...History Leaving Cert American Essay Notes By James Esses Mocks.ie History Leaving Cert Revision Notes James Esses Page 1 Contents 1.0 Essay 1: Changes in the US Economy from 1945-1989 ..................................................................... 3 1.1 Boom (1945-1968) .................................................................................................................. 3 1.2 Bust (1968-1989)..................................................................................................................... 4 2.0 Essay 2 Consumer Society post 1945 ................................................................................................ 6 3.0 Essay 3 Foreign Policy 1945-1972 ..................................................................................................... 8 3.1 Berlin ....................................................................................................................................... 8 3.2 Korea ....................................................................................................................................... 9 3.3 Berlin Wall ............................................................................................................................. 10 3.4 Cuba ...................................................................................................................................... 10 4.0 Essay 4: How did the US become involved in Vietnam and why did it escalate in...
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...The Cold War and U.S. Diplomacy POL 300 January 31, 2012 The key problem for his presidency clearly would be the Vietnam War. It had driven his predecessor from office, and if it were not resolved in a way that could be turned to political advantage, it would drive him from office as well. Two months after Nixon assumed the presidency, American combat deaths exceeded thirty-six hundred, and there seemed no end in sight. Nixon was in a dilemma, for during the campaign he had said that he had a "secret plan" to end the war but could not divulge it because it might upset the Paris peace negotiations. If his plan involved escalation, Democrats could charge that he was abandoning attempts to reach a peaceful solution and could point to mounting American casualties and prisoners of war. If he negotiated a solution that led to the fall of the government in Saigon, Democrats could charge he had abandoned an ally. Nixon had to find a way to cut American commitments while preserving the non-Communist government in South Vietnam—at least for a "decent interval" so that the overthrow of the regime could not be blamed on the United States (Morgan 2002). Nixon, his national security adviser Henry Kissinger, and Secretary of Defense Melvin Laird settled on an approach with several elements. First, the Laird policy for "Vietnamization" was adopted. Responsibility for fighting would be turned over to the Vietnamese, in order to reduce American casualties. Gradually...
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...The Nixon Doctrine of 1969 Kerri Richards POL 300 November 11, 2012 Revision made 12/9/12 The Nixon Doctrine was an American foreign policy set forth by President Nixon in 1969. It was also known as the Guam Doctrine for the country in which it was announced. The strategy of the Nixon Doctrine allowed Nixon to devise a way for the United States to exit that very unpopular conflict, the Vietnam War. It also stated that the United States would provide aid to its allies in times of need. A reassessment of American foreign policy, and a move to the era of negotiation was a must. Nixon needed to first extricate the country’s forces from Vietnam. Secondly, the country needed to ease the overall tension in Berlin and the Middle East. Thirdly, according to domestic ideological demands, and due to the increasingly threatening possibility of a surprise attack, nuclear arms controls had to be carried out. Removing these problems would remedy the damage done in such a period. The problem was to figure out how. The existent schools of diplomacy did not suggest a favorable method. Nixon’s foreign policy advisors decided not to stick on preceding principles or theories, but adhere to only one basic priority, National Interest. This doctrine tried to adjust the degree of U.S. intervention in various regions by adopting three criteria in its diplomatic decision: - The United States would keep its treaty commitments - The United States would "provide a shield if a nuclear power...
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...spend on different key themes * Ideas for incorporating and developing the assessment skills related to each unit. Suggested teaching time This is based on a two year teaching course of five and a half terms with one and a half hours of history teaching each week. This would be a seventy week course with total teaching time of approximately 100 hours. The schemes suggest the following timescale for the different sections: * Paper 1: 20 hours for each of the two topics: Total 40 hours. * Paper 2 Section A: 20 hours for the topic: Total 20 hours. * Paper 2 Section B: 25 hours for the topic since it covers a longer period in time. Total 25 hours. * Revision: 15 hours. Possible options for those with less teaching time * 20 hours for Section Paper 2 Section B * 10 hours for revision. Other course planning support You will find other support for planning the course in the Teacher’s Guide. This is a free downloadable resource that you can access at www.edexcel.com/certificate. Edexcel Subject Advisors Edexcel has a team of specialist subject advisors available to help you with implementation of this specification. You can contact them by email...
