International history, 1870–1945 — AS & A Level History (9489) questions by topic
International history from 1870 to 1945 asks what an extract reveals about a historian's interpretation of events such as the Holocaust or Kristallnacht, alongside source-comparison questions on episodes like the Non-Intervention Committee during the Spanish Civil War. Explain, how far, to what extent, compare and assess dominate, each demanding that provenance be used to test how far a source can be trusted, not just described.
This page holds 89 real questions from 2023 to 2025 papers, with marks running from 30 to 40. Submitting drafted responses for instant marking helps you check whether you are quoting carefully and completely from each source, since the reports show that selective or careless quotation is a frequent way marks are lost.
What examiners look for
- A recurring criticism is generic evaluation, simply stating a source was biased because it came from a speech or newspaper editorial without linking that to the question.
- Examiners note candidates who quoted carelessly, for example using a source's claim of 'very great' potential while ignoring its own qualification that the role could be 'small'.
- Reports flag misreading sources and producing a one-sided response, or using a professor's remark as a challenge point when it did not actually weaken the source's argument.
- Strong answers recognised both similarities and differences precisely, for instance an explosion cited as the cause in both sources while the exact casualty numbers diverged.
- The best responses used period knowledge, such as President McKinley's War Message to Congress, to explain differences between sources through provenance rather than by rote evaluation.
May–June 2025, Paper 11
Read Source C and Source D. How far do Sources C and D agree about Hitler's attitude to Britain?
Answer this question and get it marked →May–June 2025, Paper 12
Read Source A and Source B. Compare and contrast these two sources as evidence about the Non-Intervention Committee and intervention in the Spanish Civil War.
Answer this question and get it marked →May–June 2025, Paper 13
Read Source B and Source D. Compare and contrast these two sources as evidence about Germany's decision to leave the Disarmament Conference.
Answer this question and get it marked →May–June 2025, Paper 21
Explain why there was a conference of European powers in Berlin in 1884–85.
Answer this question and get it marked →Explain why France and Belgium took control of the Ruhr in 1923.
Answer this question and get it marked →Explain why the Manchu dynasty was removed from power in 1912.
Answer this question and get it marked →May–June 2025, Paper 22
Explain why Roosevelt introduced the Corollary to the Monroe Doctrine in 1904. [10]
Answer this question and get it marked →Explain why Lloyd George organised the Genoa conference in 1922. [10]
Answer this question and get it marked →Explain why Chiang Kai-shek became leader of the Kuomintang following the death of Sun Yat-sen. [10]
Answer this question and get it marked →May–June 2025, Paper 23
Explain why the Jameson Raid led to worsening relations between Britain and Germany.
Answer this question and get it marked →Explain why the terms of the Treaty of Sevres were unpopular with Turks.
Answer this question and get it marked →Explain why Japan's international policies during the 1930s became increasingly aggressive.
Answer this question and get it marked →May–June 2025, Paper 31
Read the extract and then answer the question. 'No one can say exactly when the war started.' [Content removed due to copyright restrictions.] 'Once started, the momentum for war…
Answer this question and get it marked →Read the extract and then answer the question. 'The signs are that ‘Kristallnacht’ had a profound impact upon Hitler.' [Content removed due to copyright restrictions.] 'But,…
Answer this question and get it marked →May–June 2025, Paper 32
Read the extract and then answer the question. What can you learn from this extract about the interpretation and approach of the historian who wrote it? Use the extract and your…
Answer this question and get it marked →Read the extract and then answer the question. What can you learn from this extract about the interpretation and approach of the historian who wrote it? Use the extract and your…
Answer this question and get it marked →May–June 2025, Paper 33
Read the extract and then answer the question. What can you learn from this extract about the interpretation and approach of the historian who wrote it? Use the extract and your…
Answer this question and get it marked →Read the extract and then answer the question. What can you learn from this extract about the interpretation and approach of the historian who wrote it? Use the extract and your…
Answer this question and get it marked →May–June 2024, Paper 12
Read Source B and Source C. Compare and contrast these two sources as evidence about the arrangements for the Saar.
Answer this question and get it marked →May–June 2024, Paper 13
Read Source C and Source D. Compare and contrast these two sources as evidence about German disarmament after the Treaty of Versailles.
Answer this question and get it marked →May–June 2024, Paper 21
Explain why US foreign policy became more imperialistic after 1898.
Answer this question and get it marked →Explain why the Soviet Union was a member of the League of Nations only from 1934 until 1939.
Answer this question and get it marked →Explain why Chiang Kai-shek was placed under arrest by his own generals in 1936.
