Exam Questions

Source A: Georges Clemenceau, speech at the Paris Peace Conference (16 June 1919).

In the view of the Allied and Associated Powers the war which began on August 1st, 1914, was the greatest crime against humanity and the freedom of peoples that any nation, calling itself civilised, has ever consciously committed. For many years the rulers of Germany, true to the Prussian tradition, strove for a position of dominance in Europe. They were not satisfied with that growing prosperity and influence to which Germany was entitled, and which all other nations were willing to accord her, in the society of free and equal peoples. They required that they should be able to dictate and tyrannise to a subservient Europe, as they dictated and tyrannised over a subservient Germany. Germany's responsibility, however, is not confined to having planned and started the war. She is no less responsible for the savage and inhuman manner in which it was conducted.

The conduct of Germany is almost unexampled in human history. The terrible responsibility which lies at her doors can be seen in the fact that not less than seven million dead lie buried in Europe, while more than twenty million others carry upon them the evidence of wounds and sufferings, because Germany saw fit to gratify her lust for tyranny by resort to war.

Justice, therefore, is the only possible basis for the settlement of the accounts of this terrible war. 

1.Study Source A. Source A opposes Germany at the end of WWI. How do you know? Explain your answer using Source A and your contextual knowledge. 4 marks

Source B: Lloyd George speaking to the House of Commons, before the Peace Conference.

We want a peace which will be just, but not vindictive.   We want a stern peace because the occasion demands it, but the severity must be designed, not for vengeance, but for justice.   Above all, we want to protect the future against a repetition of the horrors of this war.

2. Study Sources A and B. How useful are Sources A and B to a historian studying how far the Big Three had to compromise in the Treaty of Versailles? Explain your answer using Sources B and C and your contextual knowledge. 12 marks

3. Write an account of how the Versailles peace settlement was affected by the fact that the war was mainly fought in France. 8 marks 4.’Territorial losses were the worst punishment faced by Germany in the Treaty of Versailles’. How far do you agree with this statement? 16 marks

5.Write an account of how the Treaty of Versailles caused problems for Germany? 8 marks

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Source A: From ‘Deutsche Zeitung’ (German News), on the day the treaty was signed.

Today in the Hall of Mirrors the disgraceful Treaty is being signed. Do not forget it! The German people will, with unceasing labour, press forward to reconquer the place among the nations to which it is entitled.

6. Study Source A. Source A opposes the Treaty of Versailles. How do you know? Explain your answer using Source A and your contextual knowledge. 4 marks

Source B: From ‘Peacemakers’, by Professor Margaret Macmillan of the University of Toronto, published in 2001.

The mistake the Allies made, and it did not become clear until much later, was that, as a result of the armistice terms, the great majority of Germans never experienced their country’s defest at first hand. Except in the Rhineland, they did not see occupying troops. The Allies did not march in triumph to Berlin, as the Germans had done in Paris in 1871. In 1918 German soldiers marched home in good order, with crowds cheering their way; in Berlin, Friedrich Ebert, the new president, greeted them with ‘No enemy has conquered you’!

Source C: Headlines and article from the British newspaper the People, 25 May 1919

7. Study Sources B and C. How useful are Sources B and C to a historian studying Allied reactions to the Treaty of Versailles? Explain your answer using Sources B and C and your contextual knowledge. 12 marks

Source A: Woodrow Wilson, speaking in 1923

That we should have thus done a great wrong to civilization at one of the most critical turning points in the history of the world is the more to be deplored because every anxious year that has followed has made the exceeding need for such services as we might have rendered more and more evident and more and more pressing...

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8. Study Source A. Source A opposes the Treaty of Versailles and feels it was unfair towards the Germans. How do you know? Explain your answer using Source A and your contextual knowledge. 4 marks

9.Other than Germany in the Treaty of Versailles, Austria in the Treaty of St Germain was treated the most harshly after WWI. How far do you agree with this statement? 16 marks

10.Clemenceau was the least satisfied of the ‘Big Three’ by the Treaty of Versailles.’ How far do you agree with this statement? 16 marks

11. Study Source A. Source A supports the creation of the League of Nations and the reasons for its creation. How do you know? Explain your answer using Source A and your contextual knowledge. 4 marks

12.’The organisation and structure of the League meant that it was always going to fail.’ How far do you agree with this statement? 16 marks

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Source A: This picture by the British cartoonist David Low appeared in the Star newspaper on 11 November 1919.

Source B: Written by PJ Larkin, ‘European History for Certificate Classes’ (1965). PJ Larkin was a teacher of secondary school pupils, and this is a revision book.

