Missile Crisis: past paper questions
Real questions on missile crisis
The newest 10 of 10 written questions. Open one to see it on the real paper.
- 9489/43 · May/June 2025 · Q4[30]
Discuss the view that women’s roles and status changed significantly in Britain in the period 1919–39. Section B: The history of the USA, 1944–92
See it on the paper → - 9489/32 · February/March 2025 · Q3[40]
Read the extract and then answer the question. Often considered the beginning of the Cold War, the Truman Doctrine speech is, more precisely, a part of the breakdown of the Grand Alliance. The Alliance was based on common needs and goals of the United States, Great Britain, and the Soviet Union during World War II, whe...
See it on the paper → - 9489/32 · February/March 2024 · Q1[40]
Read the extract and then answer the question. A detailed discussion of the causes of the war can speedily reject two standard arguments, because they do not really explain anything. It is, of course, true that the war was a result of the tensions in the age of imperialism. But this is no more helpful than to say that...
See it on the paper → - 9489/13 · October/November 2023 · Q3a[15]
Read Sources B and C. Compare and contrast these two sources as evidence about the sinking of the Lusitania.
See it on the paper → - 9489/31 · May/June 2023 · Q3[40]
Read the extract and then answer the question. By mid‑March 1945, the Soviets were clearly taking over Romania in violation of Stalin’s pledges at Yalta. Most distressing of all was unmistakable evidence that the Soviets, also in defiance of the Yalta pact, were setting up in Poland a ready‑made Communist government. U...
See it on the paper → - 9489/32 · February/March 2023 · Q3[40]
Read the extract and then answer the question. A close-up view of Roosevelt, Churchill and Stalin is critical to understanding how they interacted to create and sustain Allied unity. Similarly, investigating the inner qualities of Truman, Kennan and Harriman (the US Ambassador in Moscow) helps in realising why they opp...
See it on the paper → - 9489/41 · October/November 2022 · Q2[30]
Evaluate the importance of propaganda in the Soviet Union in the period 1928–41.
See it on the paper → - 9489/42 · May/June 2022 · Q9[30]
Evaluate the impact of the Cuban Missile Crisis on US–Soviet relations.
See it on the paper → - 9489/23 · October/November 2021 · Q8b[20]
How successful was the Washington Naval Conference of 1921–22?
See it on the paper → - 9489/23 · October/November 2021 · Q9a[10]
Explain why Japan joined the Anti-Comintern Pact.
See it on the paper →
What examiners said
Compare and contrast these two sources as evidence about the sinking of the Lusitania. This question required candidates to compare evidence about the sinking of the Lusitania. Most candidates were able to recognise the differences in the sources as detailed in the mark scheme, although some of the similarities presented more challenge to some candidates. The best responses began to use their kno...
— Examiner report, October/November 2023, 9489/13 Q3(a) (Cambridge)
The central argument of the historian who wrote this extract is that all the ‘actors’ in the Cold War were motivated by ‘emotional beliefs’ rather than logic, but that those held by Truman and his colleagues in the US policy-making elite were particularly harmful. The strongest answers recognised these aspects of the interpretation and illustrated them using material from the extract. In fact, rel...
— Examiner report, February/March 2023, 9489/32 Q3 (Cambridge)
How successful was the Washington Naval Conference of 1921‒22? The strongest responses clearly established the aims of the conference, therefore creating a natural structure to their answer by comparing the outcome of the conference with the declared or underlying aims. This approach then led candidates to make a judgement on success or failure. Some of these responses made a judgment based on sh...
— Examiner report, October/November 2021, 9489/23 Q8(b) (Cambridge)
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