SNGS 2025 H(E) QP+MS

Name: _________________________ ( ) Class: __________ PRELIMINARY EXAMINATION GENERAL CERTIFICATE OF EDUCATION ORDINARY LEVEL HUMANITIES (HISTORY) Paper 2: The Making of the 20th Century Modern World, 1910s-1991 2261/02 22 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 Do not use highlighters, glue, correction fluid or correction tape. 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. ___________________________________________________________________________ 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. Do you think the cartoonist would be a supporter of Truman or Stalin? [5] (b) Study Sources B and C. Both sources have differing viewpoints, does it mean that one of them is wrong? Explain your answer. [6] (c) Study Source D. Why did Truman make this speech? Explain your answer. [5] (d) Study Source E. Are you surprised by the source? Explain your answer. [6] (e) Study all the sources. ‘The USA is to blame for causing the Cold War .’ How far do these sources support this view? Use the sources and your knowledge to explain your answer. [8]

3 The Cold War BACKGROUND INFORMATION Read this carefully. It may help you to answer some of the questions. During World War Two, the USA and USSR w orked together to defeat Germany. However, underlying tensions and suspicions between the two post-war superpowers boiled to the surface once their common enemy was eliminated. Perceiving each other as a threat, the superpowers took steps to expand and undermine each other’s influence in Europe. Their tension and rivalry plunged Europe and later , the world into a conflict that lasted for decades and divided different countries into two opposing, hostile blocs. Hence, which superpower was most to blame for causing the Cold War? Source A A cartoon published in a British magazine, 18 June 1947. 1“Pension” refers to small hotel or boarding house in Europe & “Russe” refers to Russian in French. Liberty Hotel Comfortable Accommodation Pension Russe1 Inclusive Terms Hungary Turkey Bulgaria

4 Source B An excerpt from the Long Telegram. It was written by an American Diplomat living in Moscow, George Kennan to the US Secretary of State, 22 February, 1946. Based on Soviet thinking, what would their policy aim to do? (a) Everything must be done to advance relative strength of USSR in international society. Conversely, no opportunity to be missed to reduce strength and influence, collectively as well as individually, of capitalist powers. (b) Soviet efforts, and those of Russia's friends abroad, must be directed toward deepening and exploiting of differences and conflicts between capitalist powers. If these eventually deepen into an "imperialist" war, this war must be turned into revolutionary upheavals within the various capitalist countries. […] Source C An excerpt from a telegram sent by Soviet Ambassador to the US, Nikolai Novikov, to the Soviet leadership on 27 September 1946. Reflecting the imperialistic tendency of American monopoly capital, US foreign policy has been characterized in the postwar period by a desire for world domination. This is the real meaning of repeated statements by President Truman and other representatives of American ruling circles that the US has a right to world leadership. All the forces of American diplomacy, the Army, Navy, and Air Force, industry, and science have been placed at the service of this policy. With this objective in mind broad plans for expansion hav e been developed, to be reali sed both diplomatically and through the creation of a system of naval and air bases far from the US, an arms race, and the creation of newer and newer weapons. Source D An excerpt from an address delivered by President Harry Truman to the US Congress on 12 March 1947. Every nation must choose between alternative ways of life. One way of life is based upon the will of the majority, and is distinguished by free institutions, representative government, free elections, guarantees of individual liberty, freedom of speech and religion, and freedom from political oppression. The second way of life is based upon the will of a minority forcibly imposed upon the majority. It relies upon terror and oppression, a controlled press and radio; fixed elections, and the suppression of personal freedoms. I believe that it must be the policy of the United States to support free peoples who are resisting attempted subjugation by armed minorities or by outside pressures.

5 Source E Statement by Soviet Foreign Minister , Molotov at the final meeting of the Three-Power Conference. It was attended by Britain, France, and the Soviet Union, regarding the Marshall Plan, on 2 July 1947. The Soviet Government does not share the enthusiasm regarding foreign support made apparent in the last French draft. The French proposal states that the decisive hold on the rehabilitation of the economic life of European countries should belong to the United States and not to the European countries themselves, such a position stands in contradiction to the interests of European countries since it might lead to a denial of their economic independence, which denial is incompatible with national sovereignty. Source F An excerpt from an online history website. The conflicts of interest between the new world powers gradually multiplied, and a climate of fear and suspicion reigned. Each country feared the newfound power of the other. The Soviets felt surrounded and threatened by the West and accused the United Sta tes of spearheading ‘imperialist expansion’. For their part, the Americans were concerned at Communist expansion and accused Stalin of breaching the Yalta Agreement on the right of free peoples to self -determination. The result was a long period of interna tional tension interspersed with dramatic crises which, from time to time, led to localised armed conflicts without actually causing a full-scale war between the United States and the USSR.

6 Section B: Essays Answer two questions. 2 “The Great Depression was the main factor responsible for the Nazi Party’s rise to power in Germany”. How far do you agree with this statement? Explain your answer. [10] 3 “The ambitions of the Korean leaders were the main cause for the outbreak of the Korean War.” How far do you agree with this statement? Explain your answer. [10] 4 “Political instability in South Vietnam was the main cause for the outbreak of the Vietnam War.” How far do you agree with this statement? Explain your answer. [10] END OF PAPER

7 BLANK PAGE Copyright Acknowledgements: Source A E H Shepard, Punch Magazine, 18 June 1947. Taken from https://www.johndclare