The U.S. struggles against the Communist in Vietnam

1a) Were the armies finely balanced or was the balance strongly weighted to one side or the other?
In size and technological advantage, the US army was heavily superior to that of the Vietcong. However, the Vietcong managed their army and resources much better than the US did, as well as using better tactics for the situation. Thus army wise the US was superior, but in reality they were either balanced, or even tipped in the favor of the Vietcong.
1b) 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?
The one feature that was the most important in determining who won the war was the strategy each side used. The only feature that could come close to having in itself won the war was the way the Vietcong managed to use guerilla tactics to negate the US's advantages in numbers and technology. They did this by evading US forces by retreting, hiding in the Jungle and using tunnel networks.
Stage 3: Explaining your conclusions
The failure of the U.S. army to beat the Communist in Vietnam was the result of its own weaknesses and Viet Cong strengths.

2. Now write up your answer. Use this structure:
a. The U.S. weaknesses were: the anti war movement, and the fact that it tried to fight guerilla tactics with either conventional or inhumane tactics.

b. At the same time, the Communist strengths were:
motivation, the use of good tactics, and the support of the peasants as well as not caring if they used inhumane means to an end.
c. The U.S. forces did have some successes. For example:
They repelled the Tet offensive, they destroyed many Vietcong supply routs, and they did destroy some of the Vietcong tunnels.
d. However, there were some major failures as well. Examples of these were:
Their strategy was terrible, they lost the war in the end, they caused many civilian casualties, and the loss to gain ratio many times was not worth it.
e. The Viet Cong had some major successes, such as:
They were able to fend off the US with significantly less troops, they did not allow the US to gain any North Vietnam land and they did eventually conquer the South.
f. However, they also suffered defeats, for example:
The Tet offensive failed causing a major loss of troops and supplies as well as not gaining any ground, they also were not able to acutely drive the US out, the US chose to leave based on public opinion in the US.
g. If I had to identify one major American weakness, it would be the anti war movement because it demotivated US soldiers, who were mainly draftees that did not want to be there or to fight, caused public opinion in the US to go against the war, made the war seem evil, and caused many to refuse to be drafted, or resist once they were, or flee the country.

h. The key Viet Cong strength the use of guerilla tactics because: It allowed them to avoid direct contact with the superior US forces, and the use of tunnels (a guerilla tactic) allowed them to menuver troops without letting the US know and provided protection from bombing raids, and other assaults, as well as providing a place to retreat that the US could not follow them into.

The U.S. Enters the Vietnam War

1. Many neutral observers in Vietnam were critical of US policy. Explain why.
Many people were critical of US policy because their tactic of opposing the communist North Vietnamis was to back anti-communist governments in South Vietnam, and these were generally corrupt and did not treat the general populace very well. Also, the US did not allow the Vietnamis to have free elections.
2. Explain how US politicians would have defended their policies.
The US politicians would have defended their policies by saying that they were just to stop the spread of communism, they would say that if Vietnam fell, than it would create a domino effect and other South Asian countries would also fall to 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.

1954) U.S. stops elections in Vietnam: political involvement.
The US feared that if the people of Vietnam were allowed to have their own elections then they would vote communist, so they refused to allow them to have elections.

(1955) Formation of South Vietnam: political involvement and financial support.
The US needed to support South Vietnam against the communists in the North if it had any chance of containing communism. This meant that the US backed all of the governments in South Vietnam and that it gave financial support to them.
(1960) Viet Cong formed: No direct involvement.
The Viet Cong was a guerrilla force made up of communists from North Vietnam. This forced the US to send military aide to the South in order to counter act this group, at first this was in the form of "advisers"
(1961) Viet Cong attacks on U.S. and South Vietnam bases: military involvement
The Viet Cong attacks on U.S and South Vietnam bases forced the US to respond with immediate military involvement so as to defend the U.S's world standing and its troops already there.
(1962) JFK sends military advisers: military involvement.
The military advisers helped train the military in South Vietnam. This dragged the US farther and farther into the conflict as it became a target and it had obligations to fulfill.
(1962) Number of 'advisers' reaches over 11,500: military involvement.
This caused tensions in Vietnam to soar because there were so many military advisers that it was like a small army was occupying South Vietnam.
(1963) U.S. supports South Vietnam government after army overthrow Diem: financial aid.
This caused the US to have to back yet another corrupt government, as well as continue to give it aide.
(1963) Assassination of JFK - Johnson becomes president: no direct involvement
US policy towards Vietnam under Johnson became much more aggressive and he was ready to act at the slightest provocation.
(1964) Gulf of Tonkin Incident: Military involvement
This caused the US to send 3500 marines to Vietnam.
(1965) U.S. Marines land at Da Nang: military involvement.
This meant that the US was now unofficially involved in a war in Vietnam.
4. Choose two events that you think were critical in getting the U.S. involved in a war in Vietnam. Explain
your choice.
Two events that were critical in getting the U.S involved in the Vietnam war were the assassination of JFK, and the U.S support of South Vietnamis governments. The assassination of JFK caused LBJ to assume the presidency, and he had a much more aggressive stance to the North Vietnamis. He was prepared to go to war at the slightest provocation. The U.S support of the different governments that appeared in South Vietnam caused it to get involved in the war because these governments were hated by the people and thus the North Veitnamis grew bold and support for them grew.

