Anglican 2026 H(E) QP+MS

Section A (Source-Based Case Study) Question 1 is compulsory for all candidates Study the background information and all 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 learn from Source A about German reactions to the Night of Long Knives? Explain your answer. [5] (b) Study Source B. What is the message of the source? Explain your answer. [5] (c) Study Source C. How useful is this source in showing German support for Hitler? Explain your answer. [6] (d) Study Sources D and E. Does Source E make you surprised about Source D? Explain your answer. [6] (e) Study all the sources. “The Night of Long Knives increased German support for Hitler.” How far do the sources support this view? Use the sources and knowledge to explain your answer. [8]

2 Did the Night of Long Knives increase German support for Hitler? BACKGROUND INFORMATION Read this carefully. It may help you answer some of the questions. The Night of the Long Knives happened from 29 June to 1 July 1934. It was a significant purge that Adolf Hitler ordered against the leadership of the Sturmabteilung (SA). During this event, SA leader Ernst Rohm and many of his followers were killed, as tensions rose within the Nazi party and the SA grew more assertive. The SA had around two million members and had been instrumental in Hitler's rise to power. But by 1934, rumours spread that Rohm was planning to overthrow Hitler. In a strategic move to consolidate power and secure support, Hitler portrayed the purge as a necessary action against a supposed coup attempt. Reports say between 150 and 1,000 SA leaders were executed. While the purge helped Hitler tighten his control over the Nazi party and remove potential threats to his power, many people were appalled by the use of excessive force against the SA. To what extent did the Night of Long Knives increase German support for Hitler? Source A: An account by Christabel Bielenberg, a British woman who had become a German citizen after her marriage to a German, published in her autobiography in 1989. With the murder of Rohm and his storm troopers, the purge was accepted to be of respectable intents and purposes. Once everything distasteful had been neatly swept under the carpet, there was something almost touching about the pleasure and hope with which the Germans discovered. Unpleasantness, if talked about at all, must be seen in perspective. There were so many more positive aspects of the regime to chat about.

3 Source B: A cartoon published in British newspaper on 3 July 1934 with the caption “The Double Cross”. The words at the bottom left says “SA Army”. Source C: A Nazi poster published in 1934 after the Night of Long Knives. The text says: “Führer, we will follow you.”

4 Source D: An extract from Hitler’s speech to the Reichstag on 13 July 1934. The traitor was abandoned, left alone and shunned by all. But what was to be commended was the behavior of the millions of upright SA men and SA leaders who, standing outside the circle of treason, did not waver in their duty. This gives me the conviction that the newly appointed chief of the SA, will succeed in rejuvenating the organisations according to my guidelines and making them an even stronger part of the movement. Millions of them have since joined our ranks and are faithfully working with us to rebuild the Reich. I had hoped that it would not be necessary to ever again defend this state with weapons in our hands. Source E: A diary entry, dated 14 th July 1934, of Victor Kemplerer, a German Jew who lived through the key events under Nazi rule. We have no sympathy at all for those executed, only delight that they are eating one another up. Admittedly, I was depressed when everything remained calm during the days that followed. But then we told ourselves: the Nazis cannot survive this blow. There was much confusion among the Germans. My neighbour, who is not at all National Socialist, said to me: “Well, he simply sentenced them. A Chancellor sentences and shoots members of his own private army!”

5 Source F: An extract from a history website on the Night of Long Knives, published in 2024. Dr Hans Frank, the Nazi's leading expert in law, raised concerns over the legal implications of the planned executions. The killings went on despite these legal concerns and voices of disapproval. In all, 478 people were murdered in the purge, often shot in their homes or places of work without warning. The attack on the SA was later on widely seen by the public as a necessary control on what was known as a gang of thugs. The Night of the Long Knives might have been a bloody affair, but it had, said Hitler, avoided a much bloodier civil war. The former president Hindenburg agreed with this assessment and publicly praised Hitler's actions against the SA: "You have saved the German nation from serious danger", he said. Section B: Essays Answer two questions. 2 “The main reason for German objections to the Treaty of Versailles was due to financial losses.” How far you agree with this statement? Explain your answer. [10] 3 “The main reason for Japan’s defeat in World War II was due to America’s prowess”. How far you agree with this statement? Explain your answer. [10] 4 “The main reason for the outbreak of Cold War was the ideological conflict between the superpowers”. How far do you agree with this statement? Explain your answer. [10] - End of Paper – Copyright Acknowledgements: Source A: Facing History & Ourselves, https://www.facinghistory.org/resource-library/night-long-knives Source B: Wikimedia commons Source C: https://research.calvin.edu/german-propaganda-archive/posters2.htm. Source D: https://der-fuehrer.org/reden/english/34-07-13.htm Source E: https://warwick.ac.uk/fac/arts/history/students/modules/hi31z/bibliography/kemplerer.pdf Source F: https://www.worldhistory.org/Night_of_the_Long_Knives/

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7 Secondary 4 Prelims History Elective (2261/02) Source-Based Case Study Suggested Answer Scheme 1(a) Study Source A. What can you learn from Source A about German reactions to the Night of Long Knives? Explain your answer. [5] Level Descriptors Marks 1 Description/Lifting E.g. The Germans accepted the purge. 1 2 Sub-message E.g. The Germans did not like it. 2 3 Message, supported E.g. I can learn that the