SNGS 2025 HIST PRELIM P2 QP+MS

Name: _________________________ ( ) Class: _____________ PRELIMINARY EXAMINATION GENERAL CERTIFICATE OF EDUCATION ORDINARY LEVEL HISTORY Paper 2: Developments in the Post-World War II World (1940s - 1991) 2174/02 26 Aug 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 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 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 is the message of the source? Explain your answer. [5] (b) Study Source B. How useful is this source in helping us understand why Poland became communist after WWII? Explain your answer. [6] (c) Study Sources C and D. How far does Source D prove that Churchill (Source C) was mistaken about Soviet intentions? Explain your answer. [6] (d) Study Source E. Why was this source published at that time? Explain your answer. [5] (e) Study all sources. “The Cold War was due to Western hostility towards the USSR .” How far do the sources support this view? Explain your answer. [8]

3 The Cold War BACKGROUND INFORMATION Read this carefully. It may help you to answer some of the questions. After WWII ended, tensions quickly emerged between the United States and the Soviet Union. These tensions developed into the Cold War, a period of intense rivalry marked by ideological conflict, military build-up and competition for global influence. One key point of contention was the establishment of Soviet satellite states. Across Eastern Europe, the Soviet Union gradually established communist governments loyal to Moscow. This was done by gradually dividing and weakening non-communist parties as well as arresting political opponents. These small, seemingly insignificant acti ons led to significant gains for the communists. These states became known as Soviet satellite states – officially independent but effectively under Soviet control. Source A: A cartoon published in the late 1940s . It depicts Russia (the Soviet Union) as a fortress as it is surrounded by walls.

4 Source B: Statement by the British Foreign Secretary, Anthony Eden on the arrest of Polish leaders from various non-communist political parties in 1945. I must emphasise that the list of 16 Poles reported as having disappeared included nearly all the leading figures of the Polish underground movement. These men maintained an excellent record of resistance against the Germans throughout the war. Four have held office for some time in Poland as Ministers of the Polish Government in the past. One of them was Chairman of the Underground National Council, and the rest were prominent leaders of the principal democratic parties in Poland. Most of these men were just the type who should, in our view, have been consulted about the new National Government in Poland, if such a Government was to be truly representative of Polish democratic political life and the Polish people , in accordance with the Yalta decision. Source C: Adapted from Churchill’s Iron Curtain speech, March 1946. From Stettin in the Baltic to Trieste in the Adriatic an iron curtain has descended across the Continent. Behind that line lie all the capitals of the ancient states of Central and Eastern Europe. Warsaw, Berlin, Prague, Vienna, Budapest, Belgrade, Bucharest and Sofia, all these famous cities and the populations around them lie in what I must call the Soviet sphere, and all are subject in one form or another, not only to Soviet influence but to a very high and, in some cases, increasing measure of control from Moscow. The Communist parties, which were very small in all these Eastern States of Europe, have been raised to pre -eminence and power far beyond their numbers and are seeking everywhere to obtain totalitarian control. This is certainly not the Liberated Europe we fought to build up. Nor is this one which contains the essentials of permanent peace. Source D: Stalin’s response to Churchill’s Iron Curtain speech. It was published in the Soviet newspaper, Pravda in October 1948. It does not require much effort to see how Mr. Churchill crudely and impudently slanders both Moscow and the neighbors of the USSR . What is so surprising about the Soviet Union wanting security in the future, about its attempts to see to it that in these countries there are governments that have loyal relations with the Soviet Union? How are these peaceful efforts of the Soviet Union seen as expansionist tendencies of our state? Mr. Churchill declares that “the Communist parties which were very small in all these Eastern states of Europe have gained exclusive power…” The growth of the influence of the Communist Parties cannot be considered accidental. It is a completely regular phenomenon. The influence of the Communist Parties is growing because in the worst years of fascist domination in Europe the Communists were trustworthy, brave, self -sacrificing fighters against the fascist regime, for the freedom of the people.

5 Source E: A Soviet cartoon published in 1947. It shows the United States, Britain and France working together, using battering rams labelled ‘Marshall Plan’. Source F: Adapted from a history book about communism in Eastern Europe , published in 2021. Roosevelt’s death saw the United States pursue a tougher policy towards their former ally. In the face of this new threat, the Soviet Union pursued security via tight control over Eastern Europe and the development of its own atomic weapons. In the first months after the war, Stalin preferred to work through coalitions, with other antifascist groups that supported the minority communist parties in government. However, in elections in Hungary and other states, the communist performance was very poor and Stalin placed a premium on having regimes firmly under his control. Thus, between 1945 and 1948 these initial coalitions were replaced by one-party states with varying degrees of outright repression. YALTA AND POTSDAM AGREEMENTS Marshall Plan

6 Section B: Essays Answer two questions. 2 “Soviet resistance was the main reason why Germany was defeated in WWII”. How far do you agree with this statement? Explain your answer. [10] 3 “The success of the Alliance Party was the main reason for Malayan independence in 1957.” How far do you agree with this statement? Explain your answer. [10] 4 “American public opposition to the Vietnam War was the main reason for American troop withdrawal in 1973.” How far do you agree with this statement? Explain your answer. [10] END OF PAPER

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