ACJC Prelim 2025 QP

ANGLO-CHINESE JUNIOR COLLEGE PRELIMINARY EXAMINATION HIGHER 1 HISTORY 8838/01 Paper 1 The Cold War and the Modern World (1945-1991) 28 August 2025 3 hours Additional Materials: Cover Page, Answer Papers, Strings READ THESE INSTRUCTIONS FIRST You should follow the instructions on the cover page. If you need additional answer paper ask the invigilator. Section A Answer Question 1. Section B Answer two questions. Start your answer to each part question or question on a fresh sheet of paper. The number of marks is given in brackets [ ] at the end of each question or part question. Indicate your name, class and tutorial group clearly on each piece of paper. At the end of the examination, fasten your answers into three separate bundles and submit them separately: Bundle 1: Section A – Question 1(a) and 1(b) Bundle 2: Section B – Question 2/3 Bundle 3: Section B – Question 4/5 The cover page is to be completed and attached on top of your answer to Section A. This document consists of 5 printed pages and 1 blank page. © ACJC History Unit 2025 [Turn over © ACJC History Department 2020 2

Section A You must answer Question 1. THE COLLAPSE OF THE SOVIET UNION 1 Read the sources and answer the questions that follow. Source A Bush: You are living through a difficult time. Of course, I don’t want to interfere in your internal affairs in any way, but let me say this - we will try to do all we can to help you in this difficult cause. Gorbachev: Thank you. We are indeed living through a difficult time. But it cannot be otherwise, if we are implementing cardinal transformation of our society. We will be moving in the same direction as before, but we will carry out serious organisational changes. In essence, we are talking about presidential rule, a presidential system, where executive power will be directly under the President’s control. Bush: And what would Yeltsin’s place in this system be? Gorbachev: Our people are mainly in favour of political stabilisation. And in all the republics people speak in favour of the union more and more decisively. And people raise the question - what is preventing cooperation between Gorbachev and Yeltsin? I answer them honestly - nothing is preventing it. There is a great objective need for such cooperation now. Yeltsin built his reputation on negativity. People used to say - good job, he criticises Gorbachev himself. However, now he has power. And people are asking - what has changed? And he continues to blame the centre for all the problems. From a record of conversation between President Gorbachev and President George H. W. Bush, November 1990. Source B Exploding a political bombshell on live nationwide television, Boris Yeltsin issued an unprecedented call on Tuesday night for President Mikhail Gorbachev’s immediate resignation, charging that Gorbachev’s reform drive has degenerated into a quest for boundless dictatorial powers. Yeltsin said that he is severing all political ties with Gorbachev and called on Russians for their support. As long as Gorbachev remains in office, Yeltsin charged, the Soviet people cannot hope for an easing of their nation’s economic and social woes and there is no hope that local authorities can break Moscow’s grip on their economies or politics. Yeltsin’s harsh words were a blow to Gorbachev’s efforts to calm this country’s growing political crisis, a fact that was not lost on the Soviet television journalist who questioned Yeltsin during the 40-minute program. Yeltsin’s declaration, the journalist noted gloomily, ‘means that confrontation between the centre and the Russian republic, between you and the president, will continue. It does not lead to stabilisation of our society but to the nation’s disintegration.’ From an American newspaper report, February 1991.

© ACJC History 2025 8838/01/JC2 Preliminary Examination 3 Source C The one-time movie actor accomplished something no one had been able to do. He won the Cold War - without firing a shot. Early on in his presidency, Reagan moved to hone the nation's defences to razor edge. That military buildup, together with spending billions on the so-called ‘Star Wars’ defence program, forced the Soviets into a more heated effort to stay ahead of the United States in the arms race. Reagan's continuing military buildup sowed the seeds of the ultimate end of Communism in the Soviet Union and also the Cold War. The US-Soviet arms race turned into the most costly in the history of the world. As it turned out, Russia lost, bankrupting itself in the process. The spending exposed the many cracks in the Soviet Union's monolithic tyranny and led ultimately to its total collapse. Was it worth it? Of course. It must be. From an article published in a conservative American newspaper, 1992. Source D The Soviet Union’s Gross Domestic Product 1990 US DollarsAdapted from an academic article about Soviet economic growth, 2017.

© ACJC History 2025 8838/01/JC2 Preliminary Examination [Turn over 4 Source E When I was interviewing Gorbachev, after the Soviet Union collapsed, I told him I was going to be writing a book on Reagan and Gorbachev. He said, ‘That’s great. You knew us both, and I’m glad you’re writing it.’ I said, ‘Well, before you approve it, let me tell you what my conclusions are going to be. I’d say the first is that it took both you and Reagan to end the Cold War. Neither of you could have done it alone.’ He said, ‘You’re absolutely right.’ But I said, ‘The second is that the collapse of Communist control over the Soviet Union was your doing, and that it had nothing to do with American pressure.’ He grabbed me and he said, ‘Jack, you’re right.’ I said, ‘You were the only person who could have done it.’ He said, ‘You’re right. That was a system that could not be changed from the bottom up. It had to be top down, and by god [pounds on table], I did it.’ Comments made by the former US ambassador to the Soviet Union when interviewed for an oral history project by an American university, 2017. Now answer the following questions: (a) Compare and contrast Sources A and B as evidence on the relations between Gorbachev and Boris Yeltsin. [10] (b) How far do Sources A-E support the assertion that Gorbachev was largely responsible for the collapse of the Soviet Union? [30] © ACJC History 2025 8838/01/JC2 Preliminary Examination

5 Section B You must answer two questions from this section. EITHER 2 ‘The development of Sino-Soviet relations hinged on security.’ How far do you agree with this view? [30] OR 3 How effective was Japan’s engagement of China as a response to the development of the Cold War? [30] AND EITHER 4 How far do you agree that the superpowers were most responsible for the protraction of the Second Indochina War? [30] OR 5 ‘ASEAN’s responses to the development of the Cold War in Southeast Asia were largely shaped by its objectives.’ How far do you agree with this statement? [30] © ACJC History 2025 8838/01/JC2 Preliminary Examination [Turn over

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