1 HY116 Revision Guide 2010-11

REVISION GUIDE 2010-11

HY116: International History since 1890
Dr Edward Packard, March 2011 (e.packard@lse.ac.uk)

Did you find this guide useful? Is anything crucial missing? Do you have any
strategies you would like to share with students? Please e-mail me any comments,
criticisms or suggestions, so I can incorporate them into future editions.

Contents
Page(s)

2: Introduction
Explains the purpose of this guide and sources of further advice.

3: Targets
What do you want to have achieved by the end of the summer term?

4: Topics
Choosing what to revise and why you should avoid over-
compartmentalisation.

5-8: Strategies
Ideas to help you start your preparation and maintain focus while
revising.
 The Easter Break
 Historiography
 Other hints and tips

9: The Exam
What to expect, and how to manage the exam.

10-21: Questions
Previous exam questions, ordered by the topics covered this year.
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INTRODUCTION
This guide should not be used as a set-in-stone guide for exam preparation: to get into
LSE, you have already proved your ability and you will all have your own strategies
for success. What follows is purely suggestive and intends to build your confidence
by:

 Helping you set yourself clear targets

 Assisting you with preparing revision (and exam) strategies

To save you time, the previous exam questions, along with all the questions we have
covered in class this year, are listed from page ten onwards.

As well as this revision guide, you should also re-familiarise yourself with all the
information provided in the International History departmental undergraduate
handbook: if you did not receive a hard copy of this, the relevant material is in the
HY116 Moodle under „Course information and handouts‟. Look especially at the
information under the headings „Department of International History guidance sheets‟
and „Essays‟. If you have not already done so, look at these now, and then come back
to this guide!

There are also more general revision resources available at the LSE: explore the
website, including the various Moodles on offer.

See, especially, Learning World: http://moodle.lse.ac.uk/course/view.php?id=698

Finally, there is certainly some value in reading books (and having a think) about the
discipline of history itself – R. J. Evans, In Defence of History (D16.8 E91) or
Ludmilla Jordanova, History in Practice (D16.2 J81), both discuss the age-old
question „what is history?‟ in a readable and stimulating fashion. If you want
something more specific on „what is international history?‟, then see Marc
Trachtenberg, The Craft of International History: a guide to method (JZ1329.5 T75).
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TARGETS

This is really important – before you sit down to make a single revision note for
HY116, sit back and think „What do I want to achieve here?‟ Make a list of three or
four goals, and then write how you intend to achieve this. For example:

„I want to pass the exam.‟

This will probably be your number one target.

Remember, the point of the exam is not to catch you out – by now you should have
enough knowledge on each topic to answer the questions set – the point of the exam
is a test of your ability to structure your knowledge to fit a given question.

To pass the exam, you will have to answer satisfactorily three questions in three
hours. You will have to answer one question on a topic from the date range 1890-
1945, and one on a post-1945 topic (your third choice can be on any topic). To
obtain a grade, you need at least an average mark of 40 from your three answers, but
you should NOT be setting your targets this low! Instead, why not say to yourself:

„I want to get the mark I deserve.‟

„I want to demonstrate my ability to the examiner.‟

You have completed a course involving over a century of history, covering most of
the globe and involving a variety of complex causative elements. This in itself is an
impressive achievement! You will have been challenged at many levels. You want to
get something out of all this work. Motivate yourself!

„I want to improve my understanding of the course.‟

„I want to “tie it all together”‟

Hopefully, for many of you, this is not just about getting an exam out of the way, but
rather a chance to continue your engagement with the material – some of you will go
on to do increasingly specialised history courses, and HY116 will provide you with a
stepping stone to more advanced work. An exam grade is one thing, but you should
not underestimate the value of being able to dazzle people with your ability to impose
a bit of analytical order on the chaos of the twentieth century, jumping from Great
War to Cold War, from Cuba to Vietnam and from nationalism to communism.

Over the past year you have amassed a vast amount of material from reading, lectures
and classes. Hopefully you will have already imposed some kind of system on your
notes: even so, revision presents an excellent opportunity to step back and look at the
broader picture, and master the all-important underlying themes and patterns that have
recurred throughout the course.

This target is especially important because it suggests enthusiasm for the subject
matter. This is hard to teach (although hopefully your teacher has conveyed
enthusiasm!) and even harder to quantify – but an examiner will notice (and generally
be quite pleased) if you are passionate about the subject.
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THE TOPICS

History (and HY116) is only chopped up into discrete topics and time periods in order
to make it manageable. As you learn more „topics‟ however, you should start thinking
about joining it altogether and looking at the „bigger picture‟. The main aim of HY116
is to explain why the international history of the twentieth history panned out as it did
through analysis of a variety of long and short term causes (and consequences).
For any given topic, you will have to know all of these causes and the debates
associated with them, as well as provide evidence to back up your argument. This will
frequently involve looking at material from other „topics‟.

Topic choice

„What topics should I revise?‟

„How many topics should I revise?‟

These are popular questions. Many students will choose maybe 5-6 „topics‟ to revise,
and hope „good‟ questions come up for 3 of them. This works for a lot of people – it is
entirely up to you, but remember no topic is guaranteed to appear and the more
„topics‟ you revise, the more questions you will be able to answer. Remember:
there will be 20 questions in the examination. You have to answer three. In three
hours.

