NHHS 2026 HIST PRELIM P2 QP

[Turn over CANDIDATE NAME CENTRE CLASS INDEX NUMBER NUMBER HISTORY 2174/02 Paper 2 Developments in the post-World War II world: The Cold War and decolonisation in Southeast Asia, 1940s - 1991 25 August 2026 1 hour 50 minutes Additional materials: Laptop READ THESE INSTRUCTIONS FIRST Write your Name, Class and Index Number on all the work you hand in. Write in dark blue or black ink. Do not use paper clips, glue 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 mark for this paper is 50. _________________________________________________________________________ This document consists of 6 printed pages and 2 blank pages. S 2 3 8 6 NAN HUA HIGH SCHOOL Preliminary Examination 2026

2 NAN HUA HIGH SCHOOL 2174/02 PRELIMINARY EXAMINATION 2026 Section A: Source-Based Case Study Question 1 is 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. Why did the Soviet minister make this speech at that time? Explain your answer. [5] (b) Study Source B. What is the message of this source? Explain your answer. [5] (c) Study Sources C and D. How similar are these two sources? Explain your answer. [6] (d) Study Sources E and F. Having read Source E, are you surprised by Source F? Explain your answer. [6] (e) Study all the sources. ‘The Marshall Plan’s objective was to spread American influence.’ How far do these sources support this view? Use the sources and your knowledge to explain your view. [8]

3 NAN HUA HIGH SCHOOL 2174/02 PRELIMINARY EXAMINATION 2026 [Turn over The Marshall Plan BACKGROUND INFORMATION Read this carefully. It may help you answer some of the questions. Following World War II, US President Truman announced the Truman Doctrine on 12 March 1947. Building on this, Secretary of State George Marshall proposed a European recovery programme in his Harvard speech on 5 June 1947, leading to a US$13 billion aid commitment. Britain, France, and the Soviet Union met in Paris on 27 June 1947 to discuss the proposal. The proposed terms included providing detailed economic data of each country participating in the Plan, as well as to fund Germany’s reconstruction. The Soviet Union rejected the terms of the Plan and withdrew on 2 July 1947. Despite this, the Conference of European Economic Cooperation opened in Paris on 12 July 1947 with 16 European nations participating. The Marshall Plan was officially enacted in April 1948. Was the Marshall Plan designed mainly for the benefit of Europe, or primarily to expand America's global influence? Source A: From a speech made by the Soviet Deputy Foreign Ministry to the United Nations in September 1947. It is becoming more and more clear that the implementation of the Marshall Plan will mean placing European countries under the economic and political control of the United States and direct interference by the United States in the internal affairs of those countries. This Plan is an attempt to split Europe into two camps and to complete the formation of a bloc of several European countries hostile to the interests of the democratic countries of Eastern Europe and most particularly to the Soviet Union. An important feature of this Plan is to use Western Germany as one of the most important economic bases for American expansion in Europe, in disregard of the national interests of the countries which suffered from German aggression.

4 NAN HUA HIGH SCHOOL 2174/02 PRELIMINARY EXAMINATION 2026 Source B: A cartoon titled ‘STEP ON IT* DOC!’, published in an American journal, November 1947. *Step on it = to go faster Source C: Adapted from a speech by US President Harry Truman to Congress about the Marshall Plan, December 1947. It is of vital importance to the United States that European recovery be continued to ultimate success. Considered in terms of our own economy, European recovery is essential. The last two decades have taught us the bitter lesson that no economy, not even one so strong as our own, can remain healthy and prosperous in a world of poverty and want. Europe is thus an essential part of a world trading network. The failure to revive fully this vast trading system, which has begun to function again since the end of the war, would result in economic deterioration throughout the world. The United States, in common with other nations, would suffer.

5 NAN HUA HIGH SCHOOL 2174/02 PRELIMINARY EXAMINATION 2026 [Turn over Source D: An extract from an article, ‘ The Daily Worker’ by journalist Joseph Starobin, February 1948. Starobin was closely associated with Communist leaders throughout the world. American businesses are buying German and other Western European business firms cheaply. Western Europe would eventually become a colonial slave of the United States. The Marshall Planners are giving priority to the reconstruction of Western Germany. According to them, Germany’s potential industrial productivity was the cornerstone of the European Recovery Program. As the United States attempts to keep Europeans on the old capitalist system, there will never be a real recovery for them. It will make Western Europe a satellite of the US and cause European firms to struggle to keep itself alive against American competition. Source E: Adapted from a joint report by an American and a Russian historian about the response of the USSR to the Marshall Plan, published in March 1994. Novikov, ambassador of the Soviet Union to the United States after World War II, characterised the underlying goal of the American initiative (Marshall Plan) as the “hindering of the democratisation of the countries of Europe, the stimulation of forces opposing the Soviet Union, and the establishment of conditions for the strengthening of the position of the American capital in Europe and Asia.” Novikov interpreted the Marshall Plan as an attempt to roll back Soviet influence in Europe. Source F: An interview conducted in the late 1990s with a Russian who had been a senior official in the Soviet Ministry at the time of the Marshall Plan. In the interview he recounts the discussion amongst Soviet leaders before the June 1947 meeting in Paris. There was a willingness to agree to discuss the question on whether to accept Marshall Plan; that was Molotov’s* stance. He even wrote a note to the Central Committee arguing that it was necessary to start negotiations; he understood that the Soviet Union needed help. In his reply he noted that reconstruction was everyone’s main aim, and the United States’ offer of help should be welcomed. His reaction to the Marshall Plan was generally positive. *Molotov was the Foreign Minister who represented the USSR in the discussions on the Marshall Plan.

6 NAN HUA HIGH SCHOOL 2174/02 PRELIMINARY EXAMINATION 2026 Section B: Essays Answer two questions. 2 ‘Poor military leadership was the most important reason that led to the defeat of Germany in WWII.’ How far do you agree with this statement? E