S5 History Practice Paper: Origins Of The Cold War, Cold War In Asia, Crises And Detente, Civil War And The PRC, Hong Kong Industrialisation (100 Marks)

S5 History Practice Paper: Origins of the Cold War, Cold War in Asia, Crises and Detente, Civil War and the PRC, Hong Kong Industrialisation (100 marks)

2026-11-13

History

24 parts on the origins of the Cold War, the Korean War, Cuba 1962, detente, the PRC and Hong Kong industrialisation, with computed figures and full marking points.

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Paper details　S5 History practice paper with 6 sections and 24 parts on the Cold War, the Korean War, the Cuban missile crisis, the PRC and Hong Kong industrialisation, with computed answers.

Section A: Origins of the Cold War (16 marks)

Four marks each; support every point with evidence.

#	Question	Answer and marking notes
1	Source A: the Truman Doctrine of 1947 and the Marshall Plan of the same year. (a) Why does the Truman Doctrine mark the start of the Cold War? (b) Distinguish its economic aim from its political purpose. (c) What did the Soviet refusal reveal about the international order?	Answer: (a) It divided the world into free and communist camps and turned containment into official policy. (b) Economically it rebuilt western Europe; politically it weakened local communist parties. (c) The world had split into two blocs led by the USA and the USSR. (Marking: 1 mark for each of the four points, with evidence required)
2	The Cold War is usually dated from 1947 to 1991. (a) How long did it last? (b) What does “cold” mean in the term? (c) Explain one reason why it never became a direct war between the two superpowers.	Answer: (a) 44 years. (b) It means the superpowers never fought each other directly; rivalry ran through arms races, propaganda, espionage and proxy wars. (c) Accept any sound reason such as nuclear deterrence. (Marking: 1 mark each)
3	NATO was formed in 1949 with 12 members; the Warsaw Pact in 1955 with 8 members. (a) How many years apart were they formed? (b) What was the difference in membership? (c) What directly triggered the Warsaw Pact?	Answer: (a) 6 years. (b) 4 members. (c) West Germany joining NATO in 1955. (d) Small states were forced to take sides, as in Hungary in 1956 and Czechoslovakia in 1968. (Marking: 1 mark each)
4	From June 1948 to May 1949 the USSR blockaded land routes into West Berlin and the West replied with an airlift. (a) About how many months did the blockade last? (b) What did the airlift achieve? (c) What did the failure of the blockade show?	Answer: (a) About 11 months. (b) It kept food, fuel and medicine flowing to more than two million people in West Berlin. (c) Coercion failed, NATO and West Germany were consolidated, and rivalry became military and bloc-based. (Marking: 1 mark each)

Section B: The Cold War in Asia (16 marks)

Distinguish evidence from inference.

#	Question	Answer and marking notes
5	The Korean War began in June 1950 and an armistice was signed at Panmunjom in July 1953. (a) How long did the fighting last? (b) How does an armistice differ from a peace treaty? (c) Why is it called a proxy war?	Answer: (a) 3 years. (b) An armistice only halts fighting and fixes a line; a peace treaty ends the war in law. (c) It was fought by Korean forces backed by the USSR and the USA, so the superpowers avoided direct war. (Marking: 1 mark each)
6	In 1950 the Security Council authorised a UN force for Korea; 16 member states sent combat units out of 60 members. (a) What percentage of members took part? (b) Why was the Soviet Union absent from the vote?	Answer: (a) About 26.7 per cent (16 of 60). (b) The USSR was boycotting the Council over the representation of the People’s Republic of China, so it could not veto the resolution. (c) The main force was American. (Marking: 1 mark each)
7	Chinese volunteer forces crossed the Yalu in October 1950; in April 1951 President Truman removed General MacArthur. (a) How far apart were these events? (b) Why did China intervene? (c) What dispute in Washington did the dismissal reveal?	Answer: (a) About six months. (b) UN forces neared the Yalu, and Beijing argued it was defending its border. (c) It exposed the clash between widening the war and keeping it limited. (d) Mountainous terrain and long supply lines produced static trench warfare. (Marking: 1 mark each)
8	Source B: re-exports were about 89 per cent of Hong Kong exports in 1951 and about 30 per cent in 1959. (a) By how many percentage points did the share fall? (b) What external factor caused the fall? (c) How did local manufacturers respond?	Answer: (a) 59 percentage points. (b) The UN trade embargo on China during the Korean War. (c) Capital and labour moved into textiles, garments, plastics and toys for export. (d) Hong Kong changed from an entrepot into an industrial city. (Marking: 1 mark each)

Section C: Crises and Detente (18 marks)

Analysis questions need both sides of the argument.