Nonetheless, do not over-compartmentalise! This course takes a very broad

approach to history and if you are too specific, you run the risk of missing the wood
for the trees. Put very simply: don‟t just revise 1938-1941, but be aware what
happened in the 1930s (and earlier) to get to 1938, and what happens after 1941.

Moreover, having a good knowledge of different elements (especially the broader

long term causes) from the whole span of the course will increase the sophistication of
your argument, and therefore help your mark. Do play around with the broader
themes, because mentioning them where relevant – and being able to compare and
contrast across time and space – can really enhance your argument.

Remember also that dates are important in history – questions that cite specific dates
generally do so for a reason: even if you have revised material for a topic that goes
beyond the span of dates covered by the question, you must shift your focus to the
given dates rather than twisting the question to fit in the extra material you have
covered (the same applies if the question is asking you for specific countries – do not
attempt an answer covering a completely different country!). At the same time, it is
handy to know about „what happens before‟ and „what happens next‟ (i.e. be aware of
the broader themes in an individual state‟s history – i.e. for Germany, you should
know that its unification came about between 1866-71, and why this was important
for the twentieth century) but use this extra knowledge sparingly and only to provide
context or to make pertinent observations.
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STRATEGIES

In history examinations, a simple equation applies:

ABILITY TO ARGUE + EVIDENCE OF KNOWLEDGE = SUCCESS
The course – lectures, classes and reading – should have supplied you with both of
these necessary elements. Now is the time to revise them – you should not be doing
masses of reading at this point. It is still a good idea to keep up some reading, not only
because it will help you clarify your notes but also because you will be a much better
historian than you were in October, and will be able to fill in the holes in your
knowledge and understanding of earlier topics.

Indeed, it may help if, over the Easter break, you try and find a stimulating and
engaging book or two on a favourite subject and read it cover-to-cover: I‟d always
pick a biography of an interesting and important figure - although biographies do have
their drawbacks, they can really bring an era to life through the eyes of the
protagonist. By reaching the end of a book, you‟ll not only feel a sense of
achievement but – hopefully – it will help you inject that all-important dose of
enthusiasm into your work.

The Easter Break

You must plan your time effectively: you have five weeks of „holiday‟ and then some
time in the summer term. For confidence‟s sake, try to be in a decently prepared state
by the first week of the summer term (not least because you have a mock exam!),
otherwise you may start worrying about whether you‟ve done „enough‟ compared to
your fellow students.

Do take some time off, but the key thing is to PLAN EFFECTIVELY. You will
presumably have several exams coming up – make sure you give enough time to each
of the modules you have taken.

 first, work out when you are going to revise

 second, divide this time up between the modules you have to revise
 third, divide the modules up into the individual subjects/topics that you will be
revising - and assign each subject/topic a certain amount of time

You might feel you would rather take a five week holiday, which is entirely up to you,
but remember these are important exams and the culmination of a great deal of hard
work – it would be a waste not to prepare properly and do as well as you can. You
then get months in the summer to relax!

Making revision notes

Piles of notes cause great stress and are a psychological barrier (no-one wants to sit
down and plough through a huge pile of paper). Therefore, during revision, work to
the dictum that less is more. You should, through frequent revision of your material,
be able to condense the mass of notes for each topic you wish to revise into
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something like 10-12 A4 pages (if this doesn‟t sound very much, bear in mind that if
you revise 6 topics for HY116, you will produce a grand total of 60-72 pages).

You should condense ALL the material you have gathered for a particular topic:
lecture notes, reading notes, class notes and your essays. You will probably want to
revise topics you have written essays on. There is no problem with this but beware:
an individual essay, with notes, does not by itself cover all the possible questions that
could come up on that topic. Make sure you integrate the essay and your essay notes
into the topic you are revising, rather than allowing the essay to dictate the limits of
your revision.

On the same subject, it is very important that you take the comments on your essays
into consideration. This does not simply apply to comments specific to the subject
matter of the essay but also – more importantly – the comments on how you
structure your argument, as these will usually apply to your history work in general.
If a problem has repeatedly cropped up, make sure you have worked to eliminate it by
the time of the exam.

What follows is my suggested format for setting out your revision material – bearing
in mind that word processors allow you freedom to cut, paste, and rearrange:

p.1: a „detail‟ sheet. This should set the scene: a timeline of important dates, a list of
important characters and who they are, some memorable and incisive primary
quotations etc. etc. This will enable you to effectively deal with the course of events –
the rest of your notes will deal with the causes and consequences.

pp.2-8: On these pages you will get to the meat of the topic: they will include the bulk
of your notes, arranged in a thematic and analytical fashion. What do you need to put
in here? Quite simply: EVERYTHING THAT WILL ENABLE YOU TO
ANSWER ANY QUESTION THAT WILL COME UP ON THE TOPIC.

How do you know what might come up? The simple answer is you can never be 100%
sure – but you can get a very good idea by looking at the themes brought out in the
lectures, the items discussed in class and the questions from previous exams. These
questions generally follow a similar format albeit with different nuances.

