HKDSE History Practice Paper: The Two World Wars And The Post-war Order

HKDSE History Practice Paper: The Two World Wars and the Post-war Order

2026-11-04

HKDSE History: The Two World Wars and the Post-war Order

HKDSE History: 12 questions, 100 marks, 75 minutes on WWI and Versailles, interwar dictators, WWII, the UN, the Cold War and the Marshall Plan.

Download　Question paper PDF　|　Answer key PDF

Paper details　Level: S4-S6 | Subject: History | Time: 75 minutes | Marks: 100 | Questions: 12

Section A: Causes of WWI, the Treaty of Versailles and the Interwar Years (Questions 1-4, 32 marks)

Each question carries 8 marks; support every point with specific facts and data, and show the working in data questions.

#	Question	Answer and marking notes
1	The First World War (1914-1918) caused heavy military casualties. Military deaths (in millions) were: Germany 2.0, Russia 1.8, France 1.4, Britain 0.9 and Austria-Hungary 1.1. (a) Find the total number of deaths. (b) Find Germany’s share of the total as a percentage (1 d.p.). (c) Explain how total war raised civilian casualties. (d) Explain the impact of the war-guilt clause, Article 231 of the Treaty of Versailles, on German society.	(a) Total = 2.0 + 1.8 + 1.4 + 0.9 + 1.1 = 7.2 million. [2 marks] (b) Share = 2.0 / 7.2 x 100% = 27.8%. [2 marks] (c) Total war mobilised industry and people, and blockade, submarine warfare and bombing hit the enemy home front, so food and fuel shortages killed civilians directly. [2 marks] (d) Article 231 made Germany alone responsible, was seen as backing the “stab in the back” myth, deepened humiliation and revenge sentiment, and undermined the legitimacy of the Weimar Republic. [2 marks] Marking notes: show the working; explain consequences rather than quoting the clause.
2	The Treaty of Versailles (1919) limited the German army to 100,000 men and the navy to 15,000 men, and imposed reparations of 132 billion gold marks. (a) Find the combined size of the German army and navy. (b) If Germany paid 2 billion gold marks a year, how many years would repayment take? (c) Explain the strategic significance of the demilitarisation of the Rhineland. (d) Explain two ways in which the treaty damaged the German economy.	(a) Total = 100,000 + 15,000 = 115,000 men. [2 marks] (b) Years = 132 / 2 = 66 years. [2 marks] (c) The Rhineland borders the Ruhr, so demilitarisation denied Germany a western springboard and gave France a buffer; it also became a focus of German nationalism. [2 marks] (d) Reparations caused hyperinflation and fiscal crisis in 1923, and the loss of Alsace-Lorraine and the Saar removed coal and industrial capacity. [2 marks] Marking notes: name the clauses and the years; “the economy got worse” alone scores nothing.
3	In the United States unemployment was 3.2% in 1929 and 24.9% in 1933, while industrial output fell by 47%. (a) Find the rise in unemployment in percentage points. (b) Find how many times higher unemployment was in 1933 than in 1929 (1 d.p.). (c) Explain how tariff wars such as the Smoot-Hawley Tariff of 1930 deepened the crisis. (d) Explain how the economic crisis increased support for extreme parties.	(a) Rise = 24.9 – 3.2 = 21.7 percentage points. [1 mark] (b) Ratio = 24.9 / 3.2 = 7.8 times. [2 marks] (c) Countries raised tariffs to protect domestic industry, world trade shrank, export markets disappeared and output and employment fell further. [2 marks] (d) Unemployment and bankruptcy destroyed confidence in liberal parties; the Nazi and Communist vote surged and the Nazis became the largest party in 1932. [3 marks] Marking notes: part (d) needs a concrete political outcome.
4	The League of Nations had 42 member states in 1920 and 58 in 1934. (a) Find the increase in members. (b) Find the percentage increase (1 d.p.). (c) Explain two weaknesses exposed by the Manchurian crisis (1931) and the Abyssinian crisis (1935). (d) Explain the effect of the absence of the United States on the authority of the League.	(a) Increase = 58 – 42 = 16 members. [1 mark] (b) Increase = 16 / 42 x 100% = 38.1%. [2 marks] (c) The League had no armed force to enforce decisions and relied on sanctions, and decisions required unanimity, so major members avoided confronting aggressors. [3 marks] (d) The absence of the strongest economic and military power left the League without real backing, and the late entry of the USSR in 1934 and its expulsion in 1939 left it unrepresentative. [2 marks] Marking notes: each weakness must be tied to a named crisis.

