JC History Tuition Bishan Bedok Tampines Singapore - What is the Cuban Missile Crisis - JC History SBQ Skills

What caused the Cuban Missile Crisis?

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What is the Cuban Missile Crisis? Following the stalemate in Europe, the two superpowers shifted their gaze towards Asia and other parts of the world. This development led to the spread of Cold War influences to other conflicts and wars, like the Korean War (1950-53), the Cuban Missile Crisis (1962) and the Vietnam War (1955-75).

The Cuban Missile Crisis refers to a military and political confrontation between USA and USSR due to the Soviet deployment of ballistic missiles on Cuba, which is 90 miles (140 km) from Florida, USA. To understand the Cuban Missile Crisis, it is important to examine the key incidents and factors that contributed to the historical developments, which will be covered in the following sections.

Topic of Study [For H2 and H1 History Students]:  Paper 1: Understanding the Cold War (1945-1991) Section A: Source-based Case Study Theme I Chapter 2: A World Divided by the Cold War – Manifestations of the global Cold War: Cuban Missile Crisis (1962) 

1. Economic Aggression  Before USSR was involved in the shipment of nuclear-armed missiles on Cuba, there was strained diplomatic relations between USA and Cuba. This was attributed to the antagonistic actions of the communist revolutionary, Fidel Castro, who overthrew the former Cuban President, Fulgencio Batista and led the Cuban Revolution. As Cuba’s Prime Minister, Castro nationalized American assets on Cuba, particularly the sugar mills. Consequently, his struggle for economic control in Cuba prompted USA to retaliate with an economic embargo.

Following USA’s response to sever diplomatic ties with Cuba, Castro turned to USSR, which offered both economic and military aid. This development sowed the seeds of destruction that brought the world closer to the Cuban Missile Crisis.

2. Political Aggression  Given that both USA and Cuba ended diplomatic relations with one another, the incoming American President, John F. Kennedy, initiated a covert operation to invade Cuba and overthrow Cuba. This plan was known as the Bay of Pigs Invasion (Apr 1961). However, the invasion was a failure and the attackers were captured by Castro.

After the Bay of Pigs Invasion, Castro declared himself a Marxist-Leninist publicly (Dec 1961), which antagonized USA further due to ideological differences that shaped the Cold War rivalry against USSR. Therefore, Cuba aligned itself ideologically with the Soviet Union, which bore ulterior motives that led up to the Cuban Missile Crisis.

3. Military Aggression  From the Soviet perspective, Nikita Khrushchev held the perception that USA had the military advantage in the arms race aspect of the Cold War. His concerns were supported by the deployment of American Jupiter ballistic missiles in Turkey and Italy that posed a clear national security threat to the Soviet Union. Furthermore, the Soviet ballistic missiles were fewer in numbers and less capable than the American’s. Therefore, to close the ‘missile gap’, Khrushchev placed nuclear missiles in Cuba (Oct 1962), which was 90 miles off Florida coast.

However, USA discovered the Soviet nuclear missiles via aerial surveillance on Cuba, which sparked fears of a possible nuclear threat to national security. Following thorough deliberation, Kennedy announced the imposition of an American ‘naval blockade’ to prevent the shipment of Soviet ballistic missiles to Cuba.

4. Outcome of the Cuban Missile Crisis  This ‘blockade’ could have been interpreted by the Soviets as a threatening military provocation that justified nuclear retaliation. Fortunately, the blockade ended peacefully and both superpowers agreed to stand down. This was seen in terms of the mutual agreement to remove the American missiles in Turkey and Italy and Soviet missiles in Cuba in secret.

What’s Next? By understanding the key incidents and factors that contributed to the developments of the Cuban Missile Crisis, you can reinforce your study of this topic by answering the following questions: – How did Castro’s actions lead to the start of the Cuban Missile Crisis? – Why was the Cuban Missile Crisis interpreted as a Cold War conflict? – In comparison to the Korean War (1950-53), identify the similarities and differences of the Cuban Missile Crisis in shaping the Cold War developments beyond Europe [to be discussed in our lessons]

The H2 and H1 History Tuition feature online discussion and writing practices to enhance your knowledge application skills. Get useful study notes and clarify your doubts on the subject with the tutor. You can also follow our Telegram Channel to get useful updates. We have other JC tuition classes, such as JC Math Tuition and JC Chemistry Tuition. For Secondary Tuition, we provide Secondary English Tuition, Secondary Math tuition, Secondary Chemistry Tuition, Social Studies Tuition, Geography, History Tuition and Secondary Economics Tuition. For Primary Tuition, we have Primary English, Math and Science Tuition. Call 9658 5789 to find out more.
JC History Tuition Bishan Bedok Tampines Singapore - How did the Cold War start - JC History SBQ Skills

How did the Cold War start?