YOU MUST NOT PREPARE ONE „SET ANSWER‟ FOR EACH TOPIC AND
EXPECT TO GET AWAY WITH IT IN THE EXAM – THE WHOLE POINT IS TO
TEST YOUR ABILITY TO MAKE AN ARGUMENT, BASED ON AN UNSEEN
SET QUESTION.

pp.9-10: Based on the last point, use the last few pages to list all the questions that
have come up for this topic and create an essay plan for each. This will get you into the
habit of re-structuring your material – and of answering the question set. Does your
essay plan provide a logical, coherent answer to the questions set? If doubtful, re-work
it! Make sure you also revise what different „question words‟ (analyse, discuss etc.)
mean – there is a list on Moodle.

REMEMBER! Historical events have a narrative course – which you should be

fully aware of – but more importantly they also have causes and consequences. To
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analyse why things happened as they did, you need to know what these are, and how
they fit together.

The curious world of historiography

Historiography is essentially how history is written – it is the theory of „doing
history‟ – how historians have viewed the past and come up with analytical
conclusions as to why things happened as they did. Therefore, historiography also
refers to „what other historians have argued‟ – i.e. it refers to the state of the debate
within any given field. In a given historical problem, some historians might have
placed emphasis on economic factors based on their research, while others might have
suggested that political influences were the most crucial.

You can get more marks for an answer if you can demonstrate relevant knowledge of
the historiography of a given topic.

This is not historiography:

„Antony Best has said that Japan was resource-poor.‟

Japan‟s lack of resources is not an argument – it is a fact. Whether Antony Best says
so or not, it is not going to change how much oil Japan has! This is better:

„Antony Best has argued that Japan‟s resource poverty was a major factor behind
its pursuit of an expansionist foreign policy.‟

The best students, however, will subtly weave a range of historians‟ arguments into
their answers, citing what evidence each historian has used to back up their claims.
You don‟t have time to dwell on it much in the exam, but a carefully integrated
reference here and there can work wonders. For example, anyone looking at the
origins of the Great War should be aware of the Fritz Fischer debate of the 1960s, the
sources Fischer used, and the subsequent implications of this debate.

To see well-written historiography, look at book review features (i.e. where more than
one book is reviewed in a single article) in an academic journal – generally, these will
review the state of debate, dwell on the sources and approaches used by each historian
under discussion, and suggest how this has moved the discipline forward.

If you want to gain an overview of a topic‟s historiography, look at four or five of the
recommended books for that topic: often, skimming the introductions and conclusions
from a few works, can quickly provide a sense of who is arguing what and why. If
you can produce a summary of the arguments from these books on one side of a
sheet of paper, you can easily incorporate this into your revision notes and into your
essay plans.

Many of the topics for this course have a contemporary dimension (i.e. the Middle
East since 1945) – and the historiography is often affected by political agendas, or the
international environment at the time the historian was working (i.e. revisionist Cold
War historiography became popular in the 1960s – can you guess why?) – if you can
bring this out, so much the better!
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Finally, do not let historiography take over your essays and revision: in an answer
you should not be discussing one approach, followed by another approach, followed
by yet another approach, before concluding that you agree with one of them.
„Historiographical regurgitation‟ of this nature is frowned upon and the examiner will
give better marks to original analysis. Your essay should be your argument,
addressing the factors you think are important, with historiography used where
appropriate. It is a skill that has to be learnt, but a very useful one.

Footnotes? You do not need to provide footnotes in an exam. Simply referring to an

author when you describe their argument (i.e. „David Stevenson has argued that...‟) is
sufficient, or you can refer to a school of thought (i.e. „Post-revisionists have argued
that...‟) though it is a good idea to give some names as well.

Primary sources? You do not have to memorise primary quotations – but it may be a
good idea to revise some of the key documents from twentieth century international
history and explain their relevance in your exam answers.

Other hints and tips

 as you are surely bored of hearing by now, success depends on your combining
(relevant) contextual historical detail with analysis – leaving out either will reflect
badly on your work. But your work, first and foremost, must be an analytical
argument answering the question set.
 when revising, shut off all distractions: Facebook (and the internet generally),
mobile phones etc. – do a solid few hours work, have a break, do a solid few
hours work. Perhaps divide your day into three or four sessions, and take a session
off per day. Reward yourself for meeting targets, plan your social life to fit your
schedule etc.
 read a newspaper daily: a lot of the topics we‟ve looked at have enormous
contemporary resonance and keeping up-to-date with what‟s going on will add
interest to your revision and depth to your understanding
 read relevant fiction or watch relevant films – HY116 lends itself to such
„learning without it feeling like you‟re learning‟ – the Cold War, as just one
example, is reflected in an enormous amount of film and literature. This is NOT,
however, a substitute for revision, but a supplement.
 cover your walls with timelines! The construction of a timeline will help you
remember dates and chronological orders; having it on your wall will mean you
are confronted by important dates on a daily basis. If you‟re feeling ambitious,
cover your walls with diagrams and essay plans too. Repeatedly test yourself on
the factual elements of the course.
 one of the best ways to learn a topic is to teach it – so try explaining some of your
ideas to friends, family, or – even better – your fellow students. This will help you
develop confidence and conviction. On a similar note, do meet up with your
fellow students when possible and talk about your experiences of revision.