Section B: Dictatorship, Expansion and the Second World War (Questions 5-8, 36 marks)

Each question carries 9 marks; compare and evaluate both sides and support each with named events.

#	Question	Answer and marking notes
5	Hitler became Chancellor of Germany in January 1933 and Germany invaded Poland in September 1939. (a) Find the number of months between the two events. (b) State three actions by Hitler between 1933 and 1939 that broke the Treaty of Versailles. (c) Explain two reasons for British appeasement. (d) Explain how the Nazi-Soviet Pact of 1939 made the invasion of Poland easier.	(a) Months = (1939 – 1933) x 12 + (9 – 1) = 80 months. [2 marks] (b) Reintroduction of conscription and open rearmament in 1935; remilitarisation of the Rhineland in 1936; annexation of Austria and the Sudetenland in 1938. [3 marks] (c) First, the trauma of 1914-1918 made British public opinion pacifist; second, many thought Versailles too harsh and feared Soviet communism more than Germany. [2 marks] (d) The pact removed the two-front risk and gave the USSR eastern Poland, so Germany could concentrate in the west and invade Poland on 1 September 1939. [2 marks] Marking notes: dates and actions must match.
6	The Munich Agreement was signed in September 1938 and the Nazi-Soviet Pact in August 1939. (a) Find the number of months between them. (b) State the main terms of the Munich Agreement. (c) Explain how the agreement encouraged further Hitler expansion. (d) “Appeasement was the main cause of the Second World War.” Comment on this statement.	(a) Months = (1939 – 1938) x 12 + (8 – 9) = 11 months. [2 marks] (b) Britain, France, Germany and Italy allowed Germany to annex the Sudetenland; Czechoslovakia was not invited; Germany occupied the rest of Czechoslovakia in March 1939. [2 marks] (c) Hitler read the agreement as proof of Anglo-French weakness, assumed they would not fight for eastern Europe, broke the pact in March 1939 and demanded Danzig. [3 marks] (d) Appeasement did strengthen Germany and encourage risk-taking, but the flaws of the treaty system, the Depression and Soviet calculations also contributed, so the statement is only partly true. [2 marks] Marking notes: a balanced judgement is required.
7	Deaths in the Second World War (in millions): USSR 27.0, China 15.0, Poland 6.0, Germany 6.5, Japan 2.5. (a) Find the total. (b) Find the USSR share as a percentage (1 d.p.). (c) Explain the impact of total war on civilians. (d) Explain why the proportion of the Polish population killed was especially high.	(a) Total = 27.0 + 15.0 + 6.0 + 6.5 + 2.5 = 57.0 million. [2 marks] (b) USSR share = 27.0 / 57.0 x 100% = 47.4%. [2 marks] (c) Strategic bombing, siege and occupation hunger policies killed more civilians than soldiers, and reprisal massacres and forced labour added to the toll. [3 marks] (d) Poland was occupied by both Germany and the USSR, both of which targeted elites and deported populations, and the Warsaw Uprising and the camps added further deaths. [2 marks] Marking notes: separate military from civilian deaths.
8	Allied forces landed in Normandy on 6 June 1944 and the war in Europe ended on 8 May 1945. (a) Find the number of days between the two dates. (b) Explain the strategic importance of the Normandy landings. (c) Explain the role of the Soviet eastern front in defeating Germany. (d) Explain how American entry into the war changed the balance of forces.	(a) Days = 336. [2 marks] (b) The landings opened a second front in the west, forced Germany to fight on two fronts and let the Allies drive to the German homeland, shortening the war. [3 marks] (c) The USSR absorbed the bulk of the German army; Stalingrad and Kursk destroyed German elite formations and the Red Army advanced to Berlin. [2 marks] (d) American industrial capacity and manpower reversed the Allied material shortage, and Lend-Lease plus entry into the war removed Axis strategic initiative. [2 marks] Marking notes: the number of days must be calculated, not recalled.

