GCSE Paper 2 - 2006 Sources and Questions @ IvoHistory

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                The Russia Revolution, c.1910-24 - Sources or Questions
                Conflict in Vietnam, c.1963-75 - Sources or Questions

Russia - Sources
Source A:	From 'Russia in Revolution', a book published in 1978.
At a meeting of the Central Committee of the Bolshevik Party on the 10 October, 1917, there was much discussion and disagreement. Lenin had the firm support of 15 of the 25 committee members for an uprising. The other 10, led by Kamenev and Zinoviev, felt that the uprising would be a disaster. Bolshevik plans went along in a casual way. Lenin seemed to become very lazy. So far as the record goes, he did nothing from 20 to 23 October.
Source B:	A photograph of Lenin speaking to a crowd in Petrograd in 1917.
Source C:	From 'V. I. Lenin, A Short Biography', by G. D. Obichkin, published in 1976.
On the 10 October 1917, Lenin showed the Central Committee that the time was ripe for the seizure of power by the proletariat and the peasants. The Central Committee accepted Lenin's historic decision about the armed uprising. Kamenev and Zinoviev, alone, acted as cowards and opposed his decision. The uprising was carried out in full agreement with Lenin's instructions. In the guidance of the uprising, Lenin's genius as a leader of the masses stood out. He was a wise and fearless planner who clearly saw what direction the revolution would take.
Source D:	From 'Memoirs', by Alexander Kerensky, published in 1966.
At the headquarters of the Petrograd Military District, the night of 25-26 October was a time of tense expectation. The government was waiting for troops to arrive from the war front. They had been summoned by me in good time and were due in Petrograd on the morning of 26 October. The hours of the night dragged on painfully. From everywhere we expected reinforcements, but none appeared. Under various excuses, the Cossack regiments stubbornly stayed in their barracks.
Source E:	A painting made in the 1930s by a Soviet artist, showing the storming of the Winter Palace, 26 October 1917.
Source F:	From 'A History of the Russian Revolution', published in 1996.
The Bolshevik Party was greatly strengthened by Trotsky's entry into the party. No one else in the leadership came anywhere near him as a public speaker. Trotsky, perhaps even more so than Lenin, was the best known Bolshevik leader in the country. Whereas Lenin was the master planner of the party, working behind the scenes, Trotsky was the main source of public inspiration. During the weeks leading up to the seizure of power he spoke almost every night in front of a packed house.

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Vietnam - Sources
Source A:	From an account given by an officer in the North Vietnamese Army about the Tet Offensive of 1968.
When the Tet Offensive was over, we and the Vietcong didn't have enough men to fight a major battle, only to make hit-and-run attacks on enemy posts. So many men had been killed that morale was very low. We spent a great deal of time hiding in tunnels, trying to avoid being captured. We experienced quite a few desertions and many of our people drifted back to their homes.
Source B:	A photograph taken in 1968 showing US troops trying to regain the US Embassy in Saigon, which had been captured by the Vietcong during the Tet Offensive.
Source C:	From a book about the Cold War, published in 1998.
In propaganda terms, the Tet Offensive was a magnificent victory for the Vietcong. They had shown they could attack at will, launching simultaneous attacks on more than one hundred cities. In Saigon a commando unit reached the US embassy compound and had to be flushed out man by man. This feat, which took place in front of television cameras, stunned US public opinion. Yet the Tet Offensive failed in its aim of inspiring a popular rising across South Vietnam and led to massive losses of some of the Vietcong's best fighters.
Source D:	A Vietcong poster of 1966, showing guerrilla tactics used to fight US forces.
Source E:	From an account given by Trinh Duc, a member of the Vietcong. In the late 1970s he fled from Vietnam and settled in the USA where he told his story of the war.
There was no way we could stand up to the army of the USA. Every time they came in force we ran from them. Then when they turned up, we'd follow them. We practically lived on top of them, so they couldn't hit us with artillery and air strikes. The US style was to hit us, then call for planes and artillery. Our response was to break contact and disappear if we could, but if we couldn't we'd move up right next to them so the planes couldn't get at us.
Source F:	From a book about the Vietnam War, published in 1992.
An increasing number of US recruits scored so low on the standardised intelligence tests that they would have been excluded from the normal peacetime army. The tour of duty in Vietnam was one year. Soldiers were most likely to die in their first month. The huge majority of deaths took place in the first six months. Just as a soldier began gaining experience, he was sent home. The USA had an inexperienced army which constantly put newly arrived troops against experienced Vietcong guerrillas who were fighting on their home ground.

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All sources and questions on this page taken from Edexcel Limited. Photos from various sources as acknowledged by Edexcel. Questions copyright of Edexcel.

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