Above all, relax! Do not stress, because stress is counterproductive. Every topic on
this course „makes sense‟ – if you are getting stressed, strip the topic down to the bare
bones and focus on these – the key events, the key dates, the key people, the key
themes. Now go back and try looking at the trickier arguments again. Or put the topic
away and come back to it after you‟ve successfully revised something else.
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THE EXAM

In the examination you will be presented with 20 questions, from which you have to
answer THREE questions in THREE hours. You will have to do at least one pre-
1945 and at least one post-1945 question.

If you are well-prepared, you will be slightly nervous which will get the adrenaline
flowing. If under-prepared you will be very nervous and probably panic. Therefore,
be prepared! Make sure you turn up in ample time for the exam, and make sure you
have a decent number of working pens!

Everyone has different ways of coping with exams – here are my suggestions on
„what to do when you have turned over the exam paper‟:

In as relaxed a fashion as possible, read every question in the first minute or so.

 First, what questions can you answer? If you have revised properly, you will be
able to pick out a decent number.
 Second, what questions do you think you can answer most effectively? Pick your
„best‟ three.
 Third, in what order are you going to attempt them? It is usually best to start with
the question you are most confident about, as it will give you a boost for the rest
of the examination.
 Fourth, PLAN EACH ANSWER CAREFULLY. Your revision should have left
you with all the answers at your fingertips, but you will need to apply a structure
to that knowledge that will fit the question set. Make sure you know what you‟re
going to write before you write it – put a plan at the top of your answer sheet –
you have an hour to write each answer, five minutes spent planning each one is
not time wasted!
 Fifth, go for it! But, in your excitement, do remember to WRITE AS NEATLY
AS POSSIBLE – avoid scrawl (and, for that matter, avoid using jargon – write in
clear formal English). Remember that somebody has to read your script, and it
would place you at a distinct disadvantage if your handwriting cannot be
interpreted. (A point from my own experience: I have terrible handwriting, so for
exams I slowed down a bit, and formed my letters as „simplistically‟ as possible –
my scripts looked like they had been written by a child, but they were readable!)
o Try not to use abbreviations for events (i.e. write Second World War not
WW2) and, if you do use abbreviations for organisations etc., make sure
you give the full name of the organisation when you first mention it (i.e.
United Nations (UN))
o Try not to use contractions (i.e. use „did not‟ not „didn‟t‟)
o Remember to use the past tense when writing about historical events!

A FINAL PIECE OF ADVICE: The importance of planning each answer cannot be

over-emphasised: make sure your plan incorporates ALL the elements of your answer.
If you get to the end of the exam with 15-20 minutes left, you may start to worry and
think „what have I forgotten?‟ or „what can I add?‟ It is VERY DIFFICULT to go
back and add significant material to a history exam answer, given your answer should
be clearly structured. The solution is to make sure your structure is comprehensive
BEFORE YOU WRITE A SINGLE WORD.
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THE QUESTIONS

Here are the class discussion topics (in italics) and questions from examinations since
2004, grouped into subtopics (but beware of such compartmentalisation: see page 4).
Use them as indications of what may come up and as practice. If, using your revision
notes, you can answer all the questions in a given topic, you are definitely on the right
lines!

If you are revising one particular subtopic from, say, the Second World War it can pay
to look at questions in the immediately surrounding topics as well.

The class discussion topics usually deal with important specifics, while the exam
topics, taken as a whole, give some indication of the breadth you should be aiming
for in your revision.

Like the exam, what follows is divided into section A and section B – you will have to
answer at least one question from A and at least one from B.

SECTION A
From European to Global Balance, 1890-1904
Explain the underlying processes that transformed the European balance into a global one.

How did the European powers cope with the rise of Japan, Russia, and the United States?

How important was imperial expansion and rivalry overseas to the maintenance of peace in
Europe?

How and why did the previously flexible pattern of European alignments crystallise into two
opposing blocs?

To what extent did the emergence of a global system of international politics between 1890
and 1905 increase tensions in Europe? [2006 exam]

To what extent did a global balance of power emerge between 1890 and 1905? [2004 exam]

To what extent did rivalries within Asia transform the European balance of power into a
global balance between 1890 and 1904? [2007 exam]

To what extent did crises outside Europe disrupt the balance of power within Europe between
1890 and 1905? [2008 exam]

What impact did rivalries in East Asia have on the European balance of power between 1890
and 1905? [2009 exam]

'Economic growth outside Europe altered the European balance of power between 1890 and
1905.' Discuss. [2010 exam]
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Armaments and the origins of the Great War

What role did the balance of armaments between the Central Powers and the Entente play in
the outbreak of war?

‘Made in Berlin?’ Assess the responsibilities of the powers for the outbreak of war in 1914.

Why, having carefully avoided war during the previous Balkan crises, was Russia willing to
fight in 1914?

Why did Britain enter the Great War, and why did it wait so long before committing to fight?