One basic weakness of the League was that it was tied in people's minds to the Versailles settlement, and criticism thrown at Versailles fell on the League.   The refusal of the USA to join the League and the fact that

13. Study Sources B and C. How useful are Sources B and C to a historian studying why the League was destined to fail? Explain your answer using Sources B and C and your contextual knowledge. 12 marks

14.’The International Labour Organisation (ILO) was the most effected commission by the League.’ How far do you agree with this statement? 16 marks

15.Write an account of the successes and failures of the League in the 1920s. 8 marks

16.’The League of Nations failed more often than it succeeded in the 1920s’. How far do you agree with this statement? 16 marks

17. Study Source A. Source A supports the League of Nations. How do you know? Explain your answer using Source A and your contextual knowledge. 4 marks

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Source B: Written by PJ Larkin, ‘European History for Certificate Classes’ (1965). PJ Larkin was a teacher of secondary school pupils, and this is a revision book.

One basic weakness of the League was that it was tied in people's minds to the Versailles settlement, and criticism thrown at Versailles fell on the League.   The refusal of the USA to join the League and the fact that

Source C: Moral Persuasion'– a Punch cartoon of 1920. The rabbit is saying: "My offensive equipment being practically nil, it remains for me to fascinate him with the power of my eye."

Source A: A British cartoon of 1925 shows Greece and Bulgaria fighting –  like Tweedle-dum and Tweedle-dee in the story Alice in Wonderland. The League, like a dove of peace, stops the fight.  A poem under the cartoon reads:     'Just then came down a monstrous dove                 Whose force was purely moral        Which turned the heroes' hearts to love                 And made them drop their quarrel.'

18. Study Source A. Source A supports the Kellogg-Briand Pact, 1928. How do you know? Explain your answer using Source A and your contextual knowledge. 4 marks

19.Write an account of the Locarno Treaties in 1925. 8 marks

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Source A: A picture from a French magazine published in August 1928. It shows German Foreign Minister Gustav Stresemann (1878-1929), signing the Briand-Kellogg pact on 27 August 1928, in Paris.

Source B: This cartoon by the British cartoonist David Low appeared in the Evening Standard newspaper, 11 November 1938. Two figures sit on a cracked stone, which carries the inscription: 'League of Nations.  Foundation stone of a New Order, laid 1918.  Peace hath her sacrifices.

20. Study Sources B and C. How useful are Sources B and C to a historian studying why international cooperation decreased in the 1930s? Explain your answer using Sources B and C and your contextual knowledge. 12 marks

21.Write an account of how fascists gained power in Europe in the 1930s. 8 marks

22.Write an account of the Manchurian Crisis. 8 marks

23. Study Source A. Source A opposes the invasion of Manchuria. How do you know? Explain your answer using Source A and your contextual knowledge. 4 marks

24.Write an account of the Abyssinian Crisis. 8 marks

25.Write an account of how Mussolini’s invasion of Abyssinia led to Italy leaving the League of Nations. 8 marks

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Source C: Unemployed Germans queuing to find work outside an employment office in Hanover in 1930. The writing on the warehouse wall translates as ‘Vote Hitler’.

Source A: This cartoon was produced in 1933.

26. Study Source A. Source A opposes the League of Nations response to the Abyssinian crisis. How do you know? Explain your answer using Source A and your contextual knowledge. 4 marks

27.’The Manchurian Crisis was far more of a threat to the stability of the League of Nations than the Abyssinian Crisis.’ How far do you agree with this statement? 16 marks

28.’Structural weaknesses in The League of Nations when it was first set up were the main reasons it was doomed to fail.’ How far do you agree with this statement? 16 marks

29.Write an account of Hitler’s foreign policy aims. 8 marks

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Source A: This cartoon of 1935 in the British humorous/political magazine Punch shows international politics like a stage musical. Britain and France sing to Mussolini:

‘We don’t want you to fight, but by jingo if you do, We will probably issue a joint memorandum, Suggesting a mild disapproval of you.’

Source A: This cartoon by the British cartoonist David Low appeared in the Evening Standard newspaper on 9 September 1938.

Hitler on the left, in front of a Nazi flag, waving a sheet of paper marked 'The Idea.  All Germans everywhere are mine'. Behind him stands a long line of ghostly figures, each carrying a placard marked 'Polish Germans - Crisis', 'Hungarian Germans - Crisis' etc with 'British Germans' and 'U. S. A. Germans' further down the line.

