HCI 2025 C2 H2 History Prelims Paper 1

This document consists of 4 printed pages. Excluding cover page. HWA CHONG INSTITUTION PRELIMINARY EXAMINATION Higher 2 CANDIDATE NAME CT GROUP INDEX NUMBER HISTORY Paper 1 Shaping the International Order (1945 – 2000) Additional Materials: Answer Paper 9 174 /01 August 202 5 3 hours INSTRUCTIONS TO CANDIDATES Write your name and CT class clearly in the spaces at the top of this page. Write in dark blue or black pen on both sides of the paper. Do not use staples, paper clips, highlighters, glue or correction fluid. Section A Attempt Question 1. Section B Answer two questions. Please start every question on a fresh page and label each question clearly. If you did not manage to attempt a question, write down the question number you would have attempted on the cover page of the booklet. At the end of the examination, insert any additional 4-page booklets used for responses into the 12-page booklet. This document consists of 5 printed pages, including the coverpage . The number of marks is given in brackets [ ] at the end of each question or part question.

9 174 /HCI/ Preliminary Examination/ 202 5 1 Section A You must answer Question 1. COLLAPSE OF COMMUNISM IN EASTERN EUROPE 1. Read the sources and then answer the question. Source A A fter the Second World War we were saddled with a system, a communist system, which we did not accept. T here was not a single moment when the struggle had subsided for the overthrow of the yoke of the communist regime. And that is why any discontent was used and led us in the direction of overthrowing the system of communism. T his was all about people clamouring for freedom. People wanting to overthrow Communism as a system. Now, the greatest struggle in many ways took place in 1970 as anti-government demonstrations in response to rising prices . It was in fact at the Gdansk Shipyard where I was a leader and was involved in directing this fight at the time. But after the second day of our struggle of that strike it became clear to me that we didn ’t have so much as a prayer of victory; we weren ’t organized at all. We start ed preparing for a serious and smarter struggle. W hat you have here is a chain of subsequent events, which led us to August of 1980 ; the strike organized by workers from the Lenin Shipyard that led to the formation of Solidarity. Extracts from an interview with Lech Walesa, leader of Solidarity in Poland Source B “Communication between the state and society has obviously broken down in our country. Evidence of this is widespread disillusionment, to the point of withdrawal into the private sphere or mass emigration. Elsewhere, refugee movements of this size are caused by poverty, hunger, and violence. None of that exists here. This disturbed relationship between state and society is paralyzing our creative potential … We want protection from violence without having to put up with a state full of henchmen and spies. We want effective health care for everyone but do not want people taking sick leave at others ’ expense. We want to participate in export and world trade without becoming either the debtors and servants of leading industrial states or the exploiters and creditors of economically weaker nations. In order to recognize all these contradictions , we need a democratic dialogue on the responsibilities of the state, the economy, and culture. ” Open Letter from a group of East German intellectuals , September 9, 1989

9 174 /HCI/ Preliminary Examination/ 202 5 2 Source C A political cartoon in an American publication Source D American presidents come to Berlin because it's our duty to speak, in this place, of freedom. In the West, we see a free world achieving an unprecedented level of prosperity and well- being. In the Communist world, we see failure, technological backwardness, declining standards of health, want of the most basic kind. After these four decades there stands before the entire world one inescapable conclusion: freedom leads to prosperity. And now the Soviets themselves may be coming to understand the importance of freedom. We hear much from Moscow about a new policy of reform and openness. Some political prisoners have been released. Certain foreign news broadcasts are no longer being jammed. Some economic enterprises have been permitted to operate with greater freedom. We welcome change and there is one sign the Soviets can make that would advance dramatically the cause of freedom and peace. General Secretary Gorbachev, come here and tear down this. From a speech by President Reagan in Berlin, 12 June 1987. Source E

9 174 /HCI/ Preliminary Examination/ 202 5 3 Before Gorbachev ’s vision had a chance to be implemented, the Cold War ended in Eastern Europe, swept away by the rising tide of popular movements. His hopes for a measured process controlled from above did not materialize. Instead, East Europeans took the initiative and were able to use the Bush administration ’s pause and the confusion on both sides of the Atlantic to their own advantage — holding free elections, tearing down the Wall, and eventually dissolving the Warsaw Pact. The Soviet leadership found itself behind the flow of events, reacting rather than directing them. Even though Gorbachev was shocked by Helmut Kohl ’s 10-point speech of November 28, 1989, and by Bush ’s apparent support for the German drive for quick reunification, he tried to salvage as much as possible of his vision of the common European home, hoping to achieve it at the Paris summit of the Conference for Security and Cooperation in Europe . According to his vision, Eastern Europe was part of the European process, the European scenario, which ruled out the use of force. All the evidence available today makes it clear that the Soviet reformers realized that a recourse to violence would mean the end of their entire experiment and the failure of Gorbachev ’s vision. Extracts from a n academic publication , 2010 Source F A greater portion of the cause belongs to Mikhail Gorbachev. Gorbachev wanted to reform communism, not replace it. However, his reform snowballed into a revolution driven from below rather than controlled from above. When he first came to power in 1985, Gorbachev tried to discipline the Soviet people as a way to overcome the existing economic stagnation. When discipline was not enough to solve the problem, he launched the idea of perestroika, or "restructuring," but the bureaucrats kept thwarting his orders. To light a fire under the bureaucrats, he used a strategy of glasnost, or open discussion and democratization. But once glasnost let people say what they were thinking, many people said, "We want out." By the summer of 1989, Eastern Europeans were given more degrees of freedom. Gorbachev refused to use force to put down demonstrations. By November, the Berlin Wall was pierced. An opinion piece from an academic , 20 09 Now answer the following questions: a) Compare and contrast source A and B on popular movements in Poland and East Germany at the ending of the Cold War . [10] b) How far do source A to F show that the collapse of communism in Eastern Europe was due to ‘top -down decision making ’? [30]

9174 /HCI/Preliminary Examination/ 2025 Section B You must answer two questions from this section. EITHER 2 How far do you agree that protectionism during the 20 th century brought about more harm than good to the global economy ? [30] OR 3 “The Japanese economic miracle of the 20 th century was the result of fortuitous global conditions ”. Discuss. [30] AND 4 “The Cold War made the management of the Arab Israeli Conflict between 1947 and 1979 an impossible mission ”. Discuss. [30] OR 5 To what extent was the Congo Crisis of the 1960s a product of colonialism ? [30] END OF PAPER Acknowledgements: Source A “Lech Wa łę sa: Gda ń sk as a Hub of Unrest, ” Freedom Collection , George W. Bush Presidential Center . Source B “Founding Appeal of the New Forum, ” September 9, 1989