'The greatest danger to international stability between 1890 and 1914 was Germany's thwarted
imperialist ambitions.' Discuss. [2005 exam]

Assess the role of Russia in the outbreak of continental war in 1914. [2005 exam]

Assess the impact of the land arms race on the European balance of power between 1905 and
1914. [2004 exam]

'The outbreak of war in July 1914 can be explained solely by German expansionism.' Discuss.
[2004 exam]

Assess the role of crises over North Africa and the Balkans in undermining European stability
between 1905 and 1913. [2006 exam]

To what extent did the great-power alliance systems force Europe into war in July-August
1914? [2006 exam]

To what extent did the European crises between 1905 and 1913 have common causes? [2007
exam]

To what extent did the institutional imperatives and goals of the German army determine the
outcome of the July crisis of 1914? [2007 exam]

Which was the more dangerous international flashpoint between 1905 and 1913: Morocco or
the Balkans? [2008 exam]

„Britain bears the primary responsibility for the outbreak of European war in 1914.‟ Discuss.
[2008 exam]

„Between 1900 and 1913 a land arms race replaced a naval arms race as the principal source
of international tension in Europe.‟ Discuss. [2009 exam]

„Made in St Petersburg‟. Discuss this assessment of the outbreak of general European war in
1914. [2009 exam]

To what extent did the European crises between 1905 and 1911 divide the major powers into
antagonistic blocs? [2010 exam]

'A European war was inevitable in 1914; a global war was not.' Discuss. [2010 exam]
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The Great War, 1914-18

Account for the war’s escalation in intensity and extent, and for the inability of the powers to
end it by negotiation.

Compare and contrast the war aims of the Entente with those of the Central Powers.

Explain the decision of the United States to intervene, and assess its consequences.

What does the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk tell us about the nature of German war aims?

Why did the First World War continue until November 1918? [2005 exam]

Account for the diplomatic and military stalemate between the combatants in the First World
War between 1914 and 1917. [2004 exam]

„United States intervention was the principal cause of Germany‟s defeat in the Great War.‟
Discuss. [2006 exam]

'Economic mobilization, not battlefield prowess, explains Allied victory in the First World
War.' Discuss. [2010 exam]

Explain the outcome of the Great War. [2007 exam]

Compare the impact of the Russian Revolution with that of United States intervention on the
course of the First World War. [2008 exam]

„The First World War lasted so long because the two sides‟ war aims were radically opposed.‟
Discuss. [2009 exam]

Versailles and the League of Nations

What aims did Britain, France, and the United States pursue at the peace conference? With
what success?

Could the Versailles Treaty have provided a long-term basis for European stability?

Devise a peace settlement that post-1918 Germany would have accepted.

„What doomed the Versailles peace settlement was the lack of resolve of the victors.‟ Discuss
with reference to the international politics of the 1920s. [2006 exam]

'Britain emerged as the true victor at the Paris Peace Conference.' Discuss. [2004 exam]

What were the major sources of European instability between 1919 and 1929, and to what
extent did they interact? [2010 exam]

„The only weakness of the Treaty of Versailles was that nobody was willing to implement it.‟
Discuss this comment on events in Europe between 1919 and 1933. [2009 exam]

To what extent did the First World War continue, in forms other than military conflict,
throughout the 1920s? [2008 exam]

'Because “collective security” was “collective”, no one was responsible for security.‟ Discuss
with regard to international politics between 1919 and 1931. [2007 exam]
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Isolationism, Disarmament, Depression, War, 1929-35

To what extent was the United States ‘isolationist’? What of its so-called 'dollar diplomacy'?

Why did interwar disarmament efforts and/or the League of Nations fail?

Which was more important: that the Depression helped radicalise politics in Germany, Italy,
and Japan, or that it divided the Britain, France, and the United States?

Assess the relative contributions of US isolationism, Western disarmament, and the Great
Depression to the collapse of world order, 1931-35.

„The Great Depression both inspired aggression and made it materially possible.‟ Discuss
with reference to the period between 1929 and 1935. [2006 exam]

Assess the impact of the Great Depression upon international political cooperation between
1929 and 1935. [2005 exam]

How far, and with what consequences, did the United States withdraw from the international
system between 1919 and 1931? [2005 exam]

„U.S. foreign policy was unilateralist rather than isolationist between 1921 and 1939.‟
Discuss. [2009 exam]

Explain the collapse, between 1929 and 1935, of „collective security‟. [2010 exam]

The Nazi Revolution Against World Order

To what extent was Hitler's ideology relevant to his foreign policy?

To what extent did Hitler's objectives resemble those pursued by Wilhelmine Germany?

What external factors drove, and/or made possible, the second German attempt at European
and world hegemony?

'From 1936 to 1939 the Third Reich consistently yet flexibly pursued Hitler's systematic
foreign policy.' Discuss. [2004 exam]

'The British and French were neither cowards, nor fools. They were just wrong.' Analyse this
assessment of Anglo-French appeasement of Germany between 1933 and 1938. [2005 exam]

'Appeasement was the rational policy of an imperial power in decline.' Discuss with reference
to Britain OR France between 1933 and 1939. [2004 exam]

„The Western powers found Hitler‟s foreign policy puzzling, for they did not dare imagine
that he meant war.‟ Discuss in relation to the period between 1935 and 1939. [2010 exam]

What role did economics play in the evolution of Hitler‟s foreign policy between 1933 and
1939? [2009 exam]

To what extent was Germany, between 1933 and 1939, peculiarly threatening to world order?
[2007 exam]

„Hitler‟s foreign policy successes between 1933 and 1939 derived above all from the
feebleness and disunity of his adversaries.‟ Discuss. [2008 exam]
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The Soviet Road from War to War

What was the role of ideology in the formation of Soviet foreign policy?

