Edexcel AS History Unit 1 Option D resit - 18th May 2016

Read the first bit again I edited it, and yeah sure I'll try to expand and give you some examples.

-Diem abuses his position, appoints his friends and relatives to government positions, and in the 1956 election said that 600,000 people voted when there were only 450,000 people registered.

-Buddhists, don't know too much myself , but they were oppressed by the Diems regime, there was an incident of a Buddhist monk that protested by setting himself on fire, and this was covered by the media.

-Viet cong, these were essentially the north Vietnamese forces in South Vietnam, they could conceal themselves as ordinary citizens, they were the ones being supplied through the Ho Chi Minh trail. Basically people that supported communism in south Vietnam became Viet cong.
(this can also be linked into when US used Agent orange to destroy the forestry and whatnot and this led to many people becoming disenfranchised as they were mostly rice farmers and this ruined their livelyhood, which is why the US couldn't win the 'hearts and minds' ) -this in brackets is not needed to be explained for this particular essay and would suit the 'why did they withdraw' question.
Juat say that the Viet cong were more effective than SV forces because they could pretend to be ordinary civilians and they were supplied by the north and their guerilla tactics caused the SV forces all sorts of problems. Be careful not to go too far in explaining this as it makes it sound like a North Vietnamese strength rather than a south Vietnamese weakness.

Read the first bit again I edited it, and yeah sure I'll try to expand and give you some examples.

-Diem abuses his position, appoints his friends and relatives to government positions, and in the 1956 election said that 600,000 people voted when there were only 450,000 people registered.

-Buddhists, don't know too much myself , but they were oppressed by the Diems regime, there was an incident of a Buddhist monk that protested by setting himself on fire, and this was covered by the media.

-Viet cong, these were essentially the north Vietnamese forces in South Vietnam, they could conceal themselves as ordinary citizens, they were the ones being supplied through the Ho Chi Minh trail. Basically people that supported communism in south Vietnam became Viet cong.
(this can also be linked into when US used Agent orange to destroy the forestry and whatnot and this led to many people becoming disenfranchised as they were mostly rice farmers and this ruined their livelyhood, which is partly the reason why the US couldn't win the 'hearts and minds' ) -this in brackets is not needed to be explained for this particular essay and would suit the 'why did they withdraw' question.
Juat say that the Viet cong were more effective than SV forces because they could pretend to be ordinary civilians and they were supplied by the north and their guerilla tactics caused the SV forces all sorts of problems. Be careful not to go too far in explaining this as it makes it sound like a North Vietnamese strength rather than a south Vietnamese weakness.

Personally I would structure this differently to what the person above said, I think this way is more efficient and if you pulled this off it would be a band 5 answer, as it would answer the question more effectively, remember it's not a narrative and description of what happened, it's an explanation of why it happened, so in this case the question is not HOW they got more involved, it's WHY, but the question tricks you by saying HOW FAR, if you take out the FAR then it's a totally different question. But you don't have to listen to me.

First paragraph has to be Communism, I would start with talking about the domestic issues, such as red scare, McCarthyism, Domino theory, george Kennans X article, McNamara and dean rusk being very influential Hawks. Transition into foreign policy by talking about the political advantages for the presidents, mention how Truman and Eisenhowers policies were popular and how Kennedy and the democrats were seen as being weak on communism therefore couldn't be weak and appease it, then how Johnson was trapped by kennedys legacy of increased involvement(quagmire theory). So then say this developed into a foreign policy of increased involvement because trumans containment and Eisenhowers roll back were popular therefore in order to win an election they have to get more involved.

2) I would devote this paragraph to the failure of France. Start by explaining how the US fund France $2b per year and then the French lose at Dien Bien Phu 1954. Then in the Geneva accords the USA is the only defender of south Vietnam, then say the result was the 1956 election which was a failure (rigged due to 90% communist support in SV) then finish by saying Eisenhower has no choice but to set up MAAG due to the fear of communism at home, in order stabilise SV, which means increased involvement.

3) South Vietnamese ineffectiveness. Talk about corruption and how Diem is corrupt. How the leadership(Diem & co) is Catholic but the population is majority Buddhist, and how there is a lack of enthusiasm/nationalism in the people for South vietnam. Then talk about their military incompetence, lost every pitched battle before US troops were involved, how the borders are insignificant and how there were substantial communist forces in South Vietnam(Viet cong) which lead to increased military involvement from the US, as they couldn't allow the domino to fall because of the pressure/political advantage at home.

In the conclusion, I would say that even though the fear of communism at home and the failure of France led to initial involvement, south Vietnamese ineffectiveness was paramount in increasing the involvement because even with all of the initial US political, financial and military support they couldn't hold it together, as the state was inherently doomed to fail.

Hi again - I just realised McCarthyism started in the early 1940s? And this question mentions 1954 onwards... would i only talk about containtment and rollback since its Eisenhower and Kennedy years?

McCarthyism is relevant because it played a key role in escalating the publics paranoia about communism.

