History

1. 1.

   Factual framework: Archduke Franz Ferdinand was assassinated at Sarajevo in June 1914; the July Crisis preceded the outbreak of general European war. The Treaty of Versailles was signed in 1919 and imposed territorial, military and reparations obligations on Germany. Fictional 1919 editorial for skills practice: 'A border on a map cannot repay a grave.' The invented editor argues the settlement gives insufficient security; this is not a real newspaper quotation. Distinguish a trigger from a longer-term cause using 1914.

   [2 marks] · no calculator

   Answer explanation

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

   1. A trigger helps explain timing; structural causes help explain why the event became so dangerous. The assassination did not mechanically require every later decision.
   2. Award each point once. Accept other well-supported interpretations addressing the task.

   Marking points

   • The assassination triggered the immediate diplomatic crisis.
   • Alliance commitments, armaments or rivalries shaped the context in which it escalated.

   Examiner tip: A chronological first event is not automatically a sufficient cause.

2. 2.

   Factual framework: Archduke Franz Ferdinand was assassinated at Sarajevo in June 1914; the July Crisis preceded the outbreak of general European war. The Treaty of Versailles was signed in 1919 and imposed territorial, military and reparations obligations on Germany. Fictional 1919 editorial for skills practice: 'A border on a map cannot repay a grave.' The invented editor argues the settlement gives insufficient security; this is not a real newspaper quotation. Explain one purpose of the military restrictions imposed on Germany at Versailles.

   [2 marks] · no calculator

   Answer explanation

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

   1. Connect a category of treaty terms to a security objective. Whether restrictions achieved lasting security is a separate question from why they were imposed.
   2. Award each point once. Accept other well-supported interpretations addressing the task.

   Marking points

   • Restrictions limited Germany's capacity for future armed action.
   • This aimed to strengthen security for the victorious states or prevent renewed war.

   Examiner tip: State an aim, not a guaranteed outcome.

3. 3.

   Factual framework: Archduke Franz Ferdinand was assassinated at Sarajevo in June 1914; the July Crisis preceded the outbreak of general European war. The Treaty of Versailles was signed in 1919 and imposed territorial, military and reparations obligations on Germany. Fictional 1919 editorial for skills practice: 'A border on a map cannot repay a grave.' The invented editor argues the settlement gives insufficient security; this is not a real newspaper quotation. Explain how alliance systems could widen a crisis while still leaving room for decisions.

   [3 marks] · no calculator

   Answer explanation

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

   1. Analyse incentives rather than imagining a row of switches. Alliances increased the stakes of a local dispute, but diplomatic and military decisions determined how that pressure became war.
   2. Award each point once. Accept other well-supported interpretations addressing the task.

   Marking points

   • Commitments linked states' security concerns to partners' disputes.
   • Fear of abandonment or hostile coalitions could encourage support or mobilisation.
   • Leaders still chose responses, so alliances were not an automatic declaration mechanism.

   Examiner tip: Avoid the claim that every alliance member was automatically forced into war.

4. 4.

   Factual framework: Archduke Franz Ferdinand was assassinated at Sarajevo in June 1914; the July Crisis preceded the outbreak of general European war. The Treaty of Versailles was signed in 1919 and imposed territorial, military and reparations obligations on Germany. Fictional 1919 editorial for skills practice: 'A border on a map cannot repay a grave.' The invented editor argues the settlement gives insufficient security; this is not a real newspaper quotation. Analyse the fictional editorial's language and one limitation for evaluating the settlement.

   [3 marks] · no calculator

   Answer explanation

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

   1. The image is persuasive because no border can undo deaths. That moral point does not by itself demonstrate which military or diplomatic terms would best prevent another war.
   2. Award each point once. Accept other well-supported interpretations addressing the task.

   Marking points

   • The map/grave contrast opposes diplomatic abstraction to human loss.
   • It mobilises grief to argue that territorial arrangements are insufficient.
   • It supplies no comparative evidence that a particular alternative would improve security.

   Examiner tip: Emotional force and evidential sufficiency are different qualities.

5. 5.

   Factual framework: Archduke Franz Ferdinand was assassinated at Sarajevo in June 1914; the July Crisis preceded the outbreak of general European war. The Treaty of Versailles was signed in 1919 and imposed territorial, military and reparations obligations on Germany. Fictional 1919 editorial for skills practice: 'A border on a map cannot repay a grave.' The invented editor argues the settlement gives insufficient security; this is not a real newspaper quotation. Assess the claim that Versailles made another European war inevitable.

   [4 marks] · no calculator

   Answer explanation

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

   1. A settlement can create grievances without determining all subsequent events. Evaluate how later actors used those grievances, and why alternative diplomatic paths were possible even if difficult.
   2. Award each point once. Accept other well-supported interpretations addressing the task.

   Marking points

   • Treaty grievances could support revisionist politics in Germany.
   • Enforcement and collective-security difficulties affected its operation.
   • Later economic crises and political choices also mattered.
   • Rejects or qualifies inevitability with a supported distinction between contributing conditions and necessary outcome.

   Examiner tip: Do not use knowledge of 1939 as proof that 1919 left no alternatives.

6. 6.

   Factual framework: Archduke Franz Ferdinand was assassinated at Sarajevo in June 1914; the July Crisis preceded the outbreak of general European war. The Treaty of Versailles was signed in 1919 and imposed territorial, military and reparations obligations on Germany. Fictional 1919 editorial for skills practice: 'A border on a map cannot repay a grave.' The invented editor argues the settlement gives insufficient security; this is not a real newspaper quotation. Assess whether security or punishment better explains the settlement's treatment of Germany.

   [4 marks] · no calculator

   Answer explanation

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

   1. The same term may serve more than one purpose: reducing military power could protect neighbours and penalise Germany. A stronger judgement explains this overlap rather than forcing a single motive on all negotiators.
   2. Award each point once. Accept other well-supported interpretations addressing the task.

   Marking points

   • Military limitations support a security interpretation.
   • Reparations or territorial losses can be interpreted as penalties or compensation.
   • Recognises different victorious states had differing priorities.
   • Weighs overlapping motives using treaty categories, accepting well-supported alternative emphasis.

   Examiner tip: Distinguish the intentions of different negotiators where your knowledge supports it.

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