To what extent did Soviet foreign policy aims remain consistent throughout the interwar
period?

What factors prompted Stalin to opt in 1939 for a pact with Hitler instead of an alliance with
Britain and France?

What do the text of the Nazi-Soviet Pact and Secret Additional Protocol tell us about Stalin’s
aims?

To what extent was Soviet foreign policy ideologically consistent in the 1930s? [2005 exam]

How far was Soviet foreign policy in the interwar period shaped by Realpolitik, rather than
ideology? [2004 exam]

How consistent were the objectives of Soviet foreign policy from 1928 to 1939? [2007 exam]

What concepts governed Soviet foreign policy between 1921 and 1939, and how successful
was the Soviet leadership in applying them? [2008 exam]

To what extent did British and French appeasement policies push Stalin into Hitler‟s arms in
1939? [2009 exam]

The United States, China, and Japan: Pacific Origins of the Second
World War
Account for Japan’s escalation from Manchurian ‘incident’ to East Asian and Pacific war,
1931-41

Assess the relative importance of ideology and economics in Japanese expansionism after
1931.

How important in determining Japanese actions were Chinese nationalism and/or United
States opposition?

Assess the global consequences, between 1937 and 1941, of Japan‟s war against China.
[2006 exam]

Why did the Western powers fail to deter Japanese aggression between 1931 and 1941? [2005
exam]

'Britain and America refused to accept Japan's rightful position as the regional imperial power
in East Asia.' Comment on this verdict on the origins of the Pacific War between 1931 and
1941. [2004 exam]

„Pearl Harbor was the greatest twentieth-century victory of the Western democracies.‟
Discuss. [2010 exam]

To what extent, and by what stages, did Japan narrow its foreign policy and strategic options
between 1935 and 1941? [2007 exam]
 15 HY116 Revision Guide 2010-11

Analyse the forces that propelled Japanese expansionism between 1931 and 1941, and weigh
their relative importance. [2008 exam]

‘Peace for our Time’ to Global War, 1938-1941

Why did European war come in 1939 rather than 1938?

Why did Britain fight on after the collapse of France?

Why did Hitler attack the Soviet Union?

Did Stalin have offensive aims in 1939-41?

What forces determined the escalation in the geographic extent and intensity of violence, from
Polish crisis to European war, and from European war to global war?

To what extent did diplomacy help determine the outcome of the Second World War?

Assess the Soviet contribution to Germany‟s achievement of European hegemony between

August 1939 and May 1941. [2006 exam]

„Britain and France found themselves at war with Germany in 1939 because of their own
avoidable errors over the previous two years.‟ Discuss. [2006 exam]

Why did the German attack on Poland in September 1939 widen into a global conflict by
1941? [2005 exam]

To what extent did the events of December 1941 make a negotiated settlement EITHER in
Europe OR in East Asia impossible? [2010 exam]

„A German battlefield triumph, and a German and global strategic catastrophe.‟ Discuss this
verdict on Hitler‟s 1940 conquest of France. [2010 exam]

To what extent was the outbreak of war in 1939 a result of miscalculation by the major
European powers? [2007 exam]

How did war in East Asia from 1937 and war in Europe from 1939 become intertwined by
December 1941? [2008 exam]

„The Fall of France was the decisive event in the processes that escalated the Second World
War between 1940 and 1941.‟ Discuss. [2009 exam]

Strategy and Diplomacy, 1941-45

Why was the Second World War so much more 'total' than its predecessor?

Compare and contrast the war aims of the principal powers after mid-1941, and explain their
radicalisation compared to the war aims of 1914-18.

Why did the 'Grand Alliance' endure until 1945?

Why did the Allies win?

„This war is not as in the past ... Everyone imposes his own system as far as his army can
reach.‟ Discuss Stalin‟s April 1945 comment on the Second World War. [2006 exam]
 16 HY116 Revision Guide 2010-11

'Given the resources of the Grand Alliance, the defeat of the Axis powers was merely a matter
of time.' Discuss with reference to the period between 1941 and 1945. [2005 exam]

To what extent was the Grand Alliance of the Second World War merely 'a short-term
military alliance of convenience'? [2004 exam]

Account for the dimensions, duration, and lethality of the Second World War. [2007 exam]

To what extent was diplomacy irrelevant to the course of the Second World War after 1941?
[2008 exam]

Why did it take so long for the Allies to defeat EITHER Germany OR Japan between 1941
and 1945? [2009 exam]

SECTION B
The Origins of the Cold War in Europe, 1944-49
Explain the origins and dynamics of the Cold War in Europe.

When did the Cold War begin?

To what extent did an 'American empire' in Western Europe mirror the Soviet post-1945
empire in Eastern Europe?

