US involvement in the Cold War was not always popular.

Mark scheme

Marking points from the official mark scheme (Oct/Nov 2021). The mark or mark type is shown in brackets.

1. [1] The Gulf of Tonkin incident took place in 1964.
2. [1] American warships were attacked in the Gulf of Tonkin.
3. [1] They were attacked by North Vietnamese gunboats.
4. [1] The United States claimed they were in international waters.
5. [1] The American Congress gave President Johnson authority to act.
6. [1] The American Congress passed the Tonkin Gulf Resolution.
7. [1] As a result of the attack, ground troops were sent to Vietnam in 1965.
8. [1] After this incident, Operation Rolling Thunder was initiated.
9. [1] The incident led to the USA fighting in Vietnam.
10. [1] Some claimed it was an excuse to attack North Vietnam.
11. [1] American soldiers were being killed.
12. [1] The war was seen on TV and people saw the effects of using napalm.
13. [1] The My Lai massacre shocked the American people.
14. [1] The war was reported on TV which had not happened before.
15. [1] The US was not making progress in the war/the war was unwinnable.
16. [1] The soldiers who were conscripted were young.
17. [1] The war was considered a waste of money and resources.
18. [1] The Tet Offensive increased doubts about a possible success.
19. [1] The war highlighted racial inequality.
20. [1] Walter Kronkite's reports on CBS had tremendous influence.
21. [1] It was an unpopular war.
22. [4-5] One reason the US public turned against the Vietnam War was the My Lai massacre. In revenge for the Tet Offensive in 1968, a small group of American soldiers killed unarmed Vietnamese civilians in a village called My Lai. The public was horrified when they found out what had happened.
23. [1] The USA failed because the whole of Vietnam became communist.
24. [1] In Vietnam, the US failed to stop the spread of communism from the north.
25. [1] As a result, neighbouring Laos and Cambodia became communist.
26. [1] US forces, under the UN, pushed North Korea back to its border.
27. [1] The USA had stopped the spread of communism in South Korea.
28. [1] Cuba remained communist after the Cuban missile crisis.
29. [1] Castro remained in power and was allied with the USSR.
30. [1] Kennedy's critics did not want to see communism on the US's doorstep.
31. [1] Kennedy was happy to isolate Cuba with no trade and no diplomatic contact.
32. [1] The US managed to contain communism in Cuba for the immediate future.
33. [1] The Marshall Plan prevented some states becoming communist in Europe.
34. [1] The Berlin Airlift saved West Berlin from becoming communist.
35. [1] The policy of containment was designed to stop the spread of communism.
36. [7-9] The war in Vietnam was one example of the US failing to contain the spread of communism. The US wanted to stop the domino effect whereby if one country fell to communism then the surrounding ones would follow. The USA failed to defeat the Vietcong in South Vietnam and, after the evacuation of US troops, the South was overrun. As a result of Vietnam becoming communist, so did Laos and Cambodia.
37. [7-9] In some ways the US succeeded in containing communism. In the Korean War the USA used the UN to reinforce its foreign policy to contain the spread of communism. The USA was determined to end the aggression of North Korea in 1950. Although it did not unite Korea under Syngman Rhee, it pushed back the communists to the 38th Parallel.