HISTORY (World Affairs Since 1919)
GCE Ordinary Level
Paper 2158/01
Paper 1
General comments
The quality of candidates’ work varied widely. Whilst there were examples of weak understanding, there
were some Centres whose candidates were well prepared and where the standard of achievement was high.
Better answers were distinguished by confidence in the understanding of the material, together with a careful
reading of the wording of the question, so that the responses were relevant.
Each question is made up of two parts. Answers to the second part of questions often ignored the actual
wording used. For example, in part two of Question 1, candidates were required to assess, ‘To what extent
had the League failed to achieve its aims by 1930?’. Many responses interpreted this to mean, ‘Why did the
League fail during the 1930s?’. Such responses therefore ignored the question ‘to what extent’, as well as
the date given in the question itself.
Some questions used phrases such as: ‘to what extent?’, ‘How far?’, ‘How important?’. Those answers
which adopted the approach of: ‘on the one hand…but on the other…’ mostly gained the marks reserved for
a consideration of these aspects.
There were very few infringements of the rubric. The syllabus provides a wide range over the period and
regions of World Affairs, and most candidates appeared to have a good choice of topics. It is clear that
some aspects of the history of Western Europe may not be studied in depth, yet most candidates were able
to answer one or two questions from that region.
Comments on specific questions
Section A: General Problems
Question 1
This was a very popular question, and answers generally achieved a good standard in the narrative section.
There was some confusion with the United Nations Organisation in some of the accounts, especially in the
nomenclature of the organs, but sometimes also in their constitution and functions.
Responses to part two were seldom relevant to the wording used in the question. Only a minority identified
that the League had achieved some successes in the 1920s (the period indicated in the question). Instead,
the majority discussed the reasons for the League’s ultimate failure, which was not required.
Question 2
This question was also quite popular, and it was encouraging to read so many answers in which the various
aspects of Fascism were understood and clearly explained.
One issue which arose in the marking was the treatment of the Lateran Treaty. Where candidates placed
this event in the context of Mussolini’s control over all aspects of Italian society, it was possible to give
good credit.
Part two answers were mostly relevant.
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Question 3
Candidates found enough material to achieve a good standard. Most dealt with the Anglo-German Naval
Treaty, the occupation of the demilitarised zone of the Rhineland, the intervention in Spain, the Anschluss
and the Sudetenland crisis.
The issue of appeasement was well understood so that part two answers were usually very good.
Question 4
The details of the relations between the USA and Cuba were widely known, and answers to this question
were of a good standard.
Answers to part two normally discussed the consequences for President Kennedy and Prime Minister
Khrushchev of the Cuban Missile Crisis, before considering the improvement in relations between the two
superpowers.
Altogether, this was a question which was very well answered.
Question 5
This question on Algerian independence was answered by very few candidates.
Question 6
The few responses to this question simply considered the use of the atomic bombs at the end of the Second
World War and thus made no attempt to consider the wider aspects indicated in both parts of the question.
Section B: Western Europe
Question 7
In part one, better answers on the overthrow of the Weimar Republic described in some detail events such
as the Spartacus Rising, the Kapp Putsch, the assassination campaign and the Beer Hall Putsch. On the
other hand, many responses looked at the question as one on Hitler’s rise to power and so earned lower
marks.
Answers to part two partly depended on the approach made in dealing with the narrative in part one.
Those candidates who addressed the varied attempts to overthrow the Weimar Republic were usually also
well informed about the career and achievements of Stresemann, and so were able to provide relevant
comment.
Question 8
There were not many answers to this question on Spain, and only a few were well informed about the events
covered by the period indicated.
Answers to part two were mostly satisfactory.
Questions 9, 10 and 11
These questions were answered by very few candidates.
Section C: The Americas
Question 12
This question was quite popular, part (a) being answered more fully by most candidates. The structure of the
US financial system was not always understood, but answers were mostly satisfactory.
In part two, the question of ‘How far was Hoover to blame’ was sometimes ignored. Those answers which
used the approach of: ‘on the one hand Hoover was to blame because…but on the other hand he was not
to blame because…’ were able to score highly.