Assess the relative importance of geopolitical imperatives and ideological forces in the origins
of the Cold War in Europe. [2006 exam]

To what extent was the emergence of the Cold War in Europe the product of a regional power
vacuum following the end of the Second World War? [2005 exam]

'The Cold War owed more to America's failure to appreciate legitimate Soviet security needs,
than to Soviet aggression.' Discuss with reference to the period between 1945 and 1949. [2004
exam]

„Stalin was the pre-eminent cause of the Cold War in Europe.‟ Discuss. [2008 exam]

To what extent did issues other than the fate of Germany cause the Cold War in Europe?
[2007 exam]

To what extent did Soviet military power shape the development of the Cold War in Europe
between 1945 and 1949? [2010 exam]

„A dispute over the future of Germany‟. Discuss this verdict on the emergence of the Cold
War in Europe between 1945 and 1949. [2009 exam]

The Origins of the Cold War in Asia, 1945-54

Explain the origins and dynamics of the Cold War in East Asia.

What did the US, USSR, and China each hope to gain in East Asia?

What factors caused the communist victory in the Chinese civil war?

Why did the Korean War become an international conflict?

 17 HY116 Revision Guide 2010-11

'The inevitable consequence of the power vacuum resulting from the Second World War'.
Discuss this view of the origins of the Cold War in Asia. [2010 exam]

Account for the emergence of the Cold War in Asia between 1945 and 1950. [2005 exam]

Which event did more to escalate superpower tensions: the Chinese civil war or the Korean
conflict? [2006 exam]

EITHER Compare and contrast American and Soviet policy towards the Chinese Civil War
between 1945 and 1949.
OR How far was the outbreak of the Korean War in June 1950 'made in Moscow'? [2004
exam]

Explain the mechanisms by which the Cold War spread to and within East Asia. [2008 exam]

To what extent did the Cold War in Asia result from European conflicts, and to what extent
was it a product of specifically Asian rivalries? [2007 exam]

Which episode did more to shape the evolution of the Cold War in Asia: the Chinese Civil
War or the Korean War? [2009 exam]

Decolonisation
Explain the coming of decolonisation.

Why did decolonisation take place so much sooner in Asia than in Africa?

To what extent did the Cold War influence the process of decolonisation?

Explain the contrasts and similarities between British and French decolonisation.

To what extent did European imperial systems collapse in the period after the Second World
War? [2005 exam]

To what extent was decolonization a consequence of the Cold War? [2006 exam]

To what extent was European decolonisation between 1947 and 1963 dictated by changes in
the metropolitan countries? [2004 exam]

To what extent did a common set of causes govern the decolonisation of Asia and Africa
between 1947 and 1974? [2008 exam]

„European decolonisation between 1945 and 1975 was a consequence of the rise of the
superpowers.‟ Discuss. [2009 exam]

To what extent did decolonization after 1945 result from processes within Asia and Africa?
[2007 exam]

To what extent did the decolonization process alter the world balance of power between 1945
and 1975? [2010 exam]
 18 HY116 Revision Guide 2010-11

The Origins of European Integration

To what extent was European integration a consequence of forces external to Western
Europe?

What motives did the 'Six' have for integrating?

Why did Britain remain aloof?

Why, after the success of the ECSC, did the attempt to create the EDC fail?

'The process of European integration was fundamentally shaped by the search for security.'
Discuss with reference to the period between 1948 and 1957. [2005 exam]

To what extent was European integration a consequence of the Cold War? [2006 exam]

'The process of European integration between 1947 and 1957 was driven more by a desire to
appease France, than to placate Germany.' Discuss. [2004 exam]

Assess the influence of the Cold War on the process of European integration between 1947
and 1957. [2008 exam]

How far did the United States drive forward the process of European integration between
1947 and 1957? [2009 exam]

Assess the relative importance of „idealism‟ and „national interest‟ in the process of European
integration between 1947 and 1957. [2007 exam]

Assess the contribution of each of the two superpowers to the process of European integration
between 1947 and 1957.[2010 exam]

The Great Powers in the Middle East since 1945

What were the causes of the Suez Crisis?

How important are intra-Arab rivalries in explaining the Arab-Israeli conflict?

How far did the Cold War cause the 1967 and 1973 Arab-Israeli wars?

Why has the Arab world failed to destroy Israel?

How far can the Arab-Israeli conflict between 1956 and 1973 be seen as a series of proxy
wars between the superpowers? [2005 exam]

To what extent did United States and Soviet policy in the Middle East exacerbate the Arab-
Israeli conflict between 1956 and 1973? [2006 exam]

'The continuing Arab-Israeli conflict represented an irresistible opportunity for the

superpowers to interfere in the Middle East.' Discuss with reference to the period between
1956 and 1973. [2004 exam]

To what extent did the superpowers perpetuate the Arab-Israeli conflict between 1967 and
1973? [2008 exam]
 19 HY116 Revision Guide 2010-11

What was the impact of the Arab-Israeli conflict between 1955 and 1973 on the international
system as a whole? [2007 exam]

To what extent did great power intervention cause ANY TWO of the Arab-Israeli wars of
1956, 1967 and 1973? [2009 exam]

To what extent did the Cold War contribute to the outbreak of the Arab-Israeli wars of 1967
and 1973? [2010 exam]

The Arms Race and the Cuban Missile Crisis

How was the Cuban missile crisis connected to the wider context of the Cold War and the
arms race?

