zhonghua 2024 elective history prelim

Zhonghua Section A: Source-Based Study (30 marks) Question 1 is compulsory for all candidates. Study the Background Information and the sources carefully, and then answer all the questions. You may use any of the sources to help you answer the questions, in addition to those sources you are told to use. In answering the questions you should use your knowledge of the topic to help you interpret and evaluate the sources. 1aStudy Source A. What is the message of the source? Explain your answer. [4] bStudy Sources B and C. Does Source C prove Source B wrong about the USSR’s actions in Eastern Europe? Explain your answer. [6] cStudy Source D. Are you surprised by Source D? Explain your answer. [6] dStudy Source E. How useful is Source E in helping you understand the reason for the outbreak of the Cold War? Explain your answer. [6] eStudy all the sources. “The Cold War broke out because of ideological differences between the USA and USSR.” How far do the sources support this statement? Use the sources and your knowledge to explain your answer. [8] The Outbreak of the Cold War BACKGROUND INFORMATION Read this carefully. It may help you answer some of the questions.

By the time the Truman Doctrine was announced in March 1947, there was little doubt that relations between the USA and the USSR had deteriorated to the extent that a ‘Cold War’ was said to exist between the two powers. Following Truman’s announcement that the USA would seek to ‘contain’ the actions of the USSR, both superpowers took actions to strengthen themselves and challenge each other. Economically, the USA’s announcement of the Marshall Plan (June 1947) was met with the Soviet Union’s announcement of the Molotov Plan (July 1947). Military and geographical blocs followed in the subsequent years. Some historians argue that the Cold War began as early as 1922 when the Soviet Union was formed, while others argue that actions by each superpower during and after World War II also contributed to tensions and mistrust. Did the Cold War break out due to ideological differences between the two superpowers? Source A:A cartoon published in an American newspaper, 1949.

Note to Students: As leader of the USSR, Stalin held the highest military rank of “Marshal of the Soviet Union.” Source B:From an interview with Stalin in Pravda, the official newspaper of the USSR, 14 March 1946. Our actions have been described as ‘boundless expansionism’. But one cannot forget that the Germans invaded the USSR through Finland, Poland, Romania, Bulgaria and Hungary. The Germans were able to carry out the invasion through these countries because these countries had governments which were against the Soviet Union. As a result of the German invasion, the Soviet Union has lost around 7 million people. We have lost in men several times more than Britain and the United States together. Is it surprising that the Soviet Union, in our desire to ensure our security for the future, aims for these countries to have governments which are loyal to us? How can our peaceful aspirations be described as ‘boundless expansionism’? Source C:From a speech to the US Congress by President Harry Truman, 12 March 1947. The people in some Eastern European countries have recently had dictatorships forced upon them, in violation of the Yalta agreement. In a number of other countries there have been similar developments.

At the present moment nearly every nation must choose between alternative ways of life. One way of life is based upon the will of the majority, with representative government, free elections, freedom of speech, and freedom from political oppression. The second way relies upon terror and oppression, a controlled press and radio, fixed elections, and the suppression of personal freedoms. It must be the policy of the United States to support free peoples who are resisting outside pressures. We must assist free peoples to work out their own destinies. Source D:From a public speech by US Secretary of State George Marshall, 5 June 1947. Europe must receive substantial additional help, or face serious economic, social and political problems. The remedy lies in restoring the confidence of the European people in the economic future of their own countries and of Europe as a whole. It is logical that the United States should do whatever it is able to do to assist in the return of normal economic health in the world, without which there can be no political stability and no assured peace. Our policy is directed not against any country or ideology but against hunger, poverty, desperation and chaos. The revival of Europe’s economy will create political and social conditions in which free institutions can exist. Source E: An account by an American historian, 2005. Stalin’s vision of post-war Europe was one that would secure his own and his country’s security. When one state acts to make itself safer, it diminishes the security of another state, which in turn tries to repair the damage through measures that diminish the security of the first state. There was a growing sense of insecurity in Washington, London, and Moscow, due to the efforts of their leaders to ensure their own post-war security. With their enemies defeated, there was less incentive for these former allies to keep their anxieties under control. Each crisis that arose fed the next one, with the result that a divided Europe became a reality.

Section B: Essays (20 marks) Answer two questions. 2Explain why the Treaty of Versailles impacted Germany negatively. [10] 3Explain how the Allies contributed to the defeat of Germany in World War II. [10] 4Explain how Gorbachev’s actions contributed to the collapse of the USSR. [10]