30. Study Source A. Source A opposes Hitler’s foreign policy. How do you know? Explain your answer using Source A and your contextual knowledge. 4 marks

31.’The main reason other countries failed to react to Hitler’s foreign policy was their fear of war’. How far do you agree with this statement? 16 marks

32.Write an account of how Hitler broke the terms of the Treaty of Versailles between 1933 and 1935. 8 marks

33.Write an account of the reoccupation of the Rhineland. 8 marks

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Source A: Cartoon published in Punch Magazine, 1936.‘Vox Populi’ means ‘voice of the people’. Stanley Baldwin ponders the advice of popular opinion 'Don't Go Down the Rhine, Daddy' as he holds headlines 'Locarno Powers' Proposals' and 'Re-occupation of the Rhine-Land', with 'Staff Consultations' on the floor, in front of a map of Belgium, France and Germany

34. Study Source A. Source A opposes Hitler’s re-occupation of the Rhineland. How do you know? Explain your answer using Source A and your contextual knowledge. 4 marks

Source A: Cartoon by David Low, 1934. It says ‘We need men of action such as they have in Italy and Germany who are leading their countries triumphantly out of the slump…’

35.Study Source A. Source A gives reasons for why other countries supported Hitler. How do you know? Explain your answer using Source A and your contextual knowledge. 4 marks

36.’The main reason countries supported Hitler was a fear of Communism (and the USSR)’. How far do you agree with this statement? 16 marks

37.Write an account of how the Nazis achieved Anschluss with Austria. 8 marks

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Source C: Susi Seitz, who was a leader in the Austrian Hitler Youth in the 1930s and 1940s, was interviewed for the BBC documentary ‘The Nazis: A Warning from History’ in 1997. Here she talks about meeting Hitler when he visited Austria shortly after Anschluss had taken place.

“I just looked at him [Hitler] and I saw goodness. And in my heart I promised I will be faithful to you. And I kept that promise.”

38. Study Sources B and C. How useful are Sources B and C to a historian studying reactions to the Anschluss with Austria? Explain your answer using Sources B and C and your contextual knowledge. 12 marks

39.Write an account of the Sudeten Crisis. 8 marks

Source A: Adapted from a speech given by Hitler to the people of Berlin, 1938.

“We are not interested in breaking peace. I am thankful to Mr Chamberlain for all his trouble and I assured him that the German people want nothing but peace, but I also declared that I cannot go beyond the limits of our patience. I further assured him, and I repeat here, that if this problem is solved, there will be no further territorial problems in Europe for Germany.”

40. Study Source A. Source A gives reasons for the Sudeten Crisis. How do you know? Explain your answer using Source A and your contextual knowledge. 4 marks

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Source B: A Soviet cartoon showing Hitler catching Austria, 1938. It is a comment on the Anschluss.

41.’The Munich Crisis was far more significant to the outbreak of war than the remilitarisation of the Rhineland and Anschluss.’ How far do you agree with this statement? 16 marks

42.Study Source A. Source A opposes the policy of appeasement. How do you know? Explain your answer using Source A and your contextual knowledge. 4 marks

43.Write an account of how Britain went about appeasing Hitler in the 1930s. 8 marks

44.’The policy of appeasement was a mistake that led to the outbreak of WWII’. How far do you agree with this statement? 16 marks

45.Write an account of the Nazi-Soviet Pact. 8 marks

Source A: Adapted from Chamberlain’s diary on 26 March 1939.

“I must confess to the most profound mistrust of Russia. I have no belief whatever in her ability to maintain an effective offensive… and I distrust her motives, which seem to me to have little connection with out ideas of liberty, and to be concerned only with getting everyone else by the ears. Moreover she is both hated and suspected by many of the smaller states.”

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Source A: A Punch cartoon by Bernard Partridge, 1938. The Angel called ‘Peace’ is saying “I had hoped – and I still hope – for a better task than this”.

46. Study Source A. Source A opposes the Nazi-Soviet Pact. How do you know? Explain your answer using Source A and your contextual knowledge. 4 marks

47. Study Sources B and C. How useful are Sources B and C to a historian studying the Nazi-Soviet Pact? Explain your answer using Sources B and C and your contextual knowledge. 12 marks

48.Write an account of the invasion of Poland. 8 marks

49.’The Nazi-Soviet Pact was the main reason for the outbreak of WWII in 1939.’ How far do you agree with this statement? 16 marks

50. ’The Depression was the main reason for the outbreak of WWII in 1939.’ How far do you agree with this statement? 16 marks

51. ’The failure of the League of Nations was the main reason for the outbreak of WWII in 1939.’ How far do you agree with this statement? 16 marks

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Source C: A cartoon by Herblock (American cartoonist), 1939. A bear is often used to symbolise the USSR.