#	Question	Answer and marking notes
9	In October 1962 American aircraft found Soviet missiles in Cuba; a blockade followed and the crisis ended after 13 days. (a) How many weeks was that? (b) On what terms were the missiles withdrawn? (c) Why is this seen as the most dangerous moment of the Cold War?	Answer: (a) Under two weeks (about 1.9 weeks). (b) Missiles were removed; the USA promised not to invade Cuba and later withdrew missiles from Turkey. (c) A direct hotline was set up. (d) Two nuclear powers faced each other directly for the first time. (Marking: 1 mark each)
10	The Berlin Wall was built in 1961 and opened in 1989; about 2.5 million people had left East Germany before it was built. (a) How long did the Wall stand? (b) Why was it built? (c) How was its opening linked to the end of the Cold War?	Answer: (a) 28 years. (b) To stop the exodus of skilled workers through West Berlin. (c) Its opening symbolised the collapse of the eastern bloc, leading to German reunification and the end of the USSR. (Marking: 1 mark each)
11	After the Cuban missile crisis of 1962 the superpowers moved towards detente. (a) Define detente. (b) Name one arms control result. (c) Analyse the causes of the crisis and identify the most important one. (d) Evaluate how far detente reduced tension.	Answer: (a) Detente means reducing hostility through negotiation without ending the rivalry. (b) The 1963 Partial Test Ban Treaty or the 1972 SALT I accord. (c) Causes include Cuba turning to the USSR, US missiles in Turkey and mutual misreading; the security dilemma is the key factor. (d) Detente lowered the risk of war but ended after the 1979 invasion of Afghanistan. (Marking: 1 for (a), 1 for (b), 3 for (c), 3 for (d))
12	Key arms control events: the 1963 Partial Test Ban Treaty, the 1968 Non-Proliferation Treaty, SALT I in 1972 and the Helsinki Accords in 1975. (a) How many years separate the first and last? (b) Which area beyond arms did Helsinki cover? (c) Did these accords stop the arms race?	Answer: (a) 12 years. (b) It covered human rights, economic cooperation and inviolable borders. (c) No: both sides kept adding warheads in the 1970s, so the race continued in qualitative form. (Marking: 1 for (a), 1 for (b), 1 for the judgement plus 1 for the example)

Section D: Civil War and the People’s Republic (16 marks)

Dates and policy names must be accurate.

#	Question	Answer and marking notes
13	Full-scale civil war broke out in 1946 and the People’s Republic of China was founded in 1949. (a) About how many years did the fighting last? (b) Why did the Nationalists lose despite superior weapons? (c) How did the outcome reshape East Asia?	Answer: (a) About 3 years. (b) Hyperinflation, corruption and poor command cost public support; land reform won the peasants over. (c) The PRC joined the Soviet camp and US containment deepened. (Marking: 1 mark each)
14	The PRC issued its land reform law in 1950 and ran its first five-year plan from 1953 to 1957. (a) How many years did the plan cover? (b) Which industry was given priority? (c) Where did capital and technology mainly come from?	Answer: (a) 5 years. (b) Heavy industry. (c) Mainly the Soviet Union. (d) Output rose but the urban-rural gap widened under unified purchase and the household registration system. (Marking: 1 mark each)
15	The Great Leap Forward began in 1958 and the Cultural Revolution ran from 1966 to 1976. (a) How long did it last? (b) What was the main rural policy of the Great Leap Forward? (c) What did these campaigns cost the economy?	Answer: (a) 10 years. (b) Households were organised into communes with collective farming and backyard steel making. (c) Both relied on top-down mass mobilisation and ignored expert advice. (d) Farm output collapsed, famine followed and industry suffered. (Marking: 1 mark each)
16	The December 1978 plenum adopted reform and opening; 4 special economic zones were set up in 1980 and Hainan was added in 1988. (a) How many zones existed after 1988? (b) Why were the first zones placed near Hong Kong? (c) Which rural system began the reform?	Answer: (a) 4 zones. (b) 5 in total. (c) They were close to Hong Kong and Macau, easing access to capital, technology and ports. (d) The household responsibility system. (Marking: 1 mark each)

Section E: Industrialisation and Economic Change in Hong Kong (18 marks)

Show the formula and the unit in calculations.

