Paper 1 – 2 HOURS
SECTION A: Core Content
1 Were the peace treaties of 1919–23 fair?
2 To what extent was the League of Nations a success?
3 Why had international peace collapsed by 1939?
4 Who was to blame for the Cold War?
5 How effectively did the USA contain the spread of Communism?
1 Were the peace treaties of 1919–23 fair?
Focus Points
• What were the motives and aims of the Big Three at Versailles?
• Why did all the victors not get everything they wanted?
• What was the impact of the peace treaty on Germany up to 1923?
• Could the treaties be justified at the time?
Specified Content
• The peace treaties of 1919–23:
o the roles of individuals such as Wilson, Clemenceau and Lloyd George in the peacemaking process
o the impact of the treaties on the defeated countries
o contemporary opinions about the treaties.
2 To what extent was the League of Nations a success?
Focus Points
• How successful was the League in the 1920s?
• How far did weaknesses in the League’s organisation make failure inevitable?
• How far did the Depression make the work of the League more difficult?
• How successful was the League in the 1930s?
Specified Content
• The League of Nations:
o strengths and weaknesses in its structure and organisation
o successes and failures in peacekeeping during the 1920s
o the impact of the World Depression on the work of the League after 1929
o the failures of the League in the 1930s, including Manchuria and Abyssinia.
3 Why had international peace collapsed by 1939?
Focus Points
• What were the long-term consequences of the peace treaties of 1919–23?
• What were the consequences of the failures of the League in the 1930s?
• How far was Hitler’s foreign policy to blame for the outbreak of war in 1939?
• Was the policy of appeasement justified?
• How important was the Nazi-Soviet Pact?
• Why did Britain and France declare war on Germany in September 1939?
Specified Content
• The collapse of international order in the 1930s
• The increasing militarism of Germany, Italy and Japan
• Hitler’s foreign policy to 1939:
o the Saar
o remilitarisation of the Rhineland
o involvement in the Spanish Civil War
o Anschluss with Austria
o appeasement
o crises over Czechoslovakia and Poland
o the outbreak of war.
4 Who was to blame for the Cold War?
Focus Points
• Why did the USA-USSR alliance begin to break down in 1945?
• How had the USSR gained control of Eastern Europe by 1948?
• How did the USA react to Soviet expansionism?
• What were the consequences of the Berlin Blockade?
• Who was the more to blame for starting the Cold War: the USA or the USSR?
Specified Content
• The origins of the Cold War:
o the 1945 summit conferences and the breakdown of the USA-USSR alliance in 1945–6
o Soviet expansion into Eastern Europe to 1948, and American reactions to it
o the occupation of Germany and the Berlin Blockade.
5 How effectively did the USA contain the spread of Communism?
Focus Points
This Key Question will be explored through case studies of the following:
• America and events in Cuba, 1959–62
• American involvement in Vietnam.
Specified Content
• events of the Cold War:
o case studies of:
o American reactions to the Cuban revolution, including the missile crisis and its aftermath
o American involvement in the Vietnam War.
SECTION B: Depth Studies
a) USA
1 How far did the US economy boom in the 1920s?
Focus Points
• On what factors was the economic boom based?
• Why did some industries prosper while others did not?
• Why did agriculture not share in the prosperity?
• Did all Americans benefit from the boom?
2 How far did US society change in the 1920s?
Focus Points
• What were the ‘Roaring Twenties’?
• How widespread was intolerance in US society?
• Why was Prohibition introduced, and then later repealed?
• How far did the roles of women change during the 1920s?
3 What were the causes and consequences of the Wall Street Crash?
Focus Points
• How far was speculation responsible for the Wall Street Crash?
• What impact did the Crash have on the economy?
• What were the social consequences of the Crash?
• Why did Roosevelt win the election of 1932?
4 How successful was the New Deal?
Focus Points
• What was the New Deal as introduced in 1933?
• How far did the character of the New Deal change after 1933?
• Why did the New Deal encounter opposition?
• Why did unemployment persist despite the New Deal?
• Did the fact that the New Deal did not solve unemployment mean that it was a failure?
b) GERMANY
1 Was the Weimar Republic doomed from the start?
Focus Points
• How did Germany emerge from defeat at the end of the First World War?
• What was the impact of the Treaty of Versailles on the Republic?
• To what extent did the Republic recover after 1923?
• What were the achievements of the Weimar period?
2 Why was Hitler able to dominate Germany by 1934?
Focus Points
• What did the Nazi Party stand for in the 1920s?
• Why did the Nazis have little success before 1930?
• Why was Hitler able to become Chancellor by 1933?
• How did Hitler consolidate his power in 1933–4?
3 The Nazi regime
(a) How effectively did the Nazis control Germany, 1933–45?
Focus Points
• How much opposition was there to the Nazi regime?
• How effectively did the Nazis deal with their political opponents?
• How did the Nazis use culture and the mass media to control the people?
• Why did the Nazis persecute many groups in German society?
• Was Nazi Germany a totalitarian state?
(b) What was it like to live in Nazi Germany?
Focus Points
• How did young people react to the Nazi regime?
• How successful were Nazi policies towards women and the family?
• Did most people in Germany benefit from Nazi rule?
• How did the coming of war change life in Nazi Germany?
PAPER 2 – 2 HOURS: Source Analysis.
Topic for 2016: To what extent was the League of Nations a success?
PAPER 4 – 1 HOUR: Depth Studies.
USA or Germany.