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...One Million Dead for Naught The involvement of U.S. military forces in the Vietnam Conflict was neither justifiable nor demonstrative of sound judgment by the American government. Many books, magazines, and other forms of commentary on the Vietnam War have surfaced in the half century since the war’s end. Historian and author Stanley Karnow suggests that such publications generally attempt to make sense of the horrific “war that nobody won” (Karnow 9). It is a subject that will continue endlessly to divide historians and others as they attempt to draw lessons from the conflict that might then be used to justify, condemn, or promote America’s involvement in modern day Vietnams. Because of the magnitude of complexities surrounding the war, some may find it difficult to formulate an unwavering opinion about the war’s causes and effects. According to Robert McNamara, who served as Secretary of Defense for Presidents Kennedy and Johnson, mankind has often struggled to find solutions to even simple problems related to the unification of values and ideologies spanning diverse cultures (McNamara 323). In order to fairly judge why the American government put our troops in the jungles, swamps, and fields of Vietnam, one might first closely examine why our government claims to have committed our troops to Vietnam. One of the reasons most adamantly advanced by our government to justify a full scale assault on the Vietcong of North Vietnam was an incident that is said to have occurred...
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...consequently Mao Zedong criticised peaceful coexistence and dismissed the U.S nuclear threat as a ‘paper tiger.’ The Geneva Peace conference happened in July 1954, at the conference Indochina was divided into Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia. Vietnam was divided again at the 17th Parallel between the communist north and the democratic south in an interim arrangement pending elections. The U.S support cancelled the elections with the leader of South Vietnam when polls proved that Vietminh would win 80 percent of the vote. With democracy being defended in Asia, the United States supported the corrupt dictatorships of Diem in Vietnam, Rhee in South Korea and Jiang Jieshi in Formasa. However peaceful coexistence was boosted with the end of the war in Indochina and the ‘Spirit of Geneva’, but military threats faded the new battleground it became military and provided economic aid to the third world. Khrushchev decided that peaceful coexistence was not a realistic policy...
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...October 10, 2011 The Arab Oil Embargo of 1973 The Arab oil embargo of 1973 resulted after the formation of Israel [ (American Business) ]. After WWII Israel was created. The formation of Israel upset surrounding Arab countries because they wanted “Israel to return to Arab land it had been occupying since 1967” [ (If Americans Knew) ]. During October 1973, “Egypt and Syria attacked Israel, starting the Yomkippur War” [ (American Business) ]. “Persian Gulf oil producers” wanted to weaken any ties between the United States and Israel. As a result of the United States helping Israel during the war, OPEC (Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries) decided to end all exports to the United States as well as any other western countries that supported Israel [ (American Business) ]. “Saudi Arabia’s King Faisal ibn Abdul Aziz had been warning the Nixon administration of an oil boycott” [ (If Americans Knew) ]. Even with warning from Saudi Arabia, the Nixon administration ignored any threats of an oil boycott. With the boycott, gas prices increased 45 percent [ (American Business) ]. Many business passed on the costs to their customers, while other businesses closed down. The oil embargo lasted only five months from October 17, 1973-March 17, 1974 [ (American Business) ]. Although it only lasted five months, the embargo affected the lives of many people long after it was over. Resulting from the embargo was a long term effect that encouraged “the government, businesses...
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...The Truman Doctrine Shortly after World War II had ended the Cold War began in 1945. The Cold War was fought between the United States and the U.S.S.R. The Cold War got its name because it never got “hot” with action of an actual battle. It was more of a verbal fighting and threating to blow up each other but never actually doing it. When the United States decided to drop a bomb on Japan, the U.S.S.R was mad the United States had secretly developed the bomb. Then Russia started spreading communism and the Truman Doctrine helped stop the spread of communism. According to www.historylearningsite.co.uk/truman_doctrine, The Truman doctrine happened March 12, 1947. It was a speech by President Harry S. Truman. The Truman Doctrine gave economic and military aid to Greece and Turkey because they were threatened by communism. At this point in time there was already a policy trying to contain communism called the Containment Policy. The Containment Policy was a reaction to a series of moves by the Soviet Union to expand communist influence in Eastern European, China, Korea, and Vietnam. Similar to the containment policy the Truman doctrine of the United States was to “support free people who are resisting being conquered by armed minorities or by outside pressures”, which was said directly by President Truman. Truman had to convince congress that a crisis in two far away countries would threaten the security of the United States, and that four hundred million dollars was needed to save...