Why did the Soviet Union send missiles to Cuba: to defend the island; to seize advantage on
Berlin; or to close the 'missile gap'?

What options and constraints did the United States face in responding to the Soviet action?

What were the consequences of the Cuban Missile Crisis?

How far was the outcome of the Cuban missile crisis a triumph for the USSR? [2005 exam]

Assess the extent to which the Cuban missile crisis brought the world to the brink of nuclear
war. [2006 exam]

'Khrushchev's attempt to redress the international imbalance of power'. Discuss this verdict on
the origins of the Cuban missile crisis. [2004 exam]

Why was superpower tension so acute between 1961 and 1962? [2008 exam]

What was the relationship of the Cuban missile crisis to the Cold War? [2007 exam]

'Khrushchev's recklessness precipitated the Cuban missile crisis; Kennedy's coolness resolved
it.' Discuss. [2010 exam]

„A personal power play between Kennedy and Khrushchev.‟ Discuss this assessment of the
Cuban Missile Crisis. [2009 exam]

The Long War in Vietnam

Why did the United States intervene in Vietnam with ground troops in 1965, but not in 1954?

To what extent did Beijing and/or Moscow influence Hanoi's conduct of the war?

Why did the United States lose?

What were the international causes and consequences of US intervention in and withdrawal
from Vietnam?

'The Vietnam conflict revealed the limits of modern military technology when faced with
Third World nationalism.' Discuss. [2005 exam]

To what extent did the „American war‟ in Vietnam between 1964 and 1973 destabilize the
global political system? [2006 exam]
 20 HY116 Revision Guide 2010-11

Why did the United States decide to escalate its military commitment in Vietnam in 1965?
[2004 exam]

Why did the United States „choose war‟ as an instrument of policy in Vietnam? [2008 exam]

To what extent did Johnson merely implement the Vietnam policy he inherited from
Kennedy? [2010 exam]

To what extent was the Vietnam War decided on the American home front? [2009 exam]

The Making of Détente

How did détente originate?

What did the United States and the Soviet Union understand by 'détente'?

How did détente fit into the wider Cold War and balance-of-power context?

Why did détente collapse?

'The collapse of détente had more to do with America's perceptions of its own weakness,
rather than with the Soviet policy.' Discuss. [2005 exam]

To what extent was the concept of „linkage‟ central to both the rise and the fall of
détente? [2006 exam]

'Soviet adventurism in the Third World in the 1970s was a myth perpetrated by the United
States.' Discuss. [2004 exam]

To what extent was détente a consequence of United States embarrassment in Vietnam? [2007
exam]

To what extent did Chinese-Soviet rivalry moderate or radicalize both Chinese and Soviet
foreign policy between 1960 and 1979? [2007 exam]

To what extent was détente in the 1970s an illusion held by the Western powers? [2008 exam]

„A reflection of American weakness and Soviet strength.‟ Discuss this view of détente. [2009
exam]

To what extent was Soviet policy in the Third World during the 1970s responsible for the
collapse of détente? [2010 exam]

The New Cold War and the Collapse of the Soviet Empire
Which factor was most important in Soviet collapse: nationalism, economics, or ideology?

Did Gorbachev's reforms delay or precipitate Soviet collapse?

To what extent did United States 'win' the Cold War?

'Western economic power and technological development contributed decisively to the end of
the Soviet Empire in Europe.' Discuss. [2005 exam]

„The Soviet empire collapsed once the historical forces that had made it possible – Marxism-
Leninism and immense land armies – lost their authority.‟ Discuss. [2006 exam]
 21 HY116 Revision Guide 2010-11

Assess the contribution of Gorbachev to the collapse of the Soviet Empire in Eastern Europe
in 1989. [2004 exam]

„The dissolution of the Soviet empire was the final stage of the process of European
decolonization.‟ Discuss. [2010 exam]

„The structural weakness of the Soviet economy, not American grand strategy, brought the
Cold War to an end.‟ Discuss. [2009 exam]

„Gorbachev‟s failure to understand that the bases of Soviet power were repression and armed
force might made Soviet collapse swift and total.‟ Discuss. [2008 exam]

„Ronald Reagan‟s strategy of confrontation brought the Cold War to an end.‟ Discuss. [2007
exam]

New World Disorder: Patterns of Post-Cold War Conflict

How far did a multi-polar world emerge in the decade following the end of the Cold War?
[2005 exam]

„Cold War order replaced by post-Cold War disorder‟. Discuss this comment on international
developments after 1989. [2006 exam]

To what extent did China emerge as a new superpower rival to the United States between
1990 and 2003? [2004 exam]

„Thanks to its hard power Washington remained the dominant force in the post-1990/1 "new
world order".' Discuss. [2009 exam]
To what extent has the structure of international politics since 1991 evolved toward U.S.-
Chinese bipolarity? [2010 exam]

Why did a multipolar world not emerge following the end of the Cold War? [2008 exam]

To what extent is the post-1991 international system less stable than the „Cold War Order‟?
[2007 exam]