SNGS 2025 HIST PRELIM P1 QP+MS

1 Name: _________________________ ( ) Class: _____________ PRELIMINARY EXAMINATION GENERAL CERTIFICATE OF EDUCATION ORDINARY LEVEL HISTORY Paper 1 European Dominance and Challenges (1870s-1945) 2174/01 22 August 2025 1 hour 50 minutes READ THESE INSTRUCTIONS FIRST Write your name, register number, and class on all the work you hand in. Write in dark blue or black pen on both sides of the paper. Do not use highlighters, glue or correction fluid. Section A Answer all parts of Question 1. Section B Answer two questions. The number of marks is given in brackets [ ] at the end of each question or part question. The total number of marks for this paper is 50. At the end of the examination, fasten all your work securely together. You may keep the question paper. ______________________________________________________________________ This document consists of 6 printed pages and 2 blank pages. [Turn Over

2 Section A (Source-Based Case Study) Question 1 is compulsory for all candidates. Study 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 were told to use. In answering the questions, you should use your knowledge of the topic to help you interpret and evaluate the sources. 1 (a) Study Source A. What can you learn from the source about British attitude towards colonialism in the 19th century. Explain your answer. [5] (b) Study Sources B and C. Having read Source B, are you surprised by Source C? Explain your answer. [6] (c) Study Source D. How useful is t he source in helping you understand the motivation for British intervention in Perak? Explain your answer. [6] (d) Study Source E. Why do think the journal article was published? Explain your answer. [5] (e) Study all sources. “British intervention in the Malay states was to protect their own interest.’ How far do these sources support this view? Use the sources and your knowledge to explain your answer. [8]

3 British Intervention in the Malay States. BACKGROUND INFORMATION Read this carefully. It may help you to answer some of the questions. By 1824, t he British had successfully established trading bases in Penang, Melaka and Singapore under a unified administration known as the Straits Settlements. From 1824 to 1873, the British was careful not to interfere in the affairs of the Malay states. In 1867 when the Straits Settlements was transferred from the control of the India Office to the Colonial Office in London, the Straits community hoped to see a more active role of the British in the Malay states. The resource rich Malay states were supposed ly to be in decline and in anarchy. However, from 1867 to 1873, the policy of non-intervention was more rigidly maintained. The man who changed the policy to intervention was Andrew Clarke. Clarke was appointed as Governor of the Stratis Settlement in 1873. He arrived in Singapore in September 1873 and was actively preparing for the office. He was officially sworn in as the Governor of the Straits Settlements on 4 November 1873. What caused the British to change their policy? Source A A cartoonist’s impression of British colonialism in the 19th century.

4 Source B Adapted from Sir Andrew Clarke’s letter to Colonial Secretary Lord Kimberley on 10 September 1873. “The condition of the Malay Peninsula is becoming very serious. It is the old story of misgovernment of the Asiatic States. This might go on without any serious consequences except the stoppage of trade. Consequently, the European and Chinese capitalists stimulated by the great riches in tin mines in some of the Malay States are suggesting to the Native Princes that they should seek the aid of Europeans including us. We are the paramount power on the Peninsula up to the limit of the States tributary to Siam and looking to the vicinity of India and our whole position in the East. However, it would be a serious matter to us if any other European Power were to obtain a footing on the Peninsula and control these states.” Source C Taken from Frank Swettenham’s book British Malaya published in 1907. Lord Kimberley had, however, furnished Sir Andrew Clarke with instructions of the first importance, showing a disposition to make an entirely new departure, and to recognise the duty forced upon England, as the dominant Power, to interfere in the Malay States and put a stop to a disgraceful state of affairs. The duty was imperative from motives of humanity alone; but it was equally certain that to undertake it would be highly beneficial to British interests and British trade, though these pleas had hitherto been dismissed as of no importance. Source D Raja Abdullah’s letter to Sir Andrew Clarke dated 30 December 1873. Raja Abdullah was a claimant to the Perak throne. We and our great men request the Governor, who is now our arbitrator and mediator, to aid us by inquiring into these disturbances with authority, so that they may cease, and be settled properly and with justice. And if all these dissensions are brought to an end and set right, and the country is restored to peace, we and our great men desire to settle under the sheltering protection of the English flag.

5 Source E Taken from a journal article published in 2012 by a Malay historian. It is essential to reiterate that there had never been a genuine ‘civil war’ or ‘anarchy’ among the Perak Malays in the 1870s until the involvement of external parties, which had ulterior motives. Conflicts stirred by the external elements, began to surface involving a few select individuals, particularly between Raja Abdullah and Ngah Ibrahim, as the former tried to seize tin-rich Larut from the latter. However, this conflict was more personal in nature and did not involve the majority of the Perak chiefs and the Malay population. There had been neither threat to the citizens of Perak nor major bloodshed and certainly no anarchy that would threaten the political stability of the state. In sum, ‘Malay feudalism’, ‘civil war’ and ‘anarchy’ that had been frequently asserted to prevail in Perak in the 1870s are just terms invented especially by the British colonial officials to justify their intervention. Source F An excerpt from the Petition to Governor of the Straits Settlements Harry Ord, dated 28 March 1873, submitted by 243 Chinese traders from the Straits Settlement. “As subjects of Our Most Gracious Majesty, we ask for protection in the half-civilised states of the Malay Peninsula and a moral intervention and a determined attitude in respect of the affairs of territories now in a state of anarchy.”

6 Section B: Essays Answer two questions 2. ‘The main reason for the extension of French influence into Vietnam was because of the economic gains.’ How far do you agree? Explain your answer. [10] 3. ‘The Treaty of Versailles was an unfair treaty.’ How far do you agree? Explain your answer. [10] 4. ‘The main cause of Japan’s expansionist policy in the 1930s was because of the failure of the League of Nations.’ How far do you agree? Explain your answer. [10] End of paper

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8 BLANK PAGE Copyright Acknowledgements: Source A https://www.slideserve.com/prentice/border-landscape-the-architecture-and-characteristics-of-the-area- between-territories Source B MacI