History (S4-5) Theme B: Conflicts and Cooperation in the Twentieth-Century World Sub-theme d: Major conflicts and the quest for peace
Content focus 2: Major conflicts after WWII and attempts to make peace – détente between the US and USSR
Q.1
Study Sources A, B and C carefully.
Source A
The following cartoon reflects the Domino Theory proposed in 1954 by the Dwight Eisenhower, President of the United States.
Source B
The following table shows the size of the American military force sent to the Vietnam War (1965-197) and the number of casualties.
Year Number of military Number of killed Number of personnel wounded 1965 184,300 1,369 6,114 1966 385,300 5,008 30,093 1967 485,600 9,378 62,025 1968 536,100 14,592 92,820 1969 475,200 9,414 70,216 1970 334,600 4,221 30,643 1971 156,800 1,380 8,936
1 History (S4-5) Theme B: Conflicts and Cooperation in the Twentieth-Century World Sub-theme d: Major conflicts and the quest for peace
Source C
The following extract is about the American foreign policy in 1969.
In July 1969 the President of the United States, Nixon, gave a press conference. He stated that the United States henceforth expected its Asian allies to take care of their own military defense. This was called the Nixon Doctrine. In 1973 the President announced the withdrawal of American military force from Vietnam.
a. With reference to Source A, elaborate the “Domino Theory”. b. How US President Eisenhower would have convinced the Americans to participate in the Vietnam War by the Domino Theory? Explain your answer with reference to Source A and using your own knowledge. c. Does the post-Cold War development in Asia fit the Domino Theory? Explain your answer with specific examples from your own knowledge. d. Why did the United States withdraw from the Vietnam War? Explain your answer with reference to Sources B and C. e. What was the impact of the American withdrawal from the Vietnam War on Asia? Explain your answer with reference to Source C and using your own knowledge.
2 History (S4-5) Theme B: Conflicts and Cooperation in the Twentieth-Century World Sub-theme d: Major conflicts and the quest for peace
Q.2
Study Sources A and B carefully.
Source A
The following extract is cited from an article, which is on détente of the Cold War, written by Georgi Arbatov, Director of the USA and Canada Institute in Moscow in the 1970s and 1980s.
Détente is not a continuation of Cold War by other, more cautious and safer, means. It is a policy that, by its nature and objectives, is opposed to Cold War, and is aimed not at gaining victory in conflicts by means short by nuclear war, but at the settlement and prevention of conflicts, at lowering the level of military confrontation, and at the development of international cooperation.
Source B
The following extract is an article on the détente of the Cold War.
Détente is a French word that means a ‘relaxation of tensions’. The superpower rivalry between the US and the USSR during the Cold War experienced these reduced tensions during the 1970s… In my opinion, détente succeeded partially. It succeeded in changing the rules of the game of superpower competition: the Chinese were in, the Soviets could be negotiated with directly and there was more freedom for the US’s NATO and other allies to develop their own independent relations with Communist states.
a. Elaborate “détente of the Cold War” with reference to Sources A and B. b. What were the views of the authors of Sources A and B towards the effectiveness of détente of the Cold War? Explain your answer with reference to clues from the Sources. c. Do you agree with the views you put forward in (b)? Explain your answer with specific examples from your own knowledge.
3 History (S4-5) Theme B: Conflicts and Cooperation in the Twentieth-Century World Sub-theme d: Major conflicts and the quest for peace
Q.3
Study Sources A, B, C and D carefully.
Source A
The following picture shows an historic meeting of leaders of two countries in 1972.
Reference for teachers (Source A) Mao Zedong (left), Communist Chinese leader, shook hand with Richard Nixon ,
President of the United States, when the latter paid a visit to China in 1972
Source B
The following picture shows an historic meeting of leaders of two countries in 1973.
4 History (S4-5) Theme B: Conflicts and Cooperation in the Twentieth-Century World Sub-theme d: Major conflicts and the quest for peace
Source C
The following extract is cited from a description about America’s foreign policy during the Nixon administration, written by Henry Kissinger, who was responsible for the American diplomacy in the later stage of the Cold War.
Free our foreign policy from oscillation between over extension and isolation and to ground it in a firm conception of the national interest.
Source D
The following picture reflects the US-USSR relationship in the 1970s.
Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty
Strategic Arms Limitations Talks
5 History (S4-5) Theme B: Conflicts and Cooperation in the Twentieth-Century World Sub-theme d: Major conflicts and the quest for peace
a. With reference to Source A, identify the countries that the two men represent. Explain your answer with reference to clues from the Source. b. Identify the countries that the two men in chair in Source B represent. Explain your answer with reference to clues from the Source. c. What are the usefulness and limitations of Sources A and B in helping you to understand the relationships among the countries you identified in (a) and (b)? Explain your answer with reference to Sources A and B and using your own knowledge. d. Characterize the foreign policy of the Nixon’s administration, as reflected in Sources A, B, C and D. Elaborate your answer with clues from the Sources. e. How did the characters of Nixon’s foreign policy you pointed out in (d) affect the development of Cold War? Explain your answer with concrete historical facts.
6 History (S4-5) Theme B: Conflicts and Cooperation in the Twentieth-Century World Sub-theme d: Major conflicts and the quest for peace
Q.4
Study Source A carefully.
Source A
The following cartoon, published in the late 1980s, reflects the result of US-USSR détente.
a. What was the change of the global order before and after the Cold War, as viewed by the cartoonist? Explain your answer with reference to clues from Source A. b. Do you agree to his view? Explain your answer with specific examples in historical development up to 2000.
7 History (S4-5) Theme B: Conflicts and Cooperation in the Twentieth-Century World Sub-theme d: Major conflicts and the quest for peace
Provenance of sources
Q.1 Source B: Simon Trew & Gary Sheffield, 100 Years of Conflict 1900-2000 (Stroud: Sutton Publishing, 2000), p.271.
Source C: Richard M. Nixon, “Address to the Nation on the war in Vietnam,” 3 November 1969, (online), http://www.uiowa.edu/~c030162/Common/Handouts/POTUS/Nixon.html [accessed 19 March 2004].
Q.2 Source A: Richard Crockatt, The Fifty Years War: the United States and the Soviet Union in World Politics, 1941-1991 (London; New York: Routledge, 1995), p.203.
Source B: David Penna, “Détente,” (online), http://homepage.gallaudet.edu/David.Penna/DETENTE.htm [accessed 19 March 2004].
Q.3 Source A: The New York State Archives Legacies Projects (online), http://www.archives.nysed.gov/projects/legacies/Syracuse/S_Chinese/histories/Syr_CH_ His3.htm [accessed 19 March 2004].
Source B: Fadedgiant Online Author Autograph Guide – Richard M. Nixon and Leonid Brezhneve meeting during the Soviet Premier’s 1973 visit to the United States (online), http://www.fadedgiant.net/html/richard_m__nixon_and_leonid_br.htm [accessed 19 March 2004].
Source C: Richard Crockatt, The Fifty Years War: the United States and the Soviet Union in World Politics, 1941-1991 (London; New York: Routledge, 1995), p.221.
Q.4 Source A: Bryn O'Callaghan, A History of the Twentieth Century (London: Longman, 1987), p.226.
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