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What is the Cold War? The Cold War is an ideological conflict between the two superpowers, USA and USSR in the post-WWII period. This conflict was the result of different contributing factors that shaped the perceptions towards each other’s actions, resulting in heightened sense of distrust and suspicion. In this article, we will examine several key factors that contributed to the outbreak of the Cold War.

Topic of Study [For H2 and H1 History Students]:  Paper 1: Understanding the Cold War (1945-1991) Section A: Source-based Case Study Theme I Chapter 1: Emergence of Bipolarity after the Second World War

1. Ideological Differences To understand how the Cold War broke out, it is important to understand why the mutually-incompatible ideologies of the two countries became the root cause of the conflict.

After the Russian Revolution of 1917, the communists rose to power in the Soviet Union. Communism is socio-political philosophy that advocates the common ownership of the means of production. On the other hand, the United States embraced the ideology of Capitalism and Democracy. In contrast to communism, capitalism focuses on the private ownership of the means of production and profit is the main motivation for individuals to work and produce goods and services. Also, democracy empowers the citizens with the right to vote and elect representatives that form the government. In view of these ideological differences, it is clear that there will be stark contrasts in how the US and USSR conducted their foreign policies in Europe after the World War Two, which set the stage for the start of the Cold War.

2. Perceived Ideological Expansionism  The diametrically opposed ideologies can be better understood by how US and USSR implemented their foreign policies, following the discussions made during the Yalta Conference in February 1945. During the Conference, USA, USSR and UK engaged in discussions on the post-war reorganization of Europe and Germany. Amidst the discussions, the Declaration of Liberated Europe was formed as a promise to allow the European citizens to “create democratic institutions of their own choice”.

However, Stalin held differing interpretations of the agreements made in the Yalta Conference. USA perceived Stalin as being responsible for the establishment of pro-Soviet Communist governments in Europe (e.g. Poland, Bulgaria and Hungary). As such, the fear of Soviet communist expansion prompted USA to introduce the Truman Doctrine in 1947, as a guiding principle to ‘contain Communism’. Subsequently, USA was involved more actively in Europe to stem the tide of Communism.

3. Perceived Economic Imperialism  Given that the World War Two had ravaged Europe severely, USA embarked on an economic initiative to provide financial assistance to rebuild Western European economies. This 1947 initiative was also known as the ‘Marshall Plan‘, which was named after US Secretary of State George Marshall. Over $13 billion in economic aid was distributed to Western European countries.

However, USSR interpreted these acts with great suspicion as the provision of American aid and assistance would create an anti-Soviet bloc. In response, USSR developed a similar economic initiative, known as the ‘Molotov Plan‘, which provided financial assistance to Eastern European countries, resulting in the creation of a pro-Soviet bloc. More importantly, USSR held the perception that it had to act swiftly to be free from ‘American economic imperialism’.

4. What’s Next?  Following a series of indirect exchanges between the two superpowers, Europe took centre-stage in marking the start of the Cold War. The outbreak of the Cold War can be observed by the division of Europe ideologically and economically, as explained and illustrated in the above points.

How to study the Cold War and answer the Source-Based Case Study Questions?  Now that we have examined the key events and considerations that contributed to the start of the Cold War, you can reinforce your learning by attempting practice questions on your own. Pay attention to the sources. Pick out the key words or events that were mentioned in the sources and draw out the implications to answer the questions. Avoid spending too much time on reading notes (and additional readings, if any) as exam-oriented knowledge application skills are developed only through actual writing and thinking.

Here are some questions for you to get you started on your revision for the Cold War topic: – What were the evidences that fueled USA’s perceived fear of Soviet Communist expansionism? – What were Stalin’s justifications for the creation of a pro-Soviet bloc in Eastern Europe? – How did the Berlin Blockade of 1948 contributed to the start of the Cold War? [to be covered in our lessons] The H2 and H1 History Tuition feature online discussion and writing practices to enhance your knowledge application skills. Get useful study notes and clarify your doubts on the subject with the tutor. You can also follow our Telegram Channel to get useful updates. We have other JC tuition classes, such as JC Math Tuition and JC Chemistry Tuition. For Secondary Tuition, we provide Secondary English Tuition, Secondary Math tuition, Secondary Chemistry Tuition, Social Studies Tuition, Geography, History Tuition and Secondary Economics Tuition. For Primary Tuition, we have Primary English, Math and Science Tuition. Call 9658 5789 to find out more.
JC History Tuition Bishan Bedok Tampines Singapore - How to ace the JC History SBQ

How to ace the JC History SBQ?