Section C: The Post-war Order, the Cold War and European Security (Questions 9-12, 32 marks)

Each question carries 8 marks; give the year, the number of members and how the institution works.

#	Question	Answer and marking notes
9	The United Nations was founded in 1945 with 51 founding members and a Security Council of five permanent members. (a) Find the share of the five permanent members among the founding members (1 d.p.). (b) Explain how the veto works and one consequence of it. (c) Compare the League and the UN on two institutional features of peacekeeping.	(a) Share = 5 / 51 x 100% = 9.8%. [2 marks] (b) Substantive decisions need the concurrence of all five, so any permanent member can veto; as a result the Council was often deadlocked in the Cold War and issues moved to the General Assembly. [3 marks] (c) First, the UN has armed peacekeeping forces while the League had none; second, Security Council resolutions bind all members while League resolutions depended on voluntary compliance. [3 marks] Marking notes: compare, do not describe the UN alone.
10	The Marshall Plan ran from 1948 to 1952 with $13.0 billion of aid, of which Britain received $3.297 billion and France $2.706 billion. (a) Find the combined aid to Britain and France. (b) Find their combined share of the total (1 d.p.). (c) Explain the political aims of the Marshall Plan. (d) Explain the Soviet response, including Comecon.	(a) Total = 32.97 + 27.06 = 6.003 hundred million, that is 6.003 billion dollars. [2 marks] (b) Share = 6.003 / 13 x 100% = 46.2%. [2 marks] (c) The aid rebuilt western Europe to prevent poverty and instability from bringing communists to power, and built a US-centred economic order and market. [2 marks] (d) The USSR called it economic imperialism, refused to join, set up the Cominform in 1947 and Comecon in 1949, and tightened control over the satellite states. [2 marks] Marking notes: part (d) needs the names and years of the organisations.
11	During the Berlin Blockade (June 1948 to May 1949) the Western powers flew 277,000 sorties and carried 2.3 million tonnes. (a) Find the average load per sortie in tonnes (2 d.p.). (b) Explain the cause of the blockade, referring to currency reform. (c) Explain how the airlift defeated the blockade. (d) Explain the blockade’s effect on the formation of NATO.	(a) Average = 2,300,000 / 277,000 = 8.30 tonnes. [2 marks] (b) The three western zones introduced a currency reform and the Deutschmark, which the USSR saw as undermining the eastern economy, so it blocked the land routes to West Berlin. [2 marks] (c) The airlift kept food and fuel flowing, so the population stayed in West Berlin, the blockade failed to force concessions and the USSR lifted it in May 1949. [2 marks] (d) The blockade pushed the West to found NATO in April 1949, institutionalising the American military commitment and creating a collective defence system. [2 marks] Marking notes: units matter; do not mix tonnes and tons.
12	NATO was founded in April 1949 with 12 founding members; the Warsaw Pact was founded in 1955 with 8 members. (a) Find the difference in membership. (b) Find how many times larger NATO was than the Warsaw Pact (1 d.p.). (c) Explain how the confrontation of the two blocs affected European security. (d) Explain why the Cold War did not become a full hot war in Europe.	(a) Difference = 12 – 8 = 4 members. [1 mark] (b) Ratio = 12 / 8 = 1.5 times. [2 marks] (c) The two blocs produced military confrontation, higher defence spending and militarised borders, and events such as Hungary in 1956 and Prague in 1968 showed force was also used inside the blocs. [3 marks] (d) Mutual nuclear deterrence made general war too costly, and divided Germany and Berlin acted as a buffer, so conflict took the form of proxy wars and an arms race. [2 marks] Marking notes: use named events or concepts, not “tensions were high”.

Find a tutor — free Tutor Registration →

A TutorZone practice paper; original questions and passages, not publisher material.