Cambridge 2027 History: International evidence and arguments

Editorial precis (not a quotation): Articles 34-35 required notification of new coastal acquisitions or protectorates to the other signatories, and sufficient authority in occupied coastal regions to protect existing rights and, where applicable, trade and transit. General Act of Berlin, 26 February 1885: Articles 34-35; primary treaty transcription, not SAHO commentary. Source: https://sahistory.org.za/archive/general-act-berlin-conference-west-africa-26-february-1885-0. (a) Date this agreement and distinguish notification from effective authority. (b) Explain how these rules could both regulate rivalry and encourage expansion. (c) Test the claim that this treaty alone proves African consent and the immediate partition of every inland territory.

Editorial precis (not a quotation): In his 6 December 1904 message Roosevelt linked foreign policy to military, especially naval, capacity. He justified possible US intervention in the Western Hemisphere by alleging serious wrongdoing or governmental incapacity. US National Archives: transcript explicitly dated 6 December 1904, despite the page's 1905 heading. Source: https://www.archives.gov/milestone-documents/roosevelt-corollary. (a) Explain the relationship between military capacity and diplomatic influence. (b) Explain why opposition to European intervention need not mean opposition to US intervention. (c) Assess this presidential message as evidence for the legitimacy and success of US policy.

Editorial precis (not a quotation): The treaty text dated 16 October 1925 guaranteed Germany's borders with France and Belgium and Rhineland demilitarisation. It provided peaceful settlement and conditional assistance. Article 10 required deposited ratifications and German League membership before entry into force. Locarno mutual guarantee treaty, text dated 16 October 1925: Articles 1-4 and 10. Source: https://avalon.law.yale.edu/20th_century/locarno_001.asp. (a) Explain two ways this agreement promoted cooperation. (b) Does its western guarantee establish equivalent protection for Germany's eastern borders? (c) Assess the statement that peace throughout Europe was secured on 16 October 1925.

Editorial precis (not a quotation): A: Cocks questioned whether the naval agreement was legally compatible with Versailles, later challenging Britain's acceptance of a treaty breach. B: Hoare maintained that it was effective between Britain and Germany without changing the rights of third countries or unrelated British treaty rights. Both spoke in the Commons on 1 July 1935. HC Deb 1 July 1935, volume 303, columns 1504-1505: Cocks and Hoare; two voices in one proceeding. Source: https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/commons/1935/jul/01/naval-armaments-anglo-german-agreement. (a) How far do these accounts agree about the agreement's compatibility with treaty obligations? (b) Explain what this dispute reveals about responses to German rearmament. (c) Explain why this is only a two-voice transfer drill, not a complete four-source Paper 1 exercise on the 2027 International topic.

Editorial precis (not a quotation): The Budapest-Washington teletype of 3-4 November 1956 relayed reports of Soviet attacks and Nagy's broadcast. It also transmitted State Minister Bibo's appeal for political assistance, and reported Soviet tanks near the legation. Some information was explicitly attributed to others. FRUS 1955-1957, Eastern Europe XXV, document 162: Budapest-Washington teletype, 3-4 November 1956, printed pp375-387. Source: https://history.state.gov/historicaldocuments/frus1955-57v25/d162. (a) Explain what the record suggests about how Soviet control was being restored. (b) Distinguish a reported observation, a relayed broadcast and an appeal. (c) Assess the claim that this transcript proves all Hungarians supported Soviet intervention or that US military help had been promised.

Editorial precis (not a quotation): A CIA memorandum of 10 November 1976 described Gierek's investment drive, Western capital imports and initially rising Polish consumption. It reported delayed consumer benefits, supply pressures and sharp June 1976 food-price proposals withdrawn after protests. FRUS 1969-1976 E-15 part 1, document 57: CIA CI 76-10173, Poland: What Next?, 10 November 1976; economic discussion pp3-5. Source: https://history.state.gov/historicaldocuments/frus1969-76ve15p1/d57. (a) Explain why investment growth and consumer dissatisfaction could coexist. (b) Explain how a price-policy problem could become a political problem. (c) Assess whether this one report proves that every Eastern European economy experienced continuous stagnation throughout Brezhnev's rule.

Editorial precis (not a quotation): Act 30 of 1950 received assent on 22 June 1950. Section 5 required the Director to classify registered people into the statute's racial categories and certain further groups. Section 1 used appearance and social acceptance in defining its category of white person. These are discriminatory legal constructions, not biological facts. Population Registration Act 30 of 1950, assented 22 June 1950; original statute scan, sections 1 and 5, PDF pp2-3. Source: https://sahistory.org.za/sites/default/files/archive-files2/leg19500707.028.020.030.pdf. (a) Explain how classification could strengthen apartheid administration. (b) Explain why apparent bureaucratic precision did not make these categories objective. (c) Identify what this Act cannot alone establish about residential segregation or the lived effects of apartheid.

Editorial precis (not a quotation): In his 20 April 1964 speech from the dock, Mandela acknowledged planning sabotage. He argued that peaceful channels had been closed and described sabotage as a controlled alternative to other forms of violence, intended to avoid loss of life. This is his explanation to the court, not independent verification of every operation. Nelson Mandela Foundation: Rivonia speech transcript, 20 April 1964, PDF pp1-2,6-7; speaker's account, not independent corroboration. Source: https://www.nelsonmandela.org/uploads/files/Prepared-to-die-20-April-1964-speech-final.pdf. (a) Explain his argument for changing resistance methods. (b) Distinguish a declared strategy from proof of actual conduct. (c) Assess the value and limitations of a defendant's public explanation for studying resistance in 1960-1977.

Editorial precis (not a quotation): The Constitutional Court's 2019 English reproduction of the 1928 Second Youth Congress pledge affirms a common Indonesian homeland and nation and respect for Indonesian as a language of unity. The English wording is a modern government translation, not a 1928 English document. Indonesian Constitutional Court: government English reproduction of the 1928 Youth Pledge at a 28 October 2019 ceremony; modern translation, not a 1928 English original. Source: https://en.mkri.id/news/details/2019-10-28/Advanced_Indonesian_Youth:_With_Character_and_Excellent_in_Facing_World_Competition. (a) Explain how the pledge constructed a national identity beyond regional affiliations. (b) Distinguish a language of unity from evidence that everyone already spoke one language. (c) Assess whether the pledge alone proves mass agreement or immediate political independence.

Assessment metadata: The proposed default selects International AS history, Cold War interpretations for Paper 3, and the International Paper 4 option. The official 2027 rotation assigns the Imperialism topic to Paper 1, with the other two International AS topics on Paper 2. Paper 4 candidates answer two questions within one regional option. 9489 2027 options, topic rotation, assessment and availability, PDF pages 9, 14, 37, 39, 42, 58, 59, 60, 61, 62, 63, 64, 65, 66, 68, 70, 71, 80: https://www.cambridgeinternational.org/Images/718292-2027-2029-syllabus.pdf Version 2: Cold War interpretation and Paper 1 source-agreement command, PDF pages 1: https://www.cambridgeinternational.org/Images/726254-2027-2029-syllabus-update.pdf (a) Correct a plan that prepares 1930s international relations as its only Paper 1 topic. (b) Explain why preparing only two Paper 4 topics is an editorial restriction, not deletion of the third from the syllabus. (c) Identify what must be checked before using this proposed default at a school.