6 comparison
- 1. Comparison questions The Cold War Source A Under Fidel Castro, Cuba was a proud example of a Communist country and was a role model to other countries. Khrushchev had the idea of installing a small number of nuclear missiles on Cuba without letting the USA know until it was too late to stop them. Khrushchev said they only wanted to keep the Americans from invading Cuba. He stated they had no desire to start a war. Source B To the American government, placing missiles on Cuba was a warlike act by the Soviets. They believed that the Soviet Union intended to supply a large number of powerful nuclear weapons. Spy photographs proved the offensive purpose of the missiles which were pointed directly at major American cities. It was estimated that within a few minutes of them being fired, 80 million Americans would be dead. F1. Compare the views in Sources A and B about the Soviet Union’s actions during the Cuban Missile Crisis.
- 2. Source C The alliance against a common enemy during the Second World War broke down almost as soon as the war ended and was replaced by a climate of suspicion. Soviet and American leaders held opposing ideological views and attempted to spread their beliefs to other countries. Tensions continued to grow over the next few years. America’s decision to develop and use the atomic bomb against the Japanese without consulting the Soviets placed further strain on relations. Source D As soon as the war ended the Soviet Union and the Americans developed open hostility towards each other. The meetings at Yalta and Potsdam did little to improve relations. The new President Truman and Stalin seemed hostile to one another and this emphasised their ideological divisions. The tension at Potsdam was increased by America’s use of the atomic bomb against Japan. F2. Compare the views in Sources C and D about the reasons that the Cold War broke out between the Soviet Union and USA. Source E The Vietcong, or “Charlie” as the Americans called them, were the locally born guerrilla fighters of South Vietnam. The Vietcong consisted of three groups: units of regular soldiers, provincial forces, and part-time guerrillas. The Vietcong generally avoided large scale attacks on the enemy but continually harassed their troops and installations causing heavy American casualties. They travelled light, carrying basic weapons and few supplies. Source F Our first real battle was in the Michelin Rubber Plantation. Thousands of Vietcong launched wave after wave of attacks on our camp. But they had all kinds of Chinese and Russian weapons, such as flamethrowers and rocket launchers. Eventually we counter-attacked and pushed them back. Fortunately, we only lost around seven guys. The Vietcong body count was reported to have been 800, but I thought it was more. F3. Compare the views in Sources E and F about Vietcong tactics.
- 3. Source G To halt this build up, a strict quarantine of all offensive military equipment being shipped to Cuba is being introduced. All ships of any kind bound for Cuba from whatever nation or port will, if found to contain cargoes of offensive weapons, be turned back. We are not at this time, however, denying the necessities of life as the Soviets attempted to do in their Berlin blockade of 1948. Source H You, Mr President, are not declaring quarantine, but rather an ultimatum, and you are threatening that if we do not obey your orders, you will use force to turn back the ships. Think about what you are saying! And you want to persuade me to agree to this! What does it mean to agree to these demands? It would mean for us to conduct our relations with other countries not by reason, but by yielding to tyranny. You are not appealing to reason; you want to intimidate us. F4. Compare the views in Sources G and H about the Cuban Missile Crisis.
- 4. The Atlantic Slave Trade Source A There were many reasons it took so long to abolish the slave trade. One reason was that the slave trade had many powerful supporters. Plantation owners and merchants in British ports which relied on the slave trade were well organised and had political influence. They had enough wealth to bribe MPs to support them. They also had the support of King George III. Many people believed that the trade had helped them to make Britain wealthy and prosperous. Source B The Abolitionists faced powerful opposition. The plantation owners allied themselves with important groups to promote the case for slavery and the slave trade. Their case seemed overwhelming. Dozens of British ports and surrounding areas relied on the slave trade. British consumers had become addicted to the products of the slave trade, most notably sugar. The Atlantic slave trade represented a large amount of British trade and seemed vital to the continuing prosperity of Britain and the Caribbean Islands. F5. Compare the views in Sources A and B about the reasons that the slave trade continued in Britain throughout the 1700s.
