History

1. 1.

   Factual framework: the Berlin blockade of 1948-49 was met by an airlift to the western sectors; in the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962, Soviet missiles in Cuba prompted a US naval quarantine. Fictional private adviser memo about an unspecified Cold War confrontation: 'Our defensive signal is read there as preparation to attack.' The memo and its author are invented, not attributed to a real official. Explain the purpose of the Berlin airlift.

   [2 marks] · no calculator

   Answer explanation

   Draft walkthroughs are based on marking guidance, not independently verified derivations.

   1. The airlift was both logistical and political. Keeping the population supplied sustained the Western position while avoiding the particular escalation risk of breaking through on land.
   2. Award each point once. Accept other well-supported interpretations addressing the task.

   Marking points

   • It supplied the western sectors when land access was blocked.
   • It maintained their viability without forcing a land route through the blockade.

   Examiner tip: The airlift did not mean Berlin lay inside West Germany.

2. 2.

   Factual framework: the Berlin blockade of 1948-49 was met by an airlift to the western sectors; in the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962, Soviet missiles in Cuba prompted a US naval quarantine. Fictional private adviser memo about an unspecified Cold War confrontation: 'Our defensive signal is read there as preparation to attack.' The memo and its author are invented, not attributed to a real official. Explain the security dilemma expressed in the fictional memo.

   [2 marks] · no calculator

   Answer explanation

   Draft walkthroughs are based on marking guidance, not independently verified derivations.

   1. Intentions are not directly observable. A measure intended to increase one state's safety can reduce another's sense of security, even without a shared desire for war.
   2. Award each point once. Accept other well-supported interpretations addressing the task.

   Marking points

   • One side describes its own signal as defensive.
   • The other interprets it as threatening, potentially provoking countermeasures.

   Examiner tip: Describe the interaction, not simply two states distrusting one another.

3. 3.

   Factual framework: the Berlin blockade of 1948-49 was met by an airlift to the western sectors; in the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962, Soviet missiles in Cuba prompted a US naval quarantine. Fictional private adviser memo about an unspecified Cold War confrontation: 'Our defensive signal is read there as preparation to attack.' The memo and its author are invented, not attributed to a real official. Explain why nuclear deterrence can discourage war while failing to eliminate crisis risk.

   [3 marks] · no calculator

   Answer explanation

   Draft walkthroughs are based on marking guidance, not independently verified derivations.

   1. Deterrence is an argument about incentives, not perfect control. Fear of retaliation may restrain intentional attack while a confrontation still creates pathways to unintended conflict.
   2. Award each point once. Accept other well-supported interpretations addressing the task.

   Marking points

   • Expected catastrophic retaliation raises the cost of deliberate attack.
   • Misperception or uncertain signals can still drive escalation.
   • Accidents or failures of control can occur despite leaders' preference to avoid war.

   Examiner tip: Avoid calling deterrence a guarantee of peace.

4. 4.

   Factual framework: the Berlin blockade of 1948-49 was met by an airlift to the western sectors; in the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962, Soviet missiles in Cuba prompted a US naval quarantine. Fictional private adviser memo about an unspecified Cold War confrontation: 'Our defensive signal is read there as preparation to attack.' The memo and its author are invented, not attributed to a real official. Explain the value and limitation of the fictional private memo for analysing intentions.

   [3 marks] · no calculator

   Answer explanation

   Draft walkthroughs are based on marking guidance, not independently verified derivations.

   1. A confidential author can still misunderstand an opponent. In this exercise the memo offers a hypothesis about perception; authenticity, audience and corroboration would matter in a real archive.
   2. Award each point once. Accept other well-supported interpretations addressing the task.

   Marking points

   • Its private advisory setting may expose awareness of misinterpretation.
   • It reports the adviser's view, not direct access to the opponent's thinking.
   • Other decision records and signals would be needed to test the interpretation.

   Examiner tip: Confidential does not mean omniscient.

5. 5.

   Factual framework: the Berlin blockade of 1948-49 was met by an airlift to the western sectors; in the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962, Soviet missiles in Cuba prompted a US naval quarantine. Fictional private adviser memo about an unspecified Cold War confrontation: 'Our defensive signal is read there as preparation to attack.' The memo and its author are invented, not attributed to a real official. Assess whether ideology alone explains Cold War confrontations, using at least one named crisis in the framework.

   [4 marks] · no calculator

   Answer explanation

   Draft walkthroughs are based on marking guidance, not independently verified derivations.

   1. Ideology supplied a framework for interpreting rivalry, but specific crises involved access, force deployment and credibility. The named example should demonstrate a mechanism, not merely provide a date.
   2. Award each point once. Accept other well-supported interpretations addressing the task.

   Marking points

   • Ideological opposition shaped distrust and political claims.
   • Uses accurate evidence from Berlin or Cuba to show concrete security or strategic interests.
   • Explains how military positions, credibility or local actors interacted with ideology.
   • Weighs their relative role without reducing every action to one motive.

   Examiner tip: Avoid treating Cuba or Berlin as passive scenery for two superpowers.

6. 6.

   Factual framework: the Berlin blockade of 1948-49 was met by an airlift to the western sectors; in the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962, Soviet missiles in Cuba prompted a US naval quarantine. Fictional private adviser memo about an unspecified Cold War confrontation: 'Our defensive signal is read there as preparation to attack.' The memo and its author are invented, not attributed to a real official. Assess the claim that a crisis ending without war proves deterrence alone worked.

   [4 marks] · no calculator

   Answer explanation

   Draft walkthroughs are based on marking guidance, not independently verified derivations.

   1. Work backwards from the outcome carefully. To attribute success, examine what leaders feared, what agreements changed and which dangerous processes stopped; survival alone does not reveal their relative weight.
   2. Award each point once. Accept other well-supported interpretations addressing the task.

   Marking points

   • Fear of retaliation can explain restraint.
   • Diplomacy and concessions can also explain de-escalation.
   • The absence of war does not identify a single cause or rule out near misses.
   • Calls for decision evidence and consideration of plausible alternative explanations.

   Examiner tip: An outcome can be consistent with several causal explanations.

Original, unofficial practice questions from SubjectScout — not official past-paper questions.