RI 2021 H2History Prelim P1

© Raffles Institution 2021 1 [Turn over RAFFLES INSTITUTION PRELIMINARY EXAMINATION 2021 General Certificate of Education Advanced Level Higher 2 HISTORY 9752/01 Paper 1 Shaping the International Order (1945-2000) 15 September 2021 3 hours READ THESE INSTRUCTIONS FIRST Write your full name, class and index number on the answer booklet(s). Write in dark blue or black pen. Do not use staples, paper clips, glue or correction fluid. Section A Answer Question 1. Section B Answer two questions. Use only the answer booklet provided and use both sides of the paper. This document consists of 6 printed pages.

© Raffles Institution 2021 2 [Turn over Section A You must answer Question 1. Soviet Policy and the End of the Cold War 1 Read the sources and answer the questions which follow. Source A Cartoon by a German on the collapse of the communist regimes in Central and Eastern Europe published in 1991.

© Raffles Institution 2021 3 [Turn over Source B The Civic Forum is prepared to secure a dialogue between the public and the present leadership immediately and has at its disposal qualified forces [from] all areas of society, capable of carrying out a free and objective dialogue about real paths toward a change in the political and economic conditions in our country. The situation is open now, there are many opportunities before us, and we have only two certainties. The first is the certainty that there is no return to the previous totalitarian system of government, which led our country to the brink of an absolute spiritual, moral, political, economic and ecological crisis. Our second certainty is that we want to live in a free, democratic and prosperous Czechoslovakia, which must return to Europe, and that we will never abandon this ideal, no matter what transpires in these next few days. The Civic Forum calls on all citizens of Czechoslovakia to support its fundamental demands by the demonstration of a general strike declared for Monday, 27 November 1989, at noon. Whether our country sets out in a peaceful way on the road to a democratic social order, or whether an isolated group of Stalinists, who want at any price to preserve their power and their privileges disguised as empty phrases about reconstruction will conquer, may depend upon the success of this strike. Vaclav Havel, leader of the Civic Forum, in The Declaration of the Civic Forum on 23 November 1989. Source C Of course, radical and revolutionary changes are taking place and will continue to take place within individual countries and social structures. This has been and will continue to be the case, but our times are making corrections here, too. As you ponder all this, you come to the conclusion that if we wish to take account of the lessons of the past and the realities of the present, if we must reckon with the objective logic of world development, it is necessary to seek – and to seek jointly – an approach toward improving the international situation and building a new world. If that is so, then it is also worth agreeing o n the fundamental and truly universal prerequisites and principles for such activities. The compelling necessity of the principle of freedom of choice is also clear to us. The failure to recognize this, to recognize it, is fraught with very dire consequenc es, consequences for world peace. Denying that right to the peoples, no matter what the pretext, no matter what the words are used to conceal it, means infringing upon even the unstable balance that is, has been possible to achieve. Extract of Mikhail Gorbachev’s speech to the United Nations General Assembly on 7 December 1988.

© Raffles Institution 2021 4 [Turn over Source D A third explanation comes somewhat closer to the truth: that of freedom as the prime motive of the democratic awakening in Eastern Europe. Many of the banners during mass demonstrations called for an end to dictatorship, the restoration of civil rights or the chance to travel without restraint. But a thirst for freedom alone cannot overthrow a dictatorship unless it is translated into concrete action. It took a transnational grass roots movement of courageous Polish workers, Hungarian activists, German refugees and Czech dissidents braving considerable risks in order to revive civil society and regain space for public protest. In contrast to a widely held cliché, the communist dictatorship did not collapse of its own accord – rather it had to be pushed by mass demonstrations in order to agree on free elections and the return of democracy. Extract from article by an American historian in 2009. Source E Reagan provided the incentive for Gorbachev to forge ahead. Gorbachev needed a partner to tamp down the arms race and end the Cold War so that he could revive socialism inside the Soviet Union. Gorbachev wanted to cut military expenditures, accelerate th e economy, and improve Soviet living conditions. Propelled by his ideals and by his recognition of material realities, he gradually made all the key concessions. Reagan’s stubborn patience incentivized Gorbachev to sign the zero-zero Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty and to withdraw from Afghanistan. Reagan’s sincerity, affability, and goodwill encouraged Gorbachev to believe that the Soviet Union was not endangered by foreign adversaries but by superior economies. Reagan embodied a capitalist system that Gorbachev disdained but also democratic and humane values with which he did not disagree. By reconfiguring Soviet foreign policy, championing conventional as well as strategic reductions in arms, and retrenching from regional conflicts, Gorbachev hoped to find the time and space to integrate the Soviet Union into a new world order and a common European home that would comport with Soviet economic needs and security imperatives. Extract from an article by an American academic published in May 2018.

© Raffles Institution 2021 5 [Turn over Source F Those developments were the result of perestroika in the Soviet Union, where democratic changes had reached the point by March 1989 that for the first time in Russia’s history democratic, competitive elections took place. You remember how enthusiastically people participated in those elections for a new Soviet Congress. And as a result thirty -five regional Communist Party secretaries were defeated. By the way, of the deputies elected, 84 percent were Communists, because there were a lot of ordinary people in the party–workers and intellectuals. … Analogous processes were also under way in Eastern and Central Europe. On the day I became Soviet leader, in March 1985, I had a special meeting with the leaders of the Warsaw Pact countries, and told them: "You are independent, and we are independent. You are responsible for your policies, we are responsible for ours. We will not intervene in your affairs, I promise you." And we did not intervene, not once, not even when they later asked us to. Under the influence of perestroika, their societies began to take action. Perestroika was a democratic transformation, which the Soviet Union needed. And my policy of non-intervention in Central and Eastern Europe was crucial. Just imagine, in East Germany alone th ere were more than 300,000 Soviet troops armed to the teeth –elite troops, specially selected! And yet, a process of change began there, and in the other countries, too. People began to make choices, which was their natural right. An interview with Gorbachev published in an US newspaper on 28 October 2009. Now answer the following questions: (a) Compare and contrast th e evidence provided in Sources B and C on the significance of freedom of choice in political developments during the late 1980s. [10] (