History SBA 01 Lwandile Vilakazi

Question 1

1.1

1.1.1 Britain and The United States

1.1.2 Berlin was split, with the British, French and American zones forming west Berlin and the Soviet Union occupied East Berlin.

1.1.3 the biggest difference was the west was capitalist and democratic while the east was communist. The USSR believed that the US having a desire to build a global economic empire, with the US at the centre was the major cause of tension. The US believed the USSR under the rule of Stalin,was intent on spreading its communist ideology across Europe and beyond.

1.1.4 “Then ,1952 ,the government of East Germany closed their borders with west Germany.”

1.2

1.2.1 West

1.2.2 By the currency reform ,the plan for supervising the Rhur and the extension of German self-government to bring Western Germany back into the European democratic community.

1.2.3 According to the speaker,the Russians hope for the communist domination of Europe.

1.2.4 The source is not entirely reliable because the speaker is obviously in support of the West( they refer to the west as “us”) which means they might be biased. Also the speaker uses exaggerated language like “Russian mulch-cow”.

1.3

1.3.1 The source describes the US ,Great Britain and France’s respective sectors of the city of Berlin as lying entirely in Russian-occupied East Germany .

1.3.2 The source says Russia was alarmed by the new US policy of giving economic aid to Germany and other struggling European nations,as well as efforts by the Western allies to introduce a single currency to the zones they occupied in Germany and Berlin.

1.3.3 According to the source suddenly,some 2.5 million civilians had no access to food ,medicine ,fuel ,electricity and other basic goods

1.3.4 The western powers began an airlift that lasted nearly a year and delivered vital supplies and relief to west Berlin.

1.4

1.4.1 “During the entire airlift,the U.S. and U.K. delivered more than 2.3 million tons of food ,fuel and supplies to West Berlin more than 278 000 airdrops . American aircrews made more than 189 000 flights ,totalling nearly 600 000 flying hours and exceeding 92 million miles.

1.4.2 The four positive traits of the US ,according to the source, were their innovative spirit,efficiency,perseverance and leadership.

1.4.3 The North Atlantic Treaty organisation had been established,in part this was a response to aggression from the Soviet Union. And a few weeks after that East and West Berlin separated officially ,both of them became symbols of their political views . Communism represented by the East and democracy and freedom represented by the West.

1.4.4 The source is very useful as it gives explicit details on the airlift the West used to survive after the Berlin Blockade . It also gives information about how it ended and what happened afterwards. It can also be cottonseed with other sources of information.

1.5The East and the West were already divided by their different ideologies. Communism in the USSR and capitalism in the U.S. were some of the main reasons that eventually led to the Cold War. Following World War II, a crucial incident that worsened the separation between East and West Europe was the Berlin blockade. The Soviet Union was alarmed by the new U.S. policy of providing economic aid to Germany and other struggling European nations, as well as by efforts by the Western Allies to introduce a single currency to the zones they occupied in Germany and Berlin. The Soviet Union implemented a blockade on all rail, road, and canal access to the western zones of Berlin in response to Western efforts to unify Germany. In addition to being a strategic achievement, the airlift that the Western allies carried out later to resupply the deprived city was also an expression of resistance against Soviet aggression. The blockade was an important turning point that aided in the construction of concrete barriers like the Berlin Wall and the establishment of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation. This incident represented a pivotal point in history that influenced European geography after World War II.

Section B : The United States of Vietnam

The United States' involvement in the Vietnam War between was complicated and ultimately a series of bad decisions that ended many lives. Understanding why the U.S. became involved in this conflict, how the war was fought, and its outcome sheds light on significant historic global events. During this time frame, the U.S. increased its military presence in Vietnam due to Cold War tensions and the domino theory,the American fear that if one Asian country fell to communism, the others would soon follow. The U.S. would then have to ensure, through military involvement, that communism from north Vietnam(ruled by Ho Chi Minh) would not spread to South Vietnam.

At the time,South Vietnam was ruled by Ngo Dinh Diem. However, he ruled in a very poor way and this led to the formation of the National liberation front(NLF). They demanded reforms as well as wanting a united Vietnam with the north and the south as one and more importantly under communism. The NLF began a guerrilla campaign which led the country to civil war. The guerrilla forces trained by the NLF were called the Viet Cong. The Viet cong were supported by Communist China and the Soviet Union ,they were also favored by the people of Southern Vietnam because they treated them well and provided the necessary infrastructure. They also received their weapons,food and supplies as well as reinforcement troops from North Vietnam via the Ho Chi Minh Trail ,which changed a few times as the Americans discovered its exact location. In 1963 a military coup in South Vietnam overthrew and executed Ngo Ding Diem. A few weeks later, American President Kennedy of was assassinated in November 1963, in an event that had nothing to do with the war, and was succeeded by his vice-president, Lyndon B. Johnson. Johnson was one of the main reasons why American involvement in Vietnam grew rapidly. America just needed a justified reason to take on the North Vietnamese and the Vietcong. In 1964 the Gulf of Tonkin incident happened. When an American ship in North Vietnamese waters was torpedoed by a North Vietnamese torpedo boat,this gave Johnson the reason he needed to justify to the US Congress the need to increase American involvement in Vietnam. Even though there were no American casualties and only 4 Vietnamese casualties. In the space of three years there were 540 000 American soldiers in Vietnam. They did this through drafting thousands of young men to join the war(in a process that was also extremely unfair and resulted in jail time if opposed).

The war was characterized by guerrilla warfare tactics employed by the Viet Cong and North Vietnamese. One of the most memorable attacks was in 1968 ,when the Viet Cong and the North Vietnamese Army launched widespread attacks on about 100 cities and towns, and on hundreds of villages throughout South Vietnam forces against U.S. military strategies. The U.S. strategies included heavy bombing ,ground combat operations, and controversial tactics such as Operation Rolling Thunder, Agent Orange, using Nepalm , and search-and-destroy missions to combat Viet Cong insurgents and the North Vietnamese forces. There would be constant non-stop aerial bombing by the US over Vietnam destroying thousands of hectares of land and injuring and killing hundreds of thousands of people. More bombs were dropped on North Vietnam than all bombs dropped by both sides in World War 2. A crucial point in the war was the My Lai massacre ,orchestrated by the U.S. Media recorded the massacre of villagers in My Lai :109 civilians were massacred in 1968 and their bodies were left dead in the streets. U.S soldiers also raped a lot of women before killing them .This massacre turned out to be a futile attempt by the Americans to destroy what they thought was a Viet Cong base in the My Lai village,unfortunately they were misinformed . It became more and more publicised the wickedness of the US not the communists.

Despite extensive military efforts and significant resources invested by the United States, the outcome of the Vietnam War was ultimately unfavourable. In January of 1973 they agreed to a ceasefire and the Americans troops made their way home. This was the end of US involvement in the war but not the end of the war itself. The war ended with the fall of Saigon in 1975, leading to the reunification of North and South Vietnam under communist rule. Marking a significant defeat for U.S. foreign policy objectives in Southeast Asia. The war had far-reaching consequences for both countries involved, leading to widespread devastation and loss of life.