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Question 13
There were only a few answers which dealt with the first question of Roosevelt’s critics. These candidates
provided accounts of:
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the attitudes of Republicans towards federal interference in the rights of separate states;
the objections of businessmen towards the Wagner Act, the regulation of hours of work and increases in
taxation;
the Supreme Court;
socialists, who ensured that a high standard was achieved.
Only the better answers to the second question noticed the date (1940) and made relevant comment.
Candidates who considered the popularity of Roosevelt’s measures were also able to earn credit.
Question 14
Answers to this question on US foreign policy were always relevant and well informed, often providing good
descriptions of the Good Neighbour policy, the Neutrality Acts, Cash and Carry, Lend-Lease and the dispute
with Japan.
Part two answers on the Atlantic Charter were usually relevant.
Questions 15 and 16
These questions on Presidents Kennedy, Johnson, Allende and General Pinochet were not widely
answered.
Section D: USSR and Eastern Europe
Question 17
There were many good answers to this question, giving details of the steps taken by Lenin to rebuild the
economy weakened by the First World War and the subsequent civil war. Descriptions of the effects of war
communism, the resistance of the peasantry and the decline of industry were of a good standard. The
changes made by the introduction of the New Economic Policy in 1921 rounded off accounts of the methods
used by Lenin to solve the economic problems.
The efficiency and ruthlessness of the Bolshevik’s political regime were usually described in satisfactory
detail.
Part two answers referred to the shocks of the Kronstadt naval mutiny, the peasants’ resistance to war
communism and the collapse of Russia’s industry as reasons for the introduction of the New Economic
Policy.
Question 18
This question, concerning industrial and agricultural changes under Stalin, was very popular, and answers
were often very full and detailed, so that good standards were achieved by many candidates.
Part two answers were invariably of a satisfactory standard.
Question 19
Better answers outlined the difficulties facing the USSR by the hostility shown by most countries during the
1920s and 1930s. Relations with Germany and then the Axis powers were described well. Only a few
answers considered the problems in the Far East. The continuing isolation in Europe, especially in the
light of the policy of appeasement followed by Britain and France, helped to explain the signing of the nonaggression pact with Germany in 1939.
Answers to part two seldom discussed the issue of ‘How far the signing of the non-aggression pact with
Germany made the Second World War inevitable’. Instead, most answers concentrated on the reasons
which led Germany to sign the pact – a narrower question than the one set.
Question 20
No answer to this question on Soviet-China relations was seen.
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Question 21
There were some excellent answers to this question on political events in Russia from 1991 to 1996.
Candidates were confident in their knowledge of the developments during this period.
Part two answers were also of a good standard.
Section E: Africa and the Middle East
Question 22
No answer to this question on Reza Shah Pahlevi was seen.
Question 23
There were very few answers to this question. This aspect of Palestine’s history does not seem to be well
understood.
Question 24
There was only one answer to this question on Ghana’s progress to independence.
Question 25
There were very few answers to this question on Gamal Abdel Nasser and the Suez Canal Company.
Question 26
There were very few answers to this question on apartheid.
Section F: Asia
Question 27
The quality of answers varied considerably. In some cases, candidates were very well prepared and were
able to describe Japan’s several incursions into China and Indo-China from 1931 to 1941, as well as her
links with the other Axis powers. Other answers dealt with Manchuria and then jumped to the attack on Pearl
Harbor. The former approach clearly scored more highly.
Part two answers were always of a good standard.
Question 28
This question on Guomindang and the Chinese Communist Party was quite popular. Better candidates
identified the period and gave relevant, often full answers. Others considered the relations between the two
groups in general, not always relevant, terms.
Part two answers looked at the policies of the Communists towards the redistribution of land to the peasants
as well as the perception of the Communists as leaders in the resistance to Japanese aggression.
Question 29
The economic policies of the Chinese Communist government (1949-1961) was a less popular question, but
answers were often of a good standard. Such answers described the policy of land distribution following the
victory in the civil war. They then went on to consider the Five Year Plan and collectivisation after the model
of the USSR, before giving accounts of the establishment of the system of Communes associated with the
Great Leap Forward.
Part two answers were usually very satisfactory.
Questions 30 and 31
These questions were very seldom answered.
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