a.

Hoover became so unpopular in America between 1919 and 1932 simply because he wasnt seen to be doing enough to end the great depression that the American public were suffering. His laissez faire policy made him look very indifferent to the needs of the American people, and had been blamed for the depression in the first place. This blame was evident from the fact that shanty towns were named after him, as shown by source C, which depicts one of his hoovervilles being burnt down by the US army. Also, the little that Hoover did try to do went wrong, for example, he increased tariffs on imports to America from foreign countries. Which instead of generating more money, as was expected, actually scared away the foreign trade that America needed. However, the largest factor in hoovers unpopularity were the bonus marches of 1932, where under hoovers instructions, US soldiers used tear gas and batons on a group of army veterans who were campaigning to get their war pensions early. This shocked and disgusted the American people, as the violence caused by MacArthur and his troops was completely disproportionate to the scale of the march, as shown by the burning shanty houses in source C. Hoover then made his unpopularity even worse when he condoned what MacArthur had done instead of condemning it. b. I do not agree with this statement, as there were many factors that contributed the US withdrawal from the Vietnam War, with guerrilla tactics being just one of them. For example, opposition, motivation and morale in the American camp played a key part in the loss of the Vietnamese war, as soldiers were uneducated and didnt support the war, so werent as dedicated or motivated as the Viet Cong and thus didnt fight as well. Also, media coverage caused lots of protests in America such as the Kent state university protest, where the American flag was burnt. This painted the soldiers in a bad light and pressured the government into making bad decisions, such as My Lai. The unpopularity of the South Vietnamese regime was also important as it was cruel and corrupt, the fact that the Americans were seen to back this made securing the hearts and minds of the South Vietnamese even harder. Thirdly, US military tactics such as search and destroy failed due to inadequate soldiers and information. This resulted in atrocities as frustrated troops attacked civilians. Operation rolling thunder was a failure as well, because it cost a ridiculous amount of money and didnt succeed in its aim of knocking out the Ho Chi Mihn trail, which was vital to the Viet Cong as it allowed them to ferry resources and troops across Vietnam with ease. If the Americans had destroyed it, it would have made winning the war a much more realistic goal. However, I can see why some may think that Vietcong guerrilla tactics were the main reason why the U.S lost the Vietnam War as they allowed the Viet Cong to compete with the Americans despite the obvious gap in technology and weaponry by using close quarter warfare where superior weaponry and air support was useless. Guerrilla tactics also wore down the American resolve and destroyed their morale through use of traps such as bouncing Bettys (which often injured, but did not kill, putting a strain on enemy resources), creating the perfect atmosphere for atrocities such as My Lai. Guerrilla warfare also provided the Viet Cong with the determination that was required to keep the Ho chi Mihn trail open throughout operation rolling thunder, which was instrumental in their victory over the Americans. Also, guerrilla tactics included maintaining a good relationship with civilians, often helping them out with farming and such, making the Hearts and Minds aim of the Americans much harder. To conclude, I think that although guerrilla tactics were a key factor in the withdrawal of the

US, the combined importance of other factors such as opposition, motivation and morale as well as the failure of US military tactics greatly outweighed the Vietcong tactics in importance.