The U.S. struggles against the Communist in Vietnam

1. Now think about the overall picture - how the strengths and weaknesses work together.

a) Were the armies finely balanced or was the balance strongly weighted to one side or the other?

From the reading I have found that they were equally balanced because the Communists knew the technic of Guerrilla Warfare and though many were killed while being a part of the Viet Cong they still had the upper hand and were able to kill many U.S. troops. However America had bombs that they could drop and knew the method of search and destroy.

b) Which quality was most important in determining who won the war? Was one feature so important that being ahead in that area meant that other advantages or disadvantages did not matter?

I believe that propaganda was the most important in determining who won the war because if it had not been for American and British propaganda then American troops might have not gotten in as much if any trouble for killing all the innocent civilians.

2. Now write up your answer. Use this structure:
a. The U.S. weaknesses were:
they couldn't tell the differences between the civilians and the Viet Cong thus killing innocent people.
b. At the same time, the Communist strengths were:
that they used Guerrilla tactics which helped them because they never gave up even if a bunch of men died and wouldn't retreat unless attacked.
c. The U.S. forces did have some successes. For example:
with bombs they could disrupt the North Vietnam's supply routes. Also they used chemical bombs which was to much the same affect as the regular bombs.
d. However, there were some major failures as well. Examples of these were:
the My Lai massacre of an innocent town where mostly women, children and the elderly were killed which was a very large mistake for the Americans.
e. The Viet Cong had some major successes, such as:
using the Guerrilla tactics because they helped the Viet Cong with all of their battles.
f. However, they also suffered defeats, for example:
the Tet Offensive because the Communists wanted the people of South Vietnam would rise up and join them but they didn't do that at all and the Viet Cong lost 10,000 fighers and was badly weakened.
g. If I had to identify one major American weakness, it would be lack of better military tactics because:
if they had better tactics such as the Guerrilla tactics and could not be so obvious that they are American troops and used the element of surprise.
h. The key Viet Cong strength was the Guerrilla tactics because:
they used them as an element of surprise and they could blend in with civilians which most likely helped many of the Viet Cong survive because they could point their fingers at the civilians.

The U.S. Enters the Vietnam War

1. Many neutral observers in Vietnam were critical of US policy. Explain why.

Because America had helped the crazy leader Diem to set up the Republic of Vietnam which was because he was strictly anti-communist but this ended in deaths because he was also a Christian extremist and was very harsh to Buddhists.

2. Explain how US politicians would have defended their policies.

Because they did all of this to prevent the spread of Communism and the domino affect thus having all of Asia in Communism.

3. The following events are not listed in correct date order. Place them in the correct chronological order. (Write the year inside the parenthesis, i.e. (1965). Then note the reason for each U.S. action, and how it brought the U.S. into deeper involvement in Vietnam.
The reasons you can choose from are: No direct involvement; financial support; political involvement; military involvement. Also, note what events triggered the increased involvement.

( 8 ) Assassination of JFK - Johnson becomes president
( 3 ) Formation of South Vietnam
( 9 ) Gulf of Tonkin Incident
( 7 ) Number of 'advisers' reaches over 11,500
( 6 ) JFK sends military advisers
( 10 ) U.S. Marines land at Da Nang
( 1 ) U.S. stops elections in Vietnam
( 5 ) U.S. supports South Vietnam government after army overthrow Diem
( 4 ) Viet Cong attacks on U.S. and South Vietnam bases
( 2 ) Viet Cong formed

4. Choose two events that you think were critical in getting the U.S. involved in a war in Vietnam. Explain
your choice.

I believe that JFK's assassination where Johnson came into presidency was a critical event in getting the US involved in the war in Vietnam. This is because I believe if JFK had never been assassinated then Johnson would've never been in power and wouldn't have gotten into the war. Also I believe that the Gulf of Tonkin Incident was a critical even in getting the US involved because had Vietnamese patrol boats not opened fire on the US ships then Johnson would have never had to pass the resolution to allow his to lead America into a full scale war.

The Cuban Missile Crisis

1. Kennedy described Wednesday, Oct. 24 and Saturday, Oct. 27 as the darkest days of the crisis. Use the information on page 350 to explain why.

This could be because these were the two days that the most amount of danger was shown to Kennedy.

2. Do you think that nuclear war was ever a possibility in this crisis?

It could have been a possibility because they each had missiles however we don't know whether they would have used them on each other.

3. Is Source 26 a Soviet or an American cartoon? Explain your answer by referring to the details in the cartoon.

I believe that source 26 is an American cartoon because the Khrushchev is the one sweating and Kennedy is the one with the button that he is able to press at anytime.

4. Using Source 27 list any evidence you can find for and against each of the explanations.

Why did the Soviet Union place nuclear missiles on Cuba?
To bargain with the USA- Khrushchev wanted the missiles as a bargaining counter. If he had missiles on Cuba, he could agree to remove them in return for some American concessions.

To test the USA- In the strained atmosphere of Cold War politics the missiles/were designed to see how strong the Americans really were - whether they would back off or face up. The Soviet Union wanted to test out Kennedy.

To trap the USA- The missiles were a trap. Khrushchev wanted the Americans to find them and be drawn into a nuclear war. He did not even try to hide them.

To get the upper hand in the arms race- Khrushchev was so concerned about the missile gap between the USSR and the USA that he would seize any opportunity he could to close it. With missiles on Cuba it was less likely that the USA would ever launch a 'first strike' against the USSR.

To defend Cuba- The missiles were genuinely meant to defend Cuba.

5. Choose the explanation(s) that you think best fit what you have found out about the crisis. Explain your choice.

I believe that they are all true except they are just using the betterment of Cuba and their protection as a way to make it seem better. I believe that Khrushchev
was trying to test the USA to see if they would use them and if Kennedy would be willing to risk that. Also I believe that Khrushchev had planted nuclear missiles on Cuba to trap the USA and that is why he didn't hide them. Another reason I believe Khrushchev put nuclear missiles on Cuba was to get an upper hand on America and use it as bargaining because if they could have the upper hand on America like having missiles closer they could bargain with America and ask for them to not have missiles in Turkey if they weren't going to have them in Cuba.

The U.S. Attempts to Contain Cuba

1. Why was Cuba so important to the United States?

Because America had owned most of its businesses on the island and they had a huge naval base there.

2. Why do you think the Americans chose to equip Cuban exiles rather than invading themselves?

Because teh US was no longer prepared to tolerate a Soviet satellite in the heart of its own 'sphere of influence'.

3. Why did the invasion fail?

Because Castro captured or killed all of the American troops within days when JFK was no willing to send many troops over.

4. Compare Source 17 on page 345 (in the Arms Race.pdf reading) with Source 24 on page 348. Describe how the Soviet Union missiles on Cuba changed the Cold War balance of power.

The balance of power during the Cold War was very much swayed judging by the two sources because in Source 17 we can see and read about how it took the long range missiles about half an hour to get to the USSR from America and it took only about a few mins with the shorter range missiles. This shows how it was changed because since the USSR had control over the missiles in Cuba they could set them to go off very quickly and they could have the upper hand since it would only take about a few minutes for the missiles to reach America. However it would still take America about a half an hour to get their missiles into the USSR.