Answer this question and get it marked →May–June 2024, Paper 22
Explain why Britain developed closer diplomatic relations with France after 1898. [10]
Answer this question and get it marked →Explain why the League of Nations failed to end the conflict that broke out in Manchuria in 1931. [10]
Answer this question and get it marked →Explain why Japan believed it was treated as an inferior power in international negotiations during the period 1919–22. [10]
Answer this question and get it marked →May–June 2024, Paper 23
Explain why increasing contact with foreign powers led to significant changes within Japan in the late nineteenth century.
Answer this question and get it marked →Explain why the World Disarmament Conference (1932–34) ended without agreement.
Answer this question and get it marked →Explain why the attempt to establish parliamentary democracy in Japan failed.
Answer this question and get it marked →May–June 2024, Paper 31
Read the extract and then answer the question. Critics of Britain's entente policy with France have claimed that London had all the obligations of an alliance and none of the…
Answer this question and get it marked →Read the extract and then answer the question. 'The final goal of our overall policy is clear to all of us,' Hitler explained in a speech to Nazi Party regional directors on 29…
Answer this question and get it marked →May–June 2024, Paper 32
Read the extract and then answer the question. What can you learn from this extract about the interpretation and approach of the historian who wrote it? Use the extract and your…
Answer this question and get it marked →Read the extract and then answer the question. What can you learn from this extract about the interpretation and approach of the historian who wrote it? Use the extract and your…
Answer this question and get it marked →May–June 2024, Paper 33
Read the extract and then answer the question. What can you learn from this extract about the interpretation and approach of the historian who wrote it? Use the extract and your…
Answer this question and get it marked →Read the extract and then answer the question. What can you learn from this extract about the interpretation and approach of the historian who wrote it? Use the extract and your…
Answer this question and get it marked →October–November 2024, Paper 11
Read Source A and Source C. Compare and contrast these two sources as evidence about the role of the United States in maintaining peace.
Answer this question and get it marked →October–November 2024, Paper 12
Read Source A and Source B. Compare and contrast these two sources as evidence about Soviet foreign policy.
Answer this question and get it marked →October–November 2024, Paper 13
Read Source A and Source B. Compare and contrast these two sources as evidence about the Aaland Islands question.
Answer this question and get it marked →October–November 2024, Paper 21
Explain why Japan was able to improve its international status by 1900.
Answer this question and get it marked →Explain why the Rome–Berlin Axis was formed in 1936.
Answer this question and get it marked →Explain why the First United Front was ended in 1927.
Answer this question and get it marked →October–November 2024, Paper 22
Explain why Russia was unable to defeat Japan in the war of 1904–05. [10]
Answer this question and get it marked →Explain why the remilitarisation of the Rhineland was not resisted. [10]
Answer this question and get it marked →Explain why Japanese military leaders thought war with the USA was inevitable by 1941. [10]
Answer this question and get it marked →October–November 2024, Paper 23
Explain why political considerations led to European interest in gaining territories in Africa after 1870.
Answer this question and get it marked →Explain why Germany became involved in the Spanish Civil War.
Answer this question and get it marked →Explain why Chiang Kai-shek's Extermination Campaigns failed to destroy the Communist Party.
Answer this question and get it marked →October–November 2024, Paper 31
Read the extract and then answer the question. The Franco-Russian alliance that was concluded by 1894 was transformed into an offensive organisation following 1912 through the…
Answer this question and get it marked →Read the extract and then answer the question. Opinion polls showed consistently huge majorities against refugee immigration, indicating that something more than simple apathy…
Answer this question and get it marked →October–November 2024, Paper 32
Read the extract and then answer the question. What can you learn from this extract about the interpretation and approach of the historian who wrote it? Use the extract and your…
Answer this question and get it marked →Read the extract and then answer the question. What can you learn from this extract about the interpretation and approach of the historian who wrote it? Use the extract and your…
Answer this question and get it marked →October–November 2024, Paper 33
Read the extract and then answer the question. What can you learn from this extract about the interpretation and approach of the historian who wrote it? Use the extract and your…
Answer this question and get it marked →Read the extract and then answer the question. What can you learn from this extract about the interpretation and approach of the historian who wrote it? Use the extract and your…
Answer this question and get it marked →May–June 2023, Paper 11
Read Sources A and D. Compare and contrast these two sources as evidence about German ambitions for imperial expansion.
Answer this question and get it marked →May–June 2023, Paper 12
Read Sources B and C. Compare and contrast these two sources as evidence about the economic impact of colonies.
Answer this question and get it marked →May–June 2023, Paper 13
Read Sources A and C. Compare and contrast these two sources as evidence about the motives for the Scramble for Africa.
