This document provides sample exam questions on various history topics, including World War I, Germany 1918-1939, personalities of the 20th century, and the conflict in Indochina from 1954-1979. For each topic, two potential exam questions are provided. The questions assess understanding of key events, developments, individuals, causes and consequences. Sources to be used in answering some questions are also listed.

1. Exams

3. Use Sources A and B and your own
knowledge. Explain why soldiers’ and civilians’
attitudes to the war changed between 1914
and 1918.
!
Assess how useful Sources C and D would be
for an historian studying changing
expectations of soldiers and civilians in British
society between 1914 and 1921.
WWI
2002

4. (a) Assess the importance of anti-
communism in shaping the policies of the
United States towards Indochina between
1954 and 1979.
!
OR
!
(b) Evaluate the effectiveness of the
strategies and tactics used by soldiers in
Vietnam between 1960 and 1975.
Conflict in Indochina 1954–1979

5. (a) Assess the impact of the Nazi Party on
German society up to and including 1933.
!
OR
!
(b) Explain the nature and impact of Nazi
propaganda, terror and repression on the
Jewish community between 1933 and 1945.
National Study:
Germany 1918-1939

6. WWI
Use Sources A (one or both), B and C
and your own knowledge.
Compare the differing experiences of
soldiers on the Western Front.
!
Assess how useful Source A (1) and Source
D would be for an historian studying the
‘Christmas truce’ of 1914 and what this event
showed about soldiers’ attitudes to war.
2003

7. (a) Discuss the significance of the 1964 Gulf
of Tonkin incident in the growth of US
intervention in Vietnam in the period 1954–
1968.
!
OR
!
(b) Assess the impact the spread of conflict
from Vietnam had on Cambodia in the period
up to 1979.
Conflict in Indochina 1954–1979

8. (a) Discuss the impact of the Depression on
democracy in Germany in the period up to
1934.
!
OR
!
(b) Evaluate the success of the Nazi Party in
transforming Germany into a Nazi society in
the period 1933–1945.
National Study:
Germany 1918-1939

9. Account for the different goals of the Big Three Allied
leaders at the Paris Peace Conference.
Use Sources A and B and your own knowledge to
answer this question.
!
Assess how useful Sources C and D would be for an
historian studying peacemaking during World War I.
WWI
2004

10. (a) Evaluate the view that North Vietnam’s
determination to spread communism in
Indochina caused the failure of the Geneva
Peace Agreement by the 1960s.
OR
(b) To what extent were the Vietcong
responsible for the withdrawal of the United
States from Vietnam and the eventual defeat of
the South Vietnamese forces in
the period 1968–1975?
Conflict in Indochina 1954–1979

11. (a) Assess the view that the collapse of the Weimar
Republic was primarily due to the appeal of Hitler
and his Nazi Party.
!
OR
!
(b) Evaluate the significance of the Battle of
Stalingrad in 1943 for the military defeat and
collapse of Nazism in 1945.
National Study:
Germany 1918-1939

12. How significant was the Battle of the Somme in
attempts to break the stalemate on the Western
Front?
!
!
Assess how useful Sources C and D would be for
a historian studying the nature of trench warfare
during World War I.
WWI 2005

13. (a) To what extent were anti-war movements
responsible for the American decision to
withdraw from Vietnam in 1973?
!
OR
!
(b) Evaluate the view that US intervention was
primarily responsible for the suffering of
villagers in South Vietnam and Cambodia.
Conflict in Indochina 1954–1979

14. (a) Assess the impact of conservative
parties and elites on German politics in the
period 1918–1934.
!
OR
!
(b) Evaluate the view that Germany was a
totalitarian society in the period 1933–
1945.
National Study:
Germany 1918-1939

15. Explain why US entry into World War I
proved to be the most significant of the
war’s turning points
!
Assess how useful Sources C and D would
be for an historian studying the impact of
total war on the home fronts during World
War I.
WWI
2006

16. Evaluate the view that an inability to separate
nationalism from communism dominated US
policy towards Indochina in the period 1954–1968.
!
!
Assess the significance of the 1968 Tet Offensive
as part of North Vietnam’s strategy in achieving
victory in the Second Indochina War.
Conflict in Indochina 1954–1979

17. Assess the importance of nationalism as a
cause of the failure of democracy in Germany
in the period 1918–1934.
!
OR
!
To what extent was Hitler responsible for the
development and implementation of Nazi
racist policies in Germany in the period to
1939?
National Study:
Germany 1918-1939

18. !
a) Outline the main features in the
background and rise to prominence of the
twentieth-century personality you have
studied.
!
(b) To what extent does history present us
with a balanced interpretation of this
personality?
Personality 20th C

19. 2007
To what extent was the failure of Ludendorff’s
Offensive responsible for Allied victory and
the German collapse?
!
Assess how useful Sources C and D would
be for a historian studying the changing
attitudes of Allied and German soldiers to the
war.
WWI

20. Explain how and why German social and
cultural life changed in the period1923–
1939.
!
OR
!
Assess the impact of Nazism on German
foreign policy in the period 1933–1939.
National Study:
Germany 1918-1939

21. (a) Describe the role played by the
personality you have studied in national
AND/OR international history.
!
(b) ‘Events shape people more than
people shape events.’
How accurate is this statement in relation
to the personality you have studied?
Personality 20th C

22. Assess the consequences of the Vietnamese
victory against the French for in the period
1954–1964.
!
OR
!
To what extent was the rise to power of Pol
Pot’s regime a consequence of the spread of
the Vietnam War to Cambodia?
Conflict in Indochina 1954–1979

23. Assess the impact of tactics using new weapons in
attempts to break the stalemate on the Western
Front.
!
Assess how useful Sources C and D would be for a
historian studying the variety of attitudes to the war
on the home fronts and how they changed over time
in Britain and Germany.
2008
WWI

24. National Study:
Germany 1918-1939
Account for the successes and failures of
democracy in Germany in the period 1918–
1933.
!
OR
!
To what extent can Nazism in power be
seen as totalitarianism in the period 1933–
1939?

