AQA A-LEVEL HISTORY 7042/1L Component 1L The quest for political stability: Germany, 1871–1991

Section A Answer Question 01. Extract A From 1954, there were times when Eisenhower seemed tempted to involve American military forces in Vietnam, but he took steps to avoid escalating conflict. With no clear policy, the United States increasingly relied on Diem to govern South Vietnam and poured economic and military aid into the South in the hope of making him a viable leader. Eisenhower’s policy decisions were continued by future presidents as a commitment to the protection of South Vietnam from Communism. The situation in Vietnam began to deteriorate by 1963 but Kennedy had no well-considered long-range plans and gave the situation in Vietnam little attention. Johnson followed the paths of Eisenhower and Kennedy and spoke of his desire for peace. Throughout his administration, he took great care not to provoke the Soviet Union. It was Nixon who escalated and prolonged the war and failed to save South Vietnam. Nixon thought that he could scare the enemy into peace negotiations and he stepped up military pressure by bombing heavily and greatly expanding South Vietnamese forces. Adapted from J Patterson, Grand Expectations: The United States, 1945–1974, 1996 5 10 Extract B By 1956 the United States had undermined the Geneva Agreements. All of the subsequent developments during the Diem era arose from the failure of America to uphold those Agreements. The Kennedy administration escalated the conflict with increased military aid, and helicopter units began attacking unarmed villages. Kennedy’s views reflected Eisenhower’s, which were used to convince the public that the United States had to stay on course in Vietnam. The massive and sustained bombing of North Vietnam during Johnson’s presidency was one of the key elements of Vietnam policy. The election of Richard Nixon brought no basic change to policy in Vietnam. He attempted to find a way to allow the United States to survive a long war without losing its Asian empire. The American war in Vietnam was an example of imperial aggression, built upon the need to extend and maintain its control in Asia. However, by 1972 the United States was forced to negotiate an agreement to end the war. Adapted from J Marciano, The American War in Vietnam, 2016 5 10 3 IB/M/Jun23/7042/1K Turn over ► Extract C Concern over Vietnam stemmed from the larger fear of the People’s Republic of China, as the United States and China came close to war a number of times in the 1950s. Eisenhower inherited the war in French Indochina and passed it on to his successors. Policymakers were worried that if the Communist Vietminh guerrillas won in Vietnam, first all Southeast Asia, then resource-starved Japan, would fall like dominoes. After this, the Pacific Ocean would become a Communist lake. However, presidents like Johnson wanted to break the will of the North Vietnamese without provoking a military response from China. To minimise the risk, the army avoided bombing close to China’s borders and, for the same reason, Johnson denied repeated requests from the military to invade North Vietnam with ground troops. Nixon, offered no specific way to end the war but felt that détente with China would force Hanoi to offer concessions. Adapted from Schaller, Scharff and Schulzinger, The United States since 1945, 1996 5 10 0 1 Using your understanding of the historical context, assess how convincing the arguments in these three extracts are in relation to American policies in Vietnam