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Section A Source-Based Case Study

Question 1 is compulsory for all candidates.

Study the sources carefully and then answer all the questions.

You may use any of the sources to help you answer the questions, in addition to those
sources you were told to use. In answering the questions, you should use your
knowledge of the topic to help you interpret and evaluate the sources.

1 (a) Study Source A.

What can the source tell us about the situation in America during the
Cuban Missile Crisis? Explain your answer. [5]

(b) Study Sources B and C.

How similar are the sources in explaining the causes of the Cuban
Missile Crisis? Explain your answer. [6]

(c) Study Sources D and E.

How far do these sources prove that Khrushchev was a hasty and
reckless leader? Explain your answer. [7]

(d) Use all the sources.

How far do all the sources support that the Cuban Missile Crisis was
a result of the Soviet Union’s actions? Explain your answer. [7]
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What led to the Cuban Missile Crisis?

Source A: A newspaper picture of a protest in America during October 1962.

Source B: Part of a letter from Khrushchev to Kennedy during the Cuban Missile
Crisis October 1962

You want to force us to give up the rights enjoyed by every independent state; you are
attempting to go against international law. All this is due not only to hatred for the
Cuban people and their government, but also for reasons such as to boost your own
popularity in the USA. What morals, what laws can justify such an approach by the
American government to international affairs? The actions of the USA in relation to
Cuba are outright piracy and are madness.

Source C: A historian’s comments on the causes of the Cuban Missile Crisis

It is still uncertain why the Soviet Chairman Nikita Khrushchev and Cuban leader Fidel
Castro decided to install missiles in Cuba. Some have guessed that the Communist
leaders saw the missiles as a way to defend Cuba from another U.S. invasion. Others
believed that Khrushchev saw the missiles as a way to change the balance of power in
the Cold War by creating the impression that the United States lacked the
determination to confront Communism. It also seems possible that the Soviet leader
saw the missiles as diplomatic methods that he could use to make the United States
give in on other sensitive Cold War issues.

Source D: Part of a letter from Kennedy to Khrushchev during the Cuban Missile
Crisis October 1962

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The sequence of events is clear. In August, there were reports of important shipments
of military equipment and technicians from the Soviet Union to Cuba. In early
September, I stated very plainly that the United States would regard any shipment
of offensive weapons as a very serious threat. After that time, this Government
received guarantees from your Government, both publicly and privately, that no
offensive weapons were being sent to Cuba.

And then I learned that all these public guarantees were false and that your military
people had established missile bases in Cuba. I ask you to recognise clearly, Mr.
Chairman [Khruschev], that it was not I who issued the first challenge in this case.

Source E: Fidel Castro in a TV interview on the Cuban Missile Crisis in 2002

Cuban President Fidel Castro said that Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev helped
create the conflict by misleading President Kennedy. Khruschev stated that there were
no nuclear weapons on the communist island then.

"Kennedy believed what Khrushchev told him," Castro said during the interview,
conducted this week in Havana*. "Therefore, Kennedy was deceived. That was a very
big mistake on the part of Khrushchev ... one that we opposed strongly."

* Havana is the capital of Cuba

Section B (Structured-Essay Question)

Answer any one question.

2 This question is about Communist USSR

(a) Was the disunity of his rivals the main reason why Stalin rose to power
in the USSR? Explain your answer. [12]

(b) ‘Most people suffered in the USSR from Stalin’s rule’. How far do you
agree with this statement? Explain your answer. [13]

3 This question is about the rise of Hitler

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(a) Was the use of violence the reason why the Nazis were able to stay in
power after 1933? Explain your answer. [12]

(b) “The German people benefited under Hitler’s rule.” Do you agree with
this statement? Explain your answer. [13]

4 This question is about the War in the Pacific

(a) Was the Great Depression the main reason why the fascist military [12]
gained total control over Japan in the 1930s? Explain your answer.

(b) ‘Japan prospered under military rule in the 1930s.’ How far do you
agree with the statement? Explain your answer. [13]

-- End of Paper --

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