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How to answer Source-Based Case Study Questions? For A Level History, answering a source-based question (SBQ, in short) requires effective reading and writing skills. Given that the examination is 3-hours long, it is crucial to plan your time well. Therefore, we will examine some key concerns in handling this segment of the A Level History subject.

What is Source-Based Case Study?  With reference to the syllabus description stated at the Singapore Examinations and Assessment Board (SEAB), the source-based case study features a series of extracts that discuss a common theme (such as Cold War or Inter-state Tensions). Students are expected to have a firm understanding of these sources and their given contexts. There will be a maximum of six sources provided in this Section, in which these sources can be depicted in either text (e.g. statements, interviews, accounts and speeches) or visual (e.g. posters) forms.

Given this understanding, we will now focus our attention on the answering of SBQs through the following considerations.

1. Read and identify the question requirement Before you start to read the sources, you should look at the page that entails the questions to be answered for the SBQ. By reading the question, you will be more aware of what to look out for as you read every source. Also, try to analyse the keywords stated in the question description to pinpoint the perspective to analyse.

The SBQ contains the two questions: A 10-marks two-source comparison question and a 30-marks source comparison and analysis question. Below, we will illustrate an example question to understand this aspect better: Sample part (a) question: Compare and contrast the evidence provided in Sources A and B about the attitude of Stalin towards USA in the post-WWII period. [10] Sample part (b) question: How far do Sources A-F support the view that USSR was responsible for the outbreak of the Cold War? [30] For the part (a) question, you are expected to compare two sources and identify the ‘attitude of Stalin towards the USA’. Source comparison involves identification of similarities and differences between the two sources. For the part (b) question, you are to analyse all sources to find out whether each source support or challenge the given perspective that ‘USSR was responsible for the outbreak of the Cold War’.

2. Read and annotate each source After you have read and understood the question requirements, focus your energies on understanding each source. One useful way is to use a pencil to mark out parts of the source that can answer the question. You can also use a highlighter to denote excerpts from each source that can support your SBQ answering. This process of reading and annotation is important as it is a planning stage for you to prepare yourself mentally. In a way, the annotation helps in organising your thoughts before you commence writing.

3. Understand the context and nature of each source As mentioned earlier, pay attention to the types of sources given in the SBQ. For the text-based sources, they can be illustrated in the form of news article, academic publication, interviews, speeches and official statements etc. For visual-based sources, they are depicted in the form of posters, satirical cartoon etc.

In view of these diverse types of sources, it is important to be familiar with how each type is being described and illustrated, so that you can extract the relevant information and underlying message within each source. For example, personal interviews with an important figure (e.g. Secretary-General of a regional organization) are useful in assuming their standpoint to discuss certain issues, but pay heed to their official position, which may restrict the extent of information provided.

4. Organise your writing Throughout the course of your writing, it is of utmost importance to develop a well-structured SBQ answer. You can address this concern effectively by employing various means, like signposting and topic sentence writing. For instance, you can include the use of connectors to guide the examiner from one sentence to the next. If you have quoted an excerpt of the source to provide evidence and desire to explain it, you can use phrases like ‘this means that’. This ensures that you are making a clear point in your writing.

5. Practice. Practice. Practice It takes consistent practice to develop the necessary reading and writing skills to ace the A Level History SBQ component. Fret not, we also conduct JC History Tuition SBQ answering skills workshops to hone your writing techniques. During the lessons, you will have many opportunities to attempt practice questions. As it is unrealistic to pursue the idealistic goal of acquiring all skills in several sessions, we will be focusing on one or two skills during the programme. This ensures that you can pay attention to the intricacies of the skills development process.

6. What’s Next?  On a related note, you can learn more about the essentials of A Level History essay writing in this featured article. JCHistoryTuition.com.sg features a broad range of articles that cover useful examination tips and issue-based discussion to expand your knowledge as you gear up for the A Level History examination.

The H2 and H1 History Tuition feature online discussion and writing practices to enhance your knowledge application skills. Get useful study notes and clarify your doubts on the subject with the tutor. You can also follow our Telegram Channel to get useful updates. We have other JC tuition classes, such as JC Math Tuition and JC Chemistry Tuition. For Secondary Tuition, we provide Secondary English Tuition, Secondary Math tuition, Secondary Chemistry Tuition, Social Studies Tuition, Geography, History Tuition and Secondary Economics Tuition. For Primary Tuition, we have Primary English, Math and Science Tuition. Call 9658 5789 to find out more.