Answer this question and get it marked →May–June 2023, Paper 21
Explain why the successor states of eastern Europe faced political problems in the 1920s.
Answer this question and get it marked →Explain why Hitler supported the Nationalists in the Spanish Civil War.
Answer this question and get it marked →Explain why the Chinese Communist Party was able to build a strong base in Yan’an.
Answer this question and get it marked →May–June 2023, Paper 22
Explain why the Washington International Naval Conference was held in 1921–22. [10]
Answer this question and get it marked →Explain why Chamberlain felt that the Munich Conference had been a success. [10]
Answer this question and get it marked →Explain why Yuan Shih-kai failed to establish a stable government in China. [10]
Answer this question and get it marked →May–June 2023, Paper 23
Explain why the Japanese were unhappy with the outcome of the Washington Naval Conference in 1922.
Answer this question and get it marked →Explain why the Non-Intervention Treaty of 1936 failed to stop foreign involvement in the Spanish Civil War.
Answer this question and get it marked →Explain why the Xi’an Incident was important in the Chinese war against Japan.
Answer this question and get it marked →May–June 2023, Paper 31
Read the extract and then answer the question. 'Would any of the Entente Powers have acted differently had they known of the deep involvement of the Serbian army, though not the…
Answer this question and get it marked →Read the extract and then answer the question. 'The Final Solution became psychologically possible because Hitler's phrase concerning ‘the destruction of the Jewish race in…
Answer this question and get it marked →May–June 2023, Paper 32
Read the extract and then answer the question. What can you learn from this extract about the interpretation and approach of the historian who wrote it? Use the extract and your…
Answer this question and get it marked →Read the extract and then answer the question. What can you learn from this extract about the interpretation and approach of the historian who wrote it? Use the extract and your…
Answer this question and get it marked →May–June 2023, Paper 33
Read the extract and then answer the question. What can you learn from this extract about the interpretation and approach of the historian who wrote it? Use the extract and your…
Answer this question and get it marked →Read the extract and then answer the question. What can you learn from this extract about the interpretation and approach of the historian who wrote it? Use the extract and your…
Answer this question and get it marked →October–November 2023, Paper 11
Read Sources A and D. Compare and contrast these two sources as evidence about the disorder during the Boxer Rebellion.
Answer this question and get it marked →October–November 2023, Paper 12
Read Sources B and C. Compare and contrast these two sources as evidence about the sinking of the Maine.
Answer this question and get it marked →October–November 2023, Paper 13
Read Sources B and C. Compare and contrast these two sources as evidence about the sinking of the Lusitania.
Answer this question and get it marked →October–November 2023, Paper 21
Explain why Germany suffered an economic crisis in the early 1920s. [10]
Answer this question and get it marked →Explain why Hitler doubted that Britain and France would go to war in support of Poland in September 1939. [10]
Answer this question and get it marked →Explain why Japan became an expansionist power in the 1930s. [10]
Answer this question and get it marked →October–November 2023, Paper 22
Explain why the USA did not join the League of Nations in 1920. [10]
Answer this question and get it marked →Explain why the League failed to stop Italian aggression against Abyssinia. [10]
Answer this question and get it marked →Explain why democratic government failed in Japan in the 1930s. [10]
Answer this question and get it marked →October–November 2023, Paper 23
Explain why the Kellogg–Briand Pact of 1928 was seen as a major development in international relations.
Answer this question and get it marked →Explain why Britain was slow to begin rearmament in the 1930s.
Answer this question and get it marked →Explain why the Japanese army occupied Manchuria in 1931.
Answer this question and get it marked →October–November 2023, Paper 31
Read the extract and then answer the question. 'Diplomatic historians tend to detach foreign policy from domestic politics, and to disconnect foreign policymakers from the…
Answer this question and get it marked →Read the extract and then answer the question. 'On 29 November 1941, Heydrich invited twelve leading civil servants and SS figures to a conference to be convened at midday on 9…
Answer this question and get it marked →October–November 2023, Paper 32
Read the extract and then answer the question. What can you learn from this extract about the interpretation and approach of the historian who wrote it? Use the extract and your…
Answer this question and get it marked →Read the extract and then answer the question. What can you learn from this extract about the interpretation and approach of the historian who wrote it? Use the extract and your…
Answer this question and get it marked →October–November 2023, Paper 33
Read the extract and then answer the question. What can you learn from this extract about the interpretation and approach of the historian who wrote it? Use the extract and your…
Answer this question and get it marked →Read the extract and then answer the question. What can you learn from this extract about the interpretation and approach of the historian who wrote it? Use the extract and your…
Answer this question and get it marked →