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.
Kennedy described these days as the darkest days of the crisis because on the 24th war was a very real threat; if the Soviet ships attacked the blockade, then there would have been war. The 27th seemed to suggest that there would be no way for the situation to be resolved diplomatically because there would be no way that Kennedy could accept the terms offered.
2. Do you think that nuclear war was ever a possibility in this crisis?
I think that nuclear war was certainly a possibility during the crisis. If either country decided to take military action to resolve the conflict than nuclear war would have erupted.
3. Is Source 26 a Soviet or an American cartoon? Explain your answer by referring to the details in the cartoon.
Source six is probably an American cartoon. First, it seems to incriminate both leaders as wanting nuclear war, and highlights this danger, the communist society in the USSR probably wouldn't have allowed this. Second, there is an H written on the bombs, not a Russian character.
4. Using Source 27 list any evidence you can find for and against each of the explanations.
To bargain with the US
-tried to get the US to remove missiles in Turkey
-didn't try to hard to get deals done
-would have been very reckless

To test US
-already thought Kennedy was weak
-bad way to do this as it could lead to mutual destruction

To trap US
-could subvert other nations
-very close to US
-not really necessary; more risk than gain, didn't fight to hard to maintain it.
Why did the Soviet Union place nuclear missiles on Cuba?

To get the upper hand in the arms race
-close to US
-balances US installments in Europe and Turkey
-still a chance of retaliation
To defend Cuba
-didn't do it for other satellites
-no reason for nuclear weapons
5. Choose the explanation(s) that you think best fit what you have found out about the crisis. Explain your choice.
I think that the most likely explanation would be that Kruschev was trying to get an upper hand in the arms race. At this point in the race, the US and its allies had missiles placed much closer to the USSR than the USSR did to the US. Also, even if the Americans did not know it, the Soviets would have had no time to respond to an American missile launch, and having missiles in Cuba may have reduced that time. Moreover, short to medium range missiles in Cuba could hit both Washington D.C and New York, meaning that ICBMs were not required to hit at least some of the major cities in the U.S.

The U.S. Attempts to Contain Cuba

1. Why was Cuba so important to the United States?
Cuba was important to the United States because it was very close to the US and if it became a communist nation, than the Soviets would be able to use it as a military base. From Cuba they could invade the Southern US, although this was unlikley, but the USSR could use it to influence events in South and Latin America, so that the US would not have full control over them. Cuba could also, and was, used as a sight to house nuclear weapons, weapons that could be used to easily bomb the US without having to be ICBMs, rather short or medium range missiles.
2. Why do you think the Americans chose to equip Cuban exiles rather than invading themselves?
I think that the Americans chose to equip Cuban exiles rather than directly invade Cuba because if they lost, the US would not be directly affected beyond taking a little political flak, and the US had successfully done this in other South American countries. Also, the US would not directly involve itself in the war, and thus would not tempt the Soviet Union to do so as well.
3. Why did the invasion fail?
The invasion failed because the rebels were outnumbered almost twenty to one, Castro was well equipped with Soviet technology and the invaders were not as well equipped.
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 presence of missiles on Cuba changed the balence of power drasticly. Suddenly, the Soviet Union was able to attack the US with nuclear weapons from a much smaller distance, and the US would still need to send the missiles over the Atlantic. This meant that the Soviets could attack the US more quickly that the Americans could attack them (or so the Americans thought at the time, we now know the Soviets still probably would have had no time to launch their missiles in time), meaning that the Soviets had a very large advantage, and might be able to overcome the threat of mutual destruction because of it.