Cuba and Vietnam

CUBA and VIETNAM
Q1.Study the extract, and then answer the questions which follow.
We fight this war because we must fight if we are to live in a world where every
country can decide its own future. And only in such a world will a future be safe. We
are in Vietnam because we have a promise to keep. Since 1945 every American
president has offered support to the people of South Vietnam. Over many years we
have made a national pledge to help South Vietnam defend its independence.
US President Johnson speaking in 1963.

(a) What did the Geneva Agreements of 1954 decide about the future of Vietnam? [5]
(b) Why did Johnson increase American involvement in Vietnam? [7]
(c) How successful was American foreign policy towards Cuba and Vietnam? Explain your
answer. [8] (June’08)

Q2. Study the extract, and then answer the questions which follow.
You are worried over Cuba. You say that it worries you because it lies ninety miles
across the sea from the shores of the United States. However, Turkey lies next to us.
You have stationed devastating rocket weapons in Turkey, literally right next to us.
This is why I make this proposal: We agree to remove the weapons from Cuba and
that the United States, on its part, will remove its similar weapons from Turkey.
From Khrushchev’s letter of 27 October 1962.

(a) Describe the response of the USA to Castro’s takeover of Cuba. [5]
(b) Why was the Bay of Pigs invasion a failure for the USA? [7]
(c) ‘The Cuban Missile Crisis was never a threat to world peace.’ How far do you agree with this
statement? Explain your answer. [8] (Jun’07)

Q3. Study the extract, and then answer the questions which follow.
We must fight this war if we are to live in a world where every country can shape its own future.We are in Vietnam because we have a promise to keep. Over the years we have made a national pledge to help South Vietnam defend its independence.
President Johnson speaking to the American people in 1965.
(a) Who were the Vietcong? [5]
(b) Why did the USA get involved in the war in Vietnam? [7]
(c) How far can the American withdrawal from Vietnam be blamed on military failure? Explain
your answer. [8] (Nov’05)

Q.4. Study the extract, and then answer the questions which follow.
It was a beautiful autumn evening, the height of the crisis, and I went out into the open air to smell it,because I thought it was the last Saturday I would ever see.

A close adviser of President Kennedy talking about the evening of 27 October 1962.
(a) Describe relations between Cuba and the USA in the period 1959–1961. [5]
(b) Why was the USA concerned about Soviet missiles in Cuba? [7]
(c) Khrushchev claimed that the Cuban Missile Crisis was a victory for the Soviet Union. Do you
agree with this view? Explain your answer. [8] (Nov ’04)