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...boarders and coast lines as defensive mechanisms, conversely though, China is known for tactfully moving in-land and using its terrain for defence; which form up to two thirds of China’s land (Gaddis, 2005). Will Hutton argues that China has “burst back on to the world scene in a manner parcelled in scale and speed in world history only by the rise of the United States.” It first endured a “century of humiliation” (Lecture). Opium Wars dominated China in the 1840s until 1860, after which the Taiping Rebellion – a civil war, revolting against the Quing Dynasty took place, closely followed by the Boxer Uprising – a rebellion provoked by imperialist expansion (Gaddis, 2005). Looking at this, we can see that China has been closely linked to war throughout the last century. More recently, it had a major role, following the former Communist Soviet Union in the Cold war, where China endured crises by both foreign and internal, such as Mao Zeodong’s attempts to bring China forward in the world, and the Tiananmen Square massacre. Throughout the Cold War, “China conveyed the appearance,...
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...SARAH ELM- Mr. Regan, Looking back, what would you describe as the principles of The New Right? PRESIDENT RONALD REGAN- The principles were that people could come together and network to achieve a goal, or many goals, not only conservative Christians but a credible coalition of people. SARAH ELM-Why did you support The New Right? PRESIDENT RONALD REGAN- I felt like I should use my popularity to bring awareness to the policies I believed in and it was my duty to be a part of this mission to create a strong and steady republican party. SARAH ELM- What were your intentions at the end of the Cold War? PRESIDENT RONALD REGAN- My number one priority was an end to nuclear weapons buildups. An agreement not to expand atomic arsenals was what we needed and the slowing of arms control incentives is what lead to achieving this. SARAH ELM- How would you describe the Regan Doctrine? PRESIDENT RONALD REGAN- The Regan doctrine was our support to any country who opposed communism whether or not they had any direct connection to the Soviet Union. SARAH ELM- What did you want to show the world about the United States of America with this doctrine? PRESIDENT RONALD REGAN- I simply wanted the world to know that there was a new American activism who supports all how oppose communism. SARAH ELM- Why did you propose supply-side economics? PRESIDENT RONALD REGAN- We needed to take a bold move in order to restore our economy in 1980. Excessive taxation was one of the major causes of the...
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...is the fact that there may not be a warning siren, though it is expected there will be. The idea was to educate children about the possibility of an attack and how, it was thought to be, the best way to they could protect themselves. Living Under the Threat of Nuclear War Living under the threat of nuclear war must have been an extremely stressful experience. To live life in constant fear that a nuclear bomb could detonate at a moments notice would cause anxiety and fear, making many people fearful of leaving the (perceived) safety of their homes. This must have been especially true for children that may not have fully been able to comprehend the threat. In the comments section of the video, one viewer wrote “I used to have nightmares about the "Bomb" when I was a kid. It was such a nebulous but terrifying thing. In school we had this sort of "duck and cover" propaganda complete with drills and explanations about the "bright flash", etc. As a child, one of my big fears was that this horrible thing called the "Bomb" would happen WHEN I WAS NOT AT SCHOOL! To my 6-year-old mind, the only safe place in the world was under my desk at school!” (C. Random, September 10, 2005). The Threat of Nuclear War Compared to the Threat of Terrorism The threat of danger was and is real in both cases. Terrorists are responsible for the attacks on the Pentagon on September 11, 2001...
