VS Y4 2025 EOY QP+MS

Class Register Number Name VICTORIA SCHOOL END OF YEAR EXAMINATION YEAR FOUR Additional Material: Writing Paper READ THESE INSTRUCTIONS FIRST Section A Answer all parts of Question 1. Section B Answer any 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. Setters: Khoo KY, Leonard Lu SECTION A: Source-based Case Study T his question paper consists of 6 printed pages (including this cover page) WORLD HISTORY 25/Y4EYE/HI PAPER 2 Tuesday 23 September 2025 1 hour 50 mins VICTORIA SCHOOL VICTORIA SCHOOL VICTORIA SCHOOL VICTORIA SCHOOL VICTORIA SCHOOL VICTORIA SCHOOL VICTORIA SCHOOL VICTORIA SCHOOL VICTORIA SCHOOL VICTORIA SCHOOL VICTORIA SCHOOL VICTORIA SCHOOL VICTORIA SCHOOL VICTORIA SCHOOL VICTORIA SCHOOL VICTORIA SCHOOL VICTORIA SCHOOL VICTORIA SCHOOL VICTORIA SCHOOL VICTORIA SCHOOL VICTORIA SCHOOL VICTORIA SCHOOL VICTORIA SCHOOL VICTORIA SCHOOL VICTORIA SCHOOL VICTORIA SCHOOL VICTORIA SCHOOL VICTORIA SCHOOL VICTORIA SCHOOL VICTORIA SCHOOL VICTORIA SCHOOL VICTORIA SCHOOL VICTORIA SCHOOL VICTORIA SCHOOL VICTORIA SCHOOL VICTORIA SCHOOL VICTORIA SCHOOL VICTORIA SCHOOL VICTORIA SCHOOL VICTORIA SCHOOL VICTORIA SCHOOL VICTORIA SCHOOL VICTORIA SCHOOL VICTORIA SCHOOL VICTORIA SCHOOL VICTORIA SCHOOL VICTORIA SCHOOL VICTORIA SCHOOL

2 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 are 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 tell from this source about Truman’s attitude towards Stalin at the Potsdam Conference? Explain your answer [5] (b) Study Sources B and C. How similar are these two sources? Explain your answer. [5] (c) Study Source D. Are you surprised by this source? Explain your answer. [6] (d) Study Sources E and F. How far does Source F disprove the claims made in Source E about the Soviet Union? Explain your answer. [6] (e) Study all the sources. ‘The Cold War came about because the Soviet Union was afraid of the Western Powers.’ How far do the sources support this judgement? Explain your answer. [8] © Victoria School 25/Y4EYE/HI

3 Conflict between the West and the Soviet Union BACKGROUND INFORMATION Study the Background Information and the sources carefully and then answer all the questions. While the USA and the Soviet Union were part of the Grand Alliance in World War II, tensions emerged between the two new superpowers at the Yalta and Potsdam conferences. The USA was working on an atomic bomb to be dropped on Nazi Germany, but the bomb was only ready on 18 July 1945. Hence, President Truman authorised the atomic bombs to be dropped on Japan. Stalin viewed the use of the bombs as a potential threat to the Soviet Union. The USA’s containment policy in 1947 and the establishment of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) in April 1949 further intensified his suspicion of the Western powers. The Soviet Union accelerated its nuclear program, successfully testing its first atomic bomb on 29 August 1949. The Soviet Union went on to test its first hydrogen bomb on 12 August 1953. Did the Cold War come about because the Western Powers threatened the Soviet Union? Source A: Truman's entry in his diary on 17 and 18 July 1945. 17 th July: “Just spent a couple of hours with Stalin. He put out his hands and smiled. I did the same. I told Stalin I am no diplomat. It pleased him. I have some important things to tell him which I am not doing now. Most of the big points are settled. He’ll be in the Japanese war on August 15th. We had lunch, talked socially, put on a real show, drank toasts to everyone and had pictures in the backyard. I can deal with Stalin. He is honest but smart as hell.” 18 th July: “Stalin’s luncheon was most satisfactory. I invited him to come to the US. He said he wanted to cooperate with the US in peace as we had cooperated in war, but it would be harder. He gave me a most cordial smile. It is certainly a good thing that Stalin did not discover this bomb. It seems to be the most terrible thing ever discovered, but it can be made the most useful. Source B: An account by Truman’s interpreter Charles Bohlen about Truman informing Stalin about the atomic bomb on 24 July 1945. Three days after the successful test blast, Truman decided it would be wise to tell Stalin the news. Truman told Stalin that the United States had “a new weapon of unusual destructive force.” Apparently, the President did not tell Stalin the new weapon was an atomic bomb, and the Soviet leader did not ask or show any special interest. He merely nodded and said something. “All he said was that he was glad to hear it and hoped we would make good use of it against the Japanese,” Truman wrote. Across the room, I watched Stalin’s face carefully as the President broke the news. So reactionless was Stalin’s response that there was some question in my mind whether the President’s message had got through. I should have known better than to underrate the dictator. © Victoria School 25/Y4EYE/HI

4 Source C: Stalin’s Top-Secret order to Beria, the NKVD State Security Chief on 20 August 1945. Kurchatov was the Scientific Director of the Soviet atomic project. Provide us with atomic weapons in the shortest possible time. The equilibrium has been destroyed. Provide the bomb! It will remove a great danger for us. The bomb is a powerful thing. Take all measures to organise foreign intelligence work to gain more complete technical and economic information about the uranium industry and about atomic bombs. Do not bother our physicists with political seminars. Let them use all their time for their professional work. Leave them in peace. We can always shoot them later. Tell the physicists they can ask for anything. There will be no refusals. Those who were marked to be shot in case of failure of the test will receive the title of Hero of Socialist Labour; those who would have received maximum prison terms will be given the Order of Lenin. As for Kurchat