Containment is Truman, don't talk about Truman, all I would do at most is mention that containment was popular, yes talk about Eisenhower and Kennedy, but don't forget Johnson who came in in 1963 and won the 1964 election which is important because he won the election on a policy of continuing Kennedys legacy which people assumed would be continuing to get more involved in Vietnam.

Is anyone doing Autocracy to Dictatorship: 1881-1924; Stalin's Russia

I am! Do you have any predictions?!!

It's difficult to predict because nearly every topic has come up... although they seem to enjoy giving economy questions for Stalin so it could be his plans or collectivisation as one of them and/or its impact towards the ww2

What mark would you give this essay?
How far do you agree that the Second World War was themain reason why the position of African Americans improves in the years1945-55? The SecondWorld War played an important role in improving the position of AfricanAmericans in the years 1945-55. Specifically, it improved the status of AfricanAmericans as many of them fought valiantly in the war and were seen as heroes,which in turn led to increased support from the Federal government. However,the impact of the Second World War was limited as it did nothing to addressracial segregation or its legal foundation – Plessy v Ferguson. This wastackled through direct action by the federal government and the NAACP. Thus,making these more of a contributing factor than the Second World War The SecondWorld war led to social, economic and political changes for African Americans. Duringthe war, African Americans adopted the ‘Double V’ sign, this symbolized thatthey were fighting for a victory against racism in Europe and America. This wasa popular signal used by black soldiers as they spent much of the war in Britain,where there was no segregation which opened their eyes to the possibility of ade-segregated US society. However, soldiers returned from serving their countryto hatred and racism, so joined the NAACP to campaign for improvement. There was also an emergence of black heroes,such as Woodrow Crockett, who flew 149 missions during WW2. They won the respectof white soldiers due to their outstanding courage. These soldiers were seenfor their achievements rather than the colourof their skin, which shows thatthe position of these African Americans did improve. The War also affectedpolitical and economic rights for black Americans. In 1945, migration caused 4million African Americans to move to the North, this led to increased votingpower, as a result two black congressmen were elected to serve in Northernstates. African Americans also received higher wages in Northern industry as aresult of this migration. Although there were some changes, African Americanswere still seen as lower class citizens and the Second World War led to know dejure changes which meant that segregation was still legal.


The Federal Government also made some progress in improving the position of African Americans in1945-55. In 1947, Truman established the President’s Committee on Civil Rightsto investigate racism in America. Its report, entitled ‘to secure these rights’,highlighted inequalities and made suggestions for change. This was the firsttime that civil rights had been put on the political agenda, which meant thatAfrican Americans position in society was set to change. Truman also used his power as president to implement many reforms which had a positive impact onemployment, desegregation and housing. Examples of these were the executive order 9980 (1948) which outlawed racial discrimination in civil service employment. He also appointed a number of African Americans to high-profile governmen tjobs, for example, he made Ralph Bunche Ambassador to the United Nations. Interms of desegregation, Truman signed the executive order 9981, which endedsegregation in the army, which allowed heroes such as Woodrow Crockett toemerge. Lastly, Truman set up a fair deal programme which committed the governmentto building large numbers of new homes, particularly in inner-city ghettos.However, the impact of Truman’s measures should not be exaggerated as he failedto implement many of the recommendations in ‘to secure these rights’ and thefair deal housing programme was underfunded and therefore demolished morehouses than it actually built.

Perhaps themost important factor was the success of the NAACP in challenging segregationthrough the Supreme Court. The NAACP trained lawyers to fight court cases forAfrican Americans. The leading NAACP lawyer, Thurgood Marshall was key toimproving the position of African Americans. The NAACP challenge interstatetransport in the Morgan vs. Virginia case. The supreme court ruled that interstatetransport was illegal. This ruling inspired activists in CORE to go on ajourney of reconciliation, which shows that the work of NAACP was successful inmaking de jure change for African Americans but also influencing more activiststo get involved to make change. The biggest success was the Brown case in 1954.This ruled segregation in schools illegal, successfully challenging the ‘separatebut equal’ ruling, established in the Plessy Vs Ferguson case. This suggest thatthe NAACP was the biggest reason for improvement as they undermined the legalbasis for segregation and laid foundations for future protests in the 1960s.

To conclude, the Second World War did have some impact in improving the position of AfricanAmericans in the years 1945-55 because it improved the status but it did notlead to any de jure change so as a result there was no significant change inthe position of African Americans. The Federal government played a moreimportanr role than the second world war as Truman put civil rights on thepolitical agenda, however no significant change in the position of African Americansoccurred as a result of this in 1945-55. The most persuasive argument is that theNAACP played the most important role as if it was not for them then the ‘separatebut equal’ ruling may not have been challenged for many more years and theremay have been no significant change to the position of African Americans in1945-55.

also go back to question after every evaluation to say therefore although it was important it was not the most important factor ect. or the other way round if you feel it was the most important factor. Also add more,however's if you know what i mean to show why the world war could not have been the most important although it had importance.