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...Conceptions of the Cold War James Brinkley The Cold War was a bloodless battle fought on the political front for over 40 years. It was not declared over until 1991, with the fall of communism and the USSR. During this war, there were no lives lost but billions of dollars spent by both countries playing a worldwide chess game with nuclear warheads. For the research on this topic, I conducted interviews and got personal opinions on matters related to the cold war. The people interviewed were two military personnel and a female homemaker. I wanted to get varied opinions on this topic to determine how well they grasped the topic. The first topic discussed was “what comes to your mind when you think of the term Cold War.” Unanimously, all three responded with similar answers. They described the cold war as a war between Russia and the United States of America to determine who would have advantage during a nuclear war. I found this interesting as the term was originally coined in the 14th century by Don Juan Manuel describing the conflict between Christianity and Islam. The modern terminology is synonymous with the battle less conflict between the USSR and the United States of America. Also found in my research that the Cold War was not only about nuclear supremacy, but about being the number one super power in the world on all fronts. Tied in to Cold War Politics is also the “Space Race” where both parties raced to have supremacy in space as well as on the earth. The second...
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...Immigration Immigration laws in United States are in need of regulation because immigrants are unfairly forced to leave the country after establishing residency and employment. The American law says as long as a person is born here then he or she is considered an American citizen. But, this law proves to be quite inconvenient for many adults, most of whom are parents to American-born children, are either allowed or illegally migrate to the United States. These immigrants are looking for a better way of life for their children who will be born into this country; as well as the families that many United States immigrants leave behind. Some immigrants from countries like Haiti, Africa and Mexico look for and work visas in order to get American employment. But, a visa does not guarantee elimination from being deported. This country benefits from the talents that many immigrants have. However, the United States pay these type of employees very little. Many employees are often told to leave the country due to non-citizenship. Immigration begin with illegal immigrants being processed into this country. Some people were denied as race and class was a major reason. The first colonies of immigrants worried about diseases and adapting unpredictable weather. Then there was slavery, which was one of the first regulated immigration systems to exist in. These people were unfortunate. Today, immigration is highly favored due to many odd jobs taken on by many immigrants...
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...Afghanistan. PDPA was a Communist party and therefore held close ties to the Soviet Union. The PDPA instituted many political and social reforms in Afghanistan, including abolishing religious and traditional customs. These reforms incensed groups of Afghans who believed in adherence to traditional and religious laws. These factions began to challenge the government so rigorously that in 1979, the Soviet Army entered Afghanistan, beginning an occupation that would last a decade. This is the historical point in The Kite Runner when Baba and Amir leave Afghanistan. Throughout the ten years of Soviet occupation, internal Muslim forces put up a resistance. Farid and his father are examples in The Kite Runner of these mujahedins or men engaged in war on the side of Islam. The United States was among the countries that supported the resistance, because of its own anti-Soviet policies. When the Soviet Troops finally withdrew in 1989, Afghanistan remained under PDPA for three more years. Then in 1992, in the wake of the collapse of the Soviet Union and therefore Soviet support for the government, the mujahedin finally won Afghanistan and converted it to an Islamic...
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...Maria F Castrillo Moral Life: A study in Ethic Tiffany Sutton Friday, 6 September 2013 3 Dilemmas One of the most controversial decisions in America history, the moral dilemma of President Truman had to face during the War World II, whether invasion or the bomb, a problem in intelligent choice and a matter of life and death. Truman ordered US planes to drop atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. An argument supporting his decision would be that it saved many lives and ended the war. However an invasion of Japan would have been very costly and both sides would have had more losses. An argument against his decision would be that it was wrong to directly target civilians. It also caused long-term damage as many people developed cancer and other illnesses from the radiation left by the atomic bomb. Whether to use the atom bomb on Japan to end the 3 and a half year war. He used it, and it was responsible for the deaths of tens of thousands of Japanese citizens and soldiers. But it did force the Japanese to surrender once and for all. I honestly think this was the wrong way to end the conflict; war is never the answered. Another ethical dilemma that attracts my attention is a situation in which a person is faced with two choices which conflict with their ethical system. Per example in your ethical system stealing is always wrong. Also letting one's family die from starvation is always wrong. A person in such a situation would be forced to commit one wrong to avoid...
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