Paper 1 Section B/D: Conflict and tension in Asia, 1950–1975

June 2021

Q1: Source A supports the Strategic Hamlets programme. How do you know?

Explain your answer using Source A and your contextual knowledge. Study Sources B and C in the Sources Booklet.

Answer:

features of the source. For example, the programme was introduced in 1962 by Diem’s government to stop the Vietcong gaining support from peasants in villages. The leaflet shows that the Americans tried to win the ‘hearts and minds’ of South Vietnamese people by offering them protection. For example, the Americans helped to build the new hamlets; the leaflet shows that the hamlet is guarded and safe.

Q2: How useful are Sources B and C to an historian studying the widening of the

Vietnam War into Cambodia and Laos? Explain your answer using Sources B and C and your contextual knowledge.

Answer:

In analysing and evaluating sources, students will draw on their contextual example, the context of the time in which source was created, place, author’s evaluate the relationship between the sources based on analysis of For example, the sources show how opinions within the US army changed over time. The contemporary Source C is mocking the army for ignoring the rising death toll and still believing in 1972 that it was possible to defeat communism. Whereas the admission in Source B is that, with hindsight, the Vietcong tactics were impossible to defeat regardless of America’s military strength. For example, Source B is useful because it is an admission by an American veteran that the widening of the war against Cambodia and Laos was ineffective. The Ho Chi Minh Trail ran from North Vietnam through Cambodia and Laos covering thousands of miles. It was not a single track and so despite being bombed in many places, porters could always find an alternative route to get supplies to the Vietcong. Source C is useful to show that by 1972 public opinion no longer accepted Domino Theory as sufficient justification for the attack on Cambodia and Laos. The war had been widened to destroy Vietcong bases in the countries that neighboured Vietnam but when an invasion of Cambodia was launched there was a lot of protest. For example, Source B is useful because it explains why the war was widened. The Americans tried to cut off supplies to the Vietcong by destroying the Ho Chi Minh Trail in Laos. Source C is useful because it is a critical opinion of widening the war. The message of the cartoon is that the Domino Theory has cost a lot of lives. to the enquiry point, for example, Source B says the attacks on Laos were kept secret. Source C shows that the war widened into other countries because of the Domino Theory.

Q3: Write an account of how the media and TV influenced American opinions about the

Vietnam War.

Answer:

with complex sequencing and reasoning supported by a range of accurate and example, to an analysis of how/why tension increased at different stages and /or showing understanding about how much each part of the sequence increased tension and led to a crisis. For example, analysis of different consequences of free press. Media and TV influenced opinion in different ways. Not only did they show the reality of conflict but they also revealed the army’s attempts to distort reality. This served to undermine public trust in the Government and support for the war effort was diminished. The truth of the events that took place in My Lai in 1968 was revealed by a journalist 18 months after it occurred. Public opinion was not only influenced by events of the massacre but also the dishonesty of the army who had claimed the operation was a success. developed sequencing and reasoning supported by a range of accurate factual analysis of how/why tension increased at one stage in the process. For example, journalists had a significant influence over public opinion; when the reporter Walter Cronkite declared that the war was unwinnable after he witnessed the events of the Tet Offensive, President Johnson admitted that this would reduce support for the war across the whole country. For example, most American homes had a television by the 1960s and there were hundreds of journalists reporting from Vietnam. New technology enabled journalists to capture and transmit uncensored footage of the war zone. saw shocking images of warfare on their home televisions every day. should demonstrate their ability to construct and develop a sustained line of reasoning which is coherent, relevant, substantiated and logically structured.

Q4: ‘American actions were the main reason for the development of the Korean War.’

How far do you agree with this statement? Explain your answer. [SPaG 4 marks]

Answer:

explanation of the relationship between causes supported by detailed factual For example, the war developed because of the wider context of the Cold War between the USA and the USSR; neither side was willing to see their rival gain any more global influence via Korea. Both superpowers used it as a proxy war to spread the influence of their respective ideologies. By fighting in Korea, it allowed the USSR to try and make another country become communist which prompted America to fight back and enact its policy of containment. For example, the war developed in 1951 because the Americans decided to use their air power to achieve a decisive blow and break the stalemate around the 38th parallel. US planes bombed North Korea with explosives and napalm resulting in a huge death toll. For example, another important factor that caused the war to develop was the hidden support given by Stalin to the Communist forces of China and North Korea. Stalin saw an opportunity to fight a ‘proxy war’ against the USA. The USSR supplied equipment to the North Koreans and China rather than engage in direct fighting against American forces. For example, China warned General MacArthur not to advance beyond the 38th parallel and sent troops to fight when the warning was ignored. sent an invasion force to help South Korea. joined the war and sent troops to fight in Korea. • The learner’s achievement in SPaG does not reach the threshold