#	Question	Answer and marking notes
17	From the 1950s Hong Kong manufacturing grew rapidly in textiles, garments, plastics, toys and electronics. (a) What did these industries have in common? (b) What production arrangement did most firms use? (c) How did industry change the city?	Answer: (a) They were labour-intensive, low-capital and export-oriented. (b) Subcontracting for overseas orders, with small and flexible factories. (c) Industry created industrial districts and new towns. (Marking: 1 mark each)
18	Source C: manufacturing employed about 905,899 people in 1980 and about 229,000 in 2000. (a) Find the percentage fall. (b) What does rising GDP alongside fewer factory jobs suggest? (c) Give two reasons for the fall.	Answer: (a) A fall of 74.7 per cent. (b) Productivity rose and output shifted to services. (c) Production moved to the Pearl River Delta, and local wages and rents rose. (d) Low-skilled workers faced structural unemployment. (Marking: 1 for (a), 1 for (b), 2 for (c), 1 for (d))
19	From the late 1970s Hong Kong firms moved production to the Pearl River Delta while keeping orders, design, finance and logistics in Hong Kong. (a) What is this division called? (b) Give two pull factors. (c) Analyse one benefit and one risk for Hong Kong.	Answer: (a) Front shop, back factory. (b) Much lower wages and land costs plus open-door incentives. (c) Costs fell but manufacturing jobs were lost and the economy concentrated in finance and property. (Marking: 1 for (a), 2 for (b), 2 for (c), 3 for (d))
20	Since the 1980s services have grown to dominate Hong Kong output, led by finance, logistics, tourism and professional services. (a) Give two conditions that support finance. (b) What did the 2003 CEPA arrangement do for services? (c) Why has re-industrialisation been proposed?	Answer: (a) The rule of law and a freely convertible currency, for example. (b) It eased access for Hong Kong service firms to the mainland market. (c) A narrow base and heavy exposure to external cycles. (d) To diversify away from services and create high-value jobs. (Marking: 1 mark each)

Section F: Sources and Skills (16 marks)

Justify every judgement about a source.

#	Question	Answer and marking notes
21	Historical sources are either primary or secondary. (a) Define each. (b) Classify the UN Charter, a 2020 textbook and a 1990 oral interview with a veteran. (c) State one limitation of oral history.	Answer: (a) Primary sources come from the period; secondary sources interpret them later. (b) The Charter and the interview are primary; the textbook is secondary. (c) Memory decays and can be shaped by the interviewer. (Marking: 1 mark each)
22	Source D: the United Nations had 51 members in 1945 and about 193 today. (a) How many members were added? (b) Find the percentage increase. (c) What does this growth imply for the Security Council?	Answer: (a) 142 members. (b) About 278.4 per cent. (c) Decolonisation and the break-up of the USSR swelled membership while the permanent seats stayed fixed. (Marking: 1 mark each)
23	Comment on this view: “The outbreak of the Korean War was the key reason Hong Kong turned from an entrepot into an industrial city.” (a) State the causal claim. (b) Give one supporting fact. (c) Give one other factor and judge the claim.	Answer: (a) The war led to an embargo, re-exports collapsed and industry replaced them. (b) Re-exports to China fell while factories and factory jobs grew. (c) Inflow of capital and labour from the mainland plus overseas demand; the claim is only partly valid. (Marking: 1 mark each)
24	Source E: a 1990 memoir blaming the arms race. Source F: a 2015 textbook stressing nationality issues. (a) How do the sources differ? (b) What bias may E carry? (c) Name three factors in judging a source.	Answer: (a) E is primary, F is secondary. (b) The author may defend his own record and blame outside pressure. (c) Consult statistics, archives and rival scholarship. (d) Origin and author, purpose and date, and corroboration. (Marking: 1 mark each)

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