JPJC Prelim 2025 QP

Name:__________________________________________ Class:_____________ JURONG PIONEER JUNIOR COLLEGE JC2 Preliminary Examination 2025 HISTORY 8838/01 Higher 1 2 September 2025 Paper 1 The Cold War and the Modern World 3 hours (1945 – 1991) Additional materials: Answer Booklet READ THESE INSTRUCTIONS FIRST An answer booklet will be provided with this question paper. You should follow the instructions on the front cover of the answer booklet. If you need additional answer paper, ask the invigilator for a continuation booklet. Section A Answer Question 1. Section B Answer two questions. The number of marks is given in brackets [ ] at the end of each question or part question. This document consists of 5 printed pages and 3 blank pages.1 [Turn over

Section A You must answer Question 1. THE COLLAPSE OF COMMUNISM IN EASTERN EUROPE 1 Read the sources and answer the questions which follow. Source A On 7 October, around 4:00 pm, while the festivities organised by the government had not yet ended, in downtown East Berlin a spontaneous protest erupted. The protest was primarily attended by young Germans and, shortly after it began gained considerable proportions. A few thousand demonstrators tried to approach the Palace of the Republic*. A reception attended by all foreign delegations to the GDR was taking place at that time. The protesters were asking for “freedom, reforms and democracy”. The participants were chanting Gorbachev’s name and were carrying signs which read “To learn from the Soviet Union means to learn to win”. *refers to East Germany’s parliament building. From a telegram sent by the Romanian Embassy in Berlin to the Romanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 9 October 1989. Source B Following the state visit of Gorbachev during the GDR’s 40th anniversary (October 6 and 7, 1989), demonstrations in Berlin, Leipzig, and elsewhere continued to grow. During Gorbachev’s visit, crowds cheered “Gorbi, Gorbi!” I have read the record of conversation of Gorbachev with GDR leader Erich Honecker in Berlin. I spoke with him [Gorbachev] about this. Gorbachev referred to Honecker as ‘an [expletive]’ and added, “He could have said to his subordinates: I have undergone four operations, I am 78 years old, the stormy time requires too much strength, let me go, I have done my job. Then he might have kept his place in history.” I voiced doubts that even if he had done so he would have kept his place in history. 2-3 years ago it might have been possible. Today he has already been cursed by his people... The politburo in East Germany is in crisis session for the second day. Egon Krenz (a top East German official) also told the Soviet ambassador he would raise reforms and whether leader Erich Honecker should stay in office. From the diary of Gorbachev’s chief foreign policy advisor, 11 October 1989.2

Source C Photograph of tanks patrolling the streets during martial law in Poland, December 1981. Source D It is evident, for example, that force an