I'm really ambivalent about this. I originally felt it was going quite well but now I'm worried. Not going to be a good summer waiting for the 16th of August :s
I answered A on Detente and B on the end of the Cold War
Detente:Okay, I thought this one was quite nice - basically a question on the causes of Detente. I think I was a bit weak on the Sino-US side of it (didn't really mention economy - really kicking myself), but focussed more on the embarrassment of the Communist cause being split and the fact that the USSR felt surrounded by enemies and required detente.
I then mentioned in detail all the other factors: Vietnam war, problems in both countries, protests in both countries, fear of war etc. etc.
BUT I'm worried because some of my friends said they talked in detail about the SALT treaties and Helsinki
I swear this was not necessary since it was on the
causes of detente and these are more a
result of detente. Please tell me I'm right since I didn't mention these at all
End of the Cold WarTHE SOURCES WERE RUBBISH
They were so ambivalent, saying SO many different things and basically agreeing on everything. I found it hard to separate economic factors from protests because of the key word "undermining" in the question - so I basically said that the fact that people were protesting about economic factors undermined the Soviet system.
I also ran out of time at the end and didn't write a very good conclusion. At some points I had to slightly disagree with the question - for example with Reagan I said that although source (11?) talked about him in not a lot of detail I added that actually the Reagan Doctrine and increased arms expenditure was also an important factor etc. ... and similarly with Gorbachev.
I'm glad it's finally out of the way, but going to be really really scared when results come out
How did everyone else find it?