MJC_H1_HISTORY_P1_Answers

MJC Prelims 8814/9731(1) September 2014 2. How far do you agree that Truman’s leadership sowed the seeds that led to the division of post-war Europe? Tutor’s comments: - Essay requirements: o In order to answer the question specifically (to hit band 4 onwards), instead of generally answering why the divisions developed in Europe / why the CW broke out in Europe (which will only allow you to hit band 5, 11-13 marks)  ‘Truman’s leadership’: need to differentiate from the general role of US and the Roosevelt’s leadership; personality of Truman needs to be reflected in comments about his leadership  ‘sowed the seeds’: needs to be differentiated from other terms which indicate causal relations such as ‘trigger’, ‘accelerate’  Clear end points:  ‘division of post-war EU’, though connected to the CW, is not synonymous. The division is merely a characteristic of the CW and not the CW in itself. o Better answers will:  Weave in the historical debates  Have balance:  In showing that other factors accelerated/concretised/triggered the division, students are actually merely demonstrating the validity of the given assumption!  To show balance, students need to argue how other factors might have sowed the seeds.  Examine the extent of significance:  Sowed the seeds, or other levels of significance such as ‘merely accelerated’, ‘triggered’ etc?  Have scope:  Not just the role of Truman and Stalin (as almost all students identified) but also the role of other players such as Truman’s advisers, Roosevelt and Churchill. Students might also want to examine ‘historical context’ such as the seemingly opposing ideologies of USSR and US which came into conflict since the establishment of USSR in 1917 (but remember to link to 1945-onwards!) Note:- - In dealing with the reasons of conflict, it is important to analyse the reaction of the other party. Eg o Truman’s political actions (Truman Doctrine)  matched by Soviet political actions (aftermath of Two Camp Speech) o US economic policies (Marshall Plan)  matched by COMECON - It is not useful to simply look at later evidences such at the Berlin Blockade/Airlift – not very convincing in advancing an argument about ‘sowing seeds’!

MJC Prelims 8814/9731(1) September 2014 o The only way this might work if you are looking at who/what sowed the seeds for territorial division. But this brings about its own problems (see points below). - Not a useful approach to address the different divisions separately – eg ideological division, economic division, territorial division etc o What students mistakenly do is to attribute one player to be responsible for one type of division without convincingly analysing the impact.  For example, an argument that ‘Truman’s leadership was more important than Stalin’s leadership in sowing the seeds for the economic division.’ can easily be countered by an argument that ‘Stalin’s leadership was more important th