25. Personality 20th C
Describe the personal background and the
historical context of the personality you have
studied.
!
(b)‘History is about winners.’
How accurate is this statement in relation to
the personality you have studied?

26. Conflict in Indochina 1954–1979
To what extent was US involvement responsible
for the ongoing conflict in Indochina in the
period 1954–1979?
!
OR
!
Evaluate the view that the impact of war on
civilians in Indochina was responsible for
communist victory in the period 1968–1979.

27. Explain why there was a stalemate on the
Western Front by the end of 1914.
!
Assess how useful Sources C and D would
be for a historian studying the impact of
World War I on women’s lives and
experiences in Britain.
2009
WWI

28. To what extent did weaknesses in the Weimar
Republic account for the growth and rise to
power of the Nazi Party to 1933?
!
OR
!
Assess the impact of Nazi propaganda, terror
and repression on the German people from 1933
to 1939.
National Study:
Germany 1918-1939

29. Outline the life of the personality you
have studied.
!
(b) ‘Individuals are products of their
times.’
How accurate is this statement in relation
to the personality you have studied?
Personality 20th C

30. Assess the importance of the Geneva
Peace Agreement to developments within
North and South Vietnam to 1964.
!
OR
!
To what extent were the anti-war
movements in the United States responsible
for communist victory in the Second
Indochina War?
Conflict in Indochina 1954–1979

31. 2010
WWI
Outline how the experiences of trench warfare
changed soldiers’ attitudes to the war over time.
!
How useful would Sources E and F be for a
historian studying the different goals of
Clemenceau, Lloyd George and Wilson in
creating the Treaty of Versailles?

32. Assess the influence of the German army on
the successes and failures of the Weimar
Republic by 1933.
!
OR
!
Evaluate Hitler’s role in the Nazi state between
1933 and 1939.
National Study:
Germany 1918-1939

33. a) Describe the life of the personality you
have studied.
!
b) ‘People are swept along by events.
Some individuals use events to
advantage.’
How accurate is this statement in relation
to the personality you have studied?
Personality 20th C

34. Conflict in Indochina 1954–1979
Evaluate the effectiveness of the strategies
and tactics used by the opposing sides
during the Second Indochina War.
!
OR
!
Account for the rise to power of the Khmer
Rouge in Cambodia.

35. Outline the strategies and tactics used to
break the stalemate on the Western Front.
!
How useful would Sources C and D be for
a historian studying the strategies and
tactics used to break the stalemate on the
Western Front?
2011
WWI

36. (a) The impact of the Treaty ofVersailles on the
Weimar Republic to 1929 was more significant
than any other factor.
How accurate is this statement?
!
(b) Account for the initial consolidation of Nazi
power in 1933–1934. 25
National Study:
Germany 1918-1939

37. a) Provide a detailed description of THREE
significant events in the life of the
personality you have studied. (10)
!
(b) Assess the contribution of the
personality you have studied to their
period of national and/or international
history. (15)
Personality 20th C

38. Assess the importance of nationalism to
theVietnamese up to 1965.
OR
From 1965 the US implemented a policy
of direct military involvement inVietnam.
Evaluate the consequences of this policy.
Conflict in Indochina 1954–1979

39. Outline the variety of attitudes to the war and
how they changed over time in Britain and
Germany.
!
How useful would Sources A and D be for a
historian studying recruitment and propaganda
in Britain and Germany?
2012
WWI

40. Hitler came to power as a result of a lack of
opposition.To what extent is this statement
true?
OR
How successful was Nazi foreign policy in
achieving its aims to September 1939?
National Study:
Germany 1918-1939

41. Describe THREE significant factors which
resulted in the prominence of the personality
you have studied.
!
To what extent did the personality you have
studied have a positive impact on his or her
times?
Personality 20th C

42. Assess the significance for Indochina of the
Vietnamese victory against the French in the
period up to 1964.
OR
Account for the Communist victory in the
Second Indochina War.
Conflict in Indochina 1954–1979

43. Outline reasons for the Allied victory and
German collapse in 1918.
How useful would Sources E and F be for a
historian studying the impact of total war on
civilians in Britain and Germany?
2013
WWI

44. To what extent was the Great Depression
responsible for the collapse of the
Weimar Republic?
OR
Assess the impact of the Nazi state on social
and cultural life in Germany in the period
1933 to 1939.
National Study:
Germany 1918-1939

45. Describe the rise to prominence of the
personality you have studied.
Evaluate the significance of the personality
you have studied to his/her period of
national and/or international history.
Personality 20th C

46. Assess the significance of the Tet Offensive
in bringing about victory for the North
Vietnamese in the Second Indochina War.
OR
(b) Account for the rise to power of the
Khmer Rouge in CambodiaAssess the
significance of the Tet Offensive in bringing
about victory for the North Vietnamese in
the Second Indochina War.
Conflict in Indochina 1954–1979