YIJC JC2 History Prelims 2020 H1

©YIJC 2020 [Turn over YISHUN INNOVA JUNIOR COLLEGE JC 2 PRELIMINARY EXAMINATION Higher 1 CANDIDATE NAME CG INDEX NO HISTORY Paper 1: The Cold war and the Modern World (1945-2000) Additional Materials: Writing paper & cover sheet 8821/01 26 August 2020 3 hours READ THESE INSTRUCTIONS FIRST Write your name, class, and question number on the cover page and writing paper provided. Write in dark blue or black pen on both sides of the paper. Do not use staples, paper clips, highlighters, glue or correction fluid/tape Section A Answer Question 1. Section B Answer two Questions At the end of the examination, answers for Section A and Section B should be fastened separately. Each section should be fastened with a cover page. The number of marks is given in the brackets [ ] at the end of each question or part question. This document consists of 5 printed pages and 1 blank page.

©YIJC [Turn over 2 Section A You must answer Question 1. THE CUBAN MISSILE CRISIS 1 Read the sources and answer the questions which follow: Source A I understand your concern for the security of the United States, Mr President, but we too are disturbed about these same questions. Our aim has been and is to help Cuba, and no one can dispute the humanity of our motives, which are oriented toward enabling Cuba to live peacefully and develop in the way its people desire. You wish to ensure the security of your country, and this is understandable. Cuba, too, wants the same thing. But how are we, the Soviet Union, to assess your actions which are expressed in the fact that you have surrounded the Soviet Union with military bases; surrounded our allies with military bases; placed military bases literally around our country; and stationed your missile armaments there? Your missiles are located in Britain, are located in Italy, and are aimed against us. Your missiles are located in Turkey. You are disturbed over Cuba because it is 90 miles from the coast of the USA. But Turkey adjoins us. Our sentries patrol back and forth and see each other. Do you consider, then, that you have the right to demand security for your own country and the removal of the weapons you call offensive, but do not accord the same right to us? You have placed destructive missile weapons in Turkey, literally next to us… Excerpts from Khrushchev’s private message to Kennedy, 27 October 1962. Source B The reality is that after the Bay of Pigs invasion, Fidel Castro announced he officially joined the Soviet bloc. With that declaration, the obligation of the Soviets was now to defend all their clients, all their allies because otherwise they would lose face ... and your allies would not trust you. Cuba, after 1961, became for the Soviet Union the same as West Berlin to the United States - a small useless piece of land deep inside hostile territory. But if you don’t defend it, you will not be treated as a superpower. The United States was ready to use nuclear weapons to defend Berlin. The Soviet Union sent missiles to Cuba as a powerful signal to the United States: don’t invade Cuba. From an interview with Sergei Khrushchev, son of Nikita Khrushchev, 24 October 2012.

©YIJC [Turn over 3 Source C Within the past week, unmistakable evidence has established the fact that a series of offensive missile sites are now in preparation on Cuba. The purpose of these bases can be none other than to provide a nuclear strike capability against the Western Hemisphere. Turning Cuba into an important strategic base is an open threat to the peace and security of the Americas. This action contradicts the repe ated promises of Soviet spokesmen that the arms build-up in Cuba would be defensive. Our objective must be to prevent the use of these missiles against this or any other country, and to secure their withdrawal from the Western Hemisphere. Only last Thursday Soviet Foreign Minister Gromyko told me that Soviet assistance to Cuba was, and I quote, ‘only for the purpose of contributing to the defence of Cuba’. Acting in our own defence and of the entire Western world, I have directed that a strict quarantine on all offensive military equipment under shipment to Cuba be started. All ships, if found to contain cargoes of offensive weapons, will be turned back. Our goal is both peace and freedom around the world. From a radio and television address by Kennedy to the American people, 22 October 1962. Source D Most US officials presumed Khrushchev’s decision stemmed from a desire to redress Soviet nuclear inferiority. By establishing Cuba as an unsinkable strategic missile base, Americans guessed, Khrushchev sought to double Soviet capacity to hit targets in the continental United States more cheaply and easily than with ICBMs stationed at home. Yet, while the nuclear balance did indeed vex Khrushchev, attributing it to this alone shortchanges other considerations. For instance, Americans generally derided as propaganda Khrushchev’s claim that he acted to defend Cuba from aggression. But information emerging from US and then Russian sources has gradually led historians to take his assertions more seriously. Be sides its open campaign to isolate Cuba diplomatically, politically and economically following the failed Bay of Pigs invasion, the Kennedy administration sponsored secret actions - covert harassment, assassination plots, military muscle-flexing, that fanned fears of attack both in Havana and in Moscow, even as Washington grossly underestimated Khrushchev’s personal commitment to Castro’s revolution. Safeguarding Cuba was a key Khrushchev aim. Adapted from an academic article about the Cuban Missile Crisis, published in 2010.

©YIJC [Turn over 4 Source E A cartoon published in a British newspaper, The Daily Mail, 29 October 1962. Now answer the following questions: a) Compare and contrast the evidence provided in Sources A and B about the Soviet Union’s motives in Cuba in the early 1960s. [10] b) How far do sources A to E support the assertion that the Cuban Missile Crisis was caused by US aggression? [30]

©YIJC [Turn over 5 Section B You must answer two questions from this section. EITHER 2. "Security concerns were vital in influencing Sino-Soviet relations during the 1950s and 1960s ." How far do you agree with this view? [30] OR 3. “The Soviet Union’s support for North Vietnam prevented US victory in the Second Indochina War.” How far do you agree with this statement? [30] AND 4. To what extent did the Cold War hinder the effectiveness of the United Nations Secretary-Generals from 1945 to 1991? [30] *Due to the removal of t he Common Last Topic (CLT), there will be no question option for Theme 3. - End of Paper -