Europe, July 1989. *The Council of Europe was the leading human rights organisation among European States.

2019 RVHS JC2 Preliminary Examinations Page 4 of 8 9752/01 History Source E We live today in the world that Ronald Reagan began to reshape with his words. It is a very different world with different challenges and new dangers. All in all, however, it is one of greater freedom and prosperity, one more hopeful than the world he inhe rited on becoming president. When his allies came under Soviet or domestic pressure, they could look confidently to Washington for firm leadership. Yes, he warned that the Soviet Union had an insatiable drive for military power and territorial expansion; b ut he also sensed it was being eaten away by systemic failures impossible to reform. Yes, he did not shrink from denouncing Moscow's 'evil empire.' The president resisted Soviet expansion and pressed down on Soviet weakness at every point until the day came when communism began to collapse beneath the combined weight of these pressures and its own failures. But when a man of goodwill did emerge from the ruins, President Reagan stepped forward to shake his hand and to offer sincere cooperation. Extracted from former British Prime Minister, Margaret Thatcher’s speech, at Reagan’s funeral 11 June 2004. Source F A British cartoonist’s view of Reagan’s first visit to Moscow, published on 31 May 1988. Star Wars Human Rights Arms control

2019 RVHS JC2 Preliminary Examinations Page 5 of 8 9752/01 History Now answer the following questions: (a) Compare and contrast the evidence provided in Sources A and B on the Soviet Union’s response to the Strategic Defence Initiative (SDI). [10] (b) To what extent do Sources A to F support the claim that Ronald Reagan had played