- 5. Source C The ships which had arrived on the African coast from Europe landed armed raiders who attacked African villages and seized as many men, women and children as possible. As soon as they saw a ship the Africans left their villages and took to the forests to hide. Another way Europeans obtained slaves was simply to buy them from their African masters. As the trade increased, Europeans built forts on the coast and established factories to hold captured slaves. Source D The slave trade across the Atlantic Ocean changed the whole course of African history. The kings and chiefs of the African tribes became trading partners with European merchants. They swapped their people for European goods such as horses, guns and alcohol. As the demand for slaves grew, raiding and kidnapping spread terror deep into Africa. Frightened villagers, trying to escape the raiders, moved into remote areas which often had poor soil and produced few crops. F6. Compare the views in Sources C and D about the effect of slavery on Africa. Source E Slaves were treated in most cases like cattle. A man went about the country buying up slaves and he was called a “speculator”. Then he would sell them to the highest bidder. Oh! It was pitiful to see children taken from their mothers’ breasts, mothers sold, husbands sold to a different owner than their wives. One woman had a baby and he wouldn’t buy the baby. Source F The slave master made us hold up our heads while customers felt our hands and arms and looked at our teeth, precisely as someone examines a horse which he is about to purchase. All the time the auction was going on one mother was crying aloud. She begged the man not to buy her son unless he also bought her; but the boy was sold on his own to the man who offered the most money. F7. Compare the views in Sources E and F about what happened during slave auctions.
- 6. Source G Nowhere in history have a people experienced such a terrible ordeal as Africans during the Atlantic slave trade. Over nearly four centuries of the trade, millions of healthy men, women and children were savagely torn from their homeland, herded into ships, and dispersed all over the so called New World. Although there is no way to work out exactly how many people perished, it has been estimated that about 10 million Africans survived the Middle Passage. Source H The Atlantic slave trade spelled disaster for Africa and its peoples. For four hundred years, millions of the healthiest young people of the region were stolen from their homeland. No-one is sure exactly how many were sold into slavery but probably about 11 million African people arrived in the New World between 1450 and 1850. Add to that the number who died in war or on the journey and you can begin to see the devastating effect on families at that time. F8. Compare the views in Sources G and H about the effects of the slave trade on Africa and its peoples.
- 7. Migration and Empire Source A I feel that everything the agent told me about this country has turned out to be false and I dearly wish to return home. I am very much dissatisfied with the poor quality of the land which will never be of much use. The nearest town is two days’ journey away and my daughter and I suffer a great deal from loneliness. Source B I have already prepared 14 acres of good land and, if I am spared, I shall have 40 ready next year. I got a splendid horse and a good cow and a calf, plenty milk and butter, plenty to eat of everything. Our wee community is doing well and our fellow immigrants have already built a church and a school-house. There is not a better place in the whole world. F9. Compare the views in Sources A and B about the experiences of Scottish emigrants. Source C Many Lithuanians were treated badly, they were frequently verbally abused in the street. Scots had the notion that the poor of Eastern Europe were swarming upon their shores. They were often mistaken as “Poles” and some were violently attacked. They were accused of dragging down wages and breaking strikes. Source D There were many reports about them being “Strike- breakers” and cheap labour. Scots were worried about the arrival of so many very poor Lithuanians. In 1926 one Auchinleck woman was arrested for throwing stones at Lithuanian men. The Glasgow Trades Council declared the Lithuanians in Glengarnock as “an evil”. F10. Compare the views in Sources C and D about Scottish attitudes towards Lithuanian immigrants.
- 8. Source E Irish immigrants tended to concentrate in particular areas because they were disliked by the native Scots. It was natural that the immigrants should live together but the determination to stick to their own culture was looked upon with suspicion. There were accusations that they did not wish to become “new Scots”. In addition, the Irish did not receive much credit for their contribution to the Scottish economy. Source F There was a reluctance to admit that Irish workers were essential to the development of industry in Scotland even though they were to be found wherever work needed doing. Many Scots criticised immigrants for keeping to their native language and religion. It became clear that there was a great deal of resentment against the immigrants in Scotland. F11. Compare the views in Sources E and F about Scottish views on Irish immigration. Source G Irish immigration continued steadily until the 1840s. The Irish potato famine of the mid 1840s however led to a sharp increase in this immigration. It led to great poverty and some landlords evicted those who could not pay their rent. Transport costs were cheap, and wages in the west of Scotland continued to be higher than those in Ireland. Source H In the mid and late 1840s the potato crops in Ireland were destroyed by blight, which caused the death of many people and led many others to leave. Many landlords used the crisis to take away people’s homes. The very low wages paid in Ireland meant that the higher wages on offer in Scotland were attractive. Irish people found it was not far to travel to Scotland and that plenty of ships travelled the route, so the cost was cheap. Travelling conditions were miserable. F12. Compare the views in Sources G and H about reasons for Irish immigration.