AQA A-LEVEL HISTORY 7042/2R ||Component 2R The Cold War, c1945–1991||questions & marking scheme merged|| GRADED A+||

ection A Answer Question 01. Source A From a speech given to the United Nations Security Council, by the US Ambassador to the United Nations, Adlai Stevenson, 23 October 1962. I have asked for an emergency meeting of the Security Council to bring to your attention a grave threat to the peace of the world. Last night, the US President reported alarming military developments in Cuba. In view of the transformation of Cuba into a base for offensive weapons of sudden mass destruction, he announced a strict quarantine on all offensive military weapons under shipment to Cuba. He did so because the importation of the Cold War into the heart of the Americas constitutes a threat to the peace of this hemisphere and the peace of the world. The crucial fact is that Cuba has given the Soviet Union a foothold and staging area in this hemisphere; that it has invited an anti-democratic and expansionist power into the heart of the American family; that it is an accomplice in the communist enterprise of world dominion. Since the end of the Second World War, there has been no threat to the vision of peace so profound. 5 10 Source B From a confidential message sent by telegram to Nikita Khrushchev by Fidel Castro, 26 October 1962. I consider that aggression is imminent within the next 72 hours. You can rest assured that we will firmly resist attack. The morale of the Cuban people is extremely high and the aggressor will be confronted heroically. If the imperialists invade Cuba with the goal of occupying it, this aggressive policy poses grave danger for humanity and so the Soviet Union must never permit circumstances in which the imperialists launch the first nuclear strike. I believe that the imperialists’ aggressiveness is extremely dangerous. If they actually carry out the brutal act of invading Cuba in violation of international law and morality, that would be the moment to eliminate such danger forever through an act of clear legitimate defense, however harsh and terrible the solution would be, for there is no other. The imperialists, disregarding world public opinion and ignoring principles and the law, are blockading the seas, violating our airspace and preparing an invasion, while frustrating every possibility for talks. 5 10 3 IB/M/Jun23/7042/2R Turn over ► Source C From a letter sent privately to Nikita Khrushchev by President Kennedy, 6 November 1962. Recent events have given a profound shock to relations between our two countries. It may be said that the Soviet Union was under no obligation to inform us of any activities it was carrying on in a third country – I cannot accept this view. Not only did this action threaten the safety of this hemisphere, but it was a dangerous attempt to change the worldwide status quo. Secret action of this kind seems to me both hazardous and unjustified. Your government repeatedly gave us assurances of what it was not doing which proved inaccurate and in the aftermath of this shock, to which we replied with a measured but necessary response, I believe it is vital that we should re-establish some degree of confidence in communication between the two of us. If the leaders of the two great nuclear powers cannot judge with some accuracy the intentions of each other, we shall find ourselves in gravely increasing danger – not only for our two countries but for the whole world. 5 10 0 1 With reference to these sources and your understanding of the historical context